The power of love

“She makes him smile.” I heard Joe whispered to Kevin, Danielle and Lauren. Dinner had slowly come to an end and we were all just talking. Well, everyone but me and Nick. We were sitting next to each other, not talking. I didn’t want to make it obvious that I was listening to their conversation, so I played with the napkin on the table. “Earlier, when Nick was chasing her, it was the happiest I’ve seen him in months.” I smiled to myself and folded the napkin up before throwing it onto the table. “Maybe things will change with him. Maybe she’s the one changing him.” I blushed, and pushed a piece of hair out of my face. Nick coughed awkwardly beside me.

“Joe.” Nick called, getting Joe’s attention. He looked at Nick, a smile playing on his lips. “You might want to learn to whisper.” I let out a soft chuckle as Joe pouted his lips softly. Nick turned to me, a smile on his lips. “Sorry about that.” I nodded my head, smiling still. Denise looked between all of us.

“It’s getting late.” I picked my phone off the table to look at the time. 10:48pm. It wasn’t that late for me. I felt like I could go for another 6 hours. “We probably should go.” She said, calling over a waiter. We sat in a comfortable silence while she asked for the bill. I looked over at her as it was placed on the table.

“Denise.” I said, getting her attention. She looked over at me and smiled. “How much should I put in?” I asked her, a small smile on my face as I reached down for my bag.

“Oh no you don’t Madi.” She said, making me sit up straight as if I was being told off. “We invited you out, we will pay.” She said sternly. I went to open my mouth before Lauren grabbed my arm. I looked over at her, and she was shaking her head.

“Just don’t fight with her Mad.” She said, making me narrowed my eyebrows. “Mama J will always win.” I laughed and nodded my head, agreeing with Lauren. I smiled at Denise.

“Next time, I’ll pay.” I said, making Denise burst into laughter and shake her head. “Don’t argue with me.” She nodded her head and smiled at me. I flashed my teeth back at her. We sat as they paid the bill and waited for the change. Nick was mumbling something under his breath. I looked over at him, but he didn’t notice. He was tapping away on his phone. I shook it off before Denise spoke to us.

“Are you ready to go?” She asked us. I looked around to see everyone standing up, so I followed. I was the last one out of the restaurant. Abi grabbed my arm and smiled at me.

“Look after him.” She whispered. Before I could even reply, she let go and walked away. I narrowed my eyebrows at her as she walked away.

“MADI!” Kevin yelled at me from the open door. I looked around at him. “Are you coming, or just going to stand there?” I laughed and walked out of the restaurant. Kevin flashed his teeth at me. “Daydreaming?” He asked me. I laughed and nudged him with my elbow. He laughed and we caught up with everyone else. They all smiled at us and we carried on walking. Nick walked towards me, sending a small smile in my direction. I sent one back. There was no point in arguing with him in something that wasn’t anything to do with me. He nodded his head at me.

“Are you ready?” He asked quietly. I nodded my head and turned to his family. I hugged them one by one before turning to Denise.

“Thanks for dinner.” I said, hugging her and placing a small kiss onto her cheek. She smiled at me.

“It’s okay sweetie. Anytime.” I grinned at her before following Nick towards his car. He held the car door open for me and I slid in. I placed my bag onto the floor before crossing my legs over. Nick jumped into the driver’s seat before slamming in into reverse. I watched as Joe and Kevin pulled away in their car with their significant others.

“Abi seems…nice.” I said, whilst playing with my hair. Nick nodded his head.

“I haven’t seen her in a few months.” He said, his eyes fixed on the road. He had his teeth grinded together and knuckles were turning white. “Didn’t think she would ever be the one to get pregnant.” He mused to himself. I nodded my head, interested in what he said. “Doesn’t matter now.” He muttered, shaking his head to himself. I sighed and rested my head against the back of the chair. I wanted to know more about Nick Jonas. He was like a complete different species of man. And it intrigued me. I rested my head against the window and tapped it softly. I watched as everything went past pretty fast. I saw my dad’s house come into view and let out a soft sigh.

“Thanks Nick.” I said, pushing open as he pulled up in my driveway. He nodded and I jumped out of the car. I swung my bag over my shoulder and walked up the driveway. I watched Nick drive away before I walked through my front door. I threw my bag down at the doorway before walking into the lounge. Rachel and my Dad were cuddled with Jake. I smiled at them and sat down on the loveseat.

“How was the beach?” Rachel asked, looking away from whatever she was watching on the TV. I nodded my head. “Looks like you have a slight tan.” I stuck out my arm and laughed.

“Sure it does.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll be this pale even when I’m dead.” My dad almost spluttered his coke everyone. Rachel had to smack his back to stop him choking. “But it was a very nice day to be on the beach.” I said, suddenly feeling tired. I let out a yawn and rested my head against the back of the couch. “What time is it?” I couldn’t be bothered to get my phone out, or even look at my phone.

“11pm.” Rachel told me. I let out a groan and my eyes slowly started to shut.

“Madison.” My dad said, making me lift up my head to look at him. “Go to bed sweetie.” I nodded my head and got up. As I walked out of the lounge, I picked my bag up and pulled my phone out of it. I pressed the buttons to light it up but nothing came up.

“Dead.” I said to myself, before carrying myself up the stairs. I dragged my feet as I walked up them. I felt tired all of a sudden. It was the first time I felt tired for a long while. It was 11pm, a decent 4 hours before I usually go to bed. As I got half way up the stairs, my dad called me from the bottom. He had Jake in his arms and I walked down. “Put him to bed?” I asked, smiling. My dad gave me a tired nod of his head and I took Jake from him. Jake yawned, making me laugh. He looked up at me with his blue eyes and gave me a smile. I walked up the rest of the stairs and pushed Jake’s door open. I placed him in his cot and pulled the blanket to his neck. His eyes slowly shut and his mouth dropped open. I laughed to myself before walking out of his room. I wandered into mine and fell onto my bed, not bothering with taking my dress off.

~~~~~

I groaned and woke up slowly. The sound of Jacob screaming was enough to wake the whole world up. I pushed my hair out of my eyes and sat up slowly. I noticed I was still in my dress from last night and I was lying on the bed covers. I rolled my eyes, before climbing out and going to see where the noise was coming from. I stood in the doorway of Jake’s room, watching Rachel run around the room. I cleared my throat to announce that I was in her presence. She turned to me, flustered. “Madison.” She said, rubbing her forehead in confusion. I gave her a smile and walked over to her.

“What do you need help with?” I asked her. She let out a shaky sigh before resting her hand against her forehead.

“I need to get changed.” She mused to herself. Jake was still screaming in his crib. “Can you get him?” She asked. I nodded my head and walked over to him. I pulled him out and held him against my chest. I rocked him gently before he got the hiccups. I looked over at Rachel who was pulling things out of his wardrobe. She looked very stressed. “Rach.” I said, getting her attention. She turned to me, a diaper in her hand. “Go and get changed. I’ve got this covered.” She nodded her head before walking out mumbling to herself. I laughed and grabbed Jake’s clothes. I took him into my room and laid him on my bed. He kicked his little legs in the air and had his thumb stuck in his mouth. I laughed and grabbed my phone. I completely forgot to put it on charge last night. I grabbed my charger and shoved my phone. It lit up with life and started to charge. I walked over to Jake and pulled at him baby grow. He made it hard for me with his leg kicking, but I managed to do it. I changed his bottom real quick, not breathing and got him changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I smiled and put socks on his little feet. I picked him up and his eye bulged at me. I stuck my tongue out at him, making him smile. I put him over my shoulder and made my way downstairs. There was no trace of my dad, meaning he had gone to work. That’s probably why Rachel is running around. I walked into the kitchen and put him into the bouncer on the counter. He played with the toys and colours while I made myself a cup of coffee. I felt like I could go for the whole day now. I knocked Jake’s toys while I drank my drink. Rachel came running in, her head wet and dressed this time.

“Thank you for that, Madison.” She said, smiling at me. I placed my mug on the table and made her a cup. I handed her the drink and she took a sip, obviously pleased with the taste “Your dad left early this morning.” I nodded my head, knowing that straight away. “Isn’t that the dress you wore last night?” I blushed and pushed hair out of my face. She laughed softly. “Did you have fun?” She asked. I nodded my head.

“They are a really nice family.” I said, smiling. I wasn’t going to go into the entire thing about Nick, because I decided it was too complex and rather stupid. “They all have their different acts in the family. They fit well.” I was talking about how well the family was?!

“Nicholas is quite a character.” She said, smirking. I looked at her as she took a sip of her coffee.

“What do you mean?” I asked, confused. She laughed, her mood changing from stressed out earlier, to now teasing me.

“Well, he is nearly 18 as well.” I looked over at her. She had some silly grin on her face. “And single.” I held my hand up at her.

“Rach.” I said, laughing. “I’ve come here to get away for a while, not hook up with someone.” She giggled as I rolled my eyes at her. “Anyway, Nick seems very--”

“Closed off?” Rachel said, shrugging her shoulders. I nodded my head at her. “He wasn’t always like that, but something happened around 6 months. He never talks about it, and doesn’t let anyone in.” I nodded my head, understanding. “Most people don’t know what happened. One minute they were in the view of the camera life, then they moved out here and hide away since.” There was something that I didn’t know. “Lauren was happy that they had moved back here so she was close with Joe. But Nick didn’t speak to anyone for months. It wasn’t till about 3 months ago that he started to speak to me and your father.” I stared at my step-mother in amazement. “He doesn’t like to talk about it, so we don’t ask. Simple as.” She shrugged her shoulders and went to play with Jake. I wandered upstairs to get changed. I quickly jumped into the shower and washed my hair before getting out. I walked over to my phone and lit up the screen. I had two texts. I narrowed my eyebrows to myself and read it.

From-Nick.
Can you met me at the beach?

I narrowed my eyebrows at it, and checked what time it was sent. 11:03pm. It was just after he had dropped me off. I exit off that text before moving onto the other one.

From-Nick.
You’ve obviously not turned up. I don’t blame you. I’ll speak to you soon.

I sighed and brushed my wet hair out of my face. I had a look to the time the other one was sent. 4am. He had waited ages for me, and just because my phone battery had died meant that Nick thought that I wasn’t impressed with him. But he did impress me. Far beyond what he thought. I threw my phone on my bed, before lying backwards and letting out a major groan. I quickly got changed into a pair of shorts and a plain white t-shirt with a waistcoat. I tied my hair backwards and put my hair in a quiff. I decided that this outfit would do for today as it was quite warm outside. I slid my phone into my back pocket and walked downstairs. I could hear Rachel talking to Jake downstairs. I laughed and walked into the kitchen. She smiled at me, her hand on Jake’s bottle. “Nice shower?” She questioned. I nodded my head and laughed. I opened the cupboard and pulled out a pack of Oreos. “For breakfast?” Rachel asked, shocked. I laughed.

“I have a sudden urge to eat them!” I said, throwing my arms up in the air.

“You aren’t pregnant are you?” Rachel covered her mouth in a shocked fashion. I rolled my eyes at her, and laughed.

“If you want me to be honest, I’m still a virgin!” Rachel screwed up her nose in disgust. “Not that you wanted to know that, did you?” She shook her head, laughing. “What are we up to today?” I asked, munching on an Oreo. She shrugged her shoulders and laughed.

“Lets go for a walk.” She suggested. I nodded my head, agreeing with her.

“Sounds like a plan.”

~~~~~

Once we had got ourselves ready, we placed Jake into his pushchair and we headed for the shopping mall. We were talking about growing up as we walked down the street. “When I wanted to be younger, I was convinced that I was adopted.” She informed me. I turned to her, my eyebrows narrowed.

“Why?” I asked her, placing my hands into my pockets. I wrapped my fingers around my phone, holding it tight. Rachel laughed from where she was pushing Jake in his pram.

“I was nothing like my mum. Nothing like my dad. I felt…odd.” She said. I nodded my head, knowing what she meant. I was nothing like my mum, I looked like my dad, but I wasn’t like him personality wise. I was like none of my family. “But then I grew up and turned to be just like my mum!” She said, laughing. I nodded my head and stared in front of me. I saw Alex coming towards me, smirking. I rolled my eyes as he walked over to us.

“Madison.” He said, smirking. My mouth almost dropped, how did he know my name? “There is a party going on today, I was wondering if you’d like to come.” I contemplated it.

“Sounds good.”