I glance at the clock on my bedside table and I see that I have about ten minutes left until Nick comes to pick me up for our date. One more check in the mirror tells me that I'm ready to go.
The strapless black dress that ends a few inches above the knee is the perfect combination of dressy and casual and considering I don't know where he's taking me, I should be safe no matter where we go.
My make up is simple around the eyes with dramatic red lipstick that matches my red leather heels and tiny red clutch. My hair is curly and hanging down my back, just the way Nick likes it. Perfect.
I walk down the hall to the kitchen, I shouldn't have started getting ready so early, but I was really excited.
And kind of nervous.
Which is ridiculous because it's not like we haven't been on tons of dates before, but it has been a while and I just have a really good feeling deep down which makes me nervous.
After a seemingly excruciating amount of time, the doorbell rings and I buzz Nick up to the apartment. One last look in the mirror shows that no hairs are out of place and my lipstick (which is, of course, kiss-proof) is perfect.
Nick knocks on the door and I slowly count to ten before going to it. No need to seem too eager. Oh God, who am I kidding? I'm practically running to the door once those 10 seconds are over.
"Hey," I casually say with a huge smile.
"Hello, Beautiful," he replies, giving me a hug and a quick kiss on the cheek. My tummy turns with happiness. "These are for you."
He hands me a beautiful bouquet of red roses. I smell them and smile.
"Mm, they smell beautiful, thank you," I gesture for him to come in, "let me go put them in water."
I stole a glace at Nick from the safety of the kitchen. He's in black dress pants, a black button down shirt, with a red tie for some color. Trust us to match. I shook my head to myself with a smile.
I got out the vase that hadn't been used since the last time Nick brought me flowers. I fill it with water and arrange the flowers before putting them in the center of the counter. Then I walk out again.
"We would match," he smiles, opening his arms for another hug, this time he pecks me lightly on the lips.
"I was just thinking that," I tell him with a chuckle. He intertwines our fingers.
"You ready to go?"
"Yeah."
The silence in the elevator is awkward as we stand side by side. It seriously feels like a first date. I mean, we were having sex this morning, why is this so awkward? Shouldn't we be more comfortable around each other? As if reading my mind, Nick speaks up.
"What are we like this?" he asks, dropping my hand to face me, laying his hands gently on my waist.
"I don't know," I laugh, putting my arms around his neck and letting myself melt into him. That's better. Much better. We get to the ground floor and we head for Nick's car.
"Where are we going?" I ask him as he puts the car into drive.
"It's a surprise," a smile dances on his lips.
"Ugh, I hate when you do that," I say pouting and crossing my arms.
"What, are you like five?" he asks laughing and looking at my posture.
"Uh, no... that would make you a huge pedophile."
"Gee, thanks," he says sarcastically, rolling his eyes at me. I uncross my arms and sit up in the seat.
"How much longer?"
"Not long," he says, reading one of the street signs and making a left.
He starts slowing down and all of the sudden I realize where he is.
"No!" I tell him, turning to him with a huge, incredulous smile.
"Yes."
"No way!" I tell him again and he's smiling, happy with my reaction.
We're about to pull up to the newest, most exclusive restaurant in LA at the moment, it is literally impossible to get into. Unless of course, you're Nick Jonas and people are practically begging you to go for the publicity.
"Nick you shouldn't have."
"Kevin told me you were dying to go," he explains, "So don't give me any of that. You deserve it, Miley. Your album is basically done... we just got back together... let's celebrate, okay?"
"Okay," I agree and I can tell he's surprised I didn't put up a fight, but he's also pleased.
We get closer and closer and I can already see the flashing lights from the paparazzi.
"Oh, my God... look at all the paparazzi!" I say worriedly, looking at Nick to judge his reaction. I know he hates being followed and having his picture taken.
"Is that a problem?" he asks me, looking at my face, "Do you want me to go around the back way?"
"Don't you?" I ask confused. Is it possible that he really doesn't care?
"If you want me to, I will," Nick says with a shrug of his shoulders.
"You want people to know that we're dating?" I ask, just to be sure. I can't believe that he really wants to do this. He's probably just doing it to make me happy.
"Why wouldn't I want people to know that we're dating?" he says seriously, "You're the most amazing girl ever. Why shouldn't I let everyone know that you're mine?"
I realize at that moment that he is serious. Even though I was scared before of what people would say, seeing Nick like this inspires me. Seriously, who freaking cares? We have each other and that's all we need. All those fan girls can back off because either way they can't have him. And that might sound bad, but it's true.
"Let's do it," I smile at him and grab his hand impulsively. He squeezes it gently.
"You sure?"
"Yeah," I say, almost excitedly. It's always an adrenaline rush going through the paparazzi. We pull up to the restaurant and the valet person opens my door for me and helps me out.
"Oh, my God, it's Nick Jonas!" one of the paparazzi yells and a multitude of flashes start going off in my face. "Who's the girl? Who's the girl?" more people yell, "Isn't that the same girl from his album release? Oh, my God, get the shot! Get the shot!"
For a moment, I'm stunned and blinded. I forgot how relentless they can be and all I can see are white spots. Then, a warm hand clasps around mine, tugging my arm gently.
"C'mon, just a few feet and we're inside," Nick whispers into my ear. I nod and look confidently at the paparazzi, forcing a smile. Nick smiles too, and I think these might be the first set of paparazzi photos in which he's actually smiling.
We're almost at the door and one of the staff opens it for us. But before we go inside, a reporter throws one last question.
"Nick, is that your girlfriend?"
Suddenly, Nick stops and turns to look at me. I can read the question in his eyes and they're sparkling with so much love and devotion, how could I say no to him? I nod slightly.
"Yes," he says to the reporter before dragging me into the restaurant. The second we're inside, the noise from outside fades and is replaced with a live jazz band up on a small stage in the corner of the room. The room is dark with silver candles on every table. The table cloths are creme with navy blue napkins and pretty blue plates.
"Two for Jonas," Nick tells the woman at the podium. If she recognizes Nick's name, she doesn't show it. Soon a waiter in black pants, white shirt, and tuxedo vest comes and takes us to our table.
We're in a cozy booth in the back, far away from most of the other guests, but still close enough to enjoy the live music.
"Your server will be here right away, Mr. Jonas," the waiter says before handing us our menus which are so thick and heavy I need two hands to hold it.
"I can't believe you did that," I tell Nick with a smile on my face.
"Me neither," he admits, "I've never done anything like that... But I wanted to so badly. I want everyone to know that you're mine," he reached across the table to grab my hand. We smiled at each other, before continuing to look at the menu. Everything looks so good. My brow furrows as I read the prices though. I know I said I wanted to go here, but I didn't think it would actually happen.
"Get whatever you want," Nick says as if reading my mind, "Don't read the prices. This is my gift to you."
I look up and smile at him before resuming my concentration on the menu. I glance up again for a second and see Nick looking at me over his menu. I blush and quickly look down. A few seconds later I look up and see him looking at me again.
"What?" I ask, laying down my menu in front of me.
"I can't do this anymore," he says seriously.
"What?" I ask incredulously. What in the world is he talking about?
He gets up from the table... what is he doing? Is he going to leave me? What the hell?
But then he moves to my side of the table and slides in next to me, wrapping an arm around me and pulling me close to him.
"Much better," he smiles and I let out a small sigh of relief. I really had no idea what he was doing for a second there, "I didn't like being all the way across the table from you."
I nestle my head onto his shoulder while his hand rubs up and down my bare arm.
"You're perfect," I tell him looking up and him and smiling. His lips cover my own suddenly and both of us are smiling into the kiss. Just as it's about to get deeper, a polite cough interrupts us.
"Sorry," our male waiter says apologetically, "May I start you off with something to drink?"
Nick blushes softly and I giggle.
"Can we get a bottle of your finest champagne?" Nick asks, looking at me for confirmation. Geez, could this boy get any more amazing? I nod my head and Nick looks to the waiter.
"Of course, Mr. Jonas," he says before giving a small bow and walking away.
"What do you want?" Nick places a small kiss on my temple.
"Mmm... this pasta dish looks good," I point to it on the menu and he reads it.
"Yeah, it does."
"How about you?"
"What do you think?" he asks with a smirk.
"New York strip?" I guess with a roll of my eyes.
"You're so smart."
"No," I shake my head, "I just know you."
The waiter comes back with the champagne and two glasses, pouring us each a generous amount.
"To us," Nick says holding up his glass for a toast. I clink mine against him and giggle, taking a gulp of the bubbly golden liquid. Ah, nothing like the good stuff. It's delicious.
The waiter comes back and takes our dinner order and once he's gone, I snuggle up to Nick again, his hand has come to rest on my waist and my hand is on his knee, our legs touching.
"This is perfect," Nick says, and I murmur in contentment. Some people in the restaurant are giving us dirty looks, but we don't care all that matters is the two of us.
I start tracing patterns on Nick's knee before realizing what I'm doing. I'm drawing ring shapes and diamonds all over his leg. I look up at him, but he doesn't seem to notice. Even though he doesn't, I have and now things just feel awkward.
Are we supposed to talk about it? Or am I supposed to pretend it never happened and just wait around? Maybe he doesn't even want to marry me anymore. But we just got back together, so of course that's not on his mind yet.
I straighten and Nick looks at me confused as to why I've pulled away from him. I don't want this to be the elephant in the room between us. I want us to be open and honest even about rough subjects.
"I know..." I blurt out suddenly.
"What?" he asks as if he must have heard wrong.
"I know about the ring," I sigh.
Now Nick sits up straighter too, "What? Who told you? Kevin? My mom?"
"It doesn't matter, Nick. The important thing is that I know."
"Listen," Nick connects our hands, "Right now we're just starting out again so obviously getting engaged would be seriously rushing it. I know we're both acting like the past month or so didn't happen, but it did."
I nod in agreement and Nick squeezes my hand.
"But, yeah, I can still see us together in the future. I can still picture myself with you for forever. When the time's right, I'll bring out the ring and you will be mine forever and always."
Shivers run down my spine at Nick's last possessive statement. He wants me to be his.
"But for now, let's just enjoy our time together okay?" he finishes, looking at me expectantly.
I cuddle back up to him, "Yeah... I like that idea." I agree. We go back to our intertwined state we were in before, the one where it's hard to tell where the two of us separate because we're like one being, living in love, "And for the record, I can see us together forever too."
A hour and way more than half of a bottle of champagne later, Nick and I are getting ready to leave. Somehow, the manager has managed to get the paparazzi away from the restaurant which is good considering I'm a little more than tipsy and probably not looking my best.
Nick has managed to control himself, he stopped drinking once our dinner came so he's well enough to drive. I'm in that state between tipsy and drunk, able to walk, but not in a straight line. Nick's hand is around my waist steadying me as we get into the car.
"Tonight was so fun," I say, still in control of my speech, "Thank you so much, Nick."
"It's not a problem, anything for my favorite girl," he says with a smile. He reaches over to grab my hand as he drives back to my house. All too soon, he's pulling up in front of my apartment.
We quietly walk to the elevator, it's still early, but there's no need to be loud. We get to my apartment door and that awkward first date vibe sets in again. We're both just standing there, and I'm fighting the urge to say 'so...' because that would only make it awkwarder.
"Hey, you wanna stay?" I whisper, sounding more seductive than I mean to. It's just that the room is so quiet it feels weird to talk loud. I clear my throat, "We could, um, watch a movie or something," I say in a slightly louder voice.
The smile he gives me is enough of a reward, but when he nods his head, I feel like I've won the lottery. I clasp his hand and lead him into my room.
"I'm just gonna change, okay?"
I walk into my closet and kick of my heels and slide of my dress. I settle on a pair of nice-ish sweats and a fitted white tank top.
When I walk out, Nick's on the bed, his dress shirt, tie, shoes, and belt off. He looks so cute with his head sinking back into my pillows.
"What movie do you want to watch?" I get up and go to the little cabinet under my TV, "I've got all the girly classics, 10 Things I Hate About You, The Notebook, Steel Magnolias..."
"Let's watch 10 Things," Nick says, surprising me. It's hard to believe that a boy would want to watch that movie. I look at him skeptically. "Well... the sooner you put a movie in, the sooner you'll be back here next to me," Nick smirks.
I roll my eyes at him, but put the movie in regardless and start it. I go back onto my bed and rest my head on Nick's shoulder and his arm wraps around me. I let one of my hands rest lightly on his chest.
I love moments like this where it's just Nick and I cuddling, I always feel safe in his arms and his body is just so comfy which is weird considering how toned he is, but I don't question it.
I look up at Nick to make sure he's comfortable too and I see him looking down at me. He reaches his face down and connects our lips. I smile and kiss him back slowly and softly. After a while his tongue brushes against my lips and I part them slightly. The hand that was rested on his chest is now scratching the back of his neck and he moans slightly into the kiss.
"I thought we were going to watch a movie," I pull away breathlessly.
"We are," he says and we both look at the screen just in time to see it starting. We settled back down on the bed together. If Nick's disappointed, he doesn't show it and I'm grateful for that.
"I love you," I tell him just to make sure he knows that I'm not mad, I'm just not in the mood to, you know...
"I love you too," he pulls me closer to him, if that's even possible and we settle in to watch the movie.
Either I've seen this movie too many times or I'm more tired that I thought, but the next thing I remember is the TV turned off and Nick trying to remove himself from me without waking me up. Obviously that one was a fail.
"Where are you going?" I ask groggily. With the TV off, it's significantly darker in my room and its hard to make out distinct shapes.
"Shh... Go back to sleep, Mi. I'm going home now..."
"No, stay," I argue, reaching out in the darkness as if I can pull him back to me. I hear him sigh and then I hear the sound of his pants hitting the ground so that he's left in his boxers and undershirt. Then I feel the covers being pulled out from under me and the placed on top of me again. Finally, I feel Nick's body slide into bed next to me and his loving arms wrap around my waist.
"I love you," he whispers and kisses my forehead. I'm too tired to respond, but I press my face into his chest, taking in his scent and I know that he knows what I'm thinking. That I love him too.