Impractical Jokers: [Joker]xReader Collection

Joe x Reader - The Beginning Begins

Parties have never been your forte but you agreed to go when you heard your closest friend Joe was going. It's loud, a whole lot of laughing and drinking - and it's refreshing to meet up with Gatto and see him sporting a lemonade in the masses. It evokes a tiny giggle from you as you wrap your arms around his neck, surprising him as he turns to look at you with a laugh leaving him.

"[Y/N]! Ya made it!" he calls above the music playing. Outside people are arranging fireworks to set off at midnight to celebrate the beginning of the new year.

"Of course I did! Couldn't miss New Years!" You bring your own drink to your lips, trying to stifle the feeling of awkwardness bubbling in your stomach as you muse how incongruous you are in such a setting. Joe nudges you, wraps a boisterous arm around your shoulders as he leans in closer so he doesn't have to yell over the commotion surrounding you.

"Lookin' far too tense, baby. Loosen up," Joe says, you slapping his shoulder lightly at the pet name. He uses it on occasion to get you to laugh, even has you named it, albeit in brackets, on his phone and it never fails to make you giggle whenever you sneak a glance at his call history. You're almost certain he doesn't know about the way it makes your stomach flutter... but that's something you keep to yourself, lips firmly sealed over your secret. "Come dance with me. Shake up the end'a the year, eh?"

And how can you refuse when he's giving you that gloriously boyish smile, his nose practically against yours as you guide him to an empty spot? He wastes no time in breaking out into exaggerated movements with the soul purpose of making you laugh. He doesn't fail either, you doubling over as he pelvic thrusts with such ferocity you fear he's going to slip over his own momentum.

Red in the cheeks with both exertion and light alcohol consumption, he takes your hand and spins you closer to him, you dumping your drink on one of the tables as you pass it in his arms. You're both sloppy, high on exuberance and energy as you swing and shuffle into one another and by all means terrible; but it doesn't matter to you, and it doesn't matter to Joe either. Hell, the only thing that matters to him is you and that's exactly why, with his nose able to inhale the scent of you as you pass and close in and his hands able to slide down your waist and over your bare shoulders, he doesn't do anything to stop it as you lean in and kiss his nose affectionately before laughing into his shoulder as he continues to spin in fast circles.

Thoroughly dizzy, he stops and holds you by the waist as your laughter sobers into soft little giggles, hands clinging to him as you gain your balance once more. His stare is hypnotic as you settle against him, eyes caught in a torrent of emotion as he leans in... and then stops himself, pulls away from you and looks outside to where the fireworks are being set up. A quick flick of wrist to check the time and then he's looking at you with a hesitant smile.

"...wanna go see the display?" The question is posed quietly, almost timid in comparison to his usual bravado and it causes you to tilt your head in light confusion before you shrug and take his hand, leading him outside before he can say a word.

God, with the heat of your hand in his, Joe feels paralysed. It's such a stupid thing, the way he tenses at your touch, the way he longs for more as he follows you mindlessly, allows himself to be dragged through the onslaught of people and to a quieter corner with a decent view that you're both surprised nobody else has yet taken advantage of. He waits to feel control slip back into his grasp... but it doesn't come, your fingers still firmly around his palm and, in his hopefulness, he doesn't dare let go.

Two minutes until the beginning begins and it is with bated breath that he watches the seconds tick by on his watch. He has to tell you; he has to say something now, before it's out of place and out of time and wrong in conjunction with all the societal cues he's come to accept.

"[Y/N]," he speaks up, ignoring the excited shouts of everybody around the garden as the countdown begins. The final minute of the year and he's battling with himself to spill words that should be so easy to say because they're true. "I–"

Gatto clams up. You turn to him, blinking those large [E/C] eyes at him as he stands there and stares at you, mouth slightly agape as he wills words to tumble past his lips. However, caught in your beauty, the quietness in which makes you so enthralling, he finds himself shell-shocked.

"...Joe...?"

"I... I have feelings for ya, [Y/N]. I couldn't not tell ya any more, I just– I love ya."

Heat rushes through your body and spatters your cheeks with crimson, and you're thankful for the dark for he can't see the rate at which you're blushing. Somewhere in the haze of confusion and heart-pounding revelation, fireworks begin to crackle and fizz in the night sky, a cacophony of voices screaming to the skies about change and revolution; a fixing of their daily lives so that they can be the people they want to be rather than who they are. Inspiring and yet, in this moment, it means so little to you.

"...Joe, y-you mean that...?"

The Joker scoffs lightly, averts his gaze momentarily as he reaches up to scratch the back of his neck. "Well, yeah - ya really think I'd lie about serious stuff like this? I didn't wanna tell ya but–"

You cut him off by tugging him by the hand you're still grasping - a surprised 'gah!' passes his lips as he stumbles towards you - before you press your mouth to his as the scattered lights in the sky dim and die, leaving the pair of you sheathed in darkness so encompassing and safe that you dare to shuffle closer to one another, exchange deepening slightly as his hands move to cup your face, yours moving to his chest as fingers thrum to the beat of his heart.

When you pull away from him, leaning your forehead against his, he gives you a tiny chuckle. His face spells relief in neon colours, expressive eyes much softer now that the burden has lifted from his conscience.

"...y'could've spared me the embarrassment and just kissed me to begin with," he muses quietly, laughing lightly when you release a puff of air in the form of a 'pfft!'.

"Joey, I couldn't do it when the fireworks went off, that's cheesy as hell!"

Joe stares at you blankly... before laughing, tapping the side of your face lightly in a mock-slapping gesture. "I knew there was a reason I fell for you. Yourtimeliness makes my heart beat a mile a minute."

"Joseph Gatto, did you just pun me?" Your lips form a scowl and your brow furrows, though it's evident by the way your cheeks puff that you're about to laugh any minute. The Joker grins, dares to kiss your forehead as you mumble: "...I knew there was a reason I fell for you too."