Disclaimer: I do not own JONAS.
A/N: And done! Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Normally I try and bring everything full circle, but it didn't happen as much with this one.
I will hopefully have one more one-shot up before I leave for almost all of July. Loved Invention and Purpleangel87 have kindly offered to update the Pure Horace Mantis community while I'm on vacation, so you all shouldn't even know I'm gone.
Macy was nervous and excited and seriously contemplating killing Stella.
"Stop fussing with my hair and make-up!" She finally exclaimed as her friend tried a third shade of eye shadow. "You do know we're going to a concert, right? Where I'm going to sing and dance and scream and mess up all your hard work?"
That earned her the Stella Malone trademark glare, "You'd better not. You look perfect right now and you're going to stay that way."
Macy rolled her eyes, "That look may work with the boys, but it doesn't scare me. I'm having fun tonight."
"Having fun and looking fabulous aren't mutually exclusive, I'll have you know. I do both on a daily basis."
"Texting doesn't count," Macy chirped cheekily, earning herself another glare. "Can we go now? The doors open in a few minutes, and I don't want to miss anything!"
Sighing, Stella grabbed her huge purse and nodded.
"I love the part before the concert," Macy said grinning. "Everyone's so excited, and it's hilarious to read the signs and hear all the fans talk about the guys." Glancing around her grandmother's guest bedroom she muttered to herself, "Speaking of signs…"
"You didn't!" Her friend answered, horrified.
"Of course I did. I make great signs," she replied as she crawled on the floor on her hands and knees. "Bingo!"
She held up a huge poster with a photo of a koala that said, "Marsupials Rock!"
Stella narrowed her eyes, "I don't get it."
Shrugging, Macy replied, "No one will understand but Kevin; he'll love it."
"Whatever. Let's go." Stella looked at her friend carefully. "Wait! Freeze!"
Reaching into her purse, she pulled out a lint brush and ran it over Macy's knees. "Stay off the floor, okay? Those pants show everything."
"I promise nothing!"
Macy knew the exact moment that Kevin spotted her sign. The boys were being lowered on some contraption, and she could tell he was scanning the front of the crowd. Then all of a sudden his nose wrinkled in confusion before he broke out into a huge grin. The two girls standing next to her actually sighed and insisted he was smiling at them.
But she knew that was her smile.
And Kevin played to that side of the stage the entire night. Macy knew because her eyes never left him. She was vaguely aware of Joe and Nick, but her entire focus was on the oldest Lucas brother. She was obvious enough that Stella finally poked her and joked, "You do know that there are at least two other people up on stage right? Not just Kevin?"
Without even looking at her friend, Macy replied, "Shut up. I get one night all summer with him, and I'm going to shamelessly stare if I want."
"And shamelessly flirt?"
"No! We're just friends. Now stop distracting me."
Stella's words floated through her mind after the concert as the two girls headed backstage, increasing Macy's nervousness. She wanted to flirt with Kevin, but she didn't want to at the same time. She knew that there was no way the older rock star could be interested in someone like her, but just thinking about him made her stomach do funny things.
And then she saw him coming towards her, sweaty from the concert and bouncing with energy, and she knew that she didn't want to flirt with him.
She wanted to tackle him and kiss him senseless.
Instead, she took a deep breath, smiled and slowly walked towards him. He engulfed her in a bear hug and whispered in her ear, "I'm so glad you're here."
She hoped he didn't notice that she shivered just a bit when his breath brushed her ear. Stepping back, she looked him in the eyes and grinned, "I am too. You were amazing!"
In the background, she could hear Joe ask, "What about me? Wasn't I amazing?"
She ignored him, keeping her eyes on Kevin.
"She had no idea you were even on stage, Joe," Stella replied wryly.
Kevin didn't seem to notice his brother and stylist, instead asking, "Did you make the marsupial sign?"
She bit her lip and nodded.
"That was the best sign ever!"
"Thanks," she whispered.
The two of them just stood in the middle of the dressing room staring at each other with matching smiles on their faces. Macy had no idea what was going on, but she felt like there were a million butterflies fluttering in her stomach. She could feel her cheeks turning pink and her heart pounding, but somehow she couldn't seem to look away from his eyes.
She had never noticed that there were darker brown flecks floating in his warm chocolate eyes. Or that when he stood really close to you there was a hint of green in them.
Wait.
She almost stopped breathing as she realized he was getting closer to her. She forced herself to take a deep breath.
"Macy?" His voice sounded higher than usual, and he had to clear his throat before continuing. "Can I ask you something?"
She nodded, noting that he seemed nervous. She reached out to pat his hand reassuringly and was shocked when he flinched at her touch. Her eyes went wide and she took an instinctive step backwards, mumbling, "Sorry."
He seemed to realize what he had done because he grabbed her hands to stop her from walking away, "Don't apologize. You didn't do anything."
"You flinched," she said accusingly.
"It wasn't a bad flinch."
"Is there such thing as a good flinch when someone touches you?"
He gave her a shy smile. "I sort of felt a tingling – it just surprised me."
"Like static electricity?"
He chuckled. "Not exactly."
"You're not making any sense."
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It almost looked like he was gathering his courage. Finally he opened his eyes and looked down at her. "It was the sort of tingling that you feel when someone you really like touches you. Goosebumps and knots in your stomach."
"Oh," she whispered, biting her lower lip and looking up at him with wide innocent eyes. It sounded like he was telling her he liked her, but that couldn't be it. She waited hoping that eventually she would understand what was happening.
Kevin's glance flickered between her eyes and her lips. He gulped before saying quickly, "Look, Macy, I know that you only think of me as a friend, but I really like you and I was wondering if maybe you would think about going out with me."
She was sure this had to be a joke or a dream. Kevin Lucas was nervous because he was trying to ask her out? She stood there frozen.
"Macy? Can you say something?" He pleaded.
The truth was, she really couldn't say anything. She was so shocked that she couldn't put together a coherent thought. So instead she stood on her toes and kissed him. He immediately let go of her hands and grabbed onto her waist, pulling her closer against him as he deepened the kiss. Running her hands up his chest, she finally wove them into his damp, curly hair.
When they broke apart, they both had giant grins on their faces.
"Is that a yes?"
Laughing, she replied, "It's definitely a yes."
And he leaned down and kissed her again.
Standing off to the side, Nick leaned over and nudged Joe. "See, it's not so hard. You just tell the girl that you like her and then kiss."
"Shut up, Nick," Joe growled. "You know it's more complicated than that."
"What's complicated?" Stella asked.
Joe shot his younger brother a pleading look, but Nick ignored him. "You and Joe."
Stella turned to the middle Lucas brother and asked almost accusingly, "Why are we complicated, Joe?"
"You know why, Stell. It's not like you're some girl I can like, like one minute and ignore the next. You're my best friend and my band's stylist. That's complicated."
Stella gave him a searching look. "If I was just some girl at school, would you ask me out?"
He looked at her incredulously, "Of course. I would have asked you out the first day of 8th grade when you wore that pink dress with the flower in your hair."
"Really?"
Joe seemed to sense the insecurity behind the question, and he reached out to cup her cheek with one hand. "Really, Stella."
She leaned into his touch, closing her eyes as her blond hair fell across her face. Nick could see his brother struggling to keep himself under control. When Joe looked up at him, he gestured with his head, trying to tell him to go for it.
Nodding, Joe leaned down and gently brushed his lips across Stella's.
Smiling, Nick slipped out of the dressing room, giving his brothers a little privacy. Neither couple even noticed he was gone. They were too wrapped up in each other.