"And I know he's, like, very detail-oriented, so do you think he'd like it if I gave him itineraries every week?"

"Itineraries?" Miley repeats, rolling her suitcase along. "What would Nick need those for?"

"So he knows what we're going to do each day. I've been doing research on all of our tour stops, and I think I've found some places that he'd want to visit."

"Lauren, you don't have to plan out field trips for him."

"But I don't want him to get bored," she replies as they get into the elevator. "There are a couple of cool museums we could check out. And when the weather's nice, we can take a walking tour."

"I never did that kind of thing with him."

"You spent a lot of time with him, though. I figured you'd have a good idea whether or not he'd like it."

Miley sighs. "To be honest, he probably won't. He likes being around Joe, so he'll want to tag along with me."

"I don't want him to."

She narrows her eyes. "Why not?"

Lauren shrugs. "Well, you two seem to be pretty close now. You've only known each other for a few months, and I...um...kind of want that with him, too."

"If you think you're going to become best friends with Nick Jonas, let me warn you. You have another thing coming. It took a while for him to even open up to me."

That's not true. She and Nick were flirting from the day they met. But Lauren doesn't need to know that.

"Yeah, he's definitely the quiet one. I kind of like that, though. It makes him more mysterious."

"Okay," Miley laughs, "you need to chill out a bit. You're getting ahead of yourself."

"Right. You're right." Lauren giggles. "Sorry, I'm just kind of overwhelmed. There's so much to do, and I have no idea how you managed to get through the last leg on your own."

"You'll be fine. If you have any questions, you can always ask me. I told you that."

"Thanks. Um...just one more question, though. It's okay to leave him alone, too, right? Like if he asks for some time by himself?"

Miley nods. "Where is he now?"

"He said he wanted to go to the ballroom to work on some music. I offered to go with him, but he declined. It's kind of weird. You'd think he'd want to unpack—"

"It's fine," she replies, cutting her off. "Give him space. When he needs you, he'll let you know."

"So I shouldn't go after him?"

"No. No, definitely not." Miley smiles. "I'm just gonna go to my room, okay? I want to get settled in and everything."

Lauren waves, but Miley only half returns it. She's more determined than ever to get to her room now. Especially since she knows what's waiting for her on the other side of the door.

Sure enough, Nick's sitting on the couch. He's got the remote in one hand, and the most adorable smile on his face. "Apparently, they don't air Yankees games in Sweden."

"Who would've thought?" she replies, setting her bags on the carpet. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to surprise you. I stole one of the keys out of your envelope. No one even noticed."

"Yes," Miley says as he gets up, "but I was told that you were in the ballroom."

"We both know that's code for your room."

"That we do."

She blinks. By the time her eyes open again, her back's to the wall and Nick's all up against her. "It's not fair," he murmurs. "You just got off a twelve hour flight, and you still look breathtaking."

"Technically, it was a ten hour flight," she says as he unwraps the scarf from around her neck. "I had a two hour layover in Frankfurt."

"I see. You wanted me to wait even longer to be with you."

"Yes, exactly." Miley shrugs her coat off her shoulders, letting it fall to the carpet. "That's just what I wanted."

"You're cruel."

"Hey, I'm the one waiting for you to kiss me, hotshot."

He finally does. His hands frame the familiar contours of her face, thumbs stroking her high cheekbones. And thank God that she's here. That he can kiss her and feel her. He shouldn't have been away from her this long.

As Nick's tongue parts her lips, Miley's fingers slip under his shirt. His skin is warm to the touch, and he kind of feels more...muscular than she can remember. She wonders if he spent part of his break in the gym. Lying about being in the beatlab all the time when he was really just trying to bulk himself up to impress her.

Exploring more, Miley hums high as the muscles in his back tense and roll. And, yes, that is different. She wants to see how different it is. Tear off his shirt and jeans and everything. But while the couch is conveniently located just a few steps away, it won't allow her the room to do all the things she wants.

"Bedroom," she breathes.

"Sofa," he counters.

She gasps, the need for him skyrocketing as his hips roll into hers. "No."

"Yes."

Nick swings her around. He lifts her legs up as they cross the room. But Miley reaches behind her, braces her hands against the armrest of the couch to stop him from laying her on it. "I said I want to go to the bedroom."

He pouts, presses his forehead to hers. "Why do you always get what you want?"

"Because I'm your girlfriend, and it should be your main priority to keep me satisfied." She fists his shirt and pulls him in, kissing him until she can feel him melt beneath her lips. "Bedroom."

His eyes stay closed as she releases him. "Okay."

Miley swings her legs back to the carpet. She slips out from Nick, who is still somewhat motionless. So she starts moving, kicks off her shoes as she goes. She knows Nick. She knows that wherever she goes, he'll never be far behind. That's why she's not surprised to hear his footsteps nearing.

Or feel his arms wrap around her waist.

She smiles as he comes up behind her, lips pressed to her neck. "I missed you."

"Missed you, too, N.J.. But we're here now. We have a whole month together."

"In Europe."

"Yeah, in Europe," she murmurs, spinning around to him, "We should probably go exploring."

"Probably."

"But not tonight."

"Mhm," he hums against her mouth. "Not tonight."

Miley looks up at him. "How about we order room service?" she offers. "It'll be like a date in the hotel room."

He raises an eyebrow. "I don't think I heard you right. Are you suggesting that we go on a date? Because I thought you didn't do those."

"I guess you made me change my mind." She takes his hand, pulls him towards the bedside table. "C'mon. What do you want me to order?"

"Champagne and strawberries."

Miley laughs. "Nicholas Jonas, it sounds like you're trying to seduce me."

"You're the one who led the way to the bedroom."

Point taken. She picks up the phone, dials room service, climbs up on the bed. He stands there. Watches. Eyes on hers the entire time.

As Miley places the order, she pats the space next to her. Not that she should even have had to. He's got an open invitation as far as she's concerned. But it's only when she's made it obvious that he's welcome that he comes closer.

Miley maneuvers him onto his back and climbs onto his lap. She's already putting her plan together as she leans over to kiss him. Hey, he was the one who said that he wanted her help. And, yes, maybe she should go slow with him. She will go slow with him. Just not tonight. Not when it's been a whole month since she's gotten any kind of action from him. From anyone.

She jolts her hips hard into his, making sure that he can feel it through his jeans and boxers or whatever he's wearing underneath. He pulls his mouth away from hers. Breathes in sharp.

"Miley."

"It's okay," she says, grabbing onto his shoulders for some extra leverage. "Just go with it."

It's not like he has any intentions to not go with it. His body sure as hell isn't going to make him stop. With the way she's moving on top of him, and the view—

Miley gasps in surprise as he pushes up against her. His hands move up from her hips and to her shirt. She stretches her arms without any hesitation, letting him strip it from her body.

Nick rolls them over. He's breathing hard as his lips press to her forehead, the tip of her nose, to her own lips. She tries to capture his mouth again, but his attention has shifted to her neck now, showering the skin with nips and kisses.

She stretches an arm behind her head, letting it fall back against the pillow. "These last four weeks wouldn't have been so torturous if I knew that I'd be getting this special treatment when we were reunited."

"I don't like being away from you. You should know that."

And she does. She thinks back to Dallas. How it was so hard to hold herself back, to hold him back. How that night could've turned out differently if she hadn't reminded him—

Her back arches as his lips dip between her breasts. She wonders suddenly if he can feel how fast her heart is going. When did she get so worked up anyway? He is trying to seduce her. She knew it.

His eyelashes flutter against her skin while he tends to her stomach. His palms touch along her inner thighs, and she absolutely needs him now. Her body's desperate and throbbing for him.

"Nick."

"Mhm. I'm here. I'm right here."

He drops his hold on her. Her legs wrap around his waist on their own volition, holding him tight as he leans up towards her. She groans softly as he kisses her, lips brushing in the sweetest of ways. And he's not close enough. Not even as she brings her arms around his neck, keeping them chest to chest.

Nick nuzzles into her. His heart's thumping so erratically, he can barely calm himself. Can barely get enough air into his lungs to say, "I love you."

He hears her breathe in sharp. Miley didn't mean to be that loud. It's just different. Hearing him say it while he's in her arms instead of a thousand miles away.

"You love me?"

"Yeah."

Her fingers thread through his hair. "Why?"

"Because I do." Nick shifts his weight to his elbows. "Why else would I say it?"

"I don't know." She catches his jaw as he leans in again, runs her thumb over his smooth lips. "Maybe you just really like me. Or maybe you're infatuated with me."

"Or maybe I love you." He pulls free, kisses her soundly on the mouth. "It's okay. I wasn't expecting you to say it back."

Miley frowns. "But how do you know you love me?"

Nick blinks. He takes a deep breath and then leans into the crook of her neck. "Can I tell you a secret?" he asks, voice muffled against her skin. "I mean, I don't know if it actually counts as a secret, but it's something that only one other person knows."

"Yes," she says, stroking his back. "You can tell me."

He inhales again. Exhales slow. "I'm not a... I mean, I've..."

And she gets it. He doesn't even have to say anything else.

"Oh."

She doesn't really know what to say, either.

Nick swallows. "It wasn't some spur of the moment thing. We were together for a long time. I thought we were in love with each other."

That's not what Miley wanted to hear. She didn't want some girl ruining that for him. Something that was supposed to be special.

"She wasn't in love with you?"

Nick finally looks up at her, eyes wide. "I wasn't in love with her," he murmurs. "Everything felt right. Everything that we were together felt right. Then I got a chance to tour. We were going to take the time to just be together, but I loved the music. So I got on a bus and never looked back."

"So that's why you don't talk anymore. Because you left her?"

"She wants nothing to do with me. I can't say that I blame her."

She nods, slips her hand beneath his shirt. "Was it...just one time?"

"No, it was...uh...a few times. Nothing, like, crazy, though."

Miley laughs. He leans in to kiss her. And this time, when she grasps the ring around his neck, it doesn't burn.

"It's different with you. That's how I know. My dad and the label—they tried to get me to stay in L.A., but I wanted to be here with you."

"Why did they want you to stay?"

"For the album." Nick leans back. He reaches into the back pocket of his jeans, unfolding a piece of paper and handing it to her. "I've been writing a lot, like I told you. It's crazy. I got the chorus of this one in my head while I was waiting for you show up."

He lowers his head to her ear, starts singing as she reads along. It's sweet and romantic and perfect. It's like everything he ever wanted to say to her but couldn't. So he put it all to music instead. And it's the best song. Out of all the ones he played for her, this one tops them all.

His voice fades to a low hum before quieting completely. She feels his fingers thread through her hair. His lips to her temple. "I wrote it for you," he murmurs. "Every word and chord and note. They're all for you."

"Yeah."

"Did you like it?"

She wants to tell him yes. Wants to tell him how beautiful it is. He'll go record it, then. One more song to add to the track list. One song closer to a completed record. Then he won't need her any longer.

"It's all right."

Nick sits up. "All right?"

"Mhm. It's pretty good."

"Pretty good?" he repeats. "Miley, I just—I worked really hard on this."

She knows.

Instead, Miley shrugs her shoulders. "Oh."

Nick pulls the paper from her hands. And then, he's ripping it in two. In fourths. In eighths. In hundreds of tiny pieces littering the blankets.

"What are you doing?" Miley gasps. "Nick, you can't—"

"It's not good enough."

She's still trying to gather the shreds of the song together as he gets up from the bed, grabs his shoes, starts for the door. Okay, this wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to destroy it. He's not supposed to be leaving.

She leaps to her feet. "Where are you going?"

"To work on something new."

"I just got here. You just got here. We were—"

"I need to do this now."

"Nick." Miley grabs onto his arm, stopping him before he escapes. "I didn't—I don't want you to go. Please."

His mind is already made up. "What if it's over, Miley? What if I can't write anymore? Do you expect me to just give up?"

"No."

"Then let me go."

Yeah, Miley, let him go. Let him have his music. Problem fixed.

Except it's an easy fix.

There's a sudden knock at the door. They both look up, Miley's fingers still digging into his skin. "One second," she shouts.

Another knock.

"I'll be right there."

Nick turns to her. "It's room service. They have our food."

"I know, but—"

The knocking gets louder, more urgent. Nick jerks his arm away from her. "Go get dressed. You can't answer the door like that."

"Right," she mutters. "I'll just go put something on."

She shuffles into the other room. She's got her shirt in her hands when she hears the door open. That's then followed by a loud male voice. Not Nick's.

"What are you doing here?"

There's Nick's voice.

Miley yanks on her tank top and then rushes over. Suddenly, she understands what all the commotion is over. It's Joe.

"Hey," he says, all smooth and nonchalant. "Come on. We're going out."

She glances over at Nick who now seems more pissed than before. "I can't. I need to stay here."

"You need to go out with me. I feel like getting something to eat."

"Go downstairs to one of the restaurants."

"I want to get out of the hotel."

"I don't want to."

"Well, you work for me, so you don't really have a choice."

"Joe," Nick growls, "she said no. Leave her alone."

His fingers link around her wrist, and she can feel this huge wave of relief wash over her. But yelling at Joe isn't going to help them either.

Miley sighs. "Can you please just let me have one night off?"

"Oh," he muses, "you want a night off. Okay, I get it. You don't feel like doing your job."

"That's not what I—"

"Do you know what happens to people who don't do their job, Miley? They get fired. And, wow, wouldn't it be a shame if that happened to you?"

"I'm not going to get fired for refusing to go out with you. I just got here. I'm tired. Most people would understand that."

"Most people wouldn't think that you're involved with my brother, either. I would really hate for that to get out."

"You're going to blackmail her?" Nick hisses. "You've known for over a month, and you're going to use it against her now?"

"I'll use it whenever I want. Unless, you'd rather come clean about everything."

"It's fine," Miley says. "I'll go." She leans down, picks up her jacket from where it's still laying on the ground. "It's just dinner."

"It's dinner with him."

She doesn't miss the way Joe smirks at his brother's comment. But instead of saying anything, she leans up and kisses Nick's cheek. "Wait a couple of minutes, and then go back to your room. Make sure there's no one in the hall to see you."

Nick doesn't get a word in. Miley's ushered out the door. Joe keeps up with her pace, stuffs his hands in his pockets. "So this will be fun."

She huffs. "I know you hate me, but I seriously screwed up before. You should've let me fix things with Nick."

"Jeez, you've been here for less than an hour, and you're already fighting with him?" He clicks his tongue. "I told you that it'd be complicated."

"You're making it more complicated."

"And I'm thoroughly enjoying it."

"Don't do this for me," she says as he presses the button for the elevator. "Do it for Nick. You know how much he cares about his music."

Joe frowns. "His music?"

"He's written all of these songs, and they're amazing. He played one for me tonight. I lied and told him that I hated it for stupid, selfish reasons. But it's so good. It deserves to be on the album."

"He has an album?"

"He's going to. Your dad even thinks that he could release it by the end of the year. And this song, Joe, it needs to be shared with other people. I think it's the best song he's ever written."

Which is exactly what she should have told Nick.

Joe chews at his bottom lip. "Really?"

"Yes, I swear. If you heard it, you'd love it, too. You really would."

She watches him think it over. And hopefully, she's convinced him. If not, she might just have to get on her knees and beg him. Not that she wants to. But it's for Nick.

"Tell you what," he says as the elevator doors open. "I'm starving, and I can't go out by myself. But if you go with me, I promise that you'll be back in your room in an hour."

"Okay." She grins. "Yes, thank you. Thank you."

Miley has to admit that she's completely surprised when Joe's true to his word. She was planning on being out all night, but now she has time. She can fix things with Nick.

It was her fault. She knows how important the music is to him. She knows how much stress he's under, trying to make everything perfect. She used that to her advantage in all the wrong ways.

She can make it better. She will. That's her plan once she gets to her room.

She's going to gather all of the shreds of paper from his song. Maybe she can find the corners first. Then, she'll put together the edges. And, eventually, she'll put together the whole sheet. She did read the words. She knows what order they go in. Kind of.

Miley beeps open her door. Yet again, Nick is on her couch. He's sleeping this time around, the soft blue glow from the T.V. reflecting off his face. The half-eaten bowl of strawberries sits on the coffee table. The champagne is untouched.

She crouches down in front of him. And, damn it, why is he alluring even when he's asleep? It's like he exudes some chemical that constantly makes her want him.

"Hey, N.J.," she murmurs, stroking his cheek. "Hey, it's time to get up."

His dark eyelashes beat together as he slowly comes to his senses. He makes a soft grunting sound. Looks up at her. "Hi," he says.

"Hi. What are you doing here?"

"Mmm...I was going to leave like you told me to," he starts, voice all full with sleep, "but then room service showed up. So I ate the food, and then I got tired. I wanted to take a nap."

"On the couch?"

"I was really full. I could barely move." Nick yawns. "Besides, I wanted to talk to you about before."

"I was going to call you when I got in."

"I wasn't sure if you were mad at me."

"I still would've called." Miley licks her lips. "I'm sorry for starting a fight. I should've explained myself better."

"It's my fault. I shouldn't have gotten angry with you because you didn't like the song."

"I did, though. I did like it."

"But you—"

She glances away, brushes back her hair. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Yeah. You kinda owe me one anyway."

Miley grins. "I just...I was surprised to hear how far you got with the album. I knew you wrote a lot of songs. I knew you were in meetings. It was weird having you in front of me and hearing you say it. It made it more real."

"So what's the problem with it being real?"

"I don't know."

Nick cups her chin in his palm, tips her eyes up to meet his. "You don't know?" he asks. "I'm sure there has to be a reason."

She shrugs.

"You don't have to tell me. It's all right." He threads his fingers through hers, presses his mouth to her forehead. "I love you."

Miley laughs. "C'mon. Let's get you to bed."

She pulls on his hands. Once she's got him on his feet, she turns off the T.V. and leads the way to her bedroom. It's only when she has the light on and sees the mess on the mattress that she remembers.

"The song," she says. "Nick, I'm going to fix it. I'm going to try to tape it back together, and I will. Even if it takes me all night."

"Wait, you're going to tape it together?"

"Yeah, I've got it all planned out."

"It's okay." And he can practically see her jaw unhinge and fall to the floor as he brushes all the pieces off the bed.

"What did you do that for?"

"Don't worry about the song," he says before kissing her. "I'm just glad that I still have you."

Miley hushes him. "You're overtired and talking nonsense."

"I'm not."

She rolls her eyes. Pressing her mouth to his, she reaches down to undo his jeans. She slips them off his hips. Nick kicks them the rest of the way off. "Stay here tonight, okay?" she whispers. "I'll be right back."

Miley hears him rustling with the blankets as she goes into the bathroom. She shimmies out of her clothes. Shakes out her hair. Stares at her reflection.

She knows she's screwed up. Though she wants to fight it, Nick's important to her. The music's important to him. She has to help him get it back. And she knows exactly how to do it.

He's dozing off again by the time she gets back to bed. Miley swings a leg over his hips, nips at her favorite spot on his neck. Just like that, he's awake.

His hands jump forward to steady her. But the surprise of her bare skin beneath his fingers causes him to let out an involuntary growl. "Miley."

"Don't go to sleep yet," she says, tugging at the elastic band of his boxer-briefs. "Stay up with me instead."

Hey, everyone! Sorry again for the lack of update. I realized that the story was deviating from my outline, so I had to do some quick work and restructure. But we're all good now. Keep your eyes peeled for updates soon. I finish up with finals this week which means I'll have plenty of free time to write & finish this story up! Thanks so much for reading :)