A/N: I FAILED.
Twenty One
Chapter 15
"Come on, Miles!" Demi whines, tugging the covers off of Miley and wrapping her hands around the circumference of Miley's ankles, getting ready to pull her out of bed.
Miley groans, reaching her hands to grasp the headboard tightly, "I don't want to get up, Demi. I'm still tired from New Years last night . . ." she groans, snuggling her head into her cotton pillow more.
"How in the world are you tired? You left the rest of us in the lobby and went to bed at 9, you didn't even stay up for the New Year," Demi snorts slightly, securing her hands around Miley's ankles again, "come on, did you forget? Someone's coming to visit you today!" she pulls Miley's leg, not getting her to budge an inch.
"I'm tired, let me sleeeeeeep," Miley complains, kicking her feet a bit, struggling to get them out of Demi's grasp.
"Come on, you're not the one hung-over right now," Demi huffs, dropping Miley's ankles and pushing her hair behind her ears. I'm going to shower and help you get ready for your date with Nicholas.
"It's not a date!" Miley grumbles into the pillow, flipping over and letting her fingers skim across her exposed stomach. She drags her tank down, pulling the covers from the floor, draping them over her shoulders and sinking deeper into her sheets, "mhm," she mumbles tiredly.
-TWENTY ONE-
Mikayla tries to shake off her nerves as she and Nick enter the terminal of the airport, placing their belongings up for inspection as they step through the security wing, "Nick . . ."
"What?" Nick glances at her skeptically, staring at his ticket and up at the board, checking for their boarding time.
"I probably should have mentioned this a few days ago, but . . . I've never ridden on a plane before and I'm afraid of heights," she stands there stiff as a board as she stares at him.
Nick looks up from his ticket, realizing just how frightened she looked, "do you want to go back to school? We still have a good hour before the plane actually leaves and I don't want you to feel like I'm forcing you to come with me . . ."
"No, I want to go . . . I just don't want you to think that I'm a weirdo when I'm on the plane and I randomly jump, scream, or yell," Mikayla tells him sheepishly, her cheeks flushing a soft pink glow.
"I wouldn't make fun of you . . ." Nick answers, earning a look from Mikayla; he drops his voice a bit, "okay, maybe I would have, but I won't now that you told me," he tells her with a sloppy grin.
Mikayla rolls her eyes playfully at his answer, "thanks, I guess."
"I was just kidding around, Miki. Don't be such a party pooper." Nick drapes an arm around her shoulder, leading her towards the chairs in the waiting area, "aren't you excited?"
"Duh. I'm going to California for the first time ever. Of course I'm excited," Mikayla gushes. "And I finally get to meet your dad, and Miss Miley who you can't stop talking about," she nudges his arm, "are you excited to be going home?" She inquires.
A foolish grin appears on Nick's face and he moves his arm away from Mikayla, dropping his hands into his lap, "yeah, of course I am . . . I feel like something's good is going to happen when I get there," he shrugs limply, "my feelings never seem to be right though," he chuckles, his dark, luminous eyes glazing away to stare at the people passing by.
"Wow, you actually sort of looked like you had feelings right there," she jokes.
"Hah, you're so funny." Nick says.
"I know," Mikayla pipes in before sinking into her seat, pulling her coat closer to her thin frame as she glances over at him, memorizing just how happy he looked with that grin painted on his face and how she was the one who had put it on him, "I love you," she blurts out.
"I love you too," Nick laughs, confused to her sudden outburst, "that was really random, Miki."
"Well, it seems like I don't tell my best friend I love him enough. Is there a crime with doing that?" She questions, her eyebrow arching up playfully as she smiles.
"I guess not . . ." he sighs, leaning back into his chair. "You've been acting a lot more smiley lately, is there a new guy I should be interrogating?" his eyebrow arches up as a smirk plays on his features.
Mikayla scoffs, "if there was a guy, which there isn't," she emphasizes, "you would've met him by now."
"Mhm, right. You may be my best friend, but I know you keep things from you."
"Well, thanks." Mikayla slaps her hand across his shoulder, laughing at his playful banter. "It's nice to know that you trust me, Nick."
"I know."
-T W E N T Y O N E-
"Mileeeeeey!" Demi calls out, walking out from the bathroom, clad in only a magenta colored towel, "I told you to be ready when I come out," she sighs, walking over to Miley's bed and peeling the covers off of her again.
"Why are you so excited to go?" Miley groans, curling up into a ball, trying to bring some heat to her freezing body.
"Miley, it's been over two months since you've seen Nick in person, I thought you'd be a bit more thrilled than this," Demi's voice drops lower and she takes a seat down on the bed, "what's wrong?"
"I don't know," Miley whispers airily, "I just feel like today's not going to be a good day," she continues, snuggling into the pillow and looking up at Demi with exhausted eyes, "and I feel completely horrible right now."
"Come on. Maybe a shower and some coffee will make you feel better," Demi encourages and helps Miley sit up.
"Fine," Miley huffs and crawls out of bed, stretching her arms up above her head before slumping her shoulders, walking over to the closet and grabbing her towel and a pair of undergarments to change into, "I'll be out in 10 minutes or so."
"Take your time!" Demi calls out, her head hidden in the closet, trying to reach her favorite pair of heels at the top. Holding the towel tighter to her moist body, she pulls the shoebox down, smiling at the sight of her shoes, "Miley are going to love these . . ." Dropping her towel, she pulls on her bra and underwear, tapping her chin gently, deciding between which dress she should wear to the 'reunion.' Deciding on a dark plum colored strapless dress; she also grabs her black leather jacket to go along with it.
Pulling the dress on, she drops her jacket onto Miley's bed, grabbing the necessary items she needs to do her hair. She hears Miley humming loudly in the shower and smiles, dragging the brush through her tangled mane, plugging the curling iron into the outlet before walking over to grab her make-up bag.
Miley walks out of the bathroom, dressed in just her undergarments, towel wrapped tightly around her damp waves. She glances over at Demi, a frown bellowing onto her features, "you're going to wear a dress?" she inquires.
"Yeah, aren't you . . .?" A flash of confusion washes over Demi's lips as she stares Miley down. "Don't tell me you were planning to just go in a pair of jeans and a t shirt." Miley doesn't answer, so she takes that as a yes. "You do know that we might go out to dinner, right?"
"Might being the key word, Dem." Miley responds.
"Yeah, so it's better to be overdressed than underdressed," Demi counters.
"I don't even think Nick cares what I'm going to be dressed in." Miley retaliates.
"If you don't wear a dress, then I don't wear a dress," Demi says simply.
"But you're already in your dress; why can't I just not wear a dress?" Miley asks.
"Because unlike your 'bad' feeling, I feel like something good is going to happen today," Demi grins, "and when that good moment happens, I want you to be dressed up nicely."
"You don't even know if your hunch is going to happen," Miley argues, but pulls out one of her favorite dresses, spotting Demi's shoes in the corner on the floor, "it's like you knew I'd give in," she mutters.
"I just know you," Demi answers and turns back to finish doing her eye make-up.
Miley sighs and unwraps the towel from her hair, dropping it onto the floor as she slips on the dress, loving the feeling of how the dress clung to her curves in all the right places; fixing the straps of the dress a bit, she picks the towel up and drops it into the hamper. Running her fingertips through her hair, she walks over and stands beside Demi, a small smile forming on her lips.
"What are you smiling about?" Demi asks curiously, lining the waterline of her eyes with charcoal colored eyeliner. She finishes and turns to look at Miley, "Mi?" She waves a hand over her eyes a few times.
"I get to see Nick today," Miley says in a giddy tone, biting down onto her bottom lip.
Demi shakes her head a bit, a smile growing on her porcelain face, "I told you a shower would make you feel better."
"Yes, yes, another 'I told you so,'" Miley groans and grabs the curling iron from the table.
"Careful—"
"Shit!" Miley drops the curling iron, squeezing her hand tightly as she runs into the bathroom, "why didn't you warn me?" she cries out, the sound of running water drowning out her voice.
"Sorry," Demi screams out sheepishly, "so, I take it that you don't want to curl your hair anymore?"
-T W E N T Y O N E-
Nick awakes from his nap, looking around warily to realize that he's still in the plane and the attendant was explaining that they were going to land in a few minutes. He shifts a bit and feels Mikayla's head on his shoulder, still sleeping soundly. He gently moves her head away from his shoulder, shaking her, "Miki, we're about to land . . ."
Mikayla stirs a bit, her eyelashes fluttering a bit as she opens them, revealing her big, chocolate brown marbles, "what?" she asks groggily.
"We're about to land in Los Angeles," Nick smiles.
Mikayla glances past him and looks out the window, the sun barely setting as a smile grows on her face as well, "it's like we just time traveled back into the past . . . if that makes any sense," she laughs.
"Perfect sense," Nick tells her sarcastically as the plane comes to a halt and he stands up, immediately pulling out his phone and turning it on, a new message waiting for him from an unknown number.
Hey, it's Demi. Miley's roommate. We're all going out to dinner at The Grove and we were hoping that you could meet us there. Call me when you get this message.
Mikayla grabs her and Nick's belongings from the compartment above, looking at Nick skeptically to see him glued to his phone, "couldn't even last a simple plane ride without your phone? Come on, you can call whoever when we get off the plane itself," she latches her hand around his wrist, pulling him along behind her.
As soon as his feet land down on the ground, he dials the number in the message he got, bringing his phone up to his ear as Mikayla leads him to get their bags, "hey, uh, Demi?" he asks, racking his brain to remember the girl's name.
"Oh, hey Nick," Demi's voice drops down to a whisper. "I'm going to guess you just landed in LA?"
"Yeah," Nick replies, "is everyone with you right now?"
"No, I'm still in my room with Miley. We're about to leave; I just wanted to make sure that you'd be there on time. I wasn't sure when exactly you would land." She explains.
"Yeah, thanks for telling me. I'll be on my way over there right now," he says.
"Alright, I'll see you then. Bye."
Extracting the phone away from his ear, Nick slips it back into his pocket in time to see Mikayla lugging over her bags towards him, "so, where exactly are we staying?" she asks.
Grabbing some of the bags, Nick moves his hand to the small of her back, leading her outside and towards a cab, "well, first we're going to go to my dad's house and just drop our things off, and then we're meeting up with everyone for dinner."
"Dinner?" Mikayla asks, "you're the only person I know here, Nick and you want me to go to dinner with everyone?"
"Yes," Nick answers bluntly. "I'm sure you'll be fine. You and Miley are going to hit it off, trust me." He shoots her a reassuring smile, opening the door for her to get into the taxi.
Mikayla gives him a weak smile, sliding into the backseat of the car. The car ride to Nick's dad's house is quiet, but comfortable. She's toying with her fingers as she peers out the window, taking in the beautiful of the city that she's dreamt of visiting since from as long as she could remember. Suddenly, the car is slowing down and she turns to see Nick unbuckling his seat belt, so she does so as well. Stepping out of the car, she automatically goes towards the trunk, but Nick had beaten her taking out their belongings. She grabs her things from him and trail behind him towards the front of the house.
"Seems like my dad already left to the restaurant along with Miley's dad," Nick notes, glancing over to the empty driveway in the house next door. He digs through his pocket and pulls out a spare key, slipping it into the lock and pushing the door open, "uh, there's a guest bedroom upstairs, third door to the left," he tells Mikayla as he bustles to bring everything inside.
"Kay . . ." Mikayla answers, heading up the stairs. Halfway there, she turns to look at Nick, who at the same time turned to look up at her, "I don't exactly have a dress to wear to the restaurant," she tells him.
"Uhm, I think Miley's left one of her dresses upstairs in the room, you can go try and see if you can fit it," Nick answers, walking up the stairs and helping her with her things. He sets her bags in the room, watching as Mikayla went into the closet, coming out a few minutes later, "is it okay?"
"It's a bit loose on me, but I think I'll survive," Mikayla shoots him a small grin, "are you going to change?"
"Oh yeah, right. I'll meet you downstairs in a second." Nick says as he leaves the room and heads towards his own. Quickly stripping himself of his v neck, he pulls out a crisp white button-down shirt, spraying some cologne on before dashing out the door, grabbing the key off the rack and heading towards the garage, "Mikayla!" he calls out.
"Coming, I'm coming!" She nearly trips down the stairs, but catches herself, fixing her composure, tucking a loose hair behind her ear, "do you think this is decent?" she asks.
Nick's eyes flicker up and down her body for a second and nods, "you bring heels, but you don't bring a dress?" he lets out a small chuckle and leads her into the garage.
"I like dressing up a simple outfit!" Mikayla defends and slips into the passenger seat of his car.
"Whatever you say . . . Girls," he scoffs, pulling out of the driveway and heading towards the restaurant.
"Don't scoff when you say girls," Mikayla gawks, slapping her hand across his shoulder again, "jeez, and to think I thought you were respectful," she teases.
"Yeah, yeah, mother," Nick jokes, his hand landing on the knob of the radio, turning up the music in the car.
-T W E N T Y O N E-
"So, who were you on the phone with earlier?" Miley asks Demi as she pulls out a chair, sliding into it. "Hey daddy," she greets, leaning over and giving him a quick peck before waving hello to Nick's dad.
"Uhm, no one important," Demi smiles, saying hello to everyone at the table as she slides into the seat on Miley's right, Joe taking a seat beside her as well.
Miley shrugs lightly and her beaming oceanic irises travel around the restaurant, stopping when she sees the door open and Nick walking in. A smile draws itself onto her face, but as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared when her eyes moved down to see Nick's hand wrapped around another person's hand—that person being a girl. Her eyes seem to widen when she realizes that girl is wearing her dress as well, obviously because it seems a bit to big to fit onto her thin frame. Her eyes flicker away from Nick as he approaches the table and suddenly, she felt like she was going to be sick.
"Hey," Nick breathes out, his breath catching in his throat at the sight of how flawless Miley looked before him, but his face falters as he sees tears collect in her usually bright eyes, and now he's confused.
a/n: Bah, I am a failure because I didn't update when I said I would, but yeah, I got writer's block again, but suddenly, a gush of ideas ran through my head and I have the entire next chapter mapped out in my head. Don't you love how I didn't say if Miley was or wasn't pregnant in this chapter? Haha, but yeah, hopefully, that will be revealed in the next chapter. Reviews? Thanks so much!