PREVIOUSLY

"Sometimes, when I close my eyes, it's like she's not gone."

"She's not. Lilly never will be. She'll always be standing here with us, even if we can't see her."

"Thank you," Miley whispered into her brother's chest.

Miley closed her eyes for a second, and felt a weight lift off her heart.

CHAPTER 36: She's That For You

One year later

"I can't believe it was just 12 months ago that we were searching all over a foreign country for you," commented Demi, eyeing herself critically in Miley's mirror.

"So much can change in such a short time," Miley replied from her position on her bed.

Demi turned slowly, correctly expecting the forlorn look Miley had on her face. She shook her head and sighed, smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles in her dress.

"It's ridiculous that even after all this time though, I'm still standing here, like I've done time and time before, trying to convince you to come somewhere you should already be going."

Miley scowled at her best friend, rising to her feet to fix the straps on Demi's backless gown. The soft black fabric felt amazing to touch, and Miley nimbly adjusted the dress so it now hung perfectly on Demi's petite frame. The full skirt reached the floor, and the material draped elegantly across her chest. Demi gave a cheeky twirl, her grin matching.

"You're a knockout," smiled Miley, biting her bottom lip and chewing on it thoughtfully.

"I know for a fact there is a certain red dress hanging in your closet, dry cleaned and ready to wear," Demi raised her eyebrows to make it clear what she was suggesting.

"I bought that a while ago, Demi. You know things are different now."

Miley couldn't help but glance at the where the garment bag would be hanging, allowing herself the briefest moment to imagine what she would look like wearing it tonight.

"Kevin wouldn't have invited you if it wasn't okay," Demi tried arguing.

"I'm so happy for Kevin and Danielle. You know I am. They know I am. I want to be there to support them, but I just can't do it."

"Because you're scared," blurted out Demi, finally saying out loud the sentence that she'd been biting her tongue not to say since she found out Miley wasn't going.

"I'm not scared," Miley said too quickly, too haughtily.

"You're scared you're going to see him. And realise that you still love him."

Miley cast her eyes down and busied herself with packing things into Demi's clutch. She tried to hide the beat her heart skipped when Demi hit too close to the mark. She thought she'd been doing well, convincing everyone else that she was over him and that it was slowly working on herself too. Him, she thought. I can't even think his name. It had been at least 3 months since anyone had dared speak his name aloud around her.

"Sometimes things have to fall apart to make way for something better..."

"You did not just steal a Ted Moseby line. Least you could have done was whip out a Barney one liner," Demi tried to joke, sensing the tension between them now.

Miley just shrugged, handing the small bag with delicate beading over to Demi's waiting grip.

"You're making a mistake."

"It's just a wedding," Miley tried to brush off.

"I'm not talking about 'just the wedding'."

Demi was looking pointedly at the brunette. Oliver had tried. Joe had tried. Jackson had tried. Riley had tried. God only knows how many times Kevin had tried. None of them had managed to get Miley to come to the wedding. Now all except the groom were waiting downstairs for Demi to finish getting ready, all resigned to their lack of success with Miley's infamous stubbornness.

As she reached for the door handle, twisting it slowly and pulling it open, Demi cast a glance over her shoulder.

"I know this is kind of becoming your thing. Flipping a switch and realise what you should be doing at the last minute – and I hope you do it this time too. Coz Miley, you're my best friend. But you're being selfish. I get that you have stuff going on and that tonight would be hard for you. But what make you, you... is that you give a shit about everyone else before you even think of yourself. And the Miley I know, wouldn't want to let Kevin down tonight."

With that, Demi all but slammed the door shut behind her.

"Did you just slam a door?" Joe asked as his girlfriend descended the stair case. "Holy shit, you look hot. How did I get so lucky?"

"Thank you," Demi replied shyly, accepting Joe's compliment with her usual blushing, before giving him a gentle kiss on the lips. "And yeah, I did. I tried to take the dramatic approach with Miley. I lectured her, then I slammed the door. I feel terrible, I went pretty hard on her. But hopefully some tough love snaps her out of it."

"She still being a pain in the arse?" questioned Braison, strolling in the front door. "By the way, you stole my car park Joe."

"Sorry man," Joe grinned sheepishly. "Thought you wouldn't mind my own version of valet parking."

Braison shook his head laughing, peering out the window at Joe's car pulled up the closest to the door. He turned back and took in the group in front of him. Oliver, Jackson, Riley and Joe were all in suits, and Demi was in a formal dress, and they all looked eager to leave.

"I seriously thought by getting ready here, she'd just come," stated Oliver, tugging at his tie.

"Really?" scoffed Braison, raising one eyebrow. "Have you met Miley?"

Oliver just shrugged, sighing deeply.

"You guys should get going," Braison suggested.

Nodding in defeat, the five of them headed for Joe's car.

"Miley?" Braison called, entering her room without waiting for her to answer.

He laughed as he saw his sister scramble to hide her guitar.

"Give it up, loser," he told her, taking a seat next to her.

"What do you want?" Miley asked gruffly, giving him a dirty look.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" Miley looked at him quizzically.

"Acting like it's not killing you that you're not going to the wedding."

Miley picked up her pillow and hugged it closer to her chest, tossing her head back and shaking the strands of hair from her eyes.

"It would kill me more to be there," she said finally, playing with a loose thread on the pillow.

"Do you want to know what I think?"

"No," scowled Miley, narrowing her eyes. "But I bet that's not going to stop you from telling me anyway."

"I think," Braison continued, ignoring Miley just as she'd expected. "That you're being a jerk."

"How am I being a-"

"I'm not done," Braison interrupted. "And, that there isn't any balloons in here so this is an epic fail of a party."

"What party?" Miley screwed her face up in confusion, momentarily forgetting to defend herself.

"This pity party. You are obviously throwing yourself one. Coz no one else seems to want to be invited. You're wallowing in self pity, perhaps a touch of self loathing, and it doesn't suit you."

"Now who's being a jerk, you insensitive pri-"

"Just shut up and listen, Miley. I've had enough. You've been acting like you're okay for the last 3 months and I don't think you've noticed, but you're fooling no one except maybe yourself. I get it, Miles. Your heart got broken. Try and deny it all you want, but the fact you're still hurting means you're not over him. So you either need to go tonight and get some closure, and let yourself move on. Or go tonight, and tell him the truth."

Miley steeled herself, blinking back tears that she'd been holding back for months. She'd only cried once, when he'd kissed her for the final time. They had driven to the airport in silence, both knowing that as soon as they got there, that it was over, that it was done. She told everyone that she'd come home to sit her exams, and that seemed to placate them. But her family knew at once that there was more to it, so they weren't surprised to hear from Oliver the real reason she came home. About three weeks ago, Demi had flown home too, and a few days ago, had shown up unannounced on Miley's doorstep. Miley knew Kevin was getting married today, she'd got the invite when they were all still on tour. She'd met Danielle countless times, and had been bursting with excitement for the couple when they announced their engagement. Danielle was originally from Melbourne too, which was why the wedding wasn't taking place in Queensland. Demi and Miley had their dresses made in Paris when Connie had taken them on a surprise trip while the boys were in Tahiti, a special treat for Demi's birthday. But then a couple of months later, everything had changed.

At first it started as small arguments over nothing. They were spending less and less time with each other, caught up in their own lives and having trouble finding room for the other in it. Eventually the cracks deepened, made more obvious by how easily Demi and Joe seemed to make their relationship work. Finally, the night came when they both decided they couldn't do it anymore.

"I don't want to make you miserable anymore," Miley had whispered, causing her physical pain to even form the words.

"It's just not working," he'd agreed, his voice wavering. "And I don't know how to fix it."

"Maybe it's just not meant to be," Miley heard herself lie. "It it was, it wouldn't be this hard."

He'd rubbed the back of his neck as he'd done a thousand times before, and Miley thought to herself how much she'd miss that.

"I'll take you to the airport in the morning," he'd offered, rejecting her protests that she'd already organised a car.

Demi had taken the news worse. She'd cried, sobbing into Miley's shoulder, begging her to stay.

"You guys can work it out, I know you can!" Demi sniffled. "Please, don't go."

Miley had gently pried her friend's hands from her own, whispering that it was too late, and she couldn't stay.

Joe had barely said two words, his eyes betraying all he didn't dare say. He knew they had been having problems, but he didn't ever even entertain the thought that they wouldn't be together forever. He'd told Miley to take care, and that he'd speak to her soon. It was all he could do, he was too shocked to even try and stop her.

Standing at the boarding gate, she struggled not to fall to knees and beg him to ask her not to go. But still, he remained silent and distant until the final call echoed around them.

"I don't know what I'm going to do without you," he whispered, before pulling her close and covering Miley's mouth with his own.

Just as quickly, he released her and practically fled; walking away quickly and he didn't look back once.

The memories played like repeat in her mind as she sat in front of Braison, who was patiently waiting for a response from her.

"I'm so nervous," breathed Kevin, his hands shaking uncontrollably. "I think I'm going to pass out."

Nick chuckled, placing a firm hand on Kevin's shoulder.

"Bro, you're marrying the love of your life. In an hour, the girl of your dreams is going to stand before everyone you give a shit about, and for some insane reason, tell you that she's going to stick around forever."

"Comforting words," Kevin smirked, not willing to openly appreciate Nick's attempt to lighten the situation. "Judging by that, your best man's speech should be a real treat."

"You have no idea," agreed Nick, fiddling with his cuff links.

Nick's phoned alerted him to a new message that he'd received, and he picked it up to view it.

She's not coming. Just in case you want to know. – Joe

"Don't know why he thinks I care," spat Nick, as Kevin snatched it from his grip.

Reading it quickly, Kevin's face fell in disappointment.

"Well, I care, even if you are going to continue pretending you don't," Kevin said with a harsh tone. "I asked you to talk to her. You know if it came from you, that she would have said yes."

"I haven't spoken to her since Baja," Nick said quietly. "I said I needed some distance, and she put thousands of miles between us. I think she made it pretty clear that it was over, for good. I owe it to her to let her be."

"Please," scoffed Kevin, placing the phone down on a side table and taking a seat on a chair. "You and I both know that the cutting of all ties with her was for your own benefit. Somewhere along the line, you got it in your ugly head that you thought it would be easier if you just acted like she never existed. Otherwise, you would ask me how she is every now and then. You wouldn't leave the room when Joe mentions her name. You wouldn't avoid Demi. You'd speak to Oliver longer than 2 minutes on the phone. You've tried to erase her from your life because you couldn't face the fact that you never wanted to let her go."

"Do you think that maybe I did that because she broke my heart?" Nick shouted. "The minute she left, I wanted to make her come back. But that's not how it works, Kevin. Maybe you got your happily ever after, but it doesn't always happen like that for everyone! So yeah, maybe I do it because it's easier for me. I want to move on, Kevin. And it's hard when everyone around me makes sure that everywhere I go, everything I do, she's still there somehow! I can't go anywhere without a reminder of her and it kills me!"

Nick's outburst took Kevin by surprise. It was the most he'd ever divulged about his break up with Miley. Kevin hadn't found out about it until Joe told him the day after she'd boarded a plane bound for Australia. Ever since, according to Joe and Demi, Nick had alternated between isolating himself from everyone, and acting like nothing had happened.

"If this is how you feel Nick, why the hell haven't you done something about it?" Kevin asked gently, watching the closest thing to a brother he would ever have, pace the small room.

"What exactly was I meant to do, Kev?" Nick said bitterly. "It was messed up... our relationship got so messed up. We both tried, but there's only so much you can take. If I chased her, fought for her, for us... again... what was going be different? It just never seemed to line up for us, nothing was ever easy. It just gets to a point where you got to accept that giving up might be the best thing, for both of you."

Kevin remained quiet as he processed what Nick was saying.

"I don't know," Nick mumbled as he began calming down. "I honestly thought she'd be better off without me. I wasn't even worried about myself, about what was going to become of me. All I knew, is that I wanted her to be happy. And if that wasn't with me, then I would give her up. I'd do it for her, even if it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do."

"Give up..." Kevin repeated. "Why the hell did you give up on her?"

"I had to."

"No, you chose to," countered Kevin, getting to his feet. "But you were lying to yourself if you thought you could do that, Nick. There's some people, that no matter what they do, you'll never ever give up on. And she's that for you, Nick. You love her too much; you'll always love her too much, to ever be ready to give up on her."

Nick pressed his forehead against the cool glass of the window, leaving his arms by his sides, looking every bit of the defeated man he was.

"I want what's best for you, Nick. And trust me, if I thought it wasn't her, I'd be telling you to move on. But I know what this has been doing to you the last few months. You're never going to really give up on her, Nick, are you?"

Taking a deep breath and swallowing hard, Nick gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

"She's the one, Kevin. I can't imagine having to live the rest of my life without her."

"You look weird in a suit," jeered Miley, trying to hide her anxiety behind a facade of humour.

"Don't act so nonchalant," Braison teased. "You're the loser going with her brother as her plus one."

"Ew," Miley pulled a face. "That sounds disgusting when you say it like that."

"I love that Demi gets to say 'I told you so' again. You really need to stop pulling the dramatic last minute entrance card every time."

Miley punched her brother in the stomach and watched as he groaned in pain, his hands leaving the steering wheel for a fleeting moment.

"Just shut up and drive, idiot."

"Do you know, watching you fall to pieces just now... actually made me feel much better. I feel much more together and in control. So, thanks."

"You're not welcome," Nick sneered, once again playing with his cufflinks.

"So, what are you going to do about this?" pressed Kevin, checking his reflection in the mirror.

"Right now? Nothing," Nick admitted, resisting the urge to ruffle Kevin's hair just to annoy him. "There's some kind of matrimonial ceremony that might be impeding any grand plans I have to go win back the heart of any damsel."

"Still, you manage to be so dramatic and sensationalise the situation, deflecting the core emotional issues that are underlying here."

"Don't pull your psychobabble bullshit with me."

"They're on their way!" cried Nick's mother excitedly, poking her head into the room. "You need to get out there!"

"Here goes nothing," grinned Kevin, taking a deep breath and leading the way to the alter, Nick following close behind.

"I know I told you to drive fast, but these aren't the streets of Thailand, Braison!" screeched Miley, holding onto the dashboard as the car swerved through traffic.

"I'm obeying all road rules!" he retorted, barely flicking on his indicator as he skidded around a corner. "Well, most road rules. I'm obeying most road rules!"

Miley closed her eyes and silently prayed that she'd get to Nick before it really was too late.