A/n: This is really long…

M rated events will occur below.

Vamoosing Hearts

Chapter 8

What a laughable question.

Who am I really?

I'm the girl that was forgotten and ignored.

I'm the weird girl down the street that no one would talk to.

I'm an inverted image of the girl I used to be so that you'll see me for who I'm pretending to be and like me for what I've changed myself into.

He's so close that I can taste the mint on his breath as it slides from between his lips against mine. And internally I struggled to stop myself from kissing him and rolling onto him so that I can hold him captive while I explain that I'm the little girl who has loved him for a lifetime and who thinks of him every single day…but not the person he has become: the person I built up in my mind and adored unconditionally for all of these years.

I could picture telling him this and the scenario goes one of two ways: He gets angry and screams and causes a scene, flipping out and humiliating me.

Or he'd kiss and tell me that he's missed me and we'd make love under the moonlight…

I have got to stop reading so much Austin.

"You think we've met before?" I asked.

The truth was just sitting in my throat, but the thought of him pushing me away and not getting to spend the next two weeks with him overrules my honesty and dignity.

"You should probably save your conspiracy theories for when you've had a good night's sleep. I'm… Miley." It wasn't my fault he couldn't put two and two together. And I did tell him the truth, in essence.

He shook his head and squinted at me in the darkness. "I'm serious. It's how you talk and your hands…they get all excited and shit when you talk about England or the moon. I…I know I've seen it before."

And he has. One time when my mom brought me with her because she was having coffee with Nick's mom we were coloring and I drew the British flag and a map of Europe, specifically coloring in England and putting gold stars around it and different paths from one country to the next that I wanted to visit. I basically mapped out my whole stay when I was ten years old. I had no idea why I was so fascinated by it.

"Why did you draw a map?" Nick had asked me and I rolled my eyes.

"It's not just a map. It's my future. One day… when I'm done with high school, I'm gonna go to England," I told him and smiled widely. He looked at me like I was crazy, cocking one eyebrow.

"You already know what you're doing once you're out of school? I don't even know what I'm eating for dinner!" He exclaimed and I'd looked at him, biting my lip.

"Well neither do I… but that doesn't mean I can't plan ahead…" He just stared at me and shrugged then went back to coloring.

I'm surprised he didn't say anything when I told him I wanted to move to England sometime in our first week of the deal… I was more hurt than surprised.

Then another time our moms were hanging out we were looking at a book he had on astronomy. I took in everything I could. And he just stared at me in awe as I got excited over the pictures of Saturn's rings and nebulas.

Did he lose his memory somewhere along the way to then and now?

Fast forward 8 years and there we were.
I shrugged and looked back up into the sky. "I get told I look like this British actress a lot. She's about our age. She's a skinny bitch, though. Maybe that's why?"

"Maybe," he murmured and turned his face towards the moon again.

"Out of curiosity, though…who did you think I was?"

His response was quiet. "Somebody I knew when I was younger? I don't know…You know how you can go to the park or something and there's somebody a few yards away and they look like somebody you think you might know, but there's just enough of a difference in them that you think twice about approaching them? A hair cut or ten pounds..."

"So, do you think you'll forget who everyone is when you come back for our ten year reunion? I'm sure hair will be cut and people will be fatter."

Nick smiled sadly. "I'd know every single one of these people." I watched his eyes cloud over a bit before he sighed. "I mean, I'd know you anywhere if you looked like this forever."
It was too much and I press my hand to my mouth to stop from screaming at him that he is a liar and a hypocrite. Instead, I took a steady breath and blinked back tears. "I'm tired. I think I'd like to head home now." Standing to my feet, I felt his hand grab onto my wrist.

"Wait, uh, I never e-mailed you the lab," he said and I turned to face him.

"Okay, e-mail it to me after you drop me off."

"I would… if I wrote it," I froze and then sighed.

"Okay… well then we better go up to your room and write it then," I breathed and he nodded once and grabbed his drawing pad before following me inside.

I woke up sometime in the night forgetting where I was. Because I wasn't in my room. I lifted my head up slowly and realized I was on Nick's floor, his laptop was in front of my face, lightly glowing as the screensaver moved around the screen. I groaned at the light and sat up to lean against the foot of his bed, rubbing my eyes. I looked to my right and he was sprawled out on the floor, using his open science book as a pillow. I sighed and smiled at how cute he looked when he slept.

I moved the mouse on the laptop, making the screen come to life. My eyes glanced at the time once but I did a double take as soon as I processed the numbers.

1:57 am.

My eyes grew wide and I cursed out loud. "Shit!" I half whispered and searched around for my phone. When I found it I pressed the unlock button, only to realize it had died.

"Fuck. Nick," I jostled him and he moved around a little then settled again. So cute… I quickly snapped myself out of it and pushed his shoulder with my foot hard.

"Euhhh…" he groaned tiredly and I rolled my eyes, even though I just wanted to lie next to him and observe his every move.

"Wake up," I whispered loudly and shoved him again. "Nick! Wake. Up!" I shook him repeatedly and his eyes slightly opened before he glared at me angrily and groaned again.

"What…?"

"It's 2 am, we fell asleep! I have to get home or I'm dead!" I exclaimed and he immediately got up, grabbing me with him.

He pulled into my driveway with a screech of his tires and every light in the house was on. I ran out as soon as the car stopped. I heard his car door slam shut and he was right on my heels as I barged through my door.

"Dad she just walked in!" My sister announced, walking down the stairs. She looked at me and shook her head then looked down and walked away. My dad came into view and I watched as he sighed out of relief and pulled the phone away from his ear, hanging up.

"Oh thank God, you're alright," he engulfed me in a hug and I was suddenly confused. Why wasn't he yelling and screaming? I hugged him back questioningly and after a second let go.

"You're not mad? I totally passed curfew," I said and he shook his head.

"I'm mad but I'm just happy nothing happened to you," I guessed he was just really worried because of my rough past and I've never stayed out that late before. He looked past my shoulder and I turned to see Nick standing there with his hands in his pockets. "You must be Nick?" My dad assumed and Nick nodded and shook his hand politely as my dad brushed past my side.

"Nice to meet you ," Nick said and my dad nodded.

"Next time… make sure she calls," my dad said lowly and Nick nodded.

"Yes, sir."

"Well, nice meeting you Nick. Miles, I'm going to bed now that I know you're safe. Goodnight, kids," he announced and lazily walked away. Once he was totally gone and we heard his bedroom door close and Marissa's door close, I looked at him with my mouth agape, his eyebrows raised, surprised.

"Oh my god!" I whispered and walked closer to him, a smile forming on my face. "He was totally chill, I wasn't expecting that!"

"Me either…" He said and smiled, relieved that my dad didn't explode. "But I should go now, it's late." I felt my heart drop at thought of being away from him and slightly frowned.

"Stay," I said simply and he looked at me confused.

"What?" He asked and I bit my lip nervously.

"Stay the night… please." I mentally kicked myself at how desperate sounding that came out.

He sighed. "I can't."

I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hands in mine, moving closer to him, our chests just centimeters apart. "Why not?" I whispered.

"Your dad would see my car is still in the driveway when he wakes up for work," he explained and I sighed and looked down briefly before looking into his eyes again.

"Drive home… then walk back…" I said softly and trailed my fingers up his chest and then slid them over his shoulder and down his back, landing on his waist. He was looking at me warily and I leaned into his ear and whispered, "I'll miss you too much if you leave." Before pulling away I slid my hand to the top of his jeans and then let it fall, brushing the front of his jeans on purpose. His whole body stiffened with an intake of air and I leaned back, smiling shyly.

"I'll be… right back," he breathed and smirked before heading out the front door in a hurry.

Yep. You heard me. I seduced him in my foyer. But I really wanted to spend the night with him. No funny business, just sleep. His presence made me feel… good.

I went upstairs to change into my pajamas and made myself look and smell nice. I cleaned up around my room and brushed my teeth and washed my face. I sat down on my bed and waited for him to text me or call me to tell me he was there, but my phone remained silent. Suddenly I heard a knock on my window and nearly jumped out of my skin. There was Nick, standing on the balcony. All I could see was No Name. And then I wondered why I picked the room with a balcony.

I realized I was just staring at him and got up quickly to let him in. He smiled sweetly and kissed me softly on the lips. I could tell he was trying to get it to go deeper, but I stood there motionless, lost in awful memories. He pulled back sensing something was wrong and pulled back, looking at me concerned.

"What's wrong?" He asked and I bit my lip and shook my head, blinking back tears and looking down, away from his face. "Miley…" he tilted my chin up to face him and I sighed.

"Sorry. Sorry… just… nothing," I said lamely and he shook his head.

"No, talk to me," he pried and I sighed.

"Nick," I said sternly and looked him in the eye. "I don't want to talk about it right now. I just want to spend time with you," I told him and he nodded cautiously before looking to my lips and then back to my eyes. He rested his hand on my arm and the other one on my waist, pulling me closer to him. Our lips met in a soft, sensual kiss that I couldn't help but smile into. He was so different compared to other guys I've kissed. He made me feel warm and safe... and needed.

We made our way to my bed and once the back of my knees hit the bed I fell back, him going down with me. I giggled a little bit and he leaned back and smiled at me before leaning down to kiss me some more. We shifted back so that he was kneeling in between my legs as my head rested on my pillow and my hands roamed all over his body. I let them move over the front of his jeans more than once, causing him to groan into my mouth.

"Shhh," I lightly pushed him off of me and quietly walked over to my door, locking it. He looked over at me with lust crazed eyes and I bit my lip as seductively as I could as I walked back towards him.

"Remember when you asked if I wanted to make the most out of the next few weeks?" I asked, pulling his face to mine and kissing him hard. He nodded and I pulled back, searching his face for any sign.

"Well I do," I snaked my hand between us and ran my palm across his zipper again.

"Miley," he moaned and I couldn't help the flush of warmth that shot through my abdomen.

He leaned against me and I shifted onto my back so that he was hovering above me, resting between my legs. He watched me as I undid his jeans with shaking hands and yanked them down to his knees. I glanced up at him checking to see if this was okay as I placed my fingers under the waistband of his boxers. He continued to stare at me and took in a deep breath through his nose. My heart was pounding so fast. I couldn't believe what was happening as I pushed his boxers down… very slowly. I'm sure the anticipation was killing him because it was killing me. I wanted to pounce on him and make him mine, but at the same time I felt like I was gonna vomit.

A million emotions ran through me once he was fully exposed and I guess Nick sensed my hesitation, so he leaned down and touched his lips to mine briefly, but enough to make my nervous feelings evaporate. I gently molded my fingers around his girth and released a breath I didn't know I was holding. He was holding himself above me like a bomb was about to explode, and his mouth was wide open while he watched me rub him up and down.

Nick shifted slightly, propping himself up on one elbow and covering my hand with his own, slowing it down. "Jesus, Miley," he muttered and lifted his face to gaze into my eyes.

He made a groaning sound and I pushed him off of me with my free hand so he was on his back and I was straddling his thighs. His mouth found mine and I moaned softly as he tugged on my bottom lip and I moved my hand faster with the rhythm of his hips.

"Miley…I'm gonna come," he confessed as his teeth clamped down on my lower lip. "Oh God…" he muttered.

I shifted down his body and instantaneously took him into my mouth. His eyes flew open and he gasped at my unexpected actions as his hands flew to my head and tugged at my hair. I watched his face as it contorted in agony and pleasure mixed together, his hips shifted against me, but slower and gentler than before as he came down from his climax. He set his jaw and opened his lids to look me over as I released him and shifted off of him to the left side of the bed, back up to his eye level. He pulled his boxers and pants up then leaned back on his elbows.

Nick breathed deeply and glanced over at me and our eyes met. He breathed out an open smile before speaking. "Are you okay?"

I let out a gust of air, "Yeah."

"It wasn't weird, right?"

I shook my head, "Zero weirdness." He nodded then looked straight in front of him again. I watched him as he bit his lip then licked his lips and blinked furiously and shook his head to himself. He probably didn't believe what happened… because I didn't believe it either.

Did I really give him a hand job… and then head? I lay there awestruck and he silenced my thoughts by speaking.

"You know… I'm kinda glad you're blackmailing me," he turned his head and it took me a second to realize what he said before facing him.

"Why? Because of what just happened?" I asked, sounding slightly offended, but he didn't seem to pick up the venom in my tone. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Miley, I could get that from any girl." I sighed at his ego breaking through the shell of the personality I liked. "To be honest, I just like spending time with you. You should know that by now…" I bit my lip nervously at his soft tone. "Sometimes I forget you have some dirt on me…" I almost felt kinda guilty for blackmailing him… but let's be honest here. He wouldn't have started talking to me any other way. He didn't even remember I was in his class… I was invisible before I saved his ass.

I got under the covers, not really wanting to talk any longer not knowing where the conversation could go, plus exhaustion started taking a toll on me. It was almost three am…

He followed suit after kicking his shoes off and I turned away from him, starting to feel shitty about my actions. What kind of person blackmails a childhood friend into hanging out with them? Oh right, me.

I heard him sigh and then soon after I felt his arm snake around my waist, pulling me closer to him and he tangled his feet into my own. I couldn't stop the smile from creeping onto my face, thankful he couldn't see it.

"I'm not mad at you, I'm kind of glad you were so devious… or else I wouldn't be here with you right now. And being here with you sure does beat being all alone in a big, dark, empty house," he explained, causing me to smile gently. I turned around to face him and connected our lips in a long, slow kiss.

The next day we woke up on time… and we were surprisingly not late. Luckily, all Nick had to do when he got home was hop in the shower and print out our lab, then he picked me up and things when smooth sailing from there.

He held my hand in the hallways and kissed me on the cheek before we parted to different classes, making people believe that we really were a couple. I wish I could say that I was never happier… but every time I started to think about how perfect it was all going, I remembered that it wasn't real. I didn't really know how he felt. As far as I knew he just liked hanging out with me… to be honest, I had no clue what his state of mind was in any of this. I didn't know if he liked me any more than a friend. It killed me. Because when I looked at him questioningly the first time he kissed me at the door of my classroom, he whispered one word.

"Appearences."

Nick and I spent some "quality" time together Wednesday after school and then again on Thursday, at his house. He went down on me for the first time on Thursday. I loved every minute of our… activities. And I felt like a skank. Ha. He slept over again Wednesday and Thursday, sneaking in without my dad knowing, of course.

Friday rolled around and Demi and Selena invited me to go to the mall with them after school… basically, they just wanted all the details between Nick and I… apparently he was keeping quiet about everything to Joe and David, not allowing Demi and Selena to get any deets. So they thought who better to go to than the source herself, right?

"I don't need a ride home today, Demi and Selena invited me to go to the mall after school," I told Nick during lunch and he turned to me and smirked.

"Who will I spend the afternoon with?" He joked and I shoved him lightly.

"Shut up," I whispered and smiled at him, biting my bottom lip. "Maybe you can stop by again tonight?" I asked hopefully and he pretended to think about it, teasingly.

"Gee, I don't know… I think Nicole is free and I don't know if I can wait till tonight…" He joked and I smacked his arm playfully.

"Jerk."

"Kidding, kidding… I'll see what I can do," he said and winked at me, causing my heart to flutter.

At the end of the day he walked with me to Demi's car and Selena and Demi did cutsie "oohs" and "awes" as they watched Nick kiss me goodbye… on the lips. I was on cloud nine since Tuesday.

As he walked away I turned back to the girls and bit my lip to keep from smiling. They saw my failed attempt and both squealed like little teenies. I rolled my eyes and they shared wide smiles as I got in Demi's car.

"You guys are adorable," Selena stated as she got in the passenger side and Demi agreed, starting the car.

"You guys are acting like you've never seen a functional relationship," I said and they both shrugged.

"Well… we haven't really. I mean unless you count our own… but even then, those aren't as functional as you and Nick seem to be," Demi said and it took everything in me not to come clean about how dysfunctional we are considering the fact that I was blackmailing him as his former childhood friend whom he forgot after saving my life.

As soon as we arrived we went to the food court and ordered the greasiest pizza in the world. But oh my goodness, it was delicious. I can still taste it… well I wish. If I could, I would marry that pizza.

"So Miley, give us the dirty details with you and Nick. We've been dying!" Demi pried and Selena smiled at me widely. Was I the type to kiss and tell? I didn't know.

"I… uh… we're just… you know… doing what couples do," I said vaguely and they looked at me, waiting for more.

"Like…?" Selena questioned and I sighed. And the award for nosiest people goes to… Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, ladies and gentleman!

"You know… normal… couple stuff?" It came out as more of a question and they shared one of those looks where they read each other's mind before looking back at me.

"You guys did it!" Demi exclaimed, pointing her finger at me.

"No! No, no! We didn't. I can promise you that…" I quickly informed then and they looked at me, not believing me. I lowered my voice a little bit before speaking. "We just fool around, okay?" I said quickly and leaned back in my seat crossing my arms.

They are so damn pushy.

"Knew it," they both said in sync with each other and I rolled my eyes at their immaturity.

"Whatever… let's just go shopping now," I changed the subject and as we were getting up we turned our heads at the sound of Joe's loud voice to see him approaching us with Nick and David.

"Oh Honey beeeee!" He exclaimed and Demi turned her back to him quickly, covering her reddened face.

"Oh my goodness. Why am I dating him?" She asked and Selena and I laughed at her.

"Because you love him and the way he publically humiliates you!" Selena told her and Demi shrugged and nodded.

"Hey ladies," Nick said once they approached us and he kissed me on the cheek as David and Joe greeted Selena and Demi.

"What brings you boys to the mall?" Selena asked and the boys just shrugged.

"Bored," David answered her.

"And you girls," Joe finished and Nick smirked and shook his head.

"Yeah, but we don't really wanna tag a long and help you guys choose between the black pair of heels or the red… so we'll be in the sporting goods store," Nick said and glanced at me briefly, giving me a wink. My poor, poor heart.

"But call us so we can catch up when you're done," Joe said and we nodded and then went our separate ways.

I later found myself in the Abercrombie dressing room (God bless me), trying to squeeze into jeans just a little tight for my liking. Tight as in I can button and zipper them but don't you dare try to make me walk.

"Miley... hurry your ass up!" Demi called out and knocked on the dressing room door.

"Ugh," I sighed and opened the door. "Do they have a bigger size?" I asked looking down at the faded, ripped jeans I had on.

"What are those?" Selena asked she looks like she's never seen a pair of jeans bigger than a size two in her life.

"Umm, I think they are a ten?"

Selena and Demi give bitchy looks to each other, and it kind of pissed me off, not only that, but made me incredibly insecure. "These jeans run small, Miley."

I felt like I was going to cry.

"Thanks for your help, ladies. I've got it from here." I turned to see Nick looking at them and shaking his head slightly. They hesitated for a second before he shooed them away. I was trying to slink back into the dressing room, but he stopped the door with his palm before it closed. "We can go somewhere else if you feel more comfortable."

"Why? So you can tell everyone when this is over that you bought a fat girl some clothes?"

For some reason, I could tell my insecurity really pissed me off and he threw the door wide open, blocking me from escaping. "You're not fat. And you have a nice ass. But maybe you need more than a new pair of jeans to help you see that?"

I shrugged and sighed, moving uncomfortably in the jeans. "I don't care; just get me out of these." He made a move like he was about to go into the dressing room with me and I raised my eyebrows at him, "Not literally…" I laughed and pursed his lips.

"You sure?" He asked and I nodded and rolled my eyes.

I walked out of the dressing room and he looked at me, waiting for me to say something.

"What?"

"Where do you want to go?" He asked.

"Encore?" It sounded like I was asking.

"Is that a question?" He countered.

"No. Encore."

We met up with the others and told them we were going to head to Encore, at first Demi and Selena stuck their noses up at it because it's a second hand store, but when I told them it was all vintage clothes, Joe and David were in and the convinced their girlfriends, who I decided I was never going shopping with again.

We drove out to the second hand store and I finally felt relaxed.

"You know," I called to Nick across the racks. "Instead of buying expensive clothes that look Vintage, you could just shop here and get the real deal." I held up an old, worn Pink Floyd shirt.

His eyes lit up and I could tell he wanted it.

I loaded up on old concert tees and so did he… as well as the other four. He bought me some jeans and a couple of dresses. Demi and Selena parted with the words, "Miley, thank you for introducing us to our new favorite store!" Ahem, you're very welcome. Four hundred dollars later and we're back at my house.

"Why'd you buy me all this… I was willing to buy it with my own money," I explained motioning to the clothes scattered on my bed. He looked up at me from his spot on the floor and shrugged.

"Splurging to get back at parents?" I asked and he sighed.

"They haven't even noticed that I haven't been sleeping at home," he said and I became serious. I moved off of the bed and sat next to him on the white carpeting. "I haven't eaten a meal there since Tuesday morning, dinner with Joe or David, breakfast with you… and they don't even notice I'm not there."

"Well it's their loss at not getting to know their really amazing son," I said and put my hand on his shoulder.

He shrugged, "I'd rather be spending my time with you anyhow." I couldn't help myself. He was sitting there looking all cute and sexy… I kissed him on the lips and he deepened it greatly, but when I felt him reach for the bottom of my shirt, getting ready to lift it over my head, I stopped him.

"Which reminds me…" I started, pulling away from his lips. He looked at me curiously and I could hardly concentrate as his fingers moved across my flesh above my waistline. "Please stay for dinner tonight."

He looked away and sighed while I wondered why the hell he was holding back. My dad already thought we were dating… so what the fuck was his problem?

And when you find out… you'll hate me for not bringing it up sooner… because we still have a ways to go.

Q: Do you like clothes shopping? How would you define your style?