Joe hadn't heard from Rochelle since that damned day. She wasn't talking to him, or trying to explain herself. She just wasn't. She hadn't even tried to get a hold of Malia, or asked about the girl.

Dark thoughts crept into Joe's head as he watched his little girl sleep. Was she even his daughter? If Rochelle had cheated before in their long relationship then, could the little girl even be his? There was no denying he loved Malia with all of his heart. But just thinking that she wasn't biologically his daughter was enough to make him doubt everything in life.

Matt's voice came through the house. Joe could hear his mom talking in the kitchen with someone that he had to sit with through out dinner.

"Matt you don't have to do that." He heard Phoebe say as he got closer to the kitchen doorway.

"You've been a blessing to this family for the last couple of days, Phoebe. Heck this last month, you've stepped up more than anyone I've ever known. I want to help you in anyway possible." His brother said.

Curiosity got the better of Joe as he walked into the kitchen. Phoebe was helping Patricia clean up the dishes from the dinner she had come for. In the week since the break up between Joe and Rochelle, she had been around more often, claiming she was there to help with Malia and look out for the little girl. She had taken the night off from working the bar, making sure that everything was all right there before coming over.

"What are you guys talking about?" Joe asked out of curiosity.

"I'm going to help Phoebe finalize her divorce." Matt said, looking over at his brother.

There was something about that look on Matt's face that said something, something that wasn't good. Mad? No, disappointment. The way he shook his head and wouldn't look at Joe after that meant something.

"What?" Joe asked, crossing his large arms.

"I've been looking through the security cameras at the bar." Matt said, leveling a look towards Joe this time. One that was cold and hard, one that he had never given Joe before.

"Yeah so?" Joe shrugged.

"Is it true you forced Phoebe to kiss you just thirty minutes before you found Rochelle's little secret in the closet?"

Wow, Joe thought, that's a nice way of putting it.

His eyes fell on Phoebe, but she was giving her back to him. Refusing to even acknowledge him. Though his parents were well aware of Joe at this point, but they didn't matter in the situation. So Matt did keep the cameras up and running at the bar even after the remodel.

"No, she didn't say anything, Joe. I wished she had but she has too much respect for this family to try to disrupt it any further." Matt said as if reading Joe's look that was turned towards Phoebe. "So, because she is going beyond what any normal worker of mine should, Dad and I are looking into finalizing her divorce."

Joe wished he could get a hold of Rochelle because then he would ask for a divorce. But since she wasn't even returning any of his calls, he'd have to wait until she was ready.

Phoebe put the dish she was washing in the drainer, reached for a towel and dried her hands. "It would mean me getting in contact with Fred. I don't want him finding me down here." She said looking at Matt and Sika, ignoring Joe all together.

He wanted her to look at him, he wanted her to see him but if she didn't think he deserved to talk to her then fine.

Like a child, he stomped out of the kitchen and towards the room that he was sleeping in. Practically dropping like a rock onto the bed, he braced his elbows against his knees and rested his head in his hands.

Who the hell was Fred anyway? Fred Durwin? Was that her husband, the bastard that beat her. Joe heard the second hand stories that Dwayne and Jon even Heather spoke about. Those four were thick as thieves. She refused to talk to Malia about some of the scars that seemed to be there but not really. Phoebe had started to become a part of the Anoa'i family without even trying.

Something had to give. And it wasn't going to be him, that was for damn sure.

Joe looked up when the door slowly opened. Standing there was the object of his attention. Affection was there, he knew she affected him in some way but it was lust, right? Lust for someone that was new, that was nearly perfect but she wasn't perfect at all. She hid things from him. Being homeless at one point, being married and running away from a life that was less than ideal for anyone to endure but still had the strength to get through life, to get a job she enjoyed. Who knew she would want to be a bartender for the majority of her life? Right?

"We need to talk, Joe." She said closing the door behind her.

When the door latched she stayed there, looking at him. The hair he loved some much hung free now. No longer confined in the bun she had kept it in for most of her working day. It was hard to focus on his daughter talking about school to his parents and to Phoebe. Phoebe would cast glances at him, challenging him to do something. She purposefully sat across the table from him, sitting next to Malia. Matt had come over after he had sent his kids off with their mother and came to talk to Phoebe about her marital status.

"What do you want to talk about?" He finally asked.

"I want you to stop." She said.

"Stop what, Phoebe?"

"Stop pining for me, Joe. This isn't right. This is not the time nor place, nor reality that you should be acting out on your ambitions towards me. I don't want to start anything with you, I just want to close that one last door to my old life so I can start over here."

"Why didn't you say anything about being married? We could have helped you out from the beginning."

"I've only known you guys a month or so. Trust is an issue with me, Joe. Unless you prove to me that I can trust you, I have issues with trusting anyone who claims they are my friends."

He could understand that. The life he lived, with the WWE and him needing to go back on the road so soon for the Wrestlemania stuff coming up, Joe knew there were times when trust was valuable to him. Trust was earned, not freely given in his business. He trusted Jon with his life, Colby was the friend he needed when things got bad. He needed his family on his side during all of this. He needed Phoebe to be there to be the one to look out for Malia while he was home. Most of all he just wanted her period.

"I need you as a friend. As the guy that I can turn to when I'm scared. I don't need a lover, I don't need a man to kiss me at the weirdest times, a man that has his own issues. I need you as a friend and that is all."

He nearly laughed bitterly. "A friend? Seems hard to believe you've had a hard time making friends."

She grimaced at that cold remark. "Whatever, that's where I stand right now. No romance, nothing more than a friend. Until things are cleared up between you and me, nothing is going to happen."

Phoebe turned sharply and walked out of the room. Her hair flipped behind her as she walked away. Joe stood up from the bed and closed the door behind her, growling to himself.

There would be another time for him to get to her.

She was right, she had things to do and so did he.

But in Joe's mind, once all the blocks were out of the way, he would get to her. The sooner the better because this was driving him nuts and bat shit crazy.

I am going to end this story here for right now. I need to get some other stuff out of the way before I can go at it again. I do plan on having a sequel coming up for this one.