Ninety minutes and 4 'Kokes' later, Bailey was completely out of it. Instead of having a motor mouth and crazy dance moves, the alcohol had a different effect on her. She was as quiet as a mouse, her eyes glossy as she stared out into space. Almost losing her balance on the barstool, her mind came back into reality, not being able to process the grin on the bartender's face in front of her. She eyed him out of confusion.

"Told you I made the best." he boasted.

Bailey scrunched her nose up, slipping off the barstool. "You're weird." she said blatantly before turning around and walking into a crowd of people.

"Hey, watch it!" she heard a girl exclaim.

"Sorry." Bailey muttered in response, throwing her hands up as her eyes gazed down to the ground. She couldn't even focus her eyes long enough to see the glares from the random people that she was receiving. She then spun around, away from the group and into a somewhat familiar curly head.

"Hey Bails." Nick smiled at her, but she couldn't tell.

"Nicholas!" she exclaimed, grabbing onto his shoulders with both hands. "How've you been, buddy?" a cheesy grin spread across her face as Nick inhaled the foul smell of her breath. He tried not to gag.

"Are you alright?" he cautiously asked, hoping that she wasn't what he thought she was.

"Never better." she continued to beam. He watched as her eyes tried to focus on his, but they just swirled around aimlessly. At that moment he realized that she wasn't just playing with him; she was completely wasted.

"When was the last time you've talked with anyone? Where's Mandy?" Nick questioned, concern in his voice. Bailey laughed, then shrugged her shoulders.

"Mandy wandered off hours ago." she flung her wrist in the air, almost hitting a man who was passing by. "Oops." she giggled.

Nick then glanced around the area, a bit paranoid. Wrapping his arm around Bailey's waist, he began to walk.

"Come on. I'm going to take you back to the hotel." he stated. Just them, Bailey stopped walking and jerked away from him.

"I don't want to leave!" she exclaimed, making a few people around them stare. Nick sighed.

"The party is over. Everyone is leaving." he lied to get her to give in, knowing that she wouldn't be able to tell the difference either way.

"Oh." Bailey replied, stumbling forward at him. His arm made it's way around her waist once again as he lead her outside of the flashy club, hoping that no one had seen.

After waving down a cab, Nick slowly helped Bailey into the backseat. He told the driver to take them to their hotel as fast as he could, unless he wanted to provide a barf bag. Believe it or not, the cab had stopped outside their destination in a quick 10 minutes and Bailey was on the verge of passing out. Nick swung the car door open and helped her out.

"Nick?" she mumbled, looking over at his blurry head.

"Yeah?" he replied hesitantly. The funny look her face made caused him to pull away from her. A split second later, she spewed out her insides on the pavement outside the hotel lobby. Wincing, Nick looked away, then back at her once the nasty gagging noises had stopped. After taking a deep breath and holding it in, Nick helped Bailey up to their floor.

Once stopping outside her door, Bailey looked at Nick expectantly.

"What?" he asked. "You don't have your card key?"

"Nick, I don't even think I have a brain right now." she gripped her throbbing head as the numbing feeling started to wear off. She was slowly coming back to reality. Sighing, Nick trailed down the hall to the room next to hers. After sliding his key in and hearing a beep, the door creaked open as he flicked on the lights. "Ow." Bailey groaned, her hand shooting up to her forehead.

"Sorry." he mumbled, then swiveled the light down so the room went dim. "You can just crash on Joe's bed 'til they get back I guess."

"I'd rather not." she replied disgustedly.

"Bails, you need to rest." Nick tried to keep his voice soft.

"I know, just not in his bed." she stated, making her way over to his. She eased herself into the bed, then let her head fall into her hands.

"So are you going tell me what's going on now? I've already waited this long to ask why in the world you were drinking, not to mention refusing your own boyfriend's bed. I deserve to know something." he spilled as the tension in the room rose a bit.

Bailey proceeded to give him the half-assed version of what she had witnessed. Her head felt like it was going to explode. Hoping he'd be satisfied with the limited amount of words she had spoken, she stood up as he tossed her one of his old shirts. She slipped the shirt over top of her strapless dress, then pulled the dress down her body and kicked it off by her feet. Now wearing only Nick's shirt and a pair of underwear, she slid into his vacant bed.

A little taken aback by the story he had just heard about his brother letting another girl kiss him, he was speechless. He had hoped that it was just the alcohol inside of her talking, but the other half knew that it was most likely true. She wouldn't have made it up, plus he knew how girls threw themselves at him. Nick didn't exactly know what to say to make her feel better,.

After grabbing a few pills, he walked over to Bailey's side of the bed and handed her the Advil with a glass of water. Her head crashed into the pillow after a simple 'thank you'. Instantly, her eyes closed. Her head hurt too much to even think; she was out within moments.

About an hour had passed. Nick stared at the almost silent TV screen as his cell buzzed in the pocket of his flannel PJ pants. He glanced down at the little LCD screen, it read 'Joe',

"Hey." he said quietly into the phone after placing it up to his ear.

"Have you seen Bailey?" Joe's voice was loud through the speaker as he tried to speak over the loud music in the background. Sighing, Nick got up and made his way into the tiny bathroom, closing the door behind him so he could talk at a normal volume.

"Yeah Joe, she's here."

"Ok, good!" he replied. "I couldn't find her. . . Why'd she leave? -You know what, never mind. I'll be there in a few. I'll talk to her then. Later!"

"But -" Nick started, but then slammed his phone shut after the line went dead.

Before he knew it, it was almost 5am.

The group arrived back at the hotel. After realizing Bailey was asleep in the room, everyone knew to keep it quiet, even if the adrenaline inside of them was still alive from the party. Joe stood above Bailey's sleeping body, looking at her beautiful face as the guilt continued racking up on his heart.

"Should I wake her up?" he asked softly, then looked up at Nick.

"Joe, just back off." he replied, sounding meaner than he wanted to.

"Hey!" Joe snapped, glaring at him.

"I mean, she's sick. Give her a bit of room, let her sleep." Nick quickly replied before grabbing a spare blanket and pillow out of the closet and making his way to the couch on the other side of the hotel room.

Looking back down to Bailey, Joe slowly leaned his body down and softly kissed her on her cheek. Sighing, he then got changed and slipped into bed where Kevin was already asleep.

- - - - -

Bailey was instantly awoken by the sour taste in her mouth. The clock next to the bed read '10am' as she rushed into the small bathroom and swinging the door closed. Doubling over the porcelain bowl, she threw up the rest of the junk that was in her stomach. She coughed a few times before falling onto her butt and leaning up against the bathroom wall. Her eyes started to close as the bathroom door slowly began to open. She watched as a sleepy Joe stared at her from the doorway.

"Are you alright?" his scratchy, morning voice asked as he kneeled down to look into her bloodshot eyes.

"Better than last night." she barley got out, not wanting to even speak. Bailey had never felt more disgusting in her life. She tried to overlook the questioning expression that played on his face, but she couldn't help it. "I think there was something in my drink last night." she shrugged, which was true.

"Oh." he replied. Hearing about last night made the guilt return to the front of his mind. "Do you want me to get you anything?"

"No, I think I'll be alright." she tried her best to convince him with a look of reassurance.

Joe stared at her for a moment before speaking. "I think we're heading out in an hour or so. We've got a show tomorrow in Minnesota, I think? Ross wants to get there early."

"Thanks for the heads up." she blinked slowly, then stood up, wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

With that, she made her way over to her and Mandy's room. After knocking on the door from the hallway, the door swung open to reveal Mandy in a towel.

"Hey party girl!" she smiled, moving away from the doorway so Bailey could enter. "Have fun last night?"

"I don't even want to talk about it." she groaned, then immediately went to the bathroom to shower.

Mandy banged on the door to get her attention. "It's alright. Nick already told me. -But don't worry, Joe doesn't know."

Sighing, Bailey stepped into the steamy shower, trying to scrub her thoughts away. If anything, it just caused her head to pound even more. All she wanted to do was get back to bed. Eventually, she finished and got all her stuff together. Wearing a baggy pair of sweatpants and a random t-shirt, Bailey followed Mandy and the boys down to the tour bus with their bags in hand. Everyone was pretty quiet, since they were still exhausted from the party that had ended only 6 hours prior.

Once everyone flooded onto the bus, they pretty much dispersed to their bunks. Bailey was the only one at first to head into the back lounge. Pulling her favorite blanket off the back of the couch, she curled up into the corner as Joe entered, taking a seat next to her.

"Bails, can we talk?" he asked, keeping his voice down a bit. All she did was nod. Joe took a deep breath, then looked away from her eyes. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried to find the words in his mouth. All he could think about when his head hit the pillow only hours before was the kiss. The kiss that wasn't from Bailey. "Last night, I messed up." he started. Instantly, Bailey's stomach sank. She knew exactly what was coming next. After taking another deep breath, he continued. "A girl kissed me last night. We were just standing there talking, and she just kissed me." Bailey was expressionless. "I pulled away though. . .but -"

"I know." she stated, her tired eyes looking up at his.

"What? You knew?" she nodded, the guilt building up even more inside his body.

"Bails, I'm so sorry. Really, I am. I shouldn't have just stood there. I should've pushed her away sooner. It's just, I was so caught up in the party, everything was crazy." she didn't speak, but his eyes were pleading. "I had her kicked out." he stated.

"You kicked her out?" Bailey exclaimed, a bit shocked.

"She shouldn't have done it. Plus she started screaming and cursing at me when I pushed her away." he shrugged. "She just had to go."

"Joe. . ."

"Look, it really shouldn't have happened and I'm sorry." he rambled. "She just. . .threw herself at me."

"I know, I saw." she said. "It's fine. Just forget about it." Bailey finished truthfully, just wanting to get back to sleep.

"I still feel horrible."

"Don't worry about it. It wasn't your fault."

"I don't care. I'm going to fix things. No matter who's fault it was, it still happened." he kept poking at it, trying to get the feeling out of his system.

"Joseph Adam, shut it. Alright?" Bailey snapped. "It's ok!" she grabbed his hand, pulling it into her lap. "Stop feeling bad about yourself. I saw what happened. It's over and done with." Joe just looked at her, trying to think of what to say.

"Alright." he surrendered, but the feeling was still there. He felt like he was forgetting something. "Just get some sleep. I can tell you had a rough night." she playfully smacked him on the arm. "Night, even though it's almost noon." he chuckled, then leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

Bailey smiled up at him until he made his way to his bunk. Feeling a bit better about everything, she sunk into the cushion, her head resting on the armrest as she curled the blanket up to her chin. Within moments she fell into a peaceful sleep.

- - - - -

After rolling over for a seventh time on the leather couch, Bailey finally threw the blanket onto the floor. She felt like her normal self again as she sat up, glancing up at the clock on the wall. It was a little after 6pm. Yawning and stretching her arms up above her head, she was a bit weirded out by the silence on the bus. Everything was still. She hesitantly made her way to the bunk area; no one was there. She was alone.

With that, she went to exit the bus to see where it was even parked. A note was hanging in the doorway. Her lips started to curl as she snatched it down.

" Meet me up above.

-Joe "


Scrunching her eyes in confusion, she stepped off the bus to see that she was in the parking lot behind a hotel that had a high elevation. She assumed everyone was already inside and checked in. Looking down at the note again, she mumbled to herself.

"Meet me up above." her voice was soft, as she looked up after hearing someone clear their throat. She chuckled as she watched Joe's head pop out from the roof of the bus.

"Hey sleepy head." he smiled, looking down at her.

"What are you doing up there?" she asked, shielding her eyes from the sun that was beginning to set.

"You know, stuff." he tried to sound secretive before waving her up. Making her way to the rear of the bus, Bailey slowly climbed up the steel ladder to see Joe sitting on a blanket with a bucket and bag of KFC and a boom box.

"Well, isn't this romantic." she laughed, walking over on the roof and taking a seat next to him.

"Yeah, look." he replied, turning his head and pointing over to the mountains far in the distance. The sky was mixed with hot pink and orange as the sun slowly began to sink behind the peaks.

"I guess we made it to Minnesota on time." she smiled, the scenery hypnotizing her mind. Her eyes stared out at the bright colors as Joe stared at her calm, beautiful face. "So what made you think of this?" she asked, redirecting her attention to his warm, dark eyes.

He shrugged, then put his hand on his growling stomach. "I thought you'd be hungry. Plus, we drove by a big sign that said something like, 'If you buy so-and-so, you get a free pirate ring'." Joe held up his hand proudly, showing off the big plastic skull on his finger. "I made them turn around and pull over." Bailey laughed as he dug into the bag.

After chowing down and finishing a lame conversation of 'who would throw the best hissy fit if we stuck their underwear in the freezer; Nick or Kevin?' Joe pulled a tiny box out of his pocket.

"Another pirate accessory?" Bailey joked, looking over at him. The sky was now a light purple, the sun had almost completely disappeared. She tried to keep herself from smiling as she watched him.

Joe chuckled, looking down as his fingers played with the box. "Not quite." His serious tone caught her attention. At that moment, a nervous feeling erupted in her stomach as her heart began to thump in her throat. "So, I." he cleared his throat. "I, uh, picked up this thing the other day." he gulped, then hesitantly looked up at her. "I was going to do this last night, but I couldn't find you." Bailey couldn't help but smile at how much difficulty he was having. The way the words slipped out of his mouth made him sound like he was unsure of himself, but that made him look even more adorable. "Well, I got you this." he said, opening the box to reveal a silver ring.

Bailey's eyes glistened as she looked down at the simple, shiny band. "Aw, Joe." she cooed, her nose started to burn a bit as her eyes began to tear.

Joe took the ring out and held it in front of her. "I had this made the other day." he paused, tilting the ring so she could see the inside. It had 'Joe & Bailey <3' engraved on it. "Here." he gently grabbed her hand and slipped the ring on her ring finger. "I wanted to get you something that symbolized us. This was the best I could think of." he shrugged, then smiled weakly. "It's not like, a purity ring or anything. It's just. . .you know, a ring. -I mean, unless you want it to stand for something else." he was now babbling, which made Bailey laugh.

"Joe, it's too cute. You're too cute." she smiled, leaning forward and planting a light kiss on his lips. "Thank you."

"Oh." he exclaimed, pulling his ring off of his finger. He showed her the inside.

"Oh my God. You got the same thing engraved on your ring?" she asked in disbelief, he nodded proudly. "Your mother is going to kill you!" Joe laughed.

"Calm down, I asked her first. She said it was a wonderful idea." he blushed a little.

"But Joe, you've got my name engraved on your purity ring." she chuckled. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

It looked as if Joe's eyes popped out of his head. "Bails! No, it's not even like that."

She laughed. "I was definitely kidding. But, I mean, if you really. . ." he eyed her. "I'm kidding! Kidding, kidding." she repeated with another smile, shaking her head at how serious he was being. "Just, what'll happen if we. . .you know, break up. . . Then you're stuck with that."

"Stop killing it." he forced out a chuckle.

"I mean, not that I'm saying we will. But in all reality, not everything lasts forever." Bailey's serious tone was soft as Joe's smooth hand held onto hers.

"Well, all I can say is that I'm going to do my best so it will last forever." he replied before she slowly moved in towards him, her lips passionately colliding with his.

For a moment she pulled away, staring deep into his eyes. "I like that idea." He smiled before reconnecting his lips with hers.