a/n: Enjooooy my loves! (: Excuse any grammar mistakes that I made… Argh, I can't notice everything xD haha.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Miley blushed and cast her eyes downward as she felt the redness plaster across her face, "you're so corny." She giggled.
That caused a light chuckle to leave Nick's lips, "I may be corny, but it got you to blush." He smiled when Miley's cheeks reddened even more making his smile widen even more.
"Are you two ready to order?" The waitress greeted, bursting the little bubble that Nick and Miley were in.
Miley simultaneously dropped Nick's hand from her grasp and picked the menu up again, "uhm can I ask what the special is for today?"
"The special for the lady and what can I get you?" The waitress turned towards Nick, ignoring the fact that Miley had asked a question instead of actually ordering.
"Uh, I'll take the same. Thanks." Nick grabbed both his and Miley's menus and handed it to the older woman without another word. Miley sat there with an emotionless look on her face, "what's wrong now?" Nick took a sip from his glass.
"You completely ignored what I was trying to say, but it's whatever." Miley picked up her glass and held it to her lips, but didn't take a drink. She just sat there and stared at Nick's impatient fingers that were tapping in rhythm on the table. "Why do you seem so nervous?"
"What?" Nick asked, caught off guard by her question.
Miley nodded towards his hand and set her glass back onto the table, "you only do that when you want to do something and it's bugging you that you can't or something. What's bugging you?" She wondered curiously.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Nick grabbed his cup again and accidentally spilled his drink all over himself. "Shit…" He attempted to dry himself off with his napkin.
Miley couldn't help but laugh at Nick's antics and stood up from her seat with her napkin, "here, let me try to help." She sat down onto his lap and dragged the red cloth along the front of Nick's shirt. "You were always so clumsy…"
Nick sighed, "No need to remind me. I already know…"
Miley laughed again, "its okay." She looked up and met his soft brown ones, quickly getting lost in them. The two of them could feel themselves inching closer and closer to each other's face when Miley suddenly snapped out of it and got up from Nick's lap. "I think I'm going to use the restroom." She told him lamely and took off towards the ladies' room.
Nick looked around awkwardly as all eyes were all on him; he cleared his throat awkwardly and raised his hand up, "waiter, could I get another glass of water?"
Miley pushed the door open and was glad to see that she was the only one in the room. She walked up to the gleaming mirror and turned the nicely polished faucet on, running her hands under the cold, refreshing water. She wanted so badly to splash herself in the face in hopes of cooling herself off, but she didn't want to risk ruining her make-up. She knew better to have put some of it in her purse, but that thought wasn't even running through her head at the time.
She set her hands on the counter and looked herself closely in the mirror, "what are you doing Miley?" She sighed. "You're only confusing yourself and Nick…" She stared at her reflection hard as she tried to get her thoughts straight. "He's just so confusing with what he wants…" She whispered to herself. She jumped suddenly when she heard a stall door open and an elderly woman walked out. They exchanged stares for a few seconds before Miley turned and exited the bathroom.
"Poor girl, already talking to herself at such a young age." The elderly woman shook her head side to side a little before walking up to the sink to wash her hands.
Miley took her time making it back to the table, pretending to find interest in the old oil paintings of fruits and vegetables that were hung around the restaurant. It fascinated her why Nick would bring her to such a fancy restaurant so far away. There wasn't something important that they were celebrating, was there? Did she forget an important event that had happened? She racked her brain more and tried to think of what it could be, but too soon she was already back at the table.
Nick was playing with his salad, swishing the small tomato back and forth on the plate when he saw Miley sit back down at the table, "are you okay?" He asked automatically and set his fork down.
"Yeah, I just had to go." Miley lied and picked up her fork, immediately sorting through the fresh greens on her face. She stuffed a forkful of salad into her mouth and caught Nick staring at her; she swallowed, "do I have dressing on my lip or something?"
Nick watched as Miley licked her lips in hopes of getting the dressing that wasn't there off. "Yeah, you got it." He said softly, dragging his eyes down to the plate of greens. Suddenly he didn't feel so hungry at the moment; the only thing he felt like doing was holding Miley in his arm and kissing her with everything in him.
"So, how's BSU?" Miley asked, trying to spark up a conversation.
"Good." Nick replied.
"That's good… are you getting good grades?" Miley continued to ask.
"Yep." Nick answered.
Miley's eyes flickered up to Nick's face, then down to her plate as she stabbed another forkful of lettuce and placed it into her mouth. She was getting frustrated with the fact that a few moments earlier they were talking and now he would only give her one word replies.
"What are you thinking about, Nick?" Miley asked finally, the quietness finally getting to her. "You seem really quiet all of a sudden."
You. Nick wanted to tell her, but chickened out and came up with something else. "Uhm, my friend." He blurted out and couldn't quite pinpoint why he had even said that.
"Oh." Miley replied mimicking Nick's earlier actions, "that's nice."
"What are you thinking about?" Nick asked.
"About whom this friend of yours is." Miley replied taking another bite before pushing the plate and fork away from her and looking up at Nick.
Nick brought his hand up to his neck and rubbed it nervously, "well what exactly do you want to know?" He asked.
Miley shrugged, "anything that you want to tell me." She gave him a smile, hoping it would encourage him a little.
Think Nick think. You're supposed to be making this memorable not awkward. "I don't really want to talk about her." He told her lamely.
"Uhm, okay…" Miley answered, confused to why he couldn't just tell her what the girl's name was.
"I kinda wanted to talk about you." Nick suggested and Miley shot him a confused glance.
"What about me?" Miley questioned.
"What have you been up to these past few days?" Nick asked.
Moping around. "The usual. I went to my classes, listened to Demi vent about what's been happening with her boyfriend Joe and cry." Her eyes quickly widened and her mouth flew to her mouth, hoping that maybe Nick hadn't heard the last part.
"Crying?" Nick's eyes went big, "why have you been crying?"
Great, he heard me. "I didn't say crying! I said…" Miley turned to the side, "flying, dying, lying. Man, I got nothing." She sighed softly and looked back up at Nick, who was wearing a wary expression on his face. "I failed my test, so I got a little too upset about it." She lied.
"Do you really think I'm going to believe that, Mi?" Nick asked.
No, but I was kinda hoping you would. "Okay fine, it's because I found out Demi's puppy died."
"Demi doesn't have a dog…"
"How do you know?" Miley asked.
"Because if she did, you would've mentioned to me a long time ago how cute was. Want to try again?" Nick smirked and Miley sighed.
"I don't know if I can tell you yet. I-I'm confused with how I'm feeling right now…" Miley told him.
Nick just looked at her for a few seconds before nodding, understanding that he wasn't going to be able to force it out of her… yet. "Let's change the subject… How are Joe and Demi anyways?" He asked.
"Well, they were fighting the night before—oh, my God." Miley's eyes went wide.
"What?" Nick asked, getting concerned.
"They were fighting and I didn't even call her today to see how she was doing. I'm such a horrible best friend, Nick. I need to call her right now and see if she's okay." Miley got up, but saw the pleading look on Nick's face and she sat back down in her seat. "That can wait though because you drove me all the way over here and I shouldn't just leave you like that again…" She babbled on in one breath.
"Miley, I love you and I want to marry you." Nick blurted out suddenly. No. no. no. This wasn't how it was supposed to go!
"What?" Miley asked in a breathless tone. She couldn't believe what she was hearing; she was positive that her ears were playing games with her. Nick wanted to marry her?! Nick, the guy that had been best friends with her since ever wanted to marry her? The boy that she was madly in love with wanted to marry her?! "I-I… need some air right now." She got up from the table and walked out of the restaurant, the ringing of the bell from the door mocking Nick as he sat there, dumbfounded with Miley's reaction.
"Does that mean your answer was a no…?" Nick thought aloud and slumped back in his seat, sighing.
"The desert is ready sir." The waiter walked up to him grinning, "We're ready when you are." He told Nick, still smiling. It was like he wanted Nick to punch him in the face or something.
Nick just dropped his head into his hands and shook his head, "I'm so freaking stupid…"
Miley ran down the steps of the front of the restaurant and tripped over her shoes, making her fall down to her knees, the stumbles from the path skinning her knees right then. Tears of pain started to fill her eyes, but she pushed that to the back of her mind and pushed herself off of the floor and dusted her hands off before she started walking away, telling herself to push away the stinging pain that was coming from her knees.
She sat herself down at a bus stop two blocks away from the restaurant. She laid her legs across the bench and examined the damage that had happened to her knees. It wasn't that bad... nothing a few band-aids wouldn't be able to fix, but that was the least of her worries at the moment. "Nick wants to marry me…" She repeated to the quiet night air. "And I just ran out on him…." She slid her eyes shut and banged her fists against the steel bench.
A few moments later, she felt the blood rush through her hand and she held onto it closely to her chest, "why am I making this so complicated…? Obviously he loves me and I love him, but why…" She hung her head low and tears of frustration, anger, and confusion started to leak through her ocean blue orbs… "why…" She cried lightly.
Miley tried to control her breathing as her tears started to stop, but her breaths came out as wheezes and she held her chest. She closed her eyes tightly again, fresh hot tears running down her already tear-stained face. "Just stop, Miley…" She told herself as she swiped her hand across her face again. "Stop crying." She continued to coach herself, but it was doing nothing to help her.
She inhaled a deep breath and let it out shakily as she continued to breathe in and out; she tried to keep her thoughts on everything but Nick at the moment, knowing that she would burst into tears all over again if he came to thought. She looked beside her and noticed that she had left her purse at the table with Nick which meant that her phone was left there as well. Her eyes were getting glossy again and she fanned herself quickly to prevent them from coming out.
Happy thoughts… Happy thoughts… She continued to tell herself.
"Miley." That familiar voice dragged her out of her happy thoughts and she looked over at the dark figure approaching her, "a-are you okay?" They asked softly.
"Nick—" Miley's voice got stuck in her throat as she tried to speak out.
"Y-you're phone started ringing at dinner and I thought it was important, so I brought it out here for you." Nick said as he held the purse out to her. "I didn't check who it was…"
"T-thanks." Miley stammered and grabbed the purse out of his hands, not looking up to make contact with his eyes. She unzipped her purse and took out her phone, seeing that she had five missed calls from her father. "It was my dad… I should call him back, excuse me for a second." She stood up from the bus stop bench and began to walk away.
Nick nodded a little and took at seat at where Miley was originally sitting a few seconds earlier. He watched as she walked away from him and over to a quieter area, a few yards away from the bus stop bench. He took the box that was itching in his pocket out and opened it to look at the ring, "I was so sure that you would say yes…" He murmured softly as he held the small piece of jewelry between his thumb and index finger. "I was almost positive that you would…"
--
"Daddy?" Miley asked when she heard her dad answer on the other end.
"Hey darling." Billy Ray smiled, "so, when can I see that rock of yours?" He chuckled a little, thinking that Nick would have popped the question by now.
Miley felt her eyes get glazed over with tears again, "what?" Her voice cracked as she asked, trying to hide the fact that she was on the verge of tears.
"Miles, what's wrong?" Billy Ray asked, worried to why she sounded like she was about to cry.
"W-what did you mean, dad?" Miley asked.
"Hasn't Nick proposed to you yet?" Billy Ray wondered. "I mean it's been over an hour and a half since you two left the house and I was sorta expecting him to have asked by now."
Miley let out a soft whimper and held the phone tighter to her ear, "You knew about that?" She asked softly, her vision become even more clouded.
"Darling, I don't understand… What's going on?" Billy Ray questioned.
"I told him no, dad." Miley spluttered through her tears.
"What? Miles, why?" Billy Ray said astonished.
"I don't know…" Miley's chest heaved as she tried to engulf in some air, "I really don't know anymore." She shook her head as she held onto the phone, "it's just too much to take in right now."
Nick looked up from the diamond in his hand and glanced over at Miley, noticing that her face was drenched with fresh tears. He felt his heart hurt a little more, the fact that she had said no was behind him now and all he could think about was going over to where she was and comforting her, no matter how awkward it was going to be. He stood up slowly and just as he did, Miley turned and they locked eyes almost instantly. Blue boring into brown, Nick shot her a quick comforting smile, but Miley quickly turned away from him, not nearing the pain that she was instantly feeling.
Nick's smile faltered off of his face and he sighed, looking down at his feet. He noticed the small scratch on the side of his shoe, but soon his thoughts started screaming at him. Suck it up, Nick… He looked back up at Miley again and saw that she had hung up the phone and was still crying. He finally decided that now would be a good time to see if she was okay and walked over to where she was, cautiously asking, "Hey, are you okay…?" He asked softly.
Miley nodded, continuing to wipe her eyes, "Just great." She muttered. "Absolutely great."
"Then, why are you crying silly?" Nick asked as he ran his fingertips across her face, flicking the tears away from her face. He never noticed how crying had made Miley look even more beautiful that before. With the light shining down from the moon and onto her face, she looked absolutely stunning and he couldn't help but stare at her at the beauty standing in front of him.
Miley averted her eyes downward, not even able to look at his face, "Nick, I—"
"I'm not mad, Mi." Nick reassured her sadly.
Miley's lips quivered a little. Why did he have to use that nickname? She finally looked up at him and she could clearly see the sadness hiding deep within his soft chocolate brown eyes, "you don't have to lie to me because it broke my own heart." She said shakily.
Nick pursed his lips together, for a quick second he had forgot about how Miley was his best friend and could sense when he was lying, "yeah, I know." He answered truthfully. "But I didn't want to admit that." He said quietly.
Miley closed her eyes and breathed in slightly, "Nick?"
"Yeah, Mi?" Nick asked.
"Why so sudden, Nick?" Miley asked softly.
"It wasn't." Nick replied, "I had been planning this for the past few months now… and Mikayla's been helping me out with it…"
"Why couldn't you just tell me that instead of having me think that you had a girlfriend, Nick? It could've saved us all of this!" Miley's eyes got watery again, but she tried to keep herself together.
"Then, it would've ruined the surprise." Nick answered. "And I didn't really want that moment to be ruined, Mi. I wanted this to be really special for the both of us, knowing how you wanted your engagement to be the best moment of your life…"
"Stop it." Miley demanded.
"Stop what, Miles? What am I doing?" Nick asked.
"You're making me feel like a retard!" Miley yelled.
"Mi—"
"Don't call me that anymore."
"Miley—"
"Please, just take me home now." Miley asked.
"But, I—"
"Nick, please." Miley begged.
"Alright." Nick sighed, defeated. "Whatever you want..."
Miley wiped her eyes again and started walking back toward the restaurant, not noticing that Nick wasn't really trailing behind her. Nick stood there and ran his hand through his hair, tugging at the ends. Oh, how much he wanted to scream out into the quiet night right then.
Nick recomposed himself and started walking towards his car as well, seeing that Miley was already waiting for him on the passenger side. He unlocked his doors and they both slid in, getting greeted by the warmth. Conversation wasn't even an option during this car ride back home; Nick immediately turned the radio up as he pulled out of the parking lot of the restaurant, bobbing his head once and a while to the lyrics of the song. He wanted to so badly forget about how his perfect plan had been soiled into this mess. Miley, on the other hand was staring blankly out the window, trying to piece her thoughts back together.
"Miley." Nick called out to her.
Miley turned her head towards him, seeing him wear a worry expression, "what?" She asked quietly.
"Uhm, we're here." Nick nodded over to her house. Miley seemed a bit surprised, time had sure flown by, but that was probably because she had been zoning out in her thoughts.
"Oh, thanks for the ride." Miley unbuckled her seatbelt.
"Do you want me to walk you to the door?" Nick asked politely.
"If you want…" Miley whispered and opened the car door.
Nick slid out of his car and walked quickly behind Miley to keep up with her and soon they were standing at the step in front of her front door, "look, Mi—" He watched as Miley slid her eyes closed. "Can I come in, we need to talk about this." He pleaded.
"I thought we did back at the restaurant." Miley answered.
"You may have thought we did, but we didn't." Nick told her.
"Then talk." Miley opened her eyes again to look at him.
"I just want an answer." Nick sighed.
"I don't know."
"That isn't an answer, Miley. It's a yes or a no answer."
"I told you, Nick. I DON'T know." Miley repeated.
"How do you not know? Earlier this morning, you told me you loved me and then now you're not ready for a commitment or something? We've known each other our whole loves and I finally admitted that I was madly in love with you!" Nick yelled aggravated.
"That's the thing, Nick. We just admitted our true feelings towards each other and you're already asking for my hand in marriage? I love you, yes I do, but this is all going way too fast to me to take in. I'm sorry, but no." Miley's voice cracked as she pushed opened her door and walked in, closing it on Nick's face before he could get another word out.
"Darling…" Billy Ray appeared in the doorway after hearing all the yelling come from outside.
"I think he hates me now." Miley cried as she ran into the older man's arms.
"Hun, that man would never hate you. Ever." Billy Ray reassured her and placed a soft kiss on the top of her head.
--
Nick took a step down and sat down at her porch, he ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. Stupid. You're so fucking stupid. He told himself. He dropped his head into his hands and let out an annoyed groan before he looked back up to stare at his car, "I'm not giving up, Miles." He said not really directed toward anyone. "I'm not…
**
Demi used the sleeve of her long black t shirt to wipe the tears away from her eyes. She sniffled a little and stood up, straightening her clothes up a little, even though she knew that it would do nothing to make herself look any better. She walked back over to her bed and sat down, staring down at her hands. She started to toy with the ring that Joe had given her a few months back and couldn't help but smile a sad smile, thinking back to the time that Joe had given it to her.
Flashback: 4 months ago…
"Dem, could you come in here for a second?" Joe called to her from the living room. He was smiling inside and out and he couldn't wait for her to receive the gift that he had been dying to give her for the past few days.
"What is it?" Demi asked, peeking her head into the doorway to look at her boyfriend.
"Come here." Joe motioned his hands over for her to sit down at the couch.
Confused, Demi still walked into the living room anyways, "Joe, why did you call me here?" She giggled when she saw how giddy Joe's expression was. She happily sat down on his couch, "Soooo…" She urged. "What's up?"
"Well, I have a little surprise for you." Joe grinned as he held his little present to Demi behind his back. "Close your eyes, beautiful." He smiled.
"Awh, come on." Demi smiled as her eyelids slipped closed, but she peeked one eye open.
"A-a-ah. Come on, Dem. The faster you close your eyes, the faster you get to see what the surprise is." Joe told her.
"Fine." Demi huffed, closing her eyes for real this time.
Joe took a seat beside her and grabbed her hand, holding it in his. He lifted it up to his lips and gave it a small kiss, instantly smiling when he saw the returning smile appear on Demi's face. Then, he took the box that he had placed on the coffee table and took out the small ring, sliding it onto her finger gently. He grinned at how perfect it looked displaying on her ring finger.
"You can open your eyes now." Joe told her.
As soon as Demi's eyes shot open, they were almost instantly filling with tears, "Joe…" A few of the slid down her face and she didn't bother at the moment to wipe them away. There were more important things to think about.
"It's my promise to you that one day we'll get married and then you'll be mine's forever." Joe smiled.
Demi stared down at the ring sitting on her ring finger, "but we've only been dating for 8 months… Don't you think it's a little too soon to be making such big promises?" She questioned through her tears. She was beyond happy at the moment and couldn't help but smile at what Joe was doing.
"I know you're going to be the one." Joe leaned in and kissed her with as much passion as he could put into that one kiss, "I'm sure of it." He whispered against her lips.
"I love you." Demi replied as she stared at him with great intensity. "I love you so damn much." She pressed her lips to his again.
Joe's chuckled filled the quiet room as they pulled away and both their chests heaved up and down from the kiss that they had shared a few moments before, "I love you too, Dems. Forever and always, I promise." He told her, soon recapturing her kiss in yet another intense kiss.
End flashback.
Demi shook her head away from the memory and slipped the ring off of her finger and just held it in her palm when she suddenly heard a soft knock at the door. Thinking it was her dorm advisor again, she responded, "Just hang up on the guy, okay? He's no one important anyways." She said shakily.
Joe felt his heart tug a little, "but the guy's standing right here…" He responded lightly.
Demi's eyes widen and she slowly rose up, dragging her feet across the floor, "What are you doing here, Joe?" She tried to sound intimidating, but her voice came off as cracked and broken. The complete opposite of how she was trying to sound.
"Open the door and I'll tell you." Joe said softly.
Demi continued taking a few steps towards the door, "what good is it going to do for the either of us?" She asked.
"Please Demi… I'm really sorry. Just please open up please, I miss you." Joe said desperately.
Demi felt her heart clench a little more as she put her back to the door, "I can't." She said on the verge of tears.
"Why not?" Joe asked quietly.
"Because I know I'm going to get hurt all over again." She replied numbly as she slid down the door.
"You won't be the only one." Joe answered softly. "Please Demi… Please, I love you and I can't go on another minute knowing that you hate my guts."
Demi closed her eyes, the tears falling from her eyes, "Why do you have you make it so hard to be mad at you, Joe? Why?" She started crying. "Why can't you be a jerk and just walk away from me like all my past boyfriends have? Why Joe?"
"Demi… baby, please don't cry. Open the door." Joe urged.
Demi pulled herself sloppily up to her feet and turned the knob of the door, revealing a broken-hearted looking Joe dressed in gray sweats and a white t shirt, his hair was sticking up in all directions probably from him running his hand through it so much.
"Joe…" Demi mumbled sadly through her whimpering.
Joe walked over to Demi's broken stature and engulfed her in a tight embrace, "I'm so so sorry…" He whispered into her ear as he held her. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you like that. Never would I want to hurt you like that." He repeated it to her over and over again.
"I love you." Demi mustered out through her tears. "I love you so so much."
"I love you too." Joe held Demi's head back a little and stared at her tear-stained face. He brought his hand up to her face and gently wiped the water drops from her cheeks before leaning in and capturing her passionate, desperate, and loving kiss.
Demi parted from Joe and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, "I missed you."
"I missed you more." Joe smiled against her hair. "Now, please don't cry, love."
Demi smiled a little, "There are no more tears." She sniffled a little as she wiped her nose again with her sleeve.
"Good." Joe leaned in and gave her a quick peck. "What have you been doing all day?" He asked, pushing a piece of her hair behind her ear, so that he could stare at that beautiful face of hers.
"I don't think you want to know." Demi sighed, her arms still wrapped securely around her boyfriend's neck. "I was moping around all day." She told him quietly.
Joe groaned a little, "I'm sorry you had to spend your day like that."
"But it's better now." Demi smiled a little as she brought one hand down from around his neck and caressed his cheek softly. "Because you're here now and you always make my day brighter than how it was." She grinned.
"I want to take you out." Joe told her out of nowhere.
"What?" Demi asked.
"I want to take you out right now, is that okay?" Joe asked her.
"But it's so sudden—"
"Please?" Joe kissed her on the cheek and smiled.
"Okay…" Demi couldn't do anything, but agree. "Where are we going?"
"Babe, we've been dating for almost a year. You should know by now that I'm not going to tell you." Joe chuckled.
Demi groaned and leaned her head against his shoulder as they walked back into her dorm room, "you're such a party pooper." She told him with a slight smile playing on her lips. "But I still love you anyways." She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheeks.
Joe's cheeks widened as another smile appeared on his face, "What would I do without you in my life?" He wrapped his arms around her hips and planted a soft kiss on her lips.
Ah, I'm sorry for having you guys wait so long… I've been working my ass off to bring that stupid math grade up, but I don't think it will anytime soon, but I found time to write the chapter. Well, half of it was written already, so I just went back and added more... (: I feel like it was sorta a crappy chapter, I mean I don't know. Tell me your thoughts (: Niley drama /: but then Jemi cuteness haha. Criticize away pleaaase. Rumors CHAPTER 2 is currently in the works, shall be up in the next week or so.