Disclaimer: I do not own anything but the plot

Here's Chapter 4! ENJOY! Again... Thanks for the reviews ;) Reading them really motivates me to write my best!! :) Here's another long chapter! Review if you want the next one! I've already written it ;)!! So the faster you review, the faster I'll update :D

Miley was woken up by her phone which had been ringing for a couple of seconds now. She grabbed her phone and pressed the answer button without taking the time to look at caller ID.

"Hello?" She asked sleepily.

"Hey..." It was Justin. She sat up straight and rubbed her eyes. "Did I wake you?" He asked concerned.

"Yeah..."

"I'm sorry... I assumed you'd be awake by now..."

"Yeah, I slept late..."

"Everything ok?" She sighed. Was everything ok? No nothing was ok.

"Not really..."

"Look I'm sorry about yesterday... I don't know what came over me..."

"Ok."

"Miles?" He asked concerned. Her answers seemed short and cold to him.

"Yeah... look I'll call you back in a bit ok?" Her eyes were starting to water and she didn't want Justin to hear her cry. She needed her mom. She ran into the living room and found her on the couch, reading a book.

"Miley?" She looked up from her book and immediately saw tears running down her daughters face. "Sweetie what's wrong?" She asked, pulling her daughter into a tight hug. "What's wrong baby girl? What happened?" She was worried. She had noticed that Miley hadn't been herself since she had gone to lunch with Nick. Something had happened, she knew, but she wasn't the type to push her daughter to confide in her.

Miley couldn't take it any longer. She just spoke what she felt.

"Mom... why am I feeling like this? Why are the feelings I was feeling over a year ago coming back?" She went on telling her about what had happened during the Niley lunch 'date' and the conversation from the night before. She also told her about the fights with Justin. By now, her crying had subsided and she looked at her mom, desperate to find a way out of what she was feeling.

Tish knew exactly what her daughter was going through. She knew that the feelings she had pushed down were resurfacing. Deep down she had always known that Nick took a bigger space in Miley's heart than she would ever admit. She gently wiped her daughter's tears and gave her a small encouraging smile.

"Maybe you aren't over him like you thought you were..." She was afraid to speak it out, and like she expected Miley sat up and shook her head vigorously.

Miley felt her world crashing around her. It had taken her over a year to get over him and she wasn't about to admit defeat. She wasn't going to let those feelings get the better of her. She had to control them and push them away. She was determined.

"No! It took me this long to get over him... I'm not going to give in now! I cannot love him. I won't go down that road again!" She said stubbornly.

"Miles, sweetie, you know you can't control your feelings..."

"Well I'm going to. There's no way I'm going to let him get the better of me. He always does and it's time I changed that!" Tish couldn't help but smile. Her daughter was so grown up, but at the same time she could be so immature and stubborn. Tish had always had a soft spot for Nick. He was sweet and mature and even though he had broken her daughter's heart she couldn't help the good feeling she had about him. They had been so young when they had been together. She knew that they were more mature and things would work out for the better if they ever did get back together.

"Miley... what if he feels the same way? From what he said last night, it sure seems like he regrets everything... it doesn't sound like he's over you!"

"Oh he's over me alright... He was with Selena, remember? He didn't even wait a few months to move on!" She added bitterly and Tish gave her a disapproving look.

"Come on honey... you're going out with Justin... that doesn't mean you completely moved on. And you also went out with Lucas and Gregg before that..." Miley knew her mother was right. The fact that he had had a girlfriend didn't mean he was completely over her. But she couldn't let herself think that. She refused to let herself think that. She wasn't going to have her heart broken all over again. She got up and sent Justin a text. She needed the distraction.

"Hey. I'm sorry too. Will you come over today? I miss you." Ok, she knew she wasn't being completely honest. But she wasn't lying. She missed him and hated fight with anybody. She was going to forgive him and act as if nothing had happened.

When Joe went to wake up Nick that morning, he found the paper on which Nick had written a song, the night before. He read it, even though he knew his brother would be upset. Nick was really edgy when it came to people reading his songs without his permission especially such personal ones. Joe quickly understood that the song was all about Miley. He felt sorry for his little brother. He knew that the last year had been difficult for the both of them and he secretly hoped that him and Kevin could make it all better by apologising to Miley in person for the stupid things they had done and said.

"Nick, wake up!" He said while shaking Nick.

"What!" Nick groaned.

"It's 8 and we have to leave at 8:30!" Nick groaned again. His head was throbbing and the memories of the previous night flooded his brain.

"What's wrong?" Joe asked concerned.

"Why would you ask that?" Nick asked confused. Joe pointed to the song he had written.

"Joe! You weren't supposed to read that!" Nick yelled.

"Oh come on man, I would have read it eventually!" Nick sighed. He wasn't in the mood to get upset because his brother had snooped. He had bigger problems in his mind. "It's a really awesome song... what made you write it?" Nick needed someone to talk to... He knew Joe could be a great listener and quickly explained what he had done the night before.

"Give her some time Nick." Kevin spoke up. He had been standing in the doorway, listening the whole time.

"I guess..." Nick looked really vulnerable. He ran his hand through his messy curls before grabbing some clothes out of his dresser and heading for the bathroom.

"We'll talk about this in the car!" He heard Joe yell after him. He quickly washed and got dressed. He kept thinking whether he should go see Miley that evening but Kevin's words rang through his ears "give her time". He finally decided that that was what he would do. If he had upset her, he would give her time to cool off.

Miley was sitting on her bed with Justin when her phone vibrated. She grabbed it and looked at the new message she had received.

"I'm sorry about last night. Hope you will excuse my momentary lack of judgement! Tc xoxo." She couldn't help but giggle at the high sounding sentence he had used.

"Who is it?" Justin asked while squeezing her hand. She gulped.

"Nick." She said simply.

"Oh." She turned to him and saw him frown.

"What..." He shrugged. "What's wrong?" She asked while running her hands through his hair. She really didn't want to know but she felt obliged to ask him.

"I can't help but wonder if you really got over him..." He asked quietly. He knew it wasn't the smartest thing to say but he had to get it off his chest.

"What?" She asked sitting up. She was shocked. But deep inside she knew that the question wasn't stupod. She sighed.

"I don't know what to say Justin..."

"Just tell me if you still have feelings for him..." He said trying to stay strong and mentally preparing himself to hear the answer he didn't want to hear.

"How many times have we gone through this whole jealous thing?" She asked annoyed.

"You didn't answer me..." He said quietly.

"He's my best friend!" She shouted. She couldn't help but attack anybody who would dare ask her if she still had feelings for her ex boyfriend. Justin quickly backed down. He knew his insecurities wouldn't be cleared that day and decided to move on.

"Ok ok... I'm sorry... Forget I even asked!" Miley calmed down as he pulled her onto his lap and kissed her head gently. It wasn't long until Billy called Miley for a phone interview. She was somewhat relieved, happy to have an excuse to say goodbye to Justin. He was really starting to get to her and although she knew she couldn't blame him for being insecure but she was upset. She said goodbye to Justin and headed to what she called her 'office' to pick up the phone and get on with the interview.

After the interview, she decided it was time to answer Nick. She had wanted to answer the second she had received the message but Justin's 'tantrum' kept her from it.

"Hey! It's fine. I'm sorry I sounded so harsh and cold."

"Are you sure you really forgave me... Did you really mean it or were you just telling me what I wanted to hear?" He knew that he wasn't making the right move, but he couldn't help himself. He needed answers. He needed to know how she was really feeling.

"Why does it matter whether I forgave you or not after a whole year of silence?" She was curious and annoyed. Somehow the questions he was asking her only made her think of how she was feeling. And truthfully she had no idea what she was feeling.

"I just need to know Miles..."

"I forgave you a long time ago Nick. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt anymore. I'm sorry for sending you mix signals. I need some time... I hope you can understand that." It was the truth. She needed time to understand what she was feeling. She knew that talking to him and seeing him would confuse her all the more. She was slowly accepting the fact that she had never really gotten over Nick. She didn't know what she wanted and didn't know if him being in her life (as a friend) was such a good idea anymore. She needed to move on from him and having him around surely wouldn't help. But again... did she really want to lose him all over again? Not really. Why did life have to be so complicated, she thought?

"What's wrong? What is going on in that head of yours?"

Miley was surprised by the way Nick was handling things. The 14 year old Nick would have accepted what she had said even though he didn't necessarily understand it. The 16 year old Nick wanted to know what was going on with her. She felt like he was being more attentive to her feelings and wasn't as selfish as he used to be. Subconsciously, Miley liked it.

"I'm just really confused... I need some time to clear my head."

"Ok. Have a nice trip."

It was 5pm by the time the brothers reached LA. Kevin and Joe were hoping to catch Miley before her departure, the next morning. They knew they had been wrong in breaking the promises they had made to her and in the immature way they had acted.

"Where are you going?" Nick asked when he saw his brothers walking out the front door.

"Uh... we're just..." Joe looked at Kevin for help.

"Guys? What's going on?" Nick asked sure that something was up.

"We're just gonna visit Trace." Kevin said innocently.

"Yeah that's it!" Joe said smiling. Kevin smacked the back of his head and said quietly:

"Nice going dude!" Nick gave them sceptical look but didn't ask further questions. He was almost jealous that his brothers were probably going to see Miley. But he knew what she wanted and respected it. That's the kind of guy Nick was. He wouldn't pressurise her into seeing her if she didn't want to.

Miley was stunned to see Kevin and Joe at her front door. However, she quickly recovered and smiled brightly. She was genuinely happy to see them even if the past year hadn't been the best, to say the least.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" She asked each one of them after giving them a quick hug. She led them inside and the guys sat on the couch while she sat on one of the chairs.

"Well... first of all, we wanted to apologise..." Kevin started nervously.

"Yeah... we're sorry for the stupid things we did..." Joe added. Miley didn't need to hear any more. She was so happy to see them again and just saying 'sorry' was enough for her. She was more than happy to have her 'big brothers' around again. She smiled brightly.

"Guys... stop! It's ok really... I understand... I know you didn't mean to hurt me intentionally."

"Not we didn't... but still... we made promises and we broke them!"

"We all did... and Nick is your brother. It only made sense that you would cut all bonds..." She was sincere. At the time, she had been so angry and disappointed in them... but now, she understood. Maybe a few months had made a big difference in the maturity of the young woman.

They went on talking for a little while and goofed around like old times. They went through the pictures they had taken on the BOBW tour and laughed as they remembered some anecdotes and jokes they had played on each other. Miley's eyes were covered with sadness when they came upon a picture of Nick and her kissing. She quickly clicked on next for another picture to appear. Joe sensed that she had tensed up and put an arm around her shoulder, gently squeezing it.

"It's ok Miles..." He said comfortingly. She sighed and put her head on Joe's shoulder. "You know, he really missed you..." He added in a whisper. She was dying to know where he was but she also remembered asking him for 'some time'.

"I know... and I did too... but..."

"But...? You guys are not over each other Miles... what are you doing apart?" Joe said gently. Instead of getting a little angry like anyone would have expected her to, she closed her eyes and spoke softly.

"It's not that simple Joe..."

"Why isn't it?" Kevin spoke up. He could see that Nick and Miley had yet a lot to share. Sure they had come across a few bumps along the road... which relationship doesn't?

"We're friends... that's it! And I have a boyfriend..." She added the last sentence in a whisper. The truth was, she was wondering what she was doing with a guy who was 4 years older than her.

"Miles, don't do this to yourself... or Nick! You deserve to be together... I know he really hurt you and I know we did too... but we were young and immature. We're older now and we all learned a good lesson. We won't do the same mistakes twice!" Kevin spoke up. Joe looked at Kevin in surprise. Kevin was not the type to get into other people's business. He was always there when someone needed him but he never interfered with any of their relationships, even if it was to help. This was the first time Joe saw him plead in favour of his younger brother.

Although Miley knew the guys were right, she didn't want to admit that she wanted to be with Nick. She had never stopped wanting to be with him even if it scared her at times. She needed him. But there was no way she was going to admit it to herself... or to anybody else. She needed to move on and that's what she was determined to do.

While his brothers were gone Nick concentrated on writing more songs for their new record. They had taken a few days off not only to relax but to also find inspiration. The song Nick had written the previous night would certainly have been a success but he wasn't ready to sing something so personal. Not yet. He was afraid to let the world read him like an open book. Or was it just Miley he was afraid of? She could read him like an open book and he didn't want her to know his true feelings. Not yet. Things had started to seem a little better but he had made the mistake of bringing up the dreaded topic: their breakup. He felt lonely, confused and wished that he could jog over to her house and hug her like old times. He needed comfort and she was the only one who could provide it for him.

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xoxo