From GuitarGuy92 to xoJadeBabyxo

Nick was happy that the night had been going well so far. He was nervous at the beginning, not knowing what to expect. The relationship—if you could call it that—that he had with Allegra was complex. He felt he always needed to be careful with what he did or said or else she would slip away. He actually enjoyed spending time with her and wanted to get to know her better. That’s why he was beyond ecstatic when she agreed to go out to eat with him. He had planned the evening carefully, allowing room for them to get to know each other.

The first stop was Casa Mancini. This place was very important to him and it was the perfect place for them to get to know each other. Everything was going well until Allegra checked her voicemail.

Nick briefly glanced up from his menu only to see Allegra’s eyes wide with sadness and tears welling in her eyes. “Allegra is everything okay?” he asked, a sudden wave of worry rushing through him. She stared back at him in silence, her eyes still wide but with the tears rolling down her cheeks freely now. “Legs, what’s wrong?” he tried again. She finally reacted—pressing her eyelids closed tightly and shaking her head softly.

“M-m-my p-p-pop-pop,” she said through a tiny sob. Her body was shaking with her tears and Nick found himself useless. He got up from his seat to comfort her but she shot up from her seat before he made it to the other side of the booth. “I h-have to g-g-go,” she said, gathering her things and heading to the door.

“Allegra wait,” Nick called after her. She was running through the front of the restaurant and he was chasing after her.

“Nick where are you going?” Aida asked as she was walking back to his table. He didn’t hear her—he was too busy trying to catch up to Allegra.

“Nicholas, ciò che è accaduto? Cosa c'è che non va?” Mama Mancini asked him as he rushed past her. She wanted to know what happened—what was wrong.

“Non lo so. Io vado a trovare,” Nick said. He didn’t know. He was going to find out. Running out of the restaurant, he saw Allegra slouched against his car, still crying. He rushed over to her and stood her up. “Allegra, what happened?” he asked again.

She hiccupped a few times before saying, “My p-p-pop-pop had an h-h-heart attack.” Another sob escaped from her lips and it wrenched his heart. He pulled her close to him and embraced her in a comforting hug, at a loss for words that would be able to comfort her. She pulled away from him and wiped at her face. “Nick, you h-have to take me b-back to school. I n-need to get m-my car and g-go down there,” she said.

Nick shook his head. “Allegra there’s no way you can drive like this. You’re too worked up to drive,” he reasoned.

“Nick I h-have to s-see him!” she stated, her voice cracking slightly, her face contorting in pain.

“I’ll drive you then.”

She shook her head. “I c-couldn’t ask y-you to do t-that. I’ll be f-fine I promise.”

Nick shook his head again. “If you want to get there, I’ll drive you. There’s no way I’m letting you drive when you’re this upset.” Allegra’s resolve faded quickly and she nodded her head in surrender. Nick opened his car door for her and she slid in. He quickly jogged to the other side and got in, started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. “Where do your grandparents live?” Nick asked.

“San Clemente,” Allegra answered.

“Here, what’s the address? I’ll put it into my GPS system,” Nick said. Allegra swiveled the device so it was facing her and put in the address. Once it was in and the British accent was instructing them where to go, she leaned back in the seat and closed her eyes. After a few minutes Nick stopped hearing her soft sobs and they were replaced by tiny sniffles. He glanced over at her and saw that she was sitting very still, her breaths even. He figured she fell asleep and was grateful—he wouldn’t have known how to fill the awkward silence if she were awake. He saw her body was shaking slightly and realized she must have been freezing. She was wearing a strapless dress and the late night air was chilly. He pulled over on the high way, took off his leather jacket and draped it over her upper body. “Its gonna be fine Legs,” he whispered to her sleeping form, kissing her temple softly. He put the car back in drive and continued following the instructions that would take them to her world.

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

I struggled to open my eyes. They felt super swollen and it only took me a second to know why. I allowed my eyes to flutter open, taking in my surroundings. We were still in Nick’s car but everything outside my window looked a bit more familiar. I sat up a bit straighter and a black garment fell off my shoulders—Nick’s leather jacket.

“Hey, you’re up,” he said, looking quickly at me and then turning back to look at the road. “We should be getting to your grandparent’s house soon,” he said softly.

“Make a left at the next light,” I instructed. He didn’t ask any questions but did as I said. After a few more turns, we pulled up to the San Clemente Hospital parking lot. Nick parked the car and I immediately ran out. He quickly caught up to me as I ran through the main entrance and to the nurse’s station. “Excuse me ma’am, could you tell me what room William Cole is in?” I asked.

“Visiting hours are over honey,” she told me with a sympathetic smile.

“Please. I need to see him,” I begged. She glanced skeptically at me, then over my shoulder at Nick, but reluctantly told me the room number and gave us a visitor’s pass. I nearly ran down the hall to the wing where he was, not caring if Nick was behind me or not—though he had no problem keeping up with me. When we reached the Telemetry wing, I had to stop and take a breath. I kept going until I was in front of the room the nurse had told me. I took in a shaky breath and put one hand on the door knob.

Suddenly I felt Nick’s hand wrap itself around mine. I stared up, surprised, into his warm, encouraging brown eyes. “Everything will be fine,” he whispered. He gave my hand a reassuring squeeze before opening the door for me.

I took a few tentative steps into the room, my eyes scanning the room. The walls were depressingly bland and there were two beds separated by a curtain. The first bed was empty but I saw my grandmother sleeping on a recliner on the far end of the room. I walked farther until I saw my pop-pop’s motionless body engulfed by the hospital bed. A sob bubbled from the back of my throat, jolting my nana from her restless sleep.

“Oh Allegra, honey,” she said, getting up. I jogged into her outstretched arms and buried my face in her shoulder, my tears starting up again. “Sweetie I told you not to come down here.”

“I had to nana. P-p-pop-pop needs m-me,” I cried.

“Sweetie, he’s going to be fine. He’s just getting some tests done. You didn’t need to leave school,” she said, pulling back and running her hand soothingly through my hair. I let out a soft whimper and hugged her again. Her smell reminded me so much of home. I didn’t realize I missed her this much.

“I missed you nana,” I confessed in a whisper.

“I missed you too sweetie.” She pulled away and caressed my cheek. She then glanced at the door way where Nick was still standing. “Who do we have here?”

I turned to look at him. He was leaning against the door way, his hands shoved in his pockets. He was taking in the reunion before him with an unreadable look on his face. “This is my friend Nick,” I introduced, wiping my tears away. “Nick, this is my nana, Annette.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Nick said, walking forward with his arm outstretched.

My grandmother wacked his hand away and engulfed him in a hug. “It’s good to meet you too.”

Nick pulled back and smiled softly at my grandmother. I wasn’t paying attention to them anymore though. I was sitting on a chair right next to my pop-pop, holding his fragile, wrinkled hand in mine—silently praying for him. I glanced up when Nick cleared his throat.

“I’m gonna go down to the café and get something to eat,” he said softly. “Do you want me to pick anything up for you?”

“No, I’ll be fine,” I whispered back. He nodded his head once and left the room.

Once he was gone, my nana walked over to me and sat on the arm of the chair. “Sweetie, he’s going to be fine,” she said, running her hands through my hair and pushing it behind my ears.

“He has to be nana. Nothing bad can happen to pop-pop.”

“You really shouldn’t have left school.”

“It’s the weekend. It’s no big deal,” I countered, my gaze still fixed on the man before me.

“So, who’s Nick?” she inquired, changing the topic to something lighter.

I finally turned to look at her. “He’s my friend,” I informed her.

“Hmm.”

“What?”

“You’ve never told me about him in your phone calls or e-mails.”

“He’s a new friend.”

“How is it that you brought him here with you?”

I let out a sigh and turned back to look at my grandfather. “We were hanging out when I got your message. He wouldn’t let me drive here by myself and offered to drive me.”

“That was awfully nice of him. Were you two on a date?”

“No nana, it wasn’t a date. Just two friends having dinner together.”

“Alright, if you say so.” The room fell silent after that—the only sound heard was the steady beeping of the machinery behind my pop-pop. My nana had sat back down on the recliner, dozing off after a few minutes.

I don’t know how long I sat on that uncomfortable chair, holding my pop-pop’s hand in my own and looking at his sleeping form. The tears came and went in waves anytime I thought of something bad that could happen. My eyes started to grow heavy, my eye-lids drooping with fatigue.

“Hey.” I forced my eyes to stay open and looked towards the doorway where Nick was standing. A pang of guilt hit me—I had forgotten all about him.

“Hey,” I croaked back.

“Legs, you look like you could use some rest,” he said, walking tentatively towards me.

“No, I’m okay,” I said.

“Well then maybe you should get something to eat. It’s late and you didn’t get a chance to eat dinner,” he continued.

“Nick, I’m fine.”

“Allegra, you have to take care of yourself. At least get some tea or something,” Nick urged. “I’m sure your grandfather wouldn’t want to see you like this.”

The concern in his voice surprised me.

But I knew he was right.

I bit on my lower lip to prevent it from trembling. My eyes were already watering but I tried to hold back my tears. I’d done enough crying already. But I couldn’t control myself. I dropped my head on the mattress in front of me and let my tears fall.

I didn’t expect Nick to grab my hands in his. I didn’t expect him to lift me up into a standing position. And I most definitely did not expect him to secure me in his warm arms or for him to rub small circles on my back in a soothing manner.

But I appreciated it.

Standing in Nick’s embrace calmed me down. It wasn’t even registering in my mind that just a month ago, this was the kid I so desperately did not want to work with, and most definitely did not want to get to know. But I was glad I changed my mind. Although I wouldn’t openly admit it, having him here was comforting. I knew my nana was dealing with her own problems, her own grief. It was nice to have an outsider here to comfort me and look out for me.

Nick truly was a great friend.

And I’m glad I gave him the chance to prove that to me.

“Allegra, honey, why don’t you go home? It’s late.” I pulled away from Nick’s embrace and saw my nana staring at us from her seat on the recliner. Her lips were stretched in a tired smile.

“No nana. I’m going to stay here with you. I have to be here when pop-pop wakes up.”

“Sweetie, he won’t be waking up until tomorrow morning. Go home, get some rest. I’m sure Nick is tired as well. It wouldn’t be fair to have him sleep uncomfortably in a hospital after all his help.”

“Oh no, don’t worry about me,” Nick spoke up instantly.

My nana was good. She knew that I wouldn’t refuse her proposition because Nick truly had done a lot for me. It wouldn’t be fair to have him sleep in a hospital. Even in the midst of tragedy I couldn’t allow myself to be selfish like that.

I let out a sigh and nodded my head in surrender. “Alright, but I’ll be back here bright and early tomorrow morning,” I told her as I gathered my things. I walked over to her and gave her a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek. “See you tomorrow nana.” I then walked over to my pop-pop and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “See you tomorrow handsome.”

I waited for Nick to say goodbye to my grandmother, then led the way back to his car. I tiredly gave him directions to the house and fifteen minutes later, we were home. It had been a few months since I was last here, but nothing ever changed. Everything still felt homey and cozy, the way I liked it.

Home Sweet Home.

“Well, this is it,” I said awkwardly as Nick and I stood in the middle of the living room.

I watched him as he absorbed his surroundings. “It looks…homey,” he stated. “It’s nice.”

“Yea. Well, uhm, there’s a guest room you can stay in. I can get you something more comfortable to change into,” I said.

“Okay,” he replied. I smiled softly at him and led the way up the stairs. I led him to the second door on the left and opened the door for him. The room wasn’t overly decorated—pastel blue walls, oak wood furniture, and a full size bed with a blue plaid comforter.

“I’ll be right back,” I told him. I went back down the hall into my room and scrounged up an old pair of sweat pants and a large t-shirt that Kenny had left here once. I grabbed a towel from the linen closet and walked back to the guest room. “The bathroom is just across the hall,” I told him as I handed him the new garments.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Thank you, Nick. For everything. You do well in a crisis,” I told him with utmost sincerity.

“Anytime,” he replied with a smile. Giving him one of my own, I turned back around and headed down the hall to my own room. Peeling out of Nick’s jacket (I’ll have to return that to him) and my dress and releasing my bangs from their bobby pins, I grabbed a towel and walked into my personal bathroom. Fifteen minutes later I was in an old pair of sweats and a baggy t-shirt. I climbed in to bed and prayed that my pop-pop would be okay and that I got at least some sleep tonight.

JB—JB—JB—JB—JB

3:03 a.m.

That was the time on my digital clock when I finally decided that it was useless trying to get some sleep. I had done nothing but toss and turn all night and I had finally had enough. Climbing out of bed, I padded downstairs and into the kitchen. Pulling out the jug of milk and a sauce pan, I turned on the stove and warmed up the milk. I grabbed a small bowl and ground up some cocoa, cinnamon, and a dash of vanilla.

Nothing hit the spot like homemade hot chocolate.

After I had a steaming mug of the chocolaty goodness I walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch. I wrapped myself in a fleece blanket and just thought. I thought about my grandfather mostly and about his health. He didn’t always make the best choices when it came to his health and it sucked that those choices were finally catching up to him. I don’t think I was ready for anything to happen to him.

I also thought about Nick and how much he had surprised me today. It was hard to believe that just a few hours ago he had been picking me up from my dorm room for our outing. I had been able to get another glimpse at the guy buried deep underneath his image when he shared Casa Mancini with me. And he really pulled through for me with this tragedy. I felt so safe around him—as if I had known him my entire life and could trust him with my secrets. He made me believe that things would actually be alright.

A sudden noise brought me out of my thoughts. I looked to the doorway and saw Nick standing there, rubbing his curls slightly. “Hey,” he said when he saw me looking at him.

“Hi,” I whispered. “What are you doing up?”

“I heard you get up and figured I’d check on you after you didn’t come back upstairs,” he stated. “Couldn’t sleep?”

I shook my head in response, blushing at his caring gesture. “I’m sorry I woke you up,” I added bashfully.

He waved my comment off as he walked closer to me. “Don’t worry about it. I wasn’t really doing much sleeping either. Mind if I sit with you?” he questioned as he stood right in front of the couch. I shook my head and brought my legs up to my chest, making more room for him. He sat down and crossed his legs beneath him. We sat in silence for a few minutes, but it surprisingly wasn’t awkward. I found myself more comfortable around Nick.

“Hey Nick,” I started, looking down at the mug in my hands.

“Yea?”

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“For what?” he whispered back.

“Everything.” My voice was barely above a whisper as I looked up to meet his gaze.

“Allegra, you’ve already thanked me,” he said softly.

“I really can’t thank you enough though. You have no idea how much it means to me that you drove all the way down here with me. It means a lot.”

“You obviously needed someone to be here for you, and I wanted to be that person,” he said softly.

I looked back down at my hands, the guilt suddenly too much for me to handle. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice cracking in the middle of my apology.

“For what?” I looked up at him and saw sheer confusion on his handsome features.

“For the way I treated you when we first met. I take pride in myself for never judging people and believing in the best everyone has to offer. But I judged you right when we met. I was blinded by the image that you hold as the most popular guy at school and I treated you unfairly.”

“Allegra you don’t have to—”

“No, please let me finish.” He closed his mouth and stared at me expectantly. “The truth is I can see there’s more to you than you let others see. And I’m glad I’m one of the—from what I can tell—few people that know just how sweet and caring you can be. You really are a great friend and I’m so glad you didn’t give up on getting me to change my mind about you.”

“Me too,” he stated with a small smile.

A few more minutes of silence passed before I asked the question that had been plaguing me since Nick volunteered to go with me to the homeless shelter a few weeks ago. “Why do you hide it?”

“Hide what?”

“You are such a sweet guy. You’re obviously very family oriented and care about the people close to you, but why do you hide it? Why are you…well…a jerk to kids at school?” I asked looking right into his eyes.

He let out a deep sigh and averted his gaze from mine, his eyes looking at something beyond me. “When I started going to Pacific Palisades, my older brother, Kevin was already a junior. He was part of the popular crowd and my other older brother, Joe, was a freshman working himself into being one of them. By the time they both graduated, it was sort of expected that I take their place as the most popular guy at school. So I did. Somewhere along the way I realized that the populars were entertained by humiliating those…lesser than us.”

“But that’s not you. If you were their leader, you had the power to stop them.”

“I know. But it wasn’t the cool thing to do. I was only in eighth grade when Joe finished. There was so much pressure on me to follow in my brother’s footsteps that I just couldn’t find a way to break free from that. I couldn’t speak up against something that was…tradition…I guess you could call it, for so many years. That’s just the way the social hierarchy works. But I decided that I wouldn’t ever be the reason someone felt lesser about themselves. So whenever they start making comments about others, I just keep my mouth shut and play along. It wasn’t until recently that I understood just how wrong I was to do that.”

“I’m glad you finally stood up for yourself,” I admitted.

“I did it for you.”

I stared up at him in shock. He was staring up at me from underneath his eyelashes with a hesitant look on his face—as if he didn’t know how I’d take his confession. “Y-y-you d-did?”

He nodded his head. “That night at Derfs I realized that you were a much better person to be around than they were. You put everyone else’s feelings before your own and you have an extremely generous heart. I never knew someone could care so much about others until the day we went to the homeless shelter. You seem to have a connection with anyone that you meet. I remember the day we got partnered to work together, I saw every person you walked by say hi to you—upperclassman or not. It blew my mind. You just—you are an amazing person and I knew that if I wanted to be friends with you, I’d have to do something about the one thing you didn’t like about me.”

And just when I didn’t think there was anything Nick could do or say to surprise me.

“Nick, I don’t know what to say,” I whispered, looking away from his gaze.

“You don’t have to say anything.”

I felt my eyes start to water. It actually surprised me that my body still had any water left in it after all the tears I’d shed in the past couple of hours. “You’re just making me feel worse about the way I treated you. You’re words were too sweet,” I choked out.

My eyes quickly moved to Nick’s when I felt his hand fall on top of mine. “Let’s leave that in the past,” he suggested. The caring tone in his voice was too much for me to handle. I bit down on my lower lip and tried to hold my tears at bay as I nodded my head and conceded to his request. But the tears proved to be impossible to hold back. I let out a tiny sob. I was already overly emotional by the situation with my pop-pop and everything that just happened with Nick proved to be too much for my emotions. I was down right bawling in front of Nick Jonas.

I bowed my head, embarrassed that he was seeing me like this. But he wrapped his hand around my wrist and pulled me closer to him, embracing me in the most comforting hug I could have asked for.