burning red • joe burrow

008

there was this very weird tension in the room. olivia and joe were obviously clueless but everybody else felt it.

"okay," olivia said pouting making her voice sound higher that it was. "i'm getting some weird vibes."

"wonder why." charlie said under her breathing thinning her lips and raising her eyebrows slightly.

"so," olivia said turning to tara. "i don't really know you that well, so tell me something about you."

"uh," tara said trying to think of what to say to olivia. "i used to live in la for a while."

"why'd you move?" olivia asks.

"wasn't the right place for me anymore." tara said shrugging her shoulders.

"that obviously means you got dumped baby, it's okay." olivia said pouting once again.

"olivia?" evan said, his voice was telling her that wasn't okay.

"i was just talking." olivia said defensively. "who were you dating?"

"it doesn't really matter." lily said. everyone knew one way or another that him hitting her would come up.

"tara, come here." olivia said, motioning for her to come.

tara stood up, and walked over to olivia. she stood still. olivia brought her hand back and quickly swiped it forward as if she was going to hit her. tara flinched.

"guys," olivia said looking around the room. "i think he hits her."

tara but her tongue, holding back tears. then olivia chuckled. she laughed. what was funny?

tara walked out of the room. "tara, wait." joe said, tara kept walking.

"it's okay, joey." olivia said. "she needs time."

"you can't just do something like that to someone." tee said. "what is wrong with you?"

"no, like something is mentally wrong with you. i'm being serious." jamar said.

"joey!" olivia said. "you're gonna let them talk to me like this!"

joe stayed silent, just like he has the entire time olivia has been here. he didn't even stand up for tara.

"olivia, you need to leave." joe said. the first time he spoke.

"what do you mean?" olivia said. "joey?"

"you heard him, you need to leave." rory said. olivia was standing up now. "how did you even get this address?"

"i tracked his location." olivia said.

"oh so your like crazy crazy." jamar said. "you seriously need to leave."

olivia left, after much protesting. joe hasn't said anything else. everyone went up to tara's room to make sure she was okay.

"tara?" lily said opening the door. tara was sitting at the foot of her bed.

"you okay?" tee said. everyone was acting as if she was a delicate piece of glass.

tara didn't answer. the truth was no, but she wanted to say yes. "not really." tara said shrugging her shoulders.

"what olivia did was stupid and rude." jamar said. "she's insane."

"it's not even that." tara said scoffing. "joe, he didn't even do anything about it."

"boys are stupid." rory said sitting down next to tara. tee, evan, and jamar all had shocked faces. "well, joe is stupid." rory said chuckling.

"are him and olivia like a thing?" tara said.

"no," evan said. "do you like joe?"

tara shrugged her shoulders. "did you like joe?" jamar asked, maybe she didn't anymore.

"i still do," tara said. "it's just, he didn't even care. he just let her say and do those things."

joe walked into the room. "we'll give you guys a minute." rory said getting up, everyone left the room.

tara stood up. "i'm sorry, what she did wasn't right." joe said.

"it's not about what she did, joe. i'll get over it. it's the fact you didn't do anything." tara said.

"i don't know what you wanted me to do." joe said.

"who even is olivia anyway. she's rude. is she your girlfriend or something?" tara said.

"no, she's just my friend. i've known her forever, we are friends." joe said. sounds familiar, doesn't it? deja vu anyone?

"just like we're friends?" tara said.

"what's that supposed to mean?" joe said.

"you know that we aren't just friends joe. i'm just waiting for you to see that." tara said.

"that's why i'm hurt." tara said. joe went to say something. "no, i'm not done. you are going to listen to me."

"i've had a crush on you for as long as i've known you. and yeah, it may be unrequited as crap, but i do. and i thought finn would get rid of that, but it only made me like you more." tara said. "every time finn would hit me, i would think to myself, joe would flip if he found out. what i'm getting at here is that you don't care. i know you like olivia so you don't have to hide it anymore, i just wished that it was me you liked."

"tara," joe said. but it was too late. tara was already half way out the door. joe was chasing her, taking two steps at a time.

once tara passed the living room, she grabbed her keys and slammed the door. "what was that?" lily said to joe as he breathlessly walked into the living room.

"did you guys know?" joe asked. everyone was confused. "did you know she liked me?"

"yes." everyone said at the same time.

"and you decided to not tell me?" joe said, he was getting quite angry.

"it wasn't our job to tell you." tee said. "don't be mad at us."

"well i blew it." joe said plopping down on the couch. he let out a frustrated sigh.

• • •

it's been a couple of hours. joe went home, so did tee, evan, and jamar. lily and the other girls waited for tara to get home, which she did but it was late.

she went straight to her room and took a very long shower. she did her skincare and lied down. she had a couple of missed calls from joe, she didn't answer.

it wasn't fair. tara has spent so long being in love with joe and he treats her like this. what a drag to love joe like tara does.

honestly, tara felt stupid. it was silly for her to fall in love with him. there was never a way he could reciprocate those feelings, and she knew that. she just hoped she was wrong. and she wasn't.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

joe is kinda stupid rn