Disclaimer- I do not own JONAS or anything else in this story...except Nikki and her family and background because guess what??? She's based off me! haha!

Chapter Two: Christmas Presents and Confessions

The bell for lunch rang, and the students of Horace Mantis rushed to the cafeteria. Joe, Kevin, Nick, and Macy were already sitting at their usual table by the stairs with their lunches, when Stella came up to the table with a red head by her side.

"Hey guys!" Joe said.

"Hi everybody. Nick. Macy. I want to introduce you to Nikki Rivera. Nikki, this is Nick Lucas and my best friend, Macy Misa."

"Hi. Nice to meet you," Nikki said, giving them a smile and a small wave.

"Hey! I thought I was your best friend?" Joe asked.

"You're my best guy friend," Stella said in a bored tone.

"That's what I thought!" Joe huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Go ahead. Sit. They don't bite. Intentionally," Stella said, ushering Nikki into the chair next to Kevin.

Nikki laughed lightly. "Thanks," she said, as she sat down, and pulled her lunch out of her bag.

"So whatcha got there? Barbeque sandwich? A nice juicy steak?" Joe asked.

Stella slapped his arm, not so gently, before she said, "Way to be stereotypical, Joseph!"

"What?" he asked, holding on to offended arm.

Nikki laughed lightly before she pulled out a sandwich. "Sorry. Just ham and cheese. But I can grill a pretty mean rib-eye."

"Seriously? Party at Nikki's!" Joe said.

Nikki laughed again, and Kevin felt the butterflies in his stomach fly out of control. "Not for a little while. I mean we've unpacked almost everything, but we're repainting, and it's taking longer than we thought with my parents' busy and demanding schedules."

"Well…we could help," Kevin offered, glancing around the table.

"Yeah! I'd love to help!" Macy said with an enthusiastic smile.

"Oh no. I couldn't ask you guys to do that. I'm sure you guys are extremely busy," Nikki said, setting her sandwich down.

"Not this semester really, to be perfectly honest," Nick said. "Now this summer's a different story."

Stella sat back in her chair with a pout on her face, crossing her arms over her chest. "Well there goes our beach trip."

"But no, seriously. We'd be happy to help," Nick said.

Nikki's eyes lit up as she glanced around the table with admiration in her eyes. "Really?"

"Yes really," Kevin said from her side.

Nikki smiled. "That would be wonderful. Thank you so much."

"No problem. So? What day would you like our assistance?" Kevin asked.

"Umm…how's Saturday sound?" she asked.

"I'm there!" Macy said.

"Me too," Stella said with a smile.

Nick was scrolling through his phone for a moment longer before he looked up and said, "We're good the whole weekend."

Nikki smiled. "Great. And if you'd like, I could go ahead and grill Saturday since you're going through so much effort to come help out."

Joe smiled. "I won't say no to that."

"Me neither," Nick said.

Nikki smiled as she picked up her sandwich again. "Great. I'm looking forward to it."

Kevin found that he had Nikki in Music class as well P.E. Luckily, since it was the first day of class, they didn't have to dress out or work out. As a matter of fact, the entire gang was in P.E. together. After school was over, they were all walking out to the parking lot together when Nikki stopped next to a gold Ford F-250. "This is my stop," she said, as she unlocked her truck.

"Whoa! Nice truck," Kevin said, as he admired the truck from the outside. There was a row of cab lights along the top, blinkers on the side mirrors, and running boards on each side.

"You can drive this thing?" Nick asked.

Nikki nodded. "Sure can. It is mine after all."

"You mean this isn't one of your parents?" Stella asked.

Nikki shook her head. "No my mom drives an Explorer, and my dad drives a truck like mine, only it's grey."

"What made you want a truck?" Joe asked.

Nikki looked at her truck before she said, "Because they're bigger so they can accomplish more. And they intimidating so you get more respect on the road."

"Very good reasoning. I think I need a truck," Joe said.

"No. You don't. You can hardly drive the car you have now. What makes you think you can handle a truck like this?" Stella said.

"I can learn," he said defensively.

"Yeah we'll see about that," Stella said. "Hey Nikki. I'll call you later, ok?"

Nikki nodded as she waved to the retreating group. "Sounds good!" she said, opening the door to her truck. She climbed inside before she heard, "Wait!"

Nikki stopped and looked up to see the group retreating before she looked to her side to see Kevin standing in her doorway.

"Oh hey, Kevin! What's up?" she asked.

"Well…uh…I-I thought maybe I could, uh…get your number so that, uh…we can figure out where you live for the painting party, and uh…for the math study group and what not, ya know?" he stammered out, his cheeks a soft pink.

Nikki smiled, her own cheeks starting to redden as she bit her bottom lip. "Sure," she said softly.

Kevin looked up at her. "Really?"

Nikki nodded with a small smile. "Yeah. Are you ready?" Kevin held up his phone in his hand. "Alright. It's 254-555-0117."

Kevin typed the number into his phone before he saved it and looked up at her with a smile. "Great. You want mine?"

Nikki reached over and grabbed her iPhone and said, "Alright. Shoot."

"It's 451-555-8943."

Nikki nodded as she saved the number in her phone. "Got it."

"Alright. Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

Nikki nodded. "I'll be here," she said softly.

"Awesome. Have a good night," he said.

"You too," she replied as he dodged around her door, and took off in a run to catch up with the rest of the group. Nikki smiled to herself before she closed her door, fastened her seatbelt, and left for home.

Once Kevin caught up with the rest of the group, they were already standing between Kevin and Macy's car, waiting for him. "What were you doing?" Joe asked with a grin.

"Nothing," he said, with a high voice.

Stella smiled knowingly. "You got her number didn't you?"

Kevin's face reddened. "Maybe," he said quietly.

Stella shoved his shoulder playfully. "You did!"

"So?" he said, as he stepped around her to unlock his car.

"Aww. Kevin has a crush on Nikki!" Macy said in a sing song voice.

"Do not," he mumbled.

"Yeah you keep telling yourself that," Nick said as he climbed into the car.

"Can we talk about this later?" he asked with desperation in his voice.

"Yes. We will for sure. For now, Macy and I are going to run by our houses to get our Christmas gifts for you guys, and we'll meet you at the fire house."

"Alright. See you in a bit," Joe said, as he climbed into the passenger seat.

An hour later, the group was upstairs in the boys' room in the fire house, with gifts in their laps. "Alright. Open mine first," Stella said, as she handed each boy a present.

They tore in them before holding them up for everyone to see. They all three received leather jackets that Stella had custom made herself with their name on the front, and their signature instrument sewn into the back (a guitar for Kevin and Nick, and microphone for Joe).

"Wow Stella. These are awesome!" Nick said, as he slipped his on.

"Thank you. They're a Stella Malone original."

"Thanks so much Stella!" Kevin said as he slipped his on as well to admire it.

"Yeah thanks, Stells. These are amazing," Joe said, as he ran a hand over the microphone on the back of the jacket.

"You're welcome guys," she said softly.

"Here! Open mine next!" Macy said, as she handed them their respective gifts. They opened them and were amazed at how well Macy did. She got stuffed otter playing a trumpet that played music when wound up for Kevin, a silver chain with a pretty good sized pure silver 'J' on it for Joe, and a custom made guitar strap that had 'Nick' written in beautiful calligraphy for Nick.

"Wow Macy. This is great!" Joe said, as he slipped the necklace around his neck. "I've always wanted bling!"

"It plays! This is like the best!" Kevin said as he messed around with his present.

Nick ran a hand along the guitar strap before he looked up at Macy and asked, "Is this custom made?"

Macy nodded. "Sure is. I'm really good at calligraphy, so I drew it out, took it in, and they made it for me."

"This is awesome Macy. Thank you," he said softly, as he leaned over to hug her briefly.

"You're welcome," she replied, as she pulled back from the hug, and glanced over at Stella, who was smiling at her.

"Well here's yours, Mace," Kevin said, as he handed her their presents. Macy opened the first one from Joe and saw season tickets to the Yankees. "Wow! Thanks Joe! These are awesome! Just what I wanted!"

"I figured as much," he said.

She opened the next gift from Kevin, and found a brand new iPod Touch. "You must have remembered that my old one broke," she said as she held the box to her chest.

Kevin nodded. "Sure did. So I thought you could use a new one."

"Thanks Kevin!"

"You're welcome."

She then tore the paper off a small box, that when she opened it she gasped. There inside was a gold chain with 'Macy' in gold lettering attached to it on a dangling charm. She looked up at Nick with wide eyes. "Is…is this real?" she asked.

Nick smirked. "Yeah it's a real necklace."

Stella gave him a look. "She meant real gold, you nut."

Nick chuckled lightly. "I know. Yes. It is."

Macy's hands shook lightly before she flung herself across the floor, wrapping her arms around Nick's neck, hugging him close.

"Thank you, Nick. It's beautiful," she said softly.

Nick, after recovering from the attack, gently returned the hug. "You're welcome, Mace."

She pulled back to sit in front of him, and stared down at the box as she said, "But you didn't have to spend so much on me."

Stella smiled as Joe and Kevin snickered lightly. "It was nothing really. Don't worry about it."

Macy smiled up at him again before she scooted back over to by Stella. She took the necklace out of the box, and clasped it around her neck. She looked down at the charm for a moment before Kevin said, "Alright. Time for Stella!"

"Yay!" she said, as she was handed two gifts. She didn't even think about there being a third as she tore into her gifts. She got custom made Versace heels from Nick that she gushed over for five minutes before she opened her gift from Kevin. He gave her two tickets and VIP passes to go see her favorite fashion designer when he came to New York in about two months. Stella hugged him tightly as she gushed over the tickets and passes. She then sat back and eyed the floor in front of her. She looked up and said, "Joe?"

Joe looked over at her and gulped before he looked over at his brothers. They smirked knowingly at him, knowing what he had bought the beautiful blonde that had been his best friend since he was three. He cleared his throat before he turned back to her and said, "It's in the other room. Come with me?"

Stella's eyes lit up. "It's too big to bring in here?" she asked as she stood and followed him out of the room.

"Something like that," he mumbled.

"Is he gonna do what I think he's gonna do?" Macy whispered to Nick.

Nick smirked. "If you mean ask her to be his girlfriend, then yes."

Macy had to clamp her hands over her mouth to stop the squeal that was threatening to spill from her lips.

Stella followed Joe into the next room, where he reached into a drawer and pulled out a long, thin red box. Joe's heart was pounding as he turned around to face her. When she saw the box, she gasped, her hands flying to clutch her chest. Her eyes flew from the box to his eyes as he stepped up to her. "Merry Christmas, Stella," he whispered, as he opened the box, to reveal a complete diamond bracelet.

Stella let out a small sound as she raised a hand to her mouth. "Oh Joe," she whispered as she lowered her hand. "It's beautiful."

Joe took a deep breath as he lifted the bracelet out of the box. "Here," he said, as she held out her left hand to him. He clasped the bracelet around her wrist before he intertwined their fingers together and took another step closer to her. "Stella. I know you think that us being together could possibly hurt our friendship or the band, but I've thought a lot about it, and I can't go through this the way we are anymore. I can't stand seeing you with other guys, and I know you can't stand to see me with other girls." Stella let out a soft, dry sob at this. "But I'm willing to give everything up in my life to be with you, Stella Malone. You're all I think about, and the only person I want to be around all the time. So, what do you say? Would you please give us a chance?"

Stella stared at him momentarily with watery eyes before she smiled and nodded. "Yes," she said softly.

Joe's eyes bugged out. "Really?"

Stella nodded again, her smile growing wider. "Yes Joe. My answer's yes."

Joe smiled before he released her hand and hugged her close to him, his arms wrapping themselves around her waist, hers locking behind his neck. He pulled away slightly after a moment, and their smiles fell. He swallowed before he whispered, "Can I kiss you?"

Stella felt her heart beat loudly once before it seemed to stop all together. She licked her lips before she nodded. "Yes."

Joe's tongue darted across his lips briefly before both of their eyes fluttered closed, and he leaned forward, and gently pressed his lips to hers. After a moment, she kissed him back, and suddenly, it was if everything around them disappeared, and they were floating above the world. Joe ran his tongue along her lips, and she opened them shyly to him. Once their tongues collided, it was as if fireworks set off in their heads. It wasn't long before they pulled away to breathe, resting their foreheads against each others.

"Wow," Stella whispered.

"Understatement," Joe replied in a low tone.

They stood there for a few moments, just staring at each other's lips as if they could see their breaths mixing together. Joe licked his lips before he sucked in a breath and leaned in to kiss her again. This took her by surprise, and she lightly squeaked before she sucked in a breath through her nose. Joe wasted no time in deepening the kiss this time, making Stella sigh as she cupped the side of his face with her hands. After a few minutes, Stella pulled Joe away so she could breath properly, and before she could bring him back to her lips, they heard laughter from the other room, bringing them back to Earth.

Joe took a step back from her as they both turned to the doorway. Stella cleared her throat. "Um…we should get back to the others," she said.

Joe nodded as he ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah. You're probably right."

Stella turned to the door, took a step before turning her head and holding her hand out to him with a smile. Joe smiled back before taking her hand, intertwining their fingers together as they entered the room together. Once they stepped up to the group, Macy gasped, and Nick and Kevin looked at them with wide eyes.

"Really?" Nick asked.

Joe nodded. "Really."

"Finally!" Kevin and Macy said in unison.

A/N-- So? What'd ya think? Reviews would be awesome. And you know what? Since I'm posting everything today except the last chapter, if you don't want to review each chapter, I won't make you. But reviewing at the last chapter you read would be VERY nice indeed. Thanks bunches!!!

-NikNak5