Nick was impressed. Four star restaurant. Not bad Surfer Boy. Not bad. But what afflicted Nick's nerves was how he saw from the open hood of Surfer Boy's car, Macy laughing as he said something to her, flashing that vulgar smile of his. How could a guy like him make Macy laugh?
But most of all Nick couldn't understand what he was doing. He didn't even understand how he got here. Nick of JONAS, crouching down behind bushes, watching some Abercrombie and Fitch boy flirt with his best friend. This wasn't right to him. But when he tried to get up he couldn't pull himself off the ground.
It was even harder to turn the car around when he noticed he was following them. His eyes were just glued to the both of them, getting frustrated by the minute.
Now, as Nick went back to the present he saw Macy reaching her hand to Stone, so that their hands were together now. She was saying something really intimate to him, he could tell. Nick swore he saw Stone Stevens face fall with hurt, but as quick as a beat he gave that smile again. But this time it was a little more sincere. They kept on talking more and smiling at each other. This time Stone was patting Macy's hand. Then suddenly, something caused Nick to jump and hit his head on a trunk of a tree.
"Nick!"
"Ow!"
"I knew it, I knew it!"
Just before Nick turned around to discover what kind of idiot made him jump and again hit his head, he already figured.
"Just admit it Nick. You like her."
"How'd you find me?"
"Seriously Nick. You're not the type of guy who takes walks at this hour. And if you were going to walk why would you bring your car?" Joe questioned with a devilish smile.
"Hey, what'd we miss?" Kevin appeared with a box of pizza.
"Ugh, I should've worn my flats. These heels so don't go with all this crouching," Stella complained behind Kevin.
"You brought them with you?"
"Relax Nick. We brought pizza," Joe smiled but Nick just gave him an annoying look.
"Joe, why are we here? And Nick? Wait, is that Macy? Oh!" Stella stood up waving towards Macy. "Hey Mac-"
"Sh!" Joe covered Stella's mouth and pulled her down behind the bushes.
Stella pulled Joe's hand away, frustrated at what was going on. "Joe, explain. Why are we here? We shouldn't be stalking Macy while she's on her date."
"Well…I think Nick has something to share. Nick?"
But Nick didn't answer. He was just watching Macy. Stella noticed him and studied Nick's emotions. What she saw right now was hurt with a little bit of anger. She noticed how he looked so smitten while he saw Macy but in the hands with another man. Now she understood.
"Oh, Nick. I never knew you…I just thought that…"
"It's okay Stella," Nick said quietly, "I probably would've never gotten a chance anyway."
Stella felt a pang of guilt. This was all her fault. She should've known. She couldn't believe that she didn't know before. The clues were right in front of her. How they would always sit close together, how Macy would always zone out when Nick walked in the room, how Nick would look at her with so much intensity. If only he knew that she liked him too.
"Nick, we can help." Stella said honestly.
"Yeah Nick. We could kill him. We'll just leave him in Joe's room," Kevin uttered, pizza stuffed in his mouth.
"Or we can introduce him to Big Rob," Joe said happily, taking a bite of pizza too.
"Just don't give up Nick. I'm sure she'll come around.
But Nick wasn't paying attention anymore. He was too absorbed in the sight he just saw. He was getting dizzy and he felt his face turn red. Somehow when he saw Stone kiss Macy on the cheek and they both stood up to hug, Nick stopped breathing. He stood up quickly and turned around. He took deep long breathes, feeling the oxygen flow through him as he closed his eyes.
"Nick?" The all said, worried.
"Uh, I gotta go."
"Wait, Nick!" Stella shouted after him but he was already in the parking lot, getting in his car. "You guys, we should do something."
"Yeah, look at how miserable he looks," Joe said.
"Guys, we shouldn't interfere. He has to do this on his own. We might even make it worse. All we can do is at least push them closer a bit. But Nick's a big boy now. We can't always be his Dr. Phil or something."
Joe and Stella just looked at Kevin, wide-eyed.
"Yeah, that's right. I can be deep."
It was almost two in the morning when Nick snuck inside the house. After he left Kevin, Joe and Stella Nick had to go somewhere and think. He needed to know why he was feeling the way he was feeling. He needed to yell at the top of his lungs because now he was too late. He couldn't have her.
It was only when he saw Stone Stevens with Macy, holding hands and laughing, that he found how much he wanted it to be him Macy was laughing with. He wanted to take her to the most amazing places ever. He just wanted to be with her. He just wanted her to be with him because something always clenched his heart every time he saw her, much less with a guy that wasn't him.
The door creaked open as he closed the door behind him. It was dark inside but as he began walking he caught a faint light from the corner of his eye coming from the kitchen.
Nick was just about to close the light when he noticed something slouching on the table. Its head was down, resting on its arms which were crossed together and the long brunette hair covering her face and spreading across the kitchen counter. The he knew who that was.
He hesitated, thinking he should ignore her and let her continue sleeping but he didn't. He wouldn't want her to sleep like that in such an uncomfortable position. He was still her friend.
He moved toward her but maintained a safe distance. "Macy?" he whispered.
And just like that Macy's head shot up and she saw him, eyes squinted. "Nick? Thank God. Are you okay?"
Nick couldn't help the smile that came to him but turned it down immediately. She cared about him. But of course she did. She was his best friend. Nothing more nothing less.
"Yeah, I'm al-" before he could finish Macy got up from her chair and went over to Nick, squeezing him in for a hug. "right" he continued, a little bit shocked from the impact. But he didn't mind. He loved her hugs. They were warm and loving that sometimes his heart rate would speed up. "Are you okay?"
Macy let go, but still had her arms around him, looking into his eyes now. "Yeah, I'm great, I was just worried. Where were you?"
Nick knew this was the truth. He could hear the worry in her voice.
"I just had to go…somewhere."
"Well, you could have called. It would save me the time to calm down. You scared me Nick."
"I'm sorry," he whispered. He was guilty now. He didn't like it when Macy was like this, worrying for him. He beant his head down, ashamed, then noticed that Macy was in pajamas, not in her clothes she wore from her date with Surfer Boy earlier. His head shot up fast.
"How long were you waiting?" he asked, aware of how his voice was full of concern.
"Um, you know. Not that long."
"Macy."
"Seriously Nick. I'm fine. See? Wide awake." She widened her eyes, proving it to him.
"Macy." His voice was sterner. He knew she was lying. He caught her blinking more than usual, trying to hide her sleepy watery eyes and saw that yawn she was taking back, but somehow escaped from her lips, quietly.
"Fine. It was only like two, three, four hours. Pfft. No big deal," she waved off.
But Nick didn't let her get away with it. Four hours? Nick already felt guilty. He didn't want her to do that for him. He wouldn't let her. So he picked her up and began walking toward the guest house.
"Nick! It's okay. I'm fine. I'm barely tired."
He ignored all her protests as he walked her to the guest house. This wasn't the first time Nick had done this. Sometimes when Macy and Stella slept over when they were at the firehouse and Nick and Macy were the only ones left watching he always found that Macy would always fall asleep on his shoulder as the credits rolled. She did this quite frequently that Nick sometimes wondered if she would just do this so he could bring her to the guest room.
He reached the door now, slowly trying to turn the knob with his somewhat free hand, as Macy was dozing off to sleep. He walked carefully and silently toward her bed and placed her gently on it, trying not to disturb the sleeping Stella across from them. He pulled the covers over her, tucking her tight to make her warm. He sat on her bed, looking over her for a few minutes to just admire her beauty and memorizing every little detail about her. He was getting up now, but felt a warm hand grasp his wrist.
"Nick," she whispered as her eyes slightly opened.
She looked beautiful Nick thought. The moon hit her eyes in such a way that they were sparkling and shining.
Macy pulled him down gently and put her hand on his cheek so that she was cupping the side of his face. She brushed her thumb on him that Nick's heart raced at the warmness of her fingertips and the way she looked at him so intently that her eyes were just staring at him and always seemed like she was trying to find something. Discover what he's not showing her that it sometimes scared him.
She lifted her head slowly and brought her lips to meet his cheek. His eyes immediately shut as he felt her soft lips on him. They were warm and he felt her breath sweep against his cheek. His breath was completely taken away. He liked this feeling but he wanted more. He wanted to kiss her deeply. He wanted to feel her lips on him in this endless night. But before Nick was tempted to taker face and kiss her with extreme power she whispered in his ear.
"Thank you. For everything."
Nick knew what she meant but didn't really understand. For everything? But then she let go of him and lay down. He was just sitting there starring off into space. He was going to reply but she already had her eyes shut. Nick sat there for another minute and left, closing the door behind him, leaving Macy to dream.
A/N: I'm really really sorry for the long delay. I'm super busy and guilty of being an extreme procrastinator. So don't expect an update right away. I'll try though. But anyway thank you for the kind reviews (:
