I decided to do something a little different for this chapter: write it from Macy's point of view. It's going to change back in the next chapter, but I might do a few more chapters from her point of view just for fun. I promise I'll warn you first though so you don't get confused :) You might notice that it's a little more serious when Macy's talking, but hey, she's been abused so she has a reason.
I don't own JONAS. Please review :)
The first thing I was aware of when I awoke was light flooding through my eyelids, turning my sight red. I opened them to find that the last sliver of golden sun was just sinking below the horizon. That's when I realized that I was outside on the dank ground, which disoriented me a little, although for some reason I felt safe and warm. I looked around to find out why and was surprised to find that I was laying on something soft and rather human-like.
Kevin.
Panic set in. What had happened to me? Why was I outside? Why was Kevin, of all people, holding me? How did he even get there? The last thing I could remember was my dad shooting his 'hunting' gun—or so he called it when the few people he knew came calling—at my friends, and me jumping on his back to stop him. After that—blank. I tried to move, but the pain that followed made me gasp involuntarily.
The sound made Kevin stir. He opened his eyes and smiled down at me, water dripping from his ringlets of dark hair. That smile almost made me faint like it used to, but then I saw nasty, fist-shaped bruise that stretched from his cheekbone to his forehead.
"Kevin, what happened to you?" I asked, my voice coming out hoarse.
His sudden laughter surprised me. It was a beautiful sound, one I hadn't heard for quite some time, and didn't realize how much it had been missed. "What?" I asked.
"Sorry, it's just that you're worried about me when you're the one who narrowly escaped death," Kevin said, serious once more.
I stared at him. "You—you saved me, didn't you?"
"Is it really that hard to believe?" Kevin asked, the gold specks in his brown eyes sparkling in the fading light.
"It is when you consider that you're in Mexico, for one, and that you just took on my intoxicated dad and still got away. What happened to him anyway?"
"I'm not sure, really. It's kind of a blur. But I'm pretty sure we knocked him out."
I gulped. "We?"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Hey guys! Macy's awake!" Kevin shouted. I heard the rustling of underbrush as the calvary ran towards us. "Come on," Kevin said, raising me to my feet.
Pain shot through my legs, and they wobbled a bit before collapsing. Kevin looked at me quizzically. "I can't," I said, biting back the urge to cry out.
"You…can't?" Kevin said, not understanding. Then it dawned on him, and anger clouded his perfect features. "Macy, what exactly did that man do to you?"
I was spared from answering by the abrupt appearance of Nick, Joe, and Stella, all of whom were looking a little worse for wear yet insanely happy at the same time.
"Macy!!" Stella squealed, attacking me in a fierce hug. "Don't you ever scare us like that again!"
I tried to escape but soon found myself sandwiched between my best friend and the Lucases. My body felt like it was on fire. I was pretty sure I had a few broken bones and maybe even a rib or two, and I couldn't keep from yelling in pain this time.
Everyone except Kevin backed away as if they had been burned. He only moved closer, enveloping me in a protective hold that kept me standing but didn't crush my bones. I leaned against his chest gratefully.
"Macy's not doing so well. I think she's going to need medical attention whenever Dad finds us."
"Wait, where exactly are we?" I asked, remembering all of a sudden that a forest was not a very normal place to be having a reunion with my friends. Not that anything had been normal about my life lately, but just the same.
"Don't know. We forgot to program Nick as a GPS," Joe joked.
"Hey, at least I know that we're somewhere southeast of Mexico City," Nick retorted.
"Sorry bro, but you don't get props for being a compass," Joe told him.
"Wow, Joe's learned what a compass is! Let's have a round of applause."
"Okay boys, enough. I'm sure Macy doesn't want to hear you fighting," Stella reprimanded.
"Actually I've kind of missed it," I admitted. I'd missed a lot of things during my stay in the prison that had been my father's house: Nick's silence and rare smiles, Joe's hair flip and jokes, Stella's obsession with texting and cute clothes, and Kevin…well, I think I'd missed everything about Kevin, from his love for trumpet-playing otters to his unfailing compassion. Seeing them all again was like a breath of fresh air after being underwater for an eternity. It was something I needed more than anything at the moment.
