Their Poison Ivy
(potr)
Dedication: WyszLo, for giving me the most fantastic reviews I've ever gotten, ever. You're FANTASTIC, Lauren!
If the Lucas brothers ever agreed about anything, it was that Macy was their poison ivy. Sure, she was pretty and intelligent and athletic. Yes, she was always there for them. And yes, she was a fanatic about the band. And yes, she was the sweetest girl on the planet.
But that was what made her so dangerous.
The first time they realized how dangerous she could be, it had nearly resulted in an all-out war between Nick and Kevin. Joe was a horrible mediator and it took several weeks for the incident to blow over. In Macy's presence, things were normal. But when the girl wasn't there to watch, they boys were at each others' throats. It took all of Stella and Joe's efforts to keep them from KILLING each other. Even the Book of JONAS Law wasn't enough to keep them in line.
They had both fallen, hard, for Macy. And the only thing that kept them from ripping each other to threads?
"How upset would Macy be if you killed one-third of her favorite band and put another third in jail?"
Nick and Kevin eventually decided that they valued their friendship and Macy's happiness too much to risk either and stopped fighting. But that didn't stop Kevin from feeling the bitter resentment when he saw the two of them studying for their shared AP classes. And it didn't prevent the caustic jealousy that coursed through Nick's veins as he watched his cheerleader brother and Macy bond over their school spirit.
They tried to warn Joe about getting too close. Honestly, they did. After all, they knew first-hand what it was like.
"She's always there," Kevin had said. "Just down the hall or down at the store. Right there."
Nick had agreed fervently. "And you just know that all it'll take is that one phone call or that one text and she'll come running. That's just the way she is."
"She just… infects you."
"It's slow—you don't even realize it's happening."
"Then she's all you can think about—"
"All you want to think about," Nick had specified, to which Kevin had nodded enthusiastically.
They came to the conclusion that Joe was a glutton for punishment.
He had messed up—bad—with Stella. Macy had been there to comfort him. And so he had allowed her to get close.
Joe's own 'infection' only lasted for two weeks; and there were some things that he refused to tell his brothers. (After all, they were hardly over Macy, and learning that he had kissed her a couple times would only grant him a swift but painful death. He wasn't stupid.)
It was his love for Stella—and Stella's love for him—that truly saved him from Macy's charms. He would remember that two weeks with a strange fondness for the rest of his life, but Stella was the reason he dragged himself out of bed in the morning.
Of course, when Kevin joked that writing a song about the experience would be entertaining (for he'd mostly gotten over the ordeal), Nick took him seriously.
"Okay," he had said. "You think of a way to describe it and we'll start."
It hadn't been hard. After a minute's thought, Kevin blurted, "Poison ivy."
And they all seemed to agree.
She looked innocent enough, but she drove them crazy like an itch they couldn't scratch. She affected them all without discrimination, found a way to make a permanent place in each of their hearts and had made them forever wary of pretty, intelligent, and athletic brunettes. She infected their minds and hearts and left them in need of SERIOUS rehabilitation. She hadn't ever done anything specifically to gain their attention; they had been attracted by their own curiosity and ignorance and it had been her nature—her sweetness, her kindness, her faultlessness—that made them trip and fall.
It was one of their most successful collaborations. After that summer's tour, Macy declared that she had a new favorite song. She had no idea why Kevin sent Nick a pitying smile when she described her love for their new hit. She couldn't begin to guess the reason Stella glared briefly at Joe upon hearing her pronouncement.
"What?" she asked, blowing out an impatient, frustrated breath. "Poison Ivy is a GREAT song!"
It wouldn't be until later—YEARS later, to be exact—that she learned what their inspiration had been.
"The funniest thing about all of this?" Nick asked as he finished the story. He fingered the engagement ring Macy now wore. "I'm deathly allergic to poison ivy."
Macy just laughed and gave him a kiss.
a/n: So, this is barely a drabble. I was listening to this song on my MP3 player this morning and I just suddenly got the idea. I've always liked the idea of Nick and Kevin fighting over Macy. I hope it wasn't obvious until the near the end that she was going to end up with Nick. ;)
Review with some CRITICISM? You know I love it.
Much love,
Beth