I get it. I GET IT. I GET IT! I'm never on time. =P But, hey... only one night late... not bad for me. XD Here's the epi!
Epilogue
“Joe, you play the same single every time. Play an oldie.” Niki pouted. She sat cross-legged on one of the many cases the crew had rolled in for tonight’s show.
After the notorious “’private’ microphone” incident, she and Joe had gone on their date and all night, neither one could keep their eyes off each other. That night was followed by a string of other dates that resulted in Niki being the one girl every pre-teen princess was envious of. She had made it onto TMZ and Perez, and even more serious newspapers that had taken the time to mention the simple New Hampshire girl who had stolen Joe Jonas’ heart. With the second-hand fame came the ability to visit her boyfriend when he performed nearby and, on special occasion, he’d whisk her off on his jet to see him in California or any other state in which he thought his performance was significant. Niki didn’t fail to notice that almost every performance ended up “significant”.
But tonight was particularly important. Tonight, Joe and his brothers were back after several months, in the arena where it had all begun and, just like last time, they were completely sold out.
Joe had no time to answer Niki before Nick cut in, “what, you want us to play S.O.S?” he laughed, adjusting his guitar strap.
“Not that old -” she shot him a menacing look.
“Oh! How about Time For Me To Fly?” Kevin added, chuckling.
Niki rolled her eyes and sighed. Dealing with these two boys was the price to pay when you were dating their brother. “No, I meant, like, Burning Up.” She uncrossed her legs and turned to look at Joe who was fiddling with a bunch of tangled wires. “What are you doing?” she eyed him curiously.
Looking behind him, he smiled, “Oh, you know… stuff.”
“Good timing!” Nick spoke.
Niki shook her head, laughing, “You three are all alike! But seriously… Burning Up?”
“It’s old… but I guess we could.” Joe replied, giving up. He dropped the wires and walked over to his girlfriend, slumping down next to her and quickly pecking her on the cheek.
Niki smiled, “Cool. Now, why the heck were you messing with the wires?”
“Same venue. I wanted to make sure that wouldn’t happen again.”
“Oh. You’re planning on dating someone from the audience?”
“No…” he said, turning slightly red, “just wanted to make sure nothing would go wrong with the mics.”
“Isn’t that the crew’s problem to work out?”
“They didn’t do a very good job of it last time.”
“Joe, baby, that was 4 years ago! And what makes you think of it now? You’ve had tons of shows since then.”
Joe looked up at his brothers, hoping they might help him with this. They both shrugged, and turned away to talk to each other.
“What’s going on?” Niki asked, furrowing her brows.
“Nothing, babe. Really. Now, we have lockdown in a few, so…”
Before she could question him any further, his lips had collided with hers. This wasn’t their first kiss, but to Niki, the chills it sent down her spine always made it seem that way. Forgetting her suspicions, she deepened the kiss, resolving to talk to him about it after lockdown. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he pulled her in closer, gently tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Oh, come on guys.” Kevin’s voice interrupted the moment, “get a room?”
Joe pulled away, glaring at his brother. “We would, but seeing as we’re backstage and there really are no other rooms, we’ll just have to settle with this.” He smiled at Niki and kissed her one more time quickly. “Lockdown,” he sighed and she nodded, letting him leave with his brothers.
Forty-five minutes later, Niki found herself on stage, helping the crew by checking all the microphone’s a final time. The audience buzzed with excitement as they piled into the arena and she couldn’t help but smile with pride. The Jonas Brothers had managed, over the time span of almost 6 years, to become even more popular. They had had continued success with every album, and even as they lost some fans, they continued to gain new ones, always selling out whatever venue they were performing in.
“Hey!” Joe’s voice caught her off-guard as she stepped behind a curtain.
“Oh, hi! Ready to go?”
“Only if you’re watching!” He grinned and took her in his arms.
Niki smiled into his chest, his warm embrace making her temporarily forget where she was and why.
“Are you front row or backstage?” he asked.
She looked up, “I was thinking I’d stay backstage today.”
“No!” He said suddenly, then his expression lightened. “I mean, I got you a seat dead-center front row. You don’t want to waste it.”
“You sure? You don’t want me backstage?”
He smiled down at her and she nodded.
“Fine, fine… front row it is.”
Niki soon found her seat exactly where Joe had reserved it and, in no time, the brothers had begun playing her request, Burning Up.
She watched Joe dance around the stage enthusiastically. He was twenty-two but still had his eighteen-year-old moves down pat, going down into a perfect split and jumping over the microphone stand like he’d always been able to do.
From their latest album, they began their hit ballad, the first verse sung by Nick whose voice had deepened with the years. He still sounded amazing but Niki’s eyes were on Joe, who had taken the time to walk back to where their private mic stood. She eyed him curiously as a crew-member met him. He shook his head, smiling and thanking the man, then took something from him. What’s going on? Niki wondered, never taking her eyes off of her boyfriend.
Joe’s voice echoed across the arena, surprising Niki, who hadn’t expected to hear it since he was talking into the microphone that led only to the boys’ in-ears. “Hey guys…” he began, turning around just slightly to wink at Niki, “should I propose?”
Immediately, Nick stopped singing, but continued playing the soft notes on the piano at which he sat. The audience was screaming, not unlike the way they had 4 years ago. Joe sauntered across the stage with his own microphone, and jumped down; security was holding back the girls that were standing near Niki.
“Niki, you asked me today why I was messing up the wires backstage…”
Her hands shook as she lifted them to cover her face in shock.
“…well, we’re back here in the arena where it all started. I figured, all things should begin the same way. So, I needed my brothers opinion on whether I should propose, but it seems that while I was playing with the wires… I messed up the ones leading to their in-ears and everyone overheard.”
The girls around her and Joe shrieked as he took her hand, leading her up the steps onto the stage.
“Since this is how things started last time, I thought maybe this is how our lives should start this time.”
Niki watched as Joe got down on his knee, pulling out a small box, the item which the crewmember had handed him. Oh my God was the only thing running through her mind.
“Will you marry me?”
One simple phrase and the crowd’s noise level increased two-fold. The shrieks were almost unbearable, but both Niki and Joe were deaf to them as she looked down in to the only brown eyes that could ever give her these kinds of butterflies. She nodded fervently, unable to speak, but he only smiled and lifted the mic towards her.
Almost squeaking, Niki replied, “Yes… yesyesyes.” And he placed the sparkling ring on her finger, pulling down the mic and standing up to kiss her. The audience roared. The amount of security doubled as they pushed to keep the crowd from coming and closer. Nick and Kevin met Kevin Sr, Frankie, and Denise on stage. All of this though, was a distant thought, because all Niki could see was the man that stood before her, unaware of everyone who was eavesdropping on their moment.
Comments, please? Thanks. =D
