A/N: Welcome back and thank you for wanting to read the third instalment, haha. I am literally writing this after posting the second chapter, so I'm still feeding of the review high. Hopefully it will be just as good. Anyways, some might comment on how they think Joe was acting out of character in the previous chapter, but I just want to say that I honestly think that there is more to him than just being the cute funny one, although he really is. I think I'm obsessed with stepping out of what's normally thought of, but I hope it's with good results. Anyways, thanks again for reading, and know that your reviews make me happy.
DISCLAIMER: This work is pure FICTION as I am not in any way connected with Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers regardless of how much I wish to be. I am not getting any profit, so please don't report me.
The Other Side
CHAPTER THREE
: Disney Studios, J. O. N. A. S. Set :
The crew and the rest of the members of the cast were already wrapping up their day of taping by the time Joe Jonas got back to their set. Not seeing his brothers among the dozen or so people still milling around, he made his way to their shared dressing room, still unsure whether he should tell him where he had just spent the rest of his afternoon, much less what he had witnessed with Miley, the girl who had become so close to their entire family.
Sure enough, as soon as he had opened the door to the room, he was greeted by his brothers' loud laughter at something their youngest brother, Frankie, had said. Looking up and seeing Joe standing by the door, they composed themselves enough to greet him.
"Hey, Bro. Where've you been all this time? You just missed Frankie's incredible impersonation of Uncle Dave," Kevin said to his younger brother as Joe gave his mother, who was seated on the far couch, a kiss on the cheek.
"Yeah, Joe," piped Nick from the dresser chair. "Were you able to get any fresh air at all with your 'friend'?" Kevin and Nick shared a look before smirking and raising their eyebrows at their brother.
Deciding that now probably wasn't a good time to tell them that he was with Miley, as everybody was enjoying their rare time together, he settled for giving them a mischievous grin, saying "Maybe.'
The three older Jonas brothers laughed together at this while Frankie looked at them confused and their parents just smiled at the closeness that the three shared, somewhat thankful that all of them had decided to laugh at it instead of arguing about it. Then again, there really was no way of telling with the three brothers. They loved each other and would defend one another, but at the same time, one wrong comment could spark an all-out war amongst them.
Frankie couldn't take not being able to join in his older siblings' laughter and decided to launch himself onto the standing Joe, causing both of them to fall backwards into the couch that their mother was already occupying. This only caused them all to laugh harder, even as Denise Jonas pretended to look disgruntled at almost being crushed by the antics of her sons.
After a while though, Kevin Sr. looked at his watch and decided that it was time to break up the party. "All right, boys. We should get going. The three of you," pointing at Nick, Joe and Kevin, who had somehow all wound up sitting on the floor. "Still have a short interview to do."
"And while you boys do that, Frankie and I should also get some shopping done, if any of us want to eat dinner," the boys' mother spoke up, already beginning to gather up her purse and coat from the coffee table.
"Aww, Mom," Frankie began to say with a pout directed at his mother. "Can't I go with them?"
"I'm sorry, baby, but that just isn't a place for a little boy."
"I'm not that little anymore. I'm 8 years old!"
"Don't worry about it, little bro," Nick said laughingly, ruffling Frankie's already long hair. "You're not missing anything. If we had a choice, we wouldn't go either."
Slightly comforted by this, the youngest Jonas allowed his mother to hand him his jacket while the rest of the family got ready to leave too. The following minutes were spent grabbing jackets, packing instruments and searching for lost clothing items. The goodbyes were no less chaotic as the older boys, walking awkwardly with their bags and guitar cases, each kissed their mother goodbye and gave Frankie a hug while the Jonas parents also bade each other farewell. Finally, minutes more later, the boys along with their father were settled comfortably into their van, with their luggage secured at the back, and they made their way to a small restaurant downtown where their interview was going to be.
Taking advantage of the quiet car ride, Joe thought back on his earlier conversation with Miley, and how despite her reassurances, he still found himself worrying about her. He was especially troubled at how much all the controversy seemed to be affecting the younger girl, remembering her sober tone when she had mentioned the media. 'It's really not fair to her,' Joe said to himself. 'She's already been through a lot this past couple of months.'
FLASHBACK
Long before the tour had even started, Billy Ray Cyrus, along with Miley, and Kevin Jonas Sr., together with his three sons, decided it would be a good idea to get together and to plan their performances. Having already finalized the dates and locations, the adults wanted to involve the teenagers into the logistics discussion, hoping to get input on what they could do to fully entertain the concertgoers. Many suggestions were thrown out, from sensible ones like pyrotechnics and acrobatic stunts (from Kevin and Nick), to the slightly less feasible ones like falling on stage from a helicopter (mostly from Joe).
There was an easy camaraderie in the group, and they enjoyed bantering and throwing wacky ideas around. Anyone who had walked into that room would instantly notice the closeness that the teens shared, but most especially the one between the two youngest members of the party who were sitting right next to each other. Every time Nick agreed to one of Miley's ideas, she would give him a shy smile in appreciation, something that did not go unnoticed by Kevin and Joe. It did not take long before the elder Jonas boys were already teasing the two of them, occasionally pushing Nick closer to Miley, while the former flashed an apologetic grin at the latter, apologizing for his brothers' silliness. Miley could only blush.
Soon though, their playful conversation was cut by Billy Ray's authoritative tone. "Anyways, there was another thing I wanted to ask you boys about." Miley glanced at her father, unaware that there were any other issues that they needed to talk about. "You see," he continued, disregarding his daughter's inquisitive gaze. "Miley here is hypoglycemic. Not that she won't be able to perform when she has to, it's just that she may not be able to perform as much as she needs to.'
"It's really nothing to worry about," Miley said, attempting to cut off her father, but silenced with one look from him. She knew he was just really worried that something may happen to her on the tour.
"She might say that, but her doctors tell me differently. Anyways, I was wondering if we could add some time for her in between breaks. I mean, just enough for her to be able to take some thing to keep her from getting sick."
Miley was really embarrassed to bring this up. She knew that Nick had diabetes and wasn't asking for any special treatment, and she wanted to not to as well, but she couldn't deny that there were some incidents that scared even her. She subconsciously fingered the medical tags underneath her shirt, not knowing that Nick was looking at her, and when she caught him looking at her, he smiled sheepishly at her, touching his own medical tag in understanding. She beamed at his quiet reassurance but was brought out of her reverie when Joe suddenly started babbling about two Hannahs/Mileys.
The Jonas men were really understanding of her predicament, and were genuinely concerned after their co-star's wellbeing. After some careful thought and discussion, they had all agreed that there was merit to Joe's suggestion, and the teens jokingly congratulated him for coming up with something they could use. Miley was still a bit nervous about making somebody else act like her.
"But Daddy, wouldn't they be able to tell that it's not me?" she asked, genuinely fearful. It was unsettling to her that she would have to fool her fans.
"Don't worry about it, Miles," Joe said, fondly using her nickname. "Your fans are mostly female, right?"
"Um, yeah, but what does that have to do with it?"
"Well, hello? I'll be on stage with you most of the time, and I bet they won't even notice that you're gone, much less that you're not exactly you.' Joe kidded, but everyone could see that he honestly wanted to help.
Kevin smiled at his brother's thoughtfulness amidst his arrogance. "Seriously though Miley, Joe is right. Whoa, never thought I'd say that." All of them laughed, even Joe who wanted to pretend to be hurt, but unable to do so. "The performance is not as important as you, and you need to remember that."
"Yeah, Miles," piped Nick. "It's not that big of a deal. If you need anything, I-er, we, will do anything we can do to help." The youngest boy blushed at his slip-up which only deepened when Miley gently touched his arm.
"Thank you, Nick; and you too, Kevin and Joe. This really means a lot to me." She said with a smile at all the Jonas boys.
Joe and Kevin shared a knowing look unbeknownst to Nick and Miley. After that, the rest of the meeting went smoothly, and before any of them knew it, it was time for them to say goodbye, albeit reluctantly.
Miley shook the hand of Kevin Sr., saying "Thank you very much, Mr. Jonas. It was a pleasure meeting you." After he said goodbye, she turned to his sons, giving each of them a shy hug, blushing furiously when it came to Nick. She pulled away quickly and heard his mumbled goodbye even with Kevin and Joe saying dramatic farewells in the background. It was still minutes after that when they were finally able to part ways.
END FLASHBACK
Joe smiled to himself at the memory. Even back then, the four of them were an extremely tight-knit bunch. So much so that during concerts, when it came to the part of the program where they had to implement the plan that they had carefully mapped out, it was like they could read each others' minds.
FLASHBACK
It was already their first week into the tour, and despite having performed for a couple of key cities with big crowds already, Miley and the Jonas Brothers still felt that rush of every performance. Pumped by the cheers of the crowd, all of them couldn't care less of how tired they were, and kept dancing to the music like mad.
On one particular night, things were crazier than even their usual hyper performance. Miley was in the zone, and everybody could see that she was really giving everything she had into every number. Unfortunately though, it made her tired a lot faster, but she chose to ignore it when she heard the familiar strains of Kevin's guitar playing the opening chords to 'We Got the Party'.
To the people who were only watching her for the first time that night, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. The fans were screaming so loud and bumping against each other to really pay attention to every little detail, and to them, they only saw Hannah Montana jump in time to the music, singing the lyrics while enticing the crowd to join her. To Nick, Joe and Kevin, however, she appeared to be really struggling. They could hear her pant against the microphone a lot more than if it were just her regular breathing and noted that she wasn't able to keep in time with the dancers' choreographed moves as much.
As Miley walked along the catwalk with Nick, Kevin and Joe looked at each other worriedly, mentally asking one another if they shared the same concerns. Giving a small nod at his brother, Kevin played his guitar louder, going into an unplanned riff just in time for the younger teenagers' walk back to the main stage. Joe energetically bounced to meet the two of them, catching Nick's eye before tilting his head in Kevin's direction. Nick got the message and joined his oldest brother in his impromptu guitar solo, making sure that the crowd was looking at them instead of at the middle of the stage.
Meanwhile, Joe gently touched Miley's elbow and dance-guided her to the back portion of the platform where her studded microphone stand was. He gave her an encouraging look and briefly caught the look of understanding and gratitude that flashed across her face before joining his brothers to finish the song. Her exit was earlier than planned, so Kevin, Joe and Nick found themselves improvising a lot before they were able to go offstage to check on Miley, where she greeted each of them with a grateful hug.
END FLASHBACK
"Joe!" Nick was shaking his older brother's shoulder, hoping to break him out of the daze he was seemingly in. "We're here already. You have to get ready."
Startled out of his daydreaming, Joe had to pause before fully comprehending what was being said to him. "Oh, right. The interview. Give me a minute." Giving himself a look at the mirror and running a hand through his long hair, he felt satisfied and quickly stepped out of the van to where his brothers were already waiting for him. Nick had begun walking with their father towards the entrance, but Kevin looked at Joe, as if trying to figure out what was going on with him. He made a mental note to ask his younger brother about it later when they got home.
: Restaurant Conference Room :
Kevin, Nick and Joe used to make fun of all the girly magazines and all the boy bands that they used to feature with matching hotness ratings. They would have never expected that one day, they would soon be appearing on the pages of the said magazines as one of the hottest acts there are. It was times like this that made their entire experience surreal, especially as they thought back on when they would just goof around in their garage.
The reporter that the magazine had sent to interview them was a nice enough blonde woman who appeared to be in her twenties. Old enough to be able to work such an important job, but apparently still young enough to get all giggly with a single look at the Jonas Brothers.
Partly because of her slightly star-struck attitude, the interview got to a slow start, with her asking the boys what their favorites were and how it was to be in a band with your brothers. Soon though, they were able to get into the groove of the interview and they were able to talk about dealing with sibling rivalry and the pitfalls of being a teenager in show business.
"So, lately, there has been a lot of talk going around about Miley Cyrus," the writer began, just as they thought that their interview was winding down. "You guys were able to go on tour with her, and Nick was even rumored to having dated her, what can you say about this?"
Before Nick could even deny dating Miley, Joe piped up. "You know what, we're real good friends with Miley, and we love her to death." The youngest Jonas was surprised by his brother's outburst as both of them usually left him to field any questions about her. Sensing the uneasiness in the room, Kevin Sr. thanked the interviewer, telling them that they were done for the day, as the boys had already had a long day with their taping. If the reporter was disappointed at having been cut off before getting Nick's comment, she did not show it, and instead shook Mr. Jonas' hand and said goodbye to each of the boys individually. She even asked the boys for their autograph, which they gladly gave her, thankful to finally be going home.
On their way back to the car, Nick saw the opportunity to ask Joe about what had just happened. "What was that? You didn't even let me speak."
"I just wanted to let her know that Miley's our friend, and if she expected to get any dirt on her from us, she had another thing coming," Joe said, truthfully. The day's events were still weighing heavily on his mind and, much like their earlier promise to Miley, he still wanted to do anything he could to help.
: Cyrus Home, A Few Days Later :
Miley was seated at the kitchen counter eating her breakfast while at the same time perusing the contents of the newspaper. She had seen something relating to the Jonas Brothers' interview online and wanted to read if it was true. Sure enough, right there on the entertainment page, right next to the smiling faces of Kevin, Nick and Joe, there was the comment that Joe made about her, made slightly bigger than the rest and in bold lettering.
The fifteen-year old felt a sudden rush of affection for Joe. It wasn't everyday that she was able to read anything positive about herself on the papers these days, much less comments supporting her, and she resisted the urge to have her dad drive her over to the Jonas house so she could give the Joe a big hug to say thank you.
On the other hand, she also felt a sense of disappointment that it was Joe, and not Nick, that had stood up for her. She had wished that he finally understood what it was that she had needed from him during the time that they were together. 'Stop it, Miley,' she thought to herself. 'If he didn't do it when you were still together and supposedly in love, I don't think he's going to do it now, after you broke up with him'. She shook her head roughly, as if shaking those thoughts out of her brain as well. Instead, she decided, she should just give Joe a call. She reached for the phone that was placed on the other side of the counter, and dialled a number she knew by heart.
: Jonas Residence :
RING
"That's so unfair. Frankie's the youngest. He's supposed to be the one to answer the phone, not me." Nick protested, but nonetheless making his way to the ringing phone mounted on the wall. Having no taping scheduled for that day, the Jonas boys were just hanging out at home and watching television, something they never got enough time to do. However, Joe was over at a friends, so at present, Frankie and Kevin were the ones snickering after having gotten their brother to stand up instead of themselves.
RING
"I already explained it you, little brother. If we made Frankie get it, he would have to drag a chair to the wall to be able to reach the phone, and that could possibly take a long time, at which point, the caller on the other end will have put the phone down, which you are now in danger of, if you don't answer it now," Kevin said from his spot on the living room couch.
"You'll pay, for this Kevin. Mark my words! Hello good afternoon, Jonas Residence." Nick said, after picking up on the phone's fifth ring.
"Hello, may I please speak with Joe?" The female voice on the other line said. Nick froze. It wasn't just any voice, but one he knew well.
"Miley?!" He was finally able to blurt out.
"N-n-nick?" Miley's voice said nervously on the other end.
"Um, Joe's not here." He replied awkwardly. "I could take a message though!" Nick added, although louder than he had meant it to be, but he found himself longing to extend their conversation, if you could call it that.
"Erm, no, thank you. I'll just call him on his cell phone. Bye." She said all of this in a rush, wanting to end this phone call as fast as she could.
"Miley, wait!" Nick almost yelled into the phone, not wanting to let go just yet. By this time, he had walked out into their patio, away from Kevin and Frankie. He held his breath, almost a hundred percent sure she was going to slam the phone down on him. Not hearing the dial tone, he took this as a good sign and continued. "How've you been?"
"I'm fine."
"That's good to hear." He stopped, willing her to say anything. When she didn't, he gave a dejected sigh. "Well, I just wanted to know how you were, and now that I know you're okay…" He trailed off, hoping she would say something, but was still disappointed. "What happened to us, Miles?" He could almost hear her cringe at his use of the affectionate nickname.
"I don't know, Nick. I honestly don't know."
He heard the gentle click of the other line soon replaced by the loud and irritating dial tone. He stayed out on the patio, staring at the phone silently until Kevin called him inside an hour later.
END CHAPTER THREE
A/N: This is officially the longest chapter I have ever written. I made it in like five hours, all because of your reviews, haha. That would also explain why I wasn't able to proofread this chapter as intensely as the others, so I'm sorry for any mistakes and typos. I wanted to end it earlier, but I promised some people that I would definitely put some Niley, so here you go. There are still some Moe bits, so I hope most of you are happy, haha. I think you can all see what it was that Nick did, and I hope I'm making up for the simple plot with the lengthy explanation.
Bad news is, I'm still reconciling what I'm going to do for the future chapters, so the next update may not be as fast as the previous ones. I'm uploading this on the same day as Chapter 2, after all. To add to all that, I'm actually going to have to enrol in school, and I might not get enough computer time, so I hope this will do until the time I can update. Please give me comments and suggestions. I promise they help a lot. And please, please, review! I really get encouraged by your reviews, so thank you. I hope you keep on reading.
