1 week later

Miley POV

Finally! I was getting a week off! I haven't had time off in what felt like forever! And having time off in LA isn't exactly like having time off, so I was off to Tennessee. And guess who was coming with me… Mandy, Nick, Joe and Kevin!

They were also given some time off while some editing was being done to their album, so Mandy suggested the idea to me that they come with. After all, they also needed a little break.

So here we were, stepping out of my cousin's car (who had picked us up from the airport) and looking up at the large house. I immediately felt at home. Like a large weight have been lifted from my shoulders and I was allowed to be a kid again.

"Come on guys!" I cried, not being able to hold my excitement anymore. The boys were nice enough to carry our bags for us, so I sprinted to the front door and fiddled with the keys until I found the right one, inserting it into the lock. "Just hang on a second," I instructed to the others as the door clicked open and a beeping sound was heard. In no time, I had deactivated the alarm and turned a smiling face to my friends. "Welcome home guys!"

Nick POV

I couldn't help but smile at Miley's unrivalled excitement as she started showing us around. I've been here once before, a long time ago, so I didn't really need it, but it was still nice. I looked around at the pictures lining the walls and shelves, photos from years ago, when things were less complicated. A particular one of a young, toothless Miley with her dog made me chuckle. The sun was shining into the house, creating a warm, homey glow, and I could picture Miley running around as a kid with her brothers and sisters.

Before we did anything else, we had to sort out the sleeping arrangements. Miley led us up the stairs and into a big hallway.

"I sleep in my room, and my parents' bedroom at the end there is off limits," she declared. "But take your pick of any of the others."

"Dibs on Brandi's room!" Mandy called out instantly and scampered off towards the room.

In the end, I was in Braison's room, Joe in Trace's and Kevin in one of the spare rooms. We all followed after Miley as she gave us a tour of the enormous house, with us trying to remember it all as she pointed out the bathrooms, study/library, music room, living room, kitchen…

"And last but not least…" she continued, unlocking two large double doors, and pushing them open. "The backyard."

"You call this a backyard?" I couldn't help but ask as we stared out over the acres of green land stretching out in front of us and disappearing on the horizon. She had told me about her home here a few times while we were dating, but the stories didn't compare at all. There were stables for horses a little distance away and I could see some of them grazing a bit further off. A tyre swing hung from a tree right next to the house and I could see a tree house up in its thick branches.

Miley immediately ran over to the tyre swing and jumped onto it, wrapping her legs around the rope as it swung back and forth, a breathtaking smile on her beautiful face. She hung back and let her fingers brush against the soft grass as the swing moved to and fro, her hair slightly blowing out behind her. I could see her transform into a little five year old girl in my mind, giggling as she played and ran around her childhood home. The thought was absolutely beautiful.

"Can we go see the horses?" Mandy asked excitedly.

Miley broke into a wide grin and got off the tyre, practically jumping up and down. "Definitely! Come on!" She grabbed Mandy's hand and linked her arm through mine, pulling along towards the wooden stables at the end of the large stretch of neatly cut grass. "We have definitely got to go riding tomorrow."

Miley POV

Nick instantly stiffened at my words and I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye.

"What's up with you?" I couldn't help but ask and he just shrugged.

"Nothing." He raised a hand and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "I'm just not…particularly fond of horses." Joe snorted at this and Nick sent him a death glare.

"Understatement of the year," he commented and my curiosity doubled.

"What? Why not?" I probed.

Nick groaned. "It's nothing." This time Joe started laughing out loud. Even Kevin chuckled softly. Nick just rolled his eyes and sighed. "I guess you could say I had a bit of a bad experience with horses," he admitted sheepishly.

"What happened?" Mandy asked, an amused smile starting to form on her lips in expectation. Joe jumped at the chance to humiliate his brother…

"Well," he started, sending Nick an evil grin. "We went to this farm with our parents once. We've never been to one at that point. And the horses were obviously the most exciting. So anyway, Nick, being the not so smart one, climbed through the wooden fence to get closer to one of the foals. He obviously didn't see the mother standing nearby." He snorted again and I heard Nick sigh in embarrassment as he waited for Joe to continue the story. "So, next thing we knew, Nick was sprinting across the field with this huge horse on his heels, screaming his head off."

Kevin and Joe simultaneously dissolved into a useless pile of laughter at the memory, hanging onto each other for support. Nick's cheeks were the shade of a tomato and Mandy covered her mouth to keep from laughing. I, on the other hand, felt sorry for him.

"How old were you?" I asked, giving his arm a small squeeze.

"Five or six."

"Aww…" I put an arm around his waist in a one-armed hug. "That must have been terrifying." A horse could be a damn scary thing if you were unfamiliar with it, and the fact that he was so young when it happened just made me understand his fear even more.

"Yeah, well…" He shrugged again, obviously embarrassed as he looked out in front of him as we walked.

"But that shouldn't keep you from ever trying to ride. It's the most amazing thing on the planet."

He shuddered. "I doubt it."

I stopped and turned to face him, waiting for him to look at me. "Tell you what, you can ride with me tomorrow."

"I don't know about that Miles," he said softly, and the way he wasn't even trying to hide his anxiety made my heart melt. It wasn't often that you saw Nick Jonas scared or vulnerable.

I put a comforting hand on his shoulder and sent him a small smile of encouragement. "You'll be fine. We'll take it slow. Baby steps. Besides…" My smile dropped into a more serious expression. "I'll be right there with you. You know I'll never let anything happen to you."

His lips twitched a little at the corners and his expression softened as he looked at me for a minute, seeming to think it over. "Okay," he finally said, giving up. I felt a huge smile spread across my lips.

"Yay!" I threw my arms around him in a hug, but stepped back quickly with a blush at the realization that being that close to Nick was not a good idea.

I looked around to see the others already at the stables waiting for us, so we quickly hurried over to them and I led them inside. Some of the other horses were out in the field, but I was mostly looking through the stalls for one in particular. I spotted him immediately and ran over to throw my arms around Buddy.

Buddy was an extremely large, pitch black stallion, and I could understand why anyone would find him intimidating, but he was honestly the gentlest giant I've ever seen. He nudged me with his head and I giggled, kissing his nose as he looked at me with those warm black eyes.

"I missed you Buddy," I murmured against him and he nuzzled my cheek with his lips. I was about to introduce the others to him when I saw how far back Nick was standing. His eyes were wide and his usually tanned skin suddenly looked a little pale as he stood with his back against the wall. Aww. I walked over to him and took his hand in mine, ignoring the electricity that shot through my fingertips at the contact. "Don't be scared," I said softly, not wanting to scare him more. "Come on." I tugged lightly on his hand and he took small steps forward, barely breathing. The others had moved on to look at the other horses and I was glad that his brothers weren't there to make fun of him now.

"This is Buddy," I introduced when we came to a standstill in front of his stall. He was watching us patiently, Nick leaning back noticeably. "Don't be scared Nicky. Buddy might lick you to death, but that's as close as he'd ever come to harming to anyone."

"Mmhmm," Nick mumbled, clearly not convinced.

"Here…" I lifted his hand that was still in mine up, towards Buddy's face. My horse lowered his head towards our hands, waiting for the attention, but also freaking Nick out a bit. I ignored Nick's jump of fright and slowly put his hand, palm down, on Buddy's cheek, covering his hand with my own. "See, nothing to worry about." Buddy pushed his head against our palms and snorted while I giggled. "He likes you."

"How do you know?" Nick asked. His eyes were fixed on Joey, but some of the fear had left his eyes, replaced with what I could've sworn was wonder. When he glanced at me again, I sent him a soft smile.

"I just do."

Hope you enjoyed! And sorry for the long wait. I've been quite busy these last few days. Please review! The story will only get better from here :)