A/N: I changed it so that instead of being in senior year at Seaview High, Jackson goes to college with Troy and Kevin in England. Sound good? If it doesn't, I guess you'll just have to live with it. Haha, kidding! But he goes to college with Troy and Kevin now :)

Because You Live.

Chapter 2.

Miley was sitting in the bathrooms on the first floor of Seaview High with tears cascading down her cheeks. She jumped down from the counter and turned to look in the mirror, and when she did, she saw that her hair was a mess, and her mascara had been trailing into black paths down her cheeks.

Miley sighed and took a hairbrush out of her purse and started brushing the knots out of her hair. The door opened, and she turned to see Lilly, Alex and Mikayla walk in and stand behind her.

"Miley ... Nick's a mess. We just passed him. He was sliding down the locker and crying. Just talk to him about this. Please. Maybe you can fix this all out without breaking up with him," Lilly said, and Miley took off her locket and handed it to them.

"Maybe this is a sign that Nick and I weren't meant to be, you guys," Miley said and slipped the locket into Mikayla's hand. She grabbed her purse and walked out with tears in her eyes, and the girls watched after her then turned to each other.

"What are we going to do? This is a serious sign that it's for real. Miley has never taken that locket off since Nick gave it to her. Now I know that she means it, and she's upset. This is worse than the last time they broke up, you guys," Lilly said.

"We could put Brianna in a crate and ship her off to Cuba?" Alex suggested, and Mikayla and Lilly looked at her as if she was mental, and Mikayla said, "Alex? Are you for real?!"

"I'll take that as a no then. But I don't see you two coming up with anything better!" Alex said and crossed her arms, and Mikayla opened her hand and looked down at the silver locket in her hand. The light from the ceiling made the silver shine.

"Maybe all we need to do is show them how much they really love each other, and how much they can't live without each other," she whispered and put the locket in her pocket and the three girls looked at each other and walked out to see Nick talking quietly to Joe, and they walked over. Mikayla took the locket out of her pocket and slipped it into his hand.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, and Nick opened his hand to see the locket glinting in the light, and fresh tears came to his eyes as he looked up, and by the looks on the girls' faces, he could tell that this was for real, and that this was truly happening to him.

"She - She really meant it this time, huh?" Nick asked. They all heard his voice cracking, and they could tell by the way he looked that he was about to cry. Joe looked at him sympathetically, and the girls all looked down.

"I guess so. I'm really sorry, Nick. I guess she couldn't take anymore hurt from you, or from love for that matter," Alex said quietly, and Lilly nodded, and Nick felt a tear slide down his cheek as he read the engraving on the locket.

"I get it. Just ... Just please tell her I love her, and I'll never, EVER stop loving her. No matter how much I try to," Nick said, and he walked away towards his next class. Joe looked at the girls.

"Does she realise how much she just broke Nick's heart?" he asked quietly.

"Wait a minute. So, Nick's allowed to make out with Brianna and break Miley's heart, but when she gives him back a locket, it's all different?! Wow, Joe. Just ... wow. Do you honestly believe that?" Lilly asked in disbelief.

"Lils, I didn't mean it like that!" Joe said.

"Like what, Joe? Is there another way to mean it?" Alex asked. The girls all looked at Joe as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Guys! Fighting with each other isn't going to get Nick and Miley back together! Joe, like I said to Alex and Lilly, what we need to do is show Nick and Miley exactly how much they love each other," Mikayla said, and she stepped in between Joe and Lilly and Alex.

"OK, maybe you guys are right. Maybe it isn't different for Nick. And Mikayla's right. All Nick needs is to see how much he needs and loves Miley and then he'll want her back even more. He'll be determined. And when Nick Gray is determined, he does whatever it takes to get what he wants," Joe said, and the girls all smiled and nodded.

BYL***BYL***BYL***BYL***BYL

That afternoon in study hall, Miley was listening to her iPod and she put on a song she loved – 'She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5. She had always loved it, and always would love it.

Suddenly, she felt someone put a hand over her mouth, pull her earphones out of her ears, and pull her into a closet, and when the person turned on the light and uncovered her mouth, Miley saw that it was Kevin.

"Kevin?! I thought you were at college in England!" Miley exclaimed and hugged him tightly.

"Joe called me and said that you and Nick had a problem, and you guys needed me and Troy and Jackson. Those two are coming back tomorrow. I got the first flight over. Want to tell me what happened, and why Joe says you two have been crying or quiet all day?" Kevin asked, and Miley shook her head.

"That can wait. How did you get over here so fast? I mean, it takes hours to get from England to New Jersey. How'd you get here?" Miley asked, and Kevin smiled at Miley and sat down on a mop bucket.

"There's some new plane. It's meant to be faster than Concorde. I got here super fast thanks to that plane. My dad told me I could buy the ticket if you and Nick needed me, so I did," Kevin explained, and Miley hugged him again.

"Thank you. It means a lot. Now to me and Nick ... we broke up. This new girl, Brianna, kissed him this morning and I saw and ended it. I knew it was too good to be true. Why would the football captain want to even think about dating me? I ... I gave him back the locket too," Miley said quietly while looking at the floor, and Kevin's eyes widened.

"You gave him back the locket?! I mean, yeah, you dumped him. Fair enough. What he did was wrong. But giving back the locket? Nick gave you that to show that you loved him, and he loved you. You giving it back to him ... just imagine how you felt when this Brianna girl kissed Nick. Like you just got kicked in the stomach, right? Well, that's how Nick feels now. Maybe even worse," Kevin said, and Miley shook her head.

"What's worse than losing your boyfriend to another little blonde slut?" Miley asked quietly. (A/N: No offence to blondes! If you took offence to that, I am sorry. But I'm blonde myself, so why would I purposely offend myself?) Kevin smiled lightly at Miley and hugged her again.

"Miles, there is one thing worse than seeing someone else kiss your boyfriend when it comes to love. The worst thing in love is being told by the person you love with every inch of your heart that they don't love you back," he said softly into her ear, and Miley started crying softly into Kevin's chest. Kevin rubbed her back soothingly and soon, she calmed down and pulled away.

"I better get going. I think I just heard the bell. Bye, Kev. I'll see you soon, alright?" Miley asked and left the closet, and Kevin took out his phone and quickly texted Joe:

From: Kevin

plan's gettin sumwhere. miles is thinking, i think.

BYL***BYL***BYL***BYL***BYL

Miley walked into her house that afternoon, and she saw a note on the counter from her dad that was telling her that he would be away on a business trip until Saturday evening. Miley sighed and heard the front door slam, and she turned to see Jackson, and she screamed and ran over to hug him.

"Kevin said you weren't coming home until tomorrow!" she squealed as Jackson spun his little sister around and kissed her head, and he chuckled as she hugged him as tightly as she could.

"So, Joe texted me and told me that you're having a sleepover here on Friday. I'm at Cooper's house that night. You know the rules when Dad's not here. Clothes on at all times, and nothing more than making out. And remember to clean up after yourselves. Oh, and you and Nick aren't allowed in your bedroom alone together since Dad's away with his parents for a business trip," Jackson said, and Miley looked down.

"I doubt Nick and I will be anywhere alone together now. We broke up. He was kissing some slut in the hall today, and I saw it and ended it. Jackson, I regret it so much, but I don't want to get hurt again!" Miley said and silently began crying. Jackson pulled her into a hug.

"Miley, we all do things we regret sometimes. Maybe ending things with Nick wasn't your smartest idea ever. But Kev said he still loves you. Apparently, Nick hasn't come out of his room since he got home. And he went home early from school, I believe. Miles, talk to him. Give him another chance. Or at least be friends with him. I hate to see you like this. I can see you don't want to live without him. And if you don't want to live without him, I don't want you to live without him either. Miles, I'm your big brother. And I want you to be happy. Nick makes you happy. So go and talk to him and fix this mess," Jackson said.

"Thanks, Jackson. I love you, bro. I'll be back in about an hour, then we can go out and do something together. I missed you," Miley said and hugged Jackson before running out of the house and down the street to Nick's house, where she saw Joe throwing a ball up at Nick's window, and Frankie and Kevin and Troy were standing beside him.

"Hey, guys. What's wrong? Joe, what did I tell you about throwing footballs at windows?" Miley said, and Joe glanced between Miley and the window and smiled.

"Miles, I think you're the only person that can help. Nick got sick of us annoying him about coming out of his room, so we went out to play some football, he locked us out! Please get him to open the door so I can get some food!" Joe exclaimed, and Miley bit her lip and looked up at Nick's window. She could see his outline leaning against the window and staring at something in his hand.

"NICK!" she yelled up at the window, and Nick jumped and looked out the window. When he saw Miley, he opened the window and called down, "Smiley? What are you doing here?! I thought you hated me for what happened!"

"Sure, I WANT to hate you, but you know I never could. I'm in love with you. And when you're in love, you can't hate someone. I thought you knew that. I've loved you and I never will stop. I ... I just can't be with you right now," Miley explained.

Nick looked down and sighed as he thought about everything that had happened in the past few years. All the good memories he had shared with Miley. All the amazing kisses. All the passionate hugs. All the times 'I love you' was said. All the times he had told her how amazing she was. All the times she had melted into his arms, and fitted perfectly.

"I guess I understand," he said quietly, and Miley saw the tears fill his eyes. This caused her to get tears in her own eyes as she watched him, about to cry as he fiddled with something in his hand.

"What's that you got there, Nick?" Troy asked, not knowing most of the things that had happened. The only thing Troy knew was that Nick and Miley had broken up because of Brianna kissing Nick.

"The one thing in my life that I wish I could give back to Miley. The locket," Nick said quietly, and Miley felt a tear slide down her cheek as she immediately started walking away quickly. She heard the boys all call her name, but she just kept on walking towards the beach.

BYL***BYL***BYL***BYL***BYL

Nick moved away from the window and ran downstairs. He unlocked the door and threw it open to see Kevin, Joe, Frankie and Troy standing there. He pushed past them all and ran after Miley. The other four watched after Nick before walking back into the house.

"Uh, Frank, how about you go on the computer or something? I've got something to do with Troy and Joe," Kevin said. Frankie ran to the computer that sat in the living room, and Troy, Joe and Kevin all ran to Nick's room. They opened the door and saw a shoebox sitting on Nick's bed.

"Should we open it? I mean, it IS Nick's, and we don't exactly have his permission to open it," Troy said nervously, and Joe said, "Our excuse is looking out for him. Kevin and I are his brothers, and we want to look out for him. And he's like a brother to you. So let's just look then put it back."

Kevin opened the box and sat on the bed. He poured the contents out and looked up at Joe and Troy. "It's all pictures and tickets and things."

Joe picked up a picture that was from their parents' summer party. It was of Nick and Miley kissing on a sun lounger. It was a bit bent and worn around the edges, but Joe held it carefully. He looked down at how happy his brother looked in the picture.

Troy picked up a picture with a ticket attached to it. It was a ticket to the last football game of the last season, when they had won the finals. It was also the day that everyone had found out about Nick and Miley dating. The picture was of Nick and Miley kissing in the rain, with Miley's legs wrapped around Nick's waist as the rain poured down on them, and in the corner, Troy saw the football team all cheering because they had won. He smiled when he saw how happy they both looked.

Kevin picked up a picture of Miley at the dance that had torn Nick and Miley apart the previous semester. She was wearing her dress, and she was smiling at the camera. Kevin remembered that Mikayla had given Nick the picture, so he could always remember what she had looked like on that night. It was the night that had broken their relationship previously. It was the night Nick had taken Alex to the dance due to blackmail. Kevin knew that Nick saw it as one of his biggest mistakes to date.

The three boys all looked up at each other, and then they all laid their eyes on another picture that had fallen to the floor. In the picture, the teenagers must have only been about 15, and they must've only just met a few months previously. Nick had his arms around Miley, and he was kissing her cheek while they both looked at the camera that Miley had held away from them so they could get a good shot. All of them noticed how happy the pair were in the picture, and they glanced at each other again.

"Looks like we have a lot of work to do if we want these two back together, huh?" Troy muttered.

A/N: So, I've gotten the second chapter done. I have an idea on how I'm going to end the story. And one of the reviews said that they hope Brianna gets hit. Here's a hint: In the end of the story, she does. Emotionally AND physically. That's the only hint you get right now! Haha, I'm cruel! I hope you all enjoyed it, and please review. Because reviews make me feel good! If you haven't read Love Story, you should. Or else you will not understand this story. And you will not understand where the locket came from. So please do that. Thank you for the support.

Love,

ShoppingAndDiamonds