You're the Direction I Follow

“No Cindy, I can’t do it,” Nick read his lines.

“You have to,” I said. “Louis, I need you to promise me you will.”

Nick started laughing and looked up at me. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but this is so funny.”

“What is?” I asked as I picked up my container of food. Nick and I had decided to order Chinese food at his house while we went over the lines. It would be easier that way. I had been afraid we wouldn’t be able to because his family was here. But surprisingly, no one had bother us, except for when Joe would occasionally come in to try to steal our fortune cookies.

“This whole thing,” Nick said as he picked up his own container. “Working together again. It feels like old times, doesn’t it?”

I laughed, feeling it too. It felt exactly like it did a few years ago when we were still doing Broadway. “I feel like we’ll burst out into song any second,” I said.

“I know right?” he laughed.

I sighed, and leaned my head back on the couch. “Did you ever think we would work together again?”

He shrugged. “I wasn’t sure. But I really hoped we would.”

I looked at him. He was staring at me, a strange look in his eyes. It was so intense, I felt a blush rise to me cheeks. I had truly liked this kid. And here he was, giving me goosebumps even now after years of being apart. “Me too,” I said quietly.

He started laughing. “Do you remember that one time when we were eating lunch and that new kid Mike wanted to sit with us, and you told him he had to eat a mysterious tomato that had been on the table before we even got there?”

I laughed, remembering that. Nick, Joe, and I had been the evil little kids of every production. “He ate it though! That was so gross!”

“I think he had a crush on you,” Nick smirked.

“He did not,” I said. “He was just a weirdo.”

“He definitely did,” he laughed. “He would have jumped off the stage if you told him too.”

I laughed too. “You are one evil person Jonas,” I said, leaning my head on his shoulder.

He put his arm around me. “Mackenzie?” he whispered after a few minutes.

“Hmm?” I mumbled, feeling my eyes closing already. I was too comfortable here in his arms.

“Do you – do you ever think about what would have happened if we were both still on Broadway?” he asked timidly.

I opened my eyes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean between us,” he said quietly. “Do you think – we would have had – a shot?”

“A shot?” I asked, not believing it.

“You know—“ he said warily. “Being together.”

“Oh,” I said. This was weird. I had liked Nick for so long. It was weird to have him asking me this, because I had hoped for so long that he would. And here he was, asking me. “I’d like to have hoped so.”

“Really?” he asked skeptically.

“Why? You don’t?”

“No, I do,” he said quickly. “I remember – when you told me you liked me. I was ecstatic.”

“And you rejected me,” I reminded him quietly.

He cupped my chin, making me look at him. “You know why I had to, don’t you? Why I couldn’t just give in then?”

I shook my head silently. I was mesmerized by every word. This was too surreal.

“We were leaving for California Kenz,” he said. “We left a few weeks later, remember?”

“I thought you were running away from me,” I admitted quietly.

“Never,” he promised. “I – I like you Mackenzie. I liked you then, and I definitely like you now.”

I stared at him as he leaned in, and his lips met mine. It was like a dream. But I didn’t care. I felt happier than I had felt in two years. If it was a dream, so be it. I didn’t want to wake up.

“Oh sorry,” someone said, and we jumped apart. We saw Joe standing in the doorway, looking at us, a weird look on his face. He turned and walked away. I looked at Nick confused. He shrugged. What was that about?