Location: Young Hollywood Awards Nick's POV-
"and thank you to my beautiful girlfriend"
As soon as Liam said the words, they stabbed my heart like a knife and my body froze. Next thing I knew, my fists were clenched, almost automatically; It was all I could do not to lose my cool, knowing the girl I loved was taken by the man standing on stage. Not long ago, that would've been me speaking her name. Not long ago, I held the key to her heart; the key she vowed never to replace, yet here I am, months later, in the presence of my replacement.
I lifted my head, only to see the smug smile set across his lips. Glaring in my direction, I knew he'd realized the hurt he'd just caused me.
The words rung over again in my head, "my beautiful girlfriend."
I tried to shake the thoughts but I couldn't escape what had just been said. It was a vocal solidification that I'd lost the one true love of my life. My girl. She was gone. And I only had myself to blame.
((Flashback - December 2009))
"What happened while Miley was in Savannah?" Demi asked.
"What?" I shook my head. "No way." I stated firmly.
"Nick, something happened. Something changed between you two. One minute you're video chatting with her from Paris and the next you're not even speaking."
I cleared my throat. "And now she's dating Liam."
"Yeah, but why? You and Miley were fine, Nick. I don't get it."
"Yeah, well ask Miley what went wrong!" I snapped, instantly regretting it. "Sorry."
"Don't be."
Silence filled the air for a moment before Demi spoke again.
"She won't tell me." Demi revealed.
"I bring up your name and its like I might as well be talking about a stranger." Demi shook her head in disbelief as she continued. "Its like... You don't exist to her."
((/Flashback))
"Congrats, bro!" I felt a slap on my back as Joe pulled me in for a hug.
"Thanks!" I responded, doing my best to ignore the anger still lingering inside of me.
"Artist of the year, man? That's pretty amazing" Kevin added.
I nodded, offering a small smile to my older brother before he walked away with his wife.
"You know you can fool Kev, but not me, right?" I heard Joe say.
"I know." I admitted.
Without having to say a word, I knew Joe understood the pain I had just experienced. The unspoken bond between us was one of the many reasons we were so close.
"Still haven't talked to her since...?" Joe wondered.
"No" I shot back.
Joe took my automatic response as a cue to drop the subject. Patting my back one last time, Joe walked away.
((Flashback - June 9, 2009))
Location: Savannah, GA
"My mom isn't here yet, so we have the house to ourselves," Miley explained as we made our way over to the couch. I nodded, noticing I was still drenched from the rain.
"You mind if I go change real quick?" I asked, pointing to my wet clothes.
She laughed. "Yeah, no problem. The bathroom is down the hall to your left."
"Thanks."
I took a look in the mirror. My hair fell flat on my head from the rain, so I ran my fingers through it to give it body. I looked down at my soaked shirt, then lifted my arms to remove it when Miley walked in.
"Hey, here's a towel-" She began before interrupting herself. "Wow."
"Huh?" I turned and caught her admiring my abdomens.
"What?" She said, suddenly snapping out of it.
"You said 'wow'..." I reminded her with a smirk. "Was that 'wow' for 'damn, look at Nick's body'?" I teased.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Don't flatter yourself."
((/Flashback))