Exit 57

Nikki woke up with a huge headache. She wasn't sure what time she had fallen asleep, but she knew she hadn't gotten much sleep. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up in her bunk, almost forgetting what was happening today. Almost.

She got down from her bunk and walked into the kitchen area which was also used as a living room/dining room. She was surprised to see Joe up already, eating breakfast with his brothers. "Hey," she said, sitting down next to him, avoiding looking over at Kevin.

Frankie put down his cereal bowl, spilling some milk on the counter, and ran over to her. He jumped on her lap, hugging her. "I don't want you to go!"

She hugged him back. "I know, buddy. I'm sorry." She smiled weakly at him before sending a glare over to Kevin, whose face was growing hot as he looked down.

Looking at the clock, she realized it was almost eleven. Biting her lip, she realized that it wouldn't be too long before she was on a plane.

Mr Jonas came into the room. "Oh, Nikki, you're up. Good. The car for you will be arriving in about 20 minutes or so. We need to get your bags and everything together. Kevin, come help us."

Kevin groaned. This was the last thing he wanted to do. Slowly getting up, he received glares from both Nick and Joe. Brushing it off, he grabbed a suitcase and took it outside.

Once Kevin and Mr Jonas had taken everything outside, Nikki came out. She had gotten ready in only ten minutes, but she looked beautiful still. Kevin could tell she had been crying, knowing she must have said goodbye to the rest of the family inside. She walked over to his dad, giving him a hug. "See you later, creeper," she said, laughing. "Is it alright if I talk to Kevin for a second?"

Mr. Jonas nodded and went inside, giving her a pat on the shoulder. He was such a dork, but she loved him.

Kevin and Nikki stood outside awkwardly for a second before Kevin spoke up. "Look, Nikki-"

"No Kevin. I have a lot of stuff I need to say to you. You haven't let me say anything that was on my mind these past couple of days, but now you're going to listen."

Kevin closed his mouth, surprised at how angry she was.

"You're my best friend, Kevin. And I don't care if I'm still yours or not- but you'll always be mine. What you said the other day surprised me, okay? And it scared me. We would've been just fine if you would've had the decency to talk to me about it instead of running away from your problems. But instead you lied to your parents just to get me to leave. I've never seen that side of you before, Kevin, and I really didn't like it."

She paused, looking back. The car to take her to the airport had pulled up, and the driver was now packing her bags into the trunk.

"If you wanted me to leave so bad, you could've just asked me and I would've left. I can't believe how much of a jerk you've been lately, Kevin. But you got your wish, and I'm leaving."

She walked towards the car and opened the door. Once she was halfway in, she turned back around. "Bye Kev." She got in a shut the door.

The car pulled away, leaving Kevin standing there, speechless.

___

Nikki boarded the plane, sat down and put her ipod on. She gave a small smile to the woman who sat next to her before turning over and looking out the window. She watched as the plane sped up and lifted off the ground. With every second, she got further and further away from the Jonas family.

Nikki must have fallen asleep, because she was woken up by the flight attendant. The plane had landed in North Carolina, where Nikki had to wait for a little before the next flight left for New Jersey.

In the airport, she bought a couple of magazines to read while she waited and found a small table to sit at. Turning her phone on, she had a new voicemail and a new text. A little bit of her was hoping they were from Kevin.

She called her voicemail, hearing her mom's voice. They were coming back to New Jersey in a week to spend time with her before heading out to some safari in Africa. She pressed the 7 button to delete it, making a mental note to call them back later.

She smiled when she saw her text was from Nick, but she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that it wasn't Kevin. The message read, 'miss you already!' and was sent about ten minutes after she had left for the airport. She chuckled to herself and started to read her magazines.

Before she knew it, her flight number was called. She stuck her magazines into her carry on bag and walked towards her gate, which wasn't that far away. She boarded a plane for the second time that day, which was two more times than she should have.

As the plane touched down, an uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. She really was back in New Jersey. She stood up and stretched, grabbing her bag, and got off the plane as fast as she could. She wanted to get home as soon as possible.

In the airport, she looked for the driver that the Jonas' had arranged for her to ride with to her house, which was about an hour away from the airport. She saw a man in a suit with a sign that said "Nikki" on it, and she went over to him. He kindly said hello and grabbed some of her bags from her. They walked to the black Cadillac that she would be riding in. He opened the door for her, and she slid into the cool leather of the back seat. He walked around the car and got into the drivers side. "Miss, we'll take highway 1-91 to exit 57, where we'll get off to get to your house. We should be arriving there in a little under an hour."

Nikki thanked him and put her ipod in, selecting 'shuffle songs'. Ironically, the song Just Friends came on. She rolled her eyes and clicked the right button on the wheel, not in the mood to hear this song. She pressed her head against the cool window, watching the street signs as they passed by.

She knew she was getting close to her home when the exit signs got into the 50's. She saw exit 52, which meant that it would only be five miles until she was almost home.

She started to think about the recent events that had progressed in the past 48 hours. In only two days, she had gone from having the best time on tour with her best friends, to going back home alone. The main thing on her mind was that Kevin never even let her say what was on her mind. He never gave her the chance to tell her feelings for him. Now, it was too late.

As they neared exit 56, her stomach dropped. She wanted so badly to tell the driver to turn around and go back to the airport, but it was no use. Why should she go back to somebody who obviously didn't want her?

Although it was getting dark, she saw a green sign up ahead, and knew exactly what it was. It felt like she was in slow motion as she kept getting closer and closer, finally, she could read what it said. Exit 57.

She began to roll up her ipod cord and put it in her purse. Her hands were shaking. She wasn't quite sure why she was nervous, but she was. She watched as the car slowed down over the exit ramp. Her house wasn't far from here. She ran her fingers through her hair, not wanting to go home.

In what seemed like seconds, they reached the familiar home that Nikki had grown up in her whole life. It was small, but nice. The brick was illuminated in the moonlight. She got out of the car and started to unload her bags, her driver helping her. Once they got everything out, he turned to her and said, "I would help you take your bags up to your door, but I'm running late with another client. Will you be okay?" She nodded yes and thanked him for the ride, handing him a tip. He nodded to her and went back into his car, driving away.

Without the lights from the car nearby, Nikki could hardly see. Her house used to have motion sensor lights, but it had been abandoned for so long that the no longer worked. She struggled with taking all of her bags at once, because she didn't want to take more than one trip up her long driveway. Slowly, she made her way up towards her house.

Looking up, she saw a dark shadow near her house. A wave of fear ran over her. She was alone, and it was dark. She stopped moving for a second and stood there. She saw the figure movement. "Shit," she said, under her breath. It started walking towards her. Nikki dropped her bags, ready to run, when she saw who it was.

"Kevin, you asshole. You had me scared to death." She folded her arms, trying to settle her shaking.

"Sorry," he choked out, still walking towards her. "Hey."

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, I uh, had my dad call in a private plane to fly me over."

"No Kevin, I mean, what are you doing here. Why are you here?"

He looked up at her nervously, shifting on his feet. "I didn't like how we ended things."

"I'm pretty sure 'we' didn't end things, Kev. You did," she replied, meaner than she had hoped.

"I.. I know, Nikki. And I'm sorry. I just didn't know what to do. Lying to my mom about you wanting to go home was probably the worst thing I could've done. I regretted it as soon as I told her." He ran his hand over the back of his neck, looking up at her. She nodded, allowing him to continue. "I don't know why I was such a jerk. I don't want to lose you as a friend, Nikki."

Nikki smiled, looking up at Kevin. He looked like a little puppy dog. Suddenly, she realized something that she wished she would've realized a long time ago.

She walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his body. He returned the hug by wrapping his arms around her shoulders. After standing like this for a moment, Nikki finally spoke up.

"I love you, Kevin."

"I love you too, Nikki. You're my best friend in the entire world."

She released Kevin from the tightness of the hug, still holding onto him. She looked up at him. "No, Kevin. I mean… I really love you."

Kevin stared down at her, shocked. "Oh, shit," he replied, laughing. She smiled and playfully hit his chest. "I don't know why I didn't realize it before. But really, I love you."

Kevin looked down at her, brushing some of her hair out of her face and behind her ear. He leaned down. This was the moment they'd both been waiting for.

After what seemed like hours, their lips finally met. The kiss was sweet, even better than Kevin had been expecting all of those years he had had a crush on her. He put one of his hands on the back of her head, pulling her closer.

Nikki pulled away from Kevin, looking up at him. He looked back down at her. "What? Is something wrong?"

"Pinch me, Kevin."

He chuckled a bit. "What? No."

"Seriously, Kevin. Pinch me. Please."

He bit his lip and pinched her lightly on the forearm. Looking back into her eyes, he saw her smiling back at him.

"So this is real, then?"

"I'm pretty sure it is."

"Good," Nikki replied, leaning in to kiss him again.