omg i am so so sorry pleaaaase dont kill me, ive been so wrapped up the past while i completely forgot about this story, but i promiseeeeee ill update more frequently!
"There has to be something else to hold them on! My partner said he was on his way."
"I'm sorry, ma'am," a male voice said. "We've kept them longer than our protocol allows. We have to release them. They've done nothing wrong."
Nick opened the door to reveal the hectic holding room hallways at Hartsfield-Jackson. Miley was running her hands franticly through her hair. She was dressed in dark faded skinny jeans and a tank blazer with a lacey white top underneath. He couldn't focus on anything else besides how stunning this girl could look after waking up at four o'clock in the morning.
Her hair while taking the brunt of her frustration was as smooth as ever and when he came to her face he nearly lost his stance. Not because of her beauty but because her gaze turned to him and looked as if she were shooting imaginary daggers towards his nether regions. Ouch.
She was pissed.
Turning (or rather hiding) from her fiery gaze, Nick address the man beside her. "Think we could get a moment alone with them while you double check their paper work?"
The man turned towards Miley and jabbed a thumb in his general direction. "Is this your partner?"
"The very same," Miley grumbled, not taking her eyes off him. Nick refused to even look in her general direction for fear he would turn to stone.
With a deep sigh, the man grumbled something about entitlement before turning around and leaving Elena and Damon alone in the hallway. From the corner of his eye, he saw Miley cross her arms over her chest and he heard the telltale sound of a heeled toe tapping against the linoleum. Nick took a breath and turned around to face her, reaching out and stilling his hand on the doorknob behind her.
"Ready for your first interaction with a Gray?"
Miley gave a curt nod. "And to think, it almost didn't happen."
"Focus, Miley," Nick warned.
She reached out and put her hand over his. Nick ignored the connection. "I'm focused. I'm focusing all my anger at you towards them." Without another word, Miley turned the knob and stepped into the holding room. With its dull beige walls and black table centered within, Demi and Joe stood out worse than a Goth at a pep rally. It was ironic because rather than be dressed in all black and pouting, Demi was wearing a bright green dress and cat-like smile.
"Nick Jonas," she purred. "Is all of this waiting just so you could see me?" She placed a hand on Joe's chest. "Love, look. Nick still hasn't gotten over his little infatuation with me."
He caught the quick movement of Miely's head as she turned towards him, her mouth agape. Rather than draw attention to it and give Demi more bait, he kept the redheads attention on him. "You're the one who came back to my neck of the woods."
Demi pouted. "How cute. London was becoming a bit dreary I'm afraid and we have Kevins' birthday coming up as I'm sure you're well aware of. Will we be seeing you there, too?"
"No invitation I'm afraid."
"How unfortunate."
"I take it this party will be more intimate?" Miley interrupted. Demi turned her eyes on her, immediately assessing and searching for any weakness to dig her claws into. Nick had to give Miley credit; she didn't show an ounce of weakness. There wasn't a waver in her gaze or single shift in her stance. She stood tall and faced her head on.
The corner of Demi's mouth lifted. "You're new."
"Nick did tell me you were observant," Miley stated without just the right amount of sarcasm. He watched as Demi's mouth fell and her eyes narrowed and couldn't help the sense of pride that filled him at his partner's snarky response. With a smile on his face, he stepped back from the table and leaned against the wall that held the two-way mirror. She didn't need his help.
Demi leaned forward and folded her arms over the table. "Nice to see Nick finally got a partner with a little wit. He was always complaining about it when he was with me."
Miley's blank face faltered for just a moment before she quickly recovered. Nick thought he saw just the hint of jealousy and hurt before her mask of indifference covered it up. Her words from Sunday repeated in his head: "You're a distraction." He hadn't given it much thought that night but now it seemed that he should have. Was there more to Miley's distance than just her dislike of his late night escapades? Did she hate him because she found herself wanting to be a part of it?
Before he could dwell on it any longer, Miley's voice cut through his thoughts. "Were you this apt to answer his questions as well? Does it take a chiseled face and a penis to get a response out of you?"
"I like your spark," Demi admitted. "Kevin always has a big shindig. Not one for putting on tea and biscuits."
"Will all of your family be there, Joe?"
Joe let out a yawn and blinked his eyes rapidly. He wasn't one to engage in conversation and most of the time let Demi take the reins for him. It was the reason they worked well together. Demi liked to dominate from what he remembered and Joe was too much of a doormat to care. Only when she let her anger get the better of her would Joe step in and remind her that her actions reflected on the family and she needed to get it in check.
"Yes," Joe replied.
"Not much of a talker, are you?" Miley pointed out as she began walking around the tiny room. "Although, I guess it comes in handy since you probably can't get a word in edgewise with this one."
"Very judgmental for a newbie."
"Oh, it's in your file. I'm just pointing it out." She made her way back to the side of the table across from them and continued in the same breath. "How many siblings do you have, Joe?"
"Doesn't it say that in your precious file?" Demi jeered.
Miley turned towards her. "Did you change your name in the last few seconds? I believe I was asking Joe." She turned her eyes expectantly towards him.
"Four."
"That would be Kevin, Mikey, Frankie…" she trailed off. "Now who is that last one? I always seem to forget."
"L—"
"Are we under arrest?" Demi interrupted, placing a firm hand on her husband's shoulder.
"No. We're just having a casual conversation until your papers are returned to you."
Demi leaned back and put her arm around her husband, massaging his scalp with her fingernails. "Seems more like routine questioning to me," she mused. A knock on the door quickly cut the building tension in the room and the airport worker entered. He quickly returned the papers to Demi and Joe who quickly grabbed their things and began to make their way out the door. Just when they were in the clear, Demi turned towards Miley and said, "It was nice seeing you again, Nick, and a pleasure meeting you, Miley. We'll be seeing you soon!"
And with that they turned and disappeared from sight. Nick turned towards Miley who was still staring at the doorway as if suddenly Joe would come running back in to finish the name of his sister. "I warned you it wasn't going to be easy. You did amazing though. At least we have an initial to go off of now."
"We have nothing, Nick," Miley whispered. "That could've been the start of 'like I would tell you' for all we know."
Nick stepped towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Did you not see Demi's reaction? He gave a little too much away. This is a huge step forward. It's more than we've had in years."
Miley slipped her bottom lip between her teeth and he found himself mesmerized by the action. As it popped out her eyes glanced up towards his. "You slept with her, didn't you?"
He was taken aback by the sudden change in conversation. Quietly, he responded, "I was undercover while Joe was doing a stint in prison for drug dealing. We hoped Demi would squeal but as you can tell… she's a pistol."
"You didn't answer the question."
Nick couldn't speak when he looked at her like that. It made no sense to him, but he found himself ashamed of his actions. He never found himself regretting his past yet in that moment with Miley's eyes searching his, he did. Nick nodded.
"I thought so." She inhaled and gave a slow shake of her head before stepping out of his arms. "Is there anyone I've met that you haven't slept with?" she gave him a joking smile but he saw the sadness behind it. It confused him.
"This honesty and joking around thing is nice. Would be nice if it went both ways."
Miley huffed and began to walk out of the room. "Life's a mystery, Nick, and so am I."
"You know what else life is?" he called after her as she disappeared. "A bitch."
He swore he heard her laugh echoing down the hallway.
The shrill ringtone of his phone woke Nick up with a jolt. He fumbled around his nightstand in search of the offending technology and immediately swiped to answer. "Jonas?"
"Nick, its Liam. I've hit a bit of a bump with your little off the record assignment."
Rubbing his eyes with the palm of his free hand, Nick mumbled, "What kind of problem?"
"I can't find a single record that shows the nature in which Tish and Billy Cyrus died."
"How is that possible?"
As Liam talked, he heard the quick typing of keys. "There's an obituary and two death certificates but cause of death has been blurred out. Every lead I get has been labeled classified and even I can't hack into it. This is a serious cover-up. Top clearance with access codes and everything."
Nick sat up and made his way towards the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked out amidst the darkness. "Did you run it with newspaper articles surrounding the date?"
"Of course," Liam stated, typing furiously on his keyboard. "It was the first thing I tried. Nothing. No hits. Nothing that would result in two deaths."
"She went to serious trouble to cover this up. None of it makes any sense."
More clicking. "The only explanation would be that their deaths were somehow connected to an assignment—a top secret assignment."
Another dead end. Nick sighed. "Thanks for your help, Liam."
"I'll keep looking but it doesn't look like I'll be much help."
"The tickets are still yours."
"Thanks, man."
Nick hung up and threw his phone on the bed. The curiosity was eating away at him. He looked out and saw thousands of trees surrounding him. The darkness. He hated the unknown. To the unknown eye it would seem foolish to venture out into those woods that bore no trail. Yet Nick had done it a thousand times. His brother, Justin, and called him crazy for wanting to go into them at night when they were young. Yet, Nick was determined and now he knew those woods like the back of his hand. That was how he liked it. He liked having the upper hand.
He certainly didn't feel like he did lately.
The mystery of Miley Cyrus had taken that from him. He was walking on eggshells just as Zac had accused him of. That wasn't his way. He solved things for a living. Whatever happened in Mileys's past was keeping her from opening up to him, to getting close. They were constantly back and forth. He had these moments with her where it felt like they could be the best of friends and then suddenly it would flip and she would start distancing herself again. It was getting in the way of his work ethic, keeping his mind off the job.
In a short description: He was obsessed. That in itself was enough to drive him crazy. Nick Jonas did not get obsessed about women. They got obsessed with him.
It was about time he brought in more help on Operation: Cyrus Wide Open and he knew just who to call. He reached for his cell phone and sent out a text knowing this person would respond within in seconds. Sure enough his phone suddenly chimed in his hand.
Be there soon.