Impractical Jokers: [Joker]xReader Collection

Joe x Reader - Worth So Much More

[SMUT WARNING!]

"He's probably just caught in traffic or something..."

How many times have you used that excuse on his behalf? And worse yet, how many times had you honestly believed it? Frankly, Joe doesn't think much of [BF/N] and never had from the moment he'd witnessed him telling you not to eat something because you could 'do without it stomach-wise'. He'd changed you, made you shy and self-deprecating, self-loathing and tired and Joe's heart constricted whenever he thought about it.

Turning your head, you turn to look at the man drumming his fingers impatiently against the kitchen counter. You'd been too nervous to wait for him to pick you up as the minutes had ticked on by and you'd promptly called Gatto to come over and help ease your nerves; he'd complied in a heartbeat, had been at your front door in ten minutes flat despite you telling him not to speed over.

"Don't look at me like that..." you mumble, taking in his dipped brow and his unimpressed frown. "He's just late..."

As he twists his wrist to glance at his watch, you turn your face away and wait. "He should have been here almost two hours ago."

"He's just late!" you reaffirm, stalking over to him and jabbing an accusatory finger at him. "You've been incriminating him since day one, you just LAY OFF! What the hell do you know about him anyway, he–I asked you to HELP, not CHASTISE ME!"

Joe stares... and watches as your entire body begins to fold in on itself. Brow arching, lip trembling, Joe adjusts his posture and listens as you mumble 'I'm sorry...' brokenly before walking into his ready embrace and crying. So many times he's seen you like this, in tears over a man who didn't love you like he should - hell, who didn't love you at all. It makes his temper flare for he doesn't know you for being this stupid. Arms coil tightly around you, nose inhaling your scent as it buries in your shoulder.

He doesn't know how long you stay there with him, sobbing so hard you dampen his shirt, he just knows that his heart is aching for you as you pull away and wipe your eyes.

"Sorry, I know I'm being stupid... just..."

Joe doesn't like it when you do that. You never used to - only in a joking manner. Now you seem to degrade yourself all the time and his hand shifts to catch your wrist as you bury it into your eye in an attempt to rid yourself of the tears. His touch sends fire through you.

"You're not bein' stupid," he replies quietly.

"I just..."

"Tell me how it is." Joe shifts, leans in a little as his hands move to hold your face and make you look at him. "Tell me the truth, [Y/N]: do you love him?"

Looking into his eyes, how can you lie? You had done, had burned so completely in your affections for him - and at the beginning it had been good, deceptively so, your paranoid mind thinking it had all been a ploy to get you to agree to going out with him. Slowly, meekly, your head shakes. "...no..."

It's all he needs. "...then why are you doin' this to yourself...?"

The pain in his voice has you tearing up once again and it takes everything in you not to retreat. This has turned into something it shouldn't have, devolved into something raw and frightening, and as his gorgeous blue eyes overturn your quiet defenses, you're left wanting things you shouldn't when you're taken by another man.