FicWad

A/N: Wow. It's kinda weird to think that Thanksgiving is really tomorrow, ya' know? I feel like I've spent my entire week in front of the laptop. XD

Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics to "Flattery".

Song Used: Aly and A.J.'s "Flattery".


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Thirty: Flattery
Puppet: Olivia Rokit


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Please,
Don't flatter yourself,
You're not the only one,
This heart has ever felt...

“What is this?”

I slapped the magazine down on the table in front of him to get his attention. Sure enough, he nearly jumped six feet into the air at the harsh, unexpected sound, his book slamming shut and only adding to the split second din of the moment. It looked like he'd been studying, but I wasn't going to let my most recent discovery go very long without being discussed.

He squinted at the page I'd indicated. “'Who Is O.R.? Kevin Jonas Tells All.'” He read out loud, his tone bemused and puzzled as if he wasn't even sure if he was reading the right headline.

His eyes lifted to meet mine, both eyebrows arched quizzically. “It's an article about you and I,” he said with a shrug as if it didn't matter to him at all, “why? Is there a problem?”

“Is there a problem!?” I snapped back at him, angrily swiping the magazine from his hands and giving it a little shake to emphasize just how furious I was, “Gee Kevin, I don't know! Maybe it bothers me a little that you'd just go and talk about all my personal information without telling me first!”

Just who exactly did he think he was? Pop star or not, I was just as much of a person as he was. I didn't want to do kiss-and-tell with my friends, much less total strangers! I'd trusted him with that information, and he just gave that all away and left me with this nasty little surprise.

Please,
Don't exaggerate,
Don't tell me you're okay,
Okay, okay...

He blinked once at me in sheer mystification. “I don't know why that bothers you so much. I thought you liked it when I talk about you.”

Finding no other way of venting, I simply clenched my jaw in frustration. If I didn't couldn't make him understand the first time something like this happened, I might as well just kiss my individuality goodbye. And, as far as I could tell, there was only one thing I could do do make sure that didn't happen again.

“If you really believe that, maybe I should just stop giving you things to talk about.” I growled, my hold on the thin, sleek paper crushing all the pages together. Good, I thought to myself, I don't ever want to look at this again. I hoped I'd made at least one thing in there illegible.

To my surprise, the timid, easygoing Kevin Jonas glared sharply at me, his hazel eyes flashing with a fury similar to the one in mine. I'd stepped across a line somewhere. “Fine then!” he barked, “If that's the way you're gonna be, then I'm all right with that!”

I will admit it, if you admit it,
It's harder than we both thought,
It's easier to fall apart,
Look where we are,
I can forgive it, I can't forget it,
You've left me here with all these scars,
And you can't deny the hardest part,
I'm not in your arms...

Even after I stormed out of the room and hadn't spoken to him for several days, those words came back to haunt me in a ghostly echo. The funny thing was, though, was the fact that they didn't reappear on his lips. It wasn't as if he purposely threw them in my face over and over again; no, Kevin wasn't like that at all.

No, it wasn't his doing in the slightest way. It was mine.

The smallest things set me off. I'd pass by a Starbucks and wonder if he'd like a chai, but then I'd remember that I was supposed to be mad at him. I'd just be waiting in line at the store and would see his face on a magazine cover or two, reminding me why I was mad at him. I'd hear him say those words again in my mind and wince; he'd said he was all right with it. Which meant that he wasn't willing to keep quiet. Which also meant that it wasn't possible to say or do anything without wondering if it was going to be on the front page of all the teen magazines next week.

But I missed him. I'd seen him yesterday and, though he hadn't made a lot of eye contact, there was something in the way he carried himself that made me think that perhaps I too, was missed.

But I wasn't willing to talk to him just yet.

We're more hurt than we appear,
The world will never know,
We both have tasted tears, my dear...

But then again, life was a fire that blazed its chosen path, blatantly destroying any plan that may be unfortunate enough to get in its way.

There we were, the two of us, both duped by our clever younger siblings hoping to help patch things up and neither willing to look the other in the eye, facing each other in my dusty, poorly-lit garage. He leaned up against the garage door, his eyes downcast and his fingers twitching in that odd way I could only figure was him playing an imaginary guitar in order to keep himself calm. I too, had chosen to support myself on something other than my feet, propping myself up against the solid, dented frame of my trusty Barracuda. I'd crossed my arms over my chest, hoping that somehow it would help keep my heart from leaping out to him the way I knew it would if I didn't hold myself back.

It hurt, being away from him like that, and I was fairly certain that he would agree.

This wasn't getting us anywhere. We needed to do something.

He must've thought so too, because we both said the same thing at the same time. “I miss you.”

You're denying what I say,
Don't act like it's okay,
'Cause it's not okay...

Had it been any other situation, I would've laughed, but it really wasn't all that funny. Had it been any other day, the stunned look that flashed across his face would've been cute, but it only reminded me of how impossible I was and just poked at the wound already there. Had it been any other time, I probably would've come over and given him a big hug, but something was holding my feet in place.

An awkward silence followed. Kevin's fingers stopped twitching and he stiffened a little so he was standing on his own, but otherwise he didn't move from his spot. He cleared his throat and made sure his gaze held mine before speaking.

“Really?” He implored softly, as if he couldn't believe it unless he heard it again.

I felt my throat tighten sharply and rather than trying to speak through it I simply bowed my head and nodded. Of course I'd missed him! Was I really that horrible of a lover that he'd have to wonder?

Though it happened suddenly and without warning, I didn't jump away when a warm pair of hands encircled my waist and gently pressed me to a strong, supportive chest. I did, however, flinch; was he going to tell them about all this? I had to ask. “What're you going to about all the hype?”

Kevin's grip tightened and I felt even less at ease. “That's not important.”

I could feel every muscle in my body go rigid at those words and, without giving him a chance to react, I used this newfound power to jerk out of his hold. “What do you mean, 'that's not important?' Did your brain just fall out or something?”

I will admit it, if you admit it,
It's harder than we both thought,
It's easier to fall apart,
Look where we are,
I can forgive it, I can't forget it,
You've left me here with all these scars,
And you can't deny the hardest part,
I'm not in your arms...

A number of emotions flared up from behind his eyes and I was fairly sure I knew the cause of each and every one of them. Anger because I'd pulled away. Hurt because I'd insulted him. Confusion because he was Kevin Jonas and a hug from him was supposed to make every girl in the world feel better. Frustration because he didn't know how to make things better. Sorrow because he, like myself, had been hoping that we could just forgive and forget.

But he was hurt. I'd deliberately abandoned him.

I was hurt. He'd betrayed my trust.

“Ollie, please...”

It's not in the cards,
It's not in the stars...

“Please what?” I shot back, “Let you drop some names? Let you make me feel like some nobody out there who only means anything because of who I date?”

What he didn't realize that I too, was a seething ball of emotion right now. I too was angry, because he'd just tried to make it seem as if my privacy didn't mean as much to him as his fans. I too was hurt, because he didn't seem to care. I too was confused, because there had been a moment when I'd hoped that he'd changed his mind. I too was frustrated, because I knew all too well that this wasn't the way things were supposed to go.

“C'mon, now, don't talk like that,” Kevin chided, obviously doing his absolute best to keep his temper in check, “you knew this was going to happen sooner or later...”

Oh yes, I had known that he was going to start talking about me sooner or later to the public. I had been prepared for the time when I would suddenly become known to them and strangers would know my name. I had been ready for the day when random girls on the street would murmur amongst themselves, “that's Kevin Jonas' girlfriend!”

“Yeah, I did!” I retorted, “But I would've liked to think that you'd at least talk to me first.”

This is what you get for dating a pop star, sweetheart, I thought chidingly at myself, you really shouldn't have let your guard down with this one.

I stepped back several steps, making sure to put enough space between us that he couldn't try and hug me again without me being able to react. His face a heartbreaking mask of pain, he didn't move after me, but instead held out his hand. “Don't. I'm sorry.”

I'm not sorry,
I'm not sorry,
You're not sorry...

“No! No, you're not!”

“Ollie!” Kevin thundered, causing us both to jump a little at the intensity of his voice. He took his chance at the slight pause and bounded forward, taking a firm hold of my wrist and preventing any chance of escape. “Stop it! It's not even like you have anything to hide!”

But I do!

No, no, no, no, no! He wasn't sorry! If he was, he would've promised not to 'tell all' ever again a long time ago. I struggled to wrench my arm free, but it was no use. Tears of frustration welled up in my eyes, but I refused to allow them to fall in fear of having him think I was saddened rather than enraged. Damn you! “Let go!” I demanded, not feeling the least bit guilty now for abandoning him before, “You don't understand!”

He didn't understand.

I will admit it, if you admit it...

And he even had the audacity to yank me close into a tight bear hug obviously intended to keep me still. I squirmed and tried to push away, but he was stronger than I was and refused to let me go. “Stop it,” he repeated, this time in a soft whisper close to my ear, “just take a breath. Calm down, Ollie. Please...”

I paused for just a moment, but I defiantly didn't allow my body to loosen at all and was totally prepared to start fighting again. I drew in a heavy sigh; not because he told me to, but because I was out of breath from all my struggling. As I filled my lungs with air, the smell of the Old Spice on his shirt filled my nose as well.

I don't know exactly what it was, but something about the familiarity of it became like an eraser to a chalk board, completely wiping away all feeling. My mind went completely blank and nothing registered. I spent a few seconds of my life completely unaware of everything around me; even myself. I was nothing.

I don't know what happened in those couple of moments, but I do know that when I came back up for air that I was crying into his chest and his hold was no longer rough or controlling. Instead, he was nuzzling my cheek and trying to bring me back from my quick spell.

And he was talking, too, muttering sweet nothings into my ear. “I'm so sorry, baby,” he was saying, “I didn't know it bothered you this much. I'm sorry...I'm sorry...”

He gave apologies a number of times, as if somehow the quantity of them would convince me that he really was sorry. A moment ago, I wouldn't have believed him, but now I did. He hadn't cowered away from me at my worst. He wasn't angry at me for loosing my temper on him. He hadn't given up on me.

No. He'd been brave enough to try and tame the raging fire. He'd stayed, held me close, and was still the one asking for my forgiveness.

He sure as Hell meant it.

“No,” I mumbled, tilting back my now-clear head so I could look up at him, “I'm sorry. I...I shouldn't have just exploded on you like that without a good explanation.”

Kevin's eyebrows lifted curiously, expecting the answer to the question he'd undoubtedly been asking himself since the day I'd shown him the magazine. He didn't say anything, however, but I thought it safe to assume that both of us had achieved redemption. There wasn't much point for us to fight in the first place, much less now.

“I know you and your brothers feel like superheroes sometimes,” I started, unsure of the exact words to use, “that's cool, but hey...you're a normal guy, Kev. I'm a normal girl.”

I let that sink in. “I want to stay normal. If you ruin that, chances are I won't want to see you again.”

Just please don't flatter yourself,
Please, don't flatter yourself.


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A/N: Hmm. I'm really not quite sure what to feel in regards to this one. On one hand, I really think I got some good characterization in for Ollie, but on the other, the dialogue seemed kinda shallow.