Living the Dream

Double T

Author's Notes:

It's Twin Time, ya'll!

__________________

---Nick's & Joe's room---

Once we got to Nick's room we just stood there in the middle of it. Looking at each other.

Jess "You're not still mad at me are you?"

Nick *glares at Jess*

Jess *crosses her arms, glares back*

~~~Twin Stare Down~~~

Jess *then looks Nick up and down* "You know, I'm really feeling the whole midriff shirt style thing you got going on there, homeboy....it's very 90's!"

Nick *looks away, tries not to laugh* "Jess, I'm serious...this was my favorite shirt..."

Jess *sighs* "I know...and I really am sorry...and I wouldn't have even made fun of you...but Nick, you're standing in front of me in a baby pink shirt that ends right above your belly button...what do you expect me to do?"

Nick *laughs* "Alright *rolls eyes* you win this stare down..... help me?" *raises eyebrows*

Jess "Yeah...let's get 'er done!"

Nick *shakes head* "OK, I'm gonna bend over and you're just gonna pull on it." *bends over facing Jess, extends arms*

Jess *grins* "THAT's what she said!" *O_O slaps her hand over her mouth*

Nick *stands back up straight, O_O, but tries not to laugh* "Jess! You can't...what the...*shakes head*....just help me get outta this thing. I'm getting claustrophobic."

Jess "Alright."

Nick *referring to the joke* "Good one though!"

Jess *starts pulling* "Thanks." *grins*

It took us probably like 15 seconds to get Nick out of that darn shirt. *giggles* It might not sound like a lot but it really is....don't believe me? Go 'head, take off your shirt and time yourself! What you get? Like 3 seconds? Exactly.

Jess "Can I have it?"

Nick *gives look*

Jess "You believe in recycling, don't you?" *grins*

Nick "Yeah.... go ahead." *smiles*

Jess "Cool, thanks! *smiles, turns to leave*

Nick *grabs Jess by her shoulder* "Jess! I wasn't done with you!" *goes to grab a new shirt*

Jess *sighs. turns back around*

Nick *puts shirt on* "Sit!"

*Jess and Nick both sit down on floor across from each other, Indian style*

Nick *laughs* "Stop looking so darn guilty and scared, I'm not gonna yell at you..."

Jess *smiles* "Oh, OK. *smile fades* Wait...what is it then?"

Nick "It's our birthday."

Jess *nods* "It is." *smiles*

Nick "I just wanted to make sure we...."

Jess "...get to spend some Double T together."

Nick *nods*

Oh, by the way, 'Double T' means 'Twin Time'...pretty self-explanatory, isn't it?

Jess *squints her eyes* "17."

Nick *squints eyes* "17."

*silence*

Jess "Do you think we're still gonna have Double T's and Triple T's when we're 70?"

Nick *smiles* "I hope so. *sigh* You know the one bad thing about touring?"

Jess "Less time to just hang out and be a family."

Nick "Yeah, because every free minute we spend asleep or rehearsing some more...I'm gonna miss just being home, hanging out, playing ping pong, video games, and stuff."

Jess *nods* "But at the same time you're really excited about touring and all."

Nick *smiles* "Yup." *makes face*

Jess "What?"

Nick "I have four gray hairs at 17....at 70 I'll probably have a few more...not looking forward to your comments..."

Jess "I could just pluck them for you as they sprout..."

Nick "I was kinda planning on still having some hair at least when I'm 70...at that rate I'll be completely bald by the time I'm 39."

*Jess and Nick giggle*

Nick "Oh, and....I know it probably didn't really seem like it but...I think it's really cool, you got to meet one of your favorite actors."

Jess *surprised*

Nick "I felt very honored that I got to mop up your drool after."

Jess *slaps Nick's shoulder, smiles*

Nick "Seriously though...you and me...we've always talked about 99.999% of stuff that's on our mind...and I don't want you to feel like you can't talk to me about guys you like or you're a huge fan of...of course, I'm not gonna like it, but you know..."

Jess "I know...thanks." *smiles* "I was really excited when I met David Henrie, I mean, did you SEE his eyes?"

Nick "No Jess...I mean yes, I noticed that he had eyes...two of them...right in the middle of his face..."

Jess *laughs, slaps Nick's knee*

*silence*

Jess *serious* "You know, how people always say Joe and me look alike and act all silly sometimes and all?"

Nick *nods* "Sometimes?" *o_O, smiles*

Jess *makes face but smiles* "Well, G asked me today at the park, if I ever wonder what it would be like if I WAS Joe's or even Kevin's twin..."

Nick *curious* "What did you say?"

Jess "I told her that I do."

Nick "Oh..."

Jess "...but that I would not want anybody else to be my twin but you! Can I get an 'awwww'?"

Nick *shapes lips into an 'O', barely audible* "Aw." *smiles* "You know what's weird? Big Rob asked me something similar to today, "Could you imagine your sister being a lot younger or a lot older than you? How different things would be?""

Jess "Whatchu say?" *rests chin on hand*

Nick "I shook my head, no, and told him that I don't even want to imagine."

Jess "Well, good to know we're both on the same page. See ya" *waves, pretends to get up*

Nick *laughs, pulls Jess back down, hugs her tightly for a moment, serious* "I love you a lot, Twinnie, even though you ruin my favorite shirts, make fun of my peach fuzz, and my gray hairs."

Jess "I love you, too, Nicky." *pulls apart, o_O* "ShirtS?"

Nick "The Sharpie incident?"

Jess "That doesn't count! That was like a long time ago."

Nick *makes face* "That happened last month."

Jess *smiles sheepishly* "Oh...well, you know how I have a terrible memo-...." *smile fades*

Nick *sad sigh, grabs Jess' hand* "I'm sorry..."

Jess "No, it's fine...*mood changes* Are you sure you're older though? I could have sworn, I remember me popping out first!"

Nick *laughs*

*Knock knock*

Nick & Jess "Come in."

*Mom & Dad peak their head in*

Mom "Hi. *smiles* Aww look at our babies, honey, holding hands and all."

*Nick and Jess pull hands back*

Dad "And I love how they always pretend that they don't do that." *laughs*

Nick *serious* "I can honestly say that we have never held hands or hugged in any way. EVER!"

Mom "Uh huh." *smiles*

Dad "Good seeing you wear a shirt that's a little less pink and that actually covers your belly button, Nicholas. We're still gonna have a talk about dress code and what's acceptable and what's inappropriate later though."

*All laugh*

Mom "We didn't want to interrupt, I just wanted to get you your duffle bag back, I put it in your room and we both just wanted to come see the birthday twins really quickly before the day is officially over." *smiles*

Dad *opens arms* "Come here, you two!"

*Nick and Jess get up*

Dad *walks up to them and hugs the twins tightly, gets emotional* "I am so proud of you two and love you so so much. You've been nothing but a blessing."

Nick & Jess "We love you, too, dad."

Mom *smiles proudly* "OK, my turn!"

Jess "Mom, don't cry." *smiles*

Mom *smiles through a tear or two, hugs both tightly*

___________________________________________

Mom and dad both wished us 'happy birthday' again and then left the room.
Right when they left Kev and Joe walked in.

Joe "Yo yo, twin posse!!"

Jess *laughs* "Whaddup, big bro?"

Kevin "We forgot to give you guys something." *grins*

Nick *raises one eyebrow* "If this is the monster birthday hug tackle, I think we already got that this morning."

Jess "Yay!!! *claps hands, then serious* Lemme get my helmet."

Joe *laughs, stops Jess with extended arm* "Nope."

Kevin & Joe *each reveal a little box from behind their back*

Nick "No, guys, this is really not necessary..."

Jess "Speak for yourself, Nicholas! *to Joe* What is it?"

Joe *laughs* "Open it!"

Jess *looks at Nick, back to Joe, grabs box, unwraps it, O_O*

Nick *does the same, including the O_O*

Jess & Nick "You bought us new ipod Nanos?"

Joe and Kev *laugh*

Kevin "You know, the whole 'saying the same thing at the same time' twin thing never gets old."

Joe "I know, right? *smiles* And yes, we got you new ipods...because your old ones just needed to be replaced after three years."

Jess *smiles* "Awesome!!!! Thank you so much!" *hugs Joe*

Nick *hugs Kevin* "Thanks, bro!"

Kevin "No problem. We figured these might come in handy on your trip to NY tomorrow."

Joe "Happy birthday again, guys."

Nick & Jess *smile* "Thanks."

Nick "Well, we better get packing...Jess, do you know where my bag is?"

Jess "Nick, I didn't even know where mine was."

Kevin "You can have mine."

Nick "No, you'll need yours for when you come meet us in a few days."

Jess "My bag's pretty big....share?"

Nick "Hmm...OK. We'll just use a separate smaller bag for our 'betes stuff."

Jess "Yeah, we're gonna have to carry it as carry-on anyway."

Nick "Cool."

______________________________

---Jess' room---

Jess *throwing last few things into her suitcase*

Nick *walks in with a bunch of neatly folded clothes, sees bag, makes face*

Jess "What?"

Nick *drops stuff on Jess' bed* "You were supposed to pack...not just throw your stuff into the bag! How is my stuff supposed to fit?"

Jess "You just *makes stuffing motions with her hands* ugh ugh...and then ugh ugh and just squeeze it all in. There's still enough squeezy space, believe me."

Nick "My clothes are getting claustrophobic just thinking about that."

Jess *laughs*

Nick *smiles* "Take your stuff back out and we'll repack it."

Jess *sighs* "Fine."

Don't you just hate it when you're almost done with something and then your brother comes in and just ruins everything and makes you do all your hard non-work all over again. It is not as easy as it looks, taking the short cut every single time....ask me or Joe. We're pros. *grins*

Anyways, we repacked everything and even had some extra room left...

Jess *smiles* "Yes. Enough room for souvenirs."

Nick *smiles, shakes head, stops* "Oh, whoa!"

Jess "What? Are you OK?"

Nick "I'm fine...just...forgetful...I wanna show you something!"

Jess "You do?"

Nick "I'll be RIGHT back!"

Jess "K." *confused smile*

I actually had a present for Nicky, but I had almost forgotten all about it. I grabbed the little package out of my drawer when Nick walked back in...empty handed.

Nick "I think it'd be easier if you just followed me."

Jess *squints eyes* "Oh kaaayyy...."

Nick "Come on." *grabs Jess' hand*

Jess "You didn't get new socks, did you?"

Nick *grins* "Nope."

Jess "A pet lion?"

Nick "What is it with you and Joe and wild animals?"

Jess *shrugs shoulders*

_________________________

Nick led me into the music room.

Nick *lifts up a white sheet revealing a, to me, beautiful black Ibanez acoustic electric guitar*

Jess "Oh my gosh, *puts Nick's present down on top of an amp* I love it!"

Nick *grins* "Good. Cause it's yours!"

Jess "Oh O-....WAIT! WHAT???"

Nick "Yeah. *smiles* I got a really good deal on it...not that it was that expensive in the first place and I really would have gotten you something else but I always see you checking out this one at the music store, so I..."

Jess *hug attacks Nick* "Oh my Gosh, you're like THE best EVER!!!"

Nick *smiles* "Oh good...seeing how I wasn't before..."

Jess *laughs* "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"

Nick "You're very welcome!" *smiles* "Well..."

Jess *grabs her new guitar, runs her fingers along its neck* "I just got my blue one..."

Nick "Yeah, but that one's an electric. This one is an acoustic electric. You know, I really wanted to get you something a little more pricey and ..."

Jess *holds up hand* "Shh! No! This is amazing! I have always wanted this one!"

Nick "I know...but I just want you to have the best so..."

Jess "To me. This is the best."

Nick *smiles, curious* "Can I ask why?"

Jess "Because when we were like 10 and dad took us to the music store, it was the only guitar at my eye level that I could touch and try out. The owner was really nice, too and let me mess with it a little...and I said to myself that one day, I will play that exact guitar."

Nick *smiles* "Let's hear it then."

Jess *nods* "Grab a guitar, too? Pretty please?"

Nick *smiles* "Sure....man, remind me to look for a new guitar strap...this one is seriously falling apart."

Jess *O_O*

Nick "What?"

Jess "OHHH!"

Nick *o_O* "Oh?"

Jess "I got something for you, too!" *smiles*

Nick "Aw, no."

Jess "Aww, yess!!! Here!" *grabs present off the amp, hands it to Nick*

Nick *takes it, looks at Jess, opens it, starts laughing* "Wow! Can you say Twin Timing?"

Jess *smiles* "Yup!"

Nick "Jess, it's beautiful, I love it!" *hugs Jess*

What did I get him? A new guitar strap. *laughs* I am dead serious! I had been noticing his old one getting all worn and all and I kept seeing him check this one out, online & in stores, so I got it for him. It was kinda pricey for a guitar strap but...it's for Nick, so I didn't mind too much. Which one did I get him? You've probably seen it on tour. It's the blue one with the red accents and the white stars on it.

Jess "Happy birthday, Mr President." *grins*

Nick *smiles* "Alright...are you ready to jam?"

And so we played....just me and Nick....we probably had an hour long jam session. It was so much fun and it was very ....relaxing and peaceful....even when we played some faster stuff, because we never said a word, except for the song lyrics we sang every once in a while...but most of it was really just acoustic stuff.

Those times when we don't talk much and just communicate through music are my favorite...and I knew that sadly after we'd get back from NY, tour rehearsals and the tour itself would make life way too hectic for too many Double T's like that.

End Notes:

New York, New York is next....Yankees, checking out the venue, they'll see their stage for the first time, lotsa crazy exciting stuff coming up after they get from NY, of course, tour rehearsals and then finally the tour :) Can you tell I'm excited? :D Hope you are too! :)