I Never Liked You Even When I Tried To

The smell of sizzling bacon awoke me the next morning.

I hauled my body out of bed and gazed out the window. We were crossing the border to Canada by bus, performing a few concerts in Winnipeg, Toronto and Vancouver then flying to the UK.

Cianna was sitting in the booth chewing her eggs silently.

"Good morning Ma." I smiled, kissing my mother's cheek softly.

"Good morning honey." she replied patting my head lovingly.

Dad peered up over the top of his Christian magazine.

"Morning Nicholas."

"Morning Dad." I nodded, slipping into the seat next to Ci.

“Hello.” I said carefully, for fear she might jump out and scratch my eyes out.

"Morning!" she grinned cheerily.

I cocked my brow at her sceptically then realised she was only being chirpy because my parents were nearby.

Mum slid a plate of bacon and toast in front of me.

Cianna finished her breakfast and sat back against the leather of the booth, shutting her eyes.

Her long eyelashes were stuck together with sleep, her face free of makeup and her pyjama clad chest rising and falling slowly.

The section of her hair which had been shaved had grown back into a wispy fringe and it suited her.

All of a sudden, she poked an eye open and caught me looking. A blush worked its way onto my cheeks and I rubbed my neck nervously.

"Is there something on my face?" she inquired quietly.

"A nose and some lips." I blurted quickly. Some lips in which I had the pleasure of kissing.

Cianna giggled quietly and got up, placing her plate in the dishwasher.

"Is there anything you'd like help with Mrs Jonas?" she asked.

Mum laughed, shaking her head. "No sweetie, and how many times do I have to tell you to call me Denise!"

"Um, you haven't actually told me that...Denise." Cianna blushed, averting her gaze to the floor.

I followed her focus and my eyes landed on her freshly painted toenails. They were a pale pink, each with a perfect crescent moon at the base.

Her legs were honey coloured, a subtle fake tan distributed evenly over her whole body.

Her floaty floral nightie came to just above her knees. My, she has beautiful knees.

"Well now you know. Nicholas, check your sugars please." she instructed.

I did as I was told and grabbed my diabetic kit from the bathroom.

"Does it hurt?" a soft-spoken voice came.

I looked up into the mirror to see Cianna looking at me curiously.

"What?"

"Pricking your finger all the time."

Then my attitude changed and I snapped, "What do you care?! You think I'm getting sympathy for it."

Her face hardened and she shook her head before backing away from the door. "I shouldn't have asked." she muttered.

I had completely turned on her. "Yeah you shouldn't have. It's none of your damn well bloody business."

"Well excuse me!" she snarled, curling her hands into fists.

"You're excused." I winked, slamming the door in her face.

c i a n n a

Joe came rocketing up to the bathroom to see what all the fuss was about. "What's going on here? Why are the doors being slammed?"

"Ask your immature brother that same question." I muttered, stomping off to my own bed to select my clothes for the day.

"Why is it that you and Nick seem to be fighting all the time?" he asked abruptly.

"We don't get along. Kapish. Got it?"

I began to dig through my suitcase for a comfortable outfit. "Why is that?" Joe inquired, sitting on the bed while I kneeled on the floor.

"I dunno. Not everybody can get along right?" I shrugged, pulling out a pair of ripped cutoff jean shorts. "He just doesn't seem to like me at all. It's his loss, I suppose."

"But we're friends right?"

I shook my head, "I don't think so Joseph. I don't think I could be friends with a person middle named Adam and with the last name Jonas."

"Excuse me!" he gasped jokingly. "I'm so incredibly offended Cianna May Fox!"

I grinned and pulled out a white shirt. "What do you think?" I asked, placing a nude coloured bag next to my set.

"Looks good my friend." Joe nodded, giving me a hi-five.

I picked up my top and bottoms and made my way to the bathroom.

"Can you hurry up please Nick? I have to get changed." I called, knocking on the door softly.

"No. You don't need to plaster your face with makeup because it doesn't make you look any nicer."

"Oh you flatter me." I replied dryly, rolling my eyes at Joe.

It took a total of 13 minutes and 27 seconds for Nick to prepare himself.

"Hey! Is that mascara you're wearing?" I cried.

Nick reached up to touch his eyelashes. As I did so I flicked his underarm. "Moron." I muttered.

He squealed like a little girl, clutching his armpit. "What was that for?!"

"Oops." I gasped, slapping my hand over my mouth.

I closed the door behind me and started to rummage through my makeup bag, only to find Nick had snapped the brush off my mascara, smashed my eyeshadow, broken my eyeliner in two, and crumpled my lipsticks into a large pile of multi-coloured gunk.

Shaking with anger, I yanked the top of Nick's deodorant can off and broke it into smithereens underneath my foot.

After that I emptied his shampoo down the drain and replaced it with mashed up soap and some of my lipstick with plenty of water.

"I've had enough of you Jonas." I muttered under my breath. "The tour hasn't even started yet and you're already ruining it for me."

I smoothed my hair up into a high ponytail and exited the bathroom, my face free of cosmetics.

"Oh wow, look at that!" Nick grinned. "She finally took my advice and stopped trying to make herself look pretty."

Joe growled, punching his brother in the arm.

"What the hell was that for?!" Nick cried, rubbing the spot where Joe's fist had collided.

"Would you like a punch in the face next time?" Joe threatened. "Stop treating her like shit and maybe I'll reconsider the weapons I'll use when I knock your lights out. Got it?"

The startled look on Nick's face was priceless. A laugh rose in my throat, and I pressed my lips in a tight line to prevent it from escaping.

Too bad it didn't work, because I spluttered and started to giggle hysterically.

Nick glared and then started to chuckle, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "Come on, let's go out and I'll buy you some new makeup."

Joe watched Nick warily as Nick pulled me into his chest.

His touch made my skin burn as he rubbed his hand up and down my upper arm and I've got absolutely no idea why. I didn't harbour any of those feelings that can cause that.

After Big Rob finished off his breakfast, we headed out to the nearest shopping mall.

As soon as I saw a MAC store I made a beeline for it, pulling out my wallet.

"Pick whatever you want, however much you want." Nick winked.

I shrugged and selected a basket from the large pile at the front of the store.

Nick gazed at the eyeshadow products curiously as I rummaged through them.

"Did you know that pretty much any colour can make brown eyes pop?" I asked.

"But you don't have brown eyes; you have the most amazing shade of aqua with a dark blue ring around the outside."

Ugh, stop with the compliments already!

"Right." I stated bluntly. "You're the one with brown eyes."

I gave a cheeky little grin and unscrewed the lid of a tester pot of orange pigment eyeshadow.

"Oh hell no! Hell no!" He ducked under my arm and ran away from me as I chased him with the bright eyeshadow waiting to deposit it on his face.

"Nick come back!" I whined. The women in the store were giving us strange looks and whispering amongst themselves as Big Rob and my bodyguard Pow gave us a severe scolding.

Nick and I looked at each other sniggering silently. Although we weren't transmitting the sounds with our mouths, I could definitely see his eyes twinkle with a hint of mischievousness.

"Now buy your stuff and let's get out of here!" Pow rebuked.

Me and my new best friend edged towards the counter with my selections and both pulled out our credit cards.

"No!" I cried as Nick punched in his pin number and made the transaction.

He smirked and grabbed the plastic bag off the counter, passing it to me. "My pleasure."

We exited the store and began to walk back to the SUV. Nick and I were chatting comfortably when suddenly he stopped replying.

I spun around and found him not there. Panic flooded my veins. It was completely possibly that he'd been abducted by obsessed fans.

"Rob!" I screamed, dashing back along our path in a desperate search.

I just happened to peer into a shop and spot a familiar head of curls sitting on stool playing a guitar.

A very nice guitar might add.

Bursting into the shop, I flung open the door so hard that the force knocked the bell off the hook screwed above the doorframe.

I strided right towards that ass and slapped him clean across the face. "You idiot! You had me so worried!"

Big Rob and Pow barged in behind me, panting heavily. They looked mad, but Nick reasoned with our protective units and returned to his seat.

I sat opposite him and picked up a guitar for myself.

"Don't you ever do that again!" I reprimanded.

Nick rubbed his sore cheek and glared at me. "Don't you ever slap me again!"

I shrunk back inside my shell, terrified of his raising voice.

"I'm sorry Cianna, I shouldn't be snapping. I deserved that slap."

Peeking out from underneath my eyelashes, I warmed as his smile shone back at me.

He started strumming a tune on the guitar and it sounded like it could go along with the lyrics of a song I'd began to write.

How long,
I don't know why, I don't why,
I'm so afraid,
I don't know how, I don't know how,
To fix the pain,
We're living a lie, living a lie,
This needs to change,
We're out of time, we're out of time,
And it's still the same.

Nick stopped plucking at the strings and looked at me, dumbfounded. "That sounds absolutely amazing!" he announced. "Is there anymore to it?"

I shook my head, "Nup. That's it for now."

Pondering, he came up with a bit of the chorus after a few minutes.

We can't stop the world,
But there's so much more that we can do.

I added in, You can't stop this girl from falling more in love with you,
You said, nobody has to know,
Give us time to grow.

It took just 20 minutes for us to create one of the most amazing songs I have ever heard, which we entitled 'Stop The World'.

Nick stood up and wrapped his arms around me in an affectionate hug, and I couldn't help but feel the burning sensation rippling through my whole body.