Somebody to Love - A Joe Mazzello FanFiction

Chapter 26 - Saying Goodbye

The next morning, I woke up to Joe holding onto me tightly. I couldn't tell if he was awake or asleep, but his breathing was low and slow. I stayed with my head on his chest without moving, hoping to take in as much of him as possible. His scent, the way his breathing felt under my head, his heartbeat, his warmth. All of it was going to leave a void in my life when he's gone. So, I laid there. Eyelids opening and closing so slowly that I could have nodded off again at any moment. I tried not to move, hoping not to disturb him.

The room was still shrouded in darkness with a little light streaming in through the window. It was early morning and the sun had just come up. Joe needed to be at the airport at 1 pm, so it comforted me to know that I still had a couple hours with him, even if it was just sleeping next to each other. My sadness hung in the air and I could feel tears welling up in my eyes with every movement of his chest under me. Every breath made the reality more real. I wouldn't be with him for six weeks. I wouldn't feel his soft kisses on my forehead when I started to worry about something, I wouldn't rub my thumbs on the back of his hands mindlessly, and I wouldn't get to whisper 'I love you' into his lips before kissing him.

There were so many little things that we did that made me feel whole. He made me feel...right. Song lyrics were running through my head. 'You don't know what you got till it's gone.' Only the opposite was true. I didn't know what I didn't have. I was missing something in my life and I didn't know it until Joe came in and filled that hole. His laugh, his smile, his hand gestures, his eyes, his hands. Everything about him was beautiful, and I wasn't ready to let that go for so long. But, there was nothing I could do. He had to leave and I had to stay. And we would both be extremely busy. I just hoped that I would be busy enough to forget he was thousands of miles away from me.

I watched the sun come up. I must have been up for hours just enjoying the feeling of being in his arms. I never looked at the time. I just watched as more and more light filled the room. Then, I heard Joe's alarm go off. The incessant tone of the iPhone alarm. There was no noise I hated more at that moment. I felt him wake up and come out of his slumber. He reached over to turn off the alarm before coming back to where he was. His hand on my arm begin to rub up and down. Not before long, his hand moved to start playing with my hair. He thought I was still asleep. I kept still, just to see what he would do.

His hands tangled in my wild, thick hair and moved it about lightly. Playing with it gently, trying to wake me up little by little. I decided to shift and grip tighter on his torso. Nuzzling my head into his chest some more. Hoping I would convince him to never leave this spot. I didn't work.

"Jule," He whispered in his raspy morning tone. "Baby," I shifted to look up at him. My eyes bloodshot and sore from not sleeping enough, along with hints of wateriness from trying not to cry. "Good morning," His thumb was rubbing my forehead and pushing my hair out of my face. Lightly grazing the skin as if anything harder would bruise me.

"Good morning," I whispered back. My voice just as raspy as his. "What time is it?" I asked. Even though I knew where the clock was, I was too far away to see the time without my glasses.

"9:30," he replied without looking. I grunted. I never wanted him to leave.

"3 and a half hours," I said. More to myself than to him.

"Yeah," he sighed. "I wish it were more."

"Me too," I nodded. He put his hand on my cheek.

"But, we'll see each other again before we know it. At least, that's what I hope." He seemed optimistic which is more than I could say about myself. I know it was a short time in comparison to what it could have been, but even one day without him was too long.