// this is what era joe is

"Dad, Dad, I need you to take me and Ruby to community service. Joe doesn't feel good." Bronx says, shaking my shoulder. I blindly hand Bronx my keys because, for some reason, I don't feel too hot either.

"Just take my car. I'll text you if I'm here or if I go home." I say, but I have a feeling that I'll still be here. Once I hear a door slam, I shoot out of bed and find the master bedroom easily. "Joe." I hiss, my throat hurting in the process.

"What?" He groans. When I flick his ear, he sits up in the bed. "Oh, it's you."

"Yeah, s'me. Could've fuckin' told me I'd get something from making out with you. Scoot the hell over." I say, and he obliges. I let him wrap his arms around me and bury his face in my neck.

"M'sorry. I didn't know I'd get you sick." Joe says softly, and I feel bad for being mean now.

"It's okay." I say and snuggle closer to him. We stay in bed until I feel a tap on my shoulder.

"Uh, Dad?" Bronx asks. I jolt up, almost waking Joe, who just groans and makes grabby hands at me.

"Yeah, Son?" I say, and shit, my throat really hurts. Bronx gestures between me and Joe.

"Something I should know?" Bronx asks. I shake my head slightly.

"Nope, just two sick buds cuddling. Nothing else at all." I say. Bronx nods his head slowly, backing out of the room.

"Okay, I'm just gonna-" He interrupts himself by shutting the door, and I lie back down next to Joe.

"That was close." He mumbles. "Glad it was him and not Ruby. She would've freaked."

"Why?" I ask, running my fingers through his soft curls. He shrugs.

"Never been around it. I haven't messed around with guys since high school, and I met Marie in college." Joe explains. I nod and close my eyes.

"Can I just stay here forever?" I ask in content. This would be perfect if my throat didn't hurt.

"We should probably go to the doctor and stop spreading our sick to each other." Joe suggests. I whine, and he rolls his eyes. "Fine, fine, we can stay here for a little while longer." He gives in. I smile in victory.

A little while turns into the rest of the day and beginning of Sunday. I think Joe fell asleep or forgot about what he said.

He wakes me up, and he looks refreshed and really hot. When I tell him this, he just chuckles and makes me go take a shower.

It makes me feel better, I'll admit. I find Joe in the living room with his shirt off, digging through the refrigerator. When he stands up, his back is still to me, and shit, his muscles make my mouth water.

"Pete," Joe says with his back still to me. I shake myself out of those dirty thoughts about what I'd let Joe do to me.

"Uh, yeah?" I ask, and he laughs, turning around. His hair is a mess, and his tattoos are really colourful.

"I asked if you wanted anything to eat." Joe repeats. I realise that maybe 'you' wouldn't be an appropriate answer.

"Sure." I say and jump on top of the bar. He throws his hair back after bending back down to get the eggs. "Shit, you're so hot."

"Shut up." He says, turning the stove on. As he puts the butter in the pan to melt, he walks over to me, where I'm sitting on the counter.

Joe raises an eyebrow as he leans in and kisses me. My hands fly to his hair, and his slide around to cup my ass. When he squeezes hard, and I gasp, he takes the opportunity to slip his tongue into my mouth.

The pan on the stove starts sizzling, and he pulls away, walking back as if nothing happened. "Fuck."

"What's wrong?" Joe asks, turning back around. I glare at him.

"You're a good kisser." I say, and Joe laughs at me, cracking an egg and letting it cook. He walks back over to me.

"Not the first time I've heard that." Joe says. He leans in and mouths at my neck, kissing and sucking after he pulls my shirt over my head.

"How far are we going with this?" I ask as he continues to kiss my collarbone.

"About here because I'm trying to cook." He says. "But you're so fucking distracting."

"I'm distracting? You're fucking shirtless, bending over, waiting to attack me when I come in. How the hell am I distracting?" He rolls his eyes and dumps the eggs on a plate, handing them to me. "You're not eating?" I say around a bite of them.

He shakes his head, holding up his cup of coffee. "Gotta have the coffee first."

"Where are our kids?" I ask after I've swallowed. Joe stops sipping and looks at me with wide eyes.

"Ruby?" He yells throughout the house. I set my plate down and hop off the counter.

"Bronx?" I answer back, calling out for my son. I grab my phone out of my back pocket and click speed dial number two.

"Suuuuup, dude?" I hear on the other line, and I almost drop my phone.

"Bronx Mowgli Wentz, where the fuck are you?" I say. Joe comes running in when he realises I've gotten ahold to Bronx.

"Yo, dude, I don't know. I think I'm at Dec's house, but I don't know." He says. Joe's currently pressed against me so he can hear it, too.

"Is Ruby with you?" I ask, and he laughs.

"Totally, man. I think she's with Bandit, like, totally trying to finish the keg off." I hang up the phone when he says that, and Joe's already throwing me my shirt and grabbing one from somewhere.

I slip on my shoes, and we're on the way to Declan Stump's house. I'm going to beat Patrick Stump's ass, just wait.