Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, just the plot. Song credit goes to my friend.
a/n: Alright, well it's back to Nick. He is so fun to write, all clueless to falling in love. Btw, the title of the story comes from an earlier version of the song that Joe sings in this chapter, before the song was refined and finished.
I woke up the next morning, still on the couch. Selena, however, was already gone. I sat up, a little disoriented and still a bit sleepy. Then, I heard her familiar giggle from behind me and turned around. "Hey sleepy head," came her words, accompanied by a wide smile. She practically skipped across the room to sit next to me on the couch. "I'm sooo happy it's Saturday." I remembered where I was, and then I remembered the night before.
With a sudden sense of urgency I turned to her, "Wanna go back to my house? I'm sure Kevin's got something he tried to cook for breakfast again."
"Yeah sure," she said, still happy and smiling.
She grabbed her bag and sweater as we headed out the door, and then she took my hand in hers as we began to walk. It wasn't a far trip to my house, and we got there in about ten minutes. The whole town could be walked in only fifteen, as it was less than a mile wide. I bounded up the familiar steps and swung the door open. There was no one to be seen, but I heard voices coming from the living room, so I led Selena that way. We walked into the large room and there sat Kevin, Frankie, Joe, and Miley.
I was shocked. She was back over already? Could my brother really already be dating her? I felt a rage growing in me. I carefully controlled my voice and asked, "Miley, isn't it a little early for you to be over already? I take it you're a morning person."
Kevin just smiled, clueless, and said, "She stayed over last night. We didn't get to sleep until like 3 watching scary movies. And let me tell you, Miley is a screamer." He laughed teasingly in Miley's direction.
I just glared at Joe, but he didn't see. He was looking at Selena. I guess she must look pretty shocked to see Miley here too. But then, Miley's voice broke the awkward silence, "Sel! You're here. You wanna help me out here? I was just telling Joe that his new song was so good. He wrote it just last night. But he won't listen to me. Listen to it, and tell him just how wonderful of a song writer he is."
Joe was looking at Miley, shocked, and then an almost glare. She just smiled playfully back at him. I didn't have the time to figure out what that was about though. All I had gotten was that Joe had written a song last night. He only ever wrote songs for girls when he really liked them, and he had been with Miley. The rage inside me grew larger.
"Sure," Selena said, oblivious to the atmosphere in the room. She walked over to sit next to Miley and watched Joe pick up his guitar. He looked suddenly nervous, and darted a glance in my direction.
"Okay, uhh, this is called Circles," he said before he began to move his fingers effortlessly across the frets and his pick strummed out a rhythm. Even though I had heard Joe sing before, it always took my anger away for a moment. He was just so darn talented. We had all been blessed musically, even little Frankie.
"And honestly I think it's time
to admit something that's been on my mind,
you're an angel in
disguise.
And truthfully, I skip a beat, every time that our eyes
meet.
And every night I pray you feel the same.
So let me say…"
The guitars rhythm changed, I knew the chorus was coming.
"We
could walk through the park, and I would wrap you in my arms.
Let's
dance to the stereo in your room,
and just lay on our backs, and
stare at the moon.
I'll show you what it's like to feel
alive."
"So I will try to the best of my
ability, to get to the point, to keep this short and sweet.
How do
I word this? How do I get this through?
I'm head over heels,
madly in love with you.
I know I'm too shy for my own good, but
all I need is a little push."
"We could walk through the park,
and I would wrap you in my arms.
Let's dance to the stereo in
your room,
and just lay on our backs, and stare at the moon.
I'll
show you what it's like to feel alive." There was a guitar solo
for a few seconds, and I saw him dart a glance up, first at Selena,
then Miley, then he gave me an apologetic smile. Who knows which of
the many things he needed to apologize for that he was feeling guilty
for, I didn't care. My eyes were locked on Miley. She wasn't
watching Joe play; she was watching Selena. I got the strange feeling
that I was missing something, and was probably about as clueless as
Kevin or Frankie who were both smiling, unaware of any tense feelings
in the room.
"This is how I feel about you.
Tell me can you feel it too?
Cause if you can, then grab my hand
and run.
This is how it feels to be loved."
The song faded out, and Miley and Selena both broke into instant applause. Kevin's smile grew wide. I knew he was happy to see Joe finally singing again. It had been his passion before we had all fallen into a slump. "Joe, I can't believe you don't think that song is good. It was amazing," Selena said, breaking the silence and beaming at him. A blush rose to his face, but my eyes darted to Miley. She was smiling smugly at him, in an 'I told you so' kind of way. Once again, I felt clueless. What was going on in my own house? And how did Miley tie into it? Those were the only two things that mattered right now. Nothing else.