"Love is Like A Glass Door..."

Penn's Pov

Nick and I curled up on the porch swing on the wrap-around front porch, the temperature slowly dropping and even the slightest breeze chilling as the day was on the verge of becoming night.

The porch swing lulled me into calmness as it slowly creaked back and forth. Silently, we watched the purple and orange and pink swirls of the sunset gradually darken. By the time the sky was a murky indigo color, someone from inside turned on the porch light.

Nick draped an arm over me and I snuggled closer, wrapping the tiny blanket around my shoulders and tucking it under both of us. We... pretty much couldn't move. Contently I rested my head on his chest and sniffed faintly his familiar scent. Needless to say, the boy smells good. Like... vanilla.

I sighed happily. -Damn, I don't know what's up with me... I'm... I'm... I just don't know how to explain it, dammit. Like I'm floating on a cloud or something, and no one can touch me. Head over heels. Straight-up Bambi-style twitterpattered. And believe me, It's the best feeling in the world.

I think I'm in l-

"Did you just sniff me?" Nick asked, amused, as he tucked his arms behind his head.

I swatted his arm playfully. "Jeez, Nick, always the one to kill the mood." He chuckled lightly.

A few moments of peaceful quietness passed before he asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"You," I answered shamelessly.

"I'm thinking about you too." I blushed a little and kissed him on the cheek.

"Yeah, what about me?"

"How...how much I care about you. How much I liked you already the first day we met. I've fallen hard for you, Penn. Hard and fast," he admitted.

I looked up at him with big green eyes, completely and utterly surprised. "That's the sweetest thing that anyone has ever said to me," I told him sincerely. "I-I care about you too, Nick. A lot." I dropped my gaze shyly towards the dark front lawn.

He, in reply, pulled me into a comforting bear hug. "Is that so?" he grinned.

"Yeah," I looked back up and grinned back, "Feel special. There's not many on my 'I care about you' list."

"I feel special just being with you, out here on the porch." I nodded contently in agreement.

"That's how I feel when I remember I'm your girlfriend." His dark brown eyes looked up to me and he smiled. He pushed my hair back and kissed me on the forehead.

I replied by kissing him on his soft lips again... And again, and again.

I rested on my elbows on either side of him and continued, kissing him down his neck teasingly.

Then, well, I lost my balance and the porch swing chucked us onto the concrete porch. "Oops," I giggled.

Somehow we got to the front lawn. I tackled him and we fell, two dark figures tumbling in the grass. The ground was dewy and cold, but I didn't care one bit. In the dark I searched for his lips, kissing affectionately every inch of his pleasantly warm skin that I could find. I heard him groan softly. I could feel another blush creep up my face. But I saw nothing in the now-come twilight.

Our mouths found each other and connected, initiating a wild and passionate, practically chemical reaction.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm having a make-out session with Nick Jonas.

Never would I have thought...

Hands groped around in the darkness- and God, I was practically chocking from the ecstasy bubbling over. I shivered, partly from the coldness of the ground seeping into my skin and partly from the sensation I got when I felt him nip my neck. We flipped over and he was on top of me. I gripped his tensed arms.

"Damn," I commented breathlessly. He laughed as he kissed my jaw.

I was cold from the weather, and yet at the same time burning, burning HOT.

And then I realized something.

I realized that I was no longer in the conflicting no-man's land.

I was all for him. I freaking craved him.

And I was more than happy to be his girlfriend.

I didn't give a damn what the hell kind of band he was in or the kind of chicks that that drooled over him.

He was mine.

---

Connor's Pov

Nick and Penn came back inside about half an hour after dinner. Is it just me or did they have blades of grass all over them?

"How was it outside?" I smirked.

"Fine. Cold," Penny commented. Her cheeks were a pinkish tint, but I had a feeling it wasn't just from the weather.

"What did you two do the whole time?" Kevin asked, genuinely curious.

"Not much. Talked. Sat," Nick answered simply.

Right.

Then he stood up and said something that totally surprised everyone.

"I'm hungry," Nick said, and abruptly went into the kitchen.

"Whoa," Joe said, comically stunned. "What did you do to our brother?!"

"Uh... Nothing?"

"It wasn't supposed to come out like a question..." I said suspiciously.

She tried to hide her smile and pursed her lips. "Connor, I did nothing at all."

"Uh-huh."

Nick came back and plopped on the love seat with Penny, the whole family-sized bag of Lay's chips in his hand along with a tall glass of orange juice. He got a handful of chips and began munching away.

"So..." he said, his mouth full. "What're we talking about?"

"Bands," Kevin answered.

Penny immediately gave me a pleading look. I could tell she hadn't told Nick yet... She hadn't told him that the Jonas Brothers were her arch enemy band. That she was leading a cause to expose their true selves to the world and make them look less like the Ken dolls they seemed to be.

Or, at least she used to.

"What're you favorite bands, Penny?" Joe asked.

The fatal question.

She scratched the back of her neck awkwardly. "Uh..uh...My top seven are Paramore, Panic at the Disco, Cobra Starship, The Academy Is, Cute is What We Aim For, and Bullets For My Valentine."

"-Ooh," she added, "Plus Pink."

"Worw," Nick said, yet again stuffing his mouth. He swallowed and said, "Interesting pick. What about you, Connor?"

I was about to tell him, but Kevin cut me off.

"His top five are Amy Winehouse, Pink, Nirvana, John Meyer, and Celine Dion."

Wow. He actually remembered.

I grinned at him. "What, are you trying to show me up or something? Well... Kevin's favorite singer is John Meyer."

"Well, that was easy; it's just one name!"

"But I remembered. That's what counts," I replied to him smugly.

"Now..." Joe interrupted, "There's something we have to know."

I could already tell what he was gonna ask. I could feel the suspense building.

"On a scale of one to ten, how do you think we are?" Penn tensed.

I tucked my arms behind my head loftily. "Me? I'd give you guys a... 6ish. 6.5."

"Penny?"

She looked up to the ceiling as if contemplating her answer. Both of us knew she already had one.

"Uh...uh...um... On a scale from one to ten..." she muttered to herself as if she had never thought of it before.

"Ah... three?"

"Ouch." was Joe's immediate reply.

Kevin cocked an eyebrow. "Why such a low score?" he asked, again with that genuine curiousness.

"I have...Low regards for new bands. Don't take it personally."

Kevin nodded, accepting this answer. Nick didn't say anything, but I couldn't tell if it was because he was offended or still eating.

Joe said, "But we're a good new band."

"Plus we're not that new," Nick added, finally saying something. "We've been doing it for... what, three years now?"

"Yeah," Kevin said, "Just about."

I turned to see Penny's expression, now that they knew her thoughts. She was gone, and so was Nick.

---

Nick's Pov

"Why don't you like us?" I couldn't help but be annoyed at myself because the question came out kinda whiny. Penn and I were down the hall, behind the kitchen where it connected with the laundry room.

Penny held the hand with the purity ring on it and looked up at me. "I told you, Nick. I have low regards for a new band."

"But why?"

"Because..." she was at a loss for words. She decided to use a metaphor. "Bands are like... shoes. Your old shoes feel better than your new shoes." she paused. "You... feel... more used to your old shoes. New shoes, are, well, new and they don't mold to the shape of your feet. It takes a while, but then at some point you break them in and they get that soft and used feel. Like Rainbows." She stopped and looked at me again. "I'm sorry if I offended you."

"You don't have to sugar-coat it," I said, miffed. "If you don't like us all you have to do is say it."

"But it's not that," she said, holding my hand tighter. "I'm just not used to you guys. Even though you say that you guys have been a band for three years, I've only heard about you this past year; so you're still very new to me."

"So what you're saying is that the older our band gets, the more you'll like us?"

"What I'm saying is that you'll grow on me. Practically every band I've ever heard does."

"I see."

She put a hand on my shoulder. "None of it matters, anyway," she murmured in my ear, making it my turn to get nervous. "All that matters is you and me," she told me, lifting my chin with the tip of her finger and kissing my jaw, as soft as a whisper.

"Does N-word Nick want a kiss? Hmm? Hmm?" she teased, tickling my chin. Dammit, she found out that I'm ticklish.

I laughed. "Yes, he wants a kiss," I replied, kissing her on the nose.

"Hmm?" she asked faintly,"What was that? Huh? What was that? That wasn't a kiss." I rolled my eyes jokingly.

"You wanna see a kiss? I'll show you one."

I pressed her against the wall, and next thing I knew we were making out again. Like we had magnets in our lips that attracted to each other.

Call me a wuss, but I mentally forgave her long before she finished her explanation. I can never stay mad at Penny for long- I care about her too much.