Sorry for the wait, ladies and gentlemen.
Author's Note: I was recently informed that there is already a band called The Gossip. I want you to know that it was completely accidental, and I have therefore renamed Jesse's band Loose Lips. I even looked it up, and there is no such band.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything, except for the plot. And the band name Loose Lips. I totally call that.
Jake came home a little while later, and Miley laughed at his reaction upon seeing her in the bath tub. After some convincing, he'd gotten her to let him join. Being in his arms felt nice, and she relaxed against him. He was thrilled about Lilly's news, and apologized to Miley for not picking answering her call. He'd left his phone in the car while he was getting his tuxedo fitted.
After a few minutes of simply enjoying each others' company, Miley decided to speak.
"So...the only person we're waiting on to say if they're coming is Tracy." Miley stated, figuring she'd ease into the conversation about Jesse.
"Oh yeah? So everyone else is coming?" Jake asked as he gently rubbed Miley's shoulders.
"Mmhm." Miley nodded.
"Everyone?"
"Yes." Miley chuckled slightly. "You got someone in mind or something?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.
"No...not really." Jake lied.
"You were never a good liar, Jake." Miley said quietly, turning her head to look at him.
Jake sighed.
"Jesse's coming." It wasn't a question.
"Yes." Miley answered anyways. "He called earlier today, right after Lilly's mom." she said. Again, Jake sighed. "Come on, Jake. He's one of my best friends." she whispered.
"I know...which is why I'm not going to say anything." Jake said with a nod.
Miley kissed his cheek softly. "He invited us to go see his band tomorrow night. At the same place where we used to practice; I guess it's a concert venue now." Miley nodded. "You want to come?" she asked.
Jake thought about it, but shook his head. "No. You haven't seen him in a while. He'll hug you." he muttered.
"Jake, really? You're going to get jealous because of a friendly 'It's been forever' hug?" Miley asked, not even wanting to know how he'd react if he knew about that kiss all those months ago.
"He's in love with you, Miley. It's obvious. Why should I have to be around that?" Jake asked, dropping his hands into the water.
Miley sat up and turned her upper body towards Jake. "Because I love you. How many times do I have to repeat that?" she asked, a tiny bit miffed.
"I know you love me." Jake said. "I just...I've heard things about Jesse. Apparently, he's still a big player, and his specialty is married women." Jake said, looking down.
"And you think I'd let him seduce me away from you or something?" Miley asked.
"Well, it almost happened."
Miley saw the hurt look on Jake's face and it broke her heart. She took his face into her hands. "Jake, that was years ago. I chose you, remember? You are the one I chose, and you will always be the one that I choose. I promise. I love you and only you, okay?" she leaned forward and kissed his lips softly.
"I think you should come with me tomorrow, Jake. I'm inviting Lilly and Oliver too." she added. "Please?"
She felt like with Jake there, she'd be less likely to say, do, or think something that could potentially get her into trouble. After a minute, Jake shook his head.
"I think...I mean if it's okay with you...I'll give Tracy a call, see if she wants to go to dinner. Figure out if she's coming to the wedding."
Miley's jaw tightened and Jake saw the expression.
"It's dinner. You're going to his concert." Jake stated. Miley sighed and nodded, trying to see it from his perspective.
"Alright, that's fair." she agreed.
Jake kissed her again and it wasn't long before any thoughts of Jesse and Tracy were soon forgotten. Well, thoughts of Tracy at least.
---
"Sorry, Miles, we're going to Oliver's for dinner. To tell them the news." Lilly said the next day over the phone.
"Oh come on, Lilly! If you guys don't go, and Jake doesn't go, then I'll be alone. Remember what happened the last time I was alone with Jesse?" Miley groaned.
"Miley Stewart. If you can't trust yourself to be alone with this man, then why are you marrying someone else?" Lilly asked in a stern voice.
"No, it's not that I don't trust myself! I just...ugh, I don't know." Miley said.
"Miley?" Jakes voice said from outside the bathroom.
"Yeah?" Miley asked, opening the door.
"I'm leaving. What time are you planning on being home?" he asked.
"Uh, I have no clue actually." Miley winced.
Jake sighed but didn't comment. "Okay. I'll probably be here before you then. You want me to wait up?"
"Sure." Miley smiled. Jake pecked her on the lips.
"Love you." he said as he headed towards the door.
"Love you most!" she replied.
"Lies. All lies." Jake laughed, shutting the door behind him before Miley could respond.
"It's not that I don't trust myself around him, Lilly, I just haven't seen him in so long. I'm afraid things will be awkward. I need your quirky charm to ease the tension!" Miley pleaded.
"Sorry, but we can't." Lilly said. "Or else we would, and you know it. And you definitely know I would." she added in a hushed tone.
Miley chuckled. Since Lilly and Oliver's marriage, Oliver's parents had been less than likeable when it came to Lilly. When they were kids, all was hunky-dory but as soon as Lilly and Oliver got serious, the shit hit the fan. It was never a fun time when the Oakens and Lilly were in the same room, and that was no secret.
"I know you would. So thanks anyways." Miley sighed as she rifled through her closet for something to wear.
"Call me when you get home okay? We're almost there. Pray for me." Lilly said, and Miley could tell she was only half-joking.
"I will. And please, God, let Mrs. Oaken not be slaughtered by my best friend...because we all know the old bat wouldn't stand a chance." she tacked on there at the end for a laugh. She got what she was going for.
"Thanks, Miley. Talk to you later." Lilly laughed. Miley clicked her phone shut and set it on the dresser, staring into her closet.
She honestly had no idea what to wear. She wanted to look nice, but not too nice. And she wanted to look casual, but not sweats and a hoodie casual. She groaned, raking her fingers through her hair as she took off the fourth pair of jeans she'd tried on. She had almost an hour, but at the rate this was going, that might be how long she needed.
As for her hair, she'd perfected it's natural waviness with some mousse, and she was letting it hang down her back. Her make up was also simple, just some eyeliner with shimmery gray shadow to make her eyes pop. Usually, her hair was the dilemma, but tonight, she was completely unsure of what to wear.
Suddenly, a sparkly black number caught her eye. She pushed a few shirts and a pair of jeans away from it and held it up. She didn't even remember buying it honestly, but that didn't mean anything. She had clothes that she'd splurged on just because of an argument with Jake, and then never saw again. She held it against herself and looked in the mirror.
It was short, black and shimmery. After putting it on, she discovered that it barely came to her finger tips. But she loved it.
"It's too dressy." she muttered to her reflection, but she couldn't deny that she loved the way she looked in it. "Oh, who cares?" she grinned as she prepared the rest of her outfit.
When she was done, she was in the dress, a pair of black lame leggings, and black ballet flats that Lilly had given her for her birthday. She pulled on some silver bangles and swiped a bit of gloss onto her lips. She wasn't afraid to admit it: She looked hot.
The alarm on her cell phone going off alerted her that it was time to leave. She grabbed her black purse and threw the essentials in it: her phone, her lip gloss, and her tiny can of pepper spray. It was surprising how many radical Hannah Montana fans there still were, even though she'd technically stopped being Hannah years ago.
Twenty minutes later, Miley was pulling up in front of the small venue. She took a deep breath as memories came crashing down on her.
"Boy, do I wanna kiss you!" she'd said loudly.
"You wanna what?" Jake's angry voice had said.
'Hannah' had whirled around to see him standing there, looking less than pleased.
Miley shook her head as she pulled herself out of the memories and climbed out of her car, shutting the door and locking it with the button on her keys. She saw signs for the concert, and a line of people outside. She grinned when she saw Loose Lips drummer, Tyler, also waiting by the door. He saw her and dashed back inside. Miley was confused but understood when Tyler came back out, Jesse right behind him. There was a loud gush of excitement from the line as people begged for pictures and autographs, but Jesse pushed past the people.
"Miley!" he shouted, the eagerness and excitement clear in his voice.
"Jesse!" Miley shouted back as they practically ran at each other. Miley didn't realize how excited she was to see him until this exact moment, when he scooped her into a hug and spun her around twice, holding her tightly around the waist. Her arms naturally wrapped around him and she closed her eyes, enjoying every second of it. Finally, he put her down, but his hands stayed on her waist, and hers on his shoulders.
"It's good to see you." he smiled down at her.
She ruffled his hair, which was slightly longer than it had been the last time she'd seen him.
"I second that motion." she smiled.
"Hey,hey, don't mess with the do!" he laughed, backing up and fixing what she'd just messed up.
Miley laughed as they headed back towards the building and this time, Jesse stopped to take pictures with a few fans, and he even signed a girl's collar bone. He escorted Miley inside and lead her backstage, where the rest of Loose Lips was sitting, tuning their instruments. Miley counted and frowned when she saw that their lead singer, Alex, was missing.
"Where's Alex?" she asked.
"In Vegas." Tony, the bassist answered. Miley's brow furrowed. "His mom's getting married." he finished.
"Oh...so whose singing?" she asked.
"Who else?" Tyler said, pointing to Jesse.
Miley felt stupid for asking. She remembered that Jesse could sing. And he also wasn't half bad at playing the keyboard. Or writing lyrics. Without him, she'd never have written He Could Be The One.
"Ah, I guess that makes sense." Miley laughed, looking over at Jesse.
"Yeah and it works out even better because he's got this song that he wants to play, specifically for tonight." Tony said as he tuned the bass.
"Dude!" Collin, the keyboardist said, tossing his had at Tony.
"What?" Tony said, tossing it back.
"Shut up!" Both Tony and Jesse said. Miley laughed and then looked towards the door when two girls came in. She recognized Ruby, Collin's girlfriend, but she'd never met the other one. Ruby saw Miley and smiled, walking over to her, her red curls councing around wildly.
"Miley! It's been forever! Jesse tells me you're tieing the knot with a wash- an actor." Ruby stumbled over her words for a second.
"Yeah." Miley nodded. "Jake Ryan. In a couple weeks actually."
"Wow. Congratulations!" Ruby grinned. "This is Tanya, Tony's girlfriend." she nodded, pushing the pretty blond forward.
"Hi." Tanya said shyly.
"Hey. Miley." Miley smiled.
"Nice to meet you." Tanya said. After a few seconds, she went over and sat next to Tony, who pulled his attention away from the bass and kissed her on the cheek. They started whispering to each other but Miley didn't think it was in a private, gossiping way. Just quieter than normal. She looked away, back to where Ruby had been standing, but saw that she was sitting on Collin's lap, running her fingers through his messy brown hair while she told him that he was going to be great.
Miley felt out of place, so she walked over and sat on a cooler next to Jesse where he was standing, tuning his guitar.
"Nervous?" Miley asked.
"A little." Jesse admitted. "But the nerves go away as soon as the crowd screams when we walk out on stage. It's like a high or something." Jesse said before looking up at her and smiling. "But you'd know all about that, right Miss Montana?" he asked.
Miley smiled and nodded.
"You ever miss it?" he asked her, tilting his head.
"Sometimes. I miss the way it made me feel. The thrill of it, I mean. The high." she said with a smile. "It was my main source of excitement I guess." she shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Being a music teacher doesn't really have the same affect." she laughed.
"Yeah, I never thought it would." Jesse nodded. He studied her for a moment. "You look phenomenal tonight by the way." he said quietly so the others wouldn't hear."
Miley looked at him, her blue eyes wide. That was different. Jake often told her she looked nice, or good, but never did he ever say she looked phenomenal. "Thanks." she said, before looking down.
"I'm not breaking any rules by saying that, am I?" he asked. Miley looked up to see that he was serious. "I mean...that's not crossing any lines that an engaged woman has, right?" he asked.
Miley couldn't help but smile. "No, you're fine." she shook her head. "But I've got to tell you, your hug was just a little gropey." she joked.
"Oh please, you practically threw yourself at me. I thought I was going to be violated." he laughed.
"No way, that was all you. Way too touchy. Jake would have ripped your arms off for that one." she nodded, pretending to be serious.
"Not the face, not the face." Jesse said under his breath with a smirk.
"He's not like that anymore." Miley said. "Not really."
Jake just laughed and shook his head before he began playing his guitar softly. Miley recognized the chords instantly.
"Smooth talking, so rockin'," Miley sang quietly before laughing. "You still know the chords?" she asked.
"You still know the words." he pointed out.
"True." she agreed.
"What say you to singing it tonight? Before the end. You said you miss the high." he shrugged. Miley looked up.
"Are you serious?" she asked.
"Definitely." he nodded.
"You should do it, Miley. The boys all know how to play it. For some reason." Ruby laughed.
"Because Jesse's obses- Never mind." Collin said, looking away from Jesse's glare.
"Are you guys sure? It's your concert. I doubt most of these people even like Hannah Montana. And I haven't sung in forever." Miley said, shaking her head.
"Who cares? You're doing it. I don't care what you have to say. You're doing it." Jesse nodded just as a man in a black t-shirt came in.
"We're setting up now, guys." he said.
"That's our cue." Collin said, standing and putting Ruby to her feet. Ruby kissed him on the cheek and wished him good luck.
Miley was surprised to see Tanya and Tony practically eating each other's faces. And her jaw dropped when they parted and Tanya clearly whispered, "There's more where that came from if you go out and kick ass." Tony grinned and slowly, the guys filed out.
"It's the quiet ones you've got to watch out for." Ruby whispered to Miley's shocked expression.
"Oh...right." Miley nodded, and then the girls lead her up a flight of stairs and onto a balcony of sorts.
From there, Miley could see the crowd, bigger than she thought it was going to be, and the stage. She watched Jesse as he helped the crew set everything up, and then laughed at the jokes he made into each microphone, making sure they all worked.
After ten minutes of set up, Loose Lips was finally ready to play.
"Hello out there!" Jesse shouted into the mic. His response was loud screaming, nothing actually coherent. "So, it's unfortunate that we have to tell you this, but our dear singer Alex, is not with us tonight." Loud booing. "Yes, we're unhappy too." Jesse nodded. "He is in Vegas."
"His mom's marrying some one." Collin said into his microphone.
"What?" Jesse said, his brow furrowed as he glanced back at Collin.
"His mom is marrying some one?" Collin repeated, unsure of what Jesse didn't understand.
"Oh, I thought you said he's marrying his mom." Jesse laughed.
"Yeah, they do that in Vegas." Tyler piped in.
The crowd laughed and Miley did too. She loved how casual the boys all seemed, and the audience obviously did too.
"Alright, enough of this crap, who came here to listen to us make some noise?" Jesse yelled.
More screaming.
"Here we go then!" he shouted just before Tyler slammed down on the drums.
The first three songs went beautifully. Miley, Ruby, and Tanya jumped and danced to the music and by the end of the third song, they all needed a breather. But Miley was confused when everyone left the stage except for Jesse.
"Now this...This is a new song, written in the last few months." he said as another man in a black shirt brought him and electro-acoustic guitar. "It's about a girl." he said.
The audience 'Awwwed' loudy and Jesse nodded. "Cliche, yes. But this isn't one of those songs about how much I love waking up next to her, or how much I love being able to call her mine. Because she isn't mine." Another 'aw' of sympothy.
Miley was frozen. No way he'd write a song about her and sing it while she was right there.
"The answer is yes, it's about you." Ruby said in Miley's ear. "He wrote it after your birthday party, when you never called him or anything.
"So here it is." Jesse said. "I hope you like it." he nodded before he started strumming.
She's the type of girl, yeah,
You know the sort.
That just by existing,
Could break your little heart
Miley stared down at Jesse as his voice, low and smooth, slid out of the speakers, surrounding everything.
And she's the type of girl,
The world stops when she smiles,
She makes you see stars,
And she drives you wild
She's gorgeous and crazy.
And she's got her own songs.
Since I let her go, I only think:
Where did I go wrong?
Yeah, she's the type of girl
You don't get off your mind,
You can drink, you can sleep,
But she's there all the time
Miley's hand was over her mouth and she was leaning heavily against the railing. She didn't know what to do, say, or think. She felt Ruby's hand on her shoulder and she looked over.
"He's in love with you, Miley. He has been for ages. You should see him when he talks about you. It's like a little kid on Christmas. I know that there's nothing more in the world he'd like to tell you other than not to marry Jake." Ruby whispered.
Miley looked back down at Jesse as her eyes filled with tears. Why she was crying, she didn't know.
And now she's with him,
Just as happy as can be,
While you watch and you think:
That should be me
Yeah, she's the type of girl
You don't get off your mind,
You can drink, you can sleep
But she's there all the time.
And she should be mine.
She's the type of girl
That should be mine.
Jesse played for a few more seconds and then strummed one last time, ending the song beautifully. The crowd erupted into screams and hollers. Clearly, they'd all loved it. Miley saw Jesse turn to look up, and she leaned back against the wall, out of his field of vision. She wanted to cry. She also wanted to scream at him for writing such a beautiful song about her and not someone else, someone that wasn't engaged, someone that could love him the way he deserved.
"He's a great person. And he really, truly lo-" Ruby began.
"And I love Jake." Miley choked. "Jake." she repeated, looking at Ruby. "Not Jesse. You're right, he is a great person, but I picked Jake when we were kids, and I'm picking him now. I am marrying Jake. Tell Jesse I'm sorry, but something came up." Miley said before pushing past the redhead and practically sprinting down the stairs. She followed the same path they'd come, out the back door and then finally outside.
She was crying, though she wasn't really sure why. She guessed that knowing how Jesse felt about her, and seeing how much it hurt him, hurt her too. She dropped her clutch, sending her pepper spray and phone skidding across the pavement. She bent to her knees to get them and she heard the door open, but she didn't look to see who it was.
"Miley!" Jesse's voice called running out. He bent down and grabbed her phone, handing it to her.
"No, no. I need to leave." she stood, shoving it back in her bag. She didn't know where her pepper spray was, but she didn't care. She could make it home without it.
"Miley, no, stop! I didn't mean to upset you." Jesse said, grabbing her arm to prevent her from leaving.
"Jesse! I need to leave! Jake is waiting for me." Miley said, looking him in the eye and emphasizing her fiance's name.
"Miley, don't go." Jesse said in barely a whisper.
"I have to. I'm getting married." Miley responded, more tears spilling out.
Jesse's hand was on her face, brushing the tears away. "Don't." Jesse said simply. "Don't marry him."
Miley looked at him as if he'd sprouted a third eye ball.
"What? Jesse, when I was talking about a performance high, I didn't actually mean get high!" Miley said before pulling herself away from his grip and heading towards her car.
"No, Miley, stop! We need to talk!" Jesse said, running in front of her.
"There is nothing to talk about. I'm getting married? Why can't you people understand that?" Miley said, walking around him. But he was suddenly leaning against the driver door and refusing to budge.
"Because you're marrying the wrong person!" Jesse said slowly and loudly.
"No, I'm not! I love Jake, and Jake loves me!" Miley said even louder.
"And I love you!"
"NO!" Miley screamed, covering her ears and shaking her head. "No, no, no. You can't say that, Jesse. You just...you just can't, okay? I...You...No! I chose Jake! I chose Jake and that's it!" she said, looking back up at him. "And now I need to go home." she said quietly.
Jesse stared at her for a minute in disbelief. "You...You're going to go back to him?" he whispered.
"He's my fiance." Miley said, wiping her eyes. "I have to."
"Do you want to?" he whispered, taking a step closer to her, causing her to back into the green van that was next to the bug. She felt his body heat.
"Yes." she said weakly.
"Miley...Do you want to go back to him right now? Is that the only thing that would make you happy right at this moment?" Jesse whispered, closing in on her, his breath on her cheek.
Miley swallowed as she looked into Jesse's deep brown eyes. Her heart was racing, her stomach was doing flips, and her breath caught in her throat as her tongue moistened her lips. She so badly wanted to be able to say 'yes'. But she'd never been a good liar.
"No." she whispered. She was vaguely aware of Jesse's hands as they came up to rest on the van behind her head, and she was vaguely aware of him leaning closer.
"Miley...what do you want right now?" he said into her ear, his breath making her shiver.
This was wrong. This was so unbelievably, incredibly wrong. Jesse pulled back to look into her eyes, brown meeting blue. She shook her head.
"Can I tell you what I want?" he asked. Miley knew she shouldn't have, but she nodded. But when Jesse's lips opened, words didn't come out. Instead, his mouth was on top of hers and he was kissing her again. But not like at her party. This was different. More open, more passionate, more needy and wanting. And though Miley knew she shouldn't, she kissed him back.
Her fingers tangled in his hair and her clutch dropped to the ground and she kissed him back, for all she was worth. He pressed her against the van and a strangled sigh escaped her lips at the feel of his entire body pressed against hers. This was wrong, so wrong. But everything; Jesse's lips on her lips and his body against her body, everything felt so good. Jesse was making every inch of her body ache with desire, and that was something she hadn't felt in a long, long time.
Before she knew it, Jesse had opened the van behind them and they fell in, hitting the carpeted floor. It hurt a little, but not enough to make her stop kissing him, and not enough to make him stop grinding against her.
She hastily unbuttoned his yellow flannel, shoving it off of his shoulders. He shoved her dress up abover her hips and she somehow wriggled out of it, casting it aside. Jesse's hands were all over her bare torso, sliding up her skin and giving her goose bumps. He was wearing a white v-neck and that wasn't okay with Miley. She pushed it up, scraping her nails along his chest as she did so, and he groaned, pulling it off. He leaned down and started kissing her neck, nipping at the sensitive flesh. Miley whimpered.
"Oh, Jesse," she sighed, her nails scraping his back.
"Dude, Jess, you in- OH!"
Miley screamed and pushed Jesse off of her, grabbing her dress and covering herself with it as Collin and Ruby stood on the pavement by the van, their jaws dropped. Miley wanted to be eaten by the floor of the van.
"What are you doing?!" Ruby screamed, the one to get her voice back first.
"We were just-" Jesse stuttered. "We just- she was- I wanted- We-"
"She is engaged, Jesse! Engaged! As in to be married! To another man!" Ruby shrieked.
"I know that!" Jesse said as he frantically pulled his clothes on.
"Clearly you don't because you shouldn't be doing...that with engaged women!" Ruby sputtered angrily. Miley pulled her dress on and then practically jumped out of the van, which she hadn't realized until just then that it was the Loose Lips tour van.
"I have to go." she muttered, bending down to grab her purse.
"Miley, wait! Don't go!" Jesse said, jumping out behind her.
"No, I'm leaving! I'll see you...in a couple weeks." she said, shaking her head as she climbed in her car.
She heard Jesse yelling, but she turned the car on and peeled out, wincing at the noise the tire made.
I figured since I made you guys wait forever, I'd give you some drama.
Te gusta? No te gusta? Tell me what you think! Like always, I'm happy to hear it.
I wrote the lyrics myself, please don't judge me too harshly! I'm not a poet by any means, I just figured I'd take a wack at it because I didn't want to steal anyone else's lyrics.