Chapter Four: Assassin

~I'm an assassin and I had a job to do, little did I know that girl was an assassin too - John Mayer~

Four weeks. One month. It took me merely one month to forget about the last four years and fall for him again. Hard. We've become inseparable lately, practically attached at the hip (sexual innuendo not intended). Like it's become seriously impossible for me to get him out of my head. He's all I ever think about anymore. It's that kind of giddiness you get when you're thirteen, it's your fist love and the butterflies in your stomach never go away. You feel like you're on top of the world and all you want to do is sing and tell the whole world. It's simply the best feeling in the world and it's my second time around. Pathetic, yes, but I could care less.

"Aren't you gonna get that?" Demi asks me, taking a sip of her water. We're currently in the middle of brunch, along with my mom, Dallas and Brandi.

I grab my phone from its position on the table. It's a text message.

Hey Hun, so listen, I was just wondering, would you mind getting out of my head? I'm trying to focus on work. Okay, that is all. -Nick

I swear this boy will be the death of me. I honestly don't know how he manages to do this to me so effortlessly. I know he's known for being too serious and quiet but what people don't know about him is he's the master of wittiness and he has the kind of humor that's so dry that most people don't understand it enough to find it funny. It may just be my favorite of his traits; I'm never not laughing when I'm with him.

I don't realize I'm smiling like an idiot until I look up and see four pairs of eyes staring at me with mostly puzzled looks. Demi of course knows and is looking at me with a smirk.

"What?" I tuck some hair behind one ear and proceed to reply. Thankfully, they all return to their previous activities.

Oh I'm sorry, I got lost, on my way over to Liam's head. :p - Miley

Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, did I text you by accident? I meant to text Courtney. My bee! :/ - Nick

Courtney? Are you talking about the same Courtney that has you under 'Lil Bro' in her phone? -Miley

& are you talking about the same Liam who's engaged to the girl that he broke up with to be with you & broke up with you to be with? - Nick

Touché - Miley

Thought so. - Nick

Hi. - Miley

Hey gorgeous, how's your day been so far? - Nick

I'm out at brunch with mom, Brandi, Dem, and Dallas...& they're all eye-ballin' me, so ttyl3 - Miley

:-X -(a big wet kiss for you). - Nick

I giggle at his text as I put the phone back to where it was on the table. Like I said before, he will be the death of me.

"Will you quit with the giggling?" My mom's annoyance is obviously starting to show.

"Why, does it bother you mother?" She obviously doesn't like my tone judging by the look on her face.

"We're trying to have a nice meal and you're being rude Miley."

"It's okay Tish, it was Nick, it's totally necessary." Count on Demi to know exactly what to say. She winks at me after I smile at her, silently thanking her.

"Excuse me; I need to use the restroom." I stand up, heading for the restaurant entrance.

"Hold up, I'll come with you." I hear Demi call out to me and we head for the restrooms together. "So, you and Mr. Pres. gettin' it on virtually, I see." Demi says, as we enter separate stalls.

I let out a loud, obnoxious snort. "Hardly; he's too much of a prude."

"Nick? Ha! He is no prude; let me tell you, he just acts like he is around you to secure his chances of ever getting in your pants again."

I roll my eyes. "Nice way of putting it Dem."

"What? You know it's true."

"Whatever." Truth is, I have no clue what so ever. I mean, yeah we flirt, but it's all friendly, it's not like I'm expecting it to escalate into anything. But recently, I've been taking everything to heart and call me crazy, but I have a feeling sometimes so does he. He's such a natural flirt though (with every girl), I'm never really sure. So I try not to think about it.

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"Are you going to Les Deux tonight?"

"Why? So I can watch skanks throw themselves at you? No thanks."

"What are you talking about?"

I turn away from the mirror and raise an eyebrow at Nick. He's lying on my bed watching me through the bathroom door as I straighten my hair. "You know exactly what I'm talking about...but anyway, I have a shoot today."

"I'll keep you company then."

"Don't be a perv." I unplug the straightener and place it back down on the counter.

"How the hell does that make me a perv?"

"You know it's Victoria's Secret."

He knits his eyebrows together. "You're the one that's getting jealous here, I'm merely making a compromise."

I roll my eyes. "You're impossible."

"And you love it. What are you pampering yourself for anyway; don't they have people who do that for you?"

"It's my very first shoot with them, I'm trying to make a good impression Nick, don't ruin it?"

"It's your very first lingerie shoot, I think that's more important than anything else. I have to be there."

"You're not just saying that because I'll be half naked, are you?"

"Of course not, that's just icing on the cake." I see him smirk at me through the mirror and I shake my head at him.

After I finish getting ready, I make sure I take all of the essentials for the shoot, which, as they made clear should only be myself, but what can I say? I'm stubborn. Nick insists on giving me a ride there, and mind you, I'm completely capable of doing so myself; he's just as stubborn as I am.

Once we arrive at the shoot, I'm quickly whisked away to hair and makeup, which takes about thirty minutes. Next, I'm quickly stripped of my clothing and put into some crazy lingerie that I swear cost more than both my car and house put together. It's a simple black, lacy bra with matching panties. They're see-through around certain parts but cover all the necessary areas, giving it a sexy yet classy look. What completely kill me are the small bows formed by tiny pink silver circular jewels placed on the hips and between the breasts. Actually I lied, what totally kill me are the huge black wings that are suddenly being attached to my back; think 'Can't Be Tamed' only about ten times more glamorous; we're apparently going for the 'black angel' look. They can call it whatever they want, what I know is I love it. I love how it makes me feel so fierce, bold and sexy. It's awesome.

Next, I'm placed in front of about five monstrous blinding lights, I'm told to look straight ahead, past the lights, to avoid being blinded. And, of course, who's sitting there straight across from me, staring at me with a look that I couldn't even begin to try to describe, even if I wanted to? Nick of course. For about a quarter of a second, I panic, thinking I won't be able to focus with the way he's looking at me, but instead, I decide to use him to my advantage.

Nick's one of the only guys I've ever gotten really intimate with and it's almost effortless for him to make a girl feel confident and sexy just by giving her the time of day. And he may not come across as the type, but he is definitely a confidence booster even in the most awkward, intimate moments. So it's very easy for me to just look at him and for my mind to automatically revert back to such moments, remembering how incredible he can make me feel.

"That's perfect!" the photographer's voice is almost like inspirational background music, considering my main focus at the time is the baby-faced musician directly in front of me. "Oh, gorgeous! Now, sit down on that stool and keep doing what you're doing with your face, only now, close your eyes...marvelous!"

I decide to have a little more fun with it and experiment with different poses and I swear the photographer is in Heaven. There's even one where I go all out and lie on the floor with one hand up over my head and the other one to my side playing with my sprawled out hair, and I top it off with a tiny flirty smirk; that one nearly kills him. I'm enjoying myself so much that I'm shocked when we're done; time sure does fly when you're having fun.

I spot Nick, still sitting in the same spot texing away, and head over to him. As I approach him, I notice the slight frown on his face and the smile on my own face immediately disappears.

"What's wrong?" He looks up from his iPhone and I watch as his eyes travel from my bare thighs, up my torso -lingering on my pierced navel- past my breasts and finally land on my face. "What?"

"Go change."

I cross my arms over my chest and lift an eyebrow at him. Is he serious right now?

"Please?"

Suddenly I can feel all that amazing energy and confidence I had a few minutes ago exiting my body just as quickly as it entered. I uncross my arms, letting them fall to my sides and stand there pathetically looking at him. I debate over wanting to know what's running through his mind or just dropping it and pretending he's just tired and really wants to go home. I decide my heart is not strong enough and go with the second option.

"Okay." I squeak and head over to wardrobe. So many questions are running through my mind as I get dressed. I know I'm not crazy, I know I saw that look on his face during my shoot; the chemistry was beyond palpable and I refuse to believe that it was all in my head; there is no way I imagined all that.

Maybe I'm overreacting, maybe I'm reading into it too much, maybe I should apologize for making him feel uncomfortable. My mind is going haywire, trying to make sense of it all as I finish getting dressed and make my way back to a surprisingly smiley Nick. Okay?

As I get closer though, I notice how forced the smile looks. He's hiding something. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." He reaches for my bag full of the unnecessary items I brought with me as we head for the exit.

"I got it." I say a little too harshly then I intended.

He glances at me, puzzled, but doesn't say anything. Smart boy.

The ride to my house is one of the most awkward things I've ever experienced. The entire time I'm not sure what to do or say considering Nick and I never have awkward moments, it's usually just really natural with us. I can tell there's a lot going through his mind with the way he's staring straight ahead with a blank expression, his hand tightly gripping the steering wheel. This is ridiculous. "Nick."

He pulls into my driveway then looks over at me and there's that lovely fake smile again. Wonderful.

"Nicholas." I scold, "What is the matter with you, talk to me."

"Not now Miley, you should probably head in, it's late."

I reach for his hand realizing this may be a lot more serious than I thought. I look him straight in the eyes but he's obviously trying to avoid me. "Nicholas, tell me what's going on, now."

"Will you stop?" He yanks his hand away "There's nothing to talk about, okay? Now can you please get out of my car? I'm tired."

He has got to be kidding me. I'm sitting here being a concerned friend and he has the audacity to be rude to me? Hell no.

"Ass." I get out of the car, making sure to slam the door loud enough to leave some kind of impact, I don't care how minor as long as it's an impact. Gosh, I hate assholes like him who are capable of ruining my night with simple little words like that. Its times like these that I really miss my family, I miss having sleepovers with my mom, Brandi and Noah; I just would rather not be alone tonight. Someone else I really miss right now? Liam.

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