Ch. 8 Number One

Nick didn't think he ever ran as fast as he was running now. But he had reason to because when Randolph broke the news to him that Macy was pregnant three emotions overtook his whole being. First off, he was completely shocked. He couldn't believe that was the secret Macy had been hiding from him. He remembered that summer night well when he, under the heat of passion, couldn't control himself and ended up taking Macy's innocence and losing his as well. But he didn't realize that Macy was carrying a lasting consequence from their time together. She never gave any hints to him at all but he should've known and that's the second emotion he felt. Guilt. He felt guilty because he believed he was a bad boyfriend to her. She didn't have to tell him upfront what was bothering her. He should have figured it out on his own. But the one driving force for why he was running as fast as he could through the hallways of Horace Mantis Academy was because of the last emotion he felt. He was scared. He was terrified that something bad had happened to Macy.

"MACY!" he yelled at the top of his lungs. He checked all the class rooms. He was so desperate on finding her that he even went inside the girls' bathrooms. But he still had no luck finding her.

Nick wasn't oblivious to the bullying that had been going on around school. It was hard for him to see Macy getting picked on but he knew his place. Throughout this whole time, he thought Macy and Randolph were together so he stood back. Why comfort her when she already had a new boyfriend? He wasn't the type of boy who would steal another guy's girlfriend even though he thought she cheated on him in the first place. But he did what he could do to alleviate the pain for her. At every chance he could get, he tried to scratch off any signs of Macy Misa is a slut that he could find, which there were many around the school. What scared him were the lengths these girls would take to destroy one girl's reputation. And even worse was the fact that Macy was suffering at his expense. He felt like a real jerk. But when Randolph told him of the rumored prank a group of girls planned against her, Nick knew they were just taking this too far. It was just too cruel.

"MACY!" he called again. This time he was in the gym, the place where this all happened. Sure enough he found the empty tub of red paint lying by the door but there were no signs of Macy. He continued looking within that area.

And then he heard her.

Macy couldn't believe what just happened. She fell for that fake note. Because it had to be fake, right? There was no way Nick would have lured her to the gym only to humiliate her. No, this was the doings of those psychotic fan-girls. It just had to be. But while she was wallowing in her grief and humiliation, she was starting to doubt it. Maybe because she was hurting so much that she wasn't thinking straight. Because she was thinking about what Randolph said to her earlier that week. She did see Nick as her prince charming. He was perfect in every way. He would never write the word slut on her locker and he would never think up of a plot to spill paint all over her body. No, that wasn't Nick at all. But then she started thinking about that kiss…the one that was almost violent for her to even enjoy. He was so angry at her so she didn't mind that he was so forceful…it was her fault that he was so mad…He would never hurt her...right? But then a thought made it through her head and she tried to erase it but it just kept coming back. The thought that she wished to ignore was that Nick wasn't the prince she thought he was. He was only a figment of her imagination because she was blinded by love. No. No. NO. Macy shook her head. Nick was perfect in every way. He would never cause her any harm…right?

She was so lost. There was nothing in her life that could compare to the sadness Macy was feeling at that moment. She reached the bottom and she didn't think she could ever get up again. Her mind must have started playing games with her because she thought she heard Nick's voice calling for her. But she knew that was impossible. He said he wanted nothing to do with her anymore. There was no way he would be looking for her. It was impossible. She started to cry. And she cried even louder because there was no more hope in this situation that she dug herself up in. There was no hope left at all.

"Macy…"

And then she saw him.

It was quite a ghastly sight. Nick was standing in the gym's bathroom and there she was, in one of the empty shower stalls, slumped on the floor and crying in the corner. What made it ghastly was that she was covered completely in red paint but it wasn't the bright stop-sign color red, it was more of a bluish reddish color. It looked like a scene straight from a horror film because it looked as if Macy was covered completely in blood.

"Nick?" she called out to him. She thought her mind was conjuring up an image of her prince because there was no way Nick could really be the one standing before her at that instant. There was absolutely no way. But he looked so real. She needed to confirm that it was just an illusion so she tried to stand up and touch him. But Nick caught her when her legs gave way.

"NICK!" Macy cried out incredulously.

"Macy…" was all he could say because he felt so broken seeing Macy like this. He was speechless.

Her genuine surprise caused her to break down even more because she just couldn't believe that Nick was there holding her in his arms. It was just too much to handle—like an emotional roller coaster. She must have been crying so much that she didn't realize what he was doing. While she was sobbing, she noticed that Nick began unbuttoning her shirt.

"What—?

"Shh…" he said to keep her quiet. She noticed that he had a determined look in his eyes.

Because she was too weak to do anything, she allowed Nick to undress her. She had no idea why he was doing that but because she was just overcome with emotion, she just let him. When he was done, she stood before him stark naked. And then it dawned on her what he wanted to do. Because now she saw Nick take off his shirt and it made sense in her head. The reason why he undressed her and why he himself was taking his clothes off was because…he was going to rape her.

The idea of being raped should have scared her but because she was already in so much agony she reasoned that she would probably feel numb towards any additional pain. Besides she wouldn't dare run away from Nick right now. So what if he wasn't the perfect prince she thought he was? She didn't care anymore because she gave her whole heart to him and if he wanted to use her body to fulfill his needs, she'd let him. Because she was broken to the point that there was no longer any recovery, she wanted to have a purpose again. Therefore, if this was the only way she could feel close to him again, then he can have her body because she would give it to him freely. She loved him that much.

When she saw he was done undressing, she closed her eyes and tried her best to suppress her tears as she waited for his warmth to be inside of her.

And then she felt it.

Water.

She opened her eyes surprised because Nick had no intention whatsoever to have his way with her. Instead, he reached out behind her and turned the knob of the shower head so that a steady stream of warm water was now flowing above them.

Then she understood.

She closed her eyes once again and concentrated on the feeling of his hands running through her hair and her body.

What Nick was doing very carefully was washing and cleaning away the paint off her body. It took a while for Macy to stop crying because her tears were no longer that of sadness and fear but of happiness and relief. Nick was really her one and only prince charming.

Nick did his best to be very gentle with her as he tried to clean off the red stains on her body but because she waited for awhile to rinse it off, many spots took longer to clean since they already dried up and clung to her skin tightly. Throughout this whole scene, none of them said a word. They didn't need to because they understood each other. The only sound was water running and splashing on the floor and their bodies.

The tender scene was so beautiful and symbolic in a way. Because as Nick cleaned her body from the paint, it was as if he was cleaning off all the ugliness that took place between them. The paint signified the secrets that were kept between them and now they were being washed away as they became truthful and "naked" in front of each other. They were becoming one again. He was restoring Macy Misa back to her old self. And the fact that he was the one doing it showed that even after all the lies, betrayals, and secrets, he would always be there for her to "clean" any thing that could ever bring her down. Because he would never ever let Macy Misa break down. No, he would never let her go because he would hold on to her tightly so that she never breaks into little pieces ever again.

When he was sure he cleaned off every part of Macy's body, he stood up and embraced her as the water continued to cascade down on their bodies. Macy took comfort in his embrace. It was a long time that Macy felt at ease. Because only, when she was with Nick did she feel this safe. They felt so right together. Then she felt his hands linger on her stomach.

Nick stared at where his fingers rested. He couldn't believe there was a person growing inside of her and not just any person but a baby that he and Macy created. It was a bit overwhelming to think about it all. He wasn't sure if he was ready to be a father but because it was with Macy he found comfort in that fact alone. The baby bump wasn't that visible but he felt it.

"What is it now?" he asked her quietly while still looking at her stomach. "Three months, four days and give or take five hours?"

"Yeah," she said slowly. She smiled up at him because it was just like Nick to remember the exact time when their baby was conceived. "But how did you find out?"

"Randolph told me," he whispered gently into her ear.

"I'm sorry…that I kept it from you," she said as she could feel the tears coming back.

"Macy, no, don't apologize," he assured her as he tightened his embrace around her. "I understand why you did it. But I need to tell you something…"

"Yes?"

And so Nick took a deep breath as he tried to formulate what he wanted to tell her.

"You know how I'm a very organized person, right?"

"Yes..?" Macy said wearily because she wasn't sure where this was going but she listened. Nick really was an organized individual; she remembered one time when he wouldn't speak to Joe for a week when he messed up his sock drawer. But she had a feeling what he wanted to say was more substantial than socks.

"Well, I made a list."

"A list?"

"Yes. A list that ranked things that was most important to me. Music and family were always tied in first place. And then there was friends, sports, school, and so on," he said and looked at Macy to see if she was following him. "And for awhile that list never changed. But then something happened."

"Oh?"

"Someone came into my life and made me reevaluate everything including that list," he continued. "Because Macy you became my number one."

"Nick…"

"Wait, let me finish first," he continued as he now stroked her hair gently. "And when everything else was going on in my life especially when my music career was starting to take off, you were always my top priority even during the times when I was too busy to show it. So I'm sorry if I made you feel as if my career was more important than you because it never was and it never will be. That's why you shouldn't have felt the need to protect me from this…from our baby."

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"Macy, it's okay," he continued as he placed a soft kiss on the top of her head. "You're the most self-less, caring, and loving person I know and it made sense for you to do that."

He gently kissed her forehead.

"But can I ask you a question?" he asked as he looked lovingly into her eyes.

"Yes, of course, you can ask me anything," she replied as she too held her gaze with his.

"Will you be my number one again?" he asked.

Macy decided to show instead of say her response when she took his face into her hands and tip toed so that she could press her lips against his. Their kiss became so passionate it was as if they were making up for all the days they weren't together.

They let the water rain on them for a bit until they heard the last bell signifying the end of classes. Because her uniform was completely destroyed by the paint, Nick lent her his shirt to wear, which thankfully was long enough to be decent.

"Hey, Nick," she said as they were gathering their stuff. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, anything," he said as he was putting on his shoes.

"Can you be my number two?"

"Yes, of course, I'll be your number one… Wait, number two?" he asked her with utter disbelief apparent on his face.

"Yeah, I mean you had your whole life to think about your list and since I just started making mine, I thought I should leave my number one spot open for something more important," Macy said teasingly.

"Something more important!"

Macy had to laugh at how shocked Nick looked but she added quickly, "I'm just joking. Of course, you're my number one. Always have and always will be."

She rushed over to him and gave him another passionate kiss on his lips.

"I love you, Nick."

"I love you Macy."

It was a normal afternoon in Horace Mantis Academy. As students piled into the hallways to leave for school, another collective silence overcame the student body. It was becoming quite a habit in the past few days for students to stop what they were doing in order to look at someone or in this case two particular people. Why the sudden stillness? Because at that moment, when the students were packing up to go home, Macy Misa and Nick Lucas happened to enter the main hall way. The fact alone that they were seen together should have been very surprising but there were so many other things that the students of Horace Mantis Academy did not understand about the situation. For starters, no one knew why both Macy's and Nick's hair were dripping wet. Did they go swimming? Furthermore, the students did not understand why Macy was only wearing a oversized shirt instead of her uniform. What they could deduce, however, was that shirt she was wearing most likely belonged to Nick since he wore khaki pants and an undershirt, which definitely was not part of the uniform. However, what the students could guess was this—Macy Misa and Nick Lucas were definitely back together. Judging by the way Macy and Nick were holding hands so tightly that their fingertips were a red hue, there was no doubt about it.

And as Macy and Nick walked through the halls, they experience another ripple effect in which students began to whisper after they passed them.

One girl had the audacity to yell, "Nick, don't tell me you're back together with that slut?"

Nick ignored it but he could feel Macy tense up so he gave her hand an extra squeeze. She looked up at him and he gave her a look that said Don't worry. I got you. And just like that Macy was able to hold her head up high and look straight ahead just like Nick was doing. And they walked through the hallways like it was their business because it really was theirs and no one else's.

They survived this whole ordeal and they knew they could survive whatever life threw at them because they had each other now. And that was all they needed.


Closing Remarks:

Yes, the drama died down. I really love reading your responses to this. And some of you have even expressed interest in a sequel and more chapters but I'm not sure if I plan on doing that. My creative juices have started running out and school is about to start so I'm not sure if I have time to think of a new plot for a story. I still have an epilogue to add to this so maybe you can look forward to that! Review!

-Penelope36