Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot :) p.s A massive thanks to the people who've not only reviewed this story, but my other two. A few of you regulars have such positive things to say, I find it hard to believe when I compare it to your writing. So I'm really grateful, and please keep reviewing coz I seriously do appreciate it :)
Miley arrived home to an empty house. She hadn't expected anything different really. But somewhere in the back of her mind, she wasn't sure if she'd possibly hoped that her father had returned. He's my Dad, she thought. I can't just switch that off. Once she'd justified it in her head, Miley flopped down onto her bed, not bothering with dinner. She ran over the day in her mind. First Nick's comment this morning about her being different, then Jake and that confrontation, then Joe's revelation, then Nick again. This time it was his subtle shift in attitude towards her. To be completely honest, it was doing her head in. Luckily though, these events had served as enough of a distraction that she'd got through yet another day. Day 2- done, she mentally checked off.
Rise and Shine, Miles. Demi's getting a lift with her female type parental unit (aka the mother lady). Which means I'm goin to be a few mins early. Like… I'm pulling into ur street :) see u soon! – Joe Lucas
Miley laughed. She'd been up for an hour already, and was just sitting on the front porch in the warm morning's sun. Her freshly washed hair was slowly drying into auburn ringlets, and she'd been able to get away with barely a sweep of powder over her bruises. Miley had a restless sleep the night before, but still she didn't feel overly tired when she'd woken up. Dressed in her standard cut off shorts and school shirt, Miley had shoved her feet into navy Converses. Her legs were stretched out in front of her, and that was how the Lucas boys found her when they pulled up into her drive.
"Told you it was this one!" Nick said triumphantly, punching his brother's arm.
"Demi said it was on the right," defended Joe, smacking Nick across the back of the head.
"Yeah, if you were coming from her house! I told you I knew where it was, but no. You didn't listen to me."
"Shut up, Nick. What's with you and your seemingly elevated mood this morning? I think I liked it better when you were sullen and broody. You were less vocal about your self righteousness."
Miley laughed as she overhead the exchange, and Nick's eyes almost shined when he saw her. Just as instantly, he managed to produce a fierce glare in her direction and she hopped into the backseat.
"Morning, Stewart!" Joe chirped, throwing a Pop Tart package at her. "I grabbed one too many. I would have eaten it, except it hasn't got frosting on it and I only eat the ones without frosting toasted. So, this ride became 'breakfast included'. No extra charge."
Miley hadn't eaten yet. The house wasn't really stocked with food, and she hadn't gotten a chance to go and do any grocery shopping. Not that she was hungry much lately, but she was grateful for the sweet breakfast treat Joe had provided. Smiling at him, she ripped the silver foil open and took a big bite.
"Ah, a girl who actually eats! Amazing! I think you and Demi are about the only ones in the entire county. What's with being within driving distance of LA and girls refusing to even think about carbs, let alone eat them?"
Miley laughed, and she saw Nick sneak a look at her. She frowned at him, and realising he'd been caught, he quickly looked away.
This continued for the rest of the ride to school. Joe would ramble on about something that was amusing to Miley, she'd chuckle and Nick would either stare or glare at her. It was kind of unsettling to Miley, but she tried to push it from her thoughts. When they reached the parking lot, Joe grabbed his things and practically leapt from the car, yelling about meeting Demi before class. Smirking at the thought of Joe rushing to see Demi even just for a few minutes, Miley started walking to her locker. She paused momentarily to wait for Nick, seeing as his locker is right next to hers, but he'd already disappeared.
The rest of the day passed quickly, until her last class. She walked with Oliver into English, groaning when she saw Nick actually sitting on her desk, apparently waiting for Miley. This earned a gentle nudge in her side from Oliver, who wiggled his eyebrows, teasing her. Amber was about to burn holes through Nick's face, she was staring at him that intensely. He didn't appear to notice. Miley sat down at her desk, putting her books on the part of the table that Nick wasn't sitting on. She tried to ignore him for as long as possible, but as they were a few minutes early, he didn't really have a reason to return to his own seat yet.
"What do you want, Nick?" she asked, sounding bored.
"What did you mean last night?"
"You act like I don't exist all morning and now you want an explanation?" Miley sniggered. "Seriously though, your mood swings are giving me whiplash."
Nick felt the corner of his mouth turn up into a smile involuntarily. This girl had the ability to infuriate him and amuse him at the same time. She had spirit, and Nick could respect that. Even if he didn't appear to.
"You're not actually about to smile, are you?"
The bluntness of her question yet again took Nick by surprise. He quickly suppressed the grin that was threatening to spread across his face, he wasn't about to give her the satisfaction of knowing she affected him.
"I think Amber wants to talk to you," Miley said, laughing.
"Who?" Nick was genuinely confused.
"If you look to your left, you'll notice she's the one drooling as she stares at you. I reckon she's about 5 minutes away from carving your name into her binder."
Nick spun around to see the girl she was talking about, the one who had trash talked Miley yesterday in Biology to him. Miley wasn't exaggerating; this girl didn't even bother to avert her eyes now he was looking. She actually had the gall to wink at him, before Nick caved and broke the awkwardness to turn back to Miley.
"You didn't answer me."
Nick studied Miley's face as she prepared to respond to him. There was still a slightly yellowish mark on her cheek, where a few days ago he could have sworn there was a bruise. When he pressed her about it, she clammed up. It wasn't unexpected, after all, he hardly knew her- despite how he taunted her. Now though, as it disappeared, she appeared to have less cosmetics painted on her features. She had lustrous blue eyes, and he'd begun to notice subtle differences in them. When she was angry, they were icy and piercing. When she was amused, the yellow green flecks in them seemed to brighten. He hadn't seen what they looked like when she was happy. I wonder if I could make her happy, he thought but immediately shook his head as though to dissipate the intrusion. He didn't want to make her happy. He didn't care about her, or her stupid, enchanting eyes. Realising she'd begun to reply to him, he focused his attention back on her.
"Something happened in your past to make you so jaded. So you walk around practically screaming 'screw the world!' with everything you do or say. But you suck at keeping up that façade, because you don't really mean it, its just easier to do that than actually feel something. It's clearly your way of coping with whatever you haven't properly dealt with."
Nick's jaw fell open, and his eyes bugged out of his head. Joe must have told her about their family situation, there was no way she could have come to that conclusion all by herself. Could she?
"Take your seats," boomed the teacher, strolling through the door.
Nick scowled at Miley, enraged at her. Albeit, unfairly enraged, because first of all, he'd done the exact same thing to her- judged her without knowing the full story. And secondly, where it seemed he was apparently way off mark, she was dead on.
She refused to look at him for the first half of the session. When the teacher finally told them it was time to work on their assignments, Nick even surprised himself at how quickly he rearranged his desk so he was facing her.
"How about this?" Nick asked, pushing his notebook towards her.
She looked down at the scrawled handwriting, and by the time she finished reading the two paragraphs, Nick could see a smile that could melt his heart start gracing her features.
Miley looked up at him, and her eyes were dancing with held back laughter.
"Check yes Juliet,
I'll be waiting.
Wishing, wanting.
Yours for the taking.
Just sneak out,
And don't tell a soul goodbye.
Check yes Juliet,
Here's the countdown.
3…2…1… now fall in my arms now.
They can change the locks,
Don't let them change your mind."
Nick watched Miley's mouth move almost hypnotically as she read the words. She burst into another fit of giggles as she finished.
"What?" he demanded.
"Seriously? I know you were keen on this ripping off lyrics thing, but come on? The Killers is one thing, except you may as well be stealing lines from Taylor Swift here!"
"I would hardly compare it to 'Romeo, save me… I've been feeling so alone'."
"Yeah well, We The Kings have a red headed lead singer, so I bet Taylor Swift doesn't like the comparison much either."
At the mention of the band that performed the song that Nick had stolen the lyrics from, he couldn't keep the smile from forming.
"Good," he muttered, his eyes still locked on Miley's.
"That better not have been some kind of test. What? You're going to be nice to me because I like the same kind of music as you? Because I'm not sitting at home dancing around to Britney or Beyonce?"
"She did have the greatest music video of all time," Nick impersonated, earning a tiny smile from Miley.
"And he does Kanye impersonations..." mumbled Miley, staring at Nick.
"Excuse me, Nick? I was just wondering if I could come over this afternoon?"
Nick spun slowly in his chair, reluctantly tearing his eyes from Miley, to see that Amber girl leaning over his desk, giving him a uninterrupted view right down her top. He cleared his throat awkwardly, before Miley jumped in.
"Well, that's forward of you, Amber. The least you could do is pretend you wanted to borrow some notes or something."
Nick's smirk extended into a full blown grin, glancing sideways to see Miley face was lit up with a matching smile.
"Was I talking to you? No," Amber answered her own question snidely.
"Well, that's impolite," Miley said sarcastically, not backing down. "I didn't know skanky wannabes also lacked manners. Well there you go, you learn something new everyday."
"Watch it, Stewart. Mikayla won't be happy to know you've forgotten your place."
"Ha!" scoffed Miley, going further in antaganozing either of the evil step sisters than she'd ever gone. "Unlike you, I actually don't care what Mikayla thinks. If, Mikayla evens thinks. I'm almost certain that requires a higher level of intelligence, and a brain. Both of which she's lacking."
In this whole exchange, Nick just sat in awe of Miley's quick wit. She didn't let Amber intimidate her.
"It was for Biology, I thought we could study together if you were free..." Amber conceded, turning her back on Miley to focus on Nick again.
"Me and Miley are working on this English project this afternoon," shrugged Nick, trying not to laugh at how crestfallen Amber looked. "It's a nice day too, so we might go for a swim in my pool. Miley probably didn't bring anything because I forgot to tell her... Oh well. I won't look if you don't."
Nick winked at a dumbstuck Miley, before Amber stomped her foot and walked off. Nick clapped his hand over his mouth to muffle a loud guffaw, and Miley just shook her head at him. The bell rang and they both stood up and Miley said a quick goodbye to Lilly and Oliver. She was surprised to find Nick waiting by the door for her.
"Got to keep up appearances," he joked. "Since Amber thinks you're coming over to my house to swim naked. Is that going to end up on Hannah Montana?"
"No," Miley answered a little too quickly.
"You seem pretty sure about that," said Nick as they walked back to their lockers.
"The people that love the notoriety they get from getting posted about on Hannah Montana, they'll make sure I don't get mentioned. It would make the whole thing a little less exclusive. No, your efforts this afternoon will just earn me the wrath of Mikayla."
"Thought you weren't scared of her?" teased Nick, hitting his locker before he opened it like Miley had shown him.
"I'm not," Miley confirmed. "It's just about 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back as I try to escape her annoying voice yelling at me."
As Nick finished putting away his books, he slipped his bag over his shoulder and again waited patiently for Miley. They didn't speak as they headed for the front of the school. Miley started to head in the direction of the school buses when Nick grabbed her arm.
"Where are you going?" he choked out, immediately releasing her arm as though he'd been burned.
"To the bus?" Miley answered unsurely.
"No, you're not. Come on, you know where the car is parked," Nick gestured for him to follow her.
"Yeah, um. Nick? Amber isn't around. We're not going to blow our cover. I'm going home."
"What? No!" laughed Nick. "I didn't mean you actually had to come over and skinny dip. I just meant, Joe won't mind giving you a lift home."
"Oh," Miley faltered. "I knew that. Why do you keep mentioning the idea of me naked?"
He didn't answer because he'd already taken off towards the car. She scratched her head as she debated whether or not to take the bus, but ended up following Nick to the black SUV where Joe was already behind the wheel.
"Was that my brother laughing? Possibly having fun?" Joe teased when they got in the car. "I suppose I should give you a ride home Miley, if you are the cause of Nick's apparent transformation. Who know those cheeks could squish up to accompany a grin?"
"Shut up, Joe."
Nick didn't look amused by Joe's jeering.
"See, I told you that you'd like it here!" continued Joe. "The sun, the sand, the girls. What's not to love? I knew you'd come around and quit with the 'this is isn't permanent thing'."
Nick pressed his lips into a thin line. Joe was right. He'd let his guard down. He'd allowed himself to be comfortable for a moment. He couldn't let that happen. He couldn't let himself find a reason to stay. He was going to put his family back together, and they were going to go home where they belonged. Miley was becoming too much of a distraction. No, thought Nick. Not, Miley. My curiosity with the odd girl. Not the actual girl. He'd have to distance himself if he was going to make sure he could make this plan come together in as little time as possible. Nick would have to go back to ignoring Miley whenever he could, and being an asshole to make sure she left him alone. It was the only way.
While Nick's inner dialogue was occuring, Miley noticed various emotions flicker across Nick's face. It was the one that he settled on her that worried her. It was the usual smirk, and the vacantness in his eyes returned where it had been absent of this afternoon. He didn't speak to her for the rest of the car ride. When Joe pulled up at her house, Nick didn't even look at her, let alone offer a goodbye. Miley just shook her head in confusion, baffled by his behaviour, as she walked up the path to her front door.
Miley woke to the sun pouring through her window. She swung herself out of bed, and walked out onto the balcony. The waves crashed onto the rocks below, and Miley could make out joggers on the nearby beach. It was still early; the sun didn't have enough heat in it yet. Deciding against getting dressed yet, Miley clambered down the stairs to try calling again. First her dad (disconnected), then Jackson (straight to voicemail). Miley peered into the fridge, satisfied with what she saw. She'd forced herself to go shopping last night, and with her dad's credit card in hand, she may have gone a little overboard. The refrigerator was stocked, the cupboards were no longer bare and there was fruit in the bowl on the bench. It was strangely comforting, to do something normal like grocery shopping. But now she was ravenous, and couldn't decide what to eat. Miley glanced at the clock on the microwave- it was only just 7am. That was enough time to cook a feast. Grabbing her phone again, she quickly typed out an invite to Demi.
You awake? – M
Demi replied so fast; Miley hadn't even put the phone down yet.
Arghh YES! Swimming team meeting this morning – won't c u til 1st period . On a brighter note – think M&D r going away on to some conference in San Fran tomoz night! Mexican fiesta at mine? Nachos & margaritas? Start laying the groundwork with ur dad now plz plz plz! – Demi
Miley laughed. It was very rare that Mr and Mrs Torres ever left Demi by herself, and when they did, it was tradition that they made as much mess as they could making nachos, and got smashed on homemade frozen margaritas. Usually it was just Demi the rest of the cheer squad, but this time it would be the first since the Mikayla incident. Miley worried that Demi might invite some of the cheerleaders and then it would be awkward.
Realising that now she'd started frying too much bacon, and made too much pancake mix, Miley lamented over the waste of food. Scrolling through her phone, she looked at who else she could message. Lilly lived over the other side of town, so it would take her too long to get to Miley's and make it back to school. Oliver probably stayed at Lilly's last night. Then a name came up that Miley hesitated on. Before she could talk herself out of it, she quickly sent the text.
Hungry? I kind of got carried away cookin b'fast. Can u b here in 10? (unless u like crispy bacon- aka burnt) – MileyS
Just as she flipped a golden brown pancake, her phone vibrated with a response.
U've gone to the top of my list of fav ppl. Jumpin in the car now, lucky I was ready early this morn! P.S Nick's insistin on taggin along haha, keep the burnt stuff for him :) – Joe
It was 7.20am on the dot when Miley heard the SUV pull up. She reached the door just as the bell rang, yanking it open to reveal Joe and Nick. Waving them in, Miley noticed Joe had a silly grin on his face and Nick's eyes were bugging out of his head. She looked down at herself, realising she still hadn't gotten changed yet.
"Shit!" cried Miley, dashing for the stairs. "Can you make sure the eggs don't burn? I'll be back down stairs in a sec. There's juice in the fridge and the rest of it is already on the table."
She could hear Joe laughing behind her as she ran into her room. Her huge mirror showed her reflection, and she groaned at what the boys would have seen. She'd been so distracted by the cooking, that she forgot what she was wearing. A pair of black girl boxers hung low on her hips, her long tan legs accentuated by the mini length of them. Miley's ripped Beatles shirt exposed a bit of her flat stomach, and her long wavy hair was messy and tangled. Giving a small scream, Miley jumped into the bathroom and had the quickest shower ever. She rubbed her face clean, barely wincing as her hands moved over the spot where her father hit her. She toweled herself off, and ran her fingers through her hair to try and fluff it up a bit. When that didn't work, she surrendered to her uncooperative hair and tied it up in a long ponytail. She grabbed her last clean shirt, quickly got dressed into her usual denim shorts and white singlet, shoved her arms through the shirt and pulled a dark blue cardigan on too. Deciding it looked a little librarian, Miley pushed the sleeves up clipped a studded cuff around her wrist. She opted for red Converses this morning, because she knew none of the teachers she had today would care. Checking herself one last time in the mirror, she flew back downstairs and practically skidded into the kitchen.
Nick and Joe were calmly eating their breakfast at the table, their plates piles high with eggs, bacon and syrup covered pancakes. There was a similar plate at an empty place at the table, and all the dishes were in the sink.
"Sorry!" apologised Miley, taking her seat. "I got a little distracted with the whole cooking thing."
Joe looked at his watch, and then looked back at Miley.
"I said sorry?" she said unsurely, confused by Joe's expression.
"No, it's not that. I've never seen a girl get ready so fast," he laughed. "Or cook so much food for one person, not realising that would be too much."
"Where's your dad?" asked Nick, looking over his fork at Miley.
"Um… He's…" stuttered Miley, caught off guard by both his question and the smouldering look her was giving her.
Nick raised an eyebrow in her direction.
"He's at work," Miley said finally, averting her eyes and putting way too much effort into cutting her pancake up.
Nick must have been satisfied with her answer, because he didn't push for more details like he usually would.
Feeling full, Miley stood up and started cleaning the kitchen. The boys were going for second helpings, when the landline began to ring. Miley was up to her elbows in soap suds as she washed the dishes, so she scrambled to find a tea towel and get to the phone in time. When she didn't however, Miley heard the familiar click of the answering service picking the call up. Jackson's voice echoed through the house.
"Miley. Where are you? My phone's out of action so I don't know if you've been trying to call. Look, he hasn't turned up in Tennessee; I even tried asking Grandma Ruthie about him. It was hard to without causing suspicion. But I think they all should know, Miley. They would want to know. This is getting out of control-"
Miley ran to the hallway where the machine was plugged in, interrupting Jackson's message to hit the delete button. She looked at the Lucas boys in fear, wishing they hadn't heard all that.
"Who's missing?" asked Joe, looking at Miley with concern.
"Who was that?" fired off Nick, rising to his feet.
"No one. And my brother," she answered, looking at them each in turn. "It's just… my, um. My dog?"
The uncertainty in Miley's voice piqued Nick's interest.
"You're dog is missing? And you thought your brother would find it in Tennessee?"
"It's my dog... from Tennessee. Yeah, my family has a ranch out there and it's gone missing."
"Why don't you want your brother to tell anyone?"
"It would just... um... stress people out, I suppose. I'm sure he'll turn up. He just likes to wander. He's going to come home," Miley covered up, her voice getting quieter. "He has to come home..."
"Okay then," Nick said, eyeing her disbelievingly. "We're still talking about the dog, right?"
"Huh?" Miley said, appearing to be in deep thought. "What? Yeah, of course. Blue Jeans, my dog."
"When did he go missing?"
"What's with all the questions, Nick? Can't you just leave me alone?" Miley threw the last of the dishes in the dishwasher, and grabbed her bag. "Close the door behind you, I'll meet you at the car."
"I suppose I'm driving?" suggested Joe, exchanging a worried glace with his brother.
"What the hell was that?" Nick whispered, gathering his things.
"I think she just really misses her dog?" joked Joe. "Nah, I don't know man. I think we should just back off though, it's clearly upsetting her."
"Yeah, maybe," Nick answered non-committedly.
He peered out the window at the stunning girl leaning against their car. Her chest was heaving with ragged breaths, and it looked like she was trying to calm herself down. Nick didn't mean to pry, but nothing was adding up to him when it came to Miley Stewart.