heeeeeey. sorry i'm such a slacker... i have exams this month. the torture ends the 17th. so i think i'm just gonna post the chapters i have stocked up of this story and amnesia and then hopefully i'll be done with exams when the last one's posted.

ahhh the weather's so good here. loving summer.

anyway, enjoy!
and the thunder starts to crash...
here comes trouble!

A week after they got home, Miley noticed that Nick's attitude towards her cooled and he became more distant when they were together or talking over the phone. It affected Miley, but she tried to not let it get to her completely – she had been her old Smiley self since they had returned home, and she didn't want to replace it with bitterness just because she was jumping to conclusions deep inside. Conclusions she swore to herself she would never mention out loud; conclusions she swore to herself weren't true.

But then, one day, when Miley had finished on set a little earlier, she decided to stock up on the necessities she kept in her glove box and pulled up to a gas station. And then she saw it. On the cover of Bop! Magazine: "Nick Jonas dumps Miley for Selena?", and even though Miley had never purchased a gossip magazine or even let the rumors get the best of her, she picked it up and quickly turned to the page of the article.

"Excuse me?" someone said behind her. "You'll have to buy that."

An employee stood behind her with a box of beer to carry out from their storeroom.

"Yeah, whatever," Miley just said and closed the magazine, bringing it with her to the counter where she quickly grabbed a pack of gum and paid for her stuff. Then she returned to her car and opened the magazine again. It exposed a very blurry picture of (supposedly) Nick and Selena getting out from a building, that Miley didn't recognize. Apparently a lot of fans had spotted them laughing and acting a tad more than friendly, but no-one mentioned more than holding hands, which still made Miley doubt, but she was glad it wasn't more. Even though holding hands was a little bit out of the friend-zone, she still wasn't even sure it was true.

Miley got out her phone and dialed Nicks number and waited for him to pick up as she opened the pack of gum with one hand and popped a piece into her mouth.

"Hey," Nicks voice rang through the ear piece and Miley tried not to chew too loudly because she knew he hated when people did that.

"Hey!" Miley said and smiled.

"Miles!" Nick said, sounding a bit too surprised.

"What's going on?" Miley said, her smile disappearing slowly. "Are you in the middle of something or what? Because you said I could call whenever-"

"Yeah, sure," Nick interrupted. "No, we're taking a break from work."

"Oh," Miley said and felt a pinch in the gut, "You should've called me, then."

"Yeah," Nick said simply. "Sorry."

They were silent for a while. Miley looked down suddenly, and the picture of Nick and Selena hand in hand shined up on the paper and left her eyes wet when she looked up again.

"Nick," Miley said in a voice that was close to a whisper, "We should talk."

"Yeah," Nick said, quiet too. "I know."

"When are you done working?"

"Around three. No four, actually," Nick corrected himself quickly.

"Okay. I'll pick you up then?"

"Can we meet each other somewhere? My car's here and I need to get it home."

Miley felt as if someone had punched her in solar plexus, hitting all air out of her lungs. They had never just decided to meet each other somewhere; they'd always drive where ever they were going, together.

"Sure," Miley managed to get out. "I'll text you where I am around four then."

"Bye,"

He hung up quickly. Too quickly.

But Miley wasn't a stupid girl. She knew there was a reason why Nick had said they were done at three. So she got in her car an hour early and drove to the studio. She parked her car on the other side of the road with view to both the door to the building and to Nicks car.

And then she was there, like she dropped down out of no where. Selena walked quickly towards the door and Miley crawled over to sit on the passenger's seat and rolled down the window the tiniest bit. Selena opened the heavy door and nearly bumped into Nick. They both laughed and smiled as they hugged and Nick kissed her cheek. Miley felt the tears press behind her eyes and her nose starting to itch as they grabbed each others' hands and walked to Nicks car. He opened the door for her and she crawled into the passenger's seat of Nicks beloved car thankfully.

After they had pulled out of the small parking lot, Miley let the tears flow down her made up cheeks silently and she got out her phone before dialing a very familiar number.

"Hello?"

"Demi?" Miley said, her voice quivering.

"Miley, sweety, what's wrong?"

"It's Nick," Miley said, and instantly Demi knew what she was crying for.

"Oh, Miles,"

"Has Selena talked about him to you?" Miley said, trying to control her tears.

"Miley..."

"Demi!" Miley said, starting to get angry and upset at the wrong person. "Just tell me if you know something, okay!"

"I ..." Demi began. "Let me meet you somewhere. I wanna be able to wipe away those tears first."

Miley tried to gather her thoughts - she was supped to meet Nick and text him and call her mom and so much more ... - but the only thing she could think was that Demi was one of her best friends and she could trust her more than anyone other, and that she had to see her.

"Okay."