See, I can get a chapter out fast-ish. :P Enjoy.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot.

~xoxo~

My life had been strangely uneventful for the last few days. I mainly focused my attention on Selena, because after my talk with Demi I figured that I should be spending most of my time with her. I also tried my best to help out with the wedding. It was already the middle of September, which meant that the wedding was only a couple days away.

But now Selena was in Chicago for the week for some talk show interview or something. She was excited because this was her first television appearance in a while. I was going to travel with her, but I changed my mind at the last minute; deciding that staying home would give me some time to breathe.

I heard my phone ring and I pulled it from my pocket and answered, "Hello?"

"Hey baby! It's me."

"Oh, hey Sel. What's up?"

"I just wanted to call and check in. So how are you?" she asked.

"Um…good. I'm just hanging out at home watching a game. Nothing exciting."

"Well I was wondering if it would be okay if I stayed in Chicago for a couple more days? Jane actually flew out with me and we would like to become tourists for a few days. But if you need me to come home, then I will."

My eyes widened. "No, stay! I want you to be able to have some fun. I won't be doing much anyway; I'll probably just help Demi and Joe out with wedding stuff."

"Right…wedding stuff," she said quietly. "That means Miley will probably be there too right?"

"Probably. She is the maid of honor."

Selena sighed, "I don't mean to come off sounding jealous, but you understand where I'm coming from, right? Not only is she Miley, that in itself makes me nervous, but she has the one role that I always wanted."

"And what role is that?"

"What do you think Nick? Demi's maid of honor. It's just that even though we haven't been close at all for a couple years, we were at one point. And we dreamed of our wedding days, you know?"

"Yeah…" I said quietly. "I know."

"Whatever. I sound ridiculous."

"No, you don't sound ridiculous Sel. I just need you to trust me, okay? Please, just trust me."

"I do trust you Nick. It's the past that I don't trust. And I want to be all happy-go-lucky about this whole thing; I want to believe that everything is going to stay that same as it has been for the last couple of years, but I know that's wishful thinking. Everything is going to change now, isn't it?"

I didn't say anything for a minute but then I sighed, "I don't know. I think it's already changing."

"And that's what I'm afraid of!" she exclaimed. "Face it, things are going to be different now and I don't know if we can handle that."

"We can," I said confidently. "Maybe after all this wedding stuff is over we can go on a vacation or something, just the two of us."

"I'd like that." I could practically see her smiling through the phone.

"But it would have to be after Christmas. My family would never forgive me if I wasn't there," I chuckled. Then I heard the doorbell ring. I slowly got up from the couch to answer it.

Selena giggled, "Okay. After Christmas it is."

When I opened the door I was surprised to see Miley smiling on the other side. I quickly brought my finger up to my mouth to signal her to be quiet. Luckily she understood my signal and followed me when I motioned her inside.

"Hey honey, I have to go. I have some um…calls to make. I just remembered."

"Okay! I'll call you before I go to bed so I can say goodnight," she said happily.

"Alright. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye!"

I hung up the phone and then remembered Miley. I turned and found her smiling at me. "The two of you are really cute together."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "I seem to remember that you once told me I was an idiot for dating her; that the two of us were way too alike to have any kind of romantic relationship and we were two polite to each other. Oh, and that I was on my way to an insane asylum."

She scoffed, "Oh please. I doubt that I was that harsh."

"Oh you were. I distinctly remember it. It was the equivalent of the mom throwing a frying pan at the dad's head in The Parent Trap. But, you know, without the physical blow."

"I knew you loved that movie! You tried to deny it, but I knew you loved it."

"You're changing the subject," I said pointedly.

"No. I'm skillfully avoiding telling the truth and admitting that you're right," she answered slyly.

I laughed, "So what are you doing here?"

"Everyone is busy so I decided to come and check up on you. Let's go do something."

"Oh I see how it is. I'm your last resort."

She rolled her eyes, "You know what I mean. So do you want to go do something? Oh I know! Let's go to the beach."

"Uh, no."

"Uh, yes."

"Miley, no. Plus, you don't have your bathing suit."

"Well you see Nicholas, there's this new invention called a car and it can take you places really fast. So I can leave here and be back very quickly in my bathing suit."

"Miley…" I said, but I already knew that I would agree to do whatever she wanted. Afterall, her in a bikini was definitely appealing.

There I go again. I really need to stop thinking about her in that way. No wonder Selena is getting worried.

"Okay, I'll be back," she smiled. "I expect you to be ready when I get back."

Then she flew out the door like a tornado leaving me shocked behind her. I groaned and made my way to my closet to get changed. I really wasn't a beach person. I mean, I didn't mind it and it was definitely beautiful, but it was always so crowded and you always came home with sand everywhere.

And I mean everywhere.

Literally ten minutes later, I heard my phone ring. I grabbed it from the couch. "This is Nick."

"No, duh. I called your phone so obviously it's you."

"Hello to you too Miley."

"Anyway, I'm all ready, I just have to grab a towel and my beach bag. Do you need a towel or anything?" she asked.

"Um, sure. A towel would be good. Do you have sunscreen?"

"Yeah, I do. See! You're totally excited for the beach. Don't deny it."

"Whatever you say Miles. I have to finish getting dressed," I chuckled.

"You're not dressed yet? Wow, you're slow."

"Goodbye."

"Bye!" she chirped. "I'll be there in ten minutes. Be ready!"

Then she hung up. This really sucked. All I planned on doing today was staying at home and hanging out and now I was forced to go out. Oh crap. Selena was going to find out and then I would have to deal with that. I could always just tell Miley that I couldn't go; I could give her some bullshit reason that she would see right through but let me off the hook anyway…

But then she would be mad at me and give me the silent treatment. Then, things would be tense between us, Demi and Joe's wedding would be ruined, and then they would all hate me. They wouldn't hate her though, because she's Miley. And because the last time things blew up between us, they all tried to hate her and it kind of backfired.

I didn't even notice that I zoned out until I heard her knocking at the door. "Nick! Are you ready?" she yelled through the door.

"Just a minute!" I could hear her sigh behind the door. I ran around and quickly finished getting ready (because it really only took me a minute) and then I opened up my front door to see an impatient Miley.

"Are you ready yet? I want to get down there before the sun goes down," she smiled playfully.

"Yes. Come on miss high-maitenence," I said following her to her car.

Miley gasped, "You did not just call me high-maitenence! You know, I don't think I want to go to the beach with you anymore."

I shrugged and pretended to walk back to the house, "Fine with me."

I heard her groan, "Just kidding. I don't want to go to the beach alone. Get in the car, jerk."

I smirked as I walked back to the car. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist me."

"Shut up. You're my last resort, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say. How long is the drive to the beach?"

She looked at me weirdly, "How can you not know how far away the beach is? It's like…five minutes from your house. You must go there sometimes."

"Well I don't really have the time to go." I looked out at the passing houses and watched as the beach came closer and closer. She was right, it was only five minutes away.

"I'm sure you'll love it if you just give it a chance. I think that you'll like the ocean, just watch out for sharks. They bite."

"What?" I exclaimed. "Sharks? There is no way I'm stepping into that water."

Miley giggled as she found a parking spot. "It was a joke. And if there is a shark in the water, the lifeguards will warn us. Or they won't. Then we get eaten."

"Sounds fun."

"You know, you're raining on my parade. I'd like you to stop."

"It's too hot outside and look how crowded it is! We're going to get recognized!"

She groaned and turned to glare at me. "We're not seventeen, Nick. We are friends and we're allowed to hang out. If you can't realize that, or if you don't want to, then we can go home. I don't care. But I'm tired of all these bullshit excuses."

"Miley-,"

"Do you want to hang out with me?" she asked point-blank.

"Well yeah. Of course."

"Then we'll hang out. In public because that is what normal people do. So come on, I can practically hear the waves calling your name."

Then her hand latched onto my arm and she dragged me through the mass of people. I could feel many people turn and stare. Afterall, it wasn't every day that you saw two famous people (one who had been gone for several years), walking to the beach.

"Is this spot good?" Miley asked, hovering over a patch of sand that was pretty close to the water.

I shrugged, "Seems fine to me."

"Okay." She dropped all our stuff down and began to lay out her towel on the sand. I tried to copy what she did, but for the life of me I couldn't get my towel straight. I finally realized that Miley was giggling at my failed attempts.

I gave her a weak smile and tentatively handed her my towel. She rolled her eyes, but she took it anyway and laid it out for me.

"Thanks," I said happily while sitting down.

I thought I heard her mutter, "Boys," before sitting down herself, but I couldn't be sure.

"I have a question for you," she stated a couple of minutes later.

"Yeah?"

"Why did you tell Selena that 'you had some calls to make' when I showed up on your front doorstep?"

I sighed, "Well if I told her that you were here, then she would freak out and I guess I just didn't want to deal with that."

"You should've told her. Mostly because she is going to find out anyway. The paparazzi are probably going to be here any minute and take tons of pictures that will show we were together. You just shouldn't be hiding anything from her."

"I know I shouldn't. I just kind of panicked, you know?"

"I know. And it's fine to panic! But you should have called her back and told her your plans. In fact, you should call her right now."

"Uh…" I said hesitantly, "Maybe once we get home. I don't think calling her right now is the best thing to do."

She looked at me unsurely but shrugged, "It's your life on the line."

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Does your boyfriend that know you're here? With me, I mean?"

To my surprise, she actually laughed, "Nate doesn't care about that kind of stuff. We haven't been dating long but he also understands that I can't spend every single minute with him. But if you really want to know, yes he does know I'm here with you. I called him right before I picked you up."

"Oh…well that's good. He seems like a really nice guy."

She raised her eyebrows, "Oh really? When you first met him he got the feeling that you didn't like him very much."

I feigned innocence. "I don't know why he got that idea. He seems nice."

"Uh huh…whatever you say. Nate is a good guy; in fact, he could be someone that I could see myself, you know, staying with in the long run."

I almost choked. Well actually, I kind of did choke but I think I covered it up well enough with a cough; although I couldn't tell whether she bought it or not. "Oh?" I finally squeaked out.

"Yeah," she smiled. "I don't know…it's just a feeling that I have. It obviously might not happen; I might not end up marrying him, but it's still a good thought."

"Yeah…a good thought," I said absentmindedly.

Miley looked at me curiously, "Have you ever thought about proposing to Selena?"

Automatically I said, "No."

"Never? Are you sure?"

"Trust me, I'm positive."

She was quiet for a minute, but then she spoke, "Have you ever thought about asking anyone else to marry you?"

"Yeah," I said easily.

"Seriously?" she asked surprised.

"Yep. Twice."

By this time she was completely stunned; to the point where she couldn't even really form any words. Finally she said, "Who?"

I just smiled softly, "Who do you think Miles?"

Now she was just staring at me while having even more trouble forming words. "But…but wh-when?"

"Let's see…the first time was when I was a scrawny fourteen year old and I had just met the most beautiful girl in the world and all I could think of was marrying her. By the way, if you haven't figured it out yet, that girl was you."

She laughed nervously, "Yeah, I figured. When was the second time?"

I kept my gaze fixated on my hands that were in my lap. "Um…well it was a couple years ago. You had just broken up with Liam and…and I went to look at rings."

"You what?" she exclaimed. "B-but what? H-how…?"

"I don't know. I just figured that I'd just go and check things out. I ended up finding the perfect ring, and this is coming from a guy who doesn't really understand women's jewelry." I laughed, "Anyway, I saw it and I loved it and we were…moving along. I mean, we weren't exactly dating yet and you had rejected me, but I still had this feeling."

"Then what happened?" she asked. "I never saw this alleged ring."

I shrugged, "Joe called."

"Is that supposed to mean something?"

"Joe called to tell me that you…had left."

"Oh…" Miley said in understanding.

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey…it's no big deal. You had to do what you thought was best to make you happy. I get that and I respect it."

"I'm glad," she smiled.

Desperately searching for a change in the subject, I noticed the water again. "Hey, want to go in the water? You can point out all those sharks that you were talking about."

She finally giggled, "Okay. But be careful, I heard that those sharks love hot, brown-eyed musicians."

"Well I think those hot, blue-eyed musicians would be in trouble too."

"Oh no, they are actually disgusted by blue-eyed people," Miley said waving off my comment.

"Well then I guess I'll just have to stick with you. Your blue eyes will scare them off."

She groaned dramatically, "Fine. I'll be your shield for the day."

"Well thank you madam." I held my arm out for her to grasp, "Shall we go?"

"Well thank you young sir." Miley linked her arm through mine and took off running towards the water, dragging me behind her.

It looks like I would always be tripping over my feet just to be with her.

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