beautiful mistake - joe burrow

50

Joe was sitting on the couch in the living room of his house with his parents, talking to his dad about the game, when suddenly his cell phone rang.

"Sorry, I have to take this" he apologized as he read Elle's name on the screen, looking guiltily at his parents for a moment before getting up and taking the call.

"Hey, you. What's up?" he asked, smiling. "Oh,...hey, I...didn't think you'd pick up" Elle stammered, her voice sounding slightly distressed.

Joe laughed. "Then why did you call me?" "I...I don't know" Joe could tell in her voice that wasn't true.

"Elle, did something happen?" he asked worriedly. "No, no...everything's fine. I...I think I just wanted to hear your voice for a minute" she cleared her throat.

Joe sighed. "are you sure?" Elle was silent. "Elle, the last time you said that after your breakdown, it was good to hear a familiar voice. So be honest, were you having a panic attack?"

"It...it was stupid to call you. I'm sorry. I know you wanted to spend the evening with your parents. I shouldn't have called. I'll see you tomorrow, okay? Have a good evening" Elle's voice almost broke away.

"Elle, please answer my question" Joe tried to sound serious, but the concern was clear in his voice. "Good night, Joe" he was about to say something back when the toot sounded. Elle had hung up.

Sighing, he leaned his head against the wall. He couldn't just leave Elle alone after that call, even though she definitely didn't want him to worry.

With quick steps, he walked back into the living room. "Mom, Dad, I'm really sorry. But I have to take care of something. I hope you understand" he grabbed his jacket while looking at his parents.

"Who's the girl?" his mom asked him smiling. "Mom, I...I really don't have time to talk right now" Joe sighed "I understand, son. Go and help her. I'll call you tomorrow and you'll tell me about her, okay?"

"I promise, Mom. Thanks for understanding, get home safe. Love you" Joe took his keys, looked at his parents gratefully and ran to his car.

It took what felt like an eternity until Elle finally opened the door after the doorbell rang and looked at Joe in surprise with her red teary eyes.

"What...what are you doing here?" she asked. "You think I'm going to leave you alone after getting a call like that?" Joe asked sighing and entered the apartment while Elle closed the door behind him.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called" she mumbled and lowered her head. "I didn't want to worry you. You could have spent the evening with your parents. I'm fine"

"I can see that" Joe nodded toward the sofa where countless crumpled tissues lay. Pillows were scattered all over the room and there were several overturned tray tins with their contents scattered on the table.

Sighing, he looked at Elle and pulled her into his arms. "You did the right thing calling me, Elle. You shouldn't be alone in a state like this, no matter who I have visiting or what I'm doing, okay? I care about you and I want to be there for you" he gave her a kiss on the top of her head, while Elle hugged herself tightly to him and sobbed quietly.

"It's ok Elle. Let it out. You're not alone" Joe gently rocked her back and forth as he stroked his hand down her back. "I'm here for you. Let it out" he whispered.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Joe asked as he handed Elle the lavender tea he had made for her. She had calmed down a bit by now as Joe cleaned up the living room.

She just nodded before resting her head on his chest as Joe sat down next to her. "It's totally stupid. Nick called me and told me something. I just got a little too into everything after the call and that's when it happened..." she sighed.

"...Luckily I just had the pills handy and so I was able to stop it before it got as bad as it did during training camp, but now I feel even worse because such a ridiculous thing makes me panic like that" she took a big sip of her tea while tears were already gathering in her eyes again.

"What did Nick tell you?" Joe asked cautiously, putting his arm around Elle to pull her closer to him. Elle remained silent. "Elle, talk to me" he stroked her arm.

"He told me we're too conspicuous and we have to decide whether to make it official or try not to get too intimate with each other" Elle swallowed the lump in her throat and clutched her teacup with both hands.

"Elle, then why didn't you call me right away? After all, the issue affects both of us" Joe sighed "I...I didn't want to ruin the evening with your family" Elle mumbled.

"You're not ruining anything, ok? I want this to work out with us, that's where we need to talk openly about things like this and find a solution together" Elle nodded. "Ok, what...what should we do?" she asked softly.

"What feels right to you?" Joe asked lovingly. "I...don't know. On the one hand, I don't want us to tell the club, because I don't know if we've gotten to the point where it's serious enough to tell them. On the other hand, if the board decides now that we can't be together, maybe it wouldn't be as painful now as if we waited" Elle sighed.

"besides, we're already not acting conspicuously, and if we're not even allowed to talk to each other without the other thinking there's something going on between us, should we stop working with each other altogether? I don't want that either"

"So there's no solution?" Joe asked, brushing a loose strand of hair out of her face. "I don't have one, do you? It's not like we can tell everyone now that they're just imagining it and then at some point say we were just lying because I was scared" Elle sighed.

"there's no right and wrong here, Elle. We both just have to decide what's more right for us. We can't see into the future and we don't know if the board will allow our relationship, but if you don't want us to tell them right now, let's not rush it either, ok? And if they don't accept our relationship, we'll find another way. We're not going to let what we have be ruined just because some people who are above us think it's not good, you understand?" Joe turned Elle's head toward him, making her look at him. Silently, she nodded.

"And as for the others, let them have their fun gossiping about whether there's really anything going on between us. We don't have to care just because a few people like to meddle in other people's lives. If they call us on it, just have fun leading them around by the nose. You don't have to tell them a lie, just tell any story" Joe shrugged his shoulders as Elle giggled.

"Haven't you noticed yet that I'm pretty bad at making excuses?" she asked with a smirk. "then this is your chance to practice it. Anyone who calls you on it, you'll tell them something different" Joe grinned.

"Oh yeah. And what?" Elle asked, laughing. Joe pondered. "Like...that you grin at me like that because every time you see me you think of that incredible joke I told you last time" Joe grinned with satisfaction as Elle laughed. "No one will believe me, because your jokes are not good" Joe made an indignant noise.

Smiling, Elle pressed a kiss to his lips. "Thank you. For coming. For talking and for understanding" she ran her thumb over his cheek. Joe smiled. "No problem" he kissed her back.

"Elle, can I ask you one more question? You don't have to answer it if you don't want to though, ok?" Joe interrupted their making out and looked at Elle. She nodded. "How did your panic attacks start?"

Elle sighed and sat up. "I...don't like to talk about it and..." she sighed again. "You don't have to tell me" Joe reassured her "No, I...it has something to do with my ex. That's all...I can say about it" Joe nodded. "Ok, that's ok"

"Joe, can I ask you something too?" Elle asked as she snuggled back against him. "Anything, Elle" he pressed a kiss to her hair "I...don't want to be alone tonight. Can you sleep here?" she asked uncertainly.

First night together, well, first night in the same bed😂🥺
Hope you're all having an amazing weekend🥰
WHO-DEY🧡🐯