Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Make It Or Break It. You would know if I did. :)
Chapter 8: Engagements
Payson's eyes grew big. "You're what?"
"Engaged!" Emily said through the phone. "I wish I were talking to you in person, and then I could show you the ring. It's gorgeous!"
"Oh my god, Emily, that's so great! When did he propose?" Payson said as she went into the kitchen to get a chewy bar.
Emily looked at her watch. "Like an hour ago!"
"How did he do it? Give me details!"
"It was so sweet. First, he took me to the Pizza Shack. I told you about that Starlight Lounge thing he did for me, while we were teens, right?"
"Well, actually no…"
"Anyway, he took me there and it was set up exactly how he set it up all those years ago-"
Payson cut her off. "I'm sorry. There's a Pizza Shack in LA?"
"No, we're in Boulder." Emily went to college at the University of Colorado to be closer to Damon because he was recording in Boulder. Boulder recording studios were a lot cheaper than those in LA, so when he made more money and Emily was finished college, they moved to LA, so Damon could record in some more serious recording studios.
Payson choked on a piece of her chewy bar. "You're back in Boulder?" Payson paused. "When did you two fly in?"
"Yesterday morning."
"And I didn't know about this because…"
"Well he wanted to keep it a secret until after he proposed." She paused. "Anyway, so then he had one of those digital picture frames set up, and it included pictures of us over the years. The very last picture was one of those 'face-in-hole' things of a bride and a groom and he put our faces in it with a question mark in the middle, then he got down on one knee and proposed! Cheesy, yet cute, right?"
"Yeah, he really went all out!"
"Yeah, I know, I didn't even know what to say at first."
Payson sighed, thinking about the ring that could have been on her finger. "I'm so happy for you Emily. So have you two set a date yet?"
"No, not yet, but we are thinking to have the wedding maybe in about a month or two."
Payson's mouth slightly dropped. "Wow, you guys don't waste time."
"Yeah, I know, but we did decide that we want to have the wedding in Boulder. So, we're just going to stay here till the wedding."
"Really? That's amazing Emily." She paused. "So, did the Pizza Shack bring back any old memories for you and Damon? I know you two spent a lot of time there back in the day." Payson inwardly winced. She realized that might have come out the wrong way; she realized that it might have sounded a bit condescending.
"Yeah." Emily smiled. "It did." Payson let out a slight sigh of relief, one quiet enough so Emily wouldn't hear. She was glad that Emily didn't take her comment offensively.
"You know we had a lot of memories there, too." Emily added, while laughing. "Like when we rigged that Bingo game for your family." She continued to laugh, while Payson mouth was slightly dropping.
"That was rigged?" Payson asked, stunned.
Emily's eyes went big, as she covered her mouth in shock and embarrassment. "I thought you knew!"
"How? Who would have told me?"
Emily shrugged. "I don't know, it was a while ago. I figured someone must have blabbed it out by now."
"Oh my god…" Payson muttered.
"Oh, Payson, relax. It was just a game."
"Yeah." Payson commented sarcastically. "A game with a ten thousand dollar prize, which was rigged!"
"I'm sorry, Pay, are you mad?"
Payson thought for a second. It wasn't that big of a deal, so there was no reason she should be mad. "No, it's alright. It's no big deal."
"Alright, good." Emily paused, bringing up the topic of her wedding again. "Wait till I tell you who is in my wedding party."
….
Regret. Disgust. Confusion. Guilt. That's all that was going through Nicky Russo's mind, while he was kissing Kelly Parker on her bed.
"Wait, stop." Nicky said to the Kelly who was trying to take off his shirt.
"What's wrong?"
Nicky sighed; there was no easier way for him to say this. "I can't do this anymore." He gestured his finger back and forth between them. "We can't do this anymore."
Nicky himself did not even know why he stopped in the middle of making out with Kelly Parker, but he did, and he felt so damn proud of himself, too.
"I'm sorry, Kelly, but this is isn't right. I cheated on Payson. Cheated." Nicky accentuated the last word. "What kind of boyfriend, in fact, what kind of guy in general, am I to do this?"
"One who is sexually deprived?" Kelly half-joked.
"Okay… I might be feeling a little bit of that," he admitted, "but that shouldn't be an excuse. That should never be an excuse."
"Why all the guilt now?"
"I don't know, Kelly, that's exactly what I'm wondering. It's like something came over me. Like the angel on my right shoulder finally kicked in."
"Well maybe the guy on the left can come back? Maybe just for tonight?" Kelly slightly laughed, trying to lighten up the mood.
Nicky looked at her fully, with slight disgust on his face. "And what kind of person are you to be okay with this? Isn't that against girl code or something?"
Kelly frowned with slight anger boiling up inside her. "Uh, you were okay with this like 5 minutes ago, and by the way, Keeler and I don't like each other. That is no secret; people in China know that. "
Nicky groaned moving to the edge of the bed. "We shouldn't have done this." He said quietly, with remorse written all over his face and voice. "And please, Kelly, if you really care about me, you won't tell Payson about this; if there is anyone who should tell her it should be me." He paused. "Please." Nicky said as if he were on the verge of tears.
Kelly got up and sat next to him on the edge of the bed. Her attitude was slightly changing from anger to hurt. She had never seen him cry before, but what hurt more was that the tears were for another girl. "You really love her don't you?"
Nicky nodded, as he stared into space, feeling quite nostalgic. "When I saw her at that library at UCLA, it was like the whole world stopped, and all these old feelings kept rushing back. I felt like a nine-year old again, watching her swing on those bars. I saw beauty, strength, power, determination, and perfection." He let out a small chuckle. "Little nine-year old me saw all of that in a girl. Nine years later I felt the same way. I knew it was fate."
They stayed silent for a while just thinking about the past, thinking about how things could get screwed up in a moment. They both enjoyed the silence. It was like the meditation that they both needed.
Then came the question that they both knew was coming. "So, then why did you do it?" Kelly said quietly, breaking the silence. They both knew she wanted to say, 'other than you being sexually deprived,' at the end the question, but it wasn't the time for witty remarks. Both of them also knew that her question was not meant to be offensive; it was out of pure curiosity.
He almost didn't want to answer her. Hearing yourself say something in your head sounds a lot better than hearing yourself say something aloud. "I don't know." He paused. "I guess, I was really angry at her, and this was my way of getting back at her. It was my way of taking control." He paused again, thinking about how stupid his logic sounded. "When I do something like this, I'm not sure about our fate. I'm not sure if I'm the best person for her anymore. She deserves better than this, but I'm going to try to be the person that she deserves." He paused to look at Kelly. "First, I need to go back home. I need to go back to where I belong, and try to make this right."
"Okay." Kelly says in a high-pitched voice, not an excited voice, but a voice filled with remorse and hurt. There was not much more she could have said in this situation. The only thing Kelly kept repeating in her head was a quote that she was never really taught, except that one time at the age of ten when her father left. It went something like, 'you can't eat your cake and have it. '
…
"…and I'm thinking I should have my godmother be my maid of honor. I would choose one of you three to be it, but that could end ugly."
Payson yawned looking at her watch; they had been talking for over an hour now.
"Am I boring you?" Emily asked, worried.
"No, keep going; I'm fine," Payson asserted. "So, you were saying something about the maid of honor and bridesmaids? Which I better be one of. "
"Of course! I'll have you, Kaylie, and Lauren as my bridesmaids. Razor will, of course, be Damon's best man. Jasper, Carter, and Austin are going to be his groomsmen, I think."
"Since when were Damon and Austin friends?"
"Well, when Austin came back to Boulder, he and Damon started to hang out a lot, and they became pretty close."
"Oh, okay." Payson thinking to herself of the time Austin referred to Damon as an 'A-lister never-gonna-be,' although she is sure he was joking. She hopes he was.
"You're okay with him there right? It won't be too awkward for you?"
"No, no, no!" Maybe it would be a little awkward for Payson, but it doesn't matter how she feels, it matters how Emily feels.
All of a sudden Payson heard the apartment door start to unlock. She picked up the remote as a self-defense weapon, but put it down and smiled as the door opened to reveal Nicky standing at the doorway, before he walked in to hug Payson.
"You're home." Payson said as she smiled even wider.
"Yeah, " he said right before he kissed her forehead. "I love you Payson, don't forget that. I'm sorry I've been acting like a complete jackass lately, but-"
"Stop," Payson began, "Like I said earlier, you don't have to explain. I'm just really glad you're home." She ignored Emily's voice that was constantly calling her name on the phone, wondering if she was okay.
She brought the phone back up to her ear. "Emily, I'll have to call you back," she said, and before Emily could even reply, Payson already hung up. She made a mental note to call Emily back as soon as possible to apologize.
He kissed her on the lips, before he said, "I love you, Payson."
"I love you, too, Nicky."
Nicky made a decision. A decision that would probably be best for their relationship. Based off of his recent situation with Kelly, he had decided that he is definitely not ready for a commitment, such as marriage. He needed to erase the proposal all together. It would probably also be better for Payson if she didn't always have to feel the constant pressure for her to say 'yes' to his proposal.
"So, what did Emily want?" He said as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
"She got engaged! Isn't that great?"
He sighed. How ironic, he thought. "Yeah… about that…" He paused as he took a seat on the couch. "I don't know how to say this, and you probably will be happy about this, but I want us to forget that I ever proposed to you."
Payson's eyes widened. She was partially offended and curious, but her relief overrode all those other feelings. She didn't know how to react or what to say. If she came off happy, then it might hurt him, but if she came off sad, he might take back his decision, and she didn't exactly want that to happen. She knew she had to think of something quick, though.
"That's, uh, that's totally fine with me. I wouldn't mind either way, but go with your gut," Payson said, trying to come up with a sugar-coated version of saying: 'Do what you want, but please, with a cherry on top, don't take back what you said.'
"Alright thanks, Payson, I knew you would understand. It's just that… I don't think I'm ready for a commitment that big, I realized."
She nodded, as she smiled. "Like I said, go with your gut."
Author's Note: This is THE shortest I've ever updated. I'm on break so I have a lot of time on my hands. How did you guys like this chapter, and what do you think about Emily and Damon being engaged? On the day of their wedding, which will be maybe next chapter or the chapter after that, pretty much everyone will be appearing, so that should be exciting! I'm debating whether I want there to be a lot of drama there, although with everyone coming back, which includes Sasha(for all you Sasha fans), there is bound to be drama. Well, of course, there has to be drama...Lauren Tanner is going to be there. For all you Payson/Sasha fans, there maybe some Payson/Sasha stuff going on at the wedding (-gasp- i know, I'm crazy), most likely not romantically (sorry, i couldn't do it). Anyways, that's all I have to say! Please review! Any feedback is appreciated. I don't mind constructive criticism. I hope you enjoyed the Chapter! Look out for Chaper 9!
Also, Thank You So Very Much to livgraham for editing this for me. You're the best. :)
