Hey peeps. So this chapter is pretty damn important. Miley is getting warmer and warmer! ;) We're getting closer to Miley and Peyton's meeting too...unfortunately the events directly before it will scare the crap out of Miley and all the other characters, and probably you guys too...just a random little hint to worry you. :) This is dedicated to: smileymee16, smileeex8, AboveItAllxxo, Mz Fizzle, kay, mcandnj61106, AprilRainer18, nileyfan1, nienlovesjonas, lcxx916, SaritaHsM, and NickPonesLiam for the awesome reviews!

Disclaimer: Who cares?

Mon. August 22, 2013, Lucas Residence, Hollywood, California, 7:25 a.m.

"Daddy, hurry up!" Peyton shrieked again, hopping excitedly from foot to foot. "We're gonna be late!"

Nick chuckled, zipping up Peyton's little pink lunchbox and handing it to her. "Calm down, honey," he told her for the thirtieth time that morning, "We have plenty of time."

"I don't wanna miss anything!" the little girl yelled, jumping up and down and smiling as her "swishy" skirt flowed around her knees with her movements.

"You won't miss anything," Nick reassured her, smiling at her eagerness. "Preschool doesn't start for another half hour and it only takes us five minutes to get there."

"What's left to do?" Peyton asked, as she set her lunchbox on the table beside her new Disney Princess backpack.

"We just have to brush your hair and then I want to get a few pictures of you before we leave," her father said. Peyton wrinkled her nose as she grabbed her brush from the counter and handed it to Nick. "Pictures? Why?"

Nick smiled at her as he began working the brush through her unruly curls as gently as possible. "Because this is a big deal," he told her. "My baby is starting preschool!"

Peyton giggled. "I'm not a baby, Daddy!" she insisted. "I'm a big girl!"

"Yes, you are," he said in a soft voice, a tender smile gracing his face. "You're a very big girl. But you're still my baby. You always will be."

Peyton didn't completely understand that, but the thought was comforting to her. "I love you, Daddy."

"I love you too."

There was total silence for the first time that morning as Nick tied a bow around each of his daughter's pigtails. As he did with every milestone Peyton reached, he went over an alternate scenario in his mind. Miley should have been the one fixing Peyton's hair, crying over how their little girl was growing up so fast.

Nick closed his eyes, holding in a sigh to make sure Peyton didn't think anything was wrong. She was looking contently around the room, humming a little song to herself, and he wished more than anything in the world that Miley was there to see how sweet it was.

He was used to having wishes like this, of course, but in the week it had been since he'd last seen Miley he had started to think about her more and more. Had she felt something for him that night? Was she happy with the way she thought her life was? Was she in a relationship with someone else?

"All done, Baby Girl," he said finally, leaning down to kiss the top of Peyton's head. "Yay!" she squealed, turning around to look at him. "Now just pictures and we can go, right?"

Nick gave her a sly grin. "That depends. Let me see your mouth."

Peyton rolled her little eyes, but obeyed, giving him a giant smile so he could examine her teeth.

Nick winced. "P. Did you brush your teeth like I told you too?"

"Yes," she said obediently, nodding her little head.

"With toothpaste?"

Peyton paused guiltily, diverting her eyes. "Umm..."

"Ah-hah!" Nick chuckled, reaching out to tickle her stomach, and smiling at the warm feeling of complete love and happiness he got when she laughed. "Come on, Silly Girl. I'll help you this time."

Peyton's little face lit up. "Race you!" she shouted, and took off towards the bathroom. He laughed as he started down the hall after her, trying to take in every little detail of her tiny form. She was so small, and yet so big.

The time went by way too fast from that point. Together they brushed every snowy white tooth and she allowed him to take a few pictures before pulling him out the door. She bounced around excitedly throughout the whole ride, and he enjoyed every second of their cheerful conversation. And when he allowed her to drag him to her classroom, he almost cried at how happy and eager she looked. He smiled at the sweet way she greeted her teacher and her friends.

And she gave him one more hug and kiss, and he wished her good luck and told her to be good. And then she and her new teacher went off hand-in-hand to find her designated seat.

And no more than ten steps later she turned her little head, her adorable curly pigtails swinging out to the side. "Bye, Daddy!" she called, as she waved goodbye one last time."I love you!" Then he called out that he loved her too.

And just like that, she was gone.

He felt stupid for being so sad when she left. After all, he was coming to pick her up in four hours. But even so, he felt like she was growing up too fast. Like he was losing her. Losing the one reason he had to continue living.

Still standing there near the classroom door with all the other crying parents, Nick looked down at his hands. Silently, he held four fingers up in front of his stomach. She was only four. That was still little. Still small enough to be counted on one hand. Still small enough to be picked up and carried and to sit in a booster seat in the car and at the table. Only one day older than she was yesterday.

Suddenly he was shocked at how much of a difference that could make.

As he watched the other parents gradually start to leave, he sighed and decided he ought to go too. Keeping his eyes locked on his little princess, he thought one more time of his alternate world.

Miley should have been there. They should have walked her into her classroom together and given her goodbye hugs and kisses at the same time, and he should have held his love close to him as they watched their baby run off to play with her friends. And when she turned around and waved and shouted, "Bye, Daddy!" she should have added "Bye, Mommy!" as well.

It was so unfair that she would never get the chance to even say those words.

"A girl, Mi," Nick said excitedly, placing his hand on the still-growing bump on his girlfriend's stomach. They'd just gotten home from the doctor and it seemed the news was just sinking in for both of them. He gave her a bright smile and she grinned at how happy he was as he continued. "I just knew it would be a girl! A little princess we'll get to spoil."

Miley's smile widened. "You're not upset that you didn't get that athlete you wanted?"

Nick shrugged, grinning. "Girls can be athletic. Besides, the whole 'Daddy's Little Girl' thing will be just as awesome."

Miley laughed lightly, the movement of her head causing a lock of hair to fall into her face. Nick brushed it away ever so gently, looking lovingly into her eyes. "I hope she looks like you," he told her softly. She blushed.

"I hope she looks like you," she counteracted. Nick shrugged again, moving his other hand to her stomach as well. "Whatever she looks like, she'll be perfect," he stated, and then leaned down and planted a firm kiss just above Miley's bellybutton.

"Daddy loves you," he whispered. Miley smiled as she lovingly rubbed her hands over her stomach.

"Mommy loves you too."

The flashback played in Nick's mind as he made his way out to his car. It devastated him to think that he would be the only one to ever know about that moment.

He had no idea how wrong he was.

Mon. August 22, 2013, Miley's Hotel Suite, Hollywood, California, 7:25 a.m.

It was always Nick. That younger version of him, along with the younger version of herself. Ever since that night at Nick's, every single second she was asleep she would see them. They were different ages throughout the dreams – the youngest looking around thirteen and the oldest being the age they were in that horrible car crash. Each time they were doing something different, sometimes happy things and sometimes upsetting things. Occasionally other people would show up in these dreams as well, and Miley was shocked to find out that their names came to her naturally. Joe, Kevin, Lilly, and a few more, some more prominent than others. After she'd figured out Nick, it seemed that the puzzle became a little less complicated.

Very few things in these dreams made sense to her. They were so incredibly realistic, yet she knew they had never happened. She grew to recognize the people from dream to dream, even through different time periods. The dreams gradually transformed from an out of body experience to her seeing things completely through the eyes of her younger self. Every once in a while, she even felt like she knew what was coming next. And oddly enough, she grew to think of the dreams as a strange sort of Déjà vu. She had felt these things before...

Very rarely was it just one dream. It would usually be a series of them, one flowing on to the end of the other, and though they didn't really have a sequence, they all seemed to have a similar theme. Often they revolved around a specific person. She had gathered that the girl named Lilly was her best friend, and when she dreamed of Joe and Kevin, the words 'big brother' stuck in her mind. When she thought of Nick, she was overwhelmed with emotions. But the one that seemed to be strongest was simply love.

And the person these dreams revolved around most often of all was not even born yet.

"It's so scary," Nick said quietly. And scary it was. They were only seventeen, not even old enough to live without their parents, and yet in a matter of weeks they would be parents themselves.

"I know," Miley mumbled back, cuddling deeper into him as the two watched the stars. She draped her arm over her stomach protectively and smiled slightly as their little miracle kicked. "We're way too young for this."

"It's not just that," Nick went on. "I mean, we are too young, but that's not all that's scary. It's...it's having a baby in general, no matter how old you are."

She nodded, but said nothing, so he continued.

"I mean, there's this whole little person that we made together growing inside of you, and it has eyelashes and fingernails and everything. This whole new little life. And we have to raise it and support it and nurture it and teach it right from wrong. I still haven't completely figured out right and wrong myself! And we really are way too young for this. We're still kids, and yet we have to raise our own kid. What if we're not good at it? What if we turn into those teen parents who resent their baby because they don't get to do normal teenager things? What if the baby hates us when she grows up?"

He looked at her, a tear sliding down his face as his own words sunk in. "What happens when she figures out she was born when we were teenagers and spends the rest of her life thinking she was just a mistake?"

Miley shook her head. "She won't think that," she insisted, though she wasn't quite sure she believed her own words. No more was said on the subject.

"Do you regret it?" Nick said after a minute, and his fragile voice made her want to hold him close and comfort him like a small child.

"What?" she asked gently.

"You know. Us. Making love."

"Oh," she swallowed. "Of course I don't! I would never, ever regret the things we did together." She grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach, and he rubbed gentle circles there as he pulled her closer with his other arm. "I always knew you'd be the father of my kids anyway. I just didn't think it would happen so soon."

It was quiet for a second. "What about you?" she asked, turning her head to look at him. "You are the guy, after all. Do you regret it?"

"No. Never."

"Really? You don't regret anything about this?"

He gave her a small smile. "You know what I regret?" he said. "I regret not thinking of something more comforting to say when you told me you were pregnant. I regret getting scared and going for a long walk that day without telling you I was leaving or that I was coming back. I regret not taking that damn ninth grade project with the crying doll more seriously. I regret getting suspended from my last few weeks of high school for punching that guy's lights out when he called you a slut."

Gently, he pulled her chin up, so she stared directly into his eyes, and the sparks they each felt when brown met blue amazed them yet again. "But I would never regret those things we did, and I will never regret creating our baby."

Tears spilled down her cheeks and he brushed them away tenderly. "I love you," was all she said in response, and – if possible – she meant it more than she ever had before.

"I love you too."

And then Miley woke up.

This had quickly become routine. She would wake up very suddenly, her breaths coming in short gasps and her throat incredibly dry, tears streaming down her face – whether the dream was upsetting or not.

And even though she didn't know it, each time this happened she was getting closer and closer to piecing together her broken past.

So now here she was, staring at the wall beside her bed as the latest flood of dreams played through her mind, always accompanied by the horrifying car accident scene. She played around with all the dreams in her mind, trying to find connections between them, to figure out what they had to do with her.

Suddenly she was hit by the image of herself in the latest memory, her hand resting protectively on her stomach. In an instant that picture flashed to one of herself drenched in blood, laying in the rubble of the totaled car, wrapped in Nick's arms. She was crying out and her hand was clutching at her stomach in the same defensive manner, holding onto her unborn angel.

Those images brought the most horrible, sickening realization yet.

Her baby was dead. That was why the dreams stopped at that point. It had to be.

Tears flooded out of her eyes and she choked on her breath. Because that realization brought another one with it.

Slowly and silently, she looked down at her stomach. Gently she lifted her shirt up, trying to even her breathing through her tears. There on her stomach was a thin, light scar that went all across her lower abdomen. She knew that it was from that car crash when she lost her memory. A piece of glass in her stomach, followed by stitches was bound to leave a scar.

But as she gently placed her hand down on it, a strange spark ran through her and it was somehow obvious exactly what that scar was from, and it was nothing like what she had previously thought.

She gasped once, as another very important piece of the puzzle formed in the front of her mind.

The images she had been seeing in her sleep were not dreams.

They were memories.

Mon. August 22, 2013, Nick's car, Hollywood, California, 12:42 p.m.

"...and after that we played outside on the playground. It's so big and fun, Daddy, with a swirly slide and everything..."

Nick smiled at Peyton's reflection in the rear-view mirror. He was thoroughly enjoying the full summary of his daughter's day and a part of him wished, as all parents do, that he had been there to share it with her.

"...and then we all drew pictures of our families, and you can see them in two weeks on parents' night. And you'll get to see everything else we'll do too, like a song we're gonna sing!"

"Wow, P," Nick said with a small laugh. "Sounds like you've had quite the day. Are you excited to go back tomorrow?"

"Yes!" she giggled. "Guess what else, Daddy! In three weeks there's a special girls' week, and there's gonna be a daddy/daughter dance after school!"

Nick smiled at her. "Sounds like fun. You'll have to show me some of your amazing dance moves before then."

Peyton laughed and nodded in agreement. Then her smile wavered ever so slightly and Nick could tell she was pondering whether or not to go on.

"And a few days after that, since its girls' week still, there's a mommy/daughter tea party."

Ah. Nick mentally sighed – he hated dealing with things like this. He was never sure if he was doing it the right way.

"Oh. Are you, um, interested in that?" He glanced at her in the mirror again. "I'm sure one of your aunts would be happy to go with you."

Peyton looked out the window, silent. Then she shook her head. "No. It wouldn't be the same."

Nick nodded in understanding.

"We're gonna be making presents the week before. For our parents," Peyton said after a minute. "To give to them during the girls' week – and the boys make stuff for boys' week. That comes the week after." She paused, turning her head to look at them again. "They said it would be okay if I made all of my presents for you, even the ones that are supposed to be for mommy. There's this one other girl named Emily who only has a mom, so she has to do the same thing."

"I'm sorry," he told her. It was all he could think of to say. "You really deserve to have your mother."

Peyton looked at her shoes. "It's okay," she said. "Mommy wouldn't want me to be sad, remember? I'm happy. I like preschool."

Nick grinned at her. "That's my brave girl. How about we stop for ice cream to celebrate your first day?"

All feelings of sadness were forgotten as Peyton's eyes lit up, her mother's perfect smile taking over her face. "Ooh! Yes please!"

DUNDUNDUN. Maybe Miley isn't quite as clueless as we all thought...

Review and Peyton will give you some of her ice cream! :D