Pt.5 Paparazzi

This past week,I'd been hanging out at the park with _. Okay, technically we're babysitting, but no one needs to know that. _ started warming up to me, little by little.
"So you seriously didn't eat anything orange when you were little?" I laughed. _ shook her head.
"Nope.I didn't eat carrots, oranges or orange flavored popscicles...none of it. Now, I only eat carrots if I can't taste them and you couldn't pay me enough to eat the orange popscicles."
"That's hilarious!"
"It is what it is," she shrugged.
"What about—"
"_! I thought I'd find you here." We both looked towards the speaker . I frowned, I recognizedd him as the guy from Starbucks.Also known as _'s boyfriend.
"Terry? What're you doing here?" _ said quietly.
"What? I can't see my girl when I want to? Who's your friend?"
"Terry, this is Joe...Jonas."
"No way! One of those gay singer dudes." My eyes narrowed at him.Just keep giving me reasons to beat you to a pulp...
"He's not gay, Terry. And neither are his brothers." Did she just defend me?
"You know I'm babysitting. What do you really want?" _ sounded annoyed. Terry sat down next to _ and put his arm around her shoulder.
"I was thinking you could ditch the kid and we could do something fun." It was making me nauseous watching him nuzzle her neck. I stood up and went to play in the sandbox with Belle. I could still hear them from over here.
"Are you crazy? She's my sister!"
"Let your buddy watch her."
"NO!"
"Hi Belle," I said. Belle looked up at me and smiled widely.
"You're a lot nicer than him," she said. I gave her a funny look. i sat down on the edge of the sandbox.
"Oh uea? How?" I asked.
"He makes Sissy cry."
"He what?!" Belle shrugged like it was nothing.
"Sometimes he comes to our house and yells. ITs scary; Sissy cries. I saw him hit her once. They thought I was sleep, but I wasn't."
"Belle!" I scrunched down to her level," Why didn't you tell your mom and dad?"
"Mommy's never home. We don't have a dad." Well, that explains why _ always evaded my question about her parents.
"Sometimes Mommy stays home. Then Sissy goes places with him." I looked back at the 'couple.' They were still arguing.
"I am not leaving her here," _ hissed.
"Then leave her with the gay guy," Terry insisted.
"No! I will not leave her with Joe. And he's not gay!"
"Are you sneaking around with him? Is that why you don't want to go with me?'
"Have you lost your mind?"
"You're cheating on me!" Terry stood up. What happened next happened so fast, yet it was in slow motion. Terry stood up. then he reared back and slapped _. I jumped up and tackled the jerk to the ground. He punched me in my face, knocking me back. I heard clicks and flashes. I stood up and punched Terry back. More clicks and flashes.
"Now look what you did," I yelled," You've sent the paparazzi running!" I turned my back on him just as he stood back up.
"Are you okay?" I asked _.she nodded.
"Get away from my girl," Terry growled. I glared back at him.
"As of now, she's not your girl anymore. She's mine." I stood and helped _ up.
"Belle!" I called," Come on!" Belle grabbed her shovel and pail and ran towards us. My mood lifted slightly when I remembered I drove to the park today. We started for the car, but Terry grabbed my shoulder and spun me around. He punched me and I saw blood spray from my mouth. I staggered a bit, then he punched me in my nose. This guys was really getting on my nerves. He tried to punch me again, but i grabbed his hand with my right and punched with my left. He fell to the ground. I grabbed _ and Belle's hands and led them to the car.
"Joe," _ said worriedly," You're bleeding." I ignored her and started the car.
"I'm taking you back to my place. We need to get some ice on that." I drove down the street; we were at my house in no time.
"Kevin! Nick! Somebody! I need ice stat!" I yelled as I opened the door. _ gingerly sat on the couch. Belle sat down on the floor in front of her. Kevin and Nick came running down the stairs.
"Joe what're you---Holy crap!" Kevin exclaimed.
"What happened to you?!" Nick blurted. I shook my head,"Don't worry about it. Get me some ice for her cheek. Now! Please..." Kevin ran down the stairs and into the kitchen. Nick ran back up the stairs.
"Joe...your nose," _ said.
"stop worrying about me," I said," I'm fine." Kevin came back with an ice pack and Nick had several wet wash cloths. _ ignored the ice pack and reached for the towels.
"_ what're you---"
"Shut up, Joe!" she said sternly. She started to clean all the nastiness off my face.
"I think he damaged your brain or something..." she mumbled," You are sooo not fine."
"Who's this?" nick asked.
"Guys this is _ and her sister Belle. Oh, speaking of which...where's Frankie?" I asked.
"In the basement with the Wii," Kevin replied.
"Take Belle down there, if you don't mind." Kevin nodded. Belle jumped up and grabbed his hand.
"Is he gonna be okay?" she asked him quietly.
"Oh yea," KEvin said," Joe'll be fine. He's part super hero you know."
"You're gonna bruise like a peach," I mumbled.
"Will you can it?!" _ snapped, "He just slapped me. He could've done a lot worse. He could've done to me what he did to you."
"What happened?" Nick repeated as he sat down in a chair.
"Yea, I'd like to know too," Kevin said leaning against the wall. _ sighed and recapped what happened. I chuckled when she finished.
"What?" everyone asked. _ put another band aid on my face.
"I can't wait to see the tabloids tomorrow."
"There," __ smiled," All better."
"Thanks---OW!" She had pinched me.
"What was that for?"
"For being an idiot!" she yelled,"I'm a big girl, Joseph .I can take care of myself."
"If you say so," I scoffed.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Belle told me this isn't the first time he's hit you."
"Well...little kids lie. Where's your bathroom?"
"Down the hall to your right, second door on the left,"Kevin said. _ stood up and left. Kevin and Nick stared at me.
"So that's her," Nick said. I nodded.
"So that's the girl that's got you head over heels?" I nodded again.
"So that's the girl you decided to just be friends with, but now that plan has odviously changed because you beat the crap out of her boyfriend."
"Hey, if I saw him hit her I would have done the same thing," Kevin admitted,"She's cute."
"Cute?" i said." Cute?! She's not cute. She's gorgeous! I'd give her a rose, but she'd make it jealous."
"Dude, you are head over heels," Nick said in disbelief.
"Yea well...what am I supposed to do about that? I doubt she likes me like that." Suddenly _ appeared.
"You never know," she mumbled.