She immediately frowns at him. "Go home, Joe." She begins closing the door in his face but is stopped by his hand against the opposite side of the door.

"Come get some ice cream with me, please."

She gives him a strange expression, surprised by his request. "No, I have homework."

"Miles, you are the smartest person I know, you could do that stuff in your sleep." He smirks and looks at her with pleading eyes.

She sighs and leans against the door frame with a frown before speaking seriously. "I can't."

"Why not?"

She lowers her head for a moment before looking back up at him and speaking softly. "I haven't been to town since I've been back."

He gives her a look of slight confusion, wondering why that would be a problem. "So?"

"People...they talk."

He smirks and decides to make a joke out of her nervousness. "Yeah...especially a certain people named Miley Ray...or at least she used to."

She rolls her eyes, remembering how he always used to tease her. She stares back at him for a moment before speaking. "I'll go get my jacket." She turns and steps back inside the house.

He smiles to himself in victory and does a small fist pump just before she steps back outside with her jacket.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There were a lot of things that happened this last week that caused a flood of memories for Miley but nothing evoked more memories than sitting in this car beside Joe.

~ 2 YEARS AGO ~

Joe's sitting in his car outside the school, about to start the engine when he hears someone tapping on the passenger side window. He unlocks the door as Miley opens the door and sits down, closing the door behind her. Joe looks over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Uh...can I help you?"

She buckles her seat belt and speaks without even glancing at him. "I need a ride."

He gives her a scrutinizing look. "Where's you chauffeur?"

She rolls her eyes and crinkles her nose in disgust. "His mouth is being devoured by Selena's at the moment."

Joe makes the same disgusted face and shakes his head quickly before starting the car. "That is so not the thing you want to hear after lunch."

She laughs and begins fiddling with the radio as Joe drives out of the parking lot.

He looks down when Miley changes the station. "Hey! I was listening to that!"

She ignores his protest and continues flipping through the stations. "Your point?"

He swats her hand away from the dial and turns the station back to what it was on.

She reaches over quickly and hits the seek button before he can slap her hand. She looks over at him with a smirk and giggles.

He gives her a playful glare before focusing back on the road. "Just because you are my best friends little twirpy sister does not mean I won't toss you out of this car."

She rolls her eyes with a smile while looking straight ahead. "Puh-lease!" She turns to look at him with a smirk and bats her eyelashes. "You love me and you know it."

Joe he tries to hide his smile but fails miserably. He shakes his head and focuses back on the road. She giggles and goes back to changing the radio station, she expects him to slap her hand but he doesn't.

"No rap." He speaks softly with a small smile before turning back to the road.

~ P R E S E N T T I M E ~

They had been driving for a few minutes when Joe finally decides to break the silence. "So...how are your classes?"

Miley comes out of her memories and glances over at Joe. "Oh...uh, alright, I guess." She looks back over at him, hoping to avoid anymore awkward silence. "Yours?"

"I don't mind the classes, it's the work I have a problem with." He smirks over at her briefly.

She turns back to stare out the windshield with a smile. "Same old Joe."

"Always."

They sit there for a moment before she turns back to him with questioning eyes. "Are we going to Sweet Sarah's?" She asked, referring to the ice cream shop they would always go to.

"Uh, no. That place closed a while ago."

"Oh." She turns back to look out the windshield with saddened eyes. She thinks that's just one more thing that has changed. Sweet Sarah's was the place they all used to hang out in the summer. It was always there, like a security blanket type of place. Something that has always been there and is just assumed that it will always be there. There were a lot of things that used to feel like that, and a lot of things that were never meant to last.

Joe notices her disappointment and tries to lift her mood. "But there's this really great new place on 4th. You're going to love it, they have the best chocolate mint ice cream." He smiles over at Miley, wondering if he was ever going to see that smile he used to admire to much.

She gives Joe a small smile, it felt good to know he still remembered her favorite type of ice cream.