Chapter Nine.

Miley.
I was sitting in my room with Selena. She was sleeping over tonight and I had to admit that it was nice to have a best-friend with me. Even if we were just sitting in my room, silently flipping through magazines, it felt nice to have someone there considering I had no one the past couple of weeks.

Then, I began wondering why she out of all people was so okay with this. Why she didn't care at all. Demi was beyond upset that she was left out in the dark, yet Selena was standing in front of me as if it was nothing. She was the one person I expected to be hurt, and draw the final straw.

"Sel?" I stopped thinking, knowing it'd eventually get me in trouble. She quickly faced me from her magazine and as we met eyes I blurted out the question. "Why aren't you mad?

"About?"

I smiled knowingly at her. "You know what about."

She sighed, and for a moment I thought she wouldn't tell me. For a moment I thought she was going to brush it off and say she just didn't mind. Then she closed the magazine and looked me in the eye.

"I know you told Demi you guys were nothing, but she believed that you weren't in love with him the past three years, too," she let out the tiniest forced laugh before looking down again, "and I think both of us have known that was never true."

I looked at her, tilting my head. How did she know that? Since when did she know that? And, better yet, why didn't she never mention she knew? So, she had known we were dating this entire time? Or did she just know that I liked him? And, if she knew he liked me, did she know when she was dating him? Or did she not even know that he liked me back?

I must have been sitting there gaping, because Selena started talking again, pulling me out of the trance.

"C'mon, Miley, you didn't honestly think I don't know why he broke up with me," she looked down, playing with the comforter.

She knew? Oh, crap. Oh, shit. I'm the worst best-friend in the world. It's one thing lying to her so she wouldn't know but when she already did know it all... Dammit.

"I don't know exactly what happened on the beach, but I've known something happened there ever since we broke up. Just like I've known you're in love with him. I'll admit, the whole 'secretly dating' thing you guys kept hidden pretty well. I had no idea."

"Selena..." I sighed. She should've told me she's known. "I'm so-"

"Look, when I became your friend, I knew you were still in love with him. It was obvious," she fiddled with the comforter some more. "Hell, I think something in me knew he was always in love with you, anyways."

"How'd you figure all of this out?" I asked her, half hurting for her half amazed that she'd kept her mouth shut this entire time.

"Well, the video chat right when he broke up with me showed me you knew more than you were letting on, so when I suggested maybe Nick had another girl, I was testing you. You'd either deny it like I was crazy, or accept it. I knew from the time you failed that the other girl was you."

"I'm-"

"Miley, I told you, it's okay. A part of me always knew I was his second choice."

"Still," I fumbled. That didn't stop me from feeling bad. She had known this entire time that she was dumped because Nick liked her best-friend. I knew that feeling. It sucked.

"Don't give him up because of Demi," she plead. I met her eyes, trying to figure out if she was lying or saying that because she felt she had to, but she was genuine. I wanted to figure out if she was even hurting, but I didn't see anything that even suggested she might be. It seemed like she'd seen it coming a long time ago. Like she didn't even care anymore.

"I won't," I promised her. I'd already tried a break, after all. It didn't go so well.

"Are you happy with how everything's turning out?"

"Yeah," I smiled.

She let out another sigh, looking at me disappointed. I would be disappointed in me too. Especially if I was her. "You're lying again."

I faced the floor, putting my head in my hands. "I'm sorry."

"What's wrong?"

I shrugged. "I'm really happy with Nick... But it feels like all my old friends are leaving, my best friend really is leaving. The fame is dying down and I can't do anything to stop it... It all makes it kind of hard to be happy."

"The fame won't last forever," she told me, playing with her fingers. "It's gonna die down and you can't stop that, but when the fame dies down and you feel like you have no fans and all your old friends are gone, there's gonna be that one person left. He won't change." I didn't answer as she finally faced away from me, staring back at her magazine, trying to act as if this wasn't the most awkward conversation we've ever had. "He loves you, Miley. So, you might as well just not break up this time. We all know you'd end up back together."

"Thanks, Sel," I gave a small smile. "I needed that."

"No problem," she giggled. "Besides, we wouldn't want another girl coming in, thinking she has a chance, right?"

I forced a laugh. "I'm-"

"Stop apologizing," she ordered. "Remember that promise we made a year ago?"

I nodded, faintly remembering the two of us sitting in Demi's room. Was that really only a year ago? It seemed like a lifetime ago now.

"We wouldn't let Nick come between us."

"Which means to stop apologizing," she told me sternly, and I knew that we were already looking for a new topic.

"How's your love life going?"

She shrugged, grinning a little. "Not that well."

I scoffed. With that look on her face 'Not that well' was obviously code for 'I think I'm in love'. "Who is it?"

"Well, you don't know him. He's new to Disney and seventeen, but he's so cute! And I met him like, a week ago and he's the nicest boy in the entire world."

"Does the nicest boy in the entire world have a name?"

"Matt," she told me dreamily.

I grabbed my laptop going on IMDB. I let her search him up and I had to admit, he was pretty cute. Not as cute as Nick, but he looked nice.

"I approve," I nodded.

"Yeah, but I've tried rushing into things with Nick. I think I just want to wait awhile on this one, you know? I mean, not everyone can start dating the day they meet and still be together six years later," she teased me.

I blushed. Sure, I used to be used to the teasing, but it hadn't happened in so long. I'm glad it was now. That meant things were getting back to normal. To the way they should be. The way they were back December 2006. That could have been the best month of my life. I'd never felt more alive than the first time he'd said 'I love you'.

I grinned a little bit at the thought.

Not everyone could meet when they were twelve, completely rush into it, and still be madly in love almost seven years later.

Nick and I were pretty special.

Nick.
I grinned walking to Miley's side door. There was no way I was going to walk in through the main door with this amazing gift I'd gotten for her. No way. I held it behind my back as I opened the door that she never locked. I always wished that she would, but right now, I didn't mind that it was unlocked.

"Oh, Miley," I singsonged, walking in.

"Oh, Nicky," she mimicked me before her face fell. "You're too happy. What'd you do?"

"I got you something," I smiled, pulling out her surprise from behind my back. The perfect bra. It was lacy, it was skimpy, it was black, and it would look great with Miley in it.

Her eyes went wide before she laughed, and I could tell she knew I was just kidding... Partially.

"What is that?"

"A bra," I grinned, waving it around a little bit.

She rose an eyebrow, crossing her arms. "How did you know what size to get me?"

"I told you already, I need to look at something while I'm stashed in your closet."

I think she almost choked. "So you look at my bra size?"

"Well, not anymore. We aren't a secret," I looked down sadly. There were some pretty interesting things in that closet...

She giggled, shaking her head. "You are never allowed in my closet again.

"I figured." I held up the bra for her to get a better view as I brought it closer. "But, you should go try this on."

"Why? You still wouldn't see it," she was testing me as I walked closer. Once I reached her bed I took the final step, sitting on top of her and straddling her with my legs.

"You'd definitely need a second opinion, and who would be more honest than me?"

She rolled her eyes, taking the bra out of my hands and throwing it across the room. "I want to smack you. You know you're the single, most annoying person I've ever met, right?"

"But you find it all irresistible."

"Only sometimes," she corrected. Her smile said it all, though. She never could lie. Not to me at least. She loved me all the time, day and night.

I pointed to my lips. "Are you gonna kiss me?"

"Aren't you supposed to make the first move?"

Was she really going to give me a hard time tonight? I get her a present and she gives me a hard time. Go figure.

"I thought we were beyond that," I leaned in, connecting our lips.

Miley didn't hesitate to kiss back at all, wrapping her arm around my neck while her hand was digging through my hair. I knew she found me irresistible. She couldn't even control the effect I had on her.

I smiled into the kiss before she thought of something, pulling away. Tease.

"Why were you bra shopping, anyways?"

I jumped off of her lap to a sitting position on the bed before putting my hands up. "I was not bra shopping."

"You bought a bra," she pointed at the lacy thing I was already regretting buying. She would never let me live down how I went 'bra shopping'. I could see it now, her telling all of her friends.

"For you."

She smiled, sitting up with me. "So, who'd you go bra shopping with?"

"Selena."

She really did smack me this time. "You know, that's getting old."

"I went with Joe," I ignored her comment.

She snorted. Well, that was ladylike. "I'm sure Joe loved that."

"Oh, he did. I tried to get him to get one for Demi, but he said it was suggestive," I told her in mock disbelief. "Can you believe that?"

"No! What would buying your girlfriend underwear possibly suggest?"

I laughed, pinning her down to the bed in a hug. "Admit it. You think it's funny."

"I think it's hilarious," she smiled, beginning to play with my hair as I laid on her chest for a change. "However, I can see why Joe wouldn't get it. You'd need to know someone pretty well to pull a stunt like that."

"Good thing I know you more than God does, then," I told her.

She shoved me off of her, grabbing the bra off the floor and examining it.

"You hardly know me."

I shook my head. I just bought her the right sized bra, yet she still could say that I didn't know her.

"I know you love me."

"The entire world knows that."

I shook my head, thinking harder. "I know how to cheer you up in less than three minutes."

She just smiled at that one and I knew I was right. She fiddled with her present some more before looking up at me.

"This is the horniest thing you've ever given me. You know that?"

"But you like it."

"I refuse to wear it for you."

I smirked. "You still like it."

"It does have the Nick Jonas charm on it," she looked up, that smile still on her face.

"I got you something else too. Hold on. It's in the car."

I ran out, grabbing the Target bag before walking back in.

"What's in it?" She immediately asked, standing up and grabbing it from my hands. She took out the bottle, figuring out what it was before her jaw dropped. "Nicholas! How perverted can you get?"

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Princess," I took the shaving cream from her, holding it in my own hand as I went into her way too big bathroom. "It's for the floor."

"You plan to shave the floor?" she asked skeptically. "This should be good."

"Not shave the floor. Draw on it. You never drew in shaving cream as a kid? They would squirt it on the desks and you could draw with it?"

She started laughing, shaking her head. "No, I learned math and everything. Were you in the special ed class?"

"It was pre-school! All pre-schools did this. C'mon, you seriously don't remember it?"

She shook her head as I began squirting it all over the floor. She sat down, giving me a look.

"This is crazy."

I rolled my eyes, spraying some on her face. "Start drawing," I sat on the other side of the rather large puddle, taking the lead.

I love MC, I wrote in it.

She sighed, placing her hand in it and beginning to make her own doodles.

"I don't want to go to Emily's birthday party," she whined. "And neither do you. Plus, there's gonna be a ton of fights. So we should skip it."

"Sh," I ordered. "We need to go, but shut up. We're being pre-schoolers. There's no talking of drama."

She shook her head, making faces as she drew. "This could be the stupidest thing we've ever done together."

"Admit that you're having fun," I rolled my eyes.

"I'm having fun," she told me, tilting her head a little. "It's an absolutely crazy idea and I don't know what possessed you think of it, but it's fun."

I smirked, nodding my head in satisfaction.

"I think it'd be funner if you tried your newest piece of lingerie on while we did this," I stated, looking up at her.

She scoffed, getting that dangerous glimmer in her eyes as she reached back in the bag getting the other bottle of shaving cream. She went over the drawings on the floor, tackling me backwards and sitting on top of me as she smirked.

I looked around at what she was holding, watching her open the bottle. My eyes widened as her stupid grin just increased.

"No. Miley!" I warned. She slowly got closer and closer, sticking her tongue out at me. "Don't do it."

"Payback!" She suddenly started screaming, first squirting it over my face before moving on to my hair. She sure did know how to get the cream in between every single curl, too. I squirmed, trying to her her off but it was too hard.

Once she stopped she smirked, looking at me as I glared at her. Suddenly she got up, beginning to run. It took me about half a second to start chasing her, laughing. "Miley, you're dead!"

"You can't catch me!" she giggled, running even faster. I knew this house better than she did, though. I cut her off within thirty seconds. She looked at me with wide eyes as I grabbed her, picking her up. She began kicking while laughing, begging me to put her down.

Finally, I did. I got to the bathroom, laying her down right in the middle of our puddle. She gasped, closing her eyes as she felt get in her hair and seep through her shirt.

She immediately sat up, pulling me down so that I was laying on top of her again. She scooped up some from beside her, spreading more on my face.

"Payback," she smiled at me.

She missed one minor detail. She'd want to kiss me. I leaned in, connecting our lips as I pressed our foreheads together. She was smiling into it, I could tell. I grabbed some from the ground, beginning to caress her cheeks.

She pulled away with a happy look that told me knew she was defeated in our shaving cream war.

I smiled at her a little, raising my eyebrows.

"Payback."

haha, i had fun writing this :) thoughts? :D

twitter/iaskedtaylorx

oh, & school started. ew.

HAPPY MONDAY (=