Chapter Ten.

Nick smiled at me as he parked, trying to make me a little bit happier. He knew that the last place I wanted to be was a party. I'm kind of antisocial, meaning that this scene of loud music and hundreds of people wasn't exactly ideal.

"Ready?"

"To go home? Yeah, let's go."

He rolled his eyes, getting out of the car and coming to my side to open the door. He grabbed my arm, practically pulling me out on his own. I huffed, still grabbing his hand again.

"I don't want to go."

"I've noticed," he assured.

"Then why are we here?" I muttered under my breath.

"Stop pouting. We're here because it'd be rude not to go."

I shut my mouth, going inside with him. The music was blaring and it was definitely a party of a superstar. This place was out of control. Chances were I probably wouldn't even see Emily in this mess.

"Joe's over there," he yelled over the music. "C'mon!"

He started walking and I looked over, almost freezing. Demi was there, and considering she just about hated me right now, I didn't really want to see her.

"Aw," Joe cooed as we came over. I rolled my eyes causing him to come over to me, grabbing my cheeks. "Miley, you and Nicky are so cute together."

I slapped him away, laughing and pouting at Nick. "See? Parties suck."

"Parties suck," he mimicked me as I shoved him.

"Did you enjoy Nick's perverted gift for you?" Joe asked, smirking at Nick a little bit as he suddenly blushed.

"Oh, I found it hilarious. I just never knew that in your spare time you two went bra shopping."

His head shot to Nick, eyes wide. "We didn't go bra shopping. Nick had to buy more shaving cream because he ran out, so we just happened to pass the bras."

"First of all, you still bought a bra," I told him firmly. "Second of all, that shaving cream wasn't because Nick ran out. He felt the need to draw on my bathroom floor with it."

Nick's face automatically turned red as he grabbed me, covering my mouth. "Enough stories."

It was too late, though. Joe was already laughing and I could tell Demi was fighting a smile. If she wasn't so mad she would be laughing too. Instead, she was focused on glaring at me.

"Demi, is there a problem?" Nick asked.

I shot a look at him. "Nick, sto-"

"You're girlfriend," she told him with a straight face. "And, kind of you, but mostly your girlfriend."

"Nick, let's go dance," I forced him away before he said anything to her.

"I don't get why she isn't over it," he growled, leading us to sit down. We both knew Nick would never actually dance. He's danced with me maybe five times since we've met.

"It doesn't matter, okay? She isn't making a big deal out of it. It's fine."

He nodded, scanning the crowd, refusing to make eye contact. That meant he was still angry. I shook my head, deciding to deal with him later.

"I'm going to the bathroom. While I'm there you should calm down."

He softened as I walked away. I wouldn't tell him, but this whole Demi thing was making me stressed out too. It was my best-friend, after all. It was tearing me apart and I had no idea how to fix it, but that last thing I needed was him making things worse. I walked into the bathroom, grabbing my clutch and quickly fixing my make-up.

"Look what the cat dragged in," I heard someone mutter besides me.

I looked at who it was in the mirror, biting my lip but not saying anything back to my used-to-be best friend.

"I can't believe you," she rolled her eyes, looking me over and raising her eyebrows, automatically making me feel self-conscious. "I don't know how we were ever friends."

Then, she walked out. I stood there stunned for a few seconds before hastily putting everything back in my bag and going out after her. No. That wasn't fair. That comment took things too far.

"Hey!" I called after her. She turned around with a bored look on her face, letting me pull her over so we were facing each other, her standing on one side of the abandoned hallway, myself on the other. If she wanted a fight, fine. She'd get one. Because she can insult Nick and I, I'd deal with it, but when she insulted our friendship... That took things too far.

"What do you want, Miley?" she looked at her nails.

I shook my head, glaring at her.

"Would you stop acting like such a saint?" I hissed. "You did the exact same thing! You and Joe kept it a secret from everyone, too. The only difference is, that we didn't tell our parents."

She rose her eyebrows. "Joe and I are nothing like you and Nick, so don't even go there. Joe wasn't taken."

"Neither was Nick," I shot back.

"Really? How long had he been broken up with Selena for, hm?" She crossed her arms over her chest as I bit my lip, facing the floor. "Miley? How long?"

"A day."

Demi stood up straighter as if she had just won another round in a game. She huffed a bit. "And people called Selena the rebound."

"Look, I tried, okay? I didn't want this to happen. I told everyone over and over again that I was over him, hoping that one day I would wake up and it would finally be true, but it's not," I told her, starting to get annoyed by these games.

"Just remember, all those words he's saying to you? He said them all to Selena first. Every move he makes on you he first did to Selena."

"I think you forgot that I'm the one who had Nick first."

She scoffed, waving my comment away. "When you were thirteen? Please, that wasn't love. Just like this isn't love. This is you and Nick rushing into things again."

"We do love each other, Demi." I took a step closer to her. "And I don't care how many times you try to tear us apart, but that's one thing that didn't change the three years we weren't together, and it isn't gonna change now."

"You're just another slut to him," she spat. "That's all you'll ever be. An easy slut."

I hesitated, opening my mouth to say something until someone else beat me to it.

"Demi," A low, but clear, voice spoke. We both turned to see Nick as I simply looked at the floor embarrassed. He shouldn't have heard that. He shouldn't even be here. "I think it's best you stop now."

"Why? Afraid of the truth, Nicky?" She mocked.

"Would you shut up?" I flinched hearing his voice that confident as he yelled at her. "Just, shut up for once, Demi. No one asked for your opinion, so why are you giving it? You're being a bit-"

"Nick, stop," I moved towards him, locking our hands together. "C'mon."

He tugged my arm a little, pulling me back towards Demi. I turned, making direct eye contact. "Let's go, Nick."

"No, Miley. She shouldn't be able to talk to you like that!"

I ran my hand through my hair, leading him a little ways away from where my ex-best-friend could hear us. "I can handle this."

"Really?" he rose his eyebrows and I could see that for some reason, he was angry. "Because I could really tell when she was calling you a slut and you did nothing to defend yourself."

"This is between me and her-"

"I don't care who it's between! If she's insulting you and you aren't going to do anything, then I will."

"Nick, please. This is my battle, not yours. I can fight this myself. I always stand my ground with you in our fights, I'll do the same with her."

He took a deep breath, frustrated. "That's the thing, you won't! With me it's different than it is with her."

I just stared at him, not knowing what to say to that. That part was true. It is different. With Nick I felt so much more confident, unlike Demi. With Nick, I knew that we cared about each other enough, that it wouldn't matter what either of us said. We'd find a way to end up together.

"If I ever need you, or things get bad enough where I'm about to break down, I promise I'll come get you. Until then, I can handle it myself, okay?"

He gave a sigh, nodding, knowing that we had to compromise. That he couldn't fight all my battles, but that I couldn't let people walk all over me.

"Fine."

"Thank you," I leaned up, giving him a kiss. "And thank you for trying to come to my rescue again."

He pulled me into his chest, chuckling. "Well I am Prince Charming, right?"

I playfully slapped his arm, pulling out of the hug. "Sometimes you are. On your good days. But, let's go. I wanna get back to the party."

"I thought you didn't like it," he smirked.

I shook my head, smiling at him. "I like anyplace that has you."

Nick.
"Wanna know where I think we should go?" I whispered in Miley's ear over the blaring music.

She looked up at me in question.

"Pinkberry."

"Are we allowed to?" Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Is it okay with our parents to go alone?"

"Of course it's okay, Miley!" I paused, chuckling a little bit. Actually, they'd probably say no. "As long as nobody knows."

"Usually I wouldn't be for sneaking around at all anymore, but since I hate parties, let's go," she grabbed my arm, leading me to the car.

I laughed, pulling her close before opening the door.

"Think we'll get caught?" she asked, that slight glimmer of enjoyment in her eyes. It almost looked like she wanted to get caught, just for the adrenaline. For some real excitement.

"Not if you keep your mouth shut."

"I always keep my mouth shut. You're the one who messes with me."

I scoffed. "Because I'm the one who seduced you in the middle of a huge award show with not only tons of photographers, but tons of your friends and your parents sitting right behind you."

She let out her first real laugh of the night, grinning at me. "Let it go. You know you loved it."

I shook my head, parking the car into the parking lot as she got out, intertwining our fingers immediately. If I didn't know any better, I would say she couldn't live without me. Then again, if I said she could that'd be a lie.

"You know my order, right?"

I nodded, pulling out my wallet and bringing out a ten dollar bill to cover it. I went up, ordering both of ours while Miley found us a table. Once I got back to her she was lost in her own thoughts, staring out the window. Well, then. That meant something was wrong. And I had a pretty good idea I knew what it was. Or maybe who it was.

I sat down and she didn't even notice, too occupied in her own thoughts. I smirked, setting up her yogurt in front of her next. Once she didn't notice that I took a spoonful, striking it on her nose. She gasped, turning to me.

"Nick!"

I chuckled, trying to stop myself from laughing too hard. Her face was pretty funny. Especially the fact that she didn't even see it coming.

"That's cold!"

"Well, it is frozen yogurt."

She shook her head, fighting back a smile as she took a bite.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing. I'm just tired."

I rolled my eyes. She should know by now that I can call her bluff. I'd bring it up again later, though. For the next five minutes, I wouldn't start a fight.

"Yeah, you don't like parties," I replied, simply.

She got up, coming to my side of the table and sitting on my lap. She leaned her head against mine. And she said she wasn't upset? She was much too affectionate to be normal.

"I missed you."

"We've been together the past four days."

She shrugged, hugging me a little tighter. "I still missed you."

I sighed, not knowing what else to do but give in. "I missed you too, Princess."

"You want the rest of mine? I'm full."

I nodded, taking the cup from her and beginning to eat it myself as she just kept sitting on me, cuddling against me. I loved it, but at the same time, I really wish she'd be honest if she was going to act like this.

"Alright," I scooped on more bite of yogurt into my mouth, looking at her seriously, now. "What's the deal with you and Demi?"

"Nothing, Nick." She rolled her eyes, sliding off of my lap.

"No, I'm gonna ask. I let it go back there at the party, but Miley! She shouldn't be that mad. Maybe Joe should talk-"

"I'm fine," she interrupted, her eyes showing panic. "The last thing I need is someone else getting involved."

"Miley," I tried to convince her.

"Nicholas," she warned me venomously, "I can handle this, alright?"

I gave in, simply nodding. I had to trust her. I had to trust that she would tell me if something was wrong. And I knew she would if the problem got too big, but the point was I didn't want it to become big at all. I didn't want her to get hurt, and in order to avoid that she had to tell me. And if there's one thing Miley wasn't very good at, it would be sharing her problems.

But for now I would let it slide. She was planning to talk to Demi tomorrow again and all I could do was hope that everything turned out okay. Sometimes I wish that she never knew, though. That she still was in the dark about everything. That the entire world was in the dark about everything. Sure, it might have been hard keeping it a secret, but it was worth it.

Sometimes, I wished I could go back. Stop anyone from getting the chance to send a picture of the two of us kissing to a magazine. If I could go back, no one would ever know. And that would be okay.

There's more Demi in the next chapter! Who's excited! :P

Hahha, what'd you think? (:

oh, & muhh twitter; iaskedtaylorx

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