Chapter Ten: For You I Will
~No more camouflage, I want to be exposed, and not be afraid to fall. I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have and cannon ball into the water. – Teddy Geiger~
"Snickers!" I smile as she snatches the stuffed animal from my grasp, cradling it like a baby in her arms.
"I found him in my closet."
"You're no longer needed here; I have Snickers to cuddle with now. You're dismissed."
I put my hand on my chest in mock hurt and let out a dramatic gasp and she laughs, placing the stuffed animal on the foot of her bed and peeling my hand from my chest to wrap it around her waist. "I'm kidding Nick." She says, repeating her actions with my other hand.
"I am hurt." I pull away from her, not wanting to cross any boundaries.
"My sarcastic nature should not be news to you." I take a seat on the foot of her bed as she heads for her huge walk-in closet.
"Must you be sarcastic all the time?"
"It's fun messing with you." She calls out from the closet.
"Hey, Nick?"
"Yeah babe?"
No response. Crap. I'm an idiot. I get up, following her into the closet. She's standing there in the core of her closet, clutching Snickers, staring at me with that glint in her eyes. And let me just say, that glint is usually not a bad thing. Talk about a sigh of relief on my part.
"Miles-"
"You called me babe..." Her voice sounds different. It's not as husky and sultry as usual- at least I think it's usually sultry- it's more high-pitched and a lot softer. She sounds so vulnerable. It's definitely a side of her I don't see very often and I just want to kiss her because I know how much she hates feeling inferior. I think her vulnerability is a big part of everything that makes her so beautiful and precious to me, it makes her real and attainable. Not a lot of people get to see this side of Miley.
"Yeah..."
"You used to call me that all the time when..." Her voice trails off and I know she's about to cry when her lower lip begins to tremble.
"No no no no no no," I hurry over to her, pulling her into a tight hug, "shhh, don't cry, beautiful."
"You can't be so sweet to me when I'm grieving about you." She mumbles in my chest.
"Aren't we being just a tad bit dramatic? Don't cry, I'm right here with you." I smile, looking down at her.
"What the hell do you want, nick?"
"Whoa whoa whoa, calm down."
"No, why should I? I'm practically throwing myself at you, and one minute we're making out the next you can't even hug me for more than five seconds? I don't appreciate all these mixed signals you're sending me." She steps away from me, and I won't lie and say that doesn't scare me a bit.
"How am I sending you mixed signals, Miley? You're being ridiculous."
"Don't say I'm being ridiculous," she snaps, "It's how I feel."
"Well, stop it, you know how I feel about you, I don't want to rush into things like we usually do."
She doesn't say anything. She's just looking at me with that stubborn look of hers that drives me insane.
"Damn it, Miley, there's a reason we always end up back together. It's not because we're stupid or hard-headed, no. It's because, as cheesy as it sounds, our fate's already been decided and we kind of just have to go with it. Think about it, we are both way too stubborn to willingly get back together, it always kind of 'just happens'. Every time. Are you going to tell me it's a coincidence every time?"
"Well, no but-"
"But nothing. You can't mess with destiny...Destiny." I smirk at my witty comment. "And yes, that pun was intended."
"If I had a penny for every time you used that one..." She says gliding her arms around my waist with a wide grin stretched across her face. "Thank you Nick, for being such a sweetheart, but I still hate sleeping alone."
"You still want to snuggle? Darn! The floor looks so comfy though."
"You're hilarious." She says as she climbs into bed and I follow, lying down behind her so that we're practically spooning.
"Des, turn around." I whisper after a few minutes of silence.
"Uh-uh, not after your little confession."
"I'm not seducing you, calm down."
"You're not the one I'm worried about, Hun."
"Can I just give you a goodnight kiss?" She's quiet for a while, and then she turns around to face me, chewing on her lower lip. "Don't be nervous, I don't bite."
"Who said I'm nervous?" She reaches over and presses her lips onto mine. "Goodnight Nick."
"'Night baby." I capture her lips with mine, adding just enough tongue to drive her insane. I keep it short and sweet then turn the opposite way, smiling to myself. She wants to say something, I can feel it.
"Nicholas, look at me." I turn my head to face her.
"What's up?"
"I have to know, are we together or not? And I understand you don't want to rush into anything, but I hate how we're kind of just whoring it with no labels."
"Did you just call me a whore?"
"Can we please act our age for like two seconds? I just want to know where we stand."
"You're my Destiny." I take her hand, intertwining my fingers with hers. I look up at her and she's smiling as if I just gave her a million dollars. "That's Destiny with a capital 'D'." I bring her hand up to my lips, softly kissing the back of it.
"You're being really cheesy right now."
"And you love it, otherwise, you wouldn't be CHEESING it like you are right now." I smile, proud of my witty comeback. Man I'm on a roll.
"Oh Gosh, please stop." She says giggling.
I chuckle then look at her intently, searching her eyes for any doubt. "In all seriousness though, you wanna try this one more time, I mean, they do say the third time's a charm."
She nods her head excitedly, kind of like she's too ecstatic to even speak. The giant smile plastered on her face is immediately mirrored onto my own face. It's adorable how happy she looks and knowing I'm the cause of that is literally one the best feelings in the world.
"Yes?"
"Yes."
I lean over and peck her lips, then look at her, trying to memorize the look on her beautiful face. I repeat the same actions, again and again and again, whispering sweet words after each peck. I used to live for moments like this, just me and her with no interruption. I didn't realize how much I missed it until this very moment. It's amazing to think that just a few months ago, she seemed so out of my league and now I can call her mine again. After all these years, who would have thought?
"I bet you creepily stared at me like that throughout the entire night."
"You know, you've become a lot sassier since we last dated."
"And you've become a lot creepier."
"What are you talking about? I used to watch you sleep all the time."
"Well, stop it." She gets up, swinging her legs off the bed. "It's weird."
I grab her by her waist and pull her down with me. I firmly place my lips on her cheek, keeping them there for as along as possible.
"Nickkk." She giggles as she squirms in my arms, only causing me to tighten them around her. "Stop ittt."
"Your cute little giggles aren't really convincing me that you want me to stop." I nuzzle my nose against her neck. "Say it like you mean it."
"Nick, owww! You're hurting me!"
"Oh, Miles, I'm so sorry-" Before I know it she slips from my arms, running and starts charging for the door. I laugh at how cute she looks running for her life in her barely visible boy shorts and navy blue oversized long-sleeved shirt. She screams as I grab her and throw her over my shoulder, I then head back to her bed and throw her on it. I grab her by the ankles and pull her toward me so that she's sitting on the edge of the bed. I kneel down in front of her and pucker my lips. "Gimme a kiss?" She leans over, molding her lips with mine for a brief second. "One more." She repeats her previous actions. "Last one." This time, before she pulls away, I take hold of her face, deepening the kiss. It's when her hand reaches for my face that I decide to pull away. I peck her nose and watch as her eyes slowly open.
"What do you want?"
"Be my girlfriend?"
Her smile is now mixed with a puzzled look. "I thought I already was."
"Officially."
"Of course." She scoots forward and wraps her arms around my neck, pressing her lips onto mine.
"Let me take you out for breakfast."
"Chik-fil-A?"
"Whatever you want princess."
"Yayyy, I'm gonna go get ready." She charges for the bathroom. She takes a quick shower and I follow and change into one of my old t-shirts that she still has, pairing it up with the shorts I slept in. She decides to wear short high-waisted shorts with a loose off-the-shoulder white blouse, and some black gladiator sandals. It's a bit overwhelming how much her wardrobe has changed since we last dated.
I just love it when I'm in a good mood and some asshole decides to ruin it for me. This particular asshole seems to be a Miley fan, for all the wrong reasons of course.
So I decide to go to the restroom as Miley orders our food and when I return, there's a punk, who seems to be about two or three years younger than us, waiting in line in front of me obviously checking her out and making unnecessary comments. He's whispering to his friend about how much she's "developed" over the years and how "crazy long" her legs are. I decide to bite my tongue since I know she probably gets this kind of crap all the time. It's not until punk number two says something about hearing somewhere that she's flexible and how "handy" that could be, that I decide I've heard enough.
"It actually does come in handy." I lean forward toward them as they turn around to look at me. "She's a former cheerleader." I say in a low voice. "Do you dumbasses know how much talent cheerleaders contain?"
"Nick." I look over toward the voice calling my name and see Miley standing near a booth waiting for me.
"Don't let your imaginations run too wild now." I give their backs light smacks and then head over to Miley.
"Do you know them?" Miley asks me as I approach her.
"No, just some fans of yours."
"What'd you say to them?"
"Just how amazingly talented you are."
"Thanks." She smiles as she slides in one side of the booth.
"So, Des, guess what." I reach over to grab a fry on her tray and hold it in front of her mouth.
"Are you really about to feed me right now." She looks at me, the smile never leaving her face.
"You didn't guess but I'll tell you anyway; I still find the act of feeding you very arousing, so open up."
"Nick!" She giggles. "I can't believe you just said that." She, nevertheless, takes a bite of the frie. "Do you get aroused when I chew as well?" She looks at me, chewing slowly and... seductively?
"No, that's just gross."
"Thanks, ass."
"You know, you insult me way too often." I feed her another fry. "I'm starting to think you don't like me."
"You obviously know nothing about me then."
"I know enough to know you don't actually think that." There's that adorable scrunching of the nose face that I love so much again. I've noticed she only does it when she's really happy to see me, when I say something of the sexual nature, or when she just doesn't have a witty comeback. It's one of the many new wonderful things I'm learning about my beautiful girlfriend.
"Des, do you think we're moving too fast?" Miley lifts her head off my chest to look at me.
"No. Do you?"
"It doesn't feel like it but imagine what this would look like from someone else's perspective." She leans her head back on my chest as I play with her fingers. "We just became official last night and we're already lying in bed together? Something most couples don't do until months into the relationship."
"The way I see it is, we have SO much history, that we're kind of like an exception, you know? Like we were each other's first everything...it's kinda like we just picked up from where we left off. Does that make sense?"
"Mhm. So this doesn't scare you at all? 'Cause I've been holding back."
"I know you have, and I've been trying to be very gentle with you because I know how delicate you can be." She smirks looking up at me.
"Don't be afraid to let go, trust me, I don't mind. Gentle is good, but not under these circumstances."
"Under what circumstances?" She turns around, straddling me.
"You want me to say it?"
"Go ahead." She says nonchalantly. She's testing me, I know she is.
"Come here, I'll say it in your ear." She giggles but does as I say. I place my lips close to her ear so that they're touching it a little. "I would tell you, but I don't want it to cause things to get out of control." I whisper softly, kissing the area beneath her ear. I feel her entire body shake from her giggles. "You wanna know what though?"
"What?" She whispers back.
"I love you." I take her earlobe between my teeth, tugging at it a little and I smile when I feel her arms snake around my torso, squeezing it tightly.
"You have no idea kid." she rests her head on my chest and it feels like we're the most perfect work of destiny God has ever created.
"Hey Miley, you in here?" We both turn our heads toward the now open door and standing there is a hyper-looking Demi. "Awww snap! Joe, in here." She calls out.
Miley laughs. "Demi, what are-"
"Slumber party!" They scream and charge for Miley's bed. Miley and I look at each other and we're both thinking the same thing: Starbuck.
I brace myself before they dive in separating us. Demi settles in between us and Joe takes the spot next to Miley.
"I can't believe you went to Starbucks without me Joe." Miley looks at Joe mocking hurt.
"Coldstone actually." He corrects
"Same shit."
"Says the girl amidst some secret slumber party."
"Not secret. I texted Demi last night."
"Demetria!"
As they continue to bicker, I'm just sitting there like, all I wanted was to have some quality time with my girlfriend but I mean, I guess...
"I'm glad you and Miles are back together, she hasn't been this happy in a while." Demi whispers to me and flashes her teeth at me, quickly brightening up my mood.
"Thanks Dem."
"I never got your side of the story in all this."
"So you know Miley's?"
"Yeah, and she'll tell you if she wants but I want to know yours. I already told Miley, but I think what you two have is really cool and I just want to see it from both perspectives."
I'm a little caught off guard by her curiosity; no one's ever asked me about it before, well, not like that anyway. "What do you want to know?"
"What was it like? When you two broke up...like how did you react to it."
I give her my best 'you've got to be kidding' look, really wondering if she's serious.
"I saw how you reacted, but I mean like what were your thoughts and feelings?"
"Oh, I knew we would get back together."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah. No doubt. The thing that killed me though, was the fact that I had no way of knowing when exactly that would be and worst of all, after a while, I completely lost hope." I look over at Miley babbling away with Joe and I can't help it when the corners of my mouth tug upward to form a smile. She's been my world so long now, even when it didn't seem it, it's hard now to imagine life any other way.
"And why is that?" I return my attention back to Demi, who is now staring at me with eyes full of curiosity like a toddler waiting for the climax of the story.
"Liam." I simply answer. It's unfortunate because I'm sure he's a very nice guy and all but the fact that he's been a threat to me and Miley's relationship for so long just kills any chance of me ever actually liking him. It shouldn't even bother me anymore because he's finally out of the picture now and he's no longer a threat but I have a horrible feeling at the pit of my stomach telling me he still is.
This chapter is not even acceptable but I was so stuck, you have no idea. And I know that's no excuse but I couldn't leave you guys hanging any longer
Twitter: Hortenceee