Author's Note: It's my birthday today, May 3rd! I'm turning 15! :D Any birthday greeting there? HAHA. Anyway, here is where some Niley stuff happens. Miley would try to figure out what just happened to Nick. But I'll explain sooner or later why that just happened. Kay, stop with the babbling now. Enjoy this long (kinda) chapter. ;) Thank you for the reviews!

Chapter Four

I ran back outside, panicking. He has his fingers on his temples and he was gripping onto the railings as I knelt beside him. The rush of the wind ran through my hair as I reached for his arms.

"Nick. Oh my god, what's wrong?" I said, my face full with worry.

"N-Nothing... just give me a moment." his was grunting, breathing deeply and his eyes are shut tight. He's in so much pain.

"What happened?" I helped him sit on the tiled floor. He exhaled, then gasped for air, shaking his head a little. I caressed his back.

"My head is just throbbing, really bad. Ugh. Oh my god." grunting again, I started to really panic.

"I'll go get your mom." I said, standing up. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me down.

"No. Miley, don't. I'm okay." he whispered loudly and blinked his eyes hard.

"Hell. You don't look okay." I whispered back and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Just, don't tell Mom. Please." he pleaded his eyes still tightly shut. He rested his head against the railings, the pain is slowly fading because his face was starting to relax.

"You could've died." I exclaimed, and I still wanted to go get his Mom.

"It's just... a headache. A really bad one. I won't die, Miley." he let out a long breath and finally open his eyes. He breathed deeply trying to relax. "God."

"Jesus, Nick. But still.. you could've." I exhaled. I felt like I've been holding my breath the whole time. "Are you okay now? You sure you don't want me to get your Aunt D?"

"No, no need. I'm fine. And.. Yeah, a little better." he nodded, and looked down at our hands. He was still holding it tightly, after a moment he released it.

"Is that the kind of falling you do? Because, that was crazy." I tried to lighten up the situation, to calm ourselves.

"Most of it." he laughed a little. I drew my hand back from his shoulder and sat next to him. I didn't want to leave him yet. He might have another fit.

"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked, still concerned.

"Yes, Miley. I'm fine. Just a little tired." he rested his head against my shoulder, I didn't mind. It felt nice having someone lean against your shoulder. And if something like that happened to me, I would probably need comforting like this.

"Why did that happen?" I asked in a low voice and tucked my knees in, wrapping my arms around them. I saw the lonely moon above us. The night sky was beautiful, except the fact that ten seconds ago he was in so much pain.

"Overdose, maybe." he said.

"Overdose? Of what?" I looked at him, surprised. What was he taking? Does his Mom know? What the fuck?

"Nothing. I'm fine. Never mind what I said." he replied.

That was not something to be ignored. He was taking something. Something was wrong, I could feel it. I looked at Nick breathe and I gave him a confused look, trying to figure out why or how that just happened. We heard the door slide and we saw my Mom. Nick pulled his head away from my shoulder and casually crossed his arms over his chest then held his chin. We both stiffened from her suspicious stare.

"Oh hey, guys." she greeted with a smile.

"We're just talking, Mom." I said.

"That's.. good. So, uh, Miley can I speak to you for just a bit?" she said as she motioned for me to come with her. I took a glance at Nick, then back to Mom.

"Sure." I said, as I gave Nick a pat on the thigh and stood up. My mom closed the door behind her.

"What was that?" she started.

"We were just talking."

"Looked more than that." she shot me a look, I sighed.

"Mom.. we were just, catching up." I shrugged.

"Okay. Why were you on the floor?"

"Oh, uh, I tripped." I'm a terrible liar.

"What? On a balcony?" she didn't buy it, I tried to shake off the idea. I wanted to check on Nick again. Maybe I should really tell. That could've been something serious.

"Yeah. But I'm fine." I glanced at the glass door, Nick wasn't sitting anymore, he leaned over the rails and was staring out to the village like nothing happened.

"Huh. Now, why won't we go and help Denise with dinner?"

"I was about to offer that to Nick when you came out." I lied.

"Has he been nice?"

"Oh, yeah. Kinda." I nodded. Well, he did compliment me about my hair and my boobs. Kind of.

"Kinda?" she gave me a look.

"Yes. He's nice. Mom, we grew up. I think he's grown into his senses."

"Told you."

We go down but mom had to pee so I continued to climb down stairs, and go to the kitchen where I saw Denise, preparing dinner in their huge hotel-like kitchen. Everything is clean and organized. White lights, beige painted walls with vintage patterns on the lower part of it, a shinny wooden cupboard above the sink, the oven with a stove, and a dishwasher. A long wooden counter was on the center of everything in that room, that's where she does all the cutting, slicing and mixing. A huge refrigerator on the east side of the long cabinet. Everything in that room described this family that they're definitely wealthy.

"Whoa. Awesome place you got here, Aunt Denise. This room is beautiful, and it's only the kitchen." I told her. She laughed as she wiped her hands on her white apron.

"Thank you Miley. I try my best keeping this place clean." she said as she looked around a little. "This is one of my favorite parts in the house. Number one would be the balcony, have you seen it?"

"Yes, I did. But then, Mom called me so I'll try to see it tomorrow."

"So, Brown huh? That's really good. What made you choose Brown?"

"I love to write. And read a lot. So, I decided I want to learn more about it so, I chose Brown. And the cool thing is that I got in."

"Oh that's wonderful."

"How about Nick?" I got curious.

"Oh, he's still thinking about it. You know how boys can be about college." As usual.

"Right. So, what can I do to help?" I asked politely.

"Well, thanks for offering dear. The plates, can you set them up? The table is all set, except that. And I'm just finishing these beans up." she instructed sweetly.

"Easy peasy." I said and smiled, she laughed.

"Oh I missed you dear. It's been a long time since a girl came inside this house." Are there even any other girls? Does Nick take some girls home? I shook the thought away and smiled at her.

"Missed you too Aunt D." I replied as I nodded. I took a pile of white plates and walked through a door and found out it was the way to the backyard. My eyebrows knit together. Okay? Where's the dining room?

"The other door, over here sweetheart." I heard Denise say with a sizzling sound in the background. She's cooking something. The view of their backyard caught my eyes. It was beautiful, the grass was cut neatly, there's a small fountain by the bushes, and there's a wooden swing, it looked sort of like a bench but it doesn't have any legs and it's swinging two feet above the ground. and it was facing the moon tonight. The swing was old, dull but I find it beautiful. I remembered I was lifting a pile of heavy plates. I walked back inside with a small smile, Denise seemed to notice as she looked at me, I feel like she's laughing inside.

"Right. Thanks." I went through another door, finally, the dining room.

The dining room is elegant, like a four star restaurant. Classy, very classy. In here, you could see a way to the living room, a way to their back porch, also is a part of the back yard, and a way to reach the front door. The table was shorter than I expected, a rectangular shape with a total of six seats around it. There's a chandelier in the middle of the ceiling the lighting is soothing, soft orange and white. I took a deep breath, vanilla, my favorite. There were already napkins on the table and a beautiful flowers on a vase at the middle. I placed the white plates on each seat and returned the extra ones in the kitchen.

Dinner. Aunt D made chicken breasts, with white beans and a sauce that tastes amazing. And we have a vegetable salad as a side dish. We've been talking about why Mr. Grey isn't home since he'll be working for a few months in Toronto. He's a lawyer, and Denise is a therapist too, like Mom... only, she's richer. She owns a few clinics with a few other branches around NJ. So, Uncle Paul and Aunt Denise met back in their college, took time to finish their majors and then came back to each other's arms after they passed. They got married, lived in our town in California for a couple of months and they made Nick. After a few years, Nick was 8 when they moved here, in New Jersey, which is Paul's hometown. Awesome story, huh? My parent's struggles are a lot harder than Nick's parents. I mean, Mom and Dad weren't rich when they met each other, they had to work their butts off just to make Trace and Brandi live with full stomachs and smiles on their faces. Lucky when I was born they already worked everything out to make my life much more satisfying. I have to thank Trace, Brandy, Mom and Dad for that. We also talked about Trace that now works with his band and they have recordings and a tour around the country. He took me to one recording studio once, and I have to admit they sound awesome. Brandi on the other hand is on tour with one of Daddy's friends, and they used to write songs together.

Nick was quiet the whole conversation, I don't know if he's worried I'd tell them what happened earlier. He was avoiding my gaze too. I wanted to tell him his secret was safe but obviously, I couldn't.

"So how do you like the first few hours of staying?" I looked up and saw all of their faces waiting for me to answer even Nick looked eager to know.

"Oh, I love it here. Very welcoming. And the food is amazing." I said as I locked my eyes to Nick. His lips broke into a small smile but his eyes was darted back on his food. I got annoyed with it, he wasn't speaking at all. Like, nothing happened earlier.

"That's great, we've been really trying to get a first good impression. Right, Nick?" she shoots Nick a look and he simply nodded.

It's 10:46 pm on the clock that's sitting on the nightstand. Lights out and I'm lying on my back on my new bed. Everything's new. I thought I would get used to this in a snap, but no, it doesn't really happen that easy. I sigh as I look around the dark room. A little moonlight shines through the window above my bed, it's the only thing that gives light in this room. I have to admit the thought of going back to Cali came to my mind a couple of times... do all the plans me and my friends made, stay up late as I can, get drunk even if I'm not allowed to yet, laugh my lungs out with Lily and Alex, spend some quality time with Dad, I wanted to go back so bad. As much as I wanted it though, there's something stopping me. Like a sense of adventure, a new experience that might be interesting..thrilling maybe. We traveled a lot, but only for a short time and then go back home and do normal things again. Now.. I'm staying for an entire two months. A lot could happen in two months. I just wish those will be the good ones.

After dinner, we didn't speak a word to each other except 'good night' plus an awkward smile. He was strangely quiet, I wanna know why, I want to know every little bit that going through his mind. I decided to write my day down, not for a diary, just a random few thoughts. I do it all the time whenever I feel like speaking my mind. I took out my usual hardbound notebook and a pen. I started to scribble down a few statements.

10 hour flight. I miss dad. And friends. I want to have fun already. So tired. I hate plane rides... it makes me sick. In Princeton New Jersey. They're rich. Won't deny that I kinda missed them. Mom is completely excited, I could still hear her talking to Aunt D downstairs and her laughs. She's so happy. I should be too. Nick is strange. Not what I expected, he's nicer than I thought. Beautiful photographs hanging on the wall. A weird spazz attack. He leaned on my shoulder. I wanted to talk to him yet he was silent over dinner. Weird. Different. New. Change. Fuck the first 3 and a half hours. A lot happened. Now, two months? What the hell do you think might happen then?

I put the pen down and closed the notebook. I hopped into bed. I closed my eyes and try to get to sleep. It doesn't work. I stare up the ceiling and think about Dad. How is he back there? Is he thinking about me too? I took a deep breath and let it all out slowly. Okay.. close your eyes again, Miley. I turn to my side and I fall asleep.

I woke up, and look at the at the clock and it's only 6. I stretch and pull the covers up to my head and try to go back to sleep. But my body is telling me to get up and go for a run. I sit up, I am feeling restful today, I wanted to go for a jog. So, I throw the covers of my legs, stand up beside the bed and fix it. I do a little stretching and hop in the shower, the drops of the warm water forms tingles around my body, I liked it. I didn't shower, shower. I just wanted to get the bed numbness out of my body and then I'll go shower after I jog. I rubbed myself dry with a towel and step out of the bathroom, gargled some water and spit out the sink, I opened my luggage and took a sports bra, a tank top and mini shorts. I pop my Nike sneakers, pull my hair back, leaving my bangs on my face and brush them off neatly to a side. I step out of the room and saw Nick just opened his door. He wasn't wearing any shirt on, only a blue cotton shorts that reaches the top of his knees. I felt a little awkward wearing these kind of shorts, after he saw me with only a towel wrapped around my body.

"Morning." I say awkwardly.

"Why are you up this early?" he said with his eyes narrowed as always and he rubs one of them with his hand.

"For a jog. I do it. Back at home. Why are you?" I said as stand on my heels, then my toes, making me rock back and forth.

"Heard your really loud footsteps. Can I come with?" he asked and shook his hair with his fingers.

"Well first, that was a really great morning greeting." I said sarcastically and he smiled. "But sure, if you want to, I mean if you don't want to then I'll just.. go, ahead." I said, answering his question.

"I'll come. You know, so we could talk more." I looked up at him, surprised. "It's just.. I'll go get some new clothes on." he said as he disappears back to his room.

"Make it quick." I said as I put a couple of strands of hair behind my ear. Before I knew it, he's back out again in a new pair of navy blue shorts, a white V-neck shirt, and a pair of sneakers. He smells like mouthwash, I think he gargled a mouthful real quick and come back out here. I shake my head and walked on first down the stairs to the front door. It's locked. I turned to look at Nick.

"Oh, right." he took out the keys from his left pocket and opened the door. He opened it widely so I could go out first, and I gladly take his offer and step out of the house first. The air was still cool, the sun was shining but it's not as hot like in Beverly Hills. The ground is a bit moist but it seems to dry up quickly since it's summer. I ran as soon as I was on the sidewalk, then I just noticed, this place is beautiful. Grass everywhere, clear air, trees and bushes, gardens, yards, everything green. Nick was already beside me when we reached the next house.

"Hey." he greeted, his hair bouncing with him as he jogs. I awkwardly put on a smile but I focused on the way where we're jogging.

"Hi." I replied.

"So, do you jog everyday?" he said, panting. We're already on the next block. I'm running already, not jogging and he follows.

"Not really. My body tells me when I want to or not." I was already panting, my thighs are starting to throb when we reach the next few blocks. We didn't say anything after that and passed a couple more blocks. I hear Nick chuckle and I looked back at him."What?"

"Do you even know where we're going?"

"Excellent question, Nicholas. But I have a tour guide right beside me, haven't I?"

"Touché." he answered as he laughed. "You're quite a talker aren't you?"

"Oh, you know, I do a lot of chit chats with friends in school. Do you do this often? Jog?"

"Quite. I'm on the baseball team." he answered.

"Huh, sporty."

"Thanks." he replied, catching his breath.

"A lot of things changed. Don't you think?" I realized as we jogged on the streets.

"Yeah, I know. I didn't even think you could jog." he gave me a look and laughed.

"Ouch, hurtful. Well if I may say, I made it into the girls volleyball varsity team." I raised an eyebrow at him and grinned. He didn't seem to buy it and held his head back with this really annoying look.

"Made? That's in past tense." he said, as he knitted his brows together.

"Yeah, well.. they kicked me out." I shrugged.

"Why?" he chuckled.

"Because I suck." I gave him a sly smile.

"No surprise." I nudged him with my elbow and we both laughed. "Then why did they let you on the team anyway?"

"Long story."

"Hey, we have all morning and an entire village to run around in." he spread his arms out and then dropped them. I gave him a look, so did he. I gave up.

"Fine. I was great during training. But when my first game was on, I got too anxious and barfed on the floor. Sent a teammate sliding down, and we lost. Did I mention she broke her ankle?"

"Yikes. That's not usually how a person gets kicked out of a team."

"Yeah well, I'm pretty unusual."

Our conversation didn't last long, we ran around after that in silence. Taking in the fresh air, the summer sun and the features on Nick's backside. He offered to go before me so we wouldn't get lost. I agreed to follow him and can't help but stare at his body structure. He jogged smoothly, like he's been doing it forever. Drops of sweat shined from the back of his arms and neck. His arms weren't soggy and limp and thin, it was just right, not to muscular. His shirt was soaked in sweat, revealing the arcs of his back. I wanted him to strip off the shirt and stop teasing me. Only he wasn't, I just wanted him to. He looked back to check and see if I was still following, I'd look down so he wouldn't notice I was staring.

He stopped in an empty playground, it took me a few more seconds than usual to realize this was the old metal swing set in his photos. It looked like an ordinary children's playground from my point of view right now, but in the photograph, it looked more serene.

"Why are we here?" I asked, putting my hands on my waist and continued to walk next to Nick.

"To rest, aren't you tired?"

"Just a tad." I answered panting, taking in deep breaths and walked slowly around so that I won't get dizzy. I get dizzy when I sit down. I am dripping with sweat and so is Nick. He stripped off his shirt and wiped it across his face. I couldn't help but stare. Nick's small abs shines in the morning light as he sits down in one of the swing seat.

"So, this is the place."

"Place what?"

"The swing in one of your photos."

"You noticed."

"Yeah. Cool." I sat next to him in one of the swings.

"All it takes is a really expensive camera."

"That's a lie."

"But, the camera is still one of the greatest factor of a good photograph."

"Not if the place means something to you, or to the person who'll look at it."

"Why thank you Miey, for enlightening me with that thought." he said sarcastically.

"A pleasure to enlighten you Nick, especially if it makes me sound even smarter." he laughed with that statement. The cool morning breeze pierces through my sweaty body. I shiver a little getting goosebumps in my arms. I laughed, remembering the times when Nick was just the worst jerk ever. He looked at me as if I'm mad. "Did you know you were my worst nightmare?"

"No. I was?"

"Yeah. You were the most obnoxious annoying selfish pathetic jerk I've ever known."

"Ouch."

"You were. Really." I nodded at him

"And you were the most annoyingly cute kid I've ever known, with really weak eye-hand coordination, maybe even eye-feet coordination." he laughed looking into the playground. I noticed something odd about that insult.

"Wait, what?"

"You were." he glanced at me than back to gazing at the empty slides.

"You said 'annoyingly cute'." I knitted my eyebrows together.

"Yeah. Well, you know how kids are." he shrugged.

"You teased me every day during spring break." I poked his arm.

"Well, I apologize. You're just fun to tease then." he looked at me and grinned.

"You took Beary's head off... with your bare hands." I remembered and pointed at him.

"It sat on my sandcastle." he reasoned out, narrowing his eyes.

"He wanted to be King! And it's not like it made any difference, your sandcastle sucked." I raised an eyebrow and giggled.

"No it did not." he defended, his eyebrows are now tightly knitted together across his forehead out of disbelief. It made me laugh that he'd defend that stupid castle.

"Yes it absolutely did." I snapped. We both look at each other for a moment and laughed.

"I wasn't exactly always the mean one. You drank all my juice boxes." he started.

"You ate all my cookies." I said back, laughing. I tried to keep my fake glare and pout, but it doesn't work. I laugh.

"You blew on my house of cards. Which took me 2 hours to finish."

"You tugged on my pigtails. Which I made myself for the first time ever."

"You spilled paint all over my church pants. I got into so much trouble for that."

"You pushed me on a puddle and it soiled my dress."

"You cried then." he laughed. I couldn't help giggling and smiling the entire conversation.

"You made my spring break miserable." I said, shaking my head.

"And you made mine really funny." he chuckled and nodded.

"I hate you." I gave him a fake glare and burst out laughing.

"Hate you right back." he laughs with me and pinches my nose. He's been doing that forever, I kinda missed it.

"What's the matter with you." I giggled as I tapped it away and pinched his nose harder.

"Ow, hey!" he chuckled, taking my hand off of it. I try to grab it again but he grabs my wrists and stops me. We burst out laughing.

He has a sense of humor I didn't even know about. We talked like it was something we've done for years, when really we've been avoiding each other to avoid a fight. I know him as the worst kid I've ever met, now that label could be erased out of my head. I feel comfortable around him, maybe at first I wasn't, but after that forehead on the door incident, it's like we're best friends. But I don't want to push myself to Nick. We've had our downs, and it was a lot. Maybe this summer, we'll be having more of the ups.

"C'mon, let's go back." he offered, folding his shirt.

"Can we walk this time?" I asked sweetly, the words almost came out as a whisper. He looked at me for a second, confused or happy, whatever it was.. he liked the idea.

"Sure." he answered as we both stood up, smiling.

Author's Note: Okay, I suck at making these fast. Not much drama, soon there will be. I had to tell that, just to keep your heads up. So, yeah. This is kind of a fluff. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME. :) Has anybody watched Miley's Gypsy Heart Tour performances? Wish me luck in getting a ticket, and if you're good at negotiating.. please talk my mom into buying me one, and actually let me go to the concert? :) Yeah, thanks. Reviews please! Have a great weekend everyone! © bows and arrows.