Disclaimer: I don't own JONAS.

A/N: This chapter is all over the place – it just sort of evolved that way. If you get a chance, head over to my profile before Tuesday and vote on the last Pure Horace Mantis Challenge. Oh, and if you haven't read it yet MissNata13's new Jacy story is awesome (and I'm not just saying that because she let me beta).

Macy felt so nervous waiting for Kevin and Joe to arrive that she was afraid she might be sick. Stella had insisted on helping her get ready – something about showing the boys at school what they were missing. The process had involved having Stella's hairdresser put in some honey highlights and having their nails done, followed an intense session of hair and make-up Stella-style. Macy barely recognized the girl looking back at her in the mirror. Her hair fell in perfect, stylized curls, her eyes looked smoky and larger than usual, and she was wearing what her best friend called a sexy shade of red on her lips.

And then there were the shoes.

She was standing in four inch silver heels that Stella assured her showed off her "killer legs". Standing was the key part of that statement, though, because she wasn't sure if she could actually walk in the things, let alone dance. But she had been told that sacrifices must be made for fashion, and apparently one of those sacrifices was losing the ability to move pain-free.

She believed her best friend when she told her that she looked beautiful, but she didn't feel like Macy. Fortunately she didn't have too much time to worry about it because the doorbell rang signifying the arrival of their dates. When Kevin came through the door holding a single red rose, her heart rate sped up. She had seen millions of pictures of him dressed up on the red carpet, but that hadn't prepared her for the real thing. Kevin Lucas in a suit smiling at her literally took her breath away.

She was broken out of her trance by a whistle. "Looking good, Mace," Joe said with a smirk, elbowing his older brother. "Doesn't she look great, Kev?"

Kevin smiled at her and replied, "She looks beautiful." He paused a moment before adding, "But she always does."

Macy blushed and took the rose that he held out to her, smiling shyly at him.

"So where are you handsome gentlemen taking us for dinner?" Stella asked as soon as her mom had finished taking what seemed like a million photos.

Joe grinned at his date before replying, "You and I are headed to the new sushi place downtown. Romeo over there won't tell me where they're going." He smirked a little and then said, "Apparently he doesn't trust me."

"You do have a habit of crashing other people's dates," Macy pointed out, excited that she was going to have Kevin all to herself for a little while.

"Only when I don't have my own date, Misa." Putting his arm around his girlfriend, he continued, "Stella is going to have my full attention this evening. Well, Stella and my California roll."

Shaking her head at Joe's antics, Macy smiled happily and let Kevin lead her out the door and into his car. Ten minutes later they pulled up in front of El Meat.

"I know it's not the normal Homecoming restaurant, but I remembered you saying how much you liked it when you were here with Joe," Kevin said. "And your blog posts made it sound delicious."

"You read my blog?" Macy asked before mentally reviewing her most recent posts to make sure she hadn't said anything horrifyingly embarrassing. Fortunately, she had been really busy the past week and hadn't ended up posting that idea she'd had to invite JONAS heads to send in 500 word essays on what they loved most about the guys' hair.

"Sure," Kevin replied. "You're a really good writer. And I had that photo of Stella and Joe with the meat swords as my screen saver for awhile."

"That was a pretty awesome picture."

"It totally was," he said with a smile. "How about we go get some meat?"

Stella had informed Macy that as soon as dinner was over, she should head to the powder room to make sure that no damage had been done. She was pretty sure that her best friend had slipped a checklist into her purse with step-by-step directions on how to properly reapply her lip gloss. But her shoes were killing her, and at that moment the small walk to the bathroom seemed akin to the Trail of Tears or the Baatan Death March. She knew that she was being melodramatic, but she sort of thought Stella should be brought up on charges for forcing her into the heels. Sighing, she grabbed her clutch and tried to gracefully walk across the restaurant, hoping that Kevin wouldn't notice her wince every time she put weight on her left foot.

Apparently she wasn't good at masking her pain, though, because he asked her what was wrong the moment she sat back down.

"New shoes," she said with a wave of her hand, hoping to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal. "I'll manage."

"Are you sure?" He asked. "How about we run by your house and grab some different shoes for you. I bet your converse would feel pretty good about now."

At that moment, Kevin Lucas seemed like the most intelligent person Macy had ever met. She could trade in the instruments of torture she was currently wearing for her comfy sneakers and happily dance the night away with her gorgeous, brilliant date. But then she remembered Matt Jackson and his group of meathead jocks. She was going to be girly tonight if it killed her.

"Don't worry about it. I'll just tough it out. If I show up in my converse it'll just prove to those guys that they're right – that I can't even be a real girl for one night."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew she had said something wrong. Kevin was still sitting there in front of her, but it was like someone had turned out the lights inside him; the happy, lightheartedness that made him Kevin was gone. Instead of answering, he gripped the dessert menu tightly and looked down.

"Is something wrong?" She asked meekly.

"Do you want anything else," he said flatly, ignoring her question.

"No, I'm good," she replied, her appetite gone. He nodded tersely and gestured towards the waiter for the bill.

The two sat in silence, Macy on the verge of tears. They had been having such a great time, and now everything was weird and she didn't know why. Finally she blurted out, "Kevin, what's the matter? What did I do?"

When he finally looked at her, Macy saw pain and disappointment in his eyes. "Nothing, Macy. I guess I just never expected you to try and change for those idiots at school. I already went through that once with Anya, and I guess I don't feel like dealing with it again." Sighing, he paid the bill and stood. "Let's go."

Following him out of the restaurant, Macy couldn't decide if she was angry or hurt or both. On one hand, she thought that Kevin was being pretty harsh with her (wearing uncomfortable shoes was a little silly, but it wasn't on par with what Anya had done), but she also knew how much the Scandinavian girl had hurt him. And her chest ached a little at the thought that she had brought back even a fraction of that pain.

Kevin held open the car door for her, and she slipped quietly inside. After they had both buckled their seat belts, she whispered, "I don't think you're being fair. All I wanted was for people to notice I was a girl for one night."

"I noticed," he said thickly. "I've always noticed. Why isn't that enough?"

At that moment, she realized that this wasn't really about her; this was about Kevin. Sweet, goofy Kevin who was always able to see the good in people and things that other people overlooked. He had seen something special in Anya, and that hadn't been enough for the exchange student. She had tossed aside their relationship to fit in and lost out on Kevin in the process. Macy knew that she had a choice – she could stay mad at Kevin for reacting so strongly to the stupid shoe issue, or she could forgive him and let him know that he was more than enough for her.

It was the easiest choice she'd ever had to make.

Glancing over at him, she asked, "Do you think my black or red converse would go better with this dress?"

She let out at breath she hadn't even realized she was holding as he broke out into a smile. "Definitely red."

"Do we still have time to swing by my house?"

Nodding happily, he answered, "Of course." He reached over and took her hand, giving it a quick squeeze. "But if you really want to wear your heels, it's okay. I shouldn't have overreacted like that. You were right - wearing a pair of shoes isn't the same as changing your entire personality."

Macy felt butterflies in her stomach as he held her hand. "I promise the only changing I want to do is my shoes. I hate these heels – they're uncomfortable and I can barely even walk in them. I'll have more fun in my sneakers, and I don't care what anyone thinks."

"Even Stella?"

Shrugging, Macy said, "She'll get over it. She may get a little fashion crazy, but really she just wants me to be happy."

Kevin looked doubtful, "If you say so."

As they pulled up in front of her house, Macy looked over at Kevin. "We don't even have to go to the dance if you don't want to. I'd be happy just hanging out here with you?"

"Are you kidding?" Kevin asked, scandalized. "We're going to that dance! I want to show off my gorgeous date!"

Macy giggled. There was something about him that just made her happy, and she was so glad that he had been the one to see her. "Since we aren't caring what people think, you know what we should do? We should slow dance, no matter what song they're playing."

Kevin raised an eyebrow at her. "Are you afraid of my crazy dance moves, Ms. Misa?"

"Not at all, Mr. Lucas," Macy replied with a smirk. "I'm just looking for an excuse to snuggle up to my awesome date all night."

Part of her couldn't believe she had just said that, but Kevin had wanted her to be herself. And what she really wanted at that moment was a chance to be close to him. She sat waiting for him to respond and relief washed over her when she saw him blush and smile shyly at her.

"Apparently my date is brilliant as well as beautiful," he said, leaning in and kissing her on the cheek.