A/N: Thanks for the reviews! So, there had to be some real drama eventually, and there is definitely some in this chapter. And there's a little bit of language too. Just warning you. Not too much though. Anyways, hope you like!

"What are you doing here?"

Miley's voice came out much weaker than she needed it to be. She swallowed hard, finding the bravery to look him in the eyes. She knew that this would happen sooner or later. She was a bit surprised that it hadn't happened before.

Jake crossed his arms. "Can I come in?"

"No."

"Miley, this is ridiculous. I apologized. What else do you want from me?", he asked, genuinely puzzled as to why she wouldn't take him back.

"I want you to leave. And if you don't, I'm going to call the police."

She mentally prided herself on that threat. She was done letting him walk all over her. She was going to do the one thing that she had been unable to do for the past eight years. She was going to stand up for herself.

"You're going to call the police just because I came to talk to you? Yeah, we'll see how serious they take you."

"We will."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? Just please come home. I miss you", he uttered, reaching for her hands.

She yanked them away. "Don't touch me", Miley warned, her voice deadly serious. "You're not sorry. And even if you really were, there is no way in hell that I am going anywhere with you ever again."

She could tell he was beginning to get angry. "What is wrong with you? What do you want me to do?", Jake demanded before regaining his composure...at least for a moment. "Anything you want, just name it."

She stepped closer, and looked him directly in the eyes. "I want you to go away, and for me to never have to look at you again for the rest of my life."

He let out a dry laugh, obviously reaching the end of his patience with her. A part of her wished that Lilly or Joe would come down the stairs, and end this. But the other part of her wanted to prove that she wasn't scared of him. Not anymore.

"Do you have any idea how many girls would kill to be with me?", he asked.

"Then, by all means, go find one of them", she retorted, motioning outside. "There's a big world out there, Jake. Maybe you'll find some other fool who will put up with you for the next eight years. Because she's too scared to leave your sorry ass. But that's not gonna be me."

Miley watched his expression turn cold. She felt that familiar sense of fear creep up within her, though she tried desperately to keep it at bay. She continued to stare him directly in the eyes, hoping that he couldn't see it in her own. Because fear was weakness.

"You are going to regret this, Miley", Jake uttered in an eerily quiet tone that sent chills up the back of her spine. With that, he walked away.

She wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, but found herself unable to do so. Because there was nothing to be relieved about. She knew he had every intention of following through with his threat.

A few days passed since the incident, but Miley was still nervous about it. It didn't take her best friend too long to figure out that something was amiss with the brunette. They were in the car pick-up line waiting for the kids to get out of school. Lilly couldn't help but notice the way Miley was fiddling nervously with her hands, like she just couldn't keep still.

She sighed. "Miley, what's wrong? You've been acting really weird the past few days."

Miley stopped fiddling with her hands, realizing that was probably why Lilly thought something was wrong with her. Stupid hands! They had been giving everything away since she was a kid!

She forced a small smile for the blonde. "Lilly, I'm fine."

Lilly shook her head. "No, you're not. Come on. I'm your best friend. I know you. Tell me what's going on."

She glanced out the window. "Fine...I saw Jake", she said quietly, knowing what was about to come.

"You saw Jake? When? Oh my God. Is he stalking you?", Lilly asked, her expression reflecting her horror. Miley didn't respond, so her friend pressed further. "Miley, this is serious! When did this happen? Why didn't you say something before?"

"It was just a few days ago. I didn't want you to worry."

Lilly ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "How could I not worry when I know everything that you've went through because of him?"

"Lilly, I handled it. He hasn't been at the house since then", she assured her.

The blonde's eyes widened. "He was at our house! Oh my God!"

Miley wanted to smack herself in the face. Now, her best friend was about to have a panic attack, and it was all her fault. Of course, she knew that Jake didn't care anything about Lilly or her family. He didn't even care about Belle. He just wanted her.

She was eventually able to calm Lilly down, but not before she relayed the whole situation to Joe and Nick a few hours later, despite Miley's assurances that she had everything under control.

"Miley, why didn't you tell us about this?", Joe wondered as they all sat down in the living room. "He can't just show up at our house and harass you."

She looked down at the floor, not really knowing what to say. Nick softly took her hand in his own. "Hey, it's okay. We're just trying to protect you. That's all."

"I know", she said softly. "I guess...I guess I'm just...I spent eight years hiding everything he did to me from the rest of the world."

Nick nodded in understanding. "I know. But you aren't alone anymore", he pointed out, cupping her face in his hands. "We're going to make sure that you stay safe."

Miley rested her head against his chest as he enveloped her in a comforting embrace. She knew that they were all right. She should have told them the minute she saw Jake at the door. And next time, she would. Though she hoped that there wouldn't be a next time.

Nick knew that what he was about to do was probably a bad idea. It wasn't smart. It wasn't well-planned. But he was not just going to stand around and watch the girl he loved get harassed. Not when he knew that every encounter with her ex brought back all those awful memories that she just wanted to leave in the past. So, he found himself on the doorstep of that large house that looked more like a palace. He pressed the doorbell with authority. No, he wasn't the least bit afraid of Jake Ryan. But Miley was. And that was going to stop.

Jake opened the door, and looked at him with surprise. He obviously didn't know who he was. But he was about to find out.

"Uh, do I know you?"

"No. But you know my girlfriend pretty well", Nick replied, eyeing the other man with disgust. "Or maybe you don't. Otherwise, you wouldn't treat her like a piece of trash."

Jake gave him an expression that was a mix of confusion and amusement. "Look, you're clearly confused. I don't know who your girlfriend is, but I've probably never seen her before in my life."

"Oh, really. Does the name Miley ring a bell?"

The other man's eyes widened. "Miley is your girlfriend?", he asked doubtfully, obviously not believing it.

"She is. Oh, how rude of me. I never even introduced myself", Nick said sarcastically, extending his hand out to him. "Nick Lucas. I thought it was about time that we met."

Jake shook his head. "No. Miley is my fiancee. We're going to get back together. How do you even know her?"

"That's none of your business. I just thought that we should get a couple of things straight. Number one...you and Miley are done. She doesn't want you. Number two...she's with me now. Number three...I know everything that you've done to her, and you are damn lucky that you aren't in jail right now. And number four...if I see you anywhere near her ever again, I may not be able to restrain myself from killing you with my bare hands. So, stay away. Are we clear?"

Jake crossed his arms smugly, his shock that Miley had moved on already dissapating. "Miley still loves me, you know. She has loved me ever since we were teenagers. No way she picks you over me."

Nick rolled his eyes at the guy's arrogance. "God, you really are a moron. There is no competition. She doesn't want you anywhere near her, and in your twisted brain, that means that she still loves you? Sorry to disappoint you, but it doesn't work like that for normal people."

"Well, Miley's not normal. I bet there are a lot of things that she hasn't told you."

"Like how she used to be Hannah Montana? Yeah, I know that", Nick smirked. "But anyway, I'm not going to stand here and let you provoke me into doing something that I'm going to regret. Because, unlike you, I have people that would care if I got sent to prison. But this is your only warning. Stay away, or you will regret it."

Miley watched the fire burn in the fireplace, finding herself enchanted by it. She pulled the wool blanket up closer to her. She wasn't really cold. It just made her feel safe.

"Here you go."

She looked up to see Nick holding two mugs of hot chocolate. She gratefully took one, and he positioned himself on the floor next to her. He had learned many things about Miley Stewart, but one thing that stood out to him was that hot chocolate always made her feel better. Even if it wasn't her dad's "special" hot chocolate.

"So, I was thinking we could watch a movie", he suggested, motioning to his giant shelf of DVDs. "Whatever you want. I'll even go for a chick flick."

She gave him a faint smile. "Actually, I was kind of hoping that we could just talk."

"Okay. About what?", he wondered.

She shrugged, taking a sip of the hot chocolate. "I don't know. Anything that doesn't involve Jake Ryan."

"Sounds good to me", Nick agreed. "How about how beautiful you are?"

Miley couldn't help but giggle at how random that remark was. Then again, he was always saying something like that. And the sweet part was that he was sincere every time. Just like that, all of her problems seemed to fade into the background. All that mattered was that she was with the man that she loved. And she did love him. She hoped that he knew that somehow, even though she hadn't actually said it yet. Every time she got close, she got nervous and backed out.

She looked into his beautiful brown eyes, biting her lip. She wanted to say it. She wanted to tell him that she loved him. But did he love her too? What if he was the one who wasn't ready to say those three little words?

He thoughtfully tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear. "Miley, what are you thinking?"

Her heart felt like it was beating through her chest. "I...it's kind of hot in here. Don't you think?", she blurted out, throwing the blanket off of her.

Nick looked a bit surprised. "Uh, okay. Here, I'll go turn the thermostat down some."

Miley watched him walk away, and buried her face in one of the soft couch pillows. Well, that was a complete epic fail. Of course, she wasn't lying when she said it was hot. But it was mostly because she was so nervous, and she sweated when she was nervous. Great. She was going to be all sweaty when she told Nick that she loved him. That was just her luck.

"Please don't let me blow this", she said quietly, glancing upwards.

She managed to calm herself down a little bit, but it was to no avail. The second he walked back into the room, her heart rate sped up again.

She lifted the mug to her lips, allowing the warm hot chocolate to slide down her throat. Hot chocolate was her cure for everything. But it did little to make this any easier.

Nick collapsed back onto the floor beside her. "It should start getting cooler soon."

Truthfully, he thought it was pretty darn cold in there already. He lifted the blanket partially over his own body. She sighed, and searched her brain for a way to tell him. She didn't want to just blurt it out.

"Nick?", Miley uttered reluctantly. He turned attentively to her, and she took a deep breath. "I need to tell you something. And I'm kind of scared. Because I'm not really sure how you'll react."

His expression showed his concern. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"No", she said quickly. "Not at all. At least, not with us. I just...I..."

"Miley", he said, staring directly into her blue orbs. "You know you can tell me anything."

"I love you", she finally whispered, a tear streaming down her cheek as she said the words.

Nick had never been as stunned in his entire life as he was at that moment. He had also never been as overjoyed as he was at that moment. He felt like he couldn't even speak. There were no words to convey how it made him feel to hear her say that.

She kept waiting for him to say something back. Every second that passed, she became more worried that she had just made a big mistake.

"Nick, please say something."

Then, all of her fears were instantly alleviated when he gave her the biggest smile. She could see his eyes were shining with tears as well.

"I love you too, baby. I love you so much", he breathed.

Miley's tears of joy mingled with tears of relief. She brushed her fingers against his cheek. God, she never thought that she would know what real love felt like. And it was even better than she ever imagined. She closed her eyes, savoring the moment that his lips met hers. And they remained there for hours, kissing in front of the dancing flames.

They never saw the figure that was watching them from the window...