A/N: I suppose that there's not much to say about this chapter other than I hope you enjoy it. I'm so overjoyed at your responses to this story and you've all been really wonderful. Thank you all so much!
Dedication: For Lol (Angellwings) for being a Kevin/Macy heroine in our time of need. : )
Chapter 3.
Hey Soul Sister - Train.
Stella's eyes widened at the sight of her best friend. "Macy…" She started, not really knowing what to say.
Macy shoved her book in her locker. "Stella?"
"Your hair… It's…" Stella cocked her head. "It's…"
"Wow, Macy!" Kevin's voice came from behind the girls and they spun around.
Macy shrugged. "I didn't have time to straighten it yesterday." She turned to face Kevin. "And I didn't want it to die, either."
Kevin smiled. "Well, it looks beautiful."
Macy looked to her shoes, her hair falling in front of her face. "Thanks, Kevin." She mumbled.
Stella narrowed her eyes and looked between the two. "Um, I've gotta go… I've got… And then… Yeah, so… Bye." She walked towards Joe, who was giving her a strange look. She shook her head, her smile as bright as the day. "I don't get it either." She told him.
"So," Kevin started. "Did you eat your-"
"Not yet." Macy took her books for her first class from her locker. "Kevin?" She asked, turning to look at him. "Why do you care so much?"
Kevin took a deep breath. "I don't know." He told her, honestly. "I just… do."
Macy nodded, putting her hand in her pocket and taking out the packet of Sweethearts. Using her thumb to open the little lid and balancing her books against her hip, she looked up at Kevin. "Sweetheart?" She asked.
Kevin beamed and took one. "Thanks."
She nodded.
"Here," He moved forward. "Let me take your books for you."
Confusion crossed her face again.
"So that you can have a Sweetheart, too." Kevin told her.
Macy nodded and let him take the books from her grasp. She took one from the packet and went to put it in her mouth but Kevin grabbed her hand.
"What's it say?" He asked, intrigued.
Macy squinted at the sweet. "Um.." She pulled it close to her face. "Please be mine."
Kevin chuckled and Macy looked at him. "Gotta love irony." She told him.
It was Kevin's turn to look confused. "How do you-"
Macy winked. "I should probably get to class." She popped the sweet in her mouth, began walking and Kevin walked beside her.
"I'm never going to get you to smile, am I?" Kevin asked, before his eyes widened. "I'm sorry. I can't believe I just said that."
"Kevin?" Macy turned her head a little to look at him. "Why do you care whether I smile or not?" She asked. She knew she had asked something similar just a few moments ago, but she just couldn't understand and she hoped that Kevin might enlighten her.
Kevin shrugged. "I don't know, Macy. I just… do." Kevin answered with the same answer as to the previous question.
She nodded. "This is my class." She stopped outside the door. "I'll see you later."
"Right." Kevin smiled. "Later." He began walking away.
"Um, Kevin?" Macy asked.
"Yes, Macy?" Kevin turned back around.
"My books?" She raised her eyebrows and her eyes drifted to the books.
"Right, right," Kevin started. "Of course." He nodded. "Your books." He handed them to her, looking down at her. "I meant what I said yesterday."
"What was that?" Macy asked, confusedly.
"Don't eat them all at once. They'll drive you crazy and then give you an all merciful headache."
"Right." Macy looked to her feet. "The sweets."
"The sweets." Kevin nodded. He backed away, a little slower than he usually would have. "See you later then."
"Yeah." Macy nodded. "See you later." She turned and walked into her class, not really knowing what the hell had just happened.
Macy sat at the lunch table, bobbing her head to whatever she was listening to and drawing scribbles on a random piece of note paper.
"I wonder what she's listening to…" Kevin mused from his place in the lunch line.
"What is your obsession with that girl?" Joe laughed, earning a glare from Nick, who muttered; "You're one to talk." before turning towards Kevin.
"You know, Kev," He started as Kevin moved up in the line. "I've got a new song I should be working on and we both know that Stella is drawing up the designs for the costumes and outfits for the 'Tell Me Why' video -in the atrium-" At this, Joe tore his attention from some girl he was making eyes at. "So, it looks like it's just going to be you and Macy at lunch today."
Kevin's eyes widened. "Just the two of us?" His voiced rose an octave. "But… what do I say? You know that she'd rather have a full scale conversation with a convict than a JONAS!"
Nick shrugged. "Talk about anything. Music, hobbies, subjects she's taking."
"Or don't talk at all." Joe interrupted, once again earning a glare from Nick. "Have her wonder why you're being to quiet. She might ask you and then BAM!" He snapped his fingers, causing Kevin to jump a little. "She initiated the conversation."
Nick rolled his eyes. Trust Joe to have techniques and strategies for every kind of girl.
"But, what if-" Kevin started.
"Do you want to talk to her or not?" Joe demanded. Kevin nodded. "Well then," Joe shrugged. "Don't talk to her."
Macy sighed, checking the time on her iPod. Where was Stella?
Suddenly, a figure, with whom she was becoming all too familiar with, plonked down in front of her. He watched her for a moment as she rolled her eyes and then began eating, without saying a word. Macy's brow creased but she hit the 'play' button on her iPod, nonetheless. Another few minutes passed - both Kevin and Macy figured it had to be about six minutes [Macy because two songs had finished and Kevin because he was counting in his head]- before she paused the device and looked directly at Kevin.
"Where's Stella?" She asked.
"Um," Kevin faltered. It wasn't often he went this long without talking and it wasn't often that Joe was right. "The atrium, I think." Kevin told her. "She's working on designs for our new Music video."
"Oh." Macy nodded.
A pause.
"What song?" She asked, almost tentatively.
"Tell Me Why." Kevin told her, twiddling his thumbs.
Macy nodded again. "I've heard that song on the radio." She told him. "It's not bad."
Something about that sentence bothered Kevin but he smiled, regardless. "Joe wrote it about-"
"Stella?" Macy guessed.
"Yeah."
"When are they just going to admit that they love each other? I've met Joe all of three times and I can see he's heels over head. And Stella never stops talking about him." Macy mumbled, shaking her head.
Kevin shrugged. "I keep asking myself that same question."
Another pause.
"Do you want some fries?" Kevin asked, pushing his tray towards her.
"Well, I…" Macy started to object, but something about the way he was looking at her forced her to swallow and start again.
"I'd love to." She told him, earning a smile. "Thanks…Kevin."
Macy sat in the Thrift Store that evening, drumming her fingers against the countertop and thinking about (or trying not to think about) Kevin.
"Macy?" A voice called. "Yoo-hoo?" Macy blinked a few times before looking up.
"Oh, Mrs. Reid. I'm sorry, I was… Thinking."
The elderly woman smiled. "What about, dear?" She asked, browsing through the glass on the till.
"Just…" Macy sighed. "There's the guy…"
The woman whistled, her false teeth doing most of the whistling.
"No," Macy shook her head. "It's nothing like that. It's just… He…" She pulled out the sweets. "He gave me these two days ago and I've only eaten the one. I mean, when I was younger, I'd have eaten the packet in ten seconds without a second thought."
The woman's brow furrowed.
"He says things that make me want to cringe and does things that, when I see them on TV, they make me change the station. And all I want to do is tell him to leave and take the stupid sweets with him."
Mrs. Reid watched as Macy's facial expression softened.
"And then he smiles at me. And for some reason… I don't hate the world anymore. I don't hate the world, I don't hate this life, I don't hate anything and I don't hate him. Suddenly, I want to eat all these sweets and then laugh at the headache I know they're going to give me." Her face hardened again. "But then I remember. I remember everything and I brush him off like he doesn't even matter. I roll my eyes at him and I stuff the sweets into my pocket with the rest of my problems." She sighed. "All he wants to do is make me smile. And when I'm around him, I want to. But I just… can't. It's like I've forgotten how."
The woman took Macy's hand. "You're going to have to move on at some point, love. Maybe this boy is a sign that it's time to."
Macy nodded. "Maybe. But, what do I do? He's going to get tried of trying to be my friend eventually."
Mrs. Reid shrugged. "I can't tell you what to do. That's why you have a heart."
Macy gave the elderly woman a look that she usually reserved for cheesy movies.
"What can I say?" Mrs. Reid laughed. "I'm a hopeless romantic."
Nick wandered through the library that evening, not knowing what he was looking for -in fact, not really looking for anything- but not wanting to go home to his two lovesick brothers. Yes, he realised that that sounded selfish but he just couldn't, and didn't want to have to, handle their problems.
Joe was probably still hanging out with Stella, even though she'd come over four hours ago to do math and Kevin was prying her for information on Macy every ten minutes, while simultaneously trying to look inconspicuous about it. He sighed, glancing at several different books but not actually taking in any of them.
"You'll never find which book wants you to read it, like that." A voice told him. He glanced up at a girl, who was quite clearly working there. She had her hair in a tight bun and was wearing a black suit. Although, Nick guessed, she couldn't be more than sixteen.
"I'm Hazel." She told him. "I'm the library's hired help and I'm sensing you're having trouble finding a book to take home."
Nick half nodded. "I'm not really looking for anything." He told her.
"Well, then." She smiled. "You're on the right track."
He gave her a confused look. "What did you mean by "which book wants me to read it"?" Nick asked. "I get that you're a librarian but, isn't personifying books a little extreme?"
Hazel laughed. "People don't choose books, Nick. Books choose people."
Nick contemplated that for a second.
Hazel sighed.
"Hey," Nick started. "I never introduced myself. How did you-"
"You're everywhere. How could I not know who you are?"
"Oh yeah." Nick shifted awkwardly. "Sometimes, I forget."
Hazel smiled. "That's what I love about books. When you read them, you get so involved in becoming the characters of the story, you forget."
Nick smiled back.
"Your guitar." Hazel started. "Did you choose it or did it choose you?"
Nick thought about that. He liked it the second he saw it. It wasn't like the other guitars. It looked different, it felt different, it played different. "It chose me."
Hazel nodded. "Exactly. Shut your eyes."
"What?" Nick stared at her like she was crazy.
She just laughed. "Shut your eyes."
He arched an eyebrow at her but did as he was told, nonetheless.
"Now, which book do you want?"
"Hazel, this is silly." He told her, sighing.
"Which book?" She asked again, ignoring him.
He took a deep breath, shaking his head at how ridiculous this was. And then something inside him changed. His eyes flew open and he took two steps to the left. "This one." He said, pulling a book from the second shelf to the top.
He stared at the book for a few seconds and then at Hazel.
"Well," He muttered. "I'll be damned."
Kevin took a deep breath and pushed open the door of the Thrift Store. Obviously, the place didn't do much business. It was deserted, apart from a strange shuffling sound coming from the back room.
Kevin stepped towards the door leading to the back room, expecting to see Macy shifting boxes and he began to try to remember what he had rehearsed with Stella. Except, Macy wasn't shifting boxes. Instead, she was dancing around the room, her eyes shut and her iPod blasting so loud Kevin could almost figure out the song if he strained his ear. Of course, he was too busy watching her to even contemplate trying to figure out what song she was listening to.
His mouth fell open when she started singing along to the song -not because of how terrible she was, and really… she was pretty damn awful- but because he knew the lyrics she was singing.
He had sung the lyrics she was singing.
He had recorded the lyrics she was singing.
He had written the lyrics she was singing.
"When you love someone and they break your heart, don't give up on love. Have faith. Restart. Just hold on!" She swung the brush in her hand like it was a mic. "Hold on!"
Kevin couldn't help but laugh. She was acting like Joe and wailing like a banshee. And he found it adorable. She pulled the brush up like it was a guitar, rocking out to his guitar playing. Kevin laughed again, only this time he obviously laughed just loud enough to make her realise there was someone else in the room.
Her eyes flew open and her face immediately went the colour of Kevin's favourite childhood toy. His fire truck.
Her eyes widened as she realised just who it was that had been watching her.
She coughed awkwardly and put the brush against the wall beside her.
"That was… Interesting." Kevin started, a giant smirk on his face. "I didn't know you liked JONAS."
Macy pursed her lips. "It's not JONAS I like." She mumbled.
"Oh." Kevin's face fell a little. "Well, what do you like? The lyrics? The Music? The awesome guitar playing?" He flashed her a smile and, if it was possible, her face reddened even more.
She shook her head a little, refusing to meet his eyes.
She didn't think she'd ever felt that mortified in her entire life. Even the time Stella was trying her Stell-cro out on her and it left her topless in the school hallway.
"Well then," Kevin moved from his place in the doorway closer to her. She really looked like she was going to pass out from the embarrassment and Kevin wasn't going to take any chances. "If it's not all those things you like, what is it?" He asked, a little confused.
Macy shrugged a little and mumbled something toward her feet.
"What?" Kevin asked.
Again she mumbled and again Kevin asked; "What?"
She took a deep breath, looked up at him and rolled her eyes. "You, damnit." She told him. "I like you."
Ah, sure bless them. xD Once again, thanks for all the wonderful reviews. As I've said in replies I was really worried as to how you'd all take this Macy character I've created. It's such a relief to know that you're all enjoying her attitude problem. ;) Later homeskillybiscuts.
