"Don't." Bailey said through gritted teeth as Joe stepped towards her. After hearing he had taken Tori out on a date, she felt a little betrayed, but then understood a bit because it would've calmed things down a little on the tour for everyone. But after hearing about a second and third date, her heart crumpled. Joe knew how she had felt about Tori and it sucked to know that he got involved anyway, regardless if Bailey was even in there at the time.

"But -" Joe started, but stopped once Bailey barged passed him, storming off the bus. He groaned, then grabbed a hold of the hair on his head and pulled it in frustration at the mistake he had made, times three.

Completely fed up with everything, her eyes once again started to well up with tears because of him. She was starting to think that all of this was useless. What was the point?

It was dark outside and it was going on midnight. The parking lot was still and quiet as a few staff members made their way back into the arena. Wiping her eyes, Bailey made her way behind the bus and into a grassy field. There was a big oak tree a few yards away from the parking lot. She made her way over it to have a seat to think by herself, but she stopped when she noticed Tori sitting there, leaning against the tree. After hearing her approaching footsteps, Tori looked up her. Bailey noticed she had been crying.

Shaking her head, Bailey turned around to leave.

"You know, -" Tori started. "- it sucks." Bailey huffed, then stopped to look at her, a little interested in hearing what she had to say. "This whole thing started out with Jake. Long story short, I owed him a favor and trying to get between you and Joe was what he had wanted." Tori sighed ad Bailey started walking towards her. Looking up, Tori continued. "I tried everything to mess things up. . And whether or not you believe me, I felt horrible during everything."

Bailey laughed, "Yeah, ok." she rolled her eyes, completely amused by what she was hearing.

"Just listen, ok?" her voice cracked. "After seeing you two together, watching how you guys interacted and realizing how much you cared about each other, I started to realize that what I was doing was wrong. It wasn't only doing it for Jake anymore, but because I was jealous myself." she paused, wiping her eyes. "I feel horrible about everything. That boy cares for you like crazy." Bailey watched her as she spoke. "When you got kicked off, I was kind of relieved. I hoped Joe would move on. . . I tried moving in on him myself, and believe me, it wasn't easy. He was so caught up on you." Bailey continue to watch as she spoke. It started to sink in that she was speaking the truth. "Finally one day he cracked. He took me out and I was happy. Believe it or not, it wasn't that bad. He's really a sweet guy." she tried to smile up at her. "I thought it was my chance to finally start something with someone. Ugh, I just wanted someone, that's all. I was desperate."

"So you went for someone who was already taken?" Bailey questioned, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Tori hesitated for a second. "Well, yeah. I mean, I was doing the thing for Jake and Joe turned out to be a pretty interesting guy so I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone." she shrugged. "Now that I look at it, it was a pretty horrible thing to do, and I'm really sorry." Tori's eyes sparkled as she looked up at her in the darkness.

"I don't know what you expect me to say." she replied honestly, a little shocked that the person she once thought was evil and kniving was spilling her guts to her like a little emo kid thinking too much about life itself. Even though she understood what Tori was telling her, she didn't agree with it. She still went for Joe knowing that he was already involved and that's pretty low of anyone to do, not matter what the circumstance.

"You don't even have to say anything. . . I just needed to get that out." she trailed off looking down, then away.

Bailey waited a moment before speaking. "So he really took you on three dates?" her voice sounded hurt.

Slowly Tori nodded, then looked back up at her. "-But only after I bugged him about it." she chuckled, a silent tear running down her cheek. "Ugh, I'm such a horrible person." she groaned, wiping her cheek.

Hesitantly, Bailey took a seat on the grass a foot or so in front of Tori. Crossing her legs in front of her, she rested her hands in her lap. For some reason, she felt sorry for the girl. For one, she obviously had issues, with herself and other people. It couldn't be possible for the girl to have any friends, beings she was almost never on the phone with anyone or communicating with others except the ones in the crew. The girl had to be lonely as hell, especially in the boy department. Bailey understood because she was at that point once, before Jake.

"I don't know." Tori stared out into the darkness. "This thing is so much bigger than you, Joe and Jake. It's me. I'm the messed up one. I just want to be liked, you know?" Tori was now just talking out loud to herself. She just wanted to be heard. She didn't have anyone anywhere else to talk to. Bailey was confused as to why she was talking to her, the one who she basically screwed over for an entire two months. "All I'm trying to say is, it's not Joe's fault. Be mad at me about this, not him. He was the sweetheart that made up thousands of easy rejection speeches." she chuckled again as Bailey thought, 'I'm already mad at you, bitch.' But she didn't want to put the girl under even more emotional stress, so she held back. "I'd kill to have someone care for me like Joe cares about you." her voice was filled with sincerity. Bailey couldn't help but stare back into her eyes. "After you left, it hurt everyone. Just the way he was acting, talking, sulking. Kevin even said he hadn't seen his brother any more devastated." she paused. "He's a really great guy, Bails."

"I know." Bailey replied quietly, thinking about the emotional state Joe had to have been in now. His heart had been on a crazy roller coaster. First her leaving, then Tori squeezing herself in the middle, her showing up at the show unannounced, their wrestling match on the bus, the kiss, her finding out about Tori's date. He had to have been going insane.

- - - - -

"Joe, just calm down." Kevin stated softly, patting his brother on the back as he hid his teary face in his hands on the bus.

"Why does she have this effect on me?" he muttered, the brought his head up to look at him. "I try to tell myself not to care, but I can't convince myself."

"You're allowed to care about someone." Kevin replied, staring back into his bloodshot eyes.

"It's been two months without her, that's plenty of time to forget about someone that you only knew for a month before, right? Why couldn't I forget and move on?" Joe was now talking to himself.

Kevin was hesitant before responding. "Maybe you like her a lot more than you think. Like, like-like." Normally, Joe would've smiled at the fact that he used 'like' three times in the same sentence, but at that moment his mind was on Bailey. "Maybe even more?"

Joe didn't object as he kept Kevin's gaze. Maybe he did like her more than he'd admit, but that didn't matter now. He was under the impression that she hated him.

"I totally screw it up." Joe muttered, looking away. "Tori."

"Oh. . . That might be a little problem." Kevin remembered, then looked away himself. "Well, did you explain yourself?"

"I couldn't even get a word in before she stormed off." Joe replied, disappointed in himself. "You think she'd believe me if I told her that it didn't mean anything? Kev, I don't know what to do! What if she doesn't want to hear it? What if she never wants to speak to me again? Dude, I messed up big time." he exhaled with force. "I didn't think I was ever going to see her again. . . After all that time, I just had to get my mind off her, you know?" he looked over at his brother, searching his face for some hope.

"I know." Bailey's voice rang in his ears. Instantly, Joe spun his body around to see Bailey in the doorway.

"I didn't know, -How long have you, -What are you, Bailey, I -" Joe couldn't find the words to speak as Kevin waved himself out, exiting the bus to leave the two alone. His eyes started to tear up. "Just don't give up on me, ok? Hear me out!"

"Joe, I'd never give up on you." her nose started to burn as she fought back the tears. Seeing him like this broke her heart, even if she was there to tell him that everything was alright. "You're the best thing that has ever happened to me." she bit her tongue after speaking that cheesy line, but continued anyway. "I really mean it."

Joe was touched by her words. He could hear the passion in her voice and he loved it. "About the dates, I -"

"I know" Bailey cut him off, hoping to save him the breath. "Tori told me."

"Tori told you?!" he didn't mean to respond as loudly as he did. "Wait, is she alive? You didn't -"

"Joe!" she exclaimed, then smacked him in the leg. "We talked. I didn't punch her lights out or anything. . ." After watching the look of disbelief, Bailey assured him. "Really! She's fine." About a minute of silence went by. "Now what?"

Joe didn't say a word. Instead, he leaned forward to her on the couch and hugged her. Squeezing his arms tightly around her body, he closed his eyes as he nuzzled his face in her strawberry scented hair that covered her shoulders. Her arms were wrapped around his shoulders, her face buried in his neck, inhaling his captivating scent. For a long period of time, they just sat there holding each other, taking everything in. They had missed out on this for a long time.

"Bailey?" Joe asked quietly into her hair.

"Hm?" her hum vibrated into his neck.

"I love you." he whispered, his lips softly brushing against her ear, reviving the tingling sensation in her body that had been at rest for months.

Smiling, she replied without hesitation. "I love you too."