Kaleidoscope.
Joe/Stella.

by Katie :)

Hooooly crap. "DOUBLE DATE" WAS THE BEST EPISODE EVER. :DDD JOELLA FTW, Y/N?! I haven't been inspired to write a fic in ever, but that episode just totally completed my life.

Please enjoy the horrible fluffiness of this.

–

give love a try.
one more time.

It was Sunday night at 10:00, and Stella Malone was having a serious case of insomnia. Perhaps it was the sound of tree branches hitting her window pane or maybe it was her phone incessantly vibrating as her best friend sent her a torrent of text messages, but it was probably the unbearable butterflies that swam in her stomach. It was now that she regretted that last buffalo chicken wing at El Meat's restaurant.

But really, if she was honest with herself, she knew that the incredible kick of cayenne and chili powder was not the cause of her butterflies. It was the fact that every minute since 9:05, she'd been reliving the kiss she'd shared with one Joe Lucas.

And it was sweet, and perfect, and everything she'd ever wanted her first kiss with Joe to be like.

It wasn't so sweet when she almost walked out with a watermelon, leaving Joe totally and completely let down.

Stella rolled over in her sheets and let out a huff of air. Her eyes widened, as she was met with a photo of her and Joe at the Friendaversary party they'd thrown her just a few months before. Joe's arm settled around her shoulder, and he was looking at her with those beautiful brown doe eyes and oh Jesus, she really was whipped for him, wasn't she? Everything in this room reminded her of him right now, overpowered her senses and made her want to cry/laugh.

She sat up slowly, and ran a hand through her tangled blond hair. Stella wanted nothing more than to sleep, but she knew that she could not accomplish that in any way, shape, or form if this matter of Joe's kissing her wasn't settled within the next...(she glanced at her digital clock briefly) say, 12 and a half minutes.

Her favorite yellow fuzzy slippers sat on the floor, looking rather like two very sad baby ducks, as she slipped them on to her frigid toes. It was a shame to cover up the masterpieces she'd painted on her toe nails, but she would have to sacrifice beauty for comfort for this particular job. One step, two steps, three steps, four steps.

Come on, Stells. You can do it.

She repeated this mantra to herself several times, determined to make it across the street to the Lucas' house. There was no way in hell she was going to give up, even if it took her all night to make it past the front door.

The trip down the hall was agonizing – to say the very least. Not only did she have to get out of the house without waking up her parents (who slept as light as feathers), but also if she happened to wake up her younger sister or older brother, she'd have to do some serious bribery to insure that no one would find out about her twilight adventures.

"Ouch!" Stella hissed in pain when she ever so gracefully ran into the wall. This could be harder than the blond had anticipated.

Once finally out of the house and in the safety of the darkness, the girl crossed the street and managed to once again trip over her pajama pants. Her knee hit the ground, blood managing to stain through the thin flannel fabric. Hot tears stung her eyes, but she determined to keep moving. She had to keep going. Her mission wasn't complete.

Come on, Stells. You can do it.

Stella crawled toward the front door of the Lucas house (totally kicking herself for ruining her absolutely fabulous PJ pants), unsure of how she was going to get in for a moment.

"Oh my effing God," she mumbled to herself as she remembered that she knew where they kept the spare key. Inside the fake security camera. Duh. Some best friend she was to remember.

The key slid effortlessly into the lock and smoothly opened the door. The red door opened slowly, the smell of Febreze and Nick's cookies and Mr. Lucas' leather polishing solution filling Stella's nose. The scent was so familiar and lovely and beautiful. She felt as though she'd spent more of her life here, and not at her own house.

A batch of Nick's cookies sat on the kitchen counter (one of the few pans NOT devoured by Kevin's greedy mouth). Blue candies glistened on the surface like sapphires in the dark of the night. "Yum," Stella breathed. She'd regret it in the morning, but how could she deny herself a culinary masterpiece such as this while her guard was down?

Exactly. She couldn't.

The first bite was absolutely delicious – large brown eyes closed in ecstasy, a pink tongue flicked out to lick one plump lower lip –

"Stella?"

She looked over in panic, to see Joe standing in nothing but a tank top and his red plaid pajama pants that she'd sewn for him for his sixteenth birthday, running a hand through messy black hair.

"Joe."

"Hi, Stells."

"Hi, Joey."

Her use of his pet name made Joe smile lopsidedly, and he offered her a seat next to him on the couch. "So. What brings you to my humble abode, Stella Malone?"

"Well, you know, I just thought we should talk about...you know...when you tripped and your lips landed on mine?" she tried innocently. She cursed herself for being so stupid and blunt, and also for holding one of those damn cookies whilst trying to be flirtatious and giggly.

Joe shook his head and took the cookie from her. Stella reminded herself to breathe when his fingertips brushed hers, and she resisted the urge to twine their fingers together.

"I didn't trip. Unless you wanted me to, then I tripped," Joe cleared his throat awkwardly.

Stella panicked immediately, and shook her head. "No, no! Forget it! You didn't trip, of COURSE you didn't. Silly me! So...so...so..."

"So..."

Stella brought her lower lip between her teeth, feeling tears stinging her eyes once more. She could feel herself ruining all the progress they'd made, ruining their perfect kiss, with clumsy words and absent thoughts...

"Stella?" Joe asked quietly and cupped her face in his hands.

"J-Joey?"

"You want me to trip again?" he whispered.

She smiled.

And he kissed her.

And she was glad it was all planned this time, and she could bask in the warmth of his affectionate embrace and the feeling of his soft lips against hers.

After pulling back, Stella smiled profusely and stuck the cookie in Joe's mouth. "Before you talk again, I just want to say that I'm sorry for almost hitting you with a buffalo skewer and I would really love it if we could forget tonight ever happened, except for the whole you kissing me thing because that was really nice."

Through his chewing, Joe rolled his eyes and nodded. "You're forgiven," he nodded after swallowing and brushed her bangs from her eyes, smiling with his eyes. "You know what I would really love?"

Stella blushed and giggled a little. "What?"

"I would really love if you'd be my girlfriend," he leaned in to whisper into her ear, his breath ghosting over the shell and making her shiver profusely.

"I would really love if you were my boyfriend," Stella agreed with a lopsided smile and run of her fingertips down Joe's jawline.

"Then we're on the same page."

The grin on his face was unbearably cocky, and Stella just had to kiss it.

So she did. Again and again and again and again.

He bit her tongue once and she accidentally sat on his hand and their hair got tangled together several times...

But that was part of why Stella loved it so much. Because even though it wasn't perfect and her tongue bled for a bit, it was even better than kissing any of her exes.

Joe was discovery and warmth and chocolate chip cookies with blue sprinkles and tingles up and down her spine and kissing it all better.

Joe was a kaleidoscope of emotions.

Joe was her best friend.

Joe was everything.

Joe was hers.

–

:) JOELLA, TRICK.

Please review with more than "so cute" or "i loved it," because you know...I love hearing your thoughts beyond that. :)