Chapter 18.
Nick awoke to the sound of water running and pushed himself up into a sitting position. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and groggily called out Miley's name.
Miley came out of the bathroom with her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. Her face was free of make-up, making her eyes even brighter. She was framed in a pair of black yoga pants and a crisp white tank top that hugged her curves beautifully. "Morning sleepyhead," she said with a lipped smile.
Nick's eyes trailed over her sculpted body shamelessly and he cleared his throat, "morning," he said hoarsely. "How long have you been up?"
"Not long," she answered and walked to the door. "I woke up half an hour ago and decided to take a shower since Demi will be here in a few minutes. I'm just going to go downstairs and see what I can throw together for breakfast."
"Oh," he said with a tone of disappointment. "I forgot that you made plans with her today."
"I'll be back later in the day though. Maybe, we could go and get some dinner or something?" She suggested and he nodded slightly. "You should go back to sleep," she said suddenly. "You seem worn out; I didn't mean to wake you when I was getting ready."
"No, I want to spend breakfast with you," he shifted and was now standing. "Let me just take a quick shower and then I can help you with breakfast."
"Sounds good," she gave him a real smile and left out the door.
Nick walked into the bathroom and looked at his disheveled reflection. His hair was a tousled mess and his eyes were squinty from the lack of sleep. Turning the faucet on, he let the cold water run along his hands for a moment before splashing some on his face. He reached around blindly for a wash cloth and suddenly Miley's sweet vanilla scent surrounded him and he dried his face.
Changing his mind about the shower, he did his best to tame his hair and brushed his teeth quickly. Shrugging off his indecent appearance, he exited the bathroom and went downstairs where he dropped a quiet morning to Billy Ray. The aroma of eggs and pancakes filled his senses and he sat down at the counter.
"That was fast," Miley said without turning around. She knew it was best to not take her attention off of the food. She learned that first hand after a house fire and having to spend an entire summer working the damages off.
"I'll take a shower later on or something." He waved it off. "I wanted to be with you."
Miley turned with a smile on her face, "you barely woke up and you're already going with the cheesy comments?"
"I'm a cheesy person," Nick said with a wry grin.
Miley threw her head back a little and laughed. She scraped the eggs onto a plate and set it down in front of Nick. "Do you want some orange juice or anything?"
"No, this is good. Thanks." He smiled at her and took a bite. "Aren't you going to eat?" He asked when he noticed that she hadn't served herself any.
"I'm fine," she told him. "You eat up. Demi will be here in a minute anyways and we can go get some Starbucks."
"I guess I should go over and see how Mikayla was for the night," he said a moment after he finished his breakfast. The room had grown quiet and he stared at Miley, who had grown incredibly silent.
"Are you going to be spending the day with her?" She asked.
"We're probably just going to check out some shops and do a little sight-seeing, but I'll be back before you get home, so we can go out for dinner," he said with a grin.
"I wouldn't want to get in the way of you two hanging out," Miley whispered and grabbed Nick's plate, taking it to the sink.
"You won't be. She and I have plenty of time to hang out. I want to spend as much as time with you before I leave on Friday."
"That's in three days, Nick," She said inaudibly as she put the plate down in the sink with a loud clank. She turned and looked at him with hurt eyes. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? I would have cancelled whatever I had planned with Demi—"
"It just slipped my mind with everything that happened; I just forgot to mention it."
Miley's head snapped to look out the window when she heard Demi honk from outside. "I guess I should get going," she said and smoothed her hands over the front of her thighs. "Have fun hanging out with Mikayla."
"Mi," he stood up and stopped her at the entryway of the kitchen. The volume on the TV was louder now and he prayed that Miley's dad couldn't hear a thing. Nick caressed his hand under Miley's chin and tipped it up, so he could look at her face. "I love you."
"I love you too," she said quietly.
He kissed her forehead as his hands skimmed her sides and he gently laid his hand over her stomach.
Miley backed away from immediately at the contact. "I have to go. Demi hates it when I make her wait for me like that. I'll call you when I get back," she said and grabbed her purse from the floor in the hallway and took off without another word.
.twentyone.
"Hey there, girlfran." Demi greeted with a laugh as Miley slipped into the passenger seat.
"I really need this spa day," Miley sighed as she buckled herself and looked out the window.
"Sounds like you're going to be venting the whole car ride . . ." Demi said as she turned the radio off.
Miley surprised her by shaking her head no. "I think I'm just going to take a catnap until we get there."
"Miley, what happened when you left the restaurant last night?" Demi asked quietly.
Miley shifted in her seat and waited as Demi pulled away from the curb. She finally tore her gaze away from the kitchen window and away from Nick. "I told Nick I was pregnant and the first thing he blurted out was if it was his baby."
"What?" Demi stepped on the brakes a little too soon and the two of them jolted forward. "Sorry," she apologized when Miley glared at her. "How could he even ask such a question!" She wondered in disbelief.
"He and I got into an argument and then I was crying, and then I was angry . . . and I just gave up and asked him to stay over."
"Miley . . ." Demi started in a stern voice. "You are not one to just give up so easily when you're in a argument."
"When it comes to him, I have no willpower whatsoever. I just wanted him to hold me and forget about what was happening for a few hours. We fell asleep, but then we woke up in the middle of the fight and seemed to get ourselves into another stupid argument. I ended up ignoring him, but neither of us could fall asleep, and honestly I just wanted him close to me again . . ."
"Awwwwwh," Demi cooed loudly as she glanced at Miley with a sappy smile. "You two are just so cute." She said with a laugh as Miley scowled at her.
"He is going to spend the day with Mikayla today." She said curtly as Demi pulled into the parking lot of the Spa.
"Well, he can't just leave her at home all day. He's her friend and she's never been to California. He loves you, remember?" Demi shut the engine off and reached into the backseat for her bag.
"I guess I shouldn't have been so cold to him when we were talking, but he's leaving in three days, and she's so beautiful; I'm jealous."
"Miley, darling, have you looked in a mirror lately? You're beautiful as well, but what she doesn't have is Nick's love for you." Demi said in reassurance. "Now, stop stressing or you'll never be able to leave the spa," she said in a soft laugh.
"I just can't get it out of my head about not wanting the baby. And then this morning, he made this gesture and touched my stomach. It sort of scared me . . . all these mixed feelings."
Demi immediately stopped laughing and touched Miley's arm, "Miles, he isn't just going to pick up and leave. It's not like him."
Miley let out a sour chuckle this time and looked down at her flat stomach and then back up at Demi's concerned gaze. "Funny you say that, because he did, when he left to Boston three years ago."
Demi sighed, "alright, enough of this. We need to get you inside as soon as possible." She gave Miley's arm another soft squeeze and then got out of the car, waiting as Miley got out.
Walking into the Spa, Miley already felt a sense of relaxation hit her tense body. Following behind Demi and one of the ladies, she was lead into a scented room. "A massage?" Her eyebrow curved and her eyes narrowed at Demi.
Demi shrugged innocently, "I sensed that you need to work those kinks out a little."
Miley shook her head, trying her best to hide her smile as the masseuse handed her a thick white towel for her to wrap around herself. "I don't know if I feel comfortable undressing."
Demi gave her a look, "you're kidding me, right? We're at a spa. You have to be naked to do half the things in here." Her cheeks streaked red as a male attendant walked in. "That didn't sound right, did it?" she asked Miley, who silently shook her head no. "I'm just going to go change into my towel . . ." she laughed nervously and tugged Miley along into one of the stalls.
"Did you get Joe with those smooth words of you?" Miley joked.
"Oh, shut it." Demi laughed and stripped down, quickly wrapping the thick towel around herself. "I was thinking of going to the mud bath first, but I want you to get a massage first."
"Okay, mother," Miley said in mockery. She waited until Demi left the stall and slowly began to undress herself. She looked down at her stomach once again, knowing she was really over-thinking everything. She wrapped the towel around herself and dropped her clothes into her bag. When she walked out from the spa, she was staring at the beautiful face of one of the male masseurs.
"Whenever you're ready," the attendant said in a tone that made her toes want to curl. He gestured to the massage table.
Miley's hands were shaking with nerves and she unsheathed herself of the towel and quickly laid down to feel the towel covering her from her lower back to mid-thigh. "Just pretend he's gay," she told herself and closed her eyes as the man's warm hands moved up and down her bare back. Her body melted into a puddle and her thoughts melted away as well as a low contented sigh left her lips.
"Wow, you're glowing," Demi whispered an hour later when Miley had left the room.
"It's the oil," she looked down at her shiny arms and then back at Demi.
"Well, throw away that compliment why don't you." Demi scoffed playfully and linked her arm into Miley's. "I say we go and get a facial."
"Do you think it's like those masks on TV where you can scoop some onto a slice of cucumber and eat them?" Miley asked curiously as Demi led her into another scented room. There was a small waterfall on the other side of the room and to her imagination; she felt her troubles washing away.
"Don't eat the mask," Demi warned when they were seated.
"Well, why don't you just suck the fun out of every thing."
Demi laughed as one of the attendants rubbed some cooling cleanser over her face. "Feeling better?" She asked in a low murmur.
"Much," Miley let out a sigh of content.
Demi's eyes peeked open when she heard Miley eating something from beside her.
"No one said anything about eating the cucumbers without the mask," Miley shrugged as Demi rolled her eyes. "Is this stuff supposed to make my face feel all hard?"
"Yes," Demi answered and cracked open an eye again. "So, when they wash it off, your face will feel soft and supple."
"Either you've been here before or you really know everything about everything."
"Joe took me here a few months ago after I overstressed on my Midterms. It helped a lot actually . . . he and I even went out and got some of the massaging oils, and I'll just leave it at that." She chuckled as Miley made a few noises.
"That was a lovely bit of information, Demetria. Next time Nick and I have sex, I'll share all the gory details with you."
"Pft, it's not like you even told me you guys did." She gave up in trying to keep her eyes closed and stared at Miley. "I hope it was special."
"I was drunk and didn't even remember the next morning," she murmured.
"But, you eventually did and that's what matters. You love him and he loves you." Demi patted Miley's hand. "Now, forget I even brought it up. I don't want you to feel like these few hours of relaxing were put to waste."
"I love you, Dems."
"I love you too, Miles."
.twentyone.
Mikayla turned over on Nick's bed and propped her chin on top of her knuckles, unable to tear her attention away from another framed photo of Nick and Miley from their younger years. Who was she to think that she could compare to Miley when it came to Nick's love? Dropping her head onto the comforter, she sighed loudly.
"Well, this is creepy."
Mikayla's head shot up and she quickly got up from Nick's bed. "I didn't sleep in here if that's what you were wondering."
"No," Nick chuckled. "So, does that mean you were trespassing into my room?"
"No," Mikayla stuck her chin up defiantly. "It's just, I've never seen your bedroom before, so I wanted to see how the younger Nick was like." She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced around the room again.
"I was a boring child."
"My exact words when I walked in here." She laughed as he gave her a dirty look. "Have you eaten yet?"
"Yeah, I had breakfast with Miley half an hour ago. How about you? We can go downtown and check out a few of the shops they have there."
Mikayla's eyes lit up, "shopping?"
Nick rolled back and forth on the balls of his feet and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I'll suck it up for a few hours and be your little shopping buddy."
Mikayla squealed like a kid on Christmas morning. "Let me go get dressed and we can head out," she beamed with excitement.
Nick chuckled, "calm down."
Mikayla's smile dropped, but her eyes were still dancing. "Do not tell me to calm down. I always dreamt of shopping here in LA and now it's actually happening."
"I was kidding, Miki." Nick was still grinning as it was Mikayla's turn to glare at him. "I'm just going to take a quick shower, but I'll probably be done before you even finish getting ready."
"Haha, shut up and just go shower." She turned on her heel and continued down the hall and into the guest bedroom. Her heart was pounding not only because she got to see the gorgeous clothing that LA had to offer, but because she was getting to spend a few hours with Nick.
Deciding on a simple white flowly shirt and a pair of denim jeans, she sprayed herself with the perfume that Nick always complimented her on. She pulled her dark locks back into a side pony tail and kept her make-up light a simple with some mascara and lip gloss. Nick liked girls with natural faces remembering him telling her so after he tried to get off topic from their all night study session for a Chem test.
She was falling, and she was falling hard.
a/n: I really want to finish this story up by the time I start school this fall, and I'm trying to write as much as I can with the ideas I have. Reviews? :)