Miley came home from work the next day and changed quickly. Lily was still in her bedroom and Miley didn't bother to acknowledge her presence. Miley was not quite ready to deal with that situation.
Nick had called her last night, inviting her to go ice-skating with Mallory this afternoon. At first, Miley had declined because she was awful at ice-skating but Nick had convinced her to come, promising to help her learn.
Now, she was regretting it ever so slightly. Miley not only had no idea how to ice-skate but also had no idea what to wear ice-skating. She desperately wanted to impress Mallory because she knew whatever impression Mallory got of her would be reported back to Nick's parents.
After much consideration, Miley decided on a pair of black, skinny jeans. On top, she wore a a purple cardigan over a white camisole. Finally, she accessorized with a pair of pearl studs and few bangles on her arm. She most definitely did not want to overdo it because ice-skating would require a lot of movement. Miley slipped on a pair of purple ballet flats because she knew they would be easy to get on and off when putting on the ice-skates. She made a mental note to throw a pair of socks into her purse for the ice-skates.
Then Miley headed into the bathroom, heavily debating what to with her hair. After much thought, Miley decided on a French braid. It would hold her hair back neatly so it would not get in the way as she skated.
Miley grabbed a large, black purse off her dresser and headed into the kitchen to casually wait for Nick and Mallory. She checked her reflection periodically, making sure she looked alright.
As she was putting a lone, loose strand of hair behind her ear, her doorbell rang.
Miley counted to ten before walking over and getting it, making sure not to seem like she had just been waiting for them by the door, which was exactly what she had been doing.
Miley opened the door to see Nick and a teen girl Miley assumed was Mallory. Mallory was wearing a pair of black leggings and an oversized grey sweater. There was little resemblance between her and Nick aside from her long, brown, curly hair.
Nick opened his mouth to speak but Mallory started talking before he could get even a sound out.
"Hi! You must be Miley! I've heard so much about you! It's so nice to finally meet you!" Mallory said, before Nick could introduce the two.
"It's nice to meet you too," Miley said and Mallory hugged her. Miley, a bit surprised by her action, returned the hug and then pulled away, smiling at Mallory.
"Hey, you," Nick said to her, planting a soft kiss on her lips.
"Hey, yourself," Miley replied, grinning up at him. He looked as cute as ever in a white v-neck tee and a pair of jeans. On his feet was a pair of Sperrys.
"Ok, ok. Enough lovey-dovey stuff! Let's go ice-skating!" Mallory exclaimed, even though Nick and Miley had barely been doing anything 'lovey-dovey.'
Miley giggled nervously. Nick had mentioned that Mallory could be a wee bit over the top and Miley agreed. However, this did not take away from the fact she genuinely liked Mallory.
Nick gave Mallory a stern, warning look before grabbing Miley's hand and leading the two girls down the hallway to the elevator.
"So, Miley, wanna hear some embarrassing stories about Nick?" Mallory asked once the three were settled in Nick's car.
Miley turned around in the passenger seat to face Mallory. "Of course!"
Nick shook his head, grinning at Miley's eagerness.
"This should be interesting.." Nick said softly.
"Ok.. Let me think of a good one.. So our family went over Nick's ex-girlfriend's, who you're much prettier than, by the way, for dinner. So we're like sitting there getting ready to eat and Nick takes the salad dressing and starts to shake it. Only the lid wasn't on all the way it went all over the place, including on his ex's mom," Mallory said, laughing hysterically.
Miley giggled uncontrollably in the passenger seat.
"Ha, ha, Mallory," Nick said sarcastically, blushing.
"Ok. So, onto the next one," Mallory said, still laughing a bit, "So, Nick was going to prom with the same ex. He goes to the bathroom and comes out with toilet paper on his shoe. And no one tells him, so in all his prom pictures, you can see a piece of toilet paper hanging off his shoe!"
Mallory squealed at the end and went back to laughing hysterically.
"Ok, Mallory, I think that's enough," Nick said, giving her a look in the review mirror as Miley giggled next to him.
"Just one more. So, Nick went over on a camping trip and-" Mallory began but Nick cut her off.
"Don't you dare finish that!" Nick told her.
"Fine, I'll just tell Miley when you're not around," Mallory said, shrugging.
"Don't!" Nick warned sternly.
"Okkkk," Mallory replied, sarcastically and then added to Miley, "I'm sorry my brother's such a bore."
Nick rolled his eyes at the comment and Miley just awkwardly pretended it wasn't said, not wanting to get involved in the disagreement.
The rest of the car ride was silent till the reached the ice rink. Miley got out of the car after Nick walked around to her side and opened the car door for her. Miley took the hand he offered and walked into the ice rink.
The three of them waited in line until they reached the counter where Nick quickly requested three tickets and three skate rentals. Nick handed the money over immediately and covered Miley's mouth when she began to protest about him paying for her.
"I don't mind so let me do it," Nick whispered in her ear as they walked towards the rink itself.
"Thank you," Miley replied and then added, "You really do spoil me."
"Maybe so, but I enjoy it," He said grinning down at her.
After getting the appropriate size skates, the threesome sat down on the bleachers. Nick, being the gentleman he was, laced a clueless Miley's skates up for her. Miley pecked him on the lips in return.
"I don't think you understand just how bad I am at this," Miley said to him as she latched on to Nick's arm as they walked over to the rink.
"I told you, I'll teach you," Nick replied reassuringly.
"But, I don't know what there is to teach when your pupil is a complete and total klutz," Miley said nervously looking at the shiny ice. She relaxed a little when she realized it wasn't very crowded.
"You'll be fine," Nick promised as he stepped out onto the ice and turned around, grabbing both of Miley's hands to steady her as she slowly and cautiously stepped onto the ice.
Miley stayed put for a second as Nick helped her steady herself.
"You're fine. Nick helped me learn to skate and I'm probably the most nonathletic person you will ever meet," Mallory said to Miley, noticing just how scared Miley looked.
"It's true, you will never meet anyone less athletic than her," Nick joked, trying to get Miley to relax a bit.
"Hey!" Mallory said and jokingly smacked him across the chest. Nick, not expecting it at all, teetered on his skates for a second for a second and he felt Miley cling onto his hands even harder, fearing for her life as her legs wobbled. After a moment, Nick helped steady her.
"Mallory, do not do that again," Nick warned, looking out more for Miley than himself.
"Sorry, Miley," Mallory apologized.
"It's no problem," Miley said truthfully. She used to do the same thing to Jackson all the time.
"Okay, then. Let go of my right hand so we can stand side by side. It'll be much easier to skate that way," Nick directed Miley. She carefully her right hand from Nick's and balanced it on the glass wall. Her other hand clasped Nick's hand tightly.
"There you go," Nick said soothingly. "Now, just walk on your skates with me for a moment till you get the hang of it."
Miley, not letting go of Nick's hand, took a tiny, baby-step.
"Good, now just keep moving," Nick said, making sure not to loosen his grip on Miley as they began to walk slowly on the ice.
"Ok. I think you're ready to start gliding," Nick said a few moments later, after completing a walking lap around the rink. Miley abruptly shook her head.
"C'mon. You'll be fine," Nick said and added, "I won't let you fall, promise."
"I don't know," Miley said dubiously.
"You can do it. You can trust me," Nick said encouragingly and the way he said it, made Miley believe it.
"Ok," Miley said more confident than before. She slowly took a step and then with her other foot, glided a bit.
"There we go. Just keep going slow till you get the hang of it," Nick said gently and Miley did just that. She slowly glided around the ring, clinging onto Nick's hand the entire time.
"Told you, you could do it," Nick said fake boasting.
"I'm still nowhere near as good as Mallory," Miley said, looking over at Mallory who had left the couple alone to go skate some laps by herself at a much quicker pace.
"That's for sure," Nick teased and then added more seriously, "It takes time."
"Thank you for not letting me fall," Miley said sincerely.
"My pleasure, gorgeous. I won't ever let you fall if I can help it," He said, brushing his lips against the top of her head.
Miley blushed and smiled at him.
"So, have you talked to Lily about yesterday?" Nick asked curiously.
Miley responded as she focused on her feet, "Nope. I'm not talking to her at all. She can apologize to me and then maybe I'll acknowledge her."
"I take it the fight was pretty bad?" Nick questioned.
"Oh, yes! She pretty much told me I was a terrible friend and self-centered," Miley replied.
"Well, I know that's not true.. Maybe you should try and talk to her. She's your best friend and I'm sure she's hurting too," Nick said carefully. He didn't want to upset Miley with his advice.
"Yeah, right. She'll just bitch at me again," Miley responded.
"You don't know that," Nick said back gently.
"Oh, but I know my best friend. And she's never been one to apologize. She's-" Miley started before she tripped over her feet and fell face first onto the ice, bringing down Nick beside her.
Nick quickly sat up to make sure she was ok only to learn that Miley was laughing. Nick joined in. He stood up and offered her his hand, carefully steadying himself first. Miley grabbed his hand and stood up, still giggling a bit.
"That was embarrassing," Miley said grinning.
"You ok?" Nick asked, looking at her with a concerned look.
"Fine. I'm sorry about that. I got too wrapped up in the conversation and forgot to watch my feet," Miley admitted.
"Not a problem. That was partially my fault too. I stopped paying attention myself," Nick reassured.
A giggling Mallory skated over to them.
"That was hilarious," Mallory said, still laughing.
"Yes. Hilarious," Nick said sarcastically but, he was grinning.
"C'mon, even Miley was laughing. The two of you just completely wiped out in the middle of the rink," Mallory said, a huge grin on her face.
Nick chuckled a bit and added, "It won't happen again, so I hope you enjoyed it. I'm gonna pay attention a little better."
"We should probably leave if you want to get to practice on time," Mallory stated and Nick looked at his watch and nodded. He had to coach in about an hour.
"Yeah, I have to work on something for work tonight too," Miley said as the three of them walked off the rink. Nick made a special effort to hold Miley's hand securely.
After returning their skates, they walked to Nick's car.
"Miley, did you see that guy in the blue jacket? Was he not gorgeous?" Mallory asked once they were in the safety of the car.
"To be honest, I wasn't paying too much attention to other people. I was making sure to not fall on my face," Miley said.
"You missed a cute one. He had beautiful, blonde hair. And, he had to be at least 6'2"," Mallory informed Miley.
"Mallory, Miley doesn't care," Nick said to his little sister.
"That's not true," Miley told Mallory and added, "You should've gone over and talked to him!"
"What was I going to say?" Mallory asked.
"You could have told him how beautiful his blonde hair was," Nick said with a smirk.
"Nick, that makes the guy think you're a nut. Mallory, you could've casually introduced yourself," Miley said giggling at Nick's comment.
"He wouldn't have paid attention to me, though. He was gorgeous and I'm just.. Well... Me," Mallory said, the confidence she had had once felt, gone.
"Got that right," Nick joked and Miley playfully smacked him. He grinned over at her before turning his eyes back at the road.
"That is so not true, Nicholas. You're sister happens to be beautiful. She's got perfect brown eyes and curly, brown hair," Miley said.
"You really think so?" Mallory asked, her mood brightening a bit.
"Of course! I would kill for your hair!" Miley said reassuringly.
Nick smiled to himself beside her. There was nothing more he loved in a girl than the ability to get along with his family.
"Oh my gosh! Thanks!" Mallory asked, now gleaming. She began to play with a piece of hair between two of her fingers.
"My pleasure," Miley responded.
"Mal, I'm gonna drop you off at Mom and Dad's first and then, I'll drop Miley off since she's on the way to the high school," Nick said.
"Ok. But I know that's just an excuse to have a few minutes alone with her so you two can make out. I wasn't born last year," Mallory said.
Miley blushed and Nick once again gave Mallory a look in the rearview mirror.
"Or maybe it's just because I want you out of my car," Nick responded, faking a smile.
Mallory giggled. Miley loved the way the two of them pushed each other's buttons but were able to laugh it off. It reminded her of herself and Jackson.
"Bye, Mallory!" Nick said when they pulled up to his childhood house.
"Bye, Nicky!" Mallory said and then added to Miley, "Bye, Miley. It was so great to meet you!"
"You too, Mallory!" Miley said and smiled at her. Mallory waved before walking up the walk to her house. Nick waited to make sure she got inside before driving off.
"Well, Mallory was right about something," Nick said, smirking at Miley.
"What was that?" Miley asked, a bit confused.
"I did drop her off so I would have a few moments alone with you so we could make out," Nick said winking at her and Miley grinned.
"You're a clever one," Miley teased lightly.
"So they say," Nick replied.
Nick pulled the car into the parking lot of Miley's apartment complex and climbed out. He opened Miley's door for her and the two walked up to her apartment hand in hand.
When they reached the door to her apartment, Nick leaned Miley up against the wall and whispered in her ear, "You know, I had a great time with you today."
"I had fun too. Thank you," Miley responded. Nick's forehead was placed up against Miley's.
"My pleasure," Nick replied. He leaned in and kissed Miley passionately. The two remained kissing until a grumpy Lily opened the apartment door to come out.
"Excuse me," Lily said rudely as she brushed past them and marched right on by down the hall.
"Now, do you see why I'm not gonna try and talk to her?" Miley asked, nodding in the direction Lily had exited.
"Yeah, but you still need to try. You'll feel better after," Nick stated.
"I guess I could give it a shot.." Miley said hesitantly.
"Good. Do it for me," Nick said grinning down at her.
"Deal. But that's the only reason I'm doing it," Miley replied.
"I can live with that," Nick said in response.
"See you tomorrow night," Miley said.
"You will indeed. I'll call you tonight after practice," Nick said, leaning in and kissing her one last time.
"Goodbye, Nick," Miley said as she turned to enter her apartment.
"Bye, Miley," Nick said and Miley walked inside her apartment and shut the door behind her.
~~~~~~~
Later that same night, Nick and Cody sat in their office in the locker room going over some last minute plays for the game the following night while they waited for the last few guys to leave the locker room.
"We'll need to play mostly a running game because we can't risk any interceptions," Nick stated, staring down at his clipboard.
"Most definitely," Cody replied in agreement. "That's what caused us to lose that one game and I refuse to let it happen again."
"Yeah. I'm hoping to win these next two regular season games so we'll go into the play-offs with a bit of a winning streak," Nick stated confidently.
"That's the way it's gotta go. You can't go into a play-off game well if you haven't played good recently beforehand,"
Cody responded and then added, "What do you want to do with the ladies tomorrow night?"
"I'm not sure. It's going to be kind of late," Nick responded, knowing the game wouldn't be over till at least nine.
"Yeah but, we still gotta do something kind of special. I mean this is only me and Mitchie's second date," Cody said and Nick nodded.
"I was thinking a movie but by the time we get home and all it would be like two in the morning," Nick stated.
"I know and we have to get up for practice Saturday morning," Cody said before adding, "What about just going to Pinkberry and getting a little ice-cream?"
"That could work. I already took Miley out for ice-cream but I doubt she'd mind. I mean, it'll be too late to take them out to dinner," Nick said, rationalizing his decision.
"Alright, then ice-cream it is," Cody agreed.
"So, you and Mitchie, huh?" Nick asked raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah, I really like her. She's different, you know?" Cody responded and Nick nodded his head.
"Just don't play games with her like you do with all the other girls. She means a lot to Miley," Nick said seriously. He did like Cody. He really did. However, Cody didn't exactly have the best reputation with the ladies.
"Dude, I won't! Mitchie's different," Cody said.
"I hope so, man," Nick said as he neatly placed his clipboard and stack of papers on the desk. Cody stood up and the two of them exited the office together, there minds no longer focused on the women but rather, winning their game tomorrow night.
~~~~~~~~
Miley tried so hard to focus on her article as she sat at the kitchen table waiting for Lily to get home and yet, she wasn't able to get much more than a paragraph out. Normally, the first paragraph was the hardest part but, for Miley, it was the only part she could get at the moment.
She nervously tapped her foot as she waited for Lily to come in through the door. Miley had told Nick she would try and talk to Lily about everything and Miley was a woman of her word.
Miley knew it probably wasn't going to be a pretty confrontation but she knew it had to happen. They couldn't just go on ignoring each other. And, as much as she hated to admit it at that moment, Miley missed her best friend's company. Before the whole Oliver mess, the two had practically been sisters. There was no way she would let Lily go from her life without a fight.
As Miley finished her second cup of coffee, the door opened and in walked Lily.
"Hey! Let me make you some coffee so we can sit and talk," Miley said quickly before Lily could just walk on by, ignoring her.
Lily sat down at the table obediently but did not mutter a single word. She stared across the table even though no one was seated there. Miley brought Lily over a cup of coffee before taking her own seat at the table.
"How've you been?" Miley asked cautiously, not really sure how to break the ice.
"Fantastic," Lily said sarcastically, not making eye-contact with Miley whatsoever. Miley bit her lip, carefully formulating what she would say next.
"I think we should just try and talk things out, Lil. You're my best friend and this whole thing is kind of ridiculous, don't you think?" Miley said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
"You going from being my best friend to a selfish bitch is something I might consider a bit ridiculous," Lily replied, still not looking at Miley.
"I'm sorry if you got that impression but, it's not true in the least. All I've tried to do is be there for you but you don't seem to be grateful in the least," Miley said calmly.
"Oh, yeah! You were quite a big help! You go on and replace me with Mitchie all because I didn't want to go on some stupid blind date because I'm clearly heartbroken. And, exactly how is that my fault?" Lily said annoyed.
"I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm never going to replace you, Lily. You're practically my sister. There's no way anyone could just waltz in here and take your place," Miley explained truthfully.
"Oh, please! You've already moved on. When I need you most, you ditch me. You go spend all your time with that stupid coach and Mitchie. When your 'sister' is in trouble, you should help her. Not just pretend they're the problem and go make new friends!" Lily yelled, this time making direct eye-contact with Miley.
"Lily, I tried to help. I really did. I brought you to the football game, I tried to bring you to the football game-" Miley started but Lily angrily cut her off.
"You know what? Just stop with your lame excuses. The only reason you invited me out those couple of times was because you didn't want to be alone. You didn't want ME there. You just wanted someone and I was stupid enough to let you use me," Lily said bitterly as she stood up, dumped out her coffee in the sink, and returned to her bedroom.
Miley sat there in shock for a moment and them went into her room and began to cry. She cried for a long time. She cried for the best friend she once knew. She cried because she knew that something had changed in her relationship with Lily that couldn't be changed back. But, most of all, she cried because she knew that everything was changing and that the person she once thought she could count on more than anyone was now someone she couldn't count on at all.
A/N
Helllo there!
Woohoo! I'm on a roll! Second one out this weekend & it's on the longer side! I'm trying my best to update a little more often and to lengthen the chapters a bit. I'm hoping to have between 3,000-5,000 words in each of the remaining chapters.
The next chapter should be out hopefully within the next two weeks :)
Thank you all for your continued support! Every review makes me smile! It makes me happy to know people are reading my writing and actually enjoying it. The more reviews I get, the faster I will update! Promise!
Please take the time and review, each one makes my day!
~Luce