Bailey awoke the following morning with a wet face. She opened her eyes to see her mom standing in front of the couch with a squirt bottle in her hands.

"Rise and shine." she grinned, then walked away.

"Mom." Bailey groaned, then wiped her face on the tiny blanket that she slept with. "What time is it?" she yelled to her mom who was now in the kitchen.

"9am." she called back.

'Last day with her for two whole months!' Bailey cheered in her mind, but then stopped once she smelled her mom's pancakes. 'Two whole months without good home cooking.' she frowned to herself.

"You look a little rough." her mom stated as she entered the kitchen and hopped up on the stool to the counter bar. "What time did you kids get to bed?"

Bailey shrugged her shoulders and wiped her eyes, "Not too long after you." she lied.

""Why don't you go wake the boys up for breakfast."

"Let them sleep. This is the last time that they're going to be able to sleep in for a while." Bailey stated.

"Too late." Kevin said as he entered the kitchen, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

"See, if you weren't yelling he'd still be in bed." her mom complained.

"Well, maybe if you hadn't squirted - " Bailey was cut off.

"Smells good." Nick smiled, stretching his arms up above his head as he joined them.

Bailey rolled her eyes at her mom before heading upstairs to get dressed. She knocked on her bedroom door incase Joe was already up. Once he popped up into her head, she remembered last night.

She waited a moment with her ear up to the door; there wasn't any movement inside. After slowly turning the handle, she entered to see Joe sprawled out under her covers. She held back a smile before making her way to her closet and picking out a pair of blue, teal and mint green Bermuda shorts and a tight, white tank top. She heard the blanket behind her rustle, causing her to turn around.

"Hey sleepy head." Bailey smiled as she saw Joe looking up at her from the pillow. He was curled up in the blanket all the way up to his nose. She could only see his gorgeous, brown eyes. "How'd you sleep?" she asked him. He pulled the blanket down off his face so she could see him grin, making her chuckle. "Well, my mom made pancakes, so hurry down." she informed, then left the room.

Joe just stayed there in the bed without any intention to move. He'd never been this comfortable in a long time and he wasn't about ruin it for himself. He sunk down further under the blanket as his mind went back to Bailey. He inhaled the lovely smell in her pillow one more time before slowly sliding off the bed and out of her room to join everyone downstairs.

"It looks like you slept well." Kevin joked, looking up from his plate at the table to Joe. His hair was going every which way and there was a pillow imprint on the left right side of his face.

"Woah, I didn't know we were having company." Bailey's step-dad stated with a smile as he finally made his was into the kitchen and kissed her mom on the cheek.

"Guys, this is my step-dad Bill. Bill, these are the guys." Bailey introduced poorly.

"Bailey!" her little brother Connor exclaimed as he ran into the kitchen, grasping onto her leg.

"Hey buddy." she rustled what little hair he had on his head. Joe found himself smiling at how Bailey interacted with the little guy.

Everyone met everyone and made small talk during breakfast. Nothing interesting was said. Before they knew it, it was going on 11 'o clock.

"Bailey hun, how about you take a trip to your father's house before you leave to Philly. I'm sure he's wondering what you've been up too since you last saw him 2 weeks ago." her mom stated, Bailey nodded. "Yeah, and why don't show the boys the downstairs. I'm sure there's something down there to occupy them while you go."

Bailey waved for the boys to follow her out of the kitchen and down into their finished basement. There was a large, plasma TV with Guitar Hero and DDR set up, there was a ping pong table on one side of the room, air hockey on the other, and the room was covered in posters and random pictures.

"Vwa-la!" she exclaimed. "Have fun, I have to run to my dad's house real fast. I'll only be a little bit, I promise. Then I'll take you guys someplace when I get back, ok?" Bailey asked, Kevin and Nick were already at the air hockey table looking for the 'on' switch.

"Yeah, yeah. We got you." Kevin said, a little distracted. "You're going down!" he told Nick.

"I'll go with you." Joe said, looking over at her.

She looked in his eyes with relief. "Really?" he nodded. "Alright." she replied, a little happier than she was moments ago. "Let's go."

With that, Bailey and Joe headed back upstairs. He changed back into the clothes he had on the day before and they were off.

"Mom's not in the car." she exclaimed as she backed out of the driveway, blasting her mix CD featuring a few of her favorite local bands. Joe admired the fact that she knew when to be serious and she knew when to relax and have fun. He watched her as the wind blew her hair all over the place. The warm sun made it glow as they sped down the highway.

"Aw, I love these kinds of houses." Joe stated after she put the car in park next to a bright blue Dodge Ram.

He followed Bailey up to her dad's split level home. It was dark and looked somewhat like a log cabin. There were bushes and various colored Pansies growing in a pot in front of the porch that wrapped around the entire house. There was a 'love seat' swing chained up to the ceiling of the porch near the front door that was 100% Oak. To be honest, Bailey was in love with the house herself. Once they got to the door, she stopped and turned around to look at Joe.

"Ok, I'm letting you know that my dad is kind of. . . indescribable." she stated, Joe couldn't help but laugh.

"I think I'll be able to handle him." he smiled reassuringly.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like I'm walking in saying 'Hey dad, meet my new boy- " she stopped as the front door opened to reveal her dad decked out in a pair of old jean shorts and an beaten in Big Dogs shirt. "Hey Daddy." she said, then gave him a warm hug.

"Hey sweetie. Your mom just called and said you were coming over. You get here pretty quick, you better watch your speed." he said fatherly with a stern look. "Alright, my father-ness is done for today. Who's your friend?" he stepped back, looking at Joe.

Bailey tried to read her dad's face, but she couldn't. He had on his normal smile and all his polite greetings planned out.

"Joe Jonas, sir." he introduced himself and extended his hand. Her dad looked down and took his hand. Joe shook it with a nice, firm grip.

"You can call me Bob." her dad responded with a smile. "Please, come in." he stepped out of the doorway and motioned for Joe to pass him. He nodded a thanks then disappeared into the living room.

Bailey looked up at her dad, her eyes looking for his approval. He nodded his head at her with a smile; he was impressed. "He passed Level One." he whispered playfully behind her. He did this with every friend that was a boy of hers that she brought over. That's what she tried to warn Joe about. "-But will he make it past Two?"

"Daddy! Stop it." she couldn't help but laugh. Her dad was taking advantage of something that wasn't even there yet. "He's just a friend."

"That's not what your mom told me." he took a mental photo of his daughter's dropped jaw before entering the dark, open living room where Joe was standing, taking in all the objects that surrounded him. "Hey Bailey, why don't you go out in the back and get us a few drinks." he said with a smirk.

"But -" she started, but her dad's stern look won every time. Bailey shot Joe a warning glare before exiting out into the backyard through the sliding glass door and into the shed where her dad kept an extra refrigerator.

"So, how do you like it here in Delaware?" Bob asked Joe, making him turn his attention away form the photos on the mantelpiece above the stone fireplace.

"I like it so far. We drove up here last night and this is the only other place I've been to, besides Bailey's house." he informed, not really knowing what her dad expected him to say.

Joe tried to impress the man in any way possible. He made sure to keep his back straight and reminded himself to act cool. He didn't know why he was trying to hard. Maybe it was the fact that he was a heavy man standing at 6'2" with a short, prickly beard that was already making its way to a shade of grey.

Bob eyed him for a moment before speaking. "Come with me, I'd like to show you something." he said, motioning Joe to follow him. His heart started beating a bit faster as he lead him into a dark room.

"Dad? Joe?" she called out into the living room holding three ice cold Monster energy drinks. They were her favorite and that's all that was out in the fridge. "Guys?" she called out again, hoping that her dad didn't do or say anything stupid to Joe. She didn't want him scaring him off.

"And this one is for -" she faintly heard her dad's voice coming from his office.

"Shit." she mumbled before rushing through the house to see her dad showing Joe his Medieval weapon collection.

"Oh, hey Bails." Joe smiled at her to show he was surviving. "Oh, Monsters. Yum." he said as she handed him and her dad a can.

"Ah, so you're in love with these things too?" Bob asked Joe.

He shook his head, "Na, I wouldn't call it love. I'm more of a Red Bull guy." Joe watched as Bailey scrunched her nose up at his comment. "What?" he asked with a chuckle.

"Monster beats Red Bull any day." she simply stated. Normally, Joe would've kept it going back and forth, but instead he just added that to the long list of things he admired about her; she was able to stand her ground when she was with him and didn't give into his opinion. Unlike other girls he used to be around, they would agree with him just because he said it, not because that's how they really felt.

"So, I was just showing your buddy Joe here my collection." Bailey's dad said proudly while looking up at the weapons mounted up on the walls. "Believe it or not, he knows a thing or two about history, unlike Ja-" he started to say. "-I mean, other friends you have brought over." her dad caught himself, then gave her an apologetic smile. Unlike her mom, her dad seemed to actually watch what he said. He seemed to care a lot more also.

The three of them ended up making their way back into the living room, conversing about a few random subjects of life. After a while, Bailey placed her empty Monster can on the table in front of her as Joe finished up the subject of how life was on the road to her father.

"Here, let me throw that out for you." Joe offered, standing up and grabbing her empty can along with his own. "Mr.Bob?" he questioned, motioning to the can in his hand.

"Thanks." his deep voice replied. Joe nodded then walked off towards the kitchen. "Level Three: Cleared." her dad stated.

Bailey barely heard her dad as she sprung up from the couch. "Joe, wait!" she called out. He turned around, looking a bit confused. "Save the tabs." he laughed, then continued towards the kitchen to the trash can.

"Good kid." her dad stated. "I like him. Boy knows his history."

"Dad, nothing is going on, if that's what you're thinking. You always told me to 'consider my sources' after I hear information." she stated. "- and you heard yours from Mom. What's that say?" she grinned, knowing she had stumped him. That was a rare occurrence. Her dad always had some sort of comeback.

Without a word in response, her dad just nodded in agreement as Joe came back into the living room.

"Well, I think we're going to head back now." Bailey informed while standing up from the couch and looking at the clock on top of the fireplace. "Holy poop, it's going on 2! Kevin and Nick are probably dying back at the house." she chuckled.

"I think they'll manage." Joe added. "It was nice meeting you." he said, extending his arm down to her dad who was still sitting on the couch.

He quickly stood up and gave him a manly hug instead. Bailey stood there, a bit shocked at her dad's openness. She refrained from commenting about it as she went in for her hug.

"Have fun, honey." her dad said after pulling away. "You kids stay out of trouble. You hear? I've got eyes and ears all over the place up there." he stated, referring to the Philadelphia area.

"Alright, alright." Bailey replied with a chuckle.

Minutes passed and Joe and Bailey were already on the road.

"Sorry if my dad freaked you about a bit. I tried to warn you." she glanced over at Joe who was staring out with window, lost in his own thoughts.

""Oh, no. It's cool, really." he gave her his famous Joe smile, causing her stomach to do a flip-flop. That seemed to be the daily routine now.

"You sure? You seem a bit distracted." he laughed at her comment, shook his head, then found another object outside to focus on. "What?" she asked, becoming a little worried.

"You know what your dad told me?" he paused. "He said if I ever hurt you, he'd demonstrate how those old weapons were used." Joe replied, looking over into her eyes. She looked terrified. "Wanna know what I said?" all Bailey could do was nod her head. She could barely gather the words in her mind. "I told him that I'd use them on myself before I hurt any girl." his voice was filled with sincerity.

"Aw, Joe." she replied softly. That was probably one of the most adorable things anyone has ever said, even if it wasn't directed at her. It was a sweet comment in general.

"I also said that if I was ever lucky enough to have that chance in the first place, he wouldn't have to worry about a thing." he finished, still staring at her. Bailey was speechless, she didn't know what to say, or what Joe even meant by that statement.

He watched her smile through the windshield, she kept her eyes on the road. He knew it was his fault that she couldn't look at him and he loved it. Her smile was all he needed to see that things were starting to pick up. He stared at the window, trying to think of his next move.

"Why thank you." Bailey said politely as Joe opened the front door of her house for her. He nodded, then followed her inside. "Hey ma, we're -" she started to call out as her and Joe entered the living room, but she stopped herself once she saw a familiar person sitting on the couch next to her mother, Kevin and Nick.

While standing inches behind Bailey, Joe felt her tense up. That's when he saw the boy from the crumpled up picture sitting in her living room.

"Hey sweetie. How's your dad?" her mom beamed.

"Great." she replied blankly staring at the guy, also known as Jake, who relaxed back onto the couch. As much as she wanted to rush up to him and smack the hell out of his gorgeous face, she didn't. She was too stunned by the fact that after what he had done, he had the nerve to appear in her home.

Joe watched as Jake's dirty eyes looked Bailey up and down. He saw the satisfaction in his eyes; Joe was disgusted. Protectively, Joe grabbed Bailey's hand and squeezed. He wanted her to know that he was still here. He wanted her to know that Jake wasn't going to do anything with him here. But he also knew that there was only so much you could interpret from a simple squeeze of the hand.