Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS.
A/N: This is a follow up to chapter 6. Everyone else seemed to have managed to write a Kevin/Macy tag for Double Date, so I appreciate that you were all willing to at least read my quasi-Macy/Van Dyke. They were my favorite part of that episode, followed closely by Nick trying to get Joe to stop talking. That might deserve a tag too.
Dedication: For xovickixo because she asked for more.
As Van Dyke approached the baseball field behind school, he could see that Macy was already standing on the mound waiting for him. His eyes went wide as he took in her appearance – she was wearing a pair of blue track shorts and a gray school t-shirt, both of which hugged her in all the right placed. But what really threw him was her hair – she had it up in two pigtails with burgundy and white ribbons; she looked straight out of his Girls of Collegiate Softball calendar. She was practically a dead ringer for Miss March, who he had to admit was his favorite. How had he never noticed the similarity before?
He stood frozen at the third base line wondering when Macy went from girl-dude to babe. He must have looked like an idiot because she gave him a strange look when she finally noticed him standing there staring at her.
"You ready Van Dyke?" She challenged.
Her voice broke him out of his trance and he smirked at her. "I was born ready, Misa."
She rolled her eyes at him and shot back, "Your stats tell a different story, Tosh. I looked up how you did last season, and your batting needs a serious overhaul if you want to make varisty."
"Really?" He asked, feeling a little let down. He knew he wasn't the greatest hitter on the team, but hearing that from a hot girl sort of stung. "Do you think you can help?"
"Definitely," Macy assured him. "But you're going to have to listen to me and work hard." He nodded, and she continued. "I set up our video camera over there," she gestured towards a camera on a tripod lined up with home plate.
He smirked. The angle of the camera would give her an excellent view of his backside, which he had been told by several girls was one of his better assets. He couldn't help himself, "Nice. From there you'll have an awesome view of my-"
"Stance," she said, cutting him off.
That totally wasn't what he was going to say. "Huh?"
"You were obviously going to point out it would give me a good look at your stance because any other ending for that sentence would be highly inappropriate," she pointed out. "And creepy."
This was not going how he had expected it. So far she had told him he couldn't bat and that he was creepy. "Why is that creepy?" He asked.
"Seriously?" She sounded incredulous. "Talking to girls about your anatomy is just wrong. And so is calling them arm candy, by the way." She gave him an appraising look, "In fact, you'd probably do better with the ladies if you toned down the cockiness in general. Joe Lucas is the only one who can really pull it off, and that's because he's a rock star."
If she was right, that explained a lot about his dating history. He could usually get a first date, but then girls just seemed to lose interest. Sighing, he said, "How about we work on my batting now and save the dating advice for later?"
"Sure," Macy replied. "Get over to the plate and show me what you've got."
He grabbed a bat from the bag sitting behind home plate and cocked it back, waiting for her to throw the first pitch. But instead of throwing the ball, she started to walk towards him, her eyes studying him. He was a fairly confident guy (apparently a little too confident if what Macy said was true), but he had to fight the urge to squirm under her close scrutiny.
"That's really how you stand at the plate?" She asked critically.
He looked down at his feet. "What's wrong with how I stand?"
"You feet are too close together and your hips are turned too far to the right," she pointed out.
He almost dropped his bat when he felt her small hands grab his hips and rotate them to the left. She must have noticed his surprise because she rolled her eyes at him again. "Yes, I'm a girl, and I'm touching you. Get over it and move your feet about two inches further apart."
He gulped and did what she said. Then he tried to concentrate on the words coming out of her mouth and not how cute she looked with her pigtails swinging back and forth as she bossed him around.
"Got it?" She asked him when she finished talking.
"I think so," he said hesitantly. He was pretty sure he had understood most of what she had said, but he had zoned out there for a moment thinking about how pink her lips looked. Strangely, she gave him a huge smile – maybe because he hadn't used one of his trademark Van Dyke Tosh replies.
"I'll go easy on you with the first couple of pitches. Just try to make contact with the ball. I want to get a feel for your timing." With that, she turned and headed back towards the mound.
And he tried not to openly stare at the view this offered. He kept repeating to himself that he was just there to improve his batting. Then the first ball went right past him and he didn't even have his bat up yet.
"Come on Tosh," Macy yelled at him. "That was pathetic!"
Van Dyke narrowed his eyes and hit the next ball she threw. Unfortunately it went foul.
"Nice," Macy called. "Swing a little earlier next time."
Forty pitches later, he was beginning to wonder if Macy was even human or if she was some gorgeous alien cyborg. His arms were aching from swinging so many times and he was covered with sweat, but she still looked fresh and adorable standing on the mound. On the plus side, he was hitting the ball better than he ever had.
"Do you think maybe we can call it a day?" He finally asked. He hated to show weakness, but he needed to be able to throw the football at practice tomorrow.
"Sure," Macy said before bouncing towards him. "You didn't do too bad, Tosh. There might be hope for you yet."
"Thanks," he muttered, not sure that was a compliment. He put the bat back in the bag and began to help her gather up all the balls. After they had collected all the equipment, he picked up the bag for her and began to carry it all to her car.
He noticed that she kept glancing over at him as they walked. "So thanks for helping me," he finally said. "I really appreciate it."
"No problem," she answered with a smile. "We should probably meet a few more times before tryouts."
He stopped and looked at the diminutive brunette standing next to him. "You'd do that?"
"Sure," she replied. "You worked hard. I think that with a few more sessions, you could be a decent hitter." Then she shrugged and added, "Plus, when you drop the cocky jock attitude, you're sort of fun to be around."
He grinned, "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist the Tosh charm."
Narrowing her eyes, Macy said, "It's still not too late for me to change my mind."
Wincing at her tone, he quickly muttered, "Sorry."
"Apology accepted."
They had reached her car, and he hefted the bag into her trunk. "So thanks for helping me," he repeated, aware that he probably sounded like an idiot, but at least he knew that thanking her wouldn't make her mad.
"You're welcome." Glancing around at the empty parking lot, she asked, "Do you need a ride home or something?"
"I was supposed to call my mom when we were done."
"Get in," she replied. "I'll drop you off on my way home, so your mom doesn't have to make an extra trip."
"Thanks," he said again. He opened the door to her little blue car and slid into the front seat. As soon as she turned on the engine, a JONAS song blasted out of the speakers. She reached out and turned down the volume, and he wondered how she could hear if that was how loud she normally played music in her car. Hearing JONAS made him think of Joe and Stella, which triggered another thought. "Hey, do you want to grab some pizza on the way home? My treat."
Macy hesitated for a moment before smiling at him. "Sure. If you can control yourself and act like a gentleman."
"I can do that," he assured her.
"Okay. How about the place on Main Street?"
"Perfect."
He watched as Macy backed the car out of the space and began to drive out of the parking lot. At the first stop sign, she turned and said, "I think next time you should wear your baseball pants. It'll give me a better view of your" she paused a moment and smirked, "stance."
He felt himself start to blush a little at the look she was giving him. He couldn't believe she said that, especially after making him promise to behave like a gentleman.
Macy Misa might very well be the death of him.
