Chapter Eighteen

"C'mon, Miley," Demi laughed, shaking me again. "You need to wake up."

"I can't," I moaned, faking out a cough. "I'm just too sick today."

She giggled, hitting me with a pillow. "You need to see him eventually."

"This isn't about Nick," I fight. But we both know it is. "I'm just tired. And sick. And not hungry."

"You know what, I'll just go get Nick to wake you up. He knows how."

I extended my arm, still not opening my eyes, instead feeling around until I felt her hair. I kept patting her head until I could feel her cheeks before squeezing them.

"Stay here."

"No, you get up," she laughed. "I'll be right back. If you aren't up when I'm here I'll force you."

I ignored her, rolling back on my side and continuing to sleep. I didn't want to face to world today - world meaning Nick. I just wanted to curl up in a ball and hide all day long. I pulled the blankets closer to me trying to nag that annoying voice in the back of my mind saying that I should be listening to Demi.

"Oh my god!" I screamed as ice cold water poured down my face. "Holy – That's cold!" I shot up, my eyes now wide open to see Demi there with an empty cup.

"Good morning," she sang. "Time to get up!"

"Did you really just do that?" I scowled, throwing an ice-cube at her. "You better watch your back," I crawled down from my bed. "Payback is coming."

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, sure. Just get ready! We have to be out of here in twenty."

"Got it," I ran into the bathroom taking a shower, getting dressed, brushing through my hair quickly and throwing it up before running back out and smiling. "Time?"

"Thirty seconds to spare," she winked. "Let's go."

"How about you go and I'll catch up?" I tried to convince her. I just… I wasn't ready to face him yet.

"If you do that then Nick will be in here even quicker," she smirked. "I'll help you avoid him just this once, but we really do have to go."

I groaned, forcing my feet to move. "He hates me."

"I'm pretty sure he loves you."

"Shut up."

We got off the bus and she kept smiling until she reached Joe and walked to him, passionately connecting their lips. So that's why she's so happy.

"Get a room," I shoved them apart, subconsciously looking for Nick.

"He's coming late," Joe answered my unasked question. "Something about needing time to process something? I dunno he was mumbling."

Processing... Great. That means he took it worse than I expected.

"Miley told him about that thing I told you, then he freaked out, then asked her marry him, but then she said no," Demi explained it all nonchalantly. "He could be processing it all for awhile."

Joe's face fell and he opened his mouth but I interrupted him before he even had a shot at commenting.

"Not today."

He nodded, respecting my wishes for once and keeping his comments to himself. Today I just wasn't in the mood.

"Was he alright last night?"

"Eh, I guess. The pieces all fit together knowing that, though," he grimaced. "He was a bit disoriented, I guess."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"I'd rather you say No than Yes at this point," he put a hand on my shoulder. "You're eighteen, the conditions weren't right... You did the right thing, okay?"

I nodded, smiling, but there was still that small voice saying that I should have said yes. Thinking back to it, I would have, too. But it's too late now. It's too late for everything.

:::

"Hey, I need a favor," I walked up to one of the workers of the arena. "Do you have any water guns by chance?"

"Water guns?" he asked, a southern accent quite prominent.

"I want to pull a prank but I'd need four or five water guns. Think you can get them to me by eight?"

"Sounds doable," he confirmed. "They'll be in your dressing room no later than, I'd say 7:45."

"Perfect," I hugged the stranger before going over to the boys, looking over my shoulder to make sure Demi wasn't anywhere near by.

They all nervously watched me before I turned, smiling. "I need your help. I'm pulling a prank on Demi."

"In!" Joe immediately shouted. I quickly covered his mouth, smiling.

"Shh," I turned to Kevin, raising an eyebrow. "And you?"

"What do you have in mind?"

"Just harmless water guns. She poured an ice cold cup of water on me to get me up. Payback is we all go up and soak her onstage. Good publicity, too, I mean, I know you three worry about that."

"This is gonna be great," Joe grinned. "Miley, I love you! Even though you did just subtly insult us."

"I'm in," Kevin agreed.

That was two-thirds…

"Nick?"

He avoided eye contact with me before finally nodding a little. "Yeah, sure."

Kevin switched back and forth, looking between us before frowning. "Are you two okay?"

"No," Nick said honestly, not taking a second to process the question. The answer was bitter and harsh, just the way mine probably sounded last night.

"I'll see you guys I have to… Yeah, I just have to not be here when you two go off," Joe scurried and Kevin quickly followed.

Nick started turning away from me too and my heart dropped. Did I seriously just lose all three of them again?

"Okay, I won't even fake it, this has really been bugging me," he turned back around, that determined gaze in his eyes. I smiled a little. I'd tell him anything at this point, I just didn't want to lose him. "Why'd you say no?"

"Why did you expect me to say yes?" I challenged.

"Because we love each other."

"We aren't even dating, how can you expect me to just marry you?" I asked, my voice high and stressed.

"Because you love me."

"Nick, you are Prince Charming to me, but," I let out a deep breath. "This is Hollywood! We don't live in a fairytale, you know that."

"I'm dying," I told him again. "We aren't dating, and I'm dying, and marriage is a big deal to you, Nick, you don't need to have a dead wife on your shoulders."

"I-" he rubbed at his eyes. "Don't say that."

"It's true," I crossed my arms.

"No-"

"Nick, it is, okay?"

"Stop bracing yourself for worst."

"Then start preparing yourself for it."

He looked down before looking back up, tears in those deep brown eyes of his. "I just want you to be all mine. I want to have all of you."

"You don't think you do?" I asked. His bottom lip trembled and I realized for the first time that he was serious. He really did expect me to say yes. I sighed, placing one hand on each cheek. "Nick…"

"It's fine-"

"You have absolutely all of me. Remember that night after my fifteenth birthday?" He smiled a little, meeting my gaze. "Ever since then you've had all of me. Absolutely all of it. Nobody else. It's always been you, baby. I love you."

A tear fell down his cheek and I quickly wiped it away. I hated seeing him cry, he tried to hide emotions like these. In all these six years this was only the third time I'd ever seen it.

"Don't cry, Nick, it's okay," I soothed, rushing in and squeezing him as tight as I could manage. I felt him squeeze back, resting his cheek in my "hair". His body was shaking and I hated the feeling.

"I can't lose you."

I closed my eyes. He was gonna have to. "I'm right here."

"I need you to stay."

"I can't promise that," I let him down gently. "But I'm okay. Just like you. Even if the worst news comes you're going to be okay, Nick. I know you will."

And just like that my phone rang. We both looked down at it for a few seconds before he picked it up off the table and handed it to me.

I looked up at him, but he just pointed back to the phone. "You need to know."

"I love you," I told him again. "No matter what, I meant it. You have all of me."

He nodded. I closed my eyes, picking it up and holding it to my ear with a trembling hand.

"Hello?"

I heard the doctors voice and listened carefully for the only part I cared about.

"I need to ask you a question," he immediately said, "and I'm going to need an honest answer," he said slowly.

"Okay."

"Have you done any drugs or smoked, alcohol, anything like that in the past four weeks?"

Once I heard that I closed my eyes, letting out a sigh and grabbing Nick's hand. Fuck. Seriously? One night did all of this? Having sex with someone else is the reason Nick ended up proposing to me?

"Miley?"

"Just one night, I swear it was a mistake."

The doctor let out a deep sigh. "You're okay-"

It's okay. It was gonna be okay, I convinced myself. It would all turn out how it was supposed to be. This was a wake up call for everyone. One that we'll all move past together because it's okay.

"-but only for a short amount of time. Your liver is failing. From what we've examined it almost looks like a mix of the above. You're going to need a transplant."

I trembled a little, my knees giving out and tears coming down. Nick rushed over but I made sure to smile for him.

"Okay, and what are the chances of getting one?"

He explained the probabilities and why I needed a new one, but frankly I didn't care. If I was going to die, I wanted to know now. Not later.

"I won't lie to you, this is a risky transplant for the donor. With how much of the liver you need they could die," he shot facts at me one by one. "Miley? Are you there?"

I came back to Earth, nodding. "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm here. Can I just have a day to process this?"

"Of course," he agreed. "I'll call you if any good news comes, okay? And you're close to the top of the list."

"Sounds great. Thank you."

I hung up the phone letting it fall to the ground. Nick rubbed my back.

"What's the bad news?"

"I need a liver transplant."

"How hard is that to get?"

"I'm near the top of the list, but no promises," I wiped my tears standing up. "I'll make it through, don't worry."

"What's the number, I'll get you on top of the list, first person in line!"

I took his cell phone, looking at him and shaking my head. "Nick, I want that just as much as you do, but just because we're famous doesn't mean we can mess with other peoples lives."

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure a lot more people will miss you than some other random person's daughter," he spat.

I laughed a little, rubbing his cheek to try to get him to calm down. "I bet every other mother thinks that, you know?"

"But they don't have a multimillion fanbase."

"Nick, I'm gonna make it!" I assured him. "I'm okay."

"So let's insure that and get you the liver quicker!" he hissed. "I want to know you're here now."

"I am. Now and always!"

"If you aren't I'll never forgive you for lying to me," he murmured, pulling me into a hug. "I can't lose you."

"And you won't," I stressed. "I will always be with you."

And I knew right then that he really had never stopped loving me too. We were two people that would always find our way back, and I believed it. Even if I died eventually, years later, he'd find his way back in time. Prince Charming and Cinderella. That's just who we'd always be.

Okaay! sorry for the long update:P

so, this story is coming to a close... any predictions on the ending? hahah i finally have it all planned out so i'm really excited to see if anyone can guess what'll happen! :)