AN: GUYS. I AM SORRY FOR NOT POSTING FOR SOOOOOO LONG. ONE YEAR? TWO!? I JUST. I'M SORRY. ;_; Even if I haven't been updating, people have been sending me messages, asking when I will continue and visiting the story! How crazy! You guys always have been and always will be awesome! Did anybody see the new Wimpy Kid movie? I personally loved it! Hope this chapter is okay and I hope to get back into the swing of things! C':

Excitement couldn't even begin to cover the rush of feelings flooding Nikki's veins for the rest of the day. Her stomach had been bursting with fluttering butterflies and raging fireworks as anxiety overtook her. Nikki had been so happy, so eager for the evening ahead of her that she could hardly stop smiling. Her cheeks had begun to hurt after smiling for so long, causing her to stop every now and then. She was definitely in the puppy-love state of mind and her brain was just running on thoughts of Rodrick. A part of her felt incredibly stupid and naïve for thinking of such an unruly, annoying, and immature boy for such a long time but another side of her welcomed it with joy because she knew he could be so much more than the rugged exterior he displayed for the world.

Nikki could hardly wait for the bell to ring to send all the teens home and away from school and when the drowned out sound filled the classrooms and halls, she practically ran out and swiftly packed her things into her backpack. In little to no time, she was out into the field and heading to her car to go home. When she stepped through the door, her mother questioned why she looked so amused and content, to which Nikki replied with a, "Just something awesome."

The teenager couldn't bring herself to sit still. She paced around her room until deciding to concentrate on her reflection in her vanity mirror and fix any hair strand out of place and her makeup, which had grown smudged and appeared caked on over the long hours at school. Her appearance caused her to frown for a bit before doing something about her appearance, as in brushing her hair down and setting a headband on and redoing her make up entirely. She hadn't killed much time, but it had kept her preoccupied.

She threw herself on her bed, bouncing up and rustling the comforter below once she did so. She patted her stomach in a rhythmic matter, following the tune of "I Fought the Law" by The Clash. She was just so nervous, excited, joyful, anxious. All those range of emotions caused what felt like bubbles to pop and grow inside her. Nikki was growing afraid she'd say something stupid and ruin everything. She managed to calm herself down after repeating a mantra over and over. "It's just like hanging out. We're just hanging out. No big deal." She spoke out loud, unaware her mother was pressing an ear to the door outside out of sheer curiosity with an amused grin on her features.

Her mother loved her daughter, no question about that. Usually, the older woman would be overprotective and almost overbearing on the young Nikki but not this time. This time, she figured, she would take a step back and just let her daughter have fun with whoever she was going out with. She trusted her daughter enough to know she wouldn't go out and do anything stupid. Nikki had never been that kind of girl. So when Nikki quickly paced out of her room with a small satchel around her shoulder after hearing the doorbell ring, she simply waved with a smile and told her to have fun.

Nikki's breath caught in her throat and her heart beat heavily against its prison inside her when she opened the door to see Rodrick Heffley leaning by the side of her house. His eyes peered up at the sound of her opening the door, his fringe falling below his eyebrows as his head was a bit tilted downward.

"Hi." Nikki greeted, trying to tone down the large grin on her face but failing to do so. "Ready to go? It's not that far of a walk." Nikki pointed out, more concerned about the walk over to the park than the actual park itself. She would hate for an awkward silence to fall between them or for her to say something dumb.

"Yeah." Rodrick nodded, bringing himself off the wall with his lips popping together at the end of his word. Rodrick, on the outside, looked cool and collected but was just as much as a wreck on the inside. His mind was filled to the brim with ways on how to let Nikki know his friend broke her guitar. He just couldn't find the right words to speak. Rodrick had never been a man of words, always fumbling with what he tried to say when it came down to serious business.. Unless it had something to do with his band. That was something different. Girls, on the other hand? They were gentle and fragile but at the same time intimidating and quite.. scary. He could almost imagine Nikki turning into a raging monster, flames spewing from her mouth when she learned that her precious baby had been broken into pieces. Not only that, but he was also wondering what the heck he would even say to the girl. He always had something to say, stupid or not, but with the change in atmosphere, he wasn't sure if he'd even be able to muster a single topic.

The two took off down the sidewalk, walking a bit awkwardly beside each other with a silence setting in between them.

"So, uh.." Rodrick cleared his throat, hand shoving into his dark washed denim jeans.

Nikki looked up from the smooth sidewalk, eyeing the questionable shirt Rodrick was wearing. It had been a plain white shirt, neckline loosened up a bit by obvious wear and tear, but there was the "Loded Diper" signature in the middle. The words had been written on with Sharpie and were fading quite a bit.
"How long've you been with the band anyways? Played any good shows?" Nikki asked, trying to keep any sarcasm from spilling into her voice as she was serious.

"For a while.. Few months. Maybe a year. Can't really remember, actually.." Rodrick's voice drifted as he reached a hand up to scratch at the nape of his neck. "We've played some gigs. Really good ones too. Not going to lie, I've had a few girls come at me for autographs." At the end of his last sentence, his confidence wore down, obvious in how his tone had changed from strong to weak. He had regretted letting the last sentence slip through his lips. What kind of idiot said that on a DATE? Plus, it was a huge lie at that. The only fans they had were other guys and this one girl who already had her heart set on their singer.

"Really now?" Nikki laughed lightly, noting his blatant lie and shoving him just a bit. "Tell me when you guys play next time. I'd like to see my guitar in action, y'know." She commented, a soft grin on her lips.

"Oh yeah, definitely! I will definitely put you down on the V.I.P. list.. When I get around to it, y'know." Rodrick had no control over the words that fell from his mouth. The cocky side of him was kicking in with just a bit of humor in him and that wasn't who he wanted to be at the moment, surprisingly. "Yeah.. That guitar of yours it pretty sweet." He added quickly.

"Really? Glad it's doing you guys some justice!" Nikki told him, "Now I really can't wait to see you guys play.. Even if you might suck. Which you might not.. I'm just saying. You play drums, right?" Nikki knew the answer, but she just wanted to ask for the hell of it.

"Yeah but I'll do vocals sometimes. I tried teaching my brother and his dorky friend one time.. Worst idea ever. My mom thinks that I've got to take him under my wing or something." Rodrick shrugged, unsure why his mom would want him to do that in the first place. He wasn't exactly the best role model on the planet, he even knew that!

"A mini Rodrick? I would pay to see that transformation." Nikki told him with an entertained smile on her lips. "That's just what moms do I guess, y'know? They have it built into them or something."

"Like robots." Rodrick commented, laughing just a bit at the image of his mom plugging herself in through a socket in her back every night. He wouldn't be too surprised if his dad operated that way too.

"Yeah, like robots! Or cyborgs, or.. whatever."

The two reached the park in minutes and simply sat in the swings, rambling off from topic to topic, some serious and some not so much. The words had flowed so easily from their lips and both were surprised at how well they were acting to the other. Nikki had pictured her becoming a flustered mess while Rodrick imagined Nikki slapping him in the face over something he said. Everything had been going just perfect, up until..

"So, hey, how 'bout I swing over tomorrow to see you guys play?" Nikki asked, hands clutching the metal rings holding up the worn out yellow swing.

"Uh, sure, sure.. Sounds great." Rodrick managed a grin, though inside, turmoil was brewing.