A/N: I'm Reposting of the first six chapters of Building on Failure as well as a post of the seventh and eighth chapters I had written before it was removed.
All reviews welcome, I have at least 13 chapters of this written and a steady storyline I can continue with if I have enough support and everyone likes it XD
Beth
PS. I've also changed my penname to bybmsuckmysharpie
xo
Chapter 1 - Hurt.
She was hurt. She was jealous and she didn't know what the heck she was doing. She knew that she had been an idiot, that's all she had been for the past nine months since that fateful night on her tour bus when everything seemed to spin and make her want to hide in a hole somewhere until everything went away like the kid that she was.
Apart from Mandy and a few others, her only other friend was her guitar. It had been her solstice, helping her gradually through the pain with each new chord and song she played. She was reminded of all the great artists she looked up to and remembered how their guitars had made them stronger too. She listened to Johnny Cash and remembered all the bad in his life too. She listened to his songs and thought about words he'd said in his lifetime. She refused to dwell on everything. She refused to let it consume her. She was determined to move on.
No matter which way that she decided to move on, she was always going to be hated by someone. Her way of moving on had been to stop holding in all the primary memories from her mind and instead tell them and accept that it was over. She'd told a magazine. Everyone had hated her for the way she had come off on paper. She hadn't meant for it to sound like that, but she didn't care. It had helped her forget.
Before moving on, she'd 'dated' lots of boys. She'd been a fool and done what they did best and fooled around. She'd made more mistakes in trying to forget than she had in remembering. She'd broken some promises and she'd made her family disappointed. Soon she got over it and boys simply became friends for a long time. They were simple pieces in her way to try and feel comfortable around a boy again, to feel like he didn't want everything from her just to throw it back in her face. She had retrained herself not to be scared of being in a room alone with a boy and not knowing what to say. She had talked to boys like they were people and not a potential treat. Soon she had come to learn the truth, and soon she'd start to tingle with the familiar feeling of a new found crush… a crush that had turned into something more.
Now he was a fan. She was on stage and he was in the audience cheering her on. He wasn't like him hiding back stage waiting for his turn, he wasn't like Mitchell – a simple platonic friend, he wasn't a playboy trying to get his picture taken… he was smiling at her as she sung her heart out, quite obviously taken with the words she was saying. He was feeling the emotions she was feeling, the betrayal; the sadness and the slight numbness in the put of the stomach; because he was experiencing the same attempts to put back together a broken heart like she was.
She felt like she could face him head on, so she did what she knew would make her the better person. She stood on stage with him, sent him an enthusiastic wave and hugged his brother with almost as much excitement as she used to. She didn't care how many people said something about it… she was the better person and they had the chance to step up to the plate.
He had glared at her from the side of the stage as she smiled down to some guy in the audience; obviously another of her boy toys that she'd been airing out for the past few months... it must have been her third or forth spotting with a different guy since the beginning of the summer.
He was kind of jealous and angry. He would admit it, but only in his head. He saw how many guys were vying for her and he was reminded that he had thrown away the chance to be the one laughing at all those guys and be smug about it. That's why he'd bought Selena and Demi. They would make her blood boil at the sight of them if Selena's little stories about how much of a bitch she was were true. They even held a party and didn't invite her just to annoy her and see what happened.
But nothing happened. She just stood there and when she came on stage, she waved and hugged Joe like there was nothing wrong. Sure it wasn't like the old times when they were walking along the runway on tour, her hands all over him… grabbing him around the neck and pressing her lips softly, but ever so incandescently passionately on his cheek, daringly close to his neck. He had seen the pictures and had grinned at his silly little smile when he saw it, even though he'd yelled about it afterwards. Now as she smiled around, acting indifferent to her situation… like he wasn't really there and like there was only one person… that stupid good-looking guy in the VIP pit, it made him bubble with anger.
They were stood feet away from her acting like she wasn't there, and she was being the better person. She was so close to beating Selena and Demi, it was ridiculous. Nothing could hurt her anymore, all because she had her new best friend. He would help her and he would make everything better.
Not if he had anything to do with it…
She jumped around shocked as someone banged hard on her empty dressing room door. She threw down her towel and moved to the door, but not before it swung open quickly, almost hitting her in the face. His curly dark hair almost blinded her and the fact that he was wearing a hoodie with his dress shirt shocked her for a moment. She stepped back her mouth agape.
"Who the heck is Justin Gaston?"
She couldn't help but laugh. She shook her head at him, stepping back even further almost to the distance they had been on the stage.
"I don't see what the heck it has to do with you, Nicholas…" she blurted quickly shaking her head, "I don't want to rehash the past but you gave up your right to ask me anything to do with my life a Long time ago…"
Nick laughed and closed the door so no one could hear. She suddenly, for the first time in a long time, became nervous by the fact that she was alone with him.
He wiped his mouth and shook his head repeatedly, "Just tell me Miley… because I've seen pictures of you with a lot of guys recently and I saw a picture of you with this new guy and it looks like you're getting your old buzz back…"
"And you'd hate that wouldn't you, buddy?" She spat angrily folding her arms. She shook her head, "It's got nothing to do with you Nick… you have Selena and the last time I checked that meant I could do whatever the heck I wanted in the dating world considering that we're not exclusively telling each other about all the people we start seeing," she laughed in disbelief, "Why don't you just go?"
He pressed his hand to the door and shook his head, "No… because if you are dating him… he's TWENTY Miley… twenty years-old…"
"I know, Nick…"
"That's five years, Miley, Five freaking years…"
Miley nodded sarcastically, "I see you're getting almost as good at Math as Noah is…"
Nick turned angrily to the door and hit it, "Miley! He's a year away from drinking and doing all kinda crap… you're the girl who still wears beaded bracelets with her name written in beads! It's not exactly the most mature of bracelets."
She leant forwards, taking a few steps closer, daring him… almost teasing him with her proximity and shrugged her shoulders.
"It's just a number…"
"It's a lot more than a number…"
"Exactly… but all it has to do with you is a number… five years between me and him… nine months between me and you breaking up… therefore I don't care what you think… Therefore there's a lot you don't know about me now…" she was angry and she was pointing her finger at him warningly, "When you say that you're going to be friends with someone, and that it's 'just a break to cool off a while' you can't ignore a person for nine months and then ram your pathetic skulking ass into their dressing room when they're already late to get home and ask them about the personal life of which you are no longer part of… you are lucky I even said hello to you…"
"You're a child…"
"And you're the one who's getting all bunched up about something that doesn't even concern him anymore…" she flailed her arms out dramatically, "Why are you even hear? Are you what? Annoyed? Are you annoyed that our first time together on stage after all our crap was hung out to dry I was okay with it? Are you disappointed that I could look at your asshole face and think 'Whatever' because I've grown up instead of turning into a little…"
She was interrupted brashly by the press of his lips ramming her into the dressing room wall and blinding her ferociously with his kiss. She gasped her arms failing at her sides as she failed to kiss back. She screwed her face up trying to regain composure and looked at him, his hands holding her around her neck like he used to, his body against hers as she was pinned against the wall, unable to move.
She moved her arms to his shoulders and grabbed on tightly. Using her mouth and every inch of her bodily strength, she used her one power over him and kissed him away from her until his grip loosened and she could push him away angrily until he stumbled backwards away from her in shock.
"I…" he began, his cheeks read and his face seemingly confused.
"Get out," she spat wiping her mouth in disgust.
"Miley…"
"Get out, Nick!"
"Miley, I'm sorry I…"
"GET OUT!"
He stumbled backwards, staring at her as he hit the door. His fingers fumbled with the door handle as his senses failed him. He was staring at her in shock as she grimaced at him in disappointment and disdain of his selfishness. She wiped her face again, trying to wipe his scent and his taste from her. He looked away from her and left the room, his tail shamelessly in between his legs, the door slamming closed behind him.
Miley waited, her back pressed against the wall as she looked at the recently closed door. What just happened? Why did he do that? Why was she feeling so weird? She stepped forward, her face dropping to one of regret at making him leave so quickly and not explaining why. She paused gently tiptoeing towards the door, planning to race after him press him against a wall and demand what the dang heck just went on. She put her hand to the door and paused taking in a deep breath.
Her hand moved without her permission and soon she held her breath in shock as she came face to face with something she didn't expect to see. His guilty face, staring right back at her looking more adamant than ever, as her face dropped and she realised why he was stood there. His hands were either side of the doorframe and he was breathing softly as he shook his head.
She sighed as he pressed himself forward with the support from the doorframe and right back onto her lips, her hands grabbing hold of his cheeks as he re-entered the dressing room, locking the door closed and wrapping his arms around her.
Something just wasn't right.
A/N: TBC
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