a/n: So this started out as a one shot I was working on whilst dealing with two friends in crisis… as I wrote it though I started to see the potential for a somewhat chapter-esque fic. Right now it's looking like it'll be a series of connected one shots all set after Exam Jam in the summer set up by this first one.

Disclaimer: I don't own JONAS, the episode referenced, or anything that's obviously property of Disney.

Unofficially Keeping Them Sane

Summer Surprises

Macy signed off the internet with a quick click; sliding further back in the swivel chair and sighing heavily. She was sure her JONAS-heads would love the video podcast detailing the band's dramatic pre-tour preparation, but somehow she couldn't find the same enthusiasm. She knew why of course, but, being Macy, she didn't like to dwell on the negatives, so, trying to distract herself' she fiddled around with Nick's laptop. The fact in itself that the youngest third of JONAS had lent her his laptop to use brought back a shadow of a smile. Macy was well aware that, just a few months prior, the thought of her touching his laptop would have caused Macy to pass out in a fan girl haze and Nick to hide the treasured object for fear of what she might do to it if she was allowed to hold it. Things had certainly changed, Macy thought to herself, smiling a little more as she remembered how eager Nick had been to help her both with filming and editing… even if his camera holding skills left a little to be desired, so much so that she had kindly offered to use his webcam instead when it came to some of her monologues.

And there she was again, back to thinking about the video podcast and therefore the tour. Macy glared momentarily at the game of solitaire she had just opened and lost, and then closed it quickly, allowing Nick's background to retake the screen. It was a picture of the five of them at the local zoo, Joe with his arm slung around Stella who was laughing at something Kevin had said. Nick and Macy were half-crouching in front of the others to allow for the best group shot, and somehow she had convinced him to curve his fingers into tiger claws with her and bare his teeth in what was supposed to be a fearsome snarl. Only, Frankie had taken the picture at the exact moment that both Nick and Macy had cracked into laughter.

Macy smiled half-heartedly, tracing the mouse over each face in the picture. At that moment, she knew exactly where each Lucas brother was. They were here, at home, with her. Joe and Stella were attacking the packing of all of Frankie's clothing - Stella had decided that there was no age too young to start dressing stylishly - while Kevin distracted the little man with a "who can create the most disgusting yet delicious ice cream sundae" competition in the kitchen… a contest that Macy had somehow gotten roped into judging. Nick meanwhile was in the sound booth, checking that all the music they needed was already packed and not forgotten, and probably sharing a tender farewell with his equipment.

"Ugh," Macy groaned, throwing her hands up in the air. No matter what she did, her mind kept going back to the fact that her friends were leaving her for an entire summer. She glared at the picture on the screen for a full moment before her eyes softened and she sighed, releasing her anger slowly. She gently touched her finger to each of the brothers' faces, silently apologizing for forgetting that they were rock stars and had responsibilities, and that they would never disappoint their fans, and that that was why she had fallen in love with them when they were just JONAS and not the Lucas brothers, and why she had still found them awesome when they had switched from idols to friends.

Macy's finger hovered over Stella's face for an extra second. She hated this. Of course Macy was really, really proud of Stella for getting the internship. She knew what a big deal it was, and how hard it was going to be for Stella, and all the opportunities it would unlock and all that, but… well, Macy had harbored a silly, ridiculous hope that, when Stella went on tour with the boys again, Macy might just get to go with her. Plus there was the whole thing that, without Joe around, there was absolutely no guarantee that Stella was going to be around all that often this summer. Her new boss was sure to keep her working once he realized how talented Stella was, and more work for Stella would mean less friend-time for Macy.

"I'm a horrible friend," Macy exclaimed angrily, hating her self for being selfish.

"No you're not," Nick remarked calmly, coming around the corner, eyebrows raising an eyebrow as he put a stack of CDs down beside her, careful not to tip the stack over.

"Am too," Macy covered her face in her hands, squishing her cheeks with her palms.

"Are not," repeated Nick calmly, sitting himself down on the floor, leaning back against the desk leg, looking up at her.

For a moment they sat that way in silence, Macy unwilling to start a 'too versus not' battle, and Nick viewing it as a competition of who could stay silent the longest.

He lost.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked slowly, not really sure of how to go about finding out what was wrong. Most of the time Macy was at one emotional setting - joyful, and he didn't really know how to tackle sad-Macy. Dealing with sad girls was much more of Joe's forte after all the time he'd practiced with Stella.

"No, I'm fine" Macy replied flatly, dropping her hands and staring at Nick in slight horror. She couldn't begin to imagine how bad it would be if she were to reveal her slight resentment towards Stella. A resentment that was completely overshadowed by her pride in her friend and which should so not even be allowed to take over one minute of the time she had left with her friends.

"I'm fine," she repeated with a bit more energy, "How's everything going?"

Nick raised both eyebrows at her complete one-eighty, but, relieved that he had escaped having to deal with a sad-Macy, he let it go.

"It's good…?" he started, not really sure where she wanted him to go with his answer, "The packing is all done, Kevin has his guitars boxed and ready, Joe and Stella have finished designing Frankie's Stella-Approved outfit list, Dad's gone through two crises in the past hour…"

Macy smiled slightly, "Once he starts having 'em six minutes apart we'll have to take him to the hospital."

"Ugh, Macy," Nick groaned at her bad joke, swatting her playfully with his hand.

"Ugh, Nick," she mimicked, scooting off her chair to join him on the floor.

The smiled at each other for a minute, content with the moment as it was.

"So…" Macy started, turning to face the windows, "Are you excited for the tour?"

Nick blinked, confused at her change in tone, "Of course," he answered carefully, "Aren't you?"

Macy's head snapped around to stare at him and for a moment Nick could see a plethora of emotions spinning in her eyes; hurt, shock, confusion… guilt.

Just as quickly as her mask had dropped Macy pulled it back on, pushing a fake smile back onto her lips and placing her gaze firmly on Nick's bed. She couldn't let him know how forlorn she was going to be without them, without him. She tried to focus on the positive; surely she'd find entertainment somehow, maybe she'd join a volleyball league or something. He had performances to give and people to please; she had to be a friend first, a good friend who was fully supportive of him leaving… even if it meant leaving her.

"I…," Macy bit her lip, lying to him was hard, so she changed to an omission instead, which was easier, "Why wouldn't I be excited? My favorite band is going on tour, world-wide nonetheless."

"Oh," Nick was still confused; Macy's lack of excitement about the tour perturbed him. She was so easily excited over the simplest things, like a new font on the school's letter jackets, and this was hardly a small matter.

"Yep," Macy responded calmly, reaching up onto the desk behind her and pulling her video camera down, she began fiddling with the controls.

"Oh, heck no!" Nick reached over and snagged the camera, "No more footage, you promised!"

Macy rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue, but otherwise didn't protest his seizure of her camera.

"So, how'd the podcast turn out anyway?" He asked, clicking the record button absentmindedly, pressing buttons on the camera to maximize the lighting, and playing with the zoom features.

Macy smiled her first real smile in a while, "It turned out great; I think the JONAS-heads are going to adore it. It's got just the right mix of happy, romance and drama. Speaking of, I don't know if I ever actually congratulated you on the math score? Trigonometry is a beast, getting a ninety-nine, well, wow."

Nick carefully turned the camera to film his face and gave the lens a very cocky grin, "Well I am a genius you know…"

"Three points shy actually," Macy corrected automatically, smirking when Nick glared at her.

When he mock-shoved her however she dropped the smirk, "Oy, be careful with my camera Lucas, the fans are going to want another podcast someday, and imagine their response if I tell them that Nick Lucas broke my camera?"

Nick shook his head knowingly, "They'd probably want to buy the pieces off e-bay."

Macy blinked half-angrily, but then relented, "This is true, but all the same, be careful with it, for me?"

He couldn't resist zooming in on her pouting face; she was just too… cute. He half wondered if she'd let him keep this footage, he could probably screenshot that image out and… well he wasn't sure what he'd do with it, but it'd be nice to have a picture of just Macy. He had some of her with him and his brothers, and some with her with Stella, but none of just her, and certainly none of just him and her… he would have to fix that.

"Earth to Nick," Macy waved her hand in front of his face, "You still in there bucko?"

"Oh! Sorry Mace, I guess I drifted," he ran his free hand through his hair, trying not to blush.

Macy rolled her eyes, "Now, if we were to show this to the fans, we'd have a completely different reaction," she joked quietly. Really though, she'd rather keep this side of Nick to herself.

"Right you are," he nodded, then had a horrible thought, "Speaking of showing things to the fans, you didn't tell them---"

"No of course I didn't tell them how, where and when you're leaving!" Macy cut him off looking a little hurt, "I'd never compromise your safeties like that… plus," she added sheepishly, "I don't know myself."

Nick laughed, surprised, "Something about the Lucases even Miss Misa doesn't know? Wow!"

"Oh be quiet Nick, either tell me or don't," she responded, sticking out her tongue and crossing her arms.

"Well if you insist," Nick straightened up some, reciting the information in his 'I'm the responsible and in charge brother' voice, "We're leaving at approximately seven am on Wednesday morning."

"Approximately?" Macy asked, feigning interest. Wednesday was only two days away. That was only two days to spend with Nick… and Kevin and Joe.

"Have you ever tried going anywhere with Dad?" Nick laughed, and when Macy shook her head he continued, "We'll leave at eight. Well, we'll leave at seven, but then we'll come back because he'll have forgotten something essential. Then we'll leave again only to return because Mom won't believe he remembered to turn off the lights. Sometimes he does remember, sometimes he doesn't, but it's sporadic enough that we always come back to check. Then we'll leave for the third time, only to realize as we reach the highway that we either a, forgot Kevin, b, forgot Frankie or c, that Joe left his hair styling box at home."

Macy laughed, "Joe's hair products are at the same level of awful as forgetting a brother?!"

Nick just raised an eyebrow sending her into a longer series of giggles.

"Okay, okay, stupid question" she acknowledged as she caught her breath, "I forgot who we were talking about there for a minute."

"Yeah," Nick smiled back, enjoying the fact that he'd brought Macy out of her sad state even if he still didn't know what had caused it. They passed a few minutes comparing stories of Joe's hair drama before sinking into another stretch of amicable silence.

"So," Macy sighed, and to Nick's horror she seemed to relapse into her earlier sadness, "Eight am on Wednesday, huh?"

"Yeah…" Nick sighed in return, but then thought of a reminder that might cheer her up some, "What time do you want us to pick you up? The first departure, or after we forget Frankie?"

Macy turned her entire body to lock eyes with Nick, "Excuse me?"

Nick blinked back, confused, the question had made sense to him, "I mean, on Wednesday, do you want to experience all the drama or would you rather get the extra time to sleep or do whatever it is girls do in the mornings?"

"No I mean… I'm coming with you?" Macy asked mouth agape. She was so confused. Hadn't anyone told Nick that Stella wasn't going? What was he playing at, making it sound like they were going to take her with them? If it was a trick… but was Nick really that cruel?

"Yes…?" Nick stared back at Macy, feeling as if the incredulity in her face must surely be mirrored in his own, "Didn't you err, I mean, you know that you're coming right?"

"No, she doesn't, and if you had spent any time in the past week not freaking out, you'd know that she doesn't know too!" Stella had arrived, Joe in tow, obviously torn between amusement and annoyance.

"What?" Nick stared up at Stella, who made the strain on his neck easier by flopping down on his bed across from him, Joe landing beside her when she tugged on his hand.

"I was going to surprise her," Stella spoke slowly in her explanation, using wide hand gestures to emphasize her points, "Her family has known for weeks and weeks but she didn't have a clue. I was going to do it tonight actually, after I sneak-packed for her. She's been depressed for weeks about not going with you, and I was going to wait to surprise her the morning of your trip, but after all this drama with you guys going and then not going and then going again, I had a sort of best-friend epiphany. See, you're all leaving me, but, as far as Macy knew, we were all leaving her, with no fancy internship or anything to lessen the pain. And that just wasn't fair to propagate."

"Wait, wait, hold it!" Macy raised both of her hands out, palm up in the universal 'freeze' sign, "I'm going on the tour, without Stella?"

"Uh, yeah," Nick, nodded absentmindedly, finally realizing why Macy had been so sad earlier - she had thought that they were leaving her. As if he'd let that happen.

"But, but, why?" Macy asked quietly. It wasn't that she didn't want to go - she wanted to go so badly it hurt, but she was surprised and hesitant. She was a girl of manners and pride; she didn't want to be a charity case or a burden on her friends.

"Because," Joe began, but Kevin cut him off as he joined the group's oval, "You're Macy," Kevin said simply.

"Very elaborate answer, Kevin," Stella rolled her eyes, gesturing for Joe to continue, but Nick shook his head.

"Kevin really said it all Stella," Nick remarked carefully, "She's Macy, and that's why she has to come with us on tour. We need her."

Macy's heart felt like it might explode and she felt herself smiling so wide it was sure to cause her face to get stuck that way, the Lucases needed her! Nick Lucas needed her.

"You need me?" she asked through her smile.

"Heck yes!" Joe jumped on the question first, eager to finally get his chance to talk, "Who else knows fan girl behavior like you? Big Man is dying to get your input on security."

"And the Frankster adores you," Kevin added quickly, "You never let us forget when we're playing hide and seek with him."

"Which is a big deal!" the boy in question shouted from where he was obviously listening in down below.

"And officially, you're listed as 'assistant stylist,'" Stella added, knowing that Macy wouldn't really feel content until she had an official job to do.

"And unofficially," Nick smiled, "You're listed as 'the one who keeps the band's songwriter sane when surrounded by this lot'."

Macy giggled at Nick's title for her, but directed her attention first towards Stella, "But Stella, I'm hardly you when it comes to fashion. I can dress myself, and am an ace with a tide-to-go pen, but…"

"I know Macy," Stella laughed, "But I've given you a list of exactly what they're allowed to wear in each location, and configured your phone with a mini-Stellavator app on it - patent pending - to give you what they can wear in cases of dire emergency. There's no one else I'd trust more to make sure this lot stick to their allotted clothing. Joe in particular likes to get creative…"

"You say that like it's a bad thing," the boy remarked with a scowl.

"Only because it is," she retorted immediately. A pillow fight would likely have ensued if Macy hadn't spoken first.

"So," she began, looking at all her friends.

"My mom and dad know about this?" The group nodded, Stella quickly summarized her parents opinions on the matter before letting Macy continue.

"And Stella's going to pack for me? I'd hardly know what to wear on this tour…" The boys shrugged, but Stella confirmed that she had already created half of a new wardrobe for Macy and was just waiting to get into her closet to finish the job. She would probably have detailed every new item of clothing she'd made if Macy hadn't cut her off, determined to finish.

"And I'm not just a pity-case?" she asked quickly and quietly, like a band-aid.

"Of course not!!!" Nick was shocked that she could even think that way; didn't she see how awesome it was going to be for all of them to have her with them on tour?

Macy smiled widely at his vehemence, so strong that it was obviously true, before finishing her questions with, "I'm really going on tour with my friends, aren't I?"

They all nodded, grinning back at her.

Macy leapt forward, wrapping one arm around Nick's neck, pulling him with her as she gathered everyone else in a group hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

They stayed in the hug for a few long seconds before Stella noticed something… off.

"What," she asked, pulling away and wrinkling her nose, "Is that smell?"

"Probably my breath," sighed Kevin, digging in his pocket for another Mentos, "Frankie's disgusting sundae included garlic, soy and pickle relish… there's a reason we called off the judging, trust me."

They all laughed, and while the others filled Macy in on the finer elements of touring, Nick turned his attention back to the camera he still held in his hand. He stopped the recording, but didn't make any move to delete the footage. Actually, as he thought about it, looking over at Macy's beaming face, he realized that he'd probably be keeping the camera on him for a while; it was definitely going to be a summer to remember.

a/n 2.0:

So, what do you all think? Does it have potential as a series of oneshots? Or should I leave it as a singular oneshot? Reviews tell me more than anything else! =)