A/N: My motivation to write stories for Gossip Girl seems to have momentarily abandoned me. Hopefully inspiration will hit me soon. In the meantime, I have decided to jump headfirst into the world of Make It Or Break It. Nicky and Payson all the way! Enjoy and please review!
Dance With Me, Payson
"May I cut in?" a voice chimed in close to her ear, breaking the temporary trance that Ike had put her in on the dance floor.
She lifted her head slightly to match the familiar voice with a face and found herself looking into the very eyes that she had hoped to see tonight at her prom. He paused as did she until she finally came to terms with reality. Taking a step back from Ike immediately, she attempted to compose herself, bumping into the dancing couple behind her instead. Both boys reached out for her upon instinct and neither failed to notice that she had chosen to hold on to Nicky for support. The moment she had steadied herself, she looked down at her feet, cheeks flushed in a healthy shade of crimson red at her clumsiness.
"Uh...Nicky," she started, glancing up at Ike for a moment, apologies in her eyes. "What are you doing here?"
Nicky opened his mouth in an effort to answer her only to be interrupted by Ike as he made his leave.
"Come and find me later when you're done talking to your friend," he informed her, to which she gave him a questioning look as a hint of bitterness was evident in his voice.
"Ike, you don't have to..." she trailed off as she watched him disappear off into the still swaying crowd.
She turned to look at Nicky once more when she realized that Ike would not be returning and asked him again, "What are you doing here Nicky?"
He took her hand in his before he responded, his other resting lightly on her hip as they started to sway to the music, her arms eventually finding their way around his neck.
"You look beautiful Payson," he breathed against her hair and she felt her heart race at the sound of his voice, forgetting for a split second that he still hadn't answered her question.
"Well, the doctor said I didn't have to wear my..." she started to explain her radiance for the night.
"No," Nicky stopped her before she could finish her statement. "You look beautiful to me Payson – always."
She nodded, wanting to thank him for his compliment, but the words remained trapped in the hollows of her clamped throat. Instead, she nodded against him again to let him know that she appreciated his kind gesture. They continued to move to the music in silence, completely unaware of everything else that was happening around them. Noticing their tender moment, Emily had quickly requested the band to continue playing slow songs for the time being, to which Razor, of course, had happily agreed.
"Carter told me you were in need of a prom date," Nicky finally answered her moments later, interrupting the silence.
"So, you came because Carter asked you to," she challenged him, starting to get slightly defensive over nothing in particular as she usually did.
"No," Nicky responded, chuckling slightly in an effort to dispel the tension from the air. "I wanted to come Payson. I...I wanted to be your prom date."
"You...you wanted to be my prom date?" she clarified, stopping them in their movements as she stuttered in her words.
"Yes," he told her as he continued to hold her in his arms in spite of their stillness. "I...I really...I really like you Payson."
She could only stand there and stare at him in shock when she had finally processed his words. Nicky liked her! After all of this uncertainty about his feelings for her, he had finally told her what she had wanted to hear from him all along. Nicky liked her! Her! Not Kaylie, not anyone else, but her!
An impossibly big grin started to form across her face as she looked up to meet his eyes again only to find that in taking her silence as rejection, he had started to walk away. In a panic, she reached out to pull him back, placing a kiss on his lips as the force of her actions spun him around to face her again. She broke apart from him seconds later, bewildered by what she had just done. It was so unlike her to be so not in control of herself.
He took pleasure in her dazed state and said, "I guess you like me too then, huh?"
An almost unnoticeable giggle escaped from her lips as she nodded her head slightly in response, her head resting comfortably on his shoulder as they moved in time to music once more.
"Payson," he whispered as the song came to an end, preparing himself to ask the most important question of all. "Will you be...?"
His question much to his dismay and hers was interrupted by the motion of her stepping back from him, her arms dropping to her sides as she looked behind him. He turned to see who or what she was looking at to find that not only had Ike returned to the scene, but that he was looking straight at Payson, his eyes unmistakably boring into hers. The next scene played out in slow motion inside his head as he watched Ike leave, Payson making a determined move to go after him. In a bout of panic, he reached out to pull her back, preventing her from leaving as she had done with him several moments ago.
"Payson," he breathed, her name sounding like a plea on his lips.
"I think I should go talk to him," she told him grimly as she wriggled out of his grasp to go after the anti-social boy, although she did turn back for a brief moment to address him one last time. "Oh and Nicky?"
"Yeah?" he echoed immediately, a nervousness in his eyes as he straightened his posture.
"I would love to be your girlfriend," she informed him, answering his previously unfinished question and placing a small kiss on his cheek before she made her departure.
He reached a hand up to touch that very spot on his cheek when she left, evidently still mesmerized by the fact that Payson Keeler was now his girlfriend. Payson liked him! After all of this uncertainty about her feelings for him, she had finally told him what he had wanted to hear from her all along. Payson liked him! Him! Not Ike, not anyone else, but him!
"Hey man," Carter wondered, interrupting the celebration that was currently going on inside his head, as he had seen the entire scene unfold. "Everything ok?"
Carter nodded his head over to where Payson and Ike were currently deep in conversation to emphasize his point.
"Yeah," Nicky answered confidently as he and Carter walked over to join the rest of their crew. "Everything is...perfect."
And everything was. Because at the end of the day, no matter what hurdles they had to jump over, they would always find their way back to one another. Payson and Nicky. Nicky and Payson. They were two people who were simply meant to be together.