A/N: Okay, so I haven't finished "Band's Best Friend" yet. It's a lot more difficult to switch Macy and Stella in that one. I'm working on it. So it will eventually make it on here, but I need to ask for patience, :) Enjoy "Keep It Real" guys! This one is my favorite that I've written so far! Thanks for all the reviews!

Chapter Four: Keep It Real

"Your fitness guru has a arrived," Macy exclaimed as she walked through the door. She grabbed a banana off of the table and then leaned against the island counter. "The breakfast meeting can begin. Oh, and no kick boxing today guys, I have to watch the store for my mom after school."

Mrs. Lucas gave her a soft yet frustrated gaze and placed a motherly hand under Macy's chin, "Macy, sweetie, you are more than welcome to stay for breakfast, but this is exactly what I'm talking about! We promised each other that if this band blew up we would stay grounded, and just like a regular family."

"Sandy, Sandy-Dandy, relax. No matter how successful this band becomes we will always maintain that common touch," Mr. Lucas told his wife as he stood up to get his coffee from the coffee stand in the living room. He thanked the man who brewed the coffee for him and turned back to his wife.

"Okay, when was the last time anyone did a chore around here? Or we had dinner together as a family?"

Macy rolled her eyes as the boys all pulled out their phones. They discussed it amongst each other before Kevin spoke up, "Okay, mom, the last family dinner was three weeks ago tomorrow."

"Oh, and by the way, thank you so much for being so flexible with your schedule, mom," Nick offered. Macy shook her head. They really didn't get it.

"Okay," Mrs. Lucas said as she clapped her hands to keep the boys attention. "Mom alert. We are a family first and we're gonna start acting like one again. Okay? That means no more breakfast meetings, no more limos, and no more coffee guy!"

The boys stood up from the table and approached their mother.

"Okay, mom, we get it," Kevin said.

"We promise to keep it real," Joe agreed.

"We may have been a little carried away, but that's history," Nick added. As if sensing the perfect moment Nick's phone rang. He quickly answered, "Call you back."

As soon as he hung up Kevin's rang. He followed Nick's example and told the person he would call them back. Joe's phone rang after that.

"Hello?" Joe asked into his phone. Macy stared at him in shock. He did not just answer his phone. "Oh, what's up? Oh yeah, I can talk, sure."

Kevin, Nick, and Mrs. Lucas glared at him expectantly.

He deflated immediately, "I-I'll call you back."

Macy smiled softly as the boys hugged Mrs. Lucas. They were such an adorable family, but Macy just knew this "keep it real" plan wasn't going to work out the way they all wanted it to.

"Hey, Stella," Macy said brightly as she approached her on the stairs. "What are you doing?"

"Um, I'm looking over some sketches," She answered nervously. "I was thinking of showing them to Joe."

Macy smiled, "You totally should! Maybe they'll let you make a few outfits for them!"

"You think?" Stella asked.

Macy shrugged, "It's possible. Besides your outfits are totally better than most of the things they wear."

"I don't know, what if I go all freaky on them?"

"Look, why don't you come with me to the store after school, and we'll prepare a presentation that you can give to all the Lucas boys. How does that sound?"

"Okay, I think I can do that," Stella agreed.

"Good, meet me in the atrium we'll walk over to the store together," Macy said brightly as she and Stella parted ways to go to their classes.

"So, as you can see this look is designed to bring out the guys' best features. Not that they don't look amazing already what with all that talent, charm, and charisma…"

Macy sighed, and waved a hand in front of Stella's face as she drifted off.

"Stella."

"Hmm?"

"You've stopped talking again," Macy told her. "You have to keep talking if you want to present them with these sketches. You can't just space out in the middle of a sentence," Macy told her with a grin as she fiddled with the sunglasses rack on the counter.

"I can't help it. I just start to think about them and then I…get…distracted," Stella said as she began to daydream again.

Macy snapped her fingers, "Stella!"

"Sorry! See? I can't do this!"

"Yes, you can. You just need to practice," Macy told her. "I'm going to go get us some waters from the back. Will you watch things out front for me?"

Stella nodded miserably, "Sure."

"Be right back," Macy said with a sympathetic smile.

Stella sighed and stared at her sketches again, "Why is this so difficult?"

The bell above the door rang and Stella heard the door close. With out looking up she asked, "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah, we're here to drop off some clothes."

Stella's eyes widened and she glanced up in shock. She didn't speak, she didn't move. She just stared at them.

"Stella?" Joe asked worriedly. "I think she's asleep."

Nick gave Joe a bored look, "With her eyes open?"

"She could be. You don't know."

"Where's Macy?" Kevin asked. "Didn't she say she would be here?"

"She's probably in the back, Kev," Nick told him.

"Hey, Stella, can you just point to where we need to put these bags?" Joe asked.

"Over them put there," She said with a gulp as she pointed to a spot beside the counter.

The three brothers grinned at her in amusement before Joe spoke up again, "Thanks."

"Okay, so I know you like that Fiji water stuff, Stell, but all we have is SmartWater so I hope that's okay," Macy said as she came back into the room. She placed the water on the counter and noticed Stella's frozen state. She looked up and immediately shook her head. "Poor Stella."

"Hey, Macy!" Kevin said brightly.

"Hey, Kev. What are you guys doing here?" She asked.

"Mom asked us to drop off some clothes."

"Clothes," Stella said as she glanced at Macy. "Worn by them."

Macy patted her shoulder consolingly, "Drink your water, Stella."

The bell went off again, and the group turned to see a little blonde girl enter the store. Macy's eyes widened. She knew that girl. She came in every day just to see Macy because she was "Jonas's best friend". The girl looked up and screamed. She whipped out her phone and snapped a picture.

"Camera phone!" Joe yelled.

"If she sends that picture we're gonna be surrounded by screaming-"

Before he could finish his sentence the girl hit send, and suddenly they were surrounded by fans from all sides. Macy raced to the door and pulled down the shades. \

"FANS!" Kevin yelled in horror.

"Something tells me mom's going to have that 'normal family dinner' tonight without us," Joe said.

"At least all the screaming's going to drowned out the sound of mom's heart breaking," Nick added.

Kevin shook his head, "No, I heard it."

Kevin and Macy put down the rest of the shades while Stella began scolding the girl. Joe was looking around the store for other ways out while Nick was trying to come up with a plan.

"There's got to be another way out of here," Nick announced.

"Well, the back way's no good," Joe stated.

"Why not?" Kevin asked.

"Because there is no back way," Joe told him bluntly.

"Oh."

"I can't believe this. All we were trying to do was help our mom," Nick sighed.

"You, random little blonde girl, are totally responsible for this!" Stella said with a glare and an accusing finger.

"What are you gonna do about it?" She challenged.

"Macy, get the door," Stella demanded.

Macy nodded and complied. Stella shoved the little girl out the door and yelled after her, "Number one Jonas fan? I don't think so!"

The five of them worked together to shut the door. Kevin groaned pitifully.

"We're never going to make it home for mom's dinner, our family is gonna be destroyed, and our lives are over," He said sadly.

Macy's brow furrowed, "Wait, why don't we just call your parents? I mean I think they would understand."

"No!" Joe said immediately. "Mom already thinks it's impossible for us to be a normal family."

"We couldn't even take out the garbage!" Kevin exclaimed.

"Then we should call the police," Macy suggested.

"We can't call the police every time we have to run and errand for our mom," Nick told her. "How is that keeping it real?"

"Wait a minute!" Joe exclaimed as he stepped up onto a literal soapbox. "What happened to the Jonas spirit? Remember when we tried to take out the garbage? Kevin you were like, 'Let's take out the garbage.' And Nick you were like, 'Look at us we're takin' out the garbage.' And I was like, 'Hey, I'm Joe, and I'm takin' out the garbage.' YES!"

Nick stared at him and shrugged, "What's your point?"

"Why is it that every inspiring speech HAS to have a point?" Joe huffed.

"All we need is a plan," Kevin said. "Everybody think."

There were a few moments of silence before Kevin spoke up again, "Is everybody thinking?"

"All I can think about is how awesome these shoes would look with those pants," Joe said as he pointed out the items. Stella perked up and smiled at him.

"Me too! That's what I was thinking!"

They exchanged smiles and Stella blushed.

Macy edged her way toward Stella and whispered, "Maybe you should show them your sketches now? I mean we're all trapped here. Something useful should come of this, right?"

Stella bit her lip, "I can't do it."

"Stella-"

"I can't take it anymore!" Joe suddenly yelled when the silence had stretched out too long. "The walls! They're closing in! What if we run out of food?"

Macy shrugged, "Don't worry about food. Inside some of these old purses you can always find mints."

"Okay, foods covered. Water! I need water!"

"Dude, calm down," Nick said as he shoved a large bottle of water at Joe. "Here."

Joe grabbed it and took a large sip, "Ah, with a hint of lime!"

"Kevin?" Macy asked him from her spot behind the counter.

"Yes, Macy?"

"You know you guys could have avoided all of this by asking me to come and pick up the clothes."

"That wouldn't have been the same to mom," Kevin told her.

"Because you mother, and mine by the way, would much rather we all be trapped in here all night," She said dryly. Kevin's gaze drifted down to the counter and noticed that Macy's elbow was resting on a sketch pad. His brow furrowed.

"What's this?" He asked as he pulled the pad out from under her elbow.

Macy thought about stopping him but she quickly realized that letting Kevin stumble across Stella's designs would be much easier than trying to talk her into actually showing them to any of them.

"Hey guys!" Kevin said excitedly. "Look at these!"

Stella's eyes widened in horror, "Oh no."

Joe and Nick crowded around Kevin as he flipped through the sketches. Stella sprinted to the back of the counter and ducked behind it at Macy's side.

Macy quirked an eyebrow at her, "What are you doing?"

"Hiding."

"Why?"

"What if they don't like them?"

"Stella, stand up and look at their faces," Macy urged her gently.

Stella peeked over the counter, "They're smiling."

"Because they like them," Macy grinned.

"Stella, is this your signature at the bottom? Did you design these?" Joe asked.

She nodded mutely as she slowly stood up again.

"They're amazing," Nick added with a small smile.

"Wow, and he's even smiling just a little," Macy said in shock. "That makes his compliment worth about ten times more."

Nick rolled his eyes at his smirking best friend, "Why do I keep you around?"

"Because I'm scrappy and I would fight you to the death if you tried to get rid of me," She told him simply.

"Oh, right. That makes sense," He said dryly.

"This one has an ascot on me! I love it!" Kevin exclaimed.

"Okay, I have to call you out something. I saw Efron wearing this outfit last week. I remember because he looked better than me," Joe muttered bitterly.

Macy's eyes widened and she winced.

Stella glared at him, "Check the date on that sketch. I designed that outfit months ago. I make trends I don't follow them."

Joe's eyes widened and he double checked the page. He looked up at Stella with a smirk on his face, and Macy knew he was impressed.

"Maybe you could design something for us when we get out of here," Joe suggested.

"Really?" Stella asked in shock.

The three brothers nodded simultaneously.

"That's provided we don't die here," Nick stated in a flat tone.

Macy's eyebrows flew upward and she smiled, "Why don't you design something for them now, Stella?"

"Now? We're in a thrift store. No offense to your mom's business, but-"

"Just think of these old clothes as costumes," Macy told Stella with a grin.

"Macy! You're brilliant!" Kevin exclaimed as he rushed Macy with a hug.

She blushed and hugged him back, "I try."

Stella smiled affectionately at the pair as Nick cleared his throat.

"Mr. and Mrs. Adorable? Can we get on with our escape plan, please?"

Kevin blushed and he and Macy jumped apart. Stella glared at Nick. If he wasn't one-third of Jonas she would smack him. Those two were almost having a moment!

"Mace?"

"Yeah, Stella?"

"You don't happen to have an old Donkey costume lying around here do you?" She asked.

"No, no Donkey costume."

"Darn, I was thinking Nick could be the Donkey's rear end," Stella said with a pointed glare in Nick's direction. His mouth dropped open in shock and Macy and Kevin stifled their laughter.

Joe pointed at his younger brother and laughed loudly, "Burn!"

Joe reached out a hand in Stella's direction for a high five. She stared at it for a minute before smirking and accepting the high five. Joe gave Stella a quick once over.

"I think you're gonna fit in very nicely around here, Ms. Malone," He chuckled.