A/N: I couldn't wait any longer to update this chapter, purely because I think it's my favourite FF chapter I've ever written… well… maybe not…

This chapter will pretty much explain why Miley hates him so much and why Nick hates himself. It is SUPER long… so I wouldn't read this in a rush if I were you. There's a lot to take in.

PS. If you have it, I also recommend listening to Taking Back Sunday's "New American Classic" when you read this, because that's how I wrote this chapter – with that song on repeat. Itunes tells me that I've listened to it about 78 times now.

Disclaimer: I know nothing… I own nothing…

xo

Chapter 22 – That Day Meant To Be

That Day … January 8th, 2008…

She hated the nights on the tour bus when it would rain and the only thing she could do was sit in her room and do nothing but wonder about what the hell was going on with her life. Seventy or so sold out dates and she didn't know where the hell she was… last time she had checked it had been New Year's Eve, she was on Rockin' Eve and she was chronically trying to ignore her maybe-maybe-not boyfriend and his strange way of acting around her now that they were "on a break". She could remember the desperation to have fun and to try and forget the fact that Nick wasn't even talking to her. His brothers were talking to her. They were always laughing and joking with her. Joe was always trying to goof around with her and making up stupid little raps about the things she did and how she walked around backstage of their concerts. They'd spent the whole time talking and joking at Rockin' Eve while Mandy was ringing in the New Year with her parents in Phoenix, as Joe planned to ask her to be his girlfriend just like the rumours had been telling them.

But now, after the week they'd had and his sudden change of heart towards her best friend, she hadn't been talking to Joe as much. He was constantly with Nick… and that was exactly where she was unable to be at this difficult time. Being near to Nick while they were meant to be "on a break" was difficult. It was like she was fighting her natural instincts not to go up to him and hug him hello like she usually did. He'd barely even looked at her; he'd barely said two words to her apart from hello when they passed each other uncomfortably in the hallways. It had been like they were two strangers, forced to say hello to each other for the sake of being polite. It was like they knew nothing of each other, just how each other would walk along the hallway or the way they would smile and say hello.

She received less text messages, less phone calls and she couldn't think of anyone else who she could send stupid emails to anymore. She had all these ridiculous pictures hidden away in a folder that she'd taken throughout their week apart. With each stupid face or silly set-up, she'd failed to remember that she couldn't send them to him like she usually would. With each attempted composition of a humorously worded email ending with the usual profession and reminder of love, she felt her happiness decrease piece by piece. Her heart deflated in her chest and she didn't know what she was doing with each remembrance of the words they had exchanged a week ago.

Breaks didn't work like she had thought they would do… it was killing her.

The past few months had been horrible with his distance from her and their silly childish arguments. They had all been stressed and she should have realised that… she should have done more to make him feel less like the pressure was piling onto him. She should have been easier on him and helped him to relax. She shouldn't have plied him with questions all the time. She should have calmed her ass down and made him join her in doing so. They should have been cooler with each other and not so full on. They had spent three months with each other, everyday seeing each other. It was hard work compared to the two years they had shared fighting for the time to see each other because of their busy schedules. It was a lot more like a real relationship than it was fun when they were almost living together. They saw new things in each other and they realised little truths about each other that they hadn't recognised before. It was a huge wake up call.

But it was no where near a huge a wake up call as the past week. Miley missed Nick and she couldn't help but want to cry when she thought about not being with him all these days without telling him a stupid story or giving him a huge hug. She missed his dark curly hair and how if felt when she ruffled it beneath her fingers. She missed the way he would look at her with those deep dark eyes and that sultry stare. She missed the scent of him as he came close to her and told her that he loved her. Everything he did was music to her ears… and for days her life had been silent.

She sighed, turning to her nightstand that was nailed to the wall of the tour bus and grabbed her buzzing cell phone in her hand bringing it to her face, her eyes failing to recognise the name of the person on the ID. Who the heck could possibly be sending her text messages at this hour? She hadn't received a text message this late at night since the 'break' began. She had been so used to Nick's late night goodnight text messages that over the days she'd taught herself not to expect them. Now, she was getting excited and scared all at once to see who this text message was from, and what it could possibly be about.

FROM: JENNA

I know this is out of the blue and I know that we don't really know each other. You probably don't remember me but I'm a friend of Kevin J's. I was out with them a few nights ago and I think it's unfair if you don't know. The boys had a party on their bus in Jersey with some old friends and I caught Nick kissing these girls from my school. I'm sorry Miley but I thought you should know. If you ever need someone to talk to, send me a text. Take Care, Jenna x

Miley looked at the message and sat up quickly with a choked laugh. She could not believe the words that were written before her, potentially ruining everything that she had come to know in the past two years of her life. She wasn't sure what she was worried about, the fact that Nick had kissed someone other than her after two years, or the fact that she was hearing it from an almost complete stranger rather from his own mouth. She didn't know if she was angry because he'd been leading her on or because of the fact that his act of kissing someone else wasn't in fact singled out to one person but instead was plural. He had kissed more than one person, more than one person that wasn't her, like it was nothing.

She knew Nick… a kiss wasn't nothing… it was everything to him.

She fumed and she gasped out another laugh.

So this was what it felt like to be the betrayed girlfriend… this was what it felt like to be used and mistreated by a male. He was the only boyfriend she'd ever properly had and he had set the disgusting standards for all of the rest that would follow after him. He was the one that she thought would show her the world, the one that she would be with forever. He was meant to be the one she was meant to be with forever… she was sure of it… she'd been sure of it for two years. He'd been with her through everything… he'd saved her life… he'd changed her life… he made her human in this stupid blown up fame she was rolling with. He was the traditional boy with good morals… he was perfect…

Her phone buzzed again and she sighed. What now? Had he made out with another set of young women at a different party? What could possibly get worse than this…? What could be more worse than a person she hardly knew who she had given her number to when Kevin had lost his cell phone telling her how her boyfriend (maybe) was a complete IDIOT!?

FROM: Nick J is off the chain

Hey Smiley Miley it's me. At the next smokers stop for the drivers, can you meet me outside at the gas station instead of staying asleep like we usually do? I need to talk to you… Nick x

A part of her wanted to send him a message back telling him where he could shove his talking but then suddenly she realised that she shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. Just because Jenna was one of the boys friends didn't mean she was instantly void of being one of those weird creepy fans that stalked them and acted like they were gods. They weren't gods. They were just plain teenage boys who goofed around and acted dumb at every opportunity. Jenna could have been one of those crazy fans that thought the boys would marry them one day and would do everything in their power to make sure that every relationship they were in was destroyed. Miley had seen so many of those types of girls on this tour. Part of her expected them all to look the same, but part of her expected them to have evolved into something that she could not put her finger on. In this business anyone she met could have been out to destroy everything she had. She could hardly tell friend from foe.

She didn't send him a text back… she just waited patiently for him to exit his tour bus and wait for her as he talked to the group of a dozen or so drivers who all took their usual twenty minute smoking or snack break at a nearby gas station. She watched him for a few minutes before grabbing her coat and tugging on her Chucks like slippers, the laces hanging undone as she tried to look as though she'd been sleeping instead of staying awake until 2am thinking of him.

"What is it, Nick?" she asked trying to sound as pissed as possible to start the guilt flowing within him from the get go. She couldn't help but look at him and let her heart leap in her chest however. He looked as gorgeous as ever in his coat, sweat pants and stupid Elvis Costello t-shirt she'd always teased him about. His hair was messy and it was flung in front of his eyes in the sexiest way possible with the least amount of effort. His hands wrung in his pockets and he looked as nervous as ever. This was obviously a very serious subject he needed to talk about otherwise he wouldn't have looked so uncomfortable.

"Are you okay?" he asked quickly stepping forward and talking directly to her as his hand pulled to drag her around the back of one of the trucks that carried the set for the show.

She stumbled as they came to a halt, hidden from view in the shadow of the truck. She held onto him to steady herself and nodded her head, "I'm fine Nick… what did you want to talk about?"

He shrugged and put his hands into his pockets. He rubbed his nose with his hand and shook his head, his eyes unable to look at her. From that second, she knew… she just knew that what Jenna had said was true. But as her heart slowly began to break piece by piece, she gained a thirst for the truth.

Why would he do something like this to her?

"I… you know… we haven't talked all week and I figured if we didn't talk now… we wouldn't talk for a really long time…" he shrugged and hunched his shoulders nervously. He was mumbling and it made her feel disgusted, "I mean… what's happened with you this week? Anything knew?"

She shook her head and felt the need to be a bitch. He'd treated her terribly and she was sure of it.

"You know… the usual…" she folded her arms and set her face to be pissed off. Her struggling, emotion-filled voice seemed to fail her however and her worry over-whelmed her, "Doing a country-wide tour… exhaustion… school… getting text messages from random people telling me that you've been kissing other girls…"

A false laugh escaped her.

He sighed and closed his eyes in defeat. A lump rose in her throat as she soon realised that he wasn't even going to try and convince her that they had been lying. He wasn't even going to try and act like it was nothing, a stupid mistake or a piece of fun. He wasn't going to try and act cool like it was nothing that she should worry about. He wasn't going to pretend like he wasn't shattering the whole world around her. It was just another of those things to him… another of those things that he'd been caught out on. It was just more things that made him seem more human, less godlike and like an actual male. It was a way out of hiding for him. It was a way to make everyone, other than her, happy.

But for her it was another batch of things for her to pretend wasn't happening in front of the hundreds of cameras that were often pointed at her face. This was another reason for her to put on a fake smile and make everyone guess. It was just another reason for her to have to make up lies.

"I was gonna tell you, Miles…"

"Whatever…" she whispered looking away from him. Her eyes were filling with tears and it felt like she was going to explode with emotion at any second. Her world was crashing down around her and she wasn't thinking about the present, just about the future. All she'd thought about uncontrollably for the past two year was him. He had been her twenty-four-seven for the past two years. He'd been her rock through it all… he'd seen the highs and the lows, the peaks and quarries of her career and he'd held her hand through everything. He'd saved her from the moments when she thought she couldn't do it anymore and she'd come through on the other side with an ever bigger smile on her face knowing that he would always be there to pick her up… but now she knew that she wouldn't have that saviour, that protection anymore… because he was giving up just as it was getting too much.

Now, as she stood soaked in the pouring rain, forcing the tears not to tumble down her cheeks, only one thought flowed to edges of her brain and back again, and it was so simple that just to ponder on it caused her entire being to ache and hurt with unbearable pain.

What was she going to do?

What would she do when she was lost? Who would hold her when she was sad? Who would make her laugh? Who would make her cry? Who would she tell her deepest darkest secrets to when she felt that there was no one she could trust enough to keep them anymore? Who could she trust now? How would she see Joe and Kevin… and Frankie and the whole entire other family she'd adopted in the two years that they had been together? Who was going to be on her side? How would she get over this? How could she even try? There had been no one who had ever loved her in the way that he had…

What was she going to do?

"It just happened…" he said pathetically, his hands slumping into his pockets as the rain fell to the floor around them hitting the puddles and splashing up their legs, "One minute we were talking and the next thing we were kissing and…I don't know what happened, Miles… it just did… I couldn't help it…"

She shook her head and turned her eyes to glance at him coldly, "It's not like it happened once, Nick… you kissed more than one girl! It was plural! You kissed more than one stupid girl that just so happened to be there…" she gasped out an almost silent cry and shook her head, the shock suddenly getting to her, "I don't know who you are anymore!"

He laughed slightly and shrugged, "I don't know who you are anymore…"

She smiled tearfully and the first tear fell. Her mouth fell open in quiet shock. If she hadn't of been betrayed enough already… now there was this… now she was betraying herself by letting this bother her. She was making herself look stupid in front of him. She was acting like almost her entire being had been stupid enough to think that boys didn't do things like this and betray the people they supposedly loved. She was being naïve. She was letting him see how much he meant to her. He didn't deserve it.

"I may have changed, Nick… but I call it growing up…" she whispered breathlessly, "At least I'm still loyal and truthful and I don't treat the people I love like… shit…"

The words she spoke were blows to his gut, worse than punches to his face and he shook his head astounded and speechless. How did he explain himself to her? Did he even have to? Why did he have to?

"It just… happened…"

It was his only excuse. He couldn't even think of anything else to say… and he didn't know if it would be right to if he did. He had made things this bad already. He didn't want to make it any worse.

She rounded on him stepping closer until he saw the tears that glistened in her eyes to cushion the blow that he had delivered to shamelessly to her. It was like they had been placed there by some cosmic source to soften the blow of everything he was throwing at her like she didn't matter, and making them both better. They were there to protect her and to make her not have to deal with everything right away. They were clouding her reality and he knew that this was all going to hit her twice as hard in the morning… this was going to hurt her twice as hard in the morning… like an ache in the gut.

"You say it just happened, Nick, but things like THIS don't happen to you… to US!!" she was becoming hysterical and the tears streamed down her cheeks in rivers.

Purely out of habit, all he wanted to do was rub them away with the pads of his thumbs and hush her like a baby until everything was okay again. But there was no way that he could do that. There was no way he could make everything better for her without making things worse for him. He couldn't carry on with this anymore… he had to go… he couldn't pretend anymore. He had to move on and do some growing of his own. He had to experience things that he had never had before. He had to see the world and meet new people. He couldn't just keep loving her and riding on her coat tails like they had been since the moment they had met her. She wasn't enough anymore…

"Things like this used to MEAN SOMETHING TO YOU…" she continued and her fists pounded on his chest until he flinched with the ache she inflicted, "Why do they suddenly not matter anymore…?! Why are you throwing the things you cared about away…?!"

"I don't know…"

"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!" she shrieked and he clutched at her elbows to calm her down, "You can't keep saying that like it's supposed to mean something!!" Another pound of her fist fell to his shoulders and he continued to stop her, trying to hold her, trying to make all of this go away, "It means nothing other than the fact that you're an IDIOT! You're a FOOL!"

She pulled away from him finally as her sobs erupted from her taking over for a few brief moments that felt like hours.

"I feel like I mean nothing to you… I feel like you've… you've used me…" she flinched. Her breath caught in her throat and it felt like she was going to die. A feeling of nausea fell to the bottom of her stomach and her hands began to shake uncontrollably like they would never ever stop. She couldn't understand, she couldn't comprehend… all she could do was scream every thought that formed in a lump at the back of her throat and mix it with each emotion that brewed in the pits of her stomach.

She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders cowering away from him almost afraid, "Did… Did you ever cheat on me?" she asked shaking her head curiously, "While we together…. Did you ever cheat on me?"

He sighed and shook his head hopelessly, "No…" he breathed, "of course not…"

She bit her lip as it quivered and stepped away again, "Did you ever want to?"

She waited, but he stayed silent. He formed no words and no actions and just stared at her guiltily like the pathetic child that he was. He just stood there and hunched himself into a guilty ball of avoidance. He was going to give her no explanations, only idiotic replies to each question she asked. She would probably never know the real reason why he was acting this way. Nothing he said was truly ever in-depth unless he was singing it. If he was singing, he was always to the point. He did not beat around the bush.

She gasped and a sob escaped her from the pit of her stomach.

"With Selena?" She sobbed, her words coming out like groans as she clutched at her chest gasping for that much needed breath.

He shook his head confused, "What?"

"Selena! Was it Selena? Was it her that you wanted to be with when you were with me?"

"What?!" he shook his head.

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!" she gasped stepping back away from him.

He shook his head, shocked at the way she was reacting. He thought she would have been calmer than this, that she would have wanted to kick his ass and make a fool of him rather than acting like this… hysterical, heart-broken and hurt.

"No… Miley… of course not…"

The lies and the guilt made him feel sick as he saw her sad eyes and the way that her bottom lip quivered as she fought not to cry out in desperation and betrayal. The shame washed over him and he didn't know how it had ever come to this… how he had ever got to the point where he was admitting to all these secrets he had never told her and still keeping things from her, while she had told him every single one of her own. He had betrayed her, he had betrayed himself and he had done it all out of fear. What a 'man' he really was…

"Do you love me…?"

His heart dropped and he stared at her helplessly. What did he say to that? Did he lie? Did he tell the truth? There were so many different ways he could have reacted to that sentence. There were so many different answers to what she was asking him. There were so many different truths and so many different lies. He could ask her why she would ask such a ridiculously potentially hurtful and stupid question. He could laugh at her and tell her that she was stupid and silly… of course he loved her… he always had and always probably would love her; she was one of those people who'd be in his life forever. He could have avoided the subject and talked to her about something completely different, hoping that she would graciously accept that he wanted to avoid the subject… or he could tell the truth… the real truth… the one he had been trying to avoid for weeks…

Nick looked at her, and forced his eyes not to well with his own fearful tears. He shook his head and buried his hands deeper into his pockets nervously, guiltily and ashamedly. He had never ever done anything like this before… he had never ever wanted to. He had pulled hair and punched girls in the arms… He had never done something like this to show a girl how his affections had changed… not in his entire life. He didn't know if he was doing anything right or wrong… so he just did it.

"I used to…" he whispered and shook his head, "I don't think I do anymore…"

He looked at her and he saw every single little emotion that covered her face that she felt in those next few seconds. He saw everything, and for those few moments, he fully realised how every single part of her face was simply and completely beautiful. It was like he was seeing her for the first time all over again and he swallowed a ball of emotion that rose in his throat. It was obscene how beautiful she was… how ridiculously, incandescently beautiful… and for a moment, he had second thoughts about everything.

He watched, in awe, as her eyes widened until it seemed impossible that they would ever close again. He watched as the shock overwhelmed her and she hit the back of the truck with a thump, her fingers clutching at the cold wet metal, trying to hold onto the last piece of control she had left. Her jaw dropped slightly and he watched her lips part as it did so. She stared beyond him, beyond reality itself as she fought to process all these words that were being drummed into her. The red that had flushed to her cheeks when she had been yelling at him was suddenly non-existent and she was white and deathly. Her eyes continued to dart a little, almost shaking as she tried to figure out where she could look that wouldn't make her burst into tears. She most definitely would not look at him. She never wanted to look at him again. He would remind her of so many feelings that she was now going to be forced to hide and tumble over like they were nothing. He thought he was changing her life for the better… she was sure he was ruining it.

"Miley… I'm sorry…"

She shook her head and stared at nothing, her tears subsiding, her anger disappearing. She felt nothing… no pain… no sadness, no anger…nothing. It was the worst kind of feeling. It was the worse kind of anything.

"I feel like I should explain…"

She shook her head and Nick saw as her bottom lip quivered gently threatening to break the calm that she was suddenly feeling.

"Don't… say…anything…" Her voice was breathless and emotionless. She shook her head and rubbed her top lip against the bottom to stop that stupid quiver that seemed to want to ruin everything. She was lost in her motions, her thoughts and in every way possible. She was barely able to think, barely able to stand… barely able to breathe... and it was all because of him.

She was glad when her driver asked her to return to the bus as they were ready to leave. She nodded her head and pushed herself up gently from against the side of the bus, her legs shaking beneath her, quivering in the wake of the words he had spoken to her. She said nothing and began to walk across the expanse of dark concrete over to her bus that led the great train of vehicles. She didn't look back like she normally would have done, she didn't even think about looking back. She just continued walking away until she reached the foot of the stairs of the bus, before she heard him call her name.

When she looked back in his direction, avoiding his eyes and everything in them, his hands were still in his pockets and he looked wrapped in his guilt and his shame. His cheeks glistened and she wasn't sure if it was the heavy pouring rain or his own emotion that made them appear that way. She listened to the crashes and bangs of the thunder and the electrifying hits of Lightning that sounded around them.

"I'm sorry…" he called to her his shoulders hunching with his words, "I never meant to hurt you…"

She shook her head at him and shrugged her shoulders, "Then why did you?"

~x~

It wasn't until the doors to her bus had closed behind her and her driver had pulled away from the garage that she suddenly realised that the words he had spoke to her were buzzing in her ears. She could hear them over and over again until they became the complete opposite of the beautiful music that usually left his lips. It was the most surreal and painful feeling she had ever felt in her life.

"Baby, what are you doing?" her mother whispered to her exhausted, her hair in disarray and her gown wrapped around her tight.

She watched Miley for a moment as she stood in the tiny kitchen of their bus, the faucet running as fast as it could, blocking out any other sound that may have been heard as the water drummed against the metal. She was confused and scared by the entire disposition of her daughter. In the hours she had been sleeping, her daughter seemed to have completely changed. She had seen it happening slowly over the last few days and assumed it had just been fatigue and exhaustion. But now, it was like they had hit a wall… everything had sped up and jolted to a halt as her daughter looked completely different altogether.

Miley's face was covered in the dried tracks of tears that had been and gone, but were obviously not far away as she stood silently looking into the reflection of the dark blacked out window. She was empty. She was hollow. Her bright blue eyes weren't blue anymore. They were dark. They were cold. They were no longer hers. She had put herself on self-destruct. She knew it. She didn't care.

She paused and her lip trembled for a moment.

"I want to dye my hair…" she whispered breathlessly to no one in particular before she paused, stopping that emotion again, "I want it to go away… I want to forget…"

Meant to Be

Her eyes blinked open from her dream as her head pounded with the effects of the alcohol. She wanted to vomit… she was desperate to vomit… Her body ached and her mind shook from the alcohol and from her reminiscent dream. She wasn't sure which was making her feel what way… she'd been through this so many times before without the added alcohol. For so many months she'd had the same dream over and over again… the same dream where he would tell her the 'truth' that now plagued her mind and decided every decision she made about him. It was pretty much his fault that she treated him this way. If he hadn't of broken her trust, his promises and her heart maybe she would have been able to give him a second chance… maybe she would have been able to overlook everything he'd done and love him again. Maybe if he hadn't broken her soul she would have never started having the one dream that broke her heart each and every time. The first few times she'd woke up crying praying to God that it wasn't true. The few times after that she just woke up panicked and confused, praying to God that it was not real. For months after that, she simply got used to it. She had sighed and opened her eyes and in her gut she had known that the dream was real. Her heart was not fixed. Lately, when she'd had the dream, she had hoped with all her might that it was true. Because even in her subconscious, she knew that it was him that had broken her. She didn't want him back.

From where she lay on her side, her eyes flickered with the confused sensation of the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. The burning warmth of the emotion in her cheeks kept her mind from the pounding ache in her head. What was wrong with her? Why did she have the one nagging thought and the forefront of her mind? Was this what alcohol could do to her? Because if it was… she didn't want any alcohol ever again…

She rolled onto her back and felt the pressure in her head release a little. The tears, however, silently increased, rolling down the curves of her cheeks, behind her ears and onto the pillow beneath her resting mind. What was wrong with her?

She attempted to be rid of them, softly shaking her head and blinking her eyes, catching the sight of her sleeping best friend next to her… her other best friend and Mandy's beloved sleeping peaceful on his front on the floor beside her.

"Mandy…" she whispered sniffing away the tears and resting a hand on the top of her bare arm to grab her sleeping attention, "Schmands?"

The soft exhale of air and the grumble of her best friend's throat alerted her that she was half-awake. Miley smiled slightly in relief. She didn't want to keep these thoughts to herself. "What's wrong, Miles?" she yawned rolling onto her back from her side a little, "Go back to sleep…"

"I had a bad dream…" Miley whispered looking over at Joe, noticing that his hand was reaching up to Mandy in the bed, their fingers entwined together lazily, but still not letting go.

"Here…" Mandy said holding out her other hand to Miley and inviting her to take it. Purely out of habit, Miley did so, feeling instantly loved and cared for… but not in the least okay. "Go back to sleep…"

Miley nodded and shifted into the sheets, "Can I ask you a question first?" She muttered, "Just one quick question…"

Mandy took a deep breath and squeezed Miley's hand for a second. Even in her half sleep, Miley was sure that Mandy could still tell that she was worrying and that she was thinking. She was her best friend. Of course, she knew everything without having to be told… just like her boyfriend. They were the best friends in the world purely because they didn't make her talk about anything that she should have talked about. They knew everything already.

The simple reminder brought more tears to Miley's eyes.

She took a deep breath and shifted closer to Mandy, needing to feel the comfort of someone else's body heat. It was so long since anyone had held her… not given her a hug, but really held her. She couldn't even remember what it felt like… but then again, she couldn't remember what many things felt like anymore… especially the good things. All she could remember was the pain and the suffering. She remembered what it felt like to cry and what it felt like to be broken in two. She couldn't remember what it felt like to be loved unconditionally anymore. She was desperate to believe that real love still existed…

"Do-Do you think…" she moved her head to rest on Mandy's pillow, "…that some people are meant for each other…?" she gulped away her emotion, closing her eyes and concentrating hard on being strong, "Do you think that there is some alternate source other than us that pairs people together and decides whether they love each other? Do you believe that we're all put here to find that one person that makes everything in the world better?"

Mandy took in a deep breath and her hand tightened around Miley's again, only this time it didn't relinquish itself. She kept on squeezing. She kept on letting her know that she was still there…

"Of course I believe that…" she muttered her breathing steady, her body almost back into it's peaceful rest, "How else could Joe have come back to me after all that time of me believing that he didn't love me? Why else didn't I fall in love with someone else in that time? It's all part of the big plan, Miles… there's one person we're all meant to really fall in love with… you just have to keep on hoping and praying that they'll come for you…" she yawned snuggling into her pillow and sighing contentedly, "Why do you ask?"

Miley removed herself from Mandy's grasp and moved back to her own side of the bed. She held her breath as she tugged one of her pillows from beneath her head and hugged in closely to her chest, covering her mouth. She muffled her sobs as they seemed to endlessly release onto her pillow. Her eyes wet with tears that quickly moistened the cotton beneath her face.

She shook her head. She felt ashamed. She closed her eyes. She saw his face. Her mind flickered to everything good for a single moment and it made her head spin as she was suddenly aware that her best friend was still waiting for her answer. Should she have told the truth? Was she sure of herself? Did she believe in herself? Did she agree Mandy? Did she believe in him?

She didn't know…

She emerged from behind the pillow and gulped away her sobs as she looked over at her best friend. She watched her, laying there peacefully, holding the hand of the boy she was in love with… the one she would be in love with forever. And for the first time… she felt a pang of jealousy. She opened her eyes and she'd never felt more awake. She shook her head and attempted not to cry again. A sad smile overcame her and she let out a sigh of disbelief.

"Because I believe it too…"

A/N: Feedback?

I hope with all my heart that you guys liked that.

*hopes* please like it :)

Love B xo