Chapter Two.

Miley.
"C'mon, you aren't seriously ignoring me are you?" I rose my eyebrows, watching Nick walk away. We were at an after party for another award show, and I'm pretty sure he was getting his revenge for my previous actions. It was working.

"Nick!" I followed him, practically stomping. I didn't care if I looked seven, he was so aggravating! He shook his head while I finally grabbed onto his wrist, refusing to move, forcing him to finally look at me.

He shrugged as if, suddenly, stopping was no problem, before turning around, his eyes meeting mine. A small grin was on his face now that he was in charge and I was the one being punished. I glared at him.

"Talk to me," I ordered.

Silence.

Well, then, time for a threat."I won't kiss you."

Silence.

"For a month."

Silence... But he did raise his eyebrows this time.

"Nick," I gave up and whined.

He chuckled a little. "You're gonna blow our cover," he stated before walking away.

You're gonna blow our cover. Really? He doesn't talk to me all night, and all he's worried about is that it stays a secret? I looked over at him in disbelief just in time to see him throw a wink at me. He was good at games, I had to admit it. Even if it did make me go insane.

"You and Nick friends again?"

I jumped, turning around to see Britney. I hadn't talked to her in forever. "Nah. We're pretty much ruined. Way too awkward for there to be anything there."

"That's too bad. You guys would be cute together. I hope you work things out."

Right. Let's hope Nick and I worked things out real good...

"Thanks," I smiled, grabbing on to Demi's arm as she passed by. "I hate parties."

"You hate socializing," she shot back, shoving a cup in my hand.

"I say we ditch."

"I say we go by Joe," she grabbed my arm as I suddenly stopped. She looked back annoyed. "C'mon, Miley!"

"But... Nick is there."

"So, maybe you guys can patch things up and be best-friends again."

"Demi," I warned.

She laughed, pulling me over by the three brothers. He was trying not to notice I was getting dragged over. Stupid boyfriend. He couldn't resist me and he knew it.

"Just for a few minutes. When you want to leave, we will."

"Fine," I huffed, letting her go next to Joe, leaving me in between Nick and Kevin.

Awkwardly, the oldest smiled at me. Ever since Nick and I 'lost contact' Kevin and I hadn't been on the best terms. We weren't fighting, but we definitely weren't friends anymore. "Hey, Miley."

"Hey, Kev."

"Miley."

"Nicholas."

He waited a few seconds before coughing doing his best to pretend as if we really didn't care about the other. "How's your night been?"

I rose my eyebrows at him. "Just fantastic," I crossed my arms. "How about you?"

"Oh, great," he chuckled. "You okay? You seem kinda tense."

"I'm perfect," I took a step away from him. "You seem a little off, though."

"I wonder why that is," he scoffed.

"Hopefully whatever has you so... unlike you gets better soon," I smiled innocently as he shook his head.

"Oh, it already has. No one's trying to seduce me right now."

I shook my head, playfully slapping him. He was ridiculous.

"Y-"

"Are you guys flirting?" Joe asked us incredulously. I instantly got out of my little fantasy world, realizing where we were. All three of them were staring at us.

Nick shook his head, giving Joe a look that could kill. "Why would we be flirting, Joe? We can barely hold a conversation."

"You two were doing a pretty good job there," Kevin muttered.

I glanced at him as Nick took over again. I think I'd let him convince everyone that nothing was going on between us. So far he's doing a pretty good job.

"Kevin, we haven't talked in months. We don't... flirt," he said as if flirting was something completely foreign and insane for the two of us to be doing. If they thought that was flirting they should see us when they all aren't looking.

"You guys are worse than the tabloids," I forced out a giggle. "I'm leaving. Bye, guys. Bye, Nick – oh, I mean, crush now, since we were flirting." I let out a full laugh. "Right. Because our flirting worked out so well the first time." I shook my head, trying to convince them all there was nothing going on. "Bye, guys."

"Bye, baby," I heard Demi whisper before kissing Joe. I was tempted to go kiss Nick, just add on to our performance of "flirting", but I knew I'd never hear the end of it if I did. It'd be hard enough to convince Demi that I didn't like him already. I wasn't going to add any fuel to the fire.

"Miley," Demi called after me, quickly catching up. "I think it's time for us to go."

"That's what I said twenty minutes ago!" I exclaimed, shaking my head. "Let's leave."

"I'm hitching a ride with you, though. My ride is with Joe, but I love you so much, that I'm picking you over him."

"Okay, sure."

I waited for her to shut the door and counted. "You were so flirting, Miley!"

Two seconds until she asked. I shook my head. "I wasn't flirting."

"I think you have a crush."

"I don't-"

"You liiiiiike him," she smiled. "You do, don't deny it."

"Demi, I don't talk to him."

"That's not a no," she smiled.

I shook my head at her antics. "I don't like him."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Liar."

She decided to be stubborn. What a surprise there. I denied it again, though. She wouldn't be finding out if I had any say in it. "I was just being polite."

"Well, you've never hit me playfully while gazing into my eyes before, but if that's your version of-"

"I wasn't gazing into his eyes," I fought.

Demi looked at me, her eyes wide of adoration as she stared into my eyes.

"What are you doing?"

"Showing you what you looked like."

"Nick would have definitely laughed at me if I looked like that."

"He wouldn't know, he was giving you the same look."

Oh, God. They were onto us. Stupid Nick. He just had to decide to be all irresistible. Stupid me for failing at my own game. Stupid Joe for choosing tonight to actually care about Nick and I. Any time now Demi would ask if we were secretly dating. I could see it coming.

"Look, Demi. I don't like him, now would you just drop it?"

"Do you promise to tell me if you ever start to?"

I bit my lip. Too bad she wasn't here five years ago when Nick and I met. That's when I started liking him and never really stopped. I've already been lying to her a lot about Nick and I, though. One more won't hurt. "Yeah."

"I'll be pissed if you don't tell me."

"I'll tell you."

"Okay. And from now on I'll stop bugging you about Nick. I won't mention anything about you liking him again."

"Thanks," I muttered, walking into my house. "Convince Joe I'm not madly in love with him too, by the way. He's-"

"Don't finish it," she warned, being that protective girlfriend. Life was so much easier when I could insult Joe whenever I wanted.

"Fine," I shrugged, watching Demi go for the computer while I made a beeline to the bathroom.

"What's your password?" she asked through the door.

"I love my boyfriend."

"For someone who's been single for two years that's an awfully odd password," she laughed, no suspicion in her voice. For someone who's been this close to finding out I haven't been single for two years she's still pretty clueless.

"You'd never guess, though," I yelled back, a slight smile on my face. Nick and I were still a secret. We had this down by now and things were still perfect. And no one would be finding out anytime soon. We were both sure of it.

Nick.
"I don't think so, you are not getting anything tonight," Miley quiet yelled at me over a video chat. "You almost got us caught-"

"Who hit me?"

"It doesn't matter," she scowled.

"Princess, when you hit someone of the opposite sex it's the number one sign of flirting. You are the one who almost got us caught."

"No," she laughed, throwing her head back. "I hit you because you made an inappropriate comment. That's what showed them. Your stupid comments always seem like you're flirting."

I smiled a little at her innocence. Or, the innocence she was displaying now, because earlier definitely was not the same girl sitting on her bed without any make-up on. "I believe my comment was about you and your previous actions. Therefore, it's still all your fault."

"Smartass," she rolled her eyes. "We're changing the topic now."

"Let's change it to what possibly gave you the bright idea to be a tease all night."

She let out the loudest laugh of the night. "Did you like it?"

"Oh, it was lovely," I spat sarcastically.

"I liked it too," she giggled, grabbing a water. "Demi is gonna convince your brother we aren't flirting."

"How did you convince her to do that?"

"I have my ways."

"You're pretty amazing, you know that?"

"So amazing that we're just gonna forget what I did at the show tonight?"

I smiled, shaking my head a little bit. She can't get out of horrifying and torturing me by getting Demi to lay off. No. She'd need to do a lot more than that. She had years of me teasing and getting her to do stuff for me because of this ahead of her. "Don't think so."

She frowned a little bit, grabbing a loose strand of her hair. "But, Nicky... I'm really, really, really, sorry."

"Not gonna work," I shook my head. "Now, I still work for Disney. We have a company thing tomorrow and we need to be there at nine. So, I'm gonna go to bed."

"Can I come?"

"To bed with me? If you want to, Babe," I winked as she rolled her eyes.

"You're all talk. But I meant the Disney thing. I wanna see Demi."

"One, I am offended that you don't want to go to be with me. But, two, how would you be invited if Demi didn't invite you? You can't just tell everyone I invited you. That'd bring back the dating rumors and considering Dem, Joe, and Kevin think we're flirting, I don't think that'd help."

"Fine," she growled, looking down before looking back up excited. "So, is the coming to sleep with you offer still available?"

I chuckled a little. "Night, Miley," I cooed. She took a deep breath, looking down.

"Night, Nicky. Love you. Have fun at your stupid Disney meeting that you'll be at without me. While I'll be at home. Alone. Bored. And lonely-"

"Miley, cut it out," I laughed again. She always found a new way to get to me.

"Fine. Night, Prince Charming," she singsonged, a smile on her face. "I love you, now and forever."

"Love you too, Miles. Sweet dreams."

"Hey, Nick?"

"No."

She wrinkled her eyebrows. "Huh?"

"You're about to try to stall. No. You need to get some sleep and so do I."

"I was not gonna stall!" she crossed her arms across her chest.

I nodded. "So, what were you gonna say that was oh-so-important that it couldn't wait until tomorrow?"

"That I love you a lot, and have a good time at the Disney meeting, and I'll miss you, and you should text me tomorrow, and that I love you more than anything."

"You said you loved me twice."

"I wanted to make sure you knew it," she gave me a grin. "But, yeah, I was gonna stall. And, see? It worked."

"Ha ha, you are so funny, Miley."

"I know, I know," she flipped her hair. "I do try."

"Seriously, though, Mi. I need to get up at seven. Not all of us can survive on two hours of sleep a night."

"It's only three," she fought.

"I want to stay up, but I think I'd die tomorrow. The only reason I'm so awake now is because of you-"

"Which brings us back to the point that I should come with you. I'd keep you energized and smiling."

"Which would bring us back to the point that you can't."

She sighed, nodding. "I know. And I know you need to get your sleep so I'll be a good girlfriend for once and let you."

"Thank you," I smiled. "Goodnight."

"Night, Nicky. Love you."

"I love you too," I grinned, stopping her before she closed her computer. "And Miley?"

Her head shot up again, curiousity filling her eyes. "You're always the perfect girlfriend."

I watched as the biggest smile of the night came back on her face as I shut my computer. Seeing that smile as I went to sleep had to be the best thing in the world. It was so easy to make her insanely happy.

And I knew this time, not to let her go. There was no point anymore, even if things did suddenly get hard for some reason between us. The point was, we'd never fall out of love, and with that being true, it was worth any battles that may come up in the future.

The next chapter is already in progresss! sorry it took so long to update! but, anyways, what did you guys think? :)