April 1, 2007
After Miley left New York, she played a few more dates in the states and then headed off to London for a week. She had a DVD signing for a special of Hannah Montana and her and the Cheetah Girls were playing a few shows in Europe. From there, she went to Disneyland Paris to help Mickey and the gang celebrate the 15th Anniversary with a concert and a meet and greet.
The boys had been busy as well. They had back to back tour dates of getting to the venue, playing their show, getting on the bus to sleep, driving to where ever they were playing next, and playing another show. It was hectic, but they loved it. On March 26th, they attended the Meet the Robinson's Premier in Hollywood, which was quite exciting.
Because of their hectic schedules, neither Miley nor the Jonas Brothers were able to attend the Kid's Choice Awards, but Miley and Nick each watched from their separate locations, on the phone, and commented on everyone's clothes and hair and who should have won what. They weren't even on the same continent and they acted like they were sitting side by side. Kevin and Joe were glad that Nick was happy, but it was just sickening at points.
This morning, Miley got on a plane to come back to the states, where she would pick up the last few dates of the tour. Because of the time difference, it was 9 in the morning when she got off the plane with her Mom and her tour-mates. (Her siblings didn't go.) She called Nick and he didn't answer. He had been doing that a lot; not answering the phone, but she just figured that he was busy and she left a voicemail and carried on about her business for the morning.
It was 3 in the afternoon when Miley woke up from her nap. Nick still hadn't called her. She was starting to wonder what he was up to and called him again. Once again, he didn't answer. She decided to call Kevin, who always answered his phone, to see if they were just busy or what, but he didn't answer either. Neither did Joe. What was going on?
Finally, around dinner time, Joe called her.
"Miley?" he asked timidly.
"Yes?" she asked, wondering why he sounded the way he did.
"Umm, there was an accident," he started to say and Miley could already feel the lump in her throat growing.
"What-wha-what kind of accident?" Miley asked with her hoarse voice.
"Well, we were doing a sound check, and Nick was playing," Joe began and then paused.
"And?" she asked, tears forming in her eyes.
"He was playing so hard that his huge arm muscles actually exploded. I'm sorry," he said solemnly before he started cracking up laughing. Miley didn't say a word. She couldn't believe that Joe would do something like that. She was tired from her flight, even after her nap, and in no mood for Joe's antics.
"Put Nick on the phone, now," Miley finally demanded and a few seconds later, Nick was on the line.
"Hey baby, April fools!" Nick laughed into the phone. Miley wasn't laughing.
"That wasn't funny, Nick," Miley informed him. "I thought something really happened to you."
"I'm sorry. It was Joe's idea. But come on, it's funny, right?" he said, still chuckling to himself.
"No, it's not. Nick. You didn't answer my calls at all today. Why?" she asked him.
"We were just busy with stuff. Driving," he told her.
"Nick. I haven't seen you in like two weeks! The least you could do is want to speak to me!" she said, raising her voice a little.
"Miles, calm down," he said, realizing she really was upset about this. "I'm sorry, okay. I didn't realize it'd be this big of a deal."
"It's just inconsiderate, Nick. How would you have felt if Brandi called you and told you what Joe told me?" she asked.
"I don't know. It's situational, I guess," Nick responded timidly. He knew he was in big trouble. "So how was your flight?"
"Fine. Just fine," she stated angrily.
"Miley! What do you want me to do? I said I was sorry!" he said, knowing she wasn't going to let it go.
"I don't know, Nick. I guess I just want you to care more," she said, sighing.
"Care more?" he asked her, raising his voice, but not yelling. "Care more? Miley, I don't think it's possible for anyone to care more about someone than I do for you! You've got to be kidding me!"
"I'm sure you think you care about me, and maybe you do, but you need to show it better," she told him.
"Oh my God, Miley!" he said loudly. Now she knew he was mad; he'd never say "God" like that unless he was really upset. "Show it? What do you want me to do? Get on a plane and fly to your show tomorrow night? Because I can't do that!"
"I don't expect you to. Just answer your phone when I call!" she yelled at him.
"Miley," he said, trying to calm down, "I was busy. And I'm talking to you right now. It's not like I wasn't thinking about you. I just can't be on the phone 24/7."
"I have to go," she finally said, unemotional in her tone.
"Miles, come on, don't do this," he somewhat begged with her.
"I have to go eat. I'll talk to you later," she said and didn't wait for a response before she hung up the phone.
She slid down on the couch on the bus and turned on the TV. Her mom walked out into the living room, and had heard everything. She put an arm around Miley and Miley leaned into her and started to cry.
"What's wrong with me?" Miley sobbed.
"Nothing, baby. You're just stressed out. Tomorrow will be better," Tish told her.
"I hope so," Miley responded softly.
--
"What was that about?" Joe asked as Nick got off the phone. Nick rarely raised his voice, and certainly not towards his girlfriend.
"This is all your fault, ya know," Nick said, pushing past his brother and into the hallway to his bunk. He didn't even look at Kevin who was sitting on the couch, watching the whole scene.
"What's my fault?" Joe asked. Nick spun around and faced Joe, an angry look on his face.
"I don't know what her deal is, but you started all of this. You told me it'd be funny," Nick said.
"It was funny," Joe responded and Nick gave him a death glare. "If looks could kill!" he said and laughed a little.
"You'd be six feet under," Nick told him and got into his bunk and closed the curtain. He looked over to the picture once again, like he did so many times a day, and wondered what was wrong with them? Was he not showing her how much he cared? Was he a bad boyfriend because he couldn't do things like fly to see her? What was going on?
In the living room, Kevin decided he needed to make a phone call. He stepped into the back of the bus and shut the door. He dialed her number, and prayed that she would pick up. She did.
"Hello?" she answered, her voice a wreck. She had obviously been crying.
"Hey, Miley," Kevin started.
"Look, if you are going to put Nick on the phone, I'm not talking to him right now," she flatly told him.
"No. He doesn't even know I'm calling you. I just wanted to let you know some things about him," Kevin said, waiting for Miley to respond.
"Okay, go," she finally said.
"Nick cares about you so much. I've never seen him so happy before. I've also never seen him so upset before over a girl. You do crazy things to him, but it's good. Nick doesn't like talking on the phone. He rarely will even answer when Joe or I call him. He is just really bad about all of it," Kevin explained to Miley.
"But he always used to answer or at least call me back," she told her boyfriend's older brother.
"I guess he didn't want you to think that he didn't want to talk to you. And it's not that he doesn't want to, he's just really bad about getting back to people. Nick has few flaws, but that's definitely one of them," Kevin told her.
"But I'm his girlfriend. He should want to talk to me," she said.
"He does, just not all the time. He's busy and sometimes he just needs some down time," he said. Miley nodded understandingly, even though Kevin couldn't see her.
"I guess," she said after a few moments. After a long pause, she started again. "Thanks for calling me, Kev."
"Sure thing. You guys just need to talk about all of this, that's all," he told her.
"I know. Tell him to call me tomorrow. And make him," Miley said, laughing a little at the end.
"I'll do my best," Kevin replied. They got off the phone shortly after and Kevin went back out to the living room. Nick wasn't asleep, the light in his bunk was still on. For a moment, Kevin thought about telling Nick to call Miley, but he knew they both needed time to cool off and think about everything.
--
April 3, 2007
Nick did call Miley the next day, without Kevin's asking him to, even. They both apologized and Nick told her he'd try to answer more and Miley told him that she'd try to be more understanding. Miley didn't tell Nick about her and Kevin's conversation the night before. There wasn't really a need to.
Miley's brother and sisters joined her again on tour right after she got back, and it was nice to have more people in the bus. It helped to keep her busy. They had stopped for lunch earlier and gotten gas, so Miley and Brandi filled up on magazines and stuff to do on the bus. That was a mistake.
"Look at this!" Miley yelled, pointing to an image on the page and practically throwing the magazine in Brandi's face.
"What?" Brandi asked, looking up from her Alternative Press. "Miley, it's just a magazine!" she said, finally focusing on the image her sister was pointing to. It was an image of Nick and another girl, someone not famous. They were walking down the sidewalk, along with Joe, probably somewhere in New York, it looked like. Nick and this girl were standing awfully close together. The caption read "Nick in Love? Who's the new girl?"
"I don't even know who that is!" Miley yelled.
"Then what's the big deal?" Brandi asked, not catching onto her sister's logic.
"It's someone he's hiding from me," Miley stated. Brandi giggled at her a little.
"Look, it's probably in New York, look at the buildings. Maybe it was a fan from the charity thing? Or maybe a friend from Jersey that he hadn't seen in awhile?" Brandi suggested.
"But why are they standing so close?" Miley whined.
"It's probably just the time the picture was taken, they were probably talking or something. Miles, quite freaking out!"
"I just, I don't want, and I guess, and he's just," she stuttered out. "I miss him."
"I know you do. And I'm sorry I can't do anything about it," Brandi told her, putting a hand on her leg.
After awhile, they arrived at their venue and Miley got on the internet to check her email. She couldn't help herself and typed in Nick's name to YouTube. When she first met him, there weren't many videos of him, but especially in the last few months, it seemed that everyone had gone Jonas crazy. "Hello Beautiful?" she asked herself when she saw a live recording of the song. She clicked on it and watched Nick sing her song to another girl. HER song! The nerve!
"Brandi!" Miley called.
"What's up?" Brandi asked and sat down.
"Look!" Miley said sadly and shoved the laptop at Brandi. The second she started the video, she already knew what she was going to see.
"Miles, come on. It's a great song. You didn't think that they weren't going to put it on their record? That means they have to play it at shows," Brandi pointed out. Miley sighed.
"But he's singing to her!" she shrieked. Brandi rolled her eyes and went back to her magazine. Miley had been acting strange about Nick for awhile. She didn't think that he was cheating on her, but she didn't like that he was spending time with other girls! She wasn't spending time with other guys. Other than her dancers, of course.
"Hello?" Miley answered the phone. Perfect timing.
"Hey, what's up?" Nick asked her.
"Oh, nothing," she said sarcastically. "Just on YouTube."
"Find anything interesting?" Nick asked her and chucked a little.
"Sure did," she said intensely. Nick didn't pick up on it.
"Oh yeah? What's that?" he asked.
"Oh, just a video of a certain boyfriend of mine singing to another girl," Miley said, the venom starting to drip from her fangs. Nick took in a breath and let it out.
"Miley. Don't start this now. You know that's part of my job," he started to say but she cut him off.
"I don't think that singing directly to one girl, singing my song, is in your job description," she threw at him.
"Miley, I write you songs all the time. They are going to be on the record. That's what I do. When you write about me, you want it to make it to the record, right?" he asked her.
"Yes, but I'm not going to sing to some boy!" she yelled.
"Seriously? How many guys come to your concerts?" Nick halfway laughed. Miley didn't.
"Whatever. I still wouldn't," she told him.
"Okay, fine. I'm sorry. I'll just quit my job and come on the road with you," he told her.
"Nick, stop it," she said.
"No, you stop. I don't know what's up with you lately, but it's really annoying."
"Oh, so now I'm annoying?"
"No, I said you were acting that way lately. Miley, what's wrong?"
"I don't know. I don't like being away from you for this long."
"I don't like it either, but we both knew getting into this that it was going to happen."
"It's just not fair. These other girls get to spend time with you, but I'm your girlfriend and I don't."
"Miley, come on, we'll have some time when I get home," he told her.
"But then you'll leave again. Nick, this isn't any way to have a relationship," she said.
"What are you saying?"
"I don't know."
"Do you think we should break up?" Nick asked her, his voice shaking a little.
"I don't know, Nick. I think we really need to think about all of this," Miley told him. She didn't want to break up, but this was really hard, having such a long distance relationship.
"You call me when you figure out what you want," he said. He tried not to be cold about it, but he was hurt.
"And you can let me know what you think," she said.
"I know what I think. I think this is ridiculous. I love you, Miley. And I know you love me. If we feel that way, we should be together," he said, his voice raising a little.
"But Nick, we can't be together! I'm all over the place all the time and so are you!" she pointed out. He knew she was right, but he still didn't want this to end.
"You call me when you're ready," he paused and took in a sharp breath, "I love you," he said softly and hung up the phone. Miley didn't get a chance to respond.
"That went well," Brandi said, still flipping through the pages of her magazine.
"Shut up!" Miley yelled at her and tried to focus on her inbox on her computer screen, but couldn't see a thing from the tears falling down her face. What a way to start off a concert.
--
"I just don't understand!" Nick said loudly as he paced the bus. Joe, Kevin and Garbo were all sitting on the couch, watching him.
"She's a girl. You'll never understand," Joe pointed out.
"And you didn't do anything wrong, Nick. You both knew going into this that you were going to have to be away from each other," Kevin told him. Nick nodded in agreement.
"And she probably doesn't want to break up, either. She's just upset and misses you," Garbo told him. He was a big softy at heart.
"Probably," Nick said and nodded again. He ran a hand through his curls and sighed loudly.
"Are we anywhere close to them, so you could surprise her?" Kevin suggested.
"Already thought about that. We're in Washington. She's in Georgia. I doubt it," Nick said, continuing to pace.
"You should send her flowers," Joe suggested.
"Right. 'Umm, yeah, could you send these to a bus that rarely stops? The license plate is…'. I don't think so Joe," Nick said a little annoyed. Not at Joe, but just in general.
"Okay, fine. Just trying to help," Joe said and held his hands up.
"It's fine. But what am I going to do?" Nick asked as he flung himself onto the floor. He lied on his back and looked up at the top of the bus.
"You've got to let her do what she wants to do, Nick," Garbo told him.
"What?" Nick asked, confused by what he meant.
"He's right. Miley's got to do this on her own. She's the one that has to decide. You need to let her know that you're on her side, and whatever she wants is what you want, because you just want her to be happy, and she's not happy right now," Kevin explained.
"I guess so. I just care about her so much. I don't want to just sit around and let her feel like crap," Nick said, sitting up.
"I know you don't, but Miley's strong. And she'll come back," Kevin told him.
"I hope so," Nick said as he lied back down and closed his eyes. The rumble of the bus made his whole body shake, but he didn't care.
--
April 6, 2007
Miley and Nick hadn't spoken since their fight three days earlier. There was an occasional text message, but nothing serious. Miley missed talking to him, but she really needed time to think about all of this. Miley needed to call the one person who would know just what to say.
"Hello?" a man answered on the other line.
"Daddy?" she asked quietly.
"Darlin', what's wrong?" he asked her, immediately knowing she was upset.
"I don't know what to do," Miley said, almost in tears just thinking about the situation.
"Miley, talk to me," Billy Ray said, even though he knew what was going on. Tish and him talked every night.
"I miss Nick a lot, Daddy, but it's so hard being away from him all the time. He'll only be home for a little bit before he goes back on tour for the summer, and I can't be away from him for that long. I'm getting jealous and I don't want to be. I love him, Daddy, but it's so hard," Miley spilled out.
"Honey, I know how hard it is being away from the ones you love," he told her. He was at home now, by himself, recording his new album, but he was on the road a lot when Miley and her younger siblings were growing up. He knew exactly how she felt.
"How did you handle it?" she asked him.
"Miles, it's a little different. I had a wife and kids waiting for me at home. Now I'm not saying that you don't love Nick, but you're only 15. You're not married, and you don't have to pretend to be. You are unhappy, and I hate it when you are unhappy, bud," he said.
"I know you do. And I think I know what I'm going to do now," she said, smiling a little to herself.
"Good. And Miley?" he asked.
"Yeah?" she asked back.
"I love you, Darlin'. And you'll be just fine, whatever you decide to do. You are a lot stronger than you think. You just need to choose to be that way. He'll understand either way."
"I love you, too, Daddy. And thanks."
"Anytime, baby girl, anytime," Billy Ray said and hung up the phone.
Miley knew that she needed to call Nick. And soon. She paced around the bus for awhile. They had stopped and her siblings were off the bus, doing who knows what. Miley looked out the window and saw a park where everyone was. She decided to get off the bus and get some fresh air.
She walked down the stairs of the bus and her lungs breathed in the sweet smell of cut grass and early morning dew. She walked around for awhile, pretty aimlessly. She waved to her family, but they didn't bother her; Tish and Brandi kept Noah away from her, because they knew she needed to be alone for awhile. However, she didn't have much time to figure out what she was going to say, because just then, he called her.
"Hello?" she answered, nervously. She wasn't ready for this.
"Hey," Nick timidly said. "How are you?"
"I'm okay, I guess," she said unconvincingly.
"I know I told you to call me, but Miley, this is ridiculous," he said bluntly.
"I know, and I'm sorry. I was actually just thinking about calling you," she told him honestly.
"And?" he asked in a demanding voice. He was upset about the whole situation and he didn't want to be mean to her, but he was tired of this.
"I think you already know the answer," Miley said slowly, almost regretting coming to this decision.
"I've known since you brought it up 3 days ago," Nick said, mostly to himself. He sighed, "so this is it, huh?"
"No, it's not 'it'," she told him. "We can still be friends. Best friends. You are my best friend and I don't want to lose that. I just think we are too busy for a relationship right now."
"Alright. Just friends," he said, remembering the song he wrote.
"Just friends," she repeated, unaware of the significance.
"Okay, well I guess I'll talk to you sometime," he said, hurt in his voice.
"Nick, don't be upset with me. I'm just doing what I think is best," she tried to explain to him.
"Miley, if you think that this is what's best then--" he started to say, but stopped himself. "No, you know what, this is what's best. If this is what you want, then, well, you've got it."
"I'm sorry," she apologized.
"There's no need. I'll talk to you later," he said coldly and hung up the phone. After a moment of realizing he was no longer on the line, she closed her phone as well. A single tear rolled down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away. She had already cried so much over this boy, even just today, and she wanted to have some fun. She shoved her phone into her pocket and ran over to her family. Somehow, Tish knew what had happened and hugged her daughter.
"You alright?" she asked, just loud enough so Miley heard her.
"Yeah. I think I am," Miley replied and took off and tackled Braison to the ground and laughed. She hadn't laughed like that in awhile and Tish was glad to have her Smiley back. Miley was glad to be back, as well.
--
"You okay?" Kevin asked Nick as he got off the phone with Miley.
"I knew what she was going to say," Nick replied, staring at the floor.
"Of course you did. She's your best friend. Don't let this change that," Kevin told his younger brother.
"How can it not? Kev, I love her. Normally, you aren't in love with your best friend," Nick told him, still not looking up.
"But it happens. I'm not saying forget about all the time you guys had together, but don't bring it up with her anymore. It'll be hard, for sure, but you can do it," Kevin said.
"I can, I just don't want to. It wasn't supposed to be this way," Nick said, looking up at Kevin, his face red from trying to hold back the tears.
"Nothing is ever what it seems, Nicky," Kevin said to Nick and sat down next to him, putting an arm around his shoulder.
"It sure isn't," Nick said softly and rested his head on Kevin as he let a few tears fall. Kevin gave him a strong side hug and just stayed with him. "I need to go lay down," Nick finally said, standing up.
"Get some sleep. We've got a big show tonight," Kevin told him.
"That's all we ever have are big shows, Kev," Nick said half jokingly. He smiled slightly and Kevin smiled back at him. Kevin knew that Nick was going to be fine. He just needed some time to analyze all of it. But he was going to be fine.
--
Please Read!!
Hey guys! Sorry it's been another week since I updated…I'm really trying to crank them out, but it's getting tough with school and stuff (which sucks by the way). I just want to thank all of you so much for reading and keeping up with me…I know it's got to be hard sometimes.
I'm sorry I had to have them break up, but it'll work out in the end, you guys should know this…it is a Niley, after all. It's only temporary, but very needed. You'll see why in the next few chapters. I'll be including a lot more JB stuff in the next chapter…it will be mostly Nick and the boys, so look forward to that! But seriously, don't kill me for breaking them up…they'll be together soon…but not without a little drama and some songwriting.
Question for this chapter: Are you going to be watching the Country Music Awards thing on CMT tonight? And would you still watch it if Miley and Billy Ray weren't hosting? (I'm not making fun of anyone…I'd watch it even if she wasn't, but I'm super pumped that she is!)
Thanks as always guys! And I love reviews! Let me know what your favorite parts were, please! It helps me to know what my readers like and don't like…and what I should put in upcoming chapters! Love you!