Title: Apples

Disclaimer: I own nothing, obviously, because if I did Cody Longo would have been bumped to series regular before Brothers and Sisters could steal him for a minuscule one-episode stint.

Rules of the Payson-Nicky-Forever's Challenge:

1) The two of us are going through the alphabet writing stories using a word that begins with each letter.

2) We are both starting with 'A', but will alternating. She does 'B' next and I do 'C' and on and on.

3) We get to pick each other's word. (Except this time. We both picked our own A.)

4) All stories have to be at least 500 words in length.

5) We have five days to after the other author posts to post the next one.

6) My stories will always be Kaylie/Nicky and her's will always be Payson/Nicky

Once the contest is over, we're going to each put up a poll on our profiles asking people to vote for their favorite story in the contest.

Notes: I never write happy Kaylicky because 1) I'm dark and twisty and 2) How do you keep fluff from becoming cheese? Still, I'm taking myself out of my comfort zone because it's good exercise so let's pretend this is AU, a happy world where Kaylie and Nicky went through all the turmoil and conquered it and finally came to terms with how they feel? Cool?

Apples

I.

"Oh my gosh, Nicky, you were so adorable!"

"He was a real fan of that applesauce. He'd store it in his cheeks like a little chipmunk."

Nicky Russo sits in his living room, feet pressed hard into the expensive rug. His elbows dig into the skin of his thighs and his face is burrowed in his large hands. He can feel his face growing hot and he's certain his ears are a dark shade of red. He's trying to think of a song to sing in his head and obscure the conversation his mother is currently having with Kaylie Cruz.

"Kaylie, we should go," Nicky starts to mumble. He gives the girl an urgent glance though she doesn't even look back at him. She gasps excitedly and points at the book unfolded in her lap.

"Oh my gosh, he was an apple for Halloween?" Kaylie asks.

Nicky rolls his eyes. He just loves being ignored.

"Aww, look, Nicky, you're so cute!" Kaylie says. There's a taunting undertone to her sugary sweet voice though Nicky's sure his mom hasn't spent enough time with Kaylie to pick up on it.

She turns the book to face him and Nicky, peaking out from between his fingers, give a loud cringe. In the photo, there he is, tiny and plump with rosy cheeks and big brown eyes. He looks more like a giant red pear than an apple, complete with a stem sitting atop his large head, green leafs scattered around and red socks on his little feet. Nicky sinks down low into the couch as Kaylie turns the album back towards her.

"That was his very first Halloween," his mother explains. "Then the next Halloween he wanted to wear it again, but the costume wouldn't fit him. He cried and cried and cried. His Granny made him the first one and we had to drive to Denver because Granny was the only one allowed to alter his apple."

"Ma," Nicky groans.

"Aww," Kaylie coos. "Granny's boy."

"Always has been and always will be," his mother adds. "Sweetie, you know what I think Kaylie would really love? If I dug up the video from your first gymnastics meet."

That's when Nicky wipes his hands down the front of his face, pulling down on his eyelids in the process. His teeth are clenched and his toes are crossed. His shoulders are tense and he groans aloud. Nicky leans back against the couch and turns his eyes to the ceiling. He winds his arms tight across his chest and this entire situation feels like a slow, excruciating death.

At the sound of joint giggling, Nicky lets his gaze fall straight in front of him. There, past the coffee table, sitting on the couch across from him is his mother and Kaylie Cruz. Mrs. Russo has a wide smile across her face and her eyes are overjoyed. It distracts from the deep bags beneath her eyes and the wrinkles around her mouth. She excitedly explains certain pictures in the photo album that Kaylie balances on her thighs.

Now Nicky's certain his mom always wanted a daughter rather than a son.

The more he stares though, the more it sort of looks right that his mom and his…whatever she is are sitting close and talking quietly. His mom is giggling like he's never heard before, like she's a young girl again, chatting with a good friend. Kaylie is shaking her head and giggling back. Her eyebrows are slanted and there's color to her cheeks.

If anything, it's nice to see the two most important people in his life getting along.

"Kaylie," he groans.

"Nicky," she playfully groans back.

"We need to go," Nicky says. He stands to emphasize his point though the two women just stare back at him. It's obvious Nicky holds no power in this room so he just slouches and adds a faint, "Please."

"Nicky's right. You two should probably get going," Mrs. Russo says. She finally closes the photo album and leaves it on the coffee table. "I wouldn't want you to get into trouble for being late."

"Sasha will understand," Kaylie says offhandedly. She stands too and turns to face Mrs. Russo, absolutely glowing. "I'm really glad I got to meet you, Mrs. Russo."

"It was a pleasure," the older woman replies. "I jump at any chance to embarrass Nicky."

"That's always been my motto." Kaylie grins.

"Alright. You had your fun. Let's go," Nicky grumbles, slinging the strap of his gym bag over his shoulder. He nearly sprints over to the front door while Kaylie remains at his mother's side, walking slowly and getting in another few words. Nicky scoffs, forcing his feet into his shoes. "Any day now, Princess."

"Nicky, you be nice," Mrs. Russo scolds. "With your car in the shop, you're lucky Kaylie even volunteered to drive you to the Rock. Then you tried to make her wait in the driveway while you finished breakfast? I thought I raised you better."

"I'm sorry, Ma," Nicky mutters, hanging his head low and sounding genuinely ashamed.

"It isn't a big deal and it's pretty early in the morning," Kaylie says. She glances up at Nicky before smiling warmly at Mrs. Russo. "Sure, Nicky can have his…grumpy moments, but for what it's worth, I think you raised a complete gentleman, Mrs. Russo."

"How sweet," Mrs. Russo coos. "Isn't she sweet, Nicky?"

"Like sugar," he responds through gritting teeth. "Have a good day, ma."

"You too, sweetheart," she replies. "And drive safe."

"We will," Kaylie assures her, waving.

Nicky and Kaylie walk side-by-side down the long driveway to where her car is parked. Kaylie is rather chipper and practically skipping while Nicky is somber, dragging his feet against the gravel. He keeps looking over his shoulder to see his mom standing by the front door, seeing them off. Nicky scowls and turns back around every time, shoving his hands deeper and deeper into the pockets of his favorite blue hoodie.

"So I have grumpy moments, huh?" Nicky asks, breaking the silence.

"Come on, Nicky, I wasn't going to call you a condescending ass in front of your mom."

"You enjoyed that way too much," Nicky groans.

"I can't help it. Your mom loves me," Kaylie sings.

Nicky scowls. "Yeah, my mom loves little purse dogs too."

"You know, Nicky, now that I've seen the way you are with your mom, that really brings down the intimidation factor," Kaylie says. "I bet the other guys down at the Rock would love to hear about this."

"Not that I would care even if you did, but you won't," Nicky says, completely sure of himself.

"I won't?" Kaylie raises her eyebrows in a challenge.

Nicky shakes his head. No.

"And what leads you to think I won't?" she asks.

"Kaylie," he sneers her name. "Please don't tell me you're going to go out and tell people just to prove me wrong."

"What? You don't trust me?"

"I'm trying to," he says. It almost sounds like a white flag in this verbal battle.

"Okay. I promise I won't tell anyone," Kaylie say, "But not because you asked me not to. Because…because I like being the only one that gets to see this side of you."

Nicky stops when they're at the front of her car and the way he's looking at her in that single moment has Kaylie frozen too, curiously tilting her head up to look at him. He smiles softly and brings his fingers to twine with hers, edging closer. The moment his lips brush the corner of her mouth, Kaylie jerks back with a wicked smile.

"Nicky, w—we should go. If Sasha gets mad that I'm late I'm totally blaming you," she whispers.

"I think I could live with that," Nicky says.

Their lips finally meet and stay that way.

…

II.

They never make it clear what it is they're doing exactly. She never calls him her boyfriend and he never calls her his girlfriend, not to each other and definitely not to other people. During Rock hours (all six days out of the week) they go on like normal. They train together early in the morning when the gym is empty, but then they go their separate ways once the others start pouring in.

It isn't like they're breaking any rules. They spend a lot of time together, but that doesn't mean they're dating. Every time they eat together Kaylie insists on splitting the bill and Nicky doesn't argue. She doesn't refrain from flirting with other boys though Nicky knows she's only doing it to spite him because the only time she teases Austin's advances is after they get into a fight. And after a fight he'll wait out in front of her car and make a joke about how he should have laid out rose pedals to spell out 'sorry' on her hood. Kaylie just tells him to shut up and get in the car. They have dinner with his mom and all is forgiven without the words.

Saturday nights are their nights.

Kaylie's parents are never around and that usually leaves her with that giant, empty house, all alone. Just the thought bugs Nicky and so after training all day they go to hang out at the Cruz house. Sometimes she subjects him to the horrible romantic comedies she loves. Other times he'll somehow force her to play one of Leo's board games, like Scrabble or Monopoly, which he totally wins and she pouts for the rest of the night.

"I want to bake a pie."

"You don't eat pie."

"Sometimes I do," Kaylie argues.

"Sure." Nicky scowls. He's sitting on the couch in the sitting room, playing a game on his cell phone. "Because pie is the reason you look so good in your leotard."

"Aw, you think I look good in my leo?" Kaylie asks. She comes up behind him and slides her hands down the muscles of his shoulders. She tilts her head against his and their cheeks brush. Kaylie can't help, but smile at the miserable sound his phone makes and the "game over" sign that appears in bold letters.

"That's not the point."

Kaylie smiles coyly and pecks him quickly on the side of his face.

"What was that for?" Nicky inquires.

"For driving me to the store," Kaylie replies. She walks around the couch and takes his hand, trying to pull him to his feet. Nicky resists with a groan, remaining there on the couch despite the pleading expression on Kaylie's face.

"Kaylie, it's two in the morning."

"King Soopers is twenty-four hours," Kaylie says quickly.

Nicky gives her a look. "Princess, why do I get the feeling you do this a lot?"

She sighs and plops down on the couch beside Nicky, curling her feet beneath her. "Look, my mom and my dad are away a lot. When they leave me home like this I like to bake. I'll admit that I'm not very good at it, but there's something comforting about it. As sad as it probably sounds, it sort of became my tradition with myself."

"Yeah, that is sad."

Kaylie deadpans. "Really, Nicky? I totally just opened up to you and you—"

"I was just agreeing with you. You're the one who always says we argue too much," Nicky says, recovering with a sweet smile. He links his fingers through hers and gives her a squeeze.

"Fine. And we'll make it an apple pie," she says. "Because I know how much you love apples, Chipmunk."

After their little adventure to the nearest King Soopers, Nicky thinks he can just sit back and watch, but no, Kaylie puts him to work. She makes him smash and knead and roll. She screams at him when the dough tears and he throws flour at her to shut her up. She starts chopping the apples and tosses a piece into his mouth from across the kitchen, makes it on the fifth try and does a little dance, feeling accomplished. Nicky teases that her lines are crooked when she places on the crust and he pretends to almost drop the entire pie on the way to the oven.

They watch the sunrise as they wait for the timer to beep. With every threat of slumber, every time her head rolls to his shoulder, Nicky presses his lips gently to her face and kisses her awake.

Once the timer goes off, Nicky slips his hands into a pair of mittens and carefully lifts the pie from the metal rack. The crust is golden brown and it fills the entire house with the scent of baked apples and cinnamon. He can feel his mouth watering at the delectable scent. After shutting off the oven and leaving the pie out to cool, Nicky goes back over to where Kaylie is asleep on the couch, kneeing down to her.

"Kaylie," he whispers, brushing her hair away from her eyes with one swoop of his thumb. "Kaylie, I took the pie out and I turned everything off. I should probably go home."

"No, stay," she whispers back, taking his hand and holding on tight. Her bleary eyes crack open and Kaylie's lips turn up in a smile. "We can eat pie for breakfast or, with the way I sleep in on Sundays, we can eat it for lunch."

Nicky groans. "Dating you isn't doing much for my calorie count."

"Oh, so we're dating now?" she asks. Her voice is rough, thick with sleep.

"Well, you did meet my mom. That's something I can never take back."

"Why? You don't introduce all of your female gymnast friends to your mom?" she jokes.

"No. Actually, I don't introduce anyone to my mom," Nicky admits. "Just you."

Kaylie twists so she's fully facing him and her expression grows a little more serious, moving away from sleep and towards sobriety. She untangles their hands and runs her fingertip over the smooth metal encircling her finger. After making sure he's watching, Kaylie slowly slides off the gold promise ring and leaves it on the side table.

"Come on, boyfriend, let's go upstairs. I'm sleepy."

"Dating you isn't doing much for my sleep cycle either," Nicky groans, but before she can hit him, he calls her "girlfriend" and Kaylie takes his hand, leading him up the stairs.

…

III.

Usually Kaylie gets this sick sort of feeling in her gut when Lauren is right about something, but when it comes to the topic of boyfriends and Nicky, she can't really bring herself to care. She still thinks boys are a distraction, but Nicky is different. He understands what it's like to be a top gymnast and what the career demands. On top of that, Nicky's always making sure she's doing everything she possibly can to be the best gymnast she can be and he pushes her to be a better person too.

However, Kaylie admits, it can be annoying at times, especially when all she wants to do is make out, but Nicky insists she read and study.

"I am an elite athlete," Kaylie complains. "When am I ever going to need this stuff?"

She loudly shuts a thick text book and lets it loudly slam into the wooden desk in Nicky's room, shaking a canister of pens and causing a red apple to roll from one side to the other. Bored, Kaylie looks over at Nicky who's in the doorway to his room, doing pull ups on a bar. The muscles of his arms tighten and contract each time he lifts himself up. He makes it look effortless, no strain in his face, but it leaves his hard, perfect abs lightly dusted with perspiration. Kaylie can't help, but stare.

Nicky grunts and drops down onto his feet. He grabs a nearby towel and starts dabbing it over himself though he barely even broke a sweat. "Anyways, you were saying?"

"We're elite gymnasts," Kaylie says, smacking the tip of her pencil against the cover of her book. "How is this stuff supposed to come in handy? It's not like I actually have time to do calculations in my head while I'm flying down the vault or play old war mind tricks on my competitors."

"No, but being both beautiful and stupid is a cliché and we can't have you turning into one of those, now can we?" Nicky laughs. He pulls on a plain white t-shirt and moves behind her. "If you'd quit whining for a second, maybe you'd see that some of this is helpful. I mean, like I've said before, gymnastics is all Physics—"

"Yeah, converting energy and whatnot. Whatever, Professor," Kaylie says, rolling her eyes. "Nicky, I'm tired of studying."

"Kaylie, you didn't even start," he scolds and flips her book back open. "Study."

"Nicky, it's boring," she says, taking the apple into her hand and inspecting it.

"You won't be saying that when Sasha makes you sit out because you don't know what happened at Valley Forge," he replies, smoothly stealing the apple from her.

Kaylie narrows her eyes. "Oh, and your marks are perfect?"

"I test at genius levels, yes," Nicky replies with a grin. "Your boyfriend isn't just another dumb jock."

"But you do snores amazingly loud," Kaylie mumbles, flipping through pages of her book.

"I don't snore," Nicky growls, rubbing the red apple against the cotton of his shirt.

"Yes you do," Kaylie says, laughing. "Do you see these bags under my eyes? All your fault."

"At least I don't drool."

"Shut up."

"What?" He smirks. "Are you going to make me?"

Kaylie completely abandons her book and moves over to hit Nicky, who just smiles and lays his apple delicately on his bed before he grabs for her wrists. He drops his weight onto the edge of the bed and sits there, pulling her into his lap. Kaylie struggles and tries to fight him off while Nicky taunts and teases her. Eventually, his hands loosen on her wrists and his arms encircle her shoulders as she rests her head on his chest.

"You should get back to studying," Nicky says, though he makes no move to let her go.

"Hmm, yeah, probably," Kaylie dully agrees.

"Okay, wait, I have my own history lesson for you," he says lightly. Nicky picks up his almost forgotten apple from beside him on the bed and shows it to Kaylie as if it is a new car in a showroom or the Holy Grail.

"Adam and Eve?" Kaylie guesses.

"No." Nicky shakes his head. "This time it's Ancient Greece."

"Oh, I'm so excited," Kaylie says sarcastically. "So what's the lesson, Professor Russo?"

"Well, in Ancient Greece whenever a man wanted to propose to a woman he'd toss her an apple," Nicky explains, tossing the apple up in the air and catching it in his palm. "If she caught it that meant she accepted."

Kaylie looks from the apple in his hands to his face, searching for some sort of deception. She leans closer into him and looks back at the apple. Licking her lips, she responds, "Well, thank God we aren't in Ancient Greece. Sasha would be beyond pissed. You know, us gymnasts with our amazing reflexes, we'd be engaged weekly, daily even. After all, it is a reflex to catch something being hurled at you."

"I don't know." Nicky shrugs. "You could step away just as easily."

"Yeah, but that would be a waste of a perfectly good apple," Kaylie counters. She plucks the red fruit from Nicky's hand before sinking her teeth into the skin and taking a bite. Nicky simply watches her with a crooked grin. Licking the juice from her lips, Kaylie shyly looks up at him. "Nicky?"

"Yeah, Princess?"

"What would you think about tossing me an apple in another couple years? After the Olympics?"

"I'll think about it," Nicky says, though the tone in his voice screams, Absolutely.

Kaylie rolls her eyes. He's trying to be cute and he sort of is. She brings her free hand to the smooth side of his face. He leans down to kiss her and her lips are soft as she sighs against his mouth. It isn't like they're trying to devour each other, livid with passion. It's a sort of slow, gentle pecking and each brief moment their lips meet sparks a new promise for later, for the future they'll have together.

Nicky pulls back a moment because he suddenly feels so compelled to tell her something. His lips form that signature sweet and rather sexy smirk. "You taste like apples," he says and draws her lips back to his.

Fini

Author's note: Don't forget to check out Payson-Nicky-Forever's stories too!