Truth unearthed

WARNING: SMUT "So? Care to explain this picture Marlowe?" Joe was sitting on his expensive couch set, upholstered in high quality leather.

"It's me having lunch" Victoria was too angry to avoid her petty remarks, too angry to even care about this fight. She was standing up in the middle of his living room next to the fake chimney, unwilling to take a sit next to her boyfriend. "Oh, you think it's a good idea to be smart" Joe raised his voice.

"I don't think anything Joe, I had lunch with Iosi, someone took a picture and it went viral. What's more to say?" She knew she was being a bitch, she knew she was probably making everything worse, that this could all be solved with a simple grown up conversation but she didn't care. The feeling of betrayal burned too deep.

"So he's Ioshi now, huh?" Joe asked in a mocking manner. "Do you think I'm cheating on you?" Victoria gasped. "I don't. But cut the shit Victoria just tell me what the fuck is going on" Joe stood up, his height had always been one of Victoria's favorite attributes about him, but right now she felt incredibly intimidated. "Fine. I will tell you what happened. The whole truth, but then it's your turn to start talking" Joe gulped, he appeared to be fuming, but inside his heart was a little broken after seeing the stupid picture of his girlfriend and close friend meeting behind his back.

"Andrei contacted me to talk about you and Ja'Marr dragging the team down because you can't seem to find in yourselves to get over your personal feelings. He wanted me to talk some sense into you" She confessed, feeling a weight lift up her shoulders, it was the truth after all.

"Why would he contact you?" Joe wasn't sure if he believed her excuse.

"Because you don't listen to anyone else. As far as I know you even cancelled your appointment with Dr. Paulson after what happened"

"How the hell do you know that?" Joe felt as if his privacy had been breached.

"I know you had your sessions with her on Wednesdays at 1:00 pm, and you haven't mentioned meeting with her. It's not rocket science"

Joe hated when she did that, Victoria was a lot of great things, but when she got angry she was an expert at making people feel stupid, as if they were beneath her.

"And? Were you coming here to talk about me and Ja'Marr playing like shit?" He used a sarcastic tone again.

"It's not about the game, at least not for me. It's about your friend, Joe I know how much he means to you, you've told me yourself, he's always got your back. You care about him and I care about you, your emotional wellbeing is mine" Her anger level was lowering to being  manageable, and she meant what she said, her and Ja'Marr might not be on the best terms, but she knew the importance he had on Joe's life.

Her words were enough to soften his heart, he felt the urge to apologize for acting like a dick, the effect this woman had on him should be studied.

"So Andrei was hoping you'd come to me and say something to make me talk to Ja'Marr"

"I can't speak on his name, all that he requested was for me to try and convince you to face him"

Joe was desperate to hug her, he had missed her this past few days, she had been busy with the lab and he had been grinding on the field, to no avail since he and Ja'Marr couldn't connect a touchdown in practice even with no defense. He wanted to apologize for his harsh words, for the way he had treated her when she arrived.

"Fine I will try to talk to Ja'Marr. It was just so shitty to find out you were hanging out with Andrei through fucking twitter, because you didn't tell me" Joe's voice cracked a little at the end.

"I'm sorry Joe, it was so wrong to do that behind your back, I promise to never do it again. Please forgive me" She squealed, holding back tears.

"Why did you do it? I just don't get why you felt like you couldn't tell me"Joe was on the verge of tears as well.

"You're gonna think it's pathetic but I just wanted one of your friends to like me. Ja'Marr hates my guts, and I was looking for approval in the wrong place. I wanted to show them I was worthy of being part of the team. Bullshit I know"Joe chuckled, her reasoning behind her action was much more innocent than he had anticipated.

"It's okay Vi, I've never doubted you, it just stung. For what it's worth: you don't need anyone else's approval. I love you, I'm crazy about you, I burn and breathe and exist for you" He tried pulling he in for a hug, but she remained stiff in her place. There was still an elephant in the room waiting to be addressed.

"What?" He asked.

"What's the story with your ex? I need you to be honest with me" she could feel her hands shaking, so scared of what Joe would say about Olivia.

"I didn't lie about it being amicable. We broke up and never contacted each other again, it wasn't messy like that... it's just.. uhm" he cleared his throat, visibly upset about the subject. "I proposed and she said no. That was the real reason for the break up, I was ashamed of getting rejected like that so that's why I didn't tell you anything" Joe tried his best to remain stoic.

"Oh, I thought you said it didn't work out because of the distance and your career" she was astonished about Joe's confession.

"That was also true. I knew it wasn't working out and I tried to tie her down and save a relationship that was long gone by proposing. It was a good thing she said no, we would've been trapped in a loveless marriage anyway" He admitted for the first time out loud."But I'm sure you can imagine how hard that type of rejection can be on someone. I lost my ways, I partied a lot, I stopped caring about the team. Ja'Marr was who eventually got me back on my feet" he actually really missed his friend.

"See? All the more reason to make things right" Victoria got closer to Joe, she cupped his face on her hand and softly kissed his lips.

"I'm sorry I wasn't entirely honest about Olivia. It was too embarrassing to admit it to you" he softly whispered.

"It's okay Joe, I get it. Even though I should get going now that everything is settled. It's getting late" she muffled.

"Don't go, please stay the night with me, we don't have to do anything I just want to feel you close" Joe pleaded and Victoria agreed to stay, she also needed the peace and quiet that Joe provided for her. They spent the night cuddling, slowly drifting to sleep after watching too many chapters of Suits, their shared TV guilty pleasure.

The next morning, Joe headed to practice with a wide eyed smile on his face, Victoria always seemed to know how to improve his mood. Coach Taylor was already waiting for him in the locker room, a defeated Ja'Marr sat next to him in the cold metal bench. "What's going on?" Joe asked as he opened his black locker door, it had a bright orange nine painted on it.

"I've tried to get you to deal with your business on your own, but it seems like you're incapable of being mature enough to do it yourselves, so you two are headed for a meeting with your shrink" Zac wasn't fooling around. He was done with the whole fight between them.

Ja'Marr and Joe reluctantly agreed, they went across the street to the corporate headquarters, straight to Dr. Paulson's office, on the fourth floor, neither of them said a word.

They knocked on her door and she simply shouted "come on in" not removing her sight from the pile of papers on her dark mahogany desk.

"Well speak of the devil..." Dr. Paulson smiled. "Joe I didn't think I would be seeing you again"

"Well doc, this isn't exactly a friendly visit" Joe muttered, angry about being dragged into therapy with Ja'Marr as if they were an old married couple.

"I see, you brought your friend with you. You two have been all over the news lately. You..." she pointed her bony finger at Joe. "Flying to Canada chasing after the girl I advice you to give space to, and then punching your friend in the middle of a party when he dumped his own frustrations  on her" she made a quick pause "and you gentleman, trash talking a woman you barely kno because you were frustrated with your best friend's behavior" Ja'Marr gasped at the woman's candor, he felt attacked. She loudly chuckled. "Well this will be interesting. Shall we begin?" She headed over to the couch where her patients sit, and took a sit herself on her special chair, as she signaled to them to make themselves comfortable.

"So... Joe, why do you think you and Ja'Marr are performing poorly?" She inquired. "Because we're not really talking right now, it's like we can't communicate on the field either""And why is it that you're not talking? Tell me again please" she adjusted her glasses. "Because he called my girlfriend a gold digger bitch in front of the entire team and staff in the middle of a celebration party" Joe still felt enraged about Ja'Marrs words towards Victoria. "And he fucking punched me in the face" Ja'Marr spoke for the first time, he had been so quiet, Joe and the doctor almost had forgotten about him.

"Because you initiated it, what did Victoria ever do to you?" Joe yelled, frustrated. "Let's not yell please" Dr. Paulson reprimanded them. "She's got you on something man, you were never like this, hung up on a girl like a puppet. I'm worried about ya that's all"

"It's not your fucking job to worry about my relationship with her. She's not doing anything wrong to me. She makes me incredibly happy, I feel more focused, and... Dr. Paulson tell him, you know how much Victoria has helped me well, be a better person or whatever"

"That's something only you can testify for Joe, but I do think the healthiest approach to this issue would be for you two to apologize and mean it"

Ja'Marr was exhausted about the whole fight, he missed his friend as well and just wanted to be able to catch a stupid pass, that's what they payed him to do anyway, so he was the first to cave.

"I'm sorry Joe, about what I said to her, I shouldn't have judged her. I miss you man, I'm done with this fighting shit" Ja'Marr was being sincere, but Joe wasn't letting go that easily.

"I accept your apology, I'm sorry about punching you, it was immature of me, however I'm not the one you need to apologize to" Dr. Paulson intervened "Joe is right Ja'Marr, the real victim here was Victoria, you should also apologize to her"

Ja'Marr sighed, defeated. "Will you bring her to the next game?" He asked Joe.

"Probably" he replied, smirking. "I'll apologize to her then" Ja'Marr didn't like to be in the wrong, but if apologizing to Victoria would help him regain his friend's respect, he would do it.

"If you must know, she means a lot to me, Ja'Marr. She feels right. She might be the one. Please don't get in the middle of that"

Ja'Marr finally understood the depth of Joe's feelings, and he started to feel happy about his friend. Truly happy.

Later that day in practice, Ja'Marr and Joe went back to being the golden pair the Bengals knew and love, all was well between them.

Joe picked Victoria up from the lab and the pair headed to her house, this sleepovers were becoming more frequent between them. They felt like magnets, two pieces of a puzzle that couldn't be away from each other. Victoria smiled at the sight of Joe standing in her living room, she loved having him around. "I'm going to shower and then we'll order dinner sounds good?" She asked, while she removed her winter coat. "You're not going anywhere" he pulled her in closer, his grip on her hand was so tight that his hands were starting to leave a red mark on her skin.They started to kiss, the heat of the scene escalated with each passing moment. Victoria sat on top of him, as he tossed his shirt into the floor unceremoniously. Victoria drew circles on his chest, while he softly kissed and licked her neck, they needed each other so bad. He carried her up to her bedroom, laid her on her bed, and slowly removed her clothes, he left her panties for last, pulling them out of the way with his mouth, he slowly made his way up to her clit, firstly kissing her inner thighs, leaving discrete marks of him on her skin, he liked the thought of having her like this, claiming her for himself. "You can't cum until I say you can, okay love?" He whispered to her.Victoria just smiled, her arousal was reaching new heights. Joe started to eat her out, with no mercy, sucking and dabbing with his tongue, knowing how close that would get her. "Joe.... Please I can't" He stopped moving immediately, looked up grinning at her, and flipped her around so she would be on all fours. He started to thrust into her, full force. He had never fucked her like that, it was always sweet and vanilla-ish sex, but he needed to have her like this. Her orgasm came as a surprise, she was so out of it she didn't care about Joe's instructions, and when she came, her walls contracted hard enough to make him cum as well.

They laid next to each other for a while, Joe brushed her hair with his fingers and softly kissed her naked back, he felt completely enamored with her, she was addicting, unlike he had never experienced, he could sometimes swear his heart would explode from all the love he felt. "So how did it go with you and Ja'Marr?" Victoria inquired on a sleepy voice. "Okay I guess, we apologized, we played better today" Victoria smiled. "That's great baby" "I told him you may be the one. That he should get out my way because someday I'm gonna marry you" Joe confessed, scared for her reaction but not being able to keep it to himself anymore.

"You sure like to talk about marriage, Burrow" Victoria looked shocked. "I'm not just talking, I mean everything I say. I'm in this for the long haul" Joe felt like his heart would burst out of his chest. Victoria sensed his stress about what she would say next. "I would marry you, Joe Burrow, never doubt that"

And all of a sudden, Joe's worries were minuscule next to those words, the AFC championship, his friends, the Super Bowl could go to hell for all he cared. As long as he had her, he didn't need anything else.