"At least not today,
"At least not today,
Not today,
Not today
Oh!"
Miley picked up her phone and saw the caller id. Mandy.
"Hey, Shmanders!" she said
"Hey! What are you up to?" Mandy replied.
"Not much. I was editing our latest video."
"The one in London?"
"Yeah! You know, I really loved being there!"
"Yeah – me too. You should do a tour of the UK!"
"That would be so much fun!" Miley gasped. That was a brilliant idea! She could ask her manager a.k.a. her mum! She hated flying, but Miley could convince her!
"Miley!" Tish was calling her from downstairs.
"Coming," Miley replied and put the phone to her ear again. "Listen, Mandy, I gotta go. Are you still coming over for the night?"
"Of course!" Mandy said. "See you then!"
"Later!"
Miley ran down the stairs to her mum and dad in the kitchen. They were looking at the laptop and mumbling about something.
"Yeah," Miley said.
"I've just had an email from the Make A Wish charity. They want you to take part in a concert they're doing to raise money," her mom smiled.
"Sure! It'll be fun!" Miley replied.
"Great! We'll email them back now!" her dad said. "It's gonna be a great show! They'll make so much money – you, Demi, Selena, Ashley, Vanessa, the Jonas Brothers, Hilary Duff!"
"Woah!" Miley stopped him. She jumped onto the kitchen counter and looked onto her Dad's eyes. "Are you serious?"
"Now, honey," her Mum replied. Miley turned to face her. "This is the reason that we wanted to make sure you were okay with doing the concert. I know you still miss Nick."
"What?" Miley wondered what she was talking about. Oh. The fact that the Jonas Brothers were going to be performing. But that wasn't what worried her…
"Mom!" Miley exclaimed. "That doesn't matter! HILARY DUFF WILL BE THERE! AHHHHH!!" she shrieked, as her parents turned to each other and laughed. Their daughter absolutely admired Hilary Duff.
"Mom! I have to do this concert! Oh my God! Hilary Duff! I'm going to go shopping with Mandy tomorrow. I've got to have the perfect outfit!" She began texting on her phone and her mother cleared her throat.
"Oh, yeah. Mom, you can come to," she gulped as her parent laughed.
"Miley! You said that we can go to get some smoothies on out bikes!" her little sister, Noah, came into the kitchen with her helmet on. "Let's go!"
"Okay!" Miley sighed as she went and got ready. Noah loved riding bikes. She was even cycling with Justin Gaston last week, which made the rumours that they were dating even stronger. She sighed as she remembered the heading:
"Miley's New Man Goes Cycling With Her Little Sister!"
Honestly, the paparazzi had nothing better to do that write stuff about her. They needed to get a life! Justin was 20 – she wasn't even 16 yet!
"Noah!" she yelled. "Let's go!"
"Okay!" Noah smiled as she came running up to her sister. They grabbed some money and said bye to their parents as they got onto their bikes and left through their electronic gates.
Miley was telling Noah about how she was going to sing in a concert with all of the amazing celebrities and that Mandy was coming over that night.
"Noah!" a voice shouted from behind them. "Noah – wait up!"
Miley and Noah pulled on their brakes on the sidewalk. They turned around and saw Frankie Jonas riding his bike towards them really fast. He was the youngest Jonas and great friends with Noah. Miley smiled as he came over and had his special handshake with Noah. He then came over to her.
"Hey Miley," he grinned.
"Hey, Mister!" she smiled back and ruffled his hair. He was so adorable! Even after her and Nick had broken up, whenever she saw Frankie they would act exactly the same. She still remembered the day that Frankie had found out they were dating…
"Oh my Gosh! Guys, guess what!" Frankie ran into Nick's bedroom. Miley and Mandy were sprawled over the floor, whilst Nick and Joe were sitting on the bed.
"What's up?" Mandy smiled, sitting up and leaning against the wall.
"Me and Noah were playing tag outside and some dude came up to us –"
"Wait! Were you alone!" Miley and Nick both exclaimed at once. They looked at each other and grinned sheepishly. They were made for each other.
"No! Brandi was there. But she was talking to someone on the phone. Anyways, this dude came up to us and goes to me "Do you like Miley?" And I was like, "Yeah," and he was like "Why?" and I was like, "cause she's cool," and he was like –"
"Aaaaww!" Miley smiled. "You're so sweet, Frankie. Come over here and give me a big hug!" She held out her arms, but Joe interrupted.
"Frankie! What's your point?"
"Everybody thinks that them two are dating!" he laughed. His two hands were pointed towards Miley and Nick and they were both blushing a very bright red.
"Ummm… little man… we are," Nick mumbled.
"Whatever!"
"We are!" Miley said staring at Frankie directly in the eyes.
"No way!" Frankie jumped up and down with joy. "My brother's going out with Hannah Montana!"
"Everybody laughed as Nick blushed and rolled his eyes.
"Listen, mate, you'd better keep quiet," he said.
"Okay," Frankie shrugged.
"I mean it, Frankie. Pinky swear?" Nick held out his little right-hand finger.
Frankie sighed. "Pinky swear," he agreed and held out his finger to join with his brothers. Everyone knew that he would stay quiet. Frankie Jonas was true to his pinky swears!
Miley smiled as she remembered. His brother dating Hannah Montana. She missed those days. Almost as much as she missed just seeing Nick smile at her, wink cheekily, tell her he loved her.
Her song wasn't for anyone. 7 things. 7 things she hated about Nick Jonas and 7 that she loved. She sighed as she took out her phone. She opened her photos and put in her password - Niley. A picture of Nick and her came up. She loved that picture. He was wearing the same top that he was now, cycling towards them.
Wait! Cycling towards them!
Miley jumped onto her bike and was ready to pedal.
"Miley! Where are you going?" Noah moaned. "I want Frankie to come with us!"
"Then, let's go! Come on Frankie, get onto your bike!"
"I can't. I have to wait for my brother. He's coming to get a smoothie with me as well."
"Let's go together!" Noah suggested as Miley shot her a glare. Noah gulped. She was going to be in BIG trouble when they got home. Miley didn't want to have to talk to Nick. He'd hurt her. But hey, they didn't have to talk, did they?
"Frankie!" Nick's voice made Miley's heart skip a beat. "I told you to wait didn't I!"
"Hey Nick!" Noah jumped up and gave him a hug. "We're all going for smoothies together!"
Nick paused. He didn't know what to say. Him, Frankie, Noah and Miley? Together? He wasn't sure about this, so he looked over at Miley. She was fiddling with her phone, which was what she always did when she felt awkward. He grinned as he nodded at the two 3rd graders.
"Cool," he said. "Let's go!"
Miley wasn't sure if she should be happy or annoyed. Annoyed cause he was her ex! Shouldn't he have at least asked her if she was okay with them being together. Didn't he think about the paparazzi rumours that would start. She could just imagine tomorrow's news:
Has Niley - turned Nelena - turned to Niley once again?
Or should she be happy, because this was the day that she had dreamt about for months. Being with Nick again. Just being near him. She looked up at him and saw that he was staring down at her. They both turned away, blushing.
"Let's go!" Noah said as she and Frankie began riding their bikes really fast.
"Hey! Be careful!" Nick and Miley both shouted at the same time. They looked at each other and half-grinned. They couldn't help it.
"Hey," Nick nodded at her.
"Hi," she replied wondering what to say back as they began riding towards the direction the others had. "Nice weather," she managed to mumble. Stupid, stupid, stupid! The weather! Was that all she could think off? They used to have all these brilliant conversation about – well – everything! What was wrong with her?
"Yeah," Nick replied, also stuck on what to talk about. As he opened his mouth to ask her if she was going to be in the charity concert next month, a few members of the paparazzi flew towards them and started snapping away!
"Oh, darn!" Miley moaned as she started to go faster on her bike, Nick still really close to her.
"Miley! Miley! Are you and Nick together again?" a man shouted at her.
"Will you give me an exclusive, Nick?" another shouted.
"Is it time for Niley again?" someone else yelled.
"How's Selena taking the news?"
Miley sucked in her breath as she looked at Nick's face. He kept staring directly ahead, but Miley could see in his eyes that he was troubled by that question. Miley didn't even know if him and Selena were dating. She wasn't really close to neither of them anymore.
They kept riding on in silence as the paparazzi took millions of pictures of them from all different angles and shouted all sorts of questions at them. As soon as they got to the smoothie shop, they walked in in silence.
"Miley! I need some money!" Noah called as Miley took off her helmet. Thank goodness that the paparazzi didn't ever follow her into shops. That would be a complete nightmare!
She started to walk over to Noah and Frankie by the counter, but Nick got there first and hadn't they shop assistant a few notes.
"We'll have whatever they've already ordered, plus a strawberry smoothie." He turned around and looked at Miley. She was just so beautiful! Her hair was dried naturally and with that helmet off it looked amazing. "Do you want a mix?" he asked. He knew that that was what she would order. She always ordered that.
"Yeah, thanks," she grinned as she walked over to a booth in the far corner, so that no paparazzi could see them. Noah and Frankie jumped into the two seats opposite. They were going on about the latest episode of The Suite Life On Deck, one of Noah's favourite shows.
Nick walked over towards them and out the tray of drinks onto the table. There was only one seat left. The one next to Miley. He sat down and stared hard at his drink.
"So," he said. "How are you?"
"I'm good," she replied. "You?"
"Oh, you know," he shrugged.
"How's your health?" Miley asked. Every single day of her life, she would wonder if Nick had taken his medication. She knew he was a smart and responsible boy, but she cared for him so much!
"It's good," he sighed. "Yours?"
"It's alright," she grinned to herself. Was he worried about her too?
"So, are you gonna be at the charity concert next month?" he asked. He really, really wanted her to be there. Maybe they could be friends again. They were neighbours, after all, and were talking again. Boy, had he missed her!
"Yeah. It'll be a laugh," she nodded. "I loved your song Burning Up, by the way. In the video, when you jumped through all of those laser beams was awesome!"
"Thanks," he mumbled. Noah and Frankie were too busy in their own conversation to be listening to theirs. He might as well say it to her. After all, he'd dreamt about saying it to her.
"I loved 7 things," he blurted out. "It was such an amazing song!"
Miley blushed a deep red as she took a sip of her drink. They hadn't looked at each other since they'd sat down, but now, she could feel Nick looking at her. She looked up at him straight in they eyes. She needed him to know that she truly meant what she was about to say.
"I'm sorry if it hurt you in anyway," she said.
"I'm not sorry about that. It did hurt – but it needed to," Nick replied. "And the only reason that it hurt was because of the fact that you said that I'd hurt you. So, I'm the one who should be sorry. And I am. I'm sorry for hurting you, Miley."
Miley gasped. She hadn't heard him say her name to her in ages. And he was sorry.
"It doesn't matter," she replied turning back to her drink. "Those days are gone."
"Yeah," Nick mumbled. He turned to look out of the window, where tons of people were trying to get pictures of them. "They've been giving you a really hard time lately, huh!"
"Yeah," Miley nodded, looking out of the window. "First my pictures, then Vanity fair, Justin Gaston and my youtube videos."
"Oh yeah. The one where you and Mandy do a Demi and Selena parody," he grinned cheekily. "That was actually my favourite video of all times on youtube. I watched it 24/7."
Miley looked up at him and smiled. Actually smiled at him for the first time in ages. This time it was Nick's turn to have his heart skip a beat. He hadn't realised how much he had missed that smile until that very moment. It was perfect in every way. Miley's smile. Smiley Miley. She used to be his Smiley Miley. And now, months after he had hurt her, she was smiling again. He smiled back and saw her blush.
"Umm, Miley," he started and then stopped.
"She stared at him and waited for him to go on. It didn't look like he was going to so she tried to get him to say anything.
"Yeah, Nick," she said.
"Wow!" Nick thought. "I haven't heard her say my name in – well – ages. And it sounded awesome!"
"Umm – Nick!" Miley said again. "You said that out loud!" She laughed as he turned red.
"Oops," he muttered. "Anyways, Miley –"
Suddenly, his phone started blaring out the chorus to 7 things! Shoot! That was his ringtone…awkward!
He fumbled around in his pockets until he found his phone. He looked at the caller id and sighed. Great timing.
"Hello," he said.
"Dude – where are you?" the person on the other end shouted. We've been waiting for ages! You promised that you wouldn't be late!"
"Sorry – I got caught up," Nick mumbled.
"With what?"
"Stuff," Nick sighed looking at Miley. She was staring at him intently.
"Well, are you gonna get here soon or what?"
"I'm…" He looked at Frankie and Noah happily playing I-Spy and then back at Miley. Miley Cyrus. After months he was this close to her, and now he had to go. Only God knew when they were going to talk like this again!
"I'm on my way," he finished and hung up. "Sorry, Frankie, but we're going to have to leave now."
"What!" Frankie yelled. "Why? The four of us haven't spend this much time together in ages! I wanna stay!"
Nick sighed and looked at Miley apologetically. Hearing his little brother actually say that was embarrassing. He knew that – but Frankie did have a point of pointing out the obvious.
"Aaw! Please Nick!" Noah pleaded.
He looked at Miley. She was looking at him, waiting for him to say something. He looked directly into her eyes. He could read her eyes as easily as he could read a book. They wanted him to stay.
He sighed.
"Okay," he shrugged. "Only 5 minutes."
"Thank you!" Frankie grinned. "But where do you even need to go?"
Nick gulped. "Um, me and some friends were going to go and catch a movie."
"Which one?"
"We haven't decided yet."
"Who are you going with?"
"God, Frankie! You ask a lot of questions!"
Frankie just shrugged and waited for an answer.
"Me and Selena."
Silence followed after he had said that. Miley's heart started pounding harder than it usually did. So he was going out with Selena Gomez. Oh well… why did she care? They were over weren't they?
"Well, you'd better get a move on!" she said faking a smile. "Mandy's coming over anyways, so I've got to get home."
"Miley!" Noah sighed.
"What!" Miley snapped. "Let's go!"
Noah could hear the hurt in her voice. "We – should – um – do this again soon," he mumbled so that only Miley heard.
Her heart skipped a beat. Was this for real? He still wanted to spend time with her? Guess he really didn't care about the paparazzi and rumours.
She looked up at him and nodded. When they got onto their bikes, they rode back to their houses without saying anything to one another.
Later on that day, Nick was sitting next to Selena in a comedy film at the cinema. But he didn't feel like laughing at any of the jokes. He didn't even want to be there. He wanted to be back in the smoothie shop, next to Miley. But he was so confused!
When she had nodded to him as they left, he had been left speechless. He didn't know why, but he hadn't been able to find out what she was really feeling.
He hadn't been able to read her eyes.