a/n: so sorry for the longggg wait:( i have been sooo busy..yeah. haha btw if u havent noticed they are a year younger than they are in real life cuz i started writing this last august. lol so sorry about that x) okay well here is chapter 22! enjoy and review please:)

CHAPTER 22

Miley's POV:
It has almost been a month since Nick and I started dating, and all of it has been amazing. It seems so much longer been though, because I guess all along we had something there, I was just too stubborn and blind to realize it. During our relationship so far, we're just hanging out and having fun. Yes, we kiss and it can be well…amazing! He is the best kisser ever, his lips are so smooth and plump, and he REALLY knows how to kiss;) We haven't gone that far with the kissing yet…yeah I'll leave it at that haha. We aren't perfect, we argue sometimes, but they were over dumb things. So today is the 4th of July, and its gonna be so fun! There's a festival on the beach today, and there's gonna be a bunch of cool stuff to do. There's gonna be a BBQ, bands, dancing and of course, fireworks. I can't wait—this will probably be a fun-romantic night for Nick and me. Funmantic, haha.

"Hey bud, whatcha up too?" my dad asked sitting next to me on the porch chairs. Oh yeah, my dad came finally about last week. He had to finish a bunch of work, and now he finally gets vacation. Not for the whole summer though, but he brought work with him.

"Nothing really," I answered "Just thinking."

"Oh, about what?" He pried…ugh parents. He smirked knowing it was probably Nick. See, none of our parents really knew about it yet, until after our date. I think they figured considering everything Nick planned. But my dad was out of the loop—that is until the day he came here…

FLASHBACK:

Nick and I were on the front porch swing seat, making fun of people we see on the sidewalks—to ourselves of course. We pretended to be talking as them; it was fun.

"Come on baby cakes we need to get to the buffet now!" Nick exclaimed in a falsetto voice for a pretty hefty woman. I cracked up.

"I can't honey, I…" I paused watching the guys actions. "Have to take this gum off my shoe. Mmm desert!" I finished in my manly voice. We both laughed at how stupid this fake situation was. "Hey, I'll be right back okay?" I said to Nick, ruffling his hair and got up.

"Wait." Nick stopped me by pulling on my waist. I turned around but before I could say anything, his lips were crashed against mine. I smiled into the kiss. "Sorry, I just wanted a kiss before you left." Nick explained sheepishly after we pulled away.

"You don't have to apologize, but sometimes you are SO corny!" I replied. Nick looked at me with a pouty face. "But it's cute." I added, receiving a content smile and small kiss from Nick. I giggled and turned around to go in, but walked right into a tall body. As I looked up, my eyes widened in embarrassment, and I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks. "Oh, umm h-hey Dad," I stuttered.

He crossed his arms and looked almost…amused. "So when were you planning on telling me you two were finally together?" He asked. I smiled and shook my head. He then pulled me into a huge bear hug—after all I haven't seen him in almost a month. After we pulled away, he said, "Just for the record, I totally saw this coming!"

"Oh dad," I rolled my eyes. He has to constantly embarrass me when I have a new boyfriend. Nick came over and shook his hand. "Well, if I had to pick a guy for my daughter, I'm glad it's you," my dad smiled.

"Thank you, sir" Nick replied being the usual gentleman he is.

"Please," My dad held up his hand "You've known me for your whole life, just call me Billy Ray." Oh wow he probably just made Nick very uncomfortable. Luckily, my dad sensed that. "Or, Mr. Cyrus is fine too. But not sir." He chuckled.

END OF FLASHBACK-

"Nothing really, just this summer and everything going on so far," I answered. He nodded, understanding. We sat there for a few more minutes in comfortable silence. I wonder where Nick was…I am falling so hard for him. I honestly believe I am in love with him. I would tell him, but this is Nick Jonas we are talking about. Shy, romantic Nick. If anything he probably has something amazing planned if he's even gonna tell me that as well. We've only been together for a month; I don't wanna freak him out. We'll see how tonight goes. Maybe with the fireworks there, we will create our own fireworks—at least I know we do every time we kiss.

Nick's POV:
"Dude, I'm freaking out I NEED to tell her!" I exclaimed, running a hand through my curls.

"Just calm down, do it tonight." Kevin assured.

"I don't know how she'll take it though," I replied.

"What do you mean? It's not bad news." Joe said confused.

"I know it's not, it's just we haven't been dating too long, and it's not like she can just fall in love with me in a matter of a month." I retorted. If you're wondering, we're discussing me freaking out about telling Miley I love her. IN love, obviously. I wanted to tell her the night I asked her out, but that would've been rushing it. I can't hold it in anymore. So tonight under the fireworks, I'm gonna go for it. If she doesn't know that she feels the same back, then that's okay. I don't wanna rush her, that wouldn't be right.

I may be young, but I really feel that I do love her—sure what does a 16 year old know about real love? It's real to me, and I'm going to be genuine with it. I'm not trying to be conceited, but I believe she loves me too—the way she looks at me, is always happy near me, and she's completely honest and herself when she's with me. Yeah, she's not afraid to speak her mind to anything or anyone. We connect on a totally different level now than we did before. At this point, I walked out of my brother's room and into mine. I'm very comfortable around Miley now, that I'm not even sure if I'm even THAT nervous to tell her my true feelings. How should I do it? Maybe start with how long I have liked her, then look her right in the eyes and tell her—okay, I'm over thinking it again. I'll just go with the moment when it happens. That will be good. The festival is a little bit down the beach, but near a part area. We are going to leave at 4 so for now I think I'll catch up on that stupid summer reading. Miley's outside anyway, we don't ALWAYS need to be with each other.

Miley's POV:
I liked moments like this where I can just lay in the sun and think to myself. I realized how incredibly unique and special Nick is from any other guy. He hasn't said "I love you" to me yet obviously, but it's kind of a good thing. Most guys feel like they have to when they are like 3 days in a relationship. The thing is, it ISNT just words—it's how you feel and you should say it when you know for a fact you mean it. Nick is totally the kind of guy to wait, which I love. He makes me feel special, 'cause being his best friend; I know he hasn't said that to a girl yet, none of his relationships were that serious. I wonder if I'm that serious to him yet…he is to me—even if we have only been dating for such a short time. So, it was almost 3 PM and I still needed to get ready for tonight. I got up and went inside to take a quick shower. When I got I went into our room and saw Nick reading a book. This wouldn't have been weird if I didn't only have a towel on. So I said a quick hello and grabbed the clothes I wanted to wear tonight, and when back to the bathroom. Around 3:45 I was finished with everything. I went back to our room to see Nick in a different outfit—a navy-collared shirt and khaki shorts. His arm muscles rippled underneath his short sleeves and that almost had my mouth watering. His head of brown hair wasn't its usual untamed curls—he had put a bit of gel in them to keep them under control, making him look very handsome. I forgot how amazingly gorgeous he was…well almost.

"Hey," I smiled walking over to him. I was wearing jean shorts with a flow-y red shirt I found while shopping with Demi a few weeks ago. Together, Nick and I looked very patriot.

"Why hello there beautiful," He smiled kissing my nose. I giggled and pecked him on the lips.

"You ready to go?" I asked. He nodded and we grabbed our phones and headed out to meet up with Joe, Demi, Kevin and Danielle.

Our parents were going to the same place, but they weren't going to be with us—more at the bar probably. Nick put an arm around my waist as we piled into one of the cars because we didn't feel like walking, haha. When we got there, I saw an eating area set up on the grass and the band stage/dance area on the sand. People were also setting blankets up around the place to watch the fireworks later. I got a happy vibe from all of this, and that put a smile on my face. In the words of the Black Eyed Peas, I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night. :) In not just one way either.

With Jemi and Niley:
While Kevin and Dani were setting up the blanket and chairs on the beach, Joe, Demi, Nick and Miley started walking around taking in the festive scenery. There were flags and red white and blue streamers everywhere. There was even a guy dressed as Uncle Sam! That got a laugh out of the group. For most of the afternoon, they spent time together. Sometimes the girls would go off to do their own thing or the couples would slip up, but mostly they were with each other. It was around 7:30 and headed back to the picnic table to eat dinner.

"This was pretty fun, huh?" Joe said as they sat down with hotdogs and salad.

"Yeah," Miley replied. "Everything is just so nice and festive…the band is pretty good too."

They hung out by the stage before listening to an unknown group, but had a total blast. Afterwards, Demi was trying to get everyone to do karaoke, but they all chickened out.

"They band had a hot drummer," Demi exclaimed carelessly. Joe gave her a look and she shot him a toothy, innocent smile. "But not as hot as you Joe!" She ruffled his wavy hair and they all laughed. Joe turned his attention to Nick who hasn't been saying much, but he noticed he kept clasping his hands together—a sure sign he was nervous or had something on his mind. Joe knew instantly what it was; he was going to tell Miley he loved her tonight. He was just planning it all out still. And that made Joe smile seeing his little brother happy.

Nick's POV:
I'm freaking out! The time we've been here has been so fun. Miley and I grew closer (if possible) and I can feel the intimacy level going up, as we became more comfortable being in this relationship. I am going to tell her tonight, right under the fireworks. I am getting nervous—which brings me back to "I'm freaking out!" If she doesn't feel ready to say it to me yet, then I would understand, but I can't help but feel like she would the one freaked out and not want to be with me anymore. I'm overthinking this again. I could see Joe smiling at me—he knew I was nervous. We are probably one of the closest brothers ever, and he somehow knows when I'm nervous even though my face isn't showing it. But, I guess I make it obvious.

So after our food, we headed out to the blanket with Kevin and Dani already there cuddling. I'm really happy for Kevin—and Joe for that matter—that he was able to find love with a special girl. All 3 of us got lucky, I guess.

"Hey guys," he said as we settled down.

"Hey," was the echoed response. I took one of the extra blankets and moved it a little farther right of the main one—just to have a bit of privacy when I tell her.

"What are you doing?" Miley asked. I smiled and took her hand, pulling her to the blanket.

"I wanted to be alone with you for this, it makes it more…romantic." I shyly smirked. She flashed me her great smile and sat down. I settled next to her, pulling her close to me.

"Nick?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Hmm?" I looked into those beautiful ocean-blue eyes of hers.

"How long did you like me?" She questioned.

"Since 7th grade," I admitted. "But it didn't turn serious until the day we left for here." I added.

"Oh," she replied. "That's cute" she giggled and pinched my cheek.

"Stop," I chuckled, gently pushing her hand away from me. "How about you?"

"Well, maybe a day after we came here…or that day I don't know. But in 7th grade I had a slight crush on you too, but then I stopped." She answered. I smirked as I mocked what she did to me seconds ago and we both laughed.

"So far, this was the best summer of my life," I smiled.

"Me too," she replied giving me a kiss on the cheek.

Suddenly, a bright flash of red followed by a loud boom filled up the darkening sky. She screamed from the unexpected firework. I had to hold in my laugh, but it didn't work.

"It's not funny!" She exclaimed, but soon she was laughing too. We calmed down and watch the sky light up with bright colors. I took this as the perfect opportunity…it was now or never.

"Miles, there's something I need to tell you," I sighed out of nerves.

"What is it?" she asked, concern filling her eyes and voice. "Is it bad?"

"No, don't worry!" I chuckled taking a deep breath. I took her hand before I continued. "This has been on my mind for a while and…I-I'm in love with you, Miley." I finally finished looking right into her eyes.

Her face had a slightly shocked expression on, and I wasn't sure if that was good or not. But then, a smile appeared across her face, making my rapidly thumping heart feel warm.

"You love me?" she asked, and I nodded with a slight smile. "I love you too. I honestly didn't think I could or even would fall this hard and fast for you, but I did." She finished staring right back in my eyes. It took a second to take it all in and my face broke out into a huge grin.

I was smiling as I connected our lips into a passionate kiss. I let my hand run through her long waves of hair, and I grazed my tongue over her bottom lip, requesting entrance. She parted her mouth slightly, granting my access. We seemed to be on cloud 9 as we kissed—well, uh made out—underneath the fireworks.

~aw:) that kinda ended abruptly, but this cuteness continues in next chapter. more intense kissing ;) haha oh please follow my twitter NickIsMyMarius:D i used to be JBLoveForeverxo but i changed it lol k so yeah commentttt..hopefully i'll post soon! i am going on vacation next week, so maybe i'll have a new one up before sunday? idk but i'll try:) k bye xo