Disclaimer: Based on real events, but some things are made up to help the story. Slight AU. Goes in a different direction.

Chapter 24 - February 21st, 2017

"Will we ever say the words we're feeling? Reach down underneath and tear down all the walls? Will we ever have our happy ending? Or will we forever only be pretending?" - Excerpt from Pretending, Glee

"You know, Nick, if you wanted to kiss her to prove a point to all of us, I'd let you."

Liam's words echoed through Nick's head, suffocating him, as Nick realized that he had developed a growing amount of respect for Liam...

"I don't want to think that every touch might be the last. I need to know how she feels, Nick. It's worse not knowing."

Need.

There was no way Nick could postpone this. It was going to happen sooner or later. He wondered if Liam had told Miley about their conversation. Oh, Miley, you have no idea how much I want to ignore you so I don't have to do anything, Nick thought wryly but immediately regretted the thought. It wasn't true. It would never be true. He would always want to see her, always want her.

Frustrated, Nick stared at the ceiling as he fell back on his bed. "Miley, Miley, Miley," he muttered. It was as if his entire life revolved around her sometimes.

"Shh, he'll hear us."

Nick's head shot up as he heard the voices and giggles. He walked carefully towards his door and leaned against it, pressing his ear against it. He heard voices again, and surprise flickered through him. Miley and Demi. It had to be them. He heard Demi mutter something, but he couldn't tell what she had said. "Shh, Demi," Miley hissed, and a smile flickered across Nick's face.

"Open the door," Demi hissed back.

"Fine."

In that brief moment, Nick quickly wrenched open his closet door and scrambled inside before shutting it. He left it a crack open to see. Miley and Demi entered a millisecond later. The sly expressions on their faces transformed into confusion as they realized that he wasn't there. "That's funny..." Demi said quietly. "We saw his car outside... He has to be here. I even checked in with Joe about it."

Miley shook her head, heading dangerously close to the closet. "Maybe he's outside in the backyard."

"Maybe he knows we're here," Demi snorted.

"I hope not," Miley muttered. She was directly in front of the closet now, with her back against it. "But—AHHHH!"

Nick had opened the closet door and yelled 'BOO' in her ear. Miley jumped, shocked to the end of all shocks, and screamed. She stumbled, and Nick caught her steadily, laughing lightly but trying to hide his laughter. Demi didn't bother hiding her laughter and guffawed openly. Miley turned towards Nick, scowling, and punched him in the arm. "You're a jerk, you know that?"

Nick smirked. "You should've seen your expression!"

Demi snickered. "Yeah, I wish I recorded that."

Miley punched Nick again. Nick rubbed his arm. "Ouch," he said, glancing down at her. She crossed her eyes, looking frustrated. "God, Miley, you look like you can't hit hard." Her glare settled into a smirk, and Nick rolled his eyes at her. Suddenly, Nick was aware of how close she was to him. He felt himself get warm all over. She wasn't glaring or smirking anymore. Her blue eyes were steadily locked onto his. "Miley..."

He felt himself sort of lean forward, and he thought that Miley was, too. Then, he ducked his head away, face flaming. He sure wasn't going to kiss her in front of Demi, who was watching and gawking at them as if they were her next meal, and she was starving. He couldn't meet Miley's eyes, but he thought that she almost looked disappointed. Miley walked back to Demi. "Demi, if I find that you had anything to do with that, I'm going to kill you."

Demi scoffed. "I had no idea, Best Friend's Honor."

Miley sighed a little. "I knew we were being too loud!"

"We?" Demi repeated. "If I recall, I had nothing to do with it."

"Says the person who complained about getting her shoes dirty in the loudest voice when she entered."

"It's not like Nick even heard that," Demi muttered. "He was probably too busy daydreaming."

Nick blushed but didn't say anything. He was daydreaming. Kind of. "Alright, you two," Nick said. "You've had your fun. Time for you guys to go home." Miley led Demi to the door, and Demi groaned. "Wait—Demi?" Demi paused and turned to him. Nick crossed his arms before extending his palm towards her. "Give me the key," he said firmly. Demi sighed before strolling forward and dropping a key into his palm. "Thank you."

Demi sighed. "Spoil sport. Come on, Miles."

Nick met Miley's eyes in a last lingering glance before she left with Demi. He shivered. He was sure there had only been about five inches between him and Miley. And he was also sure that he would've kissed her if Demi hadn't been there. Nick left his room and saw Miley and Demi at the door. They chorused a good-bye to him and started to the door. Elvis bounded towards the girls, and Miley bent down, cooing and stroking the dog.

"Oooh, hi, boy!" Demi squealed, leaning down to stroke Elvis.

A brilliant smile spread across Miley's lips. "Elvis, who's a good boy?" she cooed.

Nick pulled out his phone and took a few pictures of the girls playing with Elvis. They looked so natural and happy. Miley and Demi looked up at the sudden flashes, and Nick smiled. He quickly went on his Instagram and posted the picture. "And post!" he declared as Demi scrambled to her feet. Miley just looked up at him seriously, a slight frown on her lips.

"Let me see!" Demi urged.

Nick showed her the picture. Smiles were on both girls' faces. Demi was grinning—at least that much didn't change—and her hand was stroking Elvis's back. Miley was beaming, and her eyes were trained on the golden dog. She was running her fingers through Elvis's face. Her eyes were bright, and her smile was so Miley. She looked so, so beautiful. Nick felt glad in his heart that he had come to see them, glad in his heart that he'd thought of taking the picture.

It made him want to kiss her more, if that was even possible.

Miley got up slowly and glided over to his side and stared at the picture. Finally, she looked up at him and mumbled, "You've got photography skills, I'll give you that."

Nick smiled. "Alas, we've come to the year where you'll give me stuff."

Miley stuck her tongue out at him. Then, she embraced him briefly. "It's a beautiful picture."

"You're just saying that because you're in it," Nick teased.

Demi looked extremely offended. "Excuse you?"

Nick chuckled. "And the award for 'Drama Queen of the Year' is—oh, surprise, surprise!—Demi Lovato!"

Demi rolled her eyes. "Ha ha, very funny, Nicholas."

Miley cracked a smile, pulled out her phone, and smirked. Then, she said, "First one to like." She sounded extremely accomplished. A soft smile tugged on Nick's lips. He craned his neck to see her phone. She was on his Instagram page. She began to type. "'The dog is love,'" Miley said, saying what she had typed up. A smile graced her lips as she posted the comment.

Nick grinned. "It is," he agreed.

Demi laughed. "'When you're chillin' with your bestie, and NJ springs up and takes a pic,'" Demi said as she typed up the words.

Nick refreshed his Instagram page and smiled. There were already many likes on the picture and a lot of comments. He was a celebrity, yes, but this made him feel like people didn't have much of a life if they were just like that. No offense, but Nick wasn't complaining. "You're making me sound like the bad guy," he complained good-humoredly to Demi, who only smirked back in response. "Okay, you two, you've had your fun..."

Demi sniffed exaggeratedly. "Kicking us out? It's not even noon yet!"

Nick shot Demi a hard look. "Look, I have things to do."

"And by things," Miley said breezily, "you mean lie in your house and finally take action when you're ambushed. Yeah. Okay."

"We know when we aren't wanted," Demi sniffled.

Miley grinned as she and Demi strolled to the door. "Bye, Nick."

And they were gone.

Nick wasn't a thirteen-year-old working up a nervous sweat about kissing the love of his life...

...so why was he so worried about kissing Miley now?

Still In Love Somehow

"You and Nick. Nick and you. Damn."

Miley looked up at Demi, smiling ruefully. "I know, right? That's exactly what I'm thinking."

"You were about to kiss him, right?" Demi demanded. "Tell the truth."

"I... I don't know..."

"What?! No, you don't get to say 'I don't know'! This is a 'yes' or 'no' question, Miley!"

Miley shivered as she thought about that moment. She had been scared to death because Nick had scared her. He had screamed out at her just like he had all those years ago. She had remembered seeing the happiness in his eyes all those years ago. Now, there was still happiness—but that happiness was shadowed by sadness. Funny how she could still be so affected. Funny how she wasn't over it yet.

She was so sure she would be the one to pull back first. But she had wanted to linger there, if just for a moment, to see how it would feel. She certainly had anticipation in her... yes, that and... happiness. She had wanted it to happen. But it hadn't. And Nick had pulled back first. And it hurt Miley to levels she didn't understand. She didn't understand how much one person could hurt.

She felt rejected, which made no sense at all.

Miley brought herself back to the present, back to Demi and Demi's house. She brought her fingers to her lips. "Nick's just full of surprises today," she mumbled.

"Yeah," Demi agreed. "First the shock about him scaring the hell out of you"—Miley shot Miley a faintly annoyed look that still held amusement that Demi completely ignored because... well, she was Demi—"and then the thing about you two almost kissing." Demi grinned. "I was ready to go grab some popcorn and watch. I would be perfectly entertained if somebody made the 'Miley and Nick Love Story' movie."

Miley grinned ruefully. "You'd have first-row tickets, wouldn't you?"

Demi grinned. "And I'd be going 'I told them so, I told them so' for the entire thing."

Miley raised a brow. "You told me so?"

"Forget I said that," Demi said with a small smile. "Anyway"—Demi nudged Miley in her ribs—"when are we going to hear the wedding bells? Between you and Liam, I mean."

"I don't know," Miley said honestly.

Demi groaned. "The worst part about it is that you're actually being honest—look at your face."

It was true that Miley didn't know. She didn't feel like she wanted a wedding just yet—besides, she had always dreamed about having a wedding in the summer, and it would be quite a few months before that. Of course, in those daydreams, Nick had always been by her side as the groom. Of course, that was years ago, and Miley had stopped having those dreams.

Nevertheless, the dreams held great significance to Miley, and she wanted a summer wedding. When exactly? She wasn't sure.

Miley turned to Demi, but Demi appeared to be lost in a world of her own. A smile was splayed out against Demi's lips, a soft almost vulnerable one. It was a rare look for Demi. If Miley was to be so blunt, she would say that Demi looked love struck. Miley gently tapped Demi's shoulder, and Demi jumped a little, surprised. A sheepish smile spread across Demi's lips. "Sorry. Were you saying something?"

Miley shook her head, smiling. "He really has you wrapped around his finger, doesn't he?"

Demi blushed, her eyes glittering fiercely. There was no question on who 'he' was. "Maybe." Demi shot Miley a knowing look. "You know it's like."

Miley did know. She knew how it felt like to burn with a love so deep it made your heart ache. She knew how it was like to be so in love with someone that you would do anything for them... You would trust them irrevocably and depend on them. That was how Miley felt for Liam, she was sure. Miley blushed because the same could be said for Nick—the trusting thing...

And yes, the loving thing, too, because she had been in love with Nick. It felt like a whole lifetime away.

"Miley," Demi said gently, "I've never been in love with two people at once, but—"

"Demi," Miley started, trailing off.

"Where do you see yourself in ten years? With Liam? With Nick? Without them?" Demi stared at her hands. This was the serious Demi talking now. Demi could be joking and sarcastic and vivacious, but Demi was really down-to-earth, compassionate, and understanding. Demi could see right through people sometimes. "Can you really see yourself with Liam later?"

Miley paused. "I don't really know..."

"What about Nick?" Demi prompted, tone firm yet gentle all the same.

Miley took a deep breath. She had dreamed about a life with Nick long ago, when she had still believed in fairy tales and magic and love. She still believed in love—after all, she was happily in love—but the fairy tale part had sort of faded away. She remembered dreaming about living with Nick in a castle... Delusional, she knew, but she was—what?—a little more than just a kid then.

It was easier to picture a life with Liam because she knew that he loved her and wanted the best for her. It was sometimes easier with Liam.

But her relationship with Nick had deeper roots because back then, Miley had believed in love and magic and everything like that. It was so much easier to fall in love back then, and she had let Nick in with open arms. He had held her... and then some. She knew that Nick loved her. He would be afraid but only because he didn't want to hurt anyone. Nick was Nick.

But Miley couldn't picture her life without either Nick or Liam. They were both so important to her.

"Maybe," Miley admitted.

Demi snorted. "'Maybe' is a hell of a lot more than just 'I don't know.'"

"I know. That's why I feel so guilty."

Maybe Demi already knew how Miley was feeling. Maybe Demi knew what kind of predicament Miley was in.

"Demi, I did dream of a life with Nick, back when things were easier," Miley explained. "That's why it's... easier, I guess, to see myself with him."

"Because of how you think it'll be like?" Demi murmured.

Miley nodded. "Yeah... and he's so sweet, and that just reminds me so much of... us. I guess that's why I joke around so much around him—I'm just so... scared. Scared of—" Miley stopped short as she remembered what she had said before to Nick's face. I'm scared of falling for you. And she remembered the anguish and pain in his eyes after... He had been so distraught...

Was that the reason why Nick was so upset? Because she had basically said that and didn't do anything about it. Did it confuse him?

"I told Nick that I was scared of falling for him," Miley whispered. "But that's not true. I've already fallen for him. I'm scared of the consequences."

QotD: Who's your favorite author in real life?

#Margaret Peterson Haddix #Shelby Bach

A/N: Hey, it's Darky! Man, I really want to write a Niley scene. Like REALLY. You don't even know. But I think I kind of like this chapter. I mean, yes, it could be better, but I'm somewhat pleased with it. I kind of enjoyed writing this. So glad Miley knows that she has feelings for Nick now and isn't going to deny them every ten seconds. Just saying. X-)

So here I am, just listening to Becky G's 'Play It Again' and Miley Cyrus's 'Maybe You're Right.' Gotta love those songs. I really want Miley to release some new music soon! I know it's going to be awesome! She's honestly just so inspiring... It's refreshing. Hey, I have my verdicts, and you have yours. My opinion probably doesn't mean anything in this world, but it's mine, and I'll settle with that.

Review your answer to the QotD! Tell me your thoughts? I appreciate it though you don't need to. But who doesn't love reviews? ;)

- Darky