Didn't mean
Didn't mean to leave you stranded
Went away cause I didn't want to face the truth
Reaching out
Reach for me
Empty handed
You don't know if I care
You're trying to find the proof
Monday.
Shards of glass flew through the air and fell onto the wet glass, "GET OUT!" AJ screamed with all her might, "AJ…"
"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!" AJ's voice broke as she yelled, tears streaming down her face, so Aly obeyed – she left.
--
Lily shook her head slowly, "No … no …"
"Lily, please …" Joe's eyes were pleading, "I let you have your happy ending" he voice was so small, so quiet, "Please, just let me have a shot at mine"
--
"No!" Selena exclaimed, "Daddy, no!"
"I'm sorry Selena, but it's what's best for her" her father apologized as her stared at his falling daughter. Kevin wrapped his arms around Selena's small frame, catching her before she dell, just like he had promised; "But, you can't take her away from me" Selena protested, "I need more time with her … please."
--
"Ugh!" Nick groaned, "So, that's it?" he exclaimed, "We just give up?"
Miley stood in Nick's doorway, leaning against the doorframe with her arms folded across her chest, "Everyone's broken Nick, we can't possibly fix all of them…" she sighed, watching the boy pace back and forth in front of her. He needed to get out of that habit. Really, he did.
"But, we can try!" he tried to find a smile, nothing came. They both stayed serious. "Everything we try, we fail. All it would be is a band-aid for a bullet wound."
The room fell silent. Nick's eyelids closed slowly and scrunched up in pain. Miley sighed and walked over to him, sliding her hand into his, his eyes slowly opened. The two stood hand in hand, facing one another, alone in his room. "Their faces…", Nick whispered, "They all looked so torn."
It felt like someone was continuously poking Miley's heart with a pin, his face looked torn now. Miley let out a sigh, "All it took was for her to play with us a little, say one small thing and then another and then …" Miley paused, inhaled a deep breath and then smiled, "Let's go."
Nick furrowed his eyebrows, "Where? Are-aren't we going to try and fix this?" Nick stuttered. Miley simply smiled, "Of course we are, that's what we do" she then dragged him toward the open door, "Starting with you."
2 Days Earlier …
Bursts of flames it up the starry sky, looking down from a cloud you could see the group of teens sitting on perfectly carved logs around a bonfire, laughing until it hurt. "Joe, don't burn yourself!" Lily exclaimed from her seat next to Taylor.
"Chill Lil, he's fine sunshine" Taylor giggled.
Joe smiled embarrassingly at the two blonds, "It's cool fool" Joe continued, "No need to drool" he smirked. The two burst into laughter as he returned to his seat in between them, wrapping his arms around Lily. Lily let her head fall onto his shoulder. Taylor's smile faltered for a moment, but she quickly caught it; this is what she signed on for.
Demi watched Taylor cautiously; she noticed Taylor had been acting differently the past eight hours. She hadn't been as … Taylory. She knew why though, but she couldn't possibly say why … it would ruin things.
"Taylor, toss me a marshmallow!" Oliver called from his spot on a log across from her. The fire went strong in between them. "Sure thing, hun" she smiled sweetly while grabbing a marshmallow from the plastic bad lying in the sand beside her. AJ scoffed bitterly, "What?" Oliver whispered.
"Nothing" she looked away from him.
"AJ, what?" Oliver sighed. "Is she your third girlfriend?" Oliver's heart sped up. "Stop that AJ! There is nothing going on between Aly and I! What do I have to do to prove that to you!?" Oliver begged.
"Ollie!" Taylor called; he lifted his head to look at his friend, "Heads up!" she tossed the chewy treat and he caught it, it almost slipped from his hands, but he caught it. "Thanks" he waved to her. She just smiled and nodded her head in return.
Oliver returned his gaze to AJ, she bit her lip, "I'll find a way …" Oliver let out a sigh of relief, "That's all I'm asking …"
Demi averted her eyes from Taylor and moved them to Aly; she had overheard AJ and Oliver's quick conversation and wanted to investigate.
Aly had been in an even snappier mood than usual, reasons unknown to everyone. Well, AJ was starting to catch on it seemed. Demi knew why too, but again … she kept to herself. Aly plopped a marshmallow onto her stick, but the sugary treat refused to stick, instead it fell onto the heated, grainy sand. "Ugh" she groaned quietly. Quickly, Aly snatched the now sandy marshmallow up and tossed it over her shoulder.
For a moment she stared at the growing and shrinking fire in amazement. The colors changed from orange to yellow to red. Then the black smoke would wash away the palette and start fresh, with a new brilliant shade of orange and yellow and red. Her eyes drifted from the fire to the couple on the other side of it, the flames blocking her view finally faded and let her clearly see them. Spirals of smoke enclosed around them, setting their vibe as Oliver pushed away a stray piece of AJ's hair behind her ear. AJ blushed shyly and then looked away, careful not to get caught up in his charm; the charm that she would surely be pulled back in with if she wasn't cautious enough.
Demi's eyes narrowed into slits as the vicious smile widened. Quickly she snapped out of her episode, she couldn't do this. Hadn't she changed? Surely she had learned something over this trip. The drama, the lies, the hurt … none of it was worth it in the end.
Or was it?
The rising smile on her face said it all.
"Let's play a game" Demi announced over all the chatter. "A game?" Miley's eyes lit up as she squeezed Nick's hand. "A game" Demi nodded.
"Twister!" Taylor immediately jumped up, suggesting. Joe shook his head, laughing, "Taylor, we don't have the board." Taylor slowly sat back down with a small frown, "It was just a suggestion…"
Demi noticed the sparkle in Joe's eyes as he smiled at Taylor. The way he held Lily's hand like it was something he was supposed to do, not want. How their fingers weren't entwined and how he leaned forward slightly, as did Taylor while Lily stayed back, latching onto Joe's hand like it was the last source of food.
"How about Truth or Dare?" Demi finally suggested. Miley and Selena had been throwing suggestions left and right, but she had been too distracted to listen; too distracted from her thinking.
"Truth or Dare …" Lily considered. Demi fiddled with her fingers impatiently as she sucked on her bottom lip, waiting for the answer.
Miley noticed. She always noticed. She had been watching Demi throughout the bonfire. Not in a stalkerish way, no of course not; just … from time to time.
"Sounds fun" Lily smiled innocently. For a moment, a very, very quick moment, Demi felt bad for her. She was probably never going to be the same after this night. But, the sympathy for the girl quickly vanished when Kevin called first. "Alright, alright …" he narrowed his eyes playfully, looking around the circle, searching for his first victim. "Selena" he exclaimed, even though she sat right beside him. A burst of giggles erupted from the back of her throat, "Truth or dare?" Kevin smiled.
"Truth, baby, truth and nothing but it" she smiled proudly. Kevin was quick, "Do you love me?"
The group all murmured and complained together, the answer could be nothing but obvious.
Selena narrowed her lovely brown eyes, "The question is Mr. Jonas, do you love me?" she asked playfully.
"I asked first" Kevin shook his head defensively, "Well, ladies first" Selena argued. "Well you're not a-"
"Don't even think about saying what you're about to say Jonas" Selena laughed.
"How did you know I was even going to really say it? I could have said-"
"Next!" Demi cut both of them off; their annoying, couple bantering was not permitted here. "I'll-" Joe was about to start when Demi cut him off, "I'll go" she offered. Miley watched her, curious.
"Hmm…" Demi tapped her index finger upon her chin, as if thinking about who she would choose. However, Miley already knew – Demi's gaze had been drifting back to the girl repeatedly. "So hard, so hard" she shook her head.
Then with a grand smile, her gaze landed on Taylor, "Taylor" she smiled, "Truth … or dare?"
Now, when Taylor Allison Swift was given a choice between something easy and something hard, she felt the need to challenge herself. Each friend she made knew that. It was something they learned about her within the first week of their friendship. She never took the easy way out, never.
"Dare" Taylor stated. Usually she would laugh, smile, bounce around, anything … but, not right now … and she didn't know why. There was this glint in Demi's eyes that scared her.
"Dare?" Demi smiled, knowingly. Taylor paused for a moment, usually she was so sure of herself, never second guessing, so then why was she now? It wasn't any different than all the other times she had been given a choice, so instead over thinking it, she nodded her head.
The ten friends sat in silence as Demi stood in front of the fire, smiling, "I dare you to let Joe kiss you"
Silence. An eerie silence that cut through each nerve located in your body. "Um … Demi, I don't think…" Miley started. She knew Demi would take this to a different level, she just knew.
"It's fine" Joe cut her off, he gave Lily a reassuring smile as he lifted himself off the log and positioned himself in front of Taylor, quickly her kissed her cheek, leaving her stunned.
The group let out a sigh of relief in unison. Demi laughed softly, "No, no, no … a kiss."
"Demi, we're not doing that" Joe furrowed his eyebrows together, confused as to why she was being … bitter?
"What's the matter?" Demi arched her left eyebrow, "It's not like it's anything you haven't done before…"
Another silence. Honestly, these silences were getting on Miley's last nerve.
"Excuse me?" Taylor breathed out.
Lily sat frozen in her seat. It was funny, Joe didn't once look at Lily to see what she thought, and instead he stood beside Taylor, defending her and himself. "What are you talking about?" Joe's voice lowered, defensive now … almost dangerous. "Oh please" Demi laughed, rolling her eyes, "You've been making googly eyes at each other the whole entire day and besides … the pathway to Rico's, I saw."
"Demi, that's enough, you're-" Selena stepped in.
"You-you saw?" Taylor stuttered, her eyes glassy. "It's true?" Selena stepped back in surprise. Taylor bowed her head in shame, a small tear rolling down her red cheeks. Joe stood there speechless. "Of course it's true" Demi's eyebrows rose, "It's Joe and Taylor. Joe and Taylor. The couple that didn't stop being a couple…"
"You said you were going to the bathroom. You're gone twenty-five minutes. I don't say anything. You finally come back to tell me they were closed" Lily's voice was emotionless, dead, "You tell me the bathrooms were closed … but you don't think to tell me that you found my boyfriend cheating on me with some … some … backstabber!?" Lily's voice rose.
"Lily, I'm not a backstabber, I'd never intentionally hurt you! I just-" Taylor tried to explain.
"Shut up" Lily practically whispered, "Just shut up for once Taylor. All you do is talk, sing, dance, smile, laugh, and think the world is yours … well for once, could you just shut up and let some of us be happy!?"
Miley finally stood from her seat on the sidelines. She slowly walked over to the five; past Selena who was standing next to Demi who was watching in amusement, then toward Taylor and Joe who were standing side by side, looking as if they were in excruciating pain. Lily sat on her log, staring up at the two in complete amazement and pain. "I think that's enough for one night" Miley sighed, taking Lily's hand in hers and helping her stand.
"Oh no, there's more" Demi shook her head.
Miley whipped her head around to face Demi, she let go of Lily's hand and walked toward the grinning girl, "There is nothing, nothing more to say."
Demi just smirked, "But, then how would AJ find out that her sister was madly in love with her boyfriend?"
AJ inhaled a sharp breath. "What-how do you … I can't-"
Aly lifted her scared eyes to face her sister.
"I knew it!" AJ screamed. Not even a second to lose, she jumped up from her seat, "I knew it! All along! All the times I poured my heart out to you about him! How I was scared I was losing him! How he seemed distant sometimes! It was all because of you"
"Please AJ, please, please, please let me try and-"
"Try and what?" AJ snapped, "Try and let you explain yourself? Fine. Fine, I'll let you try and explain yourself … are you, or are you not in love with Oliver?"
Oliver sat there wide-eyed. Aly had been keeping this in? This whole time?
"I .. ye-yes, but I never tried.." Aly started.
"Never tried to steal him from me?" AJ's chest heaved as tears rolled down her cheeks, smudging her mascara and leaving trails. "I was never going to try!"
Miley looked around the circle. Lily stood next to her again, softly crying as Taylor sat on a log, resting her head in her hands, crying noticeably … her body shaking. Joe stared at the fire, his eyes emotionless. Selena's eyes darted back and forth watching Aly and AJ as Demi shook her head with delight. Nick was speaking softly on his phone. It sounded like his mom … yes, it was so silent she could hear Nick's mother on the telephone. Kevin had his eyebrows furrowed watching every little movement made, attempted, thought of ... he wasn't missing a second.
"Were you?" AJ breathed out.
"Mom, I need you" Nick whispered, "I need you to come to the beach and pick me, Joe, Kevin and Selena up." Nick lifted his head and connected his eyes with Miley's. She nodded her head, saying he was right … she wasn't going with them, she was going to stay with Lily tonight. She needed her the most.
"Why do I need you?" Nick continued to whisper into his phone, "There's been an … an accident" he squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the back of his hand against his eyebrow, "A terribly, horrific accident."
Gah. Oh Lord. What- I didn't know that - All these secrets - it's it's ... madness! Oh wait -- that's a different story. Oops.lovelovelove,
emilykearsexx