Daydreamer

“Food regrets are the worst. Thanks for the warnin’ though.” Joe laughed, having taken a moment to work out if the girl’s words were directed at him or not. “D’ya want one now?”

Amber picked up a giant rock and hurled it through the window of the job centre. Her social worker had been pestering her to go, so he should’ve expected this. “They want me to get a job? They can fuckin’ dream on.” 

“That was... ya certainly ‘ave good aim.” Joe smiled, admiring the girl’s work, shards of glass littering the pavement. “Rebellin’ against the system?”

I guess welcome back is in order? Whose buying?

I think tha’ depends on where ya’ve been. 

Jumping out of that window last night wasn’t nearly as easy as the movies make it look. Can ANY of you guys give me some tips for the next time?

Make sure ya ‘ave a good landin’? Though, if ya doin’ it on the regular, I’m sure it gets easier.

“Oi, whats the matter, aye? You don’t look too happy!”

“Me? No, I’m fine, just tired. Are you alright?”

“How are you tha’ flexible? I’m jealous.”

“I mean, I were just stretchin’...?” Joe spoke, a look of confusion on his face before he followed Elsa’s gaze to see a girl behind him holding her leg vertically alongside her body like it was nothing. “Tha’ makes more sense.”

“If ya don’t mind? I’ve been tryin’ ta cut down... it’s not goin’ well.”

“I, erm... d’ya have the time? I forgot ta put my watch on.” Joe half lied, mainly just trying to cover why he was actually staring.

Listening to his music, Joe was just out jogging in the park when he saw a flash of white by his feet, looking down just in time to see the small dog now stopped right in front of him. Reacting as quickly as possibly, he jumped over it, landing weirdly on his feet and, having no time to correct his landing, fell to the ground. He had landed on his shoulder and chest fairly heavily, turning his head to the side to see the dog stare at him for a second before scampering off to find it’s owner. “Ya little dick...” Joe said under his breath, rolling himself onto his back with a groan. When he looked up he froze, noticing he was now partially on Natasha’s yoga mat and she was sat a couple of inches from him, looking down at where he was laying. “Hi.” He smiled apologetically.

“I was only coughin’?”

Ellie looked at shirtless Joe and couldn’t help but think of the kiss she awkwardly gave him. Inwardly cringing at how she’d almost forgotten, she began fiddling with the hem of her sleeve. “Avoidin’ me…?” She asked, finishing his sentence with an insecure smile. “Ah.” She nodded when he mentioned work. “Ya’ must be rollin’ in tha’ money then, next time we go drinkin’, your buyin’!” Her words were more relaxed now as she took a few steps towards him, feeling a little back to how she used to be around him. “Good, really good actually.” She said with a knowing smile. “You, other than work? Not pinin’ about ‘ow much ya’ miss ya’ best mate?” She teased.

It made Joe uncomfortable to think that Ellie’s first thought was that he was avoiding her. Yes, it had been awkward, but he didn’t want to let a grief-fuelled kiss get in the way of their friendship. “I wouldn’t say tha’ exactly... course I will. Ya never know, we might even go on tha’ holiday one day.” Raising his eyebrows at her, he was glad as she got closer, feeling like there was less of a barrier between them now. “Good... I’m really glad.” Joe had never known Ellie to look 100% healthy in the time they had known each other, but she seemed happy and didn’t look so ill anymore, which put his mind at ease. “Always. Day an’ night, of course! I can barely function without ya.” He laughed, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a half hug. “I’m fine though, same old same old, y’know? What’s new wi’ you, though? Ya seem... different.”

Sophie turned to the sound of someone clapping, smiling sheepishly when she realised it was aimed at her. “Thank you.” She bowed a little at him, followed by laughter. “I’ll be fine.” She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “As long as I haven’t drooled all over my face I think I’ll live.”

Joe smiled at Sophie’s tiny bow, placing his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “Err... doesn’t look like it, so I think ya safe.” He chuckled, unable to stop looking at her, hoping he would get used to her appearance soon. “Up until the chokin’ bit, that was pretty good.”

Imogen laughed. “I know. Like I tell everyone, I’m like a cat wi’ nine lives.” She winked. “I’ve got about seven left now, I think.” She leaned against Joe’s car as she watched him fill up the bucket. She placed a hand on her bump when Joe asked how far along she was. “About… 20 weeks now, I think,” she said, pausing for a moment to add it up in her mind. She wasn’t the kind to keep track of it all the time, like Roxy probably was. She just wasn’t as excited as her; more nervous. “I’m pretty lucky tha’ tha bump ain’t as big as I’d expected. Bu’ I’ll still probably look huge later on.”

“I think ya might even be givin’ cats a run for their money at this point.” Joe laughed, scratching his shoulder. It was odd thinking Imogen was so far along in the pregnancy yet this was the first he’d heard of it, though it was to be expected under the circumstances of course. “Wow...” Furrowing his brow, Joe tried to make sense of it all. He couldn’t help but wonder who the father was, and how it could be that Imogen had a sudden interest in starting a family. “Yeah, there’s still plenty o’ time for tha’. How are ya feelin’ about it all? Ya okay an’ everythin’, aren’t ya?” It was hard to believe that anyone could go through everything she had been through and come out the other side anything but traumatised but, if anyone was going to, it was going to be Imogen.

Alexis hadn’t been butt ugly before puberty, she had actually been quite cute, but now that puberty had hit her, the baby face she had always had was beginning to mature, and for that she couldn’t be more happy. Her hand moved up to push a loose wave of her tresses out of her face, as she smiled up at him. “Definitely, thank god puberty hit, or I’d still be known as baby face of tha’ Strngfellow family.” She laughed, shaking her head at the memory, Stacey had always taunted her with that term, not in a horribly nasty way, more in a way of trying to make her blush or die of embarrassment. Alexis had always had a knack for remembering a face, where as her sister, rarely did, it was one of the main ways in which they were completely opposite, and as for her sister being a bitch, she had experienced it first hand more than once, and it wasn’t a nice thing to go through especially when her sister knew how to hurt someone with her harsh words and horrible attitude on times. That didn’t mean she didn’t love her, it just meant that she didn’t like the way she went about things. “I do love her in all honesty, but she can get on me nerves at times.” She explained, her blue orbs on his, examining his curls, she thought it was cute how curly his hair was, she didn’t normally see a lot of blokes with curls, it was refreshing. As he bent down to check the hose, she watched as he examined her body, before standing up again, and she fought the urge to look at his chest, even though it was hard. She felt great that he had looked at her, the way he did. She felt pretty, and sometimes her insecurities robbed her of that feeling. It was nice to feel like someone found you attractive, it did wonders for how you saw yourself. “No, of course I do, why wouldn’ I?” She laughed, trying to make sure he wasn’t offended as that was the last thing she wanted to do, but she knew that he was joking her. Her eyes moved and she let them explore his body slowly, before snapping back up to his face, a smile on her lips. When he offered her to come in, she raised an eyebrow, knowing how that sounded, but she knew he wasn’t like that, or at least he didn’t seem like it, and she laughed as he tried to correct himself. “Joe babes, it’s fine, I’d love ta come in, could do with a glass of water or somethin’ tho, I’m parched.” She winked at him again, walking closer to him, her eyes moving to look at the hose to make sure it didn’t end up coming on again, all she needed was to get soaked. Looking up at him now as she stood next to him, she realized how tall he was compared to her. “Wow, I’m like a midget next ta ya’.” Alexis joked, trying to hide the ghost of a smirk on her lips. 

Joe was relieved to hear Alexis actually wanted to spend time with him, worried he had been too forward, though he wasn’t sure that would be a problem with how she then looked at his body. Smiling back at her, he held his breath slightly as Alexis got closer, his eyebrow raising after another wink on her part. “I’ll ‘ave ta see wha’ I can do about that, then.” He smirked, looking down at where she was stood in front of him. “I think it’s cute.” He shrugged, before a smile flashed across his face. “Come on then, let’s get ya that drink.” Joe chuckled, placing his hand ever so gently on Alexis’ shoulder blade, guiding her towards the front door.

Alexis gave him a smile, she remembered him from school too, when he had a long fringe falling in his blue eyes, she had always found him good looking that was for sure, and she remembered asking Stacey who he was, not that Stacey would take much notice of her sister asking, but she did tell her, and she remembered speaking to him when she was young, so that was how they knew each other. She was quite popular back in school too, so it was only right that some people found her recognizable. “Yeah, thank god for puberty, otherwise, I would still ‘ave looked like a nine year old.” She joked, her blue orbs scanning up to him. “You’ve definitely changed tho’ your long fringe isn’ tha’ long anymore.” She had been so glad that puberty had been kind to her, where as some of her class mates had been struck with horrible acne and small boobs, she had blossomed in the best possible way. “Yeah, she can be okay, sometimes, but other times, she can be right bitch. But since I’m ‘er sister, I guess I’m stuck with ‘er.” She laughed to herself, her blue eyes on his. She looked at the car he was cleaning in curiosity before looking back to him, and raising an eyebrow at him. “Ya’ wanna get ta know me do ya’?” She asked, surprised, normally people her sisters age didn’t take much notice of her except for Finn, Emilia and Imogen. 

“Ya can say tha’ again.” Joe laughed, glad that puberty had somehow treated them both kindly. “God, no. Thank god for puberty and haircuts, eh?” He grinned down at her, unconsciously pushing a few curls of his forehead as he spoke. It was flattering that Alexis remembered him at all, it had been years since they would’ve last seen each other, let alone remembering smaller things like the way he had his hair. Joe nodded in agreement at the comment about Stacey being a bitch. He had experienced it first hand, but also seen her dish it out to other people. “I guess ya are, really.” Smiling, his eyes barely leaving Alexis’, Joe bent down to make sure the hose was no longer running, his gaze running up her body slowly as he stood up again. “Course I do? D’ya not want ta get ta know me then?” He spoke, pretending to be offended before breaking into a grin. “Yeah, I do. I mean, ya very welcome ta come in?” He gestured to the house behind him before realising how it might sound, correcting himself as quickly as possible. “Or we could go for a drink or somethin’ sometime, if ya wanted?”

,bridget-saunders:

“Man handling it might have been your problem.” She laughed, shaking her head as she continued to walk towards him until she was only a few feet away. Carmen crossed her arms over her chest, examining her eyes over his toned soaked torso and the tap that had only just shut off. “You’ll have to be more careful next time then, ey?” Taking a step forward she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before smiling up at the stranger. “I get that a lot” She joked “I’m not exactly what you’d call a ‘social butterfly’..”

“Well, unfortunately, I don’t think I can really do much else but manhandle it. Y’know...” Joe furrowed his brow, shrugging. The girl in front of him kept getting closer and closer, something he didn’t mind in the slightest, his eyes tracking her movement. “I suppose I will.” He smiled, though he was starting to think this wasn’t such a  bad situation to be in. “Hey, I’ve not been either, lately. Ain’t such a bad thing really.” He grinned, adjusting the way he was standing. “Look though, we’ve both met someone new today now. My name’s Joe.”