This one's a little short, but I hope you enjoy it. Review please!

Chapter 7: Talks

Nick grabbed Miley's hand and lead her down the hallway to one of the empty rooms. His hand was sweating with nerves and he hoped that Miley couldn't feel it or wasn't grossed out by it. That would definitely be a mood killer. He just couldn't believe that he was actually going to do this. He was going to tell Miley that he still felt the same. He was terrified, but incredibly excited to take that dive. He loved her so much.

He opened one of the doors and looked in to make sure it was free of any couples already getting it on. Not that he planned to hook up with Miley tonight, he just needed a semi-quiet place to talk to her.

Nick looked at her anxiously and she gave him a reassuring smile. Turning on the light felt weird, so he kept it off, but kept the door open a crack to let some light pour in. He sat down on the edge of the full sized bed and gestured for Miley to sit next to him. The whole time he didn't let go of her hand. He couldn't bear to break contact with her anyway.

"So..." Miley said awkwardly after they had sat in silence for a while, "You wanted to talk?"

Nick gulped loudly trying to think of what he was going to say. He took a deep breath before starting.

"I still remember the exact day you left. August 29th," he started looking down at their hands instead of at her face. They looked so nice together, her long slender fingers and his big manly ones. She looked at him curiously, "And I still remember what I told you. Do you remember?"

Now it was Miley's turn to be nervous. Of course she remembered, but what if somehow he was talking about something else? Or if he was going to say 'Well I don't feel the same, let's be friends'?

"Of course," Miley said licking her lips because her mouth was dry, "You told me," her voice shook with nerves, making her sound more like her nervous 13-old self, "You told me that- you told me that you liked me," she whispered the last part as if admitting it out loud would start an earthquake.

"No," Nick said shaking his head and Miley's heart stopped in fear, "No, I told you I loved you," he said smiling and finally looking up at her. She looked at him too. Blue met brown. They leaned in towards each other, even closer than they were in Nick's kitchen just a day ago.

"Well, I still feel the same," Nick whispered right onto her lips. Miley pushed forward and captured his lips into their very first kiss together.

Some first kisses are awkward as two partners get to know each others style. Some first kisses are passionate and fueled with desire, but no real love. This kiss was not one of those. Maybe it was because both of them had imagined this moment so many times that there was no way it couldn't be perfect, or maybe just because they already knew each other so well, but either way this kiss was by far the most perfect thing either of them had ever experienced.

It was soft and gentle and loving, but there was also pent-up passion from all the years they had spent pining for each other. When the both pulled away, they were both sporting matching goofy smiles. Miley bit her lip and Nick smiled putting his hand on her cheek caressing it gently.

"I love you, too," she said softly, "Ever since we were younger, I'm sorry that I left, but I just didn't want to tell you and then when I tried I didn't have time, and then I had to go..."

"It doesn't matter," Nick interrupted her, "What matters is you and me. Right here, right now."

"Okay," Miley said smiling and squeezing Nick's hand gently. It was unreal to be with him right now, and the fact that he still liked her was incredible. They must really be meant to be together.

"You look beautiful, by the way," Nick said looking at her.

"Thanks," she said blushing at the compliment, "You look nice too."

"So," Nick said smiling, "What has been going on in the world of Miley since the last time I saw you?"

Miley laughed and she continued to tell him all about boarding school and Europe and the things she had seen there. He looked at her entranced by her stories of the incredible things she had experienced from her first high school dance to the city of Rome. The only things she left out were possibly the most important- Aaron and her bulimia. But there was no need to bother him with that drama, right? Right.

Hours later, Miley and Nick realized that it was late and that they had spent the whole night just sitting together and talking. It didn't feel like time wasted though, actually it seemed like the perfect way to spend their time.

"I should probably get going," Miley said sadly, not wanting to leave, "I bet Aaron is wondering where I am..."

"Of course," Nick said looking disappointed too, "I'll bet Joe has either passed out by now or hooked up with enough girls for one night," he joked.

Miley shifted uncomfortably at his last comment, but shook it off quickly before Nick could notice any change. She forced a laugh and stood up.

"Before we venture back in to the public..." Nick said and Miley laughed softly, "How about we go on a date tomorrow?"

"I'd like that. I'd really like that," Miley said smiling and trying to act calm while her insides were jumping around and her heart was exploding.

***

Alex was enjoying herself much more than she had expected. She had planned on getting Nick back tonight, but instead she had wound up dancing with Aaron.

When Aaron first lead her to the dance floor she was expecting the usual bumping and grinding. But Aaron's dancing was so much more than that. Dang, that boy knew how to dance.

"How'd you learn do dance like this?" Alex asked as he spun her around. People were probably staring, but who cared? She was with a gorgeous guy, and she was gorgeous girl, eyes should be on them.

"Dance lessons in eighth grade. My mom signed me up. We learned all styles from ballroom to swing." Aaron replied chuckling, "Where'd you learn to dance?"

"I've been taking classes since I was five," Alex responded laughing too and showing off a little ballet footwork.

Aaron laughed at her little dance steps and reciprocated them with some of his own. Soon both of them were out of breath not only from dancing, but from laughing. Alex had never felt so comfortable with a guy before.

"Let's get a drink," Aaron shouted over the music and Alex nodded eagerly, smiling when Aaron grabbed her hand and lead her off the dance floor to the kitchen.

"You want another beer?" he asked her motioning to the keg and looking at her.

Alex thought about it. Normally, she would say yes. But did she really want or like the beer? No she didn't. And somehow she didn't think that Aaron was the kind of guy who would judge her for not choosing it. That was a nice feeling.

"Actually, do you think you could just get me a water?" Alex said like it was a question.

Aaron's smile widened and he nodded and Alex suddenly felt relieved as if she had passed an unspoken test. He opened the fridge and handed her a water bottle and she took it and drank from it quickly, eager to quench her thirst.

Aaron pulled out one for himself as well and they sat in the kitchen, drinking water and just talking.

This was not something that Alex would have done normally. In fact usually she wanted to be that girl who was completely wasted and dancing on tables while everyone watched. But sitting with Aaron in the kitchen felt more real to her than that. She liked that she knew that she would remember this tomorrow. She liked Aaron. Wait... she liked Aaron?!

The more she thought about it, the more she realized it was true. Aaron was nice, he was funny, he was obviously a good guy and he was insanely gorgeous. What's not to like? At first she had targeted him only to annoy Miley since Miley had taken her guy, but soon she realized that Aaron was fun to be around and that she really did like him.

They were still talking in the kitchen when Miley and Nick walked in hand in hand.

"There you are!" Miley exclaimed seeing Aaron while Nick tried to avoid Alex's gaze. Nick didn't do good with break ups. Usually he tried to avoid the person as much as possible. He hated knowing that he had disappointed someone even if he didn't particularly care for them anymore. Aaron smiled when Miley walked in the room and he felt his heart flutter at her voice.

Miley wrapped Aaron in a huge hug and he hugged her back tightly. It wasn't that he wasn't enjoying his time with Alex, she seemed like a cool girl, but he was in love with Miley, not her.

Miley narrowed her eyes at Alex and Aaron noticed. Suddenly he was worried that Miley was jealous or that she might get the wrong idea. He didn't know that Alex was Nick's ex, he just thought that she thought that he might like this girl.

"Hey, this is my new friend, Alex," Aaron said putting emphasis on the word friend for Miley's benefit, "Alex, this is Miley."

"Oh we've met," Miley said frostily, but still politely, she couldn't help the way she was raised, "But it's nice to see you again."

"I didn't realize you guys knew each other," Aaron said surprised while Nick suddenly found his shoes very interesting.

"So, are you ready to go?" Miley asked Aaron who glanced at Alex for a moment. Alex felt her heart drop, they were leaving together? Not that she cared. Did she care? She felt confused and disoriented.

"Yeah, yeah, of course, if you are," Aaron said, "Bye Alex, it was nice meeting you."

"You too," Alex said still confused by the situation. Usually she was good at reading people's relationships, but lately it just seemed like she was getting everything wrong.

***

Finally, after looking everywhere for him, Nick had found Joe in the living room, just sitting on the couch smoking a joint. It was very un-Joe-like to just be sitting around at a party and not in the center of everything.

Nick was driving home, since Joe was clearly incapable of doing so. Nick hadn't had anything to drink because he wanted to be sober for his talk with Miley and then they had spend the whole night talking.

"So..." Nick said turning onto the main street, while Joe stared out the window, "I got a date with Miley." Nick couldn't keep the grin off of his face, even though he knew that he probably looked like a huge loser.

"That's... awesome," Joe said still staring out the window at the dark sidewalk. It wasn't that he wasn't happy for his younger brother, he was. But ever since his talk with Aaron he couldn't stop thinking about her in that way. What was Miley? Was she really just some girl he had fucked? He had had his share of one night stands, but he certainly didn't feel the same way about them as he did Miley.

She was so confidant and it was a turn on. When they were together it didn't feel like he was taking advantage of her because she was younger. He could tell that she wanted it too. So what was the difference now?

It was hard for Joe to tell if Miley was sincere about Nick or if she was just playing everyone. She didn't seem like the type to play games, but who knew?

"I think I might take her to the shore tomorrow," Nick said breaking the silence, talking to himself more than he was to Joe, "That would be fun. We used to do that all the time when we were younger."

"Mmhm," Joe grunted, wishing that Nick would just shut up about Miley for two seconds. She was already contaminating his thoughts, she didn't have to be in his ears too.

For God's sake, she was so much younger than him, how was he attracted to her? Maybe it was the way she looked and acted like she was twenty-one. She was just out of high school. Joe couldn't think of any other girl that age who he would feel this way about.

"I can't believe this is really happening," Nick said dreamily, not caring that he probably sounded like a girl and that his brother would probably call him out on it. However, Joe kept his mouth shut as he thought silently to himself Me neither, bro, me neither.