Summary: Miley Stewart has been signed on to write a duet with her ex-boyfriend Nick Lucas and this puts a strain on her relationship with Jake. Can Nick manage to find a way to get things back between them to the way they were before the storm? Rated T for language and mature themes. xxNileyxx Crossover: Hannah Montana & JONAS.

Disclaimer: This is a nonprofit work of fan fiction written by smileyniley487 :) I do not own and/or associate or liaise with Disney, Miley Cyrus, JONAS or any of the JoBros or associated third parties or any parties but I do love them and their work dearly.

Chapter One - Friday Night

It's Friday night and Nick is at a stupid party. He is here against his will; Joe and Kevin guilt tripped him to come along. The Lucas Brothers are forever being invited to every party on the block, but this is the first time he's found Joe and Kevin so eager to attend, and he didn't want to be the odd man out. True, he'd rather be at home playing the Xbox with Frankie; it never seems like he gets to spend any time with the little guy anymore. And Nick is a grounded type of guy. But he is at the party, and while Joe and Kevin seem to be having a good time, Nick is bored and is starting to wish he never came.

He strides over to the counter to get another diet coke, and narrowly avoids being made to dance with a cute blonde girl he'd rather not be seen with - since Joe tried to set them up. It isn't her fault though, and had Nick taken a moment longer to look at her she might have been worth his while. But it's not that. Nick isn't interested in dating anymore - not after last time - and he's never been one for casual flings either.

So he's there at the counter, and they're all out of diet sodas and Nick mulls over what to do next; he'd only wanted the drink to pass the time. And then a couple of older guys pass him - older guys he doesn't like the look of - and he hears their muttered conversation and it freezes his entire being.

"You know that girl Jake's with? She gets it on really easy."

"Seriously? What's her name again?"

"Stewart or something…"

Stewart? Jake? Nick thinks this is not a coincidence. Especially since he found out Miley was dating that self-obsessed movie star zombie slayer. He realizes two and two and speaks up joining their conversation.

"It's Miley," Nick adds assertively, crushing an empty soda can in his fists, and the two guys look at him as though he's been drinking something other than diet coke.

"Excuse me?" the first one asks, with attitude, as though Nick is beneath him and shouldn't be talking.

"Her name is Miley Stewart. And for your sake, you guys better not be talking about the Miley I think you're talking about."

The second guy laughs, "Well, what are you going to do about it? That Miley Stewart's a fucking slut and you know it."

Suddenly a rollercoaster of emotions bursts through Nick and before he knows what he's doing he's lifted the second guy by the collar of his shirt and thrust him against the wall and has pinned him there.

"You take that back." Nick says through gritted teeth, "And then after that we're going to find Miss Stewart and you're going to apologize to her or there'll be hell to pay."

The second guy is paralyzed with fright. The first one can't seem to find it in himself to challenge Nick, yet he still somehow manages to speak. "Let him go man! Look, you've seen those pictures she had on the Internet too! Every guy I know has! Jake probably doesn't even need to spike her drink to get it on with her. I'm sure she'll do that on her own or" -

It was the last straw. The guy doesn't finish his sentence. Nick with his free hand now throws the first guy onto the wall and the second guy he had in his grip slides to the floor like the life in him has been shaken out. And then Nick tells the first guy. "Talk! What do you mean Miley's drink has been spiked? Is Jake trying to take advantage of her?"

The guy is nervous with fright but he's embarrassed too and he's turned that emotion into anger now as he threatens Nick. "Dude, you just don't get it, do you? He doesn't need to do anything because Miley Stewart is an easy fuck!"

And then, even though he knows how wrong it is, and how upset his parents will be when they find out, Nick strikes the guy straight and walks off leaving both guys on the floor.

He walks onto the dance floor, narrowly escaping the cute blonde again who's still got her eye on him despite his negative signals, and finds Joe dancing with Stella, and while he wouldn't have done it on any other night, he tears his brother away from the-crush-he-won't-admit-he-has-a-crush-on and brings him off the dance floor.

"Come on man!" protests Joe in a whisper, not wanting to look bad in front of her.

And while Nick knows he's being selfish, he doesn't care. "Joe, this is the reason why Kevin installed webcam. 24/7 access to whoever you want, whenever you want. And I'm only gonna be a sec. Just tell me one thing - is Miley Stewart at this party?"

Joe shrugs nonchalantly, "I don't know! Probably! I mean I think I saw that zombie guy here so if she's still dating him then… hey Nick! Where are you going?"

But Nick is already long gone and Joe is desperate to get back to his girl so he doesn't follow him. "That kid!" he mutters but Stella has already distracted him from whatever Joe was thinking.

Nick storms by the party area and bangs the door open of every room he passes. Occasionally, he'll bump into a make out session and his stomach will flip with embarrassment, but mostly the rooms are empty and his heart fears for Miley. It doesn't matter that they're not going out anymore. It doesn't matter that they hurt each other and it ended. What matters is that Nick knows she's still the most important thing to him ever and he's never going to let anyone take advantage of her. He's been linked to those photos and he feels horrible. He supposes she did take them for him; in fact, he might even have kept a few. But he's a shy guy and he'd rather not talk about it.

His heart pounding with fear, his mind bordering on insanity and his blood boiling with anger he storms through the hallway, desperate to find her, memories of the two of them come flooding back threatening to engulf him…

~.~

Flashback

Sandy Lucas is worried about her son. She'd always know he'd be a ladies' man but lately he'll become moody and oversensitive when anyone discusses his neighbor and girlfriend Miley. And he won't listen to anyone about her and the girl spells d-r-a-m-a. Nick didn't need that in his life right now. Sandy had to intervene. She wouldn't be his mother if she didn't.

"Nicholas? Sweetie? Can I come in?" she asks tentatively, standing at the door. He doesn't mind and she enters and sits over by a chair resembling a guitar amp by his bed. "Up for a little convo with your Mom?"

Nick shrugs, "Sure. What did you want to talk about?"

Sandy sighs, "Just don't get snappy at me… I wanted to talk about Miley."

"Mom!" Nick whines but she interrupts him.

"Look, just hear me out. I know you kids have been getting kinda friendly together and she's a great girl so don't get me wrong. Anyone would be so lucky to have that chance to be with her. Except-- maybe not you."

"Mom!" Nick whines for the second time, "For the last time, I'm not going to break up with her!"

"Honey, you don't see yourself when you come home after being with her but I-- I see you. We all see you. You're all tense and tied up in tenterhooks and everyone else in the family has to walk on eggshells around you. And more importantly than anything, it isn't good for your health and you know how your blood count gets…"

"Hey that's not true! That has nothing to do with my relationship with Miley! She's the best thing to ever happen to me. In fact I think…" He pauses right there, sure he might upset his Mom, but then continues anyway, determined to have it out in the open, "Look, I really appreciate you looking out for me and all, I really do, but I think I may be, in love with her."

And as he ushers the 'L' word, Sandy is sure he's just infatuated and obsessed but knows that she's lost the battle. For now. Nick has such a high level of maturity for his age that sometimes she forgets that he's still a kid. "Okay…" she sighs, "You know what? Dinner'll be ready soon and I expect you down there when I call, Nick."

She kisses him on the forehead in all motherly fashion and leaves the room, ready to report the dreaded announcement of the 'L' word to Nick's manager and father, Tom Lucas.

As soon as the door is closed, Nick rushes over to the window and opens it so that his Angel from Tennessee is in bound to his room.

"Geez Nicky, what took so long tonight?" she asks.

"Mom alert," he mutters, "Sorry, she's on my case again…"

"About what?" Miley asks confused, and Nick realizes he hasn't told her yet. He lets out a huge sigh, not sure what exactly he is going to tell her.

"She wants us to break up."

The six little words have such a huge meaning behind them and Miley is stung. "Oh. Oh okay." She pauses, tries to make sense of it all - but can't. "I thought your mother liked me?"

"She does." Nick defended, "She thinks you're great. She just doesn't want anything to distract me from my music. Even if the distraction is very welcoming…"

She knows he's talking about her and thoughts like these still pink Miley's cheeks, "So what does this mean? Do you have to sneak out to see me or whatever?"

Nick shakes his head, "No, of course not. And if it ever came to that, I would do it in a heartbeat… but I don't think it'll reach that stage. Besides I think my mother is positive I'm never going to leave you."

"Really?" Miley smiles, a smile that lights up the whole room, "Why is that?"

"Because," Nick says, and he places his arms around her waist, "I told her that I love you."

Miley's heart is beating so fast; it feels like it's going to burst right out of her chest. It isn't the first time he's said it, but it's the first time he's admitted to telling other people and that is a huge deal to her, for many reasons. "Oh Nicky, you know I-- I love you too."

She closes her eyes and he reaches in to kiss her and then Sandy is calling him for dinner and they break apart too soon.

"So I guess I should go, huh?" Miley asks quietly.

"No." Nick shakes his head, "Dad said it himself. You're part of this family, Miley. You have as much of a right to be at dinner as I do."

And he takes her hand and they reach for the nearest fire pole to swing into the dining room side by side.

End flashback

~.~

Nick storms through the hall, desperate now. He hasn't found Jake yet and there's no sign of Miley. Maybe Joe was wrong. Maybe he hadn't seen Jake. Or maybe the two of them aren't here. Maybe they're somewhere else and Miley is being used right now…

He feels like he failed her and he doesn't owe her anything. He needs to sit down. He needs to just think, to just clear his head…

He walks into the last room at the end of the hallway, not looking for a fight, just looking to clear his head and he bumps into another make out session.

Except this time he does find Jake and he's all over Miley like some kind of animal. He has no respect for her and the clearly half consumed drink on the bedside table confirms what those guys from before were saying. Nick doesn't care. He loses control.

He storms in there and rips Jake off Miley in one clear movement. "How dare you fucking touch her!!" he yells and the two of them meet the ground and start wrestling it out. It's Nick's first real vengeful fight and he lets go of everything… how much he hates Jake, how unworthy he is of Miley.

"Stop it!!" Miley screams helplessly, "Just stop it!! He hasn't done anything wrong! Nick, just stop!!"

And the fact that she yells so boldly, when he is trying to do the right thing, makes him stop. And he cannot believe she would defend Jake after what he just tried to do to her.

"Miley, your drink, it's been spiked! Jake's trying to take advantage of you!"

And Miley just stares at him as though that's the most pathetic thing she's ever heard. "Nick!" she says and shakes her head. "I've been with Jake for a long time, and what we're doing now is my choice. He'd never try to take advantage of me. And just for your information, I haven't drunk anything since I got here! All night! I appreciate you coming to my defense but- you've got this all wrong and-- you owe him an apology!"

Every word is like a blow and watching Miley tend to Jake hurts even worse. Nick is so stunned he can't even bring himself to say sorry and decides to storm out instead. He hears Miley calling his name but he doesn't turn back. His lip is bleeding and his eye is sore and he's sure Jake has it a lot worse but Nick's got it worse on the inside and all he wants to do is get the hell out of there.

A/N: When I first wrote Before the Storm mid last year, I never intended to publish it on fanfiction. It is something that I've been writing for a very long time. Each chapter is roughly between 2300 and 2400 words and I'm currently writing chapter ten at the moment. I would really appreciate any feedback on the story. I'm still sketchy as to whether I should have released this but I can always hit the delete button if it doesn't work out for me. Thank you for taking the time to read this :) I promise to update weekly, as like I said, I'm already ten chapters in. Looking forward to here your thoughts and criticism. xoxo smileyniley487