Disclaimer : I own nothing but the plot
Later that night;
"Okay, I've got another one!" Taylor laughed, twisting her marshmallow onto a metal skewer. Demi groaned, accenting what everyone else was too polite to say. Taylor's jokes were running dry that night and her friends were all struggling to laugh at them as she shot them out.
"Alright, so yesterday someone threw a coke can at my head," She started, and Miley looked up from the crackling fire with sudden interest. Finally, one joke she hadn't heard yet,
"It's a good thing it was a soft drink!" After a slight pause, the group couldn't help but chuckle; leave it to Taylor to come up with those things.
"Tay, pass me a marshmallow." Mitchell said from across the blazing fire. Taylor picked up the half-empty bag of gooey treats and shot it over the flames. Shaking his head, Mitchell twisted the bag open and proceeded to place a marshmallow on his own skewer.
"So I heard there's a representative coming from some record company to check you guys out Saturday?" David asked curiously.
"Rumours, David, that's all it ever is. Last time someone told us that representatives from Columbia Records were coming to check us out, and it turned out they were just normal people on vacation from Columbia." Demi shrugged and David slouched back in his chair. Miley studied David's deflated facial expression with slight interest.
David had just moved to Tennessee weeks before, but already fit in with the rest of them. He was always at their shows to confirm his support of the band and to help move the electronic equipment to multiple locations. It seemed everything he wanted to do was coordinated around the band.
"Alright, here's a good joke," Taylor started again, and Miley's head dropped in a dramatic gesture of annoyance. Here she goes again.
- - - - - - - - - -
"Clarify something for me Cindy," Joe commanded as he walked into a small chocolate brown bedroom, "Why was Miley here?" He took a moment to glance around the crowded room before stomping over to the bed he would be occupying. The sheets on the two twin-sized beds were freshly cleaned and the room had a faint overall smell of Windex.
"For the tenth time Joseph, she lives here!" Cindy snapped, as Nick stumbled his way into the dark room after her. Joe sighed in over-dramatic exasperation,
"For the tenth time, I know!" He snapped back, "But why does she live here? She's got a perfectly good house down the road from here." Joe threw his bags onto his freshly made bed in anger. Nick walked over to what he was to call his own bed and sat down, desperately trying not to be dragged into their argument. He knew Kevin was the next room over, probably on a lovey-dovey phone conversation with his girlfriend. Yet, Nick would rather be in that room with him than where he was, with Joe bickering against his aunt.
"Her father died, Joseph! Show some respect!" Cindy finally shouted, her arms flinging wildly around to highlight her anger. Nick froze instantly with cold shock, but Joe saw more opportunity to argue,
"Respect? I was just asking why she was here! If you weren't so damn stubborn, then we wouldn't have a problem!" His face was burning with anger, his hands balled into fists.
"You will not use that tone with me, young man!" Cindy retorted. The small hand she was using to point at Joe was shaking violently, and was cast out of view as Cindy spun around and slammed with door shut with exaggerated force. Silence.
- - - - - - - - - -
The tangle of bodies in the dark pick-up truck were all half-asleep. It was mere minutes past three in the morning, and each one of them had been suddenly overcome with exhaustion. Miley wasn't looking forward to getting home; Cindy was certainly going to be furious with her. Taylor was just as worried and everyone could tell, seeing as her constant stream of jokes had suddenly come to a halt.
"We're here." Mitchell whispered softly into his girlfriend's ear. She sat up in the limited space she was entitled and stretched her arms high above her head, before she slouched back into Mitchell's warm embrace.
"See you tomorrow." She murmured, giving him a sweet kiss on the cheek and cautiously moving past bodies to get to the end of the truck bed. Once she had climbed over the tailgate, both Miley and Taylor trudged slowly into the house. Pushing open the front door with caution, the girls tiptoed in and headed quietly for the stairs. Breathing a sigh of relief, they smiled widely at one another as they reached Miley's bedroom door.
"You're back late." A voice hissed from the end of the hall. "Or should I say early?"
Miley squinted her eyes before making out the silhouette of none other than Kevin Grey, his arms folded over his chest as he approached her. She was not ready for this, especially in the wee hours of the morning. In fact, Miley never wanted to have to face the Grey's. It was awkward and uncomfortable, which brought anger and sadness to wash over her because they had once been the best of friends.
"What's it to you?" She hissed back, glancing sideways at Cindy's closed door a few feet down the dark hallway.
"Woah, I was just saying-"
"Mind your own business." Taylor supported, before hooking her arm with Miley's and marching into Miley's room. The two of them breathed a sigh of relief as Taylor gently shut the pale door, which took Kevin out of their line of vision.
"That was close." Taylor stated, referring to how awful it would have been if Cindy had awoken to find them coming in around three in the morning. After shoving a pair of her plaid pajama pants onto her long legs, Taylor danced a hairbrush through her long curls and let out a long yawn. Miley followed Taylor's actions before climbing under her purple comforter and heaving a restless sigh. She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
- - - - - - - - - -
"Morning." Nick mumbled, surprised when Braison walked into the cheerful yellow kitchen at seven the next morning. The thought of Braison and where he was staying had not even registered in Nick's mind since he was too occupied with the overwhelming thoughts of having to be there in the first place.
"Ugh." Came Braison's reply, which caused Nick to look up at him in confusion. Braison's face was free of any emotions whatsoever as he dropped a piece of bread into the toaster but Nick could feel an unpleasant vibe radiating off of him.
Nick's mind wandered in the silence that had quite suddenly filled the room, and settled on the events of the previous night. How was it possible that Billy had passed away, yet none of Nick's family had been notified? All along Nick thought they were all still family friends, but he had been utterly mistaken. Sure, he wasn't expecting a Christmas card on the holidays from the Stewarts or anything, but he was expecting to hear if something important had happened to them!
"...And then he was all, 'okay Taylor, whatever.' And I was like 'excuse me?'" A feminine voice drifted from the top of the stairs, and Nick groaned inwardly. The girls were approaching. He mentally cursed himself for being an early riser, since he had been dreading this conversation. The previous night, he had been expecting a warm welcome from Miley especially, but all he had gotten was a sarcastic remark before she took off. He was Nick Grey for crying out loud! Shouldn't the girls be falling all over him?
"Don't worry about him Tay, he's a jerk." Miley's voice floated through the silence of the kitchen, and Nick's stomach clenched. Just a few more seconds and they were going to walk through the door…
"Morning Brais." Miley chimed at her younger brother happily as she entered the room, before glancing around the kitchen and seeing Nick. He had a small grin plastered on his face that made Miley immediately roll her eyes.
"Morning Miles." Braison greeted his sister warmly, before grabbing his toast and exiting the room. Taylor's eyes were watching Nick curiously. From the look on his face, Taylor thought it looked like Nick was staring at Miley as if she was a math equation he was unable to solve.
In fact, Nick was thinking about how much Miley had changed since the last time he saw her. Her mess of brown tangles that she had worn proudly as a child were now perfect ringlets cascading to the middle of her back. Her teeth were perfectly straight, which meant the braces she had been sporting had served their purpose. She had gotten thinner, with curves is all the right places which made up a figure that could stop traffic on the freeway.
"What are you doing up so early?" Taylor mustered up the courage to say through the awkward silence. Miley fumbled with the cereal box in her hands and Nick looked thoroughly surprised that she was talking to him.
"Early riser. We're usually up early for interviews and things, so I guess it's routine." Nick hinted. Taylor just nodded politely, which caused a look of confusion to spread rapidly across Nick's face. Did she not recognise him? Why wasn't she asking for his autograph or screaming about how much she loved The Grey Brothers? He licked his lips and tried again,
"I don't think I introduced myself properly. I'm-"
"Nick Grey, international rockstar. Yes, I know. I'm Taylor Smith." Flipping her blonde curls, she walked over to where Miley was silently hovering over the counter, watching their strange exchange. She grabbed the bowl of cereal Miley had poured for her before she looked back up at Nick.
"And for the record," Taylor finally concluded with an unmistakeable glint in her eyes, "I'm not a fan."
I know this story seems boring right now, beginnings usually are. It won't be forever, I promise haha.
Thank you sooooo much to everyone who reviewed! Reviews make me smile :)
