"Hey, Nicky," Joe smiled as his little brother walked into the dressing room.
Nick nodded to him, slumping into the chair next to him. The last three months, he'd barely been able to look at Joe. He didn't know how much longer he was going to be able to deal with Joe and Miley being together; he missed the days when she wanted to hang out with him. When she would call for him. Too many times, he'd answered the phone and felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of her voice, just to hear her ask to speak to Joe. The worst part was sitting with her and Lilly at lunch, listening to them talk about how Miley thought she was in love with Joe. In love. With his brother. Not him, who had done nothing but treat her the best he could for the past two years. Not him, who couldn't find one thing about her that wasn't perfect. Not him, who fell asleep thinking about her every night.
He glanced at his brother resentfully, but something caught his eye.
"Joe, where's your ring?"
Joe glanced down at his finger, where his purity ring usually rested. "Um, I left it at home."
His tone made Nick suspicious. "Why did you take it off?"
Joe shrugged, picking up his acoustic guitar and plucking it absentmindedly.
Nick felt like he couldn't breathe. He stared at his brother for several moments before saying anything. "Joe…did you sleep with Miley?"
"No," Joe replied, strumming a few more cords. "But I've been thinking about."
"Are you in love with her?" Nick asked, more anger in his voice showing than he had intended. He was having a hard enough time dealing with them dating; if they slept together, he didn't know what he would do.
"I like her…"
Nick stood up abruptly, running his fingers through his hair. He had to say something. He'd never told Miley how he felt, but if he didn't tell Nick right now, he may never get the chance to tell her. "You can't sleep with her, Joe. You can't."
Joe set down his guitar and turned to face his brother. "Look, I know that we made a vow not to, but I think when you're a little older you'll understand."
"Forget about that," Nick said, taking a deep breath. "You can't sleep with her because I love her. I'm in love with her."
"Since when?"
"Do you remember a couple years ago when I asked you how you knew if you were in love, and you and Kev made fun of me for like a month?" he asked.
"That was about Miley?"
Nick nodded.
The older boy leaned back in his chair, shocked. He took a moment to process the information. "Why didn't you say anything?"
Nick sunk down onto the couch, resting his face in his hands. "I don't know…I guess when you keep something a secret for so long, it gets really hard to say it."
"I…" Joe started, but his cell phone started vibrating against the countertop. He looked down at it, uncomfortably. "It's Miley."
"I'll leave," Nick said flatly, hurrying out of the room before his brother could protest.
He walked to the end of the hallway and slid down the wall. His life was a mess. What if Joe told Miley? Nick didn't think he would, but things were going to be awkward between him and his brother from now on. He couldn't believe that Joe had thought about sleeping with her; but then again, if Miley had asked Nick to, he would have without a second thought.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his cell phone. "Hello?"
"Nicky?"
"Miley?" he asked. Her voice was shaky. "What's wrong?"
She sobbed, barely able to speak. "Joe…Joe broke up with me."
"What?" Nick was shocked, but mostly, he was terrified. What had he told her? "Did he…um, did he say why?"
"No," she replied, sniffling. "He just said it wasn't working out."
"Oh," he said, trying to sound sympathetic through his relief.
"Will you come over? I don't want to be alone."
"Of course, I'll be right there," he promised. "I'll see you soon."
"Thanks, Nicky," Miley replied through her tears.
He hung up his cell phone. When he looked up, he saw Joe standing outside the dressing room, leaning against the wall. They made eye contact before Joe walked the other way. Nick stood up and sighed heavily. What was he going to say to her?