I'm so sorry it's been so long! This chapter is a little longer so maybe that makes up for it?

I raced down the hallway towards Nick's room. There was so much going through my mind I didn't even know what I was going to say to him. He would probably be excited I had broken up with Liam but how would I justify dating someone else the day after we broke up. It occurred to me then that just because in my mind Nick and I were always going to be together, didn't mean that he felt the same way. I felt myself going crazy and I just needed to see his face. I saw Denise walking towards me and I rushed to greet her.

"Oh Honey!" she said warmly "I'm so happy to see you! Come, his room is this way." I love that she didn't try to ask me a bunch of questions or make small talk. She always got straight down to the point of things.

"Oh did they move him?"

"Yeah, when he woke up." Denise smiled at her thoughts. I realized, I too was smiling at the thought of Nick waking up!

"Alright, he's just in there," she motioned. "I'll let you two talk. Just let me know when I can come in." I smiled at her and it was like she could sense my anxiety. "You'll be fine, sweetie. You know Nick, he doesn't hold grudges."

She was right, Nick didn't hold grudges. Just another reason why I wasn't good enough for him. I still haven't talked to Selena since Nick dated her. But every girl knows you don't date your friends ex when they're still clearly in love with them. So okay, maybe we weren't friends. And maybe I had made fun of her with Demi before, but whatever. What she did was just low.

I snapped myself out of my current train of thought and took a deep breath. Here goes I thought. I opened the door slowly and walked inside the room.

"Hi" I said, causing Nick to look up at me. I walked over to his bed.

"Miley!" he said smiling. "You don't know how happy I am to see you! I'm so sorry baby. I'm so sorry. I know this must have been hard on you. I'm just so sorry." Wait, wait, wait, and hold up a second. I break up with him, date someone else, he goes into a coma, and now he's the one apologizing? This is so screwed up.

I took his hand and sat down on the bed next to him while he continued to "apologize."

"Nick, you have nothing to be sorry for. Stop saying that, please. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Okay. Sor-…Never mind." For the first time in all the time I've known Nick, there is an awkward silence between us. I don't really know what to say. I thought he would be mad at me, but apparently not. He called me baby. What does that even mean?

"Nick, what did you mean when you said baby?" he looks confused. "I mean it's just… we don't really call each other that… anymore."

"Anymore? What? Since when do I not call my girlfriend baby?" okay now I was just seriously confused. What the heck is he talking about? Is he in denial? I mean, yeah, I broke up with Liam, but he didn't know that. "Oh. I'm sorry Mi, the doctor said I might be a little hazy on some things. Some people actually suffer memory loss after a coma. Can you believe that? I mean how awful would it be if I couldn't even remember you? I guess I just blanked on the part where I don't call you 'baby.' …Why is that, by the way?"

But I couldn't respond. My mind was racing as my heart sank. I could literally feel it fall into my stomach. Let's try to put the pieces together, shall we? Nick just got out of a coma, he thinks we're still dating, and is a little 'hazy' on some of the details. I'm no Sherlock but I'm going to say Nick's a little more confused that he thinks. Nick has in fact suffered form memory loss… shit.

***

"So the last memory he has was five months ago in Georgia?"

"It appears so, yes." Said the doctor.

Nick's parents and brothers and I are all in the waiting room of the hospital talking to his doctor. This is so not fair. I want so badly just to take the last five months back and stay with Nick.

"But… but how is that possible? I mean, is there anything I can do? You know, to help him remember?" I ask.

"Well, yes actually. You are welcome to try and jog his memory with anything to stimulate the senses. Smells, sounds, even feelings can sometimes spark a memory. It would not be unusual if one day, he wakes up and remembers everything. However, on the other hand, it is also common for patients with this condition to never get that block of memory back."

"Thank you, doctor." Mr. Jonas said. "We will definitely be trying that."

As the doctor left, Nick's family and I talked about different ways to help him remember. Kevin and Joe suggested singing a song they wrote together about two months ago. Mrs. Jonas decided she would re-create a recipe she tried for the first time during Nick's "lost period." The boys went home to get their instruments but Nick's parents stayed at the hospital with me.

"Denise? Miley? You hungry? I'd be happy to go pick up some real food for us." Offered Mr. Jonas.

"Absolutely. I've been so pre-occupied I haven't even remembered to eat the past few days." Said Denise. I felt her pain as soon as she said this. I knew she loved her sons with her whole heart. I must have been killing her to see Nick like this. Just like it was killing me.

"If you're going, I could always eat." I said. "Thank you"

"No problem." He said. "I'm going to say goodbye to Nick, see if he wants anything. Then I'll be off."

He walked away and I felt my legs give out as I took a seat on a chair in the waiting room. I thought Denise would follow Paul into Nick's room, but she sat down beside me instead. She put her arm around me and pulled me into a warm hug the way only a Mother can do.

"It'll be fine, Miley. I don't want you worrying too much about this." I realized when I tried to open my mouth to respond that my eyes were burning back hot tears. When I began to speak, it came out as more of a hysteric sob. The kind you wish you could take back, as you only realized it was coming after it had escaped your mouth.

"I just feel so gu-guilty" I cried.

"Shh, honey. Oh Miley, don't say that. You've done nothing to feel guilty about." She tried to comfort me.

"Yes I h-have." I sobbed into her before trying to recollect myself slightly and looking up at her. "Do you know what I was doing when Demi c-called me?" she kept a blank expression on her face. "I was with…Liam," I said, sending me into a whole new series of cries. "What is Nick going to say? He's never going to forgive me. All I want is for us to be together. I know I messed up. I know how big of a mistake I made, I just wish there was some way I could take it back." I cried.

Denise sat me upright and whipped the remaining tears off my face. "Oh sweetie, look at you. You know Nick, he loves you more than anything in this world."

"But I was terrible to him. Even you can't deny that!" I cried.

"Miley," she started, looking serious, and a little unsure of herself. "Nick doesn't remember exactly what happened between you two. The last thing he remembers is you two being together. You said it yourself you regret what happened and you wish you could take it back. If you're sure of your feelings for my son, and you know you are meant for each other, which I happen to agree with, maybe he doesn't need to be reminded of that particular part of the situation."

I sat back, stunned. Was she seriously telling me to lie to her son? How could I take advantage of him like that?

"I'm not telling you to lie to him. But right now I think he needs as much familiarity in his life as possible. And you are his comfort, Miley. I'm telling you this because I think it's what's best for him right now."

As I sat there, silenced by her proposal, I realized she was right. Throwing Nick off like that would cause even more stress on him then he was already facing. The media had no proof I was ever with Liam, or ever broke up with Nick for that matter. Everything was in speculation. As I stood up and walked over to Nick's room two things were crossing my mind. What the hell am I doing? …And why didn't I think of it?

***

"So after that, you came to visit me in Georgia. Do you remember that?" I asked?

He nodded. "I think so. You really liked that visit, if I remember correctly." He said smirking. Typical. It was good to know his perverted sense of humor hadn't changed a bit.

"Yes, actually I have to say I did." I smiled back at him. "So then I had the press tour. And you were touring with your new stuff. …Nick I'm so sorry I wasn't with you when it happened. I really wish I had been. I wish a lot of things had happened differently, recently." I said, being completely honest at this point.

"Miley I don't even remember it. For all I know, you could've been there!" he joked. Whoa, that one hit home.

"Yeah" I managed to choke out. "I guess your pretty much stuck with what I tell you."

"I guess so!" he said smiling.

***

Despite feeling extremely guilty about lying to my best friend and true love, the next week flew by relatively easily and I could not have been happier about getting things back to normal.

Nick and I attended the Last Song premier two days after he was released from the hospital and lucky for me, the media totally bought it. Not only did they buy it, but they were eating it up with a spoon.

"Nick! Miley! Over here! Kiss! How is the relationship going? Are you keeping your promise, Nick?

I have to admit I giggled a bit at that last question. As soon as we were out of ear shot Nick pulled me close to him and whispered in my ear. "I'm trying, but my very sexy girlfriend makes it a bit difficult sometimes."

"I can't help it. Its your fault for making me want things I can't have" I whispered back, seductively. I heard his breathing hitch at that and got a good laugh.

It was that night that Nick and I got to third. Well... I guess technically he caught up with me. And I admit, I was nervous. With Liam, it was never an "oral" thing if you catch my drift. But with Nick I didn't really care. I wanted him to be happy and satisfied. And I wanted to be the one to make him feel that way. That… good. And by the way he had reacted, trust me, it was damn good.

Tonight Nick's family was coming over for dinner. Everyone would be there. All my siblings and all his. Parents too, obviously. It was the first time we were all together in a while and I felt my stomach twist in anticipation. I hadn't exactly told everyone about what Denise and I had decided to do. All they knew was that Nick didn't know the extent of my relationship with Liam. And that talking about it would upset him. I would tell them all the truth, eventually of course. But for right now, the accident was too fresh in everyone's mind, and I didn't want to upset anybody.

I got out of the shower and put on a pair of true religion skinny jeans and a nice green tank top with silver hoops. I let my hair dry and the curled it slightly so it was in natural, beachy waves. I'd even gotten my hair colored a few days ago for the premiere so it was light brown with a very slight red tint to it, which I knew Nick loved.

When the doorbell rang I rushed downstairs to greet the Jonas's. I couldn't help but notice how adorable Nick looked in his jeans and red plaid shirt. The buttons were all done up and he had his sleeved rolled up showing his muscular forearms. As usual, everyone hugged and greeted each other, and then the kids went downstairs while the parents stayed up having cocktails and talking before dinner. Even though half of us were definitely not kids anymore, and Kevin, Brandi, and Trace were all old enough to drink, it was way more fun this way.

As we made our way downstairs Noah and Frankie went immediately into Noah's little playroom to look at her new comics. It was a widely known fact that Noah had zero interest in comic books, but Frankie was obsessed. And it Frankie liked them; Noah would pretend to love them too. She's becoming more and more of a mini-me with every passing day.

Then Joe challenged Trace to a fuse ball fight, and within seconds they were at it like little kids. In front of the giant TV screen, Kevin and Braison were playing guitar hero and Brandi, Nick, and I were sitting on the surrounding couches, cheering them on. We were positioned so that Brandi was next to Kevin and Nick and I were closer to Braison.

"Just so you know Braz, Nick and I may be sitting over here, but I'm totally team Jonas." I then stuck my tongue out like the eight-year-old kid I was inside. Nick looked down at me, his arm wrapped around my shoulder and smiled.

"I like hearing you say that." He said. "But I'd always be on your side, Jonas or not."

"That doesn't even make sense." I said. "Are you saying you want to change your last name when we get married?"

"I don't know… Nicholas Cyrus. Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"Miley Cyrus-Jonas sounds better. I'm going thing hyphen route, by the way." He smirked at me and I gave him a questioning look.

"And why is that?" he said finally.

"Eva Longoria did it. …'Nuff said." He laughed at me and kissed my forehead.

"Your ridiculous." He said simply.

I smiled. Really, really smiled. The kind of smile even I can't fake. For the first time in a long time things were exactly how they should be. All the people I loved were under one roof, sharing a perfect evening together. And nothing in the world could make me happier.

Yay! Niley is back! R&R! PLEASEE!! xoxo, Tallie