Miley groaned once her stomach started to rumble. She slowly opened her eyes and sat upright once she realized she was in unfamiliar territory. This wasn't her room. She tossed her head around to the right, finding a window. Her feet carried her the wall and she swung open the curtains, observing a busy street. Her head tossed and turned through memories until she finally remembered what had happened the previous night. She heard the door creak and her reflexes took over.

"Sorry to bother you ma'am but Mr. Lucas wanted me to check up on you. To see if you were still sleeping or not." The intruder was a woman in her sixties, dressed in a work uniform. She had a neatly pinned bun and everything about her was meticulous.

"Mr. Lucas?" Miley raised her eyebrows. She nodded. "So this is his place?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Oh, you can call me Miley. I'm really not into...." Miley sighed. She didn't know how to react to the fact that she was in Nick's apartment. "Where is Mr, Lucas?"

"He's eating breakfast ma'am," the lady responded- automatically earning a look from Miley. "Sorry, ma' -Miley." She bent her head down as a from of curtsies and left Miley to herself.

"This is Nick's apartment," Miley whispered to herself. She looked around her room, spying clothes laid out on a dresser. He must have grabbed stuff before they had left last night. She sighed at the thought that he was her knight in shining armor. She was supposed to be hating on him right now. She pulled on the jeans he had retrieved and a random shirt before starting her attempt to hunt him down.

She duly noted that his apartment was more like a penthouse when it took her a couple of moments to route herself to the dining room. She drummed her fingers on the coffee table, staring at him emptying his cereal box.

"I can't stay here, Nick," she finally said. His eyes lifted up, revealing a small glint in his eyes. He grabbed his cereal bowl and chugged down some milk. He wiped off of some of the liquid and turned towards the brunette.

"Well, you're not going back there," he chuckled. She glared at him and bit her lip.

"I can't stay here," she repeated. She held her gaze- hoping he would back down. "I'll get a hotel or something. Anything. I can't stay here."

"You don't have any money." She was about to open her mouth but stopped midway. He was right. She would have to go back to her father to get any money and after last night, that certainly wasn't an option.

"We're broken up." He shrugged and walked towards the sink. He tilted his head and leaned back onto the counter, giving her a small smirk.

"That doesn't mean I can't help you out when you need my help." Miley groaned and turned her back towards him. Her shoulders fell inwards as a sign of defeat and Nick walked towards her. "What about this. When Demi comes back, you can go. And figure out whatever you need to do then. But as of right now, you're staying here." Miley hunched forward and whipped around- tear stains on her cheek

"She isn't going to come back Nick," her voice carried through the large hallways of the penthouse. Nick took a step back from the impact of her voice and drew in a breath. "She left me. So why don't you do what everyone in my life has down. Why don't you just leave me the hell alone." Her eyes were rimmed with red.

"Hey," Nick circled his arms around her as she sobbed into his chest. He bit his lip and let her take comfort in his body. "She'll come back. I promise," he whispered. He stroked her hair and guided her towards the couch. "I'll make it happen. I promise," he leaned back and looked into her eyes. She looked broken and he needed to fix it.

"You know you could leave right now," she stammered. Her voice had a tinge of raw vulnerability and she wasn't looking him in the eye. She was actually afraid that he would listen to her and leave her.

"Look at me," he held his index finger to her chin, lifting her face up to level with his. She blinked rapidly, signaling that she was holding back some tears. "I hurt you once and I'm not going to do it again." She nodded absently at his response. "You should go to sleep," he leaned in to give her a kiss on her forehead, but she backed away.

"This doesn't mean I forgive you," she shot out. She gulped down his soft, angelic face and tilted her head down. "I'm just not ready right now, Nick."

"I understand," he whispered. He gave her a warm hug and lifted himself off the couch. "You better get more sleep though. You've been through a lot," he offered. Miley curled up and laid herself down on the couch. Nick reached for the remote and turned off the TV. He walked into his room and gathered up some blankets to cover her. It was only morning but she still had a lot of damage to sleep off. And Nick saw that in her weary eyes.

He stepped and took a moment to enjoy her beauty. He couldn't believe that he had messed their relationship up. He never wanted to let her go, but his stupid mistakes broke both his and heart. He smiled as she sighed happily. He smiled at the thought of her letting go of the horrible world that stomped on her body everyday.

He walked towards his cellphone, which was lying on the counter. He grabbed the device and punched in familiar numbers. He lifted to his ear and waited as the ringing stopped and his brother's voice came on.

"What's up?" Joe mumbled. Nick heard some shuffling.

"Did I wake you up?" Nick mumbled, walking towards his room so he could hold a private conversation- away from Miley's ears.

"Nah, man," he mumbled back, fixing the phone back to his ears. "So is Miley still there?" Joe inquired. He had helped Nick smuggle her into the car without anyone in the party noticing. Nick caught him up with the full situation once they started their drive back home. And to say he was slightly worried about Miley was an understatement. He knew he betrayed her, but she was like a little sister to him and he truly felt horrible.

"Yeah, I convinced her into staying," he replied, leaving an awkward silence between the two. Joe was the first one to break it.

"So, you called?" he ventured out. Curiosity was getting the best of him. Nick shifted uncomfortably and sighed.

"I need you to do me a favor," Nick turned around to see that his door was properly closed shut before continuing on the conversation.


Miley woke up from her nap around noon. She could feel the sun rays hitting her in her face as she nuzzled into the couch. She smiled from a good sleep and finally opened her eyes, letting her see reality again. She frowned and sat up. She crossed her legs and took a good look of the apartment. Nick was nowhere in sight so she decided to try his room.

She knocked a couple of times, but there was no answer. She placed her ear on the white painted object and heard low murmurs. She rolled her eyes and knocked louder, thinking he had a girl in his room.

"Coming!" she heard his muffled voice. She rolled her eyes and turned around in anger. She was going to start on the path of forgiving him, but he was already sleeping with other girls. She mumbled to herself, unaware that his bedroom door opened.

"Miley?!" she heard a man's voice. And it wasn't Nick's She whipped her head around to find Joe sitting on the couch in Nick's bedroom. Nick was leaning against the door frame with a small smile on his face.

"I thought there was a girl in your room," Miley spoke up. Joe howled in laughter and slumped into the couch grinning at Nick.

"So you were jealous?" Nick smirked. Miley's face turned into a sharp glare and she huffed at his question.

"No, I just thought there was a girl in your room." Miley shifted her eyes from the two brothers. Nick was still smirking and her nerves were working up.

"Why don't you come sit here and talk?" Joe patted the couch with a grin on his face. He found the situation oddly amusing. He got up and walked towards the door as an effort to invite her into the private conversation.

"I can't. I haven't forgiven either of you," Miley pointed out. She sighed and looked at Nick with her lips curving downwards. "I'm hungry though." Nick chuckled and walked past her towards the counter.

"I can whip something up," he shouted over his shoulder, reaching for the top cabinet. His shirt rose a little upwards, allowing Miley to see his cleanly toned abs. She shut her eyes and tried to shake any inappropriate thoughts from her body. She decided the redirect her attention elsewhere- for the time being. "So what were you guys talking about?"

"Oh, we were going to-" Joe started up, but Nick gave a harsh look in his direction.

"We were going to nothing. We just talked about guys stuff, you know," he placed a macaroni box on the counter and glared at Joe. "Don't you have somewhere to be, Joe?" he asked. His voice was hinting and ulterior meaning and Joe seemed to pick it up.

"Yes, actually I do," Joe grabbed his jacket and walked to the door. "I'm going there right now, Nick. Call me if you think of something," he gave Miley a smiled. "I hope you forgive us sometime soon. We're fun kids," he winked and slipped out.

"He's a charmer," Miley commented. She took a seat on a bar stool and propped her hands up to rest her head.

"Yeah, he's Joe," Nick chuckled. He emptied the box into a steal pan and moved towards the stove. He turned the knob and started heating up the macaroni.

"What were you guys talking about?" Miley tried again. She put on her best curious face and looked Nick straight in the eyes. He shook his head and walked towards another stool to take a seat. He laid his arms down and fit his head, taking a slight nap.

"It was nothing, seriously," he responded softly. He gave her a reassuring smile and took a quick look at the stove. He wanted to make sure that the food actually got cooked so they could eat.

"I never knew you could cook," Miley commented.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," he laughed.

"Well, who's fault is that," Miley retorted bitterly. She quickly closed her eyes in a reflex and peeked open. "Sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound like that. I know you're trying to make up for what you did."

"Its okay. You have a right to be bitter about it. I mean if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gotten here," Nick motioned at the place. "I bought this from the money I made out of the promo tour," he explained quickly. She gave him a weak smile and nodded.

"How did the promo tour go?" she finally got onto the subject of his music.

"It went pretty well. Speaking of music," he chuckled. "Back from the other night, I never knew you actually write?" he arched his eyebrows in anticipation of Miley's response. She giggled and shook her head.

"Where is your maid," she quickly changed the subject.

"I gave her the day off. And no, you do not get to change the subject on me, missy," he pointed his finger at her. Miley rolled her eyes and shrugged. "You had a guitar with you too. I didn't know you could play."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," Miley retorted, mimicking his earlier words. Nick gave out a fake laugh and stuck his tongue out at her. Miley giggled and pushed him off the stool. "You better go check on the macaroni."

"Hey, I'm a professional chef. Don't tell me what to do," he huffed, dragging his feet as he walked over to the stove. He grabbed the nearest spoon and tossed over the macaroni to see if everything was finished

"No, apparently you're a professional con artist," Miley laughed at her comeback. Nick whipped around to see if she was joking or not and smiled once he saw her rosy cheeks. "What, we can't at least joke about it?"

"No, joking is good. It means we're getting through it," he said. He gave her a smile and reached for the plates that were stacked up in the cabinet. He set out two and dumped in half of the pot in each. He came back to her with a grin and set the plates down, taking seat net to her and never letting his eyes leaver her face.

"Don't you think you forgot something?" Miley asked, stifling a giggle. Nick's eyebrows creased in worry and he looked around. "The cheese, Nick. The cheese," she supplied with a fit of giggles. Nick slowly turned to look at the plate and groaned.

"Making a fool out of myself in front a beautiful girl. Good going, Nick."

"You are not allowed to flirt with me," Miley glared at him. Nick put on an innocent face and leaned into her.

"Why not?" he asked.

"You just can't. Now get me my cheese," she demanded. And Nick did what she asked. He walked around the kitchen and retrieved the melted cheese.

"Nick," Miley started once she saw his face again. Nick looked at her and nodded for her to go on. "Thanks for my "Tomorrow"." He creased his eyebrows in confusion and she chuckled. "Like in 'Annie'. This was the first day I woke up to no problems. And I really want to start fresh." She smiled at him and he smiled back. She was going to be okay.

A/N Joe and Nick are hiding something. But what? And Miley is trying really hard to forgive Nick especially with the fact that he's helping her out. And there's a minor character coming in next chapter. Hope you guys like the update. I was too tired to update yesterday so sorry, but this story will be finished by Sunday. I don't want to carry it on after Spring Break.