Title: Reviving Tinkerbell

Author: Eena

Rating: 13

Disclaimer: Don't own 'em.

Spoilers: "Chasing the Dream", "That Ding You Do", and "Love Sick" specifically.

Summary: "He was used to making girls cry. But then again, those were usually happy tears. These weren't happy tears and the sight of her crying made him feel like an idiot for the first time in his life." Rock Star meets reality-and flips out. Companion piece to "Losing Neverland".

A/N: Ask and you shall receive! Nick's POV of all things "Losing Neverland". These will most likely be shorter chapters than LN, but it's all Nick, all the time-that counts for something, right?

~Never Grow Up~

He was used to making girls cry. It happened without him doing much of anything. He just had to step out on stage, smile a little smile and the weeping would begin. But then again, those were usually happy tears. It was amazing the depth of feeling fans had for him and his music. Every time he saw them begin to tear up he was hit with the sheer magnitude of it all. Every tear, every quiet sob, every outstretched hand-that meant more to him than all the record sales in the world (not to be glib-the record sales were cool in their own way).

However, this wasn't exactly the same situation. The tears he was seeing right now were not the tears he was used to. These weren't happy tears and the sight of her crying made him feel like an idiot for the first time in his life.

The plan had seemed brilliant just hours before. In fact, he had gone so far as to declare it foolproof. Joe and Kevin had agreed with him, which wasn't much of a surprise since all their planning had wrought was Kevin squeaking his way through a conversation with Macy and none of the brothers able to do what was necessary. It wasn't that they liked lying to Macy; it was just that they weren't sure how to phrase the truth delicately. She seemed so sure in her ability (Stella was getting the full blame for this delusion) and watching his brothers flounder and hang themselves wasn't getting them anywhere. That's when the light bulb went off in his head. Find a way to let Macy record without ever letting anyone hear it, or let Macy know that they hadn't used it. It seemed like a win-win situation. They wouldn't subject Malcolm Meckles to THAT and Macy would never have to hear that her singing resembled the sounds of a dying manatee.

Of course, the idea that something could go horribly wrong with any plan of his had not crossed the mind of any Lucas brother (although Frankie probably could have predicted this one). Meckles was early, Macy was unusually quiet slipping out of the recording studio, and all three of them had run off at the mouth in the worst way possible. He was supposed to be the smart one. It should have occurred to him at some point that Macy was being too quiet, that Dad had been looking at something important just past their shoulders, and that blurting out to others that Macy's singing was torture wasn't a good idea considering they were just praising it seconds ago.

But it didn't occur to him. It didn't occur to any of them. And just like that, his brilliant plan transformed into the stupidest thing he had ever done.

Since first meeting Macy Misa, Nick had noticed that the girl had an almost scary amount of exuberance. She was happy with just about everything. Macy always had a skip in her step, a smile on her face, and a breathless way of responding to everything. It was like the girl was on hyper-speed all the time. Initially it had been troublesome (especially when that hyper-speed gave Macy the ability to incapacitate all three Lucas brothers in under a minute) but at that moment Nick would have happily taken a hockey stick to the head if it meant erasing the heartbreak from her features.

The tear tracks on her face looked horribly out of place. And the look in her eyes was horrific. Nick had done some less than nice things in his life (he wasn't above playing dirty tricks on his brothers-mostly because they weren't above playing dirty tricks on him), but this way worse than any of that. Just looking at her, at the sheer devastation on her face, Nick felt his heart stop.

And when she took off running, he could barely hear Kevin calling after her. He didn't notice Dad talking quietly to Meckles as he showed him the way out. He didn't hear Joe kick over the trash bin and declare this to be the worst plan in the history of plans. He couldn't deal with any of it because all he could see was tears, all he could hear was sobs, and all he could feel was his heart, still and lifeless inside his chest.

This wasn't just bad. This was damn near apocalyptic.

It wasn't just that Stella was going to kill them (and she would definitely try to kill them) and it wasn't that Dad was going to give them a lecture on maturity (coupled with the dreaded 'I'm so very disappointed' face). It was that Macy Misa, the insanely happy, JONAS-obsessed, sports star, almost friend of theirs had trusted them, believed them, and then had her heart shattered when she found out that they lied.

There was a fight that night, a fight like they hadn't had in years. Joe blamed Nick, Kevin blamed Nick, and then he blamed them and then they blamed it on each other. It wasn't until Stella came over and told them to shut up and fix it that the fight had ended. Stella wasn't interested in who came up with the plan (because they had all agreed to it, right?) and she didn't care who started this in the first place (Kevin wasn't the only one who didn't tell Macy the truth). All Stella cared about was that her best friend was upset, hurt, and crying. It was unimaginable, unfathomable, and unforgiveable. And JONAS better fix it.

But how do you fix something like this? Stella suggested honesty, but Nick wondered if it wasn't too late for that. Macy already knew the truth-it was the delivery of it that was the problem (and all the previous lying). But Stella was firm on the matter; an apology would be good as long as they get it all out there. Complete and utter honesty was the only remedy.

They had discussed various approaches, and even rehearsed a few different ways of going about it. But when it was time, Kevin stepped out in front. Nick listened to his argument for about half a second before (quite shamelessly) he agreed to let his older brother take the fall. It was the coward's way out because while Kevin might have felt responsible for starting this mess, Nick was the one who let it get so far out of control. And while his brain was shouting at him that this action would be insufficient, his mouth didn't get the message and his legs were too busy carrying him far away from the impending confrontation.

Whatever was said, whatever Kevin did, his eldest brother came back from the meeting with a relieved look on his face. There had been all of five minutes to get the news out of him, head to his locker, and make it to English Lit on time, but Nick managed. Joe and Stella had waited with him, even though their classes were much farther away and that by waiting around for even a minute would make them late. However, in the light of recent events, making sure everything was all right with Macy Misa was unequivocally more important than the stigmata of tardiness.

Kevin reported that the apology went fine. Macy was understanding, sweet even, and after Kevin was just plain honest with her, everything had been set right. Joe heaved a huge sigh of relief while Stella beamed a brilliant smile that just screamed 'I told you so'. Nick was so grateful for the news that he overlooked this gloating on the part of his friend and soon all four were breaking and making for class like it was any other day. Crisis averted, all wrongs mended-things were looking to be turning out all right once again.

His overabundance of positivity lasted until the start of English Lit.

Initially he had been slightly dismayed by the prospect of having Macy Misa in a class with him. Her behaviour in the hallways had led him to believe that his English Lit experience might be riddled with fainting spells and concussions. However, other than the obsessive urge to sit behind him and just stare at the back of his head (he could feel her doing it even if he never turned around to acknowledge it), Macy was pretty quiet during class. And since she was right at the top of class for marks, she appeared to be able to evenly divide her attention between the teacher and her need to stare at Nick.

All of this was done without the slightest interruption to him, which he appreciated since some girls just spent all class giggly and trying to get him to look their way. Macy didn't do that; other than being fiercely obsessive of her seat right behind him, she really didn't do anything too fangirl-ish. He had mentioned it to Stella once only to have the blonde roll her eyes at him. It was then that she reminded Nick that Macy was also a nationally-ranked athlete who needed to keep a certain grade point average if she was to be allowed to take as many sports as she did. And yes while she was very much into JONAS, Macy was actually dedicated to her sports. And if that meant stifling that inner fangirl for just one period a day, Macy could handle that. Besides, there was also plenty of non-class time in which Macy could (and did) freak out about her favourite band being in her school.

So that day, after everything had been said and Kevin had given them the all-clear, Nick was actually looking forward to having Macy sit behind him. He felt confident that once she was seated, he could turn around and add his own personal apology to the one Kevin had given before. Things had gone very wrong yesterday, but he had learned from his mistakes. They would be starting anew today; perhaps there was a chance to develop a friendship with her like the one he had with Stella.

And he firmly believed this until the bell rang and he realized that she was NOT sitting behind him. Class had begun, students were taking out paper and pens, and he was searching the room for the girl who should have been right behind him. Maybe she was running late? Maybe she had to go see another teacher or her coach before the bell?

Or maybe she had snuck in at the last second and took the seat closest to the door and farthest from him.

Nick turned around in his seat, eyes on the chalkboard but his brain not processing the material there. Macy was sitting in the back; she had consciously decided not to sit behind him. And even now, she was steadfastly looking anywhere but at him. All the information came together and crowded around in his mind until he stumbled upon the most obvious solution. Nick groaned and felt like bashing his head repeatedly upon his desk.

Macy was still mad.

~*~