J's pov
I push the ring into Joe's hand and run. I hear Kevin calling my name, and I feel him taking my arm and pulling me to his car.
"I'm gonna send you home" He says, and I see him glancing back at Joe.
"B-but my car is at Nick's house..." I stammer, still in shock. "We'll take care of it" Kevin says, opening the car door where Dani and the 2 girls are waiting. Dani sees my tears and quickly moves to the backseat to comfort me while Kevin drives and the 2 girls sit in the 2nd row.
She hates sitting in the backseat.
I rest my head on her shoulder, tears dripping from my long lashes.
"Mommy, why is Aunt Jessica crying?" Valentina asks. Alena is fast asleep next to her. "Well, she's really sad now" Dani says gently, "Uncle Joe and Nick had a disagreement" She explains when Valentina looks confused. "But I thought they're best friends!" Me too, Valentina, me too.
"Friends fight sometimes, like you and Alena. Right?" Dani says softly, trying not to wake Alena. Valentina nods, still a little unsure, but turns back around anyway. I sigh and wipe my tears. "Did you hear?" I ask Dani. "Hear what?" She laughs a little. "The fight?"
"That the band is breaking up." I respond. "The- the what?" I look up at her and smile sadly. "Nick was telling me about him wanting to call it quits when I was at his house waiting to prank Joe, and he wanted to tell Kev and Joe casually, but I guess not..." Dani sits, too shocked for words, for a long while. "But they can't break up! They're literally Disney's greatest hits!" I nod my head sadly. "That's what I told him. But he said that Joe wasn't listening to his ideas for the type of songs the band would play. And he said Kev-" I stop short when I realise that Kevin is listening in on the conversation as well. "Never mind." I say quickly, wishing that I never had said anything.
"Kevin what?" From the front seat, Kev turns around to look at me. I take a deep breath. "He said that he thinks that you aren't taking the band seriously anymore because you care more about your family." The traffic light turns green, and Kevin is forced to turn around to drive, but I can hear him cursing under his breath as he steps on the accelerator.
"Is it okay if I stay the night?" I say it so quietly I don't think anyone heard. Dani smiles. "Of course." I give her a watery smile. "I don't think I could stay at my apartment by myself." I notice that Kevin doesn't say a word.
I feel myself drifting in and out of sleep, but I'm awakened by my phone ringing. Dani picks it up from the seat and hands it to me. "It's from Leia," She says as I pick up the call and turn on speaker mode.
~~~
Jessica?
Leia! Are you okay?
I don't wanna be with Nick anymore
What? I thought you were madly in love with him!
J, listen to me. I'm scared. I made the mistake of following him home. He's throwing things around the house and I'm scared he's gonna attack me.
Do you want me to come and get you?
No, he's not gonna let me out of the house. I tried.
Where are you right now?
In the guest room, hiding. He's shouting and breaking things.
I'm coming to get you. I'm in Kevin's car right now.
Kevin's not mad at you?
I meant, I'm gonna take the bus to come and get you if he doesn't wanna send me. Stay there and don't move!
Hurry!
Hang in there.
~~~
The moment I put down the call, Kevin turns around to look at me. "Why'd you think I'm mad at you?" He asks. I can see the sadness in his voice. I turn away for a second, and look out the window to see that we're already at his house. "Can we talk outside?" I ask, feeling my breathing get a little uneasy. "We needa go to Nick's place. Now." Dani says, and I smile a little. Sure, Dani might appear easy going and laid back- and she was- but when she wanted something to be done, you could count on her to get it done right away.
Then Dani glances at her watch. "It's 5pm, peak hour- and also dinner time for the girls. You 2 go ahead and I'm gonna bring them into the house first, okay? I'll see you two back here in a bit. Bring Leia along too!" She takes Alena and Valentina- both sleeping by now, one in each arm, and somehow opens the door by herself. That woman is a superhero.
"Bye Dani!" I say as she steps out of the car. "Good luck!" She smiles and closes the door gently. Kevin carefully pulls the car out of the driveway. "So..." He trails off, waiting for an explanation. I sigh. Better get this over and done with.
And then I burst into tears.
Kevin, who's already speeding down the road to get to Nick's house, can only stare in shock. "Sorry," I say between gasps for air. "I just thought that you'd be mad at me b-because I agreed to be in on the prank with Nick"
"What? If I'm mad at anyone, it's Nick." Kevin says, his eyes on the road. "Yeah, but if I didn't agree to do the prank, I wouldn't have gone to his house, and he wouldn't have talked to me about this, and then you wouldn't know-" Kevin turns to me as the light turns red. "Hey. You're rambling." He says, smiling in amusement. He pulls me in for one of those side hugs just like Joe and Nick used to do. "I don't blame you."
I take a deep, shaky breath. "Thanks Kevin." And I mean it.
5 minutes later, we pull up at Nick's house, and I see my car and Leia's parked in his driveway. "I made the mistake of following him home" Leia's words ring clear as a bell in my head. I had one mission- to save my sister from Nick Jonas. I feel a pang in my heart as the thought comes to my mind. Less than a day ago, we were all the closest group of friends you could imagine, and now...
Kevin brings me back into reality as he stops the car and pulls out the key. We've parked behind his house so he can't see us. "What are we gonna do?" I ask, checking my phone to see if Leia texted me, but there are no notifications. "You have the keys to your car, right?" Kevin asks. I nod.
"You should go knock on Nick's door and tell him you're taking your car, and while you do that, Leia can come into my car through the window" Kevin says.
"What about Leia's car?" I ask, shaking my leg out of fear that Nick might be doing something to her while we were out here wasting time. "We need one more person to do that job!" Kevin says, and I can hear the urgency in his voice. "Joe?" He says after a moment. I shake my head. "He's mad at me. I gave my ring back to him, remember?" Kevin glances at me. "So you're mad at both of them right now?"
I force a smile. "Yup, unlucky me." Then I pause, sighing. "I'm not mad at Joe. I was just so... full of emotions then that I didn't really think. I don't think that he's attention seeking. I don't know why I even gave the ring back to him." I confess, and Kev puts an arm around me. "It's okay, I get it. We'll solve that later. But right now, we needa focus on your sister."
Kev grits his teeth. "Do you think Nick would let her go and take her own car?" I ask, but Kevin shakes his head immediately. "Nah, otherwise she wouldn't have called you for help."
I nod in agreement as I turn on my phone. "I'm gonna ask her what's going on right now." I say as I open my messages.
~~~
what's going on in the house rn? Kev and I are in his car, outside the back door of Nick's house to pick you up, but we don't know how to get you out
omg thank god u guys r here, idk what nick is doing because the whole house is silent, but im still in the room
is the room on the 1st or 2nd floor?
1st
okay we're thinking that u can climb out the window and get into kev's car while i distract nick by telling him i'm getting my car
i could do that but it might make A LOT of noise bcs the window is squeaky
hold on i'm gonna discuss with kevin
okay
keep me updated if he starts doing anything okay?
yeah i will
~~~
I show Kevin the texts, and he puts his head in his hands. "Why don't we just leave her car there overnight?" I try my best to come up with another possible solution but when I can't, I nod. "I guess that's the only thing we can do." I pull out my phone and text Leia again.
~~~
I'm going to tell Nick that I'm gonna take my car rn. when u hear the doorbell ring, that's ur cue to climb out the back window
okay but what about my car
we're gonna leave it here until there's a good time to come and pick it up
aka never
SDKJFSKDF just focus on getting out first
alright i'm waiting to hear the doorbell
okay bye good luck
bye
~~~
Kevin reads the texts over my shoulder. "Good luck!" He says as he unlocks the car door for me. I'll be waiting here. "I'm a little nervous... what if he's still really mad?" Kevin doesn't say anything for a moment. "You'll be fine." He says finally, but I can sense the uncertainty in his voice.
I take a deep breath and jog up to the porch of his house and ring the doorbell. I hear muffled shouts on the other side my mind immediately goes to Leia. I swear, if he's doing anything to her, I'll-
When the door is opened, I quickly jam my hands into my pockets to stop them from shaking. "What do you want?" He asks rudely as the door is swung wide open. His eyes are wild and angry, his hair is dishevelled and I'm scared. I've never seen him like this.
When he sees it's me, his eyes soften just the slightest. He doesn't say anything, just waits for me to talk. "Hey, so- I, uh, came to tell you that I'm taking my car from your driveway. Just wanted to let you know."
Nick doesn't even say one thing to me. He just nods coldly, the slight warmth from his eyes extinguished. I turn to leave, and I hear the door close behind me. All I can think about is how rude he was. I open my car door, not knowing how I should feel. Sad? Angry? Relieved?
I put the key in and turn it, calming down a little when I hear the ignition start up. I'm just about to pull out of the driveway when the door swings open. "Jessica!" He yells, and comes running out. I freeze, fear holding me in place. Did he find out about Leia escaping?
He runs up to my car and I reluctantly roll down my window. "Jessica-"
I involuntarily tense up at his voice saying my name. "What?" I spit out. I didn't realise I was this angry at him. He notices my tone and his eyes fill with sadness. "I'm sorry for just now." It comes out as a whisper. I want to forgive him so badly, to reach out and hug him. But I can't, not right now at least.
I roll up the window. "You ruined it, Nick. For me, Joe, Leia, Kev, Dani- yourself!"
And then I speed out the driveway.
And when I turn back around, he's not there anymore.
Tears are already welling up in my eyes by the time I spot Kevin's car behind Nick's house. I take a deep breath, relieved to see Leia safely in his car.
When he notices my Sedan pulling up to his, he takes his cue and drives in the direction of his house, as I follow close behind.
Kevin's pov
Leia heaves a sigh of relief as we pull out of Nick's neighbourhood. "I hate him. I hate him so much." She says tearfully.
"What exactly did he do?" I ask quietly. I'd been avoiding the question since she'd climbed through the window and ran to my car.
"When we got home, he was so, so angry. The angriest I've ever seen anyone. I was so scared that I went up to the guest room that I usually stay in when I come to visit him and stayed in there. But when he started smashing things outside, I started getting actually scared for my safety and so I locked myself in."
Leia pauses, taking in a shaky breath.
"He started cursing and slamming things against the door of the guest room when he realised I locked myself in. I screamed at him to stop, but he told me I'd be sorry if I didn't open the door and let him in. I didn't, and after a while he stopped because I told him I was gonna call the cops on him."
I feel tears in my own eyes. "I'm so sorry he did that to you."
"You don't have to be. It's not your fault." She says simply.
"So I take that you're breaking up with him." I say after a while.
Leia laughs a little, nodding, but her smile quickly fades. "I still love him."
"I know, he treated you well." I smile sadly as we approach my house. "Oh... I thought I was going home? I can take the bus home, of course." Leia says hesitantly, trying not to be rude. I almost laugh. "Oh... you could. Or you could have a big sleepover with your sister, Dani and I, and the 2 kids." I say, mimicking her. And for the first time that day, there are genuine smiles on both our faces.
Less than a minute after I've parked the car, J pulls up behind me. She has tears flowing down her cheeks. Leia rushes over to her. "What did he do to you?" She says angrily, but J shakes her head. "He wanted to ap-" She can't even get out a sentence before she has to choke back another sob.
I put my arm around both of them and lead them up the driveway and onto the porch. "Let's get inside first, okay?" I say comfortingly, knocking on the door.
A worried Dani immediately opens the door, carrying Valentina in her arms. "Hey! You guys are just in time for dinner!" She notices J, and hands Valentina to me so that she can comfort her.