It is recommended, for full effect, that this is read in a dark room, snuggled up under a blanket, with a picture of Nick from last night open in another tab.
He runs over to me with a giant, sloppy smile on his face. He's fresh from the stage, covered in sweat from the lights and out of breath from so much singing. I can't help but smile brightly as I hand him a towel and a water bottle. He takes them, his grin growing, if that's possible.
"Thanks, Mi." I'm offered a short, small kiss directly on the lips that leaves me breathless before being lead further into the makeshift backstage, towards a cozy couch. He sits down, and I carefully sit next to him, facing him. He wipes his forehead and neck off with the blue towel before taking a huge sip of water.
"You're such a bad boy."
He raises an eyebrow at me. "I am?"
"Mhm. Saying 'fuck' and whatnot."
He grins simply. "That's gonna take serious damage control. I wish you didn't make me so fearless."
"And you looked really, really sexy out there. I swear, I had to sit down. You were turning my knees into jelly. I felt like I belonged out in the audience."
"Mmh, no," He tells me just as he pulls his water bottle away from his mouth again. "You're my special girl, I need you back here waiting for me."
My stomach does a back flip. I feel like I'm going to throw up, but in a good way. "I was seriously considering running out there and giving you a big hug."
He smiles again, that same, big, dopey one that brings me back to June of 2009. "You can hug me now, if you want."
He sounds so careless and easy going and so different from the 13 year old Nick I fell in love with 4 and a half years ago. "Okay." He laughs as I crawl over and give him a tight hug, his own arms wrapping around my back. I bite my lip to hold in a squeal as his warm, muscular arms hold onto me.
"Are you okay?" He laughs softly, his hand caressing my skin through the back of my shirt.
He's right. My whole body is melting. I blush as I struggle to sit up. "Yeah."
He laughs again, taking my hand gently. It looks so small and delicate in his big one, and all I can do is smile wider and brighter. My cheeks are already aching. "Are you sure?"
"No."
He laughs again, twisting our fingers together. "And what exactly would be the problem, Miss Miley?"
"You made me melt tonight, when you were out there. How sweet and perfect you sounded, the way you sort of talked about me, when you cursed, how sexy you looked. It was all just so... I don't know. And honestly even you've never made me feel like this before."
"Would a kiss help?"
"Maybe a little."
He grins as he leans in to kiss me, his lips grazing mine very softly. "By the way, Mi, I talked about you like that and cursed and looked sexy because of you. I have the butterflies too."
"It's not just butterflies."
"It's like butterflies on salvia."
"Not funny."
He laughs softly. "Sorry." He nudges my shoe with his own. "I know, I know that neither of us fell out of love. I know that we still drive each other absolutely crazy with these feelings. I also know that rushing straight into this isn't a good idea, though, Mi."
"So what can we do?"
"We can be best friends, we can work as hard as we can to make up for the past year." His eyes stare into mine. The building could set on fire and I don't think he'd look away. "I don't want to spend the rest of my life breaking up with you and getting back together. In just a few months, it's going to have been 5 years since we met, 5 years we've been playing cat and mouse with each other, and I'm sick of it, it can't go on forever. Either we're over each other by now, we're not going to get back together again, or we're just not and we're never going to be."
"We're not."
He leans in and kisses me. It's a little bit more loving and caring than before. "Then we should stop trying."
I can't breathe. It hurts. He looks so sexy and passionate the way he holds my cheek and gazes into my eyes like I'm all that's on his mind right now. His brown orbs hold mystery and love, five year old love that will never, ever die out. He blinks softly, running the pad of his thumb over my soft skin. He looks almost like he doesn't expect me to say anything. His eyes keep searching mine, his perfect, heart-shaped lips parted a tiny bit.
"Should I kiss you?"
"Yeah." I manage to get out, and then he does, he covers my lips with his own. I rest my hand on his forearm as we move together, our lips entranced. His tongue makes a quick swipe across my bottom lip and I quickly let him in. He shifts closer to me, exploring my mouth. I can tell he's missed it over the past year and a half. He tastes just like he always has. There's no way to explain it other than he tastes like Nick. His beautiful scent fills my senses. A mix of his natural smell, his cologne, and his sweat. It's probably the most amazing smell in the world, to me, of course. I'm addicted to it and I don't know what I've done without it. We keep moving together, long past where the average person would run out of air, just reminding each other what it feels like to indulge yourself in love. When he finally pulls away, he kisses me cheek before moving his hand to my hair, running his fingers through it gently.
"Promise me we won't ever let ourselves lose this, beautiful."
"I hope not."
"I just want you." He admits, kissing me softly again. He pauses after he pulls away a second or two later, leaning back against his arm of the couch. "Well, that was a bit crazy."
I laugh, laying down on my back so I can rest my head on his stomach. "Exciting."
He brushes my hair out of my upside-down (to him) face. I smile back brightly. "I feel like I'm gonna throw up."
"Really?"
"No, in a good way. Y'know, that I'm-so-happy-and-excited way."
"I give Nick Jonas butterflies."
"You've been doing it since we were 13, Mi."
"It's so special, our love story."
He smiles. "You sound like a certain blonde ex of my brother's."
"I believe in love stories and you should too. You and I, we're writing one right now, a choose-your-own-adventure type one."
"Miley Ray, I'm the one who says all the cheesy stuff. You're not allowed."
I laugh loudly, and a few people around us turn to look, but I don't care, I'm hopelessly in love, just a teenager in a beautiful love story. "I'll stop if you give me a kiss."
"That sounds fair." He presses his lips to mine softly. "Good?"
"More."
He grins, a giant one that stretches over his face. "Didn't I say something about taking things slow?"
"Maybe." I can hear the smile seep into my voice, and so does he, because he keeps grinning back.
"Let's get out of here, beautiful. Maybe I'll even let you in the challenger again."
I laugh at him. "You're such a jerk."
He winks at me as I sit up and my heart melts into a puddle.
"Quit doing that to me or else you're gonna have to carry me."
"I don't think I could carry you, Mi, I can barely stand up myself."
I blush for him as I stand up, and he takes my hand as we walk over to the pile of jackets on a chair in the corner. He looks through them and finds both of ours right on top of each other, and he hands me his with a smirk.
"I have my own jacket." It comes out as a mumble, but I'm already sliding my arms through the sleeves.
"But that looks so much cuter. C'mon, Mi."
I smile for the millionth time that night as I follow him towards the back door. Big Rob is waiting there, watching us approach. I swear I almost see him smile.
"I'll trail behind in case anything happens, alright?" His voice is so low and strong and rough.
"Alright." Nick lets go of my hand and Big Rob leads us out, towards Nick's car. He opens the door for me, and I thank him with a smile as I get in. Nick backs out, thankful for the lack of cameras everywhere, and pulls out onto the main road.
"Nick?"
He casts me a glance, his mouth still curved into a smile. "Yeah?"
"I'm really glad I came tonight."
"Me too, Mi."