"Still I'm pinned under the weight
Of what I believed would keep me safe.
So show me where my armor ends,
Show me where my skin begins.
Like a final puzzle piece

It all makes perfect sense to me
The heaviness that I hold in my heart belongs to gravity.
The heaviness that I hold in my heart's been crushing me.

I've been worried all my life,
A nervous wreck most of the time.
I've always been afraid of heights,
Of falling backwards, falling backwards.
{I've been worried all my life.}"

-Pluto, Sleeping At Last (My favourite artist at the moment)

Nico POV

When I met up with Paisley, I could feel the anxiety flowing off of her in waves.

Her wavy hair was left down to flow to her waist, and she was wearing a pair of denim shorts and a blue plaid shirt. What she wore on our first date...

She looked beautiful as always.

Her eyebrows were twisted in concern and she seemed tense.

When she reached me, the first thing she did was pull me into a hug. Now, Paisley is a hug-y person but she never looks anxious, scared even, and pulls you into the hug. You have to be the one to pull her into it.

"How are you?" I ask her, holding her at arms length.

She smiled weakly at me, "Good as I can be, you?" She asked me, her voice as sweet and smooth as Nutella. Not Honey because Honey is kinda lumpy because there's sugar in it.

"Great," I replied, raising an eyebrow. I didn't question her, however. I knew she would tell me if she wanted to. "Shall we?" I hold out my elbow and she laughed.

"We shall," She said, gripping onto my arm as I began to walk down the path.

I managed to escape the few paparazzi chasing after me. Not many wanted interviews with the keyboardist. They were all after Jason and Percy, but not me. That, I was thankful for. I could take Paisley out before we left to New York.

"Where are we going?" She looked up at me, blocking the sun from her eyes with her other hand. I slid off my sunglasses and put them on her smaller face.

"Somewhere," I smiled at her, pulling her along as she adjusted the glasses on her face. They were lopsided, and half of her face because she was smaller than me.

She sighed, before sliding her hand down my arm and taking my finger in hers. Her hand was warm, however her fingers were worn down from her intense piano playing sessions.

I squinted in the sun, before Paisley sighed, took off the glasses and gave them back to me. "I'll just stand on your other side because that's where your shadow is," She told me, walking ahead a little and to the other side.

When I passed her, she took a hold of my hand again.

"You really like holding my hand, don't you?" I look at her with a smirk tugging on the edges of my lips.

"Hmm," Is all she said. "Walk ahead if you don't want me to hold your hand."

She dropped my hand, and before I could comprehend what she said, she jumped and landed on my back. My arms immediately went to support underneath her legs so now I was piggy backing her.

She was light, for a person her age. Don't ask how I know what people her age weigh, because it's a really long and very awkward story.

Her hair brushed my almost bare shoulders and the back of my neck, as she rested her head in the crook of it. I could feel her warm breath through my shirt, ticking the back of my neck with it's warm wisps.

"Really?" I ask her, adjusting her on my back as I walked further down the street towards a diner.

"Really," She said flatly, leaning forwards and pressing a kiss to my cheek.

"You're awfully touchy today," I commented to her, turning my head over my shoulder to look at her, stopping in front of the diner. "We're here!"

I dropped her to her feet, picking up her hand again. I opened the door of the small diner with one hand and led her in with the other.

Her hair swayed behind her as she walked, now with a grin on her face.

I was ecstatic that I made her happy, and that I made her bright, sun-shiny smile appear back on her face.

We were greeted by a waiter wearing beach-y attire, and a bright white, toothy grin.

"Table for two?" I nodded as he head us towards a place in the window. You could see the waves rolling up the sandy shore.

I pulled out Paisley's seat for her, and pushed her chair in before getting into my chair.

The waiter smiled at us, "You two are cute," He said. "I'll be back when you two are ready to order."

Paisley's hands shook as she held up the menu. "I forgot my glasses," She said, dropping the menu with a bang.

She shuffled so she was now sitting on her hands to stop them from shaking. She was nervous, which made me anxious to find out what she was scared for.

I wanted so badly to ask her about what was wrong, but I didn't want to pry. I wanted to pry, though. I wanted to know what was wrong, and as reporters always said "get to the bottom of it". I so badly wanted to make it all go away.

So I dared ask, "What's wrong?" I said, as her knee began to shake.

"Nothing," Paisley's voice was strained greatly, and her eyes darting everywhere but at me, where I wanted her to look.

"It's something," I state to her, lifting an eyebrow at her strange behaviour.

"I don't want to ruin this date, Nico. It can wait," She tells me, plastering on a fake smile.

I didn't reply, I only went through the menu. "There's a strawberry milkshake and chips here. Do you want that?" I knew she liked both of them, couldn't read the menu, and it was also a great way to topic change.

"Okay," She said, sighing. "Have you discussed anything with your management, yet?"

She was making small talk, and the small talk was a small knife digging into my ribs painfully. I hated it.

"Not about anything other than I'm dropping out to pursue music," I tell her, as the waiter appeared again.

"Are you two ready to order?" He asked us, a beaming smile on his lips.

"Can I please have the strawberry milkshake and the small fries," I could tell Paisley was having a hard time saying fries as she was used to saying chips .

"Sure can, sugar," The waiter quickly scribbled down her order before turning to me. "And you, sir?"

"I'll just have a water and a cheeseburger, please," I said, staring at Paisley. Her eyes were trained on the tablecloth.

"Sure thing, I'll be back with those soon," He turned and left, again. And Paisley and I were alone again.

There were very few other people here in the diner, quiet music playing overhead.

I looked back to Paisley, and her disinterested expression.

"Okay," I say, "You're making me angry now. What's wrong?"

"Nico, I'm moving back to New Zealand with Cole and Liz."

A/N

KABOOM! FINISHED!

I'm so happy it's all finished. There will be no more chapters, and the sequel will be up very soon. The next chapter is just a whole bunch of Thank Yous and stuff.

~KaleidoscopeColours