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 Seven: Two Down, One To Go

The next few days went by pretty well for the group. Nikki made sure to go over to the Lucas household every night for about an hour to continue with their paper, and help Nick and Macy with whatever they needed. Macy and Nikki also had softball practices on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Thursday night, Kevin, Nikki, Joe, and Stella were sitting on the floor in their circle, and Nikki was reading over everybody's papers. Once she read the last one, she handed it back to Joe and smiled. "I'm very proud of you guys. You did beautifully."

"Really? You think we'll get an A!?" Stella said excitedly.

Nikki nodded. "No doubt about it. The information provided and structure is very well done. There's no way she can deny giving you guys an A."

"Yay! Thanks so much, Nikki!" Kevin said, as he turned to her and gave her a hug.

"You're welcome guys." She pulled back from Kevin and began gathering her stuff as she said, "Well I hate to cut this lovely get together short, but I'm exhausted, so I think I'm gonna head home."

They all nodded. "Sure thing. Let me walk you to the door," Kevin said, getting up with her.

Nikki smiled at him, "Thanks Kevin," she said as Kevin reached down and picked up her backpack. The remaining four exchanged knowing looks and smiles as Kevin followed Nikki down the stairs.

He ended up walking her to her truck, and handed her her bag after she had climbed into her truck. "Thanks again, Kevin," she said softly as she looked down at him.

He smiled. "My pleasure. Hey, I was wondering. What would you like for your birthday?"

Nikki shook her head at him with a grin. "You guys are throwing me a party. I think that's sufficient enough. You don't have to get me anything else."

"But I want to," he said softly, taking a step towards her.

Nikki's breath caught in her throat as she stared down at him. "Really Kevin. You don't have to."

"What do you like?"

Nikki smiled. "That's not gonna help you either. I'm not falling for it."

Kevin smiled before he said. "Alright. I'll just have to surprise you then."

Nikki gave him a look. "Kevin. Seriously. I'd feel like it was too much."

"Nothing's too much for you," he said softly. Both of their faces reddened as the meaning behind his words sunk in. Nikki smiled and looked down briefly at her hands in her lap as Kevin cleared his throat. "Well, uh…I better get inside. It's rather cold out here."

Nikki nodded. "Of course. I completely agree. See you tomorrow?"

Kevin smiled. "You betcha. Good night, Nikki."

"Good night, Kevin."

Nikki let the Lucas house and headed home, as Kevin ran back inside. He took the stairs two at a time until he got to the top and found himself faced with four grinning faces.

"What just happened?" Stella asked.

"Nothing. I just carried her bag to her truck for her."

"It sure did take you a long time," Joe said.

"Well I did ask her what she'd like for her birthday, but she said that since we're throwing her the party she doesn't expect anything else from us."

"Well that's too bad isn't it because I've already got her present," Stella said.

"How? She just told us a few days ago, and you've either been at school, here, or home," Joe said.

Stella looked at him as if he was stupid. "Because I made it. I made her a Stella original, and no you can't see it until I give it to her."

"Well I guess the rest of us are going to have to figure out what to get her on our own because she's not going to tell us anything," Nick said.

"So is that all, Kevin?" Macy asked.

"Is what all?"

"Is that all you talked about?"

Kevin's ears darkened slightly but he said, "Yes. That's all."

They all eyed him carefully before they decided to drop it, letting Kevin mentally breathe a sigh of relief.

The next several days was very much routine for the group. Kevin, Joe, Stella, and Nikki made A+'s on their Biology papers and celebrated by going out for ice cream Tuesday night. Friday the 15th rolled around, and it was almost scrimmage time for Nikki and Macy. They were warming up over by the fence, Nikki lightly pitching and Macy catching, when Stella, Joe, Nick, and Kevin came up to them from the other side of the fence.

"Hey guys! We just wanted to come by and wish you luck," Stella said.

Nikki caught the ball that Macy threw back to her before they approached the others with a smile. "Thanks guys," Nikki and Macy said, Nikki tugging on her black sliding shorts.

"And if you guys win, we're going out for pizza!" Joe said excitedly.

"What if we lose?" Macy asked.

"We're still going out for pizza," Nick replied with his usual grin.

"Alright then! I like this getting rewarded for effort," Nikki said jokingly.

"Huddle up girls!"

Nikki and Macy glanced behind them before they turned back to the others. "Well looks like we're about to start. See you guys in a bit!" Macy said, as she turned to head towards the team.

"I wanna be able to hear you guys rooting for us from the mound, got it?" Nikki said, running backwards before she turned with a wave to the team.

Joe, Kevin, Nick, and Stella headed up into the stands, the crowd quickly pumping up their excitement. Since they were the home team, they fielded first. Nikki threw a few pitches that weren't fast but accurate to warm up, and Macy and Nikki shared a look when they saw the visiting team getting a little over confident by judging her pitches.

The first girl stepped up, and Macy flashed her a 2 for the change up. Nikki nodded once before she took her stance and threw the ball. When the ball hit Macy's glove, the batter looked up at Nikki with her mouth slightly agape. Nikki just smirked at her, catching the ball from Macy and walking back to the mound. She struck her out, and glanced at the stands as she walked back to the mound, finding the others. They gave her a thumbs up and shouted for her, making her smile before taking her place once again.

She struck out the next two easily, and it was their turn to bat. Macy was third and Nikki was fourth, being the team's power hitters. Stella, Joe, Kevin, and Nick were on the edge of their seat when Macy came up to bat. They had yet to see Macy and Nikki bat and were anxious to see how they did. Macy stepped up to the plate with one out already for their team, but she looked confident. First pitch was a ball, but the second pitch, Macy sent spiraling on the ground, into left field. Nick, Joe, Stella, and Kevin rose to their feet, screaming for Macy as she arrived safely at first base.

Nikki then stepped up to the plate, smiling at Macy, which Macy returned. She twirled the bat in her hands before taking her stance. Nikki watched the first pitch all the way to the glove, a ball being called. The next one Nikki smirked before she reeled back and sent it flying into right field. It dropped about five feet from the fence, and Macy took off running once she saw it dropped. Nikki sprinted the bases, calling, "Come on, Mace! RBI!"

"You got it!" she yelled as she picked up her pace. Macy safely ran across home plate, and Nikki came to a halt at third. The crowd was going crazy, and Nikki smiled at her teammates that were congratulating her from the dugout as she removed her batting gloves.

The next hit was hit to second, and they were too busy thinking of getting the out at first, they didn't see Nikki heading to home.

"Home!" the third baseman called.

The first baseman threw to home just as Nikki slid into home, not one second before the catcher caught the ball, and brought it down to tag her. "SAFE!" the umpire announced.

Nikki popped up and smiled, she rushed over to the dugout, and was immediately being clapped on the back and high-fived. The rest of the game went by just as smoothly. The ending score was 10-2 in favor of Horace Mantis.

"Great game girls. I'm extremely proud. Rivera. Misa. Fantastic job tonight," Coach Franklin said, and the rest of the girls on the team clapped and cheered. "I have nothing to really say. Enjoy your weekend!"

The team quickly gathered their things and headed out of the dugout. Nikki and Macy were the last ones out, and started looking for Stella, and the Lucas brothers. They walked past the bleachers with confused looks on their faces when they heard, "Spst!"

The two girls turned to see Stella poking her head out from underneath the bleachers. "What are you guys doing under there?" Nikki whispered.

"Visiting softball team. International rock stars. You do the math," Macy said. Nikki nodded in sympathetic understanding. Macy looked around before she said, "The coast is clear."

"That's great because there was something underneath here that was moving, and I don't know what it was," Joe said with a disgusted face.

"Ewww!" Stella said, jumping over to where Nikki and Macy were standing.

"So how about we get out of here?" Nick suggested.

Everybody quickly agreed and they made their way to the parking lot. "Guys! You're game was awesome! With a capital A!" Joe said.

"Yeah you two were amazing. Nikki you were sending them to the bench left and right," Kevin said.

Nikki smiled as she hoisted her bag farther up on to her shoulder. "Well I started feeling like the fielders needed some attention towards the end there, so I let them have a few."

"Macy. That throw out to second was so cool!" Stella said, as Joe linked their hands together.

"Thanks Stell," she said.

They walked a little ways more when Nick took a deep breath, stopped in his tracks, and said, "Hey Mace?" Macy and everybody turned to him. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

Macy smiled. "Sure."

"You guys go ahead. We'll be there in a second," Nick said, nodding them on. With Macy's back to them, they remainder of the group smiled and smirked at Nick, Stella even giving him a thumbs up before they turned and continued on their way.

"What's up?" Macy asked, setting her bag down on the ground.

"Um…well I really don't know how to go about this…"

Macy furrowed her eyebrows. "Nick, what's wrong?" she asked, worry etched in her voice.

"Well Mace, we've been best friends for a long time now, right?"

Macy nodded slowly. "Yeah I'd say we have been."

"And you're such an amazing person, and you've done SO much better with your JONAS obsession, but I still consider you our number one super fan." Macy started wringing her hands in front of her as she dipped her head. Nick furrowed his eyebrows. "What is it? What's wrong?"

Macy gave him a soft smile. "If it wasn't for the fact that we're not dating, I'd say you were trying to break up with me," she said with a small laugh.

Nick gulped as he took a step towards her. "That's the exact opposite of what I'm trying to do."

Macy's head snapped up to look at him with those wide brown eyes. "What are you trying to say, Nick?"

Nick took another step closer to her, took her hands in his, and brought her closer to him so that they were just mere inches apart. "We're best friends, Macy. But I want more than that."

Macy's eyes lit up as she gave him a soft smile and tears filled her eyes. "Are you asking what I think you're asking?"

Nick gave her his signature grin. "If you think I'm asking you to be my girlfriend, then yes."

Macy sharply inhaled a small breath as she bit her lip. Her eyes darted across his face momentarily before she nodded her head, and squeezed his hands. "Yes," she whispered.

"What?" Nick asked. He had heard her, but he needed to be 100% sure.

Macy gave him a watery smile. "Yes Nick. My answer's yes."

Nick gave her a rare smile before he stepped forward and hugged her tightly. He pulled back slightly, bringing up one hand to cup her cheek before he leaned in, his lips just barely brushing hers. He pulled back just barely before he went and kissed her more forcefully. She instantly kissed him back, her hands clinging to his shirt at his waist. It wasn't long before they pulled away, smiling at each other.

A lone tear escaped Macy's eye, and Nick reached up to wipe it away with his thumb. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Macy shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just extremely happy," she said softly, giving him a smile. Nick smiled another rare smile, and Macy said, "You know? I could get used to seeing those."

"Seeing what?" Nick asked, as he leaned down to pick up her bag, hoisting it on to his shoulder.

"That beautiful smile of yours," she said, looking over at him, giving him a grin.

Nick's face tinged red as he ducked his head grinning. "Well I'll reserve it just for you. I have a reputation to protect," he said jokingly.

Macy giggled as she reached out for his hand. He instantly took it, lacing their fingers together as they joined the rest of the group at their cars. Stella, Joe, Kevin, and Nikki looked up when they heard Nick and Macy approaching them. They saw their conjoined hands and happy faces, and Stella squealed, jumping up and down before running towards Macy. Nick stepped away just as Stella threw herself at Macy, enveloping her in a hug.

"Oh yay, Macy! I'm so happy for you!" Stella squealed as Macy laughed, hugging the blonde back.

"Thanks Stella," Macy mumbled into her shoulder.

Kevin and Joe clapped Nick on the shoulder, and Nikki smiled at him as he came over to them. "About time, dude," Joe said.

"Yeah yeah," Nick said, putting Macy's bag in her car.

Stella and Macy joined them, and everybody went to their respective cars. "Hey Nikki," Kevin called to her, as she unlocked her truck and threw her bag inside.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning to him.

"What's your plans for tomorrow?"

"Well, I know my mom and dad want to take me to lunch tomorrow for my birthday, but then I told them about the party you guys are throwing me tomorrow evening and they're cool with that."

"Great. You're parents are more than welcome to come too if they want. It's set to be at the firehouse at 5pm."

Nikki nodded at him with a smile. "Thanks Kevin. We'll be there."

"Great. See you tomorrow then," he said, giving her a brief hug before walking off with a smile and wave.

Nikki climbed into her truck and headed home, excitement flowing through her for the party the following night.

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

P.S.- Nick & Macy are my OTP. Period. I love them and think they'd be perfect because they're polar opposites, and they'd look SO GOOD together!