a/n: Reason why this story is rated M; There will be implied scenes throughout the story. References towards alcohol, drugs, etc. Profanity will be used in the story, but very minimal. Enjoy (:
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Twenty One
Chapter Four
Phone Calls
It was past midnight and Demi knew she would be in a big mess of trouble if Miley caught her sneaking back into the dorm room this late. Demi slipped her key into the hole and pushed the door open lightly, wincing a little every time she heard it creak. She was surprised to see that Miley had fallen asleep.
She took in a sigh of relief when suddenly Miley's lamp light came on. "Well, hello there." Demi chuckled nervously. "I thought you were sleeping." She slipped off her shoes, trying not to look up at Miley's intense gaze.
"I'm not going to yell at you." Miley said quietly; Demi could tell she was rolling her eyes.
That's when Demi's eyes shot up to look at her friend. "Are you okay?" She asked automatically.
Miley nodded, "Yeah, fine. How was your date with Joe?" She gave Demi a tight-lipped smile; she was happy for Demi, but it was just hard being happy for her. She caught Demi looking at her strangely, "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, confused.
Demi just studied Miley's features, trying to find if she was hiding something. She didn't find anything. Miley looked okay? "Oh, no reason… Joe and I had a really fund time. He took me ice skating and it was so romantic." She sighed dreamily, taking a seat on her made bed. "It was so much fun, Mi."
Miley sat up crisscrossed on her bed and turned to Demi. "Oh my god, details. What else happened?" She smiled; the first actual smile that she had given anyone in a really long time. It surprised her a little, but she felt really happy for Demi.
Surprised by Miley's sudden happiness, she continued telling her about her wonderful night out. "He wanted to take me out on a drive, but he knew about the campus curfew, so he dropped me off in the parking lot 10 minutes ago." Demi bit her bottom lip. "I love him so much, Miley… like I never knew I'd fall for a guy like him. He makes me so happy." She beamed, but quickly stopped herself and looked over at Miley.
Miley had her thin arms wrapped around her knees, her chin leaning on top of them. "Why do you keep looking at me like that?" She laughed. "I'm so happy for you Dem. Joe's one lucky guy to have such an amazing girlfriend like you. Your guy's anniversary is next week isn't it?" She asked ignoring Demi's staring.
"Yeah, it is. Next Friday, but enough about me, what did you do?" Demi grabbed her pillow and hugged it as she waited for Miley to reply.
Miley shrugged, "You know the usual. When you were gone, I just took a small walk around the campus. Went to Starbucks and then saw Emily, so I was hanging out with her friends were a while and stuff." She mumbled.
"That was it?" Demi asked.
"Yeah, nothing else." Miley looked away, hoping Demi wouldn't push it.
"Oh, that sounds fun. Emily's really nice." Demi smiled, and then glanced down at the trash can, noticing something. "Hey, what is this?" She asked, reaching down to grab the trash bin.
"Uhm, it was my English homework." Miley panicked, grabbing the bin out of Demi's hands. "I messed up on it, so I ripped it up and threw it away, so that Mr. Walker wouldn't magically find it." She lied.
"Well, if you already ripped it up, why can't I see it?" Demi asked, grabbing the trash can back from Miley.
"Because since I already ripped it up, there's nothing to see." Miley pulled the trash bin back.
"Just give it to me." Demi pulled.
"I don't have to." The pair continued to fight for the possession of the bin. "Just give it, Demi!" Miley said, getting annoyed as they continued to argue.
"Why don't you just give it to me, huh?" Demi asked as she pulled hard, making Miley fall onto the floor, but her grasp was still firm on the bin. "We look like retards." She mumbled as she still continued to fight Miley for the bin.
"I don't really care." Miley then, grabbed a handful of the paper in the trash can and got up. "Ugh!" She threw her hands up in the air, frustrated. "There's nothing to see!"
"Apparently there was since you just grabbed a fistful of whatever was in the trash can!" Demi stood up as well. "What else were you doing when I was gone, Miley? Were you talking to Nick or something? Is that why you're suddenly so happy?" She asked.
"Nick doesn't always have to be the one to make me happy, you know!" Miley screamed. "And for your information, I was crying when you were gone. Crying! Happy?! I told you, okay. Now, get out of my fucking face!" She threw the scraps of paper in Demi's face, too furious to care or not.
Demi fumed, "You're such a drama queen!" She yelled, walking over to the bathroom. "I wish you were never my roommate!" She walked into bathroom and slammed the door.
"Well, I wish I wasn't yours either!" Miley yelled, trying to keep her voice even, knowing the waterworks would hit her any second. She sat down on her bed and grabbed her pillow. She put it over her mouth and screamed as loud as she could into it, letting out all her emotions. She began to cry, hot, angry wet tears. "I hate everything." She screamed, muffled by the pillow.
She and Demi had never got into an argument about so stupid before. It made her mad, but it made her feel so dumb that she was going to throw her friendship with her away over something like this. She heard the bathroom door open, but she kept the pillow over her head, not ready to say anything to the girl that she had called her best friend for the past three years.
"Miley…" Demi croaked softly; she had been crying as well. "Look, I'm sorry, but I think this was a stupid fight. I don't want to lose you as a friend over this. I should've just dropped it."
Miley took the pillow off her face and sat up, sighing. "I'm sorry too. I should've just told you what happened instead of acting like a complete mental person." She got up and hugged her tightly.
Demi hugged back and the tears began to spill out the pair's eyes. "I was just worried about you." She whispered into Miley's ear.
Miley pulled back, "I know." She gave Demi a weak smile. "I was just trying to stay positive for you, so that when you came back. I wouldn't have burst your happy bubble, but I guess my plan kind of back fired on me." She sighed again.
"Hey, you don't have to act happy when you don't want to be, Miles. I understand what you're going through and if you want to cry, just go on and cry. I may sound like I get annoyed and stuff, but I'm just trying to look out for you, but if you feel like you just need to, then I'll be right here by your side, crying with you if you want me to." Demi smiled. "I'm right here if you need me."
Miley smiled back at her, "Do you want to know what else I did?" She asked.
Demi nodded, glad that Miley was going to tell her. The two of them walked back over to Miley's bed and sat down. "What happened?"
"Well, when you and Joe were in the courtyard. I looked out and saw the two of you looking all lovey-dovey." Miley blushed. "And I kind of got really sad about it and I dug out this letter I wrote to Nick two years ago, but I never sent it to him. I read it and just got all worked about it again and I ripped it up and threw it away. Hence, the thing I didn't want you to find out." She said in one really long breath.
"Are you okay?" Demi asked, concerned.
"Yeah, surprisingly, I am." Miley reassured her. "I just don't know how to feel anymore. I'm happy, but then I'm sad. I'm just flat out confused." I laughed.
"Well, maybe you should sleep on it. Tomorrow's Saturday, I could call Joe and ask if he could give us a ride to the nearest mall or something." Demi stifled in a yawn.
"Sounds good to me." Miley gave her a tired smile. "Go get ready for bed. It looks like you could fall back onto the floor." She giggled.
"I know." Demi said, already half-asleep. "Night Miles." She got up.
"Night." Miley said tiredly and got underneath her covers and within a few seconds of her head hitting the pillow, she fell into a deep slumber even though she could hear Demi rummaging around the room.
**
The sudden bright light from the sun shined in through the curtains and the two brunettes awoke, wiping the sleep from their eyes as they yawned. They turned to each other and burst into a fit of giggles.
"That was creepy." Miley laughed, getting up. "We woke up at the same time."
"I know right?" Demi giggled again before jumping out of bed. "I call shower!" She made a beeline toward the bathroom.
"Not fair!" Miley whined. "You always get to shower first."
"That's why you're supposed to call it right when you wake up." Demi stuck her tongue out and shut the door.
Miley mumbled incoherently to herself and walked over to the closet, flipping through the hangers of clothing. "Yuck… ew… ugly…" She continued flipping until she stopped at a plain white t shirt. "Hello friend." She pulled if off the hanger and threw it onto her bed. She kneeled down and picked up her pair of favorite jeans that she had thrown there a few nights before.
She brought it back over to her bed and laid down; knowing Demi would take forever in the bathroom. She decided to see if Nick was up or something. She seriously had a problem… She brought her laptop to life and waited—patiently this time for AIM to load up. Nick this time had IMed her first.
"Smiles! :)" Nick typed in happily.
"Hey…" Miley responded.
"What's up?" Nick wanted to sound casual, but he was dying to know what was going on with Miley.
"Nothing. Waiting for Demi to get out of the shower… like usual. ._. What about you?" Miley answered.
Nick was confused. Was she mad at him or something? "I'm just waiting for my friend to show up, so we can go to Starbucks. (:"
"That's cool." Miley replied.
Nick frowned; Miley never answered less than a sentence reply. Ever. "Yeah… I think that's her right now at the door. I'll talk to you later." He signed off quickly.
Miley sighed again. "He probably does have a girlfriend… Ugh, get over it Miley." She told herself, quickly shutting off the laptop. "I need to go for a walk." She scribbled a quick note for Demi and left it on the closet door, knowing she would spot it when she came out. She slipped on a pair of socks and tennis shoes before throwing her keys and phone into her pocket. She looked around, making sure she had everything she needed before dashing out the door.
Forgetting to bring her ipod, Miley just jogged around, listening to the sound of birds chirping and the slight breeze that was blowing against her face, making her shiver a little. She forgot how the temperature was getting colder and cursed herself for not bringing a sweater. She checked what time it was and decided to sit down and just watch the sky for a while.
She took a seat onto the semi damp grass and just propped her chin on top of her knees, enjoying the quietness and the fresh air that was blowing through her hair. She sat there, just thinking about stuff that she wished would've left her mind for an hour or two, but knew it would never be able to.
"Maybe it's just best to forget about Nick for a while and just be myself again…" She mumbled to herself.
**
Nick walked over to his door and answered it quickly.
"Hey Ni—" Before Mikayla could finish her greeting, Nick had pulled her inside. "Jeez, what's up?" She asked, straightening out her shirt.
"I think I should book my flight a little earlier than planned." Nick paced around his room, not even looking up at his guest.
Mikayla pushed some of Nick's clothes onto a chair and sat down on the messy bed, "Can I ask why?"
"Well, Miley acted a little weird on AIM today and I feel like I should get down there as soon as possible before I chicken out." Nick sighed, finally looking over at Mikayla.
"How was she acting weird and you can't chicken out, Nick!" Mikayla sighed. "You can't and I'm not going to let you chicken out."
"Well, she wasn't replying like how she normally does." Nick said sheepishly.
"Seriously Nick?" Mikayla gave him a look.
"What? She's never done that before. I think something's bothering her." Nick explained.
"Why can't you call her then?" Mikayla asked.
"Because I know she's not going to tell me over the phone." Nick replied.
"You don't know that." Mikayla reasoned. "You don't know until you've actually called her." She looked around for his phone. Spotting it on his desk, she got up and handed it to him. "Call her." She instructed.
Nick sighed before taking the phone out of Mikayla's hand. After dialing the number with ease, he walked out of the room to have more privacy. He wasn't embarrassed to talk on the phone in front of Mikayla, but he always had this weird phobia of not wanting people to watch him when he was speaking on the phone with something. It was weird ands he never really got why he was like that. He waited patiently as he listened to the ringing drone out and no one pick up. He was just about to pick up when he heard Miley's tired voice answer.
"Miles." Nick said, relieved to hear her voice.
"Sorry I'm not here right now, but if you would leave a message. I'll be gladly get back to you when I can. BEEP." Nick listened to the voicemail as it ended. He sighed and shut his phone before redialing another number. "Hello, I would like to buy a ticket to Los Angeles…"
Suddenly Mikayla's head popped out of his room, "Nick, what the hell do you think you're doing?! You're supposed to be talking to Miley not the person at the airport desk!" She said angrily.
Nick quickly finished buying his ticket before slowly turning to his fuming friend. "Well, she didn't pick up and I think it's better if I do fly down a bit sooner than planned, you know to practice what I'm going to do…" He answered nervously.
"If you think that's best, then okay. I can't change your mind about going when you planned on going." Mikayla sighed. "Get your ass in here and start packing, Gray." She smirked and went back into the room.
Nick shook his head and chuckled before re-entering his messy dorm room. He opened his mouth to say something, but thought otherwise and quickly shut his mouth before Mikayla noticed.
"You need to call me the moment she says yes, Nick." Mikayla beamed. "I wanna be able to like hear all her happy crying in the background." She giggled a little.
"IF she says yes, Miki." Nick said, stuffing clean t shirts into his bag. "I'm not sure if she would say yes."
"Oh, come on. You've known each other your whole lives. She's bound to have some feeling towards you, Nick. If she doesn't… no offense, but I think she's blind." Mikayla stated. "I mean you're a loving and caring man; if she says no to you, I think I might have to fly down and knock some sense into her as well…" She helped Nick pack as he shuffled into the bathroom.
"I know you wouldn't do that because if you did, I would never forgive you." Nick said aloud from the bathroom as he rummaged through the drawers for his things.
Mikayla rolled her eyes as Nick reappeared into the room, "I was just saying that on sarcastic terms. Do you really think I'd fly down to do that?" She asked.
"Sadly, yes, I know you would." Nick answered, throwing a few more things into the bag before zipping it up.
"Yeah, sadly, I would." Mikayla laughed. "But no worries. I wouldn't do that to the love of your life." She cooed as she pinched Nick's cheek.
Nick's cheeks reddened and he turned away from Mikayla to hide it, "Never do that again… Okay, I'm packed." He rubbed the back of his neck and sat down on his bed.
"Yeah and when is your flight exactly?" Mikayla asked as she tried to hide the laugh she was holding in.
"4 hours…" Nick answered.
"Smooth, Nick. Real smooth." Mikayla chuckled. "Now, you can take me out to Starbucks."
"Oh, yay." Nick said sarcastically before getting pulled out of the room by Mikayla. "You do know I'm not actually excited to take you to get Starbucks right?" He asked as they walked towards the elevator.
"Of course I know, but do you think I care?" Mikayla asked.
"Good point." They went through the same conversation every time they had gone out for Starbucks. He wondered if Mikayla had noticed and they were just having the conversation for fun or if she really didn't notice at all.
"Thinking too much again, Nick?" Mikayla asked when she pushed the elevator button for them to go down to the first floor.
"Yeah." Nick replied.
"Well, don't strain your brain about it. Seriously, Nick, everything will go as planned. I promise and this is one promise that I will keep." Mikayla told him.
"I know I know, but I'm just a person who worries a lot." Nick replied.
"No need to remind me, Nick. I figured out on my own." Mikayla patted Nick on the shoulder while looking at him with an overly caring look.
"You're scaring me." Nick tried to scoot away.
"Hey, I'm just working on talking more closely." Mikayla replied, her hand still on his shoulder.
"You've been watching that show again, haven't you?" Nick asked, peeling her hand off of him.
"Mhm. Grace is my favorite character!" Mikayla replied in a cheery voice.
"The thing I don't get is why you have to act like her when you told me that you would never be a doctor in your life." Nick said.
"Oh, you're right." Mikayla shrugged. "I changed my mind."
"You're weird." Nick told her.
"Well… your last name is Gray." Mikayla replied. They both stood there in silence for ten seconds before turning to each other; both wearing serious faces, they both busted out laughing.
"Okay, that… was the stupidest… minute of my life." Mikayla said between laughs.
"I know right? It was random too." Nick chuckled. "We're such weirdos."
**
Miley groggily got up from her spot that she had been sitting in and tiredly jogged her way back to her dorm. Maybe it was a bad idea that she had went on the jog when she could've spent the time in bed, cuddling with her pillow. She yawned and went into the room, not surprised that Demi hadn't left the bathroom yet. She walked over to where she left the note and threw it into the trash.
"Demi, hurry up!" Miley banged on the bathroom door loudly. "You've been in there for ages!"
"Hey, I came out and you weren't here." Demi swung the door open. "I just came in here to finish doing my make up." She defended.
"Well, my bad." Miley put her hands up. "Now out." She shooed Demi out of the bathroom.
"Someone's pushy." Demi called out.
"Well, someone's sweating and feels stinky." Miley replied.
"Okay, ew. Too much information." Demi wrinkled her nose up in disgust. She could hear Miley's laugh coming from the bathroom. She sat herself down on her bed and pulled out her phone, surprised to see that Joe hadn't sent her a morning text message like he always did.
She opened up a new message and typed in what she wanted to say before pressing the send button. She was just about to set her phone down when her phone vibrated. Thinking it was Joe, she was ready to get greeted by his message, but got disappointed when she saw it was a message from Miley.
Confused to why she was sending a message when she was just a room away, she opened it.
"You left your nasty old socks in here _." – Miley
"Oops? Haha, pick them up for me, will ya?" – Demi
"Hell no! If you think I'm going to pick them up, you must be crazy…" – Miley
"Just take your shower Miley :p and I'll get them after." – Demi
Fifteen minutes later, Miley exited out the shower with a towel around her body. "How could you forget your stanky socks?" She asked Demi as she walked over to her bed where she had put the outfit she was going to wear.
Demi shrugged, still looking at her phone. "I just forgot to."
Miley quickly slipped on a fresh pair of bra and panties before looking over at Demi, "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked.
"Nothing…" Demi sighed. "Do you think it's alright if we just walk to the mall by the campus instead of going to the other one?"
"Yeah, of course. Joe can't take us or something?" Miley asked as she pulled her favorite pair of jeans over her lean legs and slipped into her t shirt.
"I don't know. He isn't answering any of my calls or texts, Mi." Demi replied.
Miley walked over to Demi and draped her arms around her shoulder. "Maybe he's still sleeping? Come on, he'll call you later." She pulled Demi up from her seat. "Today's a happy day, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember." Demi tried to reply happily, but failed to.
"Come on… I'm supposed to be the negative depressed one and you're supposed to be the happy cheery one." Miley tried, but got no response from Demi. "Demi." She shook her arm a little. "He's going to call you back. Remember, he loves you."
Just then, the ring tone that Demi had set for Joe rang throughout the room. "It's him!" Demi said happily before answering.
Miley rolled her eyes playfully and gave Demi a small shove, "Told you so." Demi stuck her tongue out to Miley and took a seat down on her bed, continuing to talk to her boyfriend.
Miley took her own phone out of the purse she had placed it in, surprised to see a missed call from Nick. She checked when he called and saw that it was when she was sitting down. She quickly called him back, wondering why he had called in the first place when they had spoke to each other on AIM 15 minutes before that.
"Hello?" That wasn't Nick's voice… "Hello?" They repeated.
"Is Nick there?" Miley swallowed the lump in her throat. He did have a girlfriend. It didn't hurt as much as she thought it would, but it still did. Why didn't he tell her? Why didn't he even give her a sign or something that he had one?
There was some shuffling before Nick's voice filled the speaker. "Miles…"
"So, who's the lucky girl?" She didn't mean for that question to come off as bitter, but she was just frustrated and confused and it just came out the way it did.
a/n: I had really bad writer's block when it came to the Nick/Mikayla parts. Gah, they're just so hard to write... Yes, Jemi's in here and the story's going to pick up in the next chapter when Miley's birthday rolls around. Tune in… sorry for the wait. Next chapter will definetly be up when I get 15 reviews (: Thanks so much for all the nice reviews I received! :D