Miley nearly jumped when her phone rang. She had been deeply concentrating on a new song she was writing. Glancing down at the caller ID, Miley sighed. It was Jesse. With a shaking hand, Miley answered the phone. "Hi," she said quietly.

"Hey," he said softly.

Miley leaned back against her pillow. "What's up?" she asked in a monotone. It had been three days since she'd last spoken to Jesse.

"Well. We have band practice tomorrow and I didn't want things to be weird. So I wanted to call to see if we were okay," Jesse said carefully.

Miley rolled her eyes. "We're fine, I guess," she muttered.

"Really? Cause you don't sound fine to me," Jesse observed.

"Well. I'm fine. Okay?" Miley replied narrowly.

"Okay. Cool. So what are you up to?" Jesse asked.

"Just foolin' around with some lyrics. Trying to write a song," Miley replied.

"Can I hear it?" Jesse asked hopefully.

"It's lame. I'm not even finished with it yet," Miley responded.

"Come on. Just play me a little bit of it. I want to hear you sing. Please?"

Miley sighed. There was just something about the hopefulness of his sweet voice. "Okay," she said in a small voice.

"Okay. Whenever your ready," Jesse said happily.

Miley took a deep breath and glanced down at the piece of paper in front of her. "It's probably not gonna sound that good. And I'm not gonna play the guitar with it right now. I'll just sing a little bit of it. It's called 'It's You and Me.' Here it goes."

"Okay," Jesse replied.

Miley hesitated, then began to sing,

"We never know where we will end up
Never know where this road will go
But I want you here with me
And that's all I know

These days
It seems things are changing
I can't stop us
Or the world from rearranging

And so I want you to know
That I'm glad you're by my side
And I want you to see
This time I'm not gonna hide

And maybe
Maybe this time it will be different
Something will go right for once
I've got you here
When it's you and me
We are happy, happy as can be
So if you tell her, tell her
To get out of the way
Maybe this time will be different
Different
It's you and me.

And that's all I have so far. I'm trying to work on the second verse right now."

"Wow," Jesse managed to say. "Miley, that was amazing."

"Thanks," Miley replied, biting her lip nervously. She wondered if Jesse knew that the song was about him. And if he did, he probably didn't realize what the song even meant.

"Miley...was that about..." Jesse trailed off.

"What?" Miley asked nervously.

"Never mind. But that was really good. I'd love to hear the rest when you finish it," Jesse told Miley. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Okay...cool."

"Yeah, cool," Miley grumbled, before hitting the end button on her phone. "Stupid Jesse," she mumbled.

"Knock knock," a voice came from the doorway. Miley turned and saw her dad standing there, holding a plate of chocolate chip cookies. Miley didn't even break a smile. Robby Ray walked into the room and held the plate out toward his daughter. "Cookie for your thoughts," he joked.

Miley rolled her eyes and glanced up towards the ceiling, refusing to make eye contact.

"C'mon, Miles. You've been like this for days. What's up with you? Is your little fight with Jesse still bothering you?" Robby Ray wanted to know.

Miley shrugged. "No. It wasn't really a fight. And we're fine now."

"You don't look fine. Or sound fine," her dad noted.

"So I've heard," Miley mumbled monotonously.

Robby Ray sighed and glanced around the near empty room, with the boxes stacked up in piles. "I can't believe that my baby girl is moving out," he said, shaking his head.

Miley rolled her eyes. "Jackson moved out, too. And he's getting married. That's something bigger for you to worry about," she pointed out.

"But, still. You only have three days left here. Aren't you the least bit sad?" her dad wanted to know.

Miley gazed at the floor filled with boxes. "Yeah. Of course. But I'm excited, too."

"I'm excited for you, too, Miley," Robby Ray said sincerely.

Miley smiled. "Yeah."

"Now, there's that smile!" Robby Ray exclaimed. "I was beginning to think I was never going to see it again."

Miley rolled her eyes. "I'm gonna go pack some more clothes. I'm almost done. Then I'll go to bed, since we have early practice tomorrow."

"Okay," Robby Ray said, before kissing Miley's forehead. "Goodnight, bud."

--

Practice started at 9:00 the next morning. Miley showed up in her Hannah costume, ready to sing. She glanced around the empty room, her stomach flip-flopping when she realized that Jesse would arrive any minute. Oliver couldn't make it to practice because he was going to a doctor's appointment, so Lilly rode with Robby Ray and Miley.

"So..." Lola said quietly, as she and Hannah watched the other three guys in the band set up their equipment.

"What?" Hannah asked, turning to face Lola.

"Nothing," Lola said suspiciously. "It's just that you seem to be a little nervous about something."

Hannah hesitated. "Oh! You know, just nervous about this tour! It's been so long since I went touring, that I'm just so nervous about getting back out there! It's scary!" she insisted.

Lola raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Really," Hannah said with a tight smile.

"So this has nothing to do with Jesse?" Lola pressed.

"Psshh! Jesse? W-what would he have to do with anything?" Hannah stammered.

"Did I hear my name?"

"Jesse!" Hannah shrieked. "Heyy," she added, in a more casual voice.

Jesse nodded. "'Sup."

Lola glanced knowingly at Hannah. Jesse walked past them with his guitar case in hand.

"So, you ready?" Jesse asked.

"For practice?" Hannah asked.

"Yeah. And for the tour. It's in, like, two months," Jesse pointed out.

"Yeah. Well, that's plenty of time to practice!" Hannah said.

"Alright, let's go! It's 9:05 already!" Robby Ray exclaimed, walking up to Hannah, Lola, and Jesse.

"Okay. Let's get up there," Jesse said, looking directly at Hannah.

--

"That was like magic today, Hannah! You were great up there!" Jesse said, as he and the other guys packed up their equipment.

"Thanks, Jesse," Hannah said with a smile.

"Yeah. So I'll see you the day after tomorrow," Jesse said.

Hannah nodded. "Nine a.m. sharp!" she said with a laugh.

--

By 9:15, Robby Ray was fuming mad. Jesse hadn't shown up, and he didn't answer his phone.

"Dad, calm down. I'm sure he's just running later or stuck in traffic. He'll be here," Hannah assured her father.

"Yeah. It's just typical Jesse. Late," Lola said with a laugh.

Oliver/Mike nodded. "Typical Jesse," he agreed.

By 9:25, Hannah was worried. Jesse was never this late without calling first. And he always answered his phone. "I'm gonna try calling him again," Hannah said to no one in particular.

By 9:45, it was agreed that Jesse wasn't coming. After practice ended around 11:00, Miley tried to call Jesse on the car ride home. When there was no answer, Miley was about to hang up. Suddenly, there was a voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hello?" said a young female.

Abby.

"Abby?" Miley shrieked. "What is your brother doing? He was supposed to be at practice this morning!"

"Miley?"

"Yeah?" Miley said, glancing at her phone. Why did it sound like Abby had been crying?

"I'm here at the hospital with my parents, my grandma, and Amber...Jesse was in a car accident on his way to practice this morning..."