"And the seventh thing I hate the most that you do, you make me love you"
The 7 Things by Miley Cyrus

"Guys…" Nate whispered as he watched Miley and Alex tear up. "Stop crying please." He begged. He couldn't stand the sight of the two girls he loves in uncontrollable tears. It's making his heart ache, and he felt like his conscience is killing him. Nate felt his eyes beginning to water as well. He looked up at the ceiling to keep the tears back in. He sighed and shaky breath and shut his eyelids tightly. "I can't stand seeing you two like this." He whispered softly.

"I can't believe you have enough backbone to say that." Miley asked dangerously, her hands curling into fists. "What, do you feel guilty, Nate?" she demanded. She wiped her tears away and attempted to stop crying, but her tears just continued to fall down from her eyes. Nate didn't dare open his eyes while Alex sniffled. Miley glared at the floor, not muttering a single word again. The three stood in the middle of that hallway, not daring to open their mouths for a while.

"I love you." He said, looking back and forth to Alex and Miley. "And I'm sorry that I can't love just one of you." Alex sighed while Miley scoffed.

"Nate, you can't just love two people. That's practically impossible. You can only love one person." Miley stated. She folded her arms across her chest and glanced at 'boyfriend' and her 'best friend'. The two didn't respond again. Miley let out a sigh of frustration. "Well choose." She told Nate. Nate gave Miley a strange look.

"What do you mean 'choose'?" he asked.

"Are you oblivious or just dense?! I said to choose between me and her!" Miley yelled, stomping her foot.

"Miles, I don't think-" Alex started.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear from backstabbing ex-best best friends!" Miley screamed at her. Alex backed away; she started tearing up even more as she felt like her insides just got crushed.

"Look at me, and tell me that you love me and only me." Miley told Nate. Nate's watery eyes widened, and his breath got stuck in his throat. Alex's eyes shot up and she looked at the two, giving them a shock and devastated look.

"W-what?" Nate stuttered.

"You heard me." Miley responded. Nate didn't answer back. He just stood there, frozen with his mouth gaping open. "I want you to tell me that you love me and only me! I want to believe that what you and Alex had was just some little fling and that it meant nothing! I want to know that I'm the only girl in this whole damn world that's right for you!" Miley yelled out, completely pouring out her soul to Nate. Her tears fell harder this time and her breathing rate quickened. "Now is that so wrong?" she asked weakly.

Nate frowned and embraced Miley in a tight hug. He cooed her as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, crying in his chest. "You're right Miley. I love you, I love you so much." Nate said into her ear softly. Miley hugged him even tighter, not releasing herself from him. Nate sighed and buried his face into her hair, trying to comfort her as best as possible.

Alex looked down, feeling depressed, down, low, like freaking shit. It was like her heart stop, her mind froze, like she was going to experience something worse than Hell. She quickly brushed passed Nate and Miley and ran out of the school's campus and didn't stop running until she reached her house. She ignored her parents' worried questions as she ran by them through their sandwich restaurant and just continued to head towards her room. Alex opened her door and slammed it shut, locking it tightly. She jumped on her bed and hid under the covers, crying her eyes out until the very last tear.

"Alex, Alex, sweetie, are you okay?" her mother, Theresa asked from behind the door as she knocked repeatedly. "Honey, open the door." She asked, knocking more gently this time. Alex didn't budge. She grabbed one of her pillows and hugged it tightly, nuzzling her face into it. She screamed into it and pounded her fists against it. "Alex, I'm really worried now. Please, sweetie, open the door." Theresa begged. Alex still didn't bother. She just continued to cry as much as her body would allow herself to.

It was like the biggest disaster happened, and now the world was ending. The skies will forever be gray with no sunshine peeking through. The birds' chirps will be unheard, and music will be gone. People walking down the streets will never find happiness, making those simple smiles rare. The feeling of being love will be vanished, and nothing will be the same. Alex's whole world was falling apart, and she knows that it's impossible to fix.

Alex took deep breaths and finally pulled her blanket off of her. She continued to breathe as she stared up at the ceiling and clutched tightly to the pillow. "Mom, I'm fine." She croaked, growing annoyed by Theresa's constant knocking. Alex rubbed her tired eyes and wiped her last tears away. She didn't want to cry anymore. Alex sighed and hopped over stuff and opened the door. "I'm okay." She muttered to her mother, not looking directly at her face. Theresa frowned and pulled her daughter into a hug.

"Do you want to talk about it, honey?" she offered, rubbing Alex's back. Alex shook her head no and closed her eyes, trying not to tear up again.

"I just want to…stay home. I don't want to go back to school today." Alex whispered shakily. Theresa nodded her head, understanding.

OMJ

Alex didn't go out of her room the whole day. She just kept herself locked up, bundled around with a bunch of her blankets, and sat emotionlessly in the corner of her messy room. She leaned her head against the wall as she stared off into space, trying not to think, trying not to cry. She wanted to bang her head against the wall just to feel a different kind of pain because the one she was feeling now was killing her. The way she saw Nate hugging Miley, telling her that he didn't love Alex…Alex swore to God that she rather get ran over by a truck.

But she wanted that memory erased. She wanted all of her memories of Nate and Miley to be gone, out of her head. Alex hugged her legs and rested her chin on her knees. She stared at the mess in front of her, blinking absentmindedly at them. She began to glare at the clutter, feeling angst rise up inside of her. Devastation was replaced by rage, and Alex was fired up. She stood up, feeling like she was going to go ballistic soon. She grabbed all of her junk off of her desk and threw them on the ground, breathing harshly. "I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I freaking hate you!" she screamed, kicking everything in her path.

The door slowly opened and Justin stepped in, frowning to see his sister has gone crazy. Alex ignored her older brother and continued to destroy everything that was in her way. "I hate you so much!" She went on, stomping on her belongings. Justin walked up to her and grabbed Alex's arms, so she could stop causing more destruction to her room. "Let go of me!" she demanded, squirming around, trying to get out.

"Alex, you need to stop doing this. You're going to destroy your room more than it already is!" Justin said, forcing her down on her bed. Alex continued to squirm, attempting to reach out of her older brother's grasp.

"I don't care! Just let go of me!" she screamed, pushing Justin away. Justin frowned and gave his sister a look.

"Miley found out, didn't she?" he asked, his voice monotone but his eyes caring. Alex's lip trembled and her eyes began to water. She stopped moving and lied helplessly on the bed. "Alex," Justin sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a one-armed hug. "I told you that you shouldn't have been doing that. You know that cheating just leads to bad outcomes, especially if it concerns your best friend."

"Ex-best friend." Alex clarified, wiping the tears that were about to fall away. "And I don't care. I just want to kill the living shit out of Nate." She said hoarsely, folding her arms angrily. "I hate him." She muttered, slightly kicking a ball of her clothes that were sitting on the floor. "I always did and always will."

"If you hate him that much, then I suggest that you shouldn't take it out on your furniture. Mom and dad will definitely skin you alive if they see the bigger mess you made in here. Release your anger in a different way. Paint a bizarre angry picture or something." He said caringly, hugging her tighter. Alex smiled a little and rested her head on his shoulder. Justin smiled down at her and stood up. "Okay, I gotta go before we actually get a moment. Just try not to kill the rest of your room." He said before walking out of Alex's room.

Alex sighed and laid her back on the bed. She blinked at her surroundings and bit her lip, studying the disaster she created in her room. Her eyes averted to her backpack that her brothers dropped off when school ended that included all of her homework. Alex stood up and picked up her language arts notebook. She skimmed through the empty pages, smiling a little at the doodles she drew when she was bored during the middle of the class. She then turned to the last page that had her current assignment on it.

Make poem with Miley due tomorrow.

Alex cringed at the word Miley. She frowned and threw her book on her bed. She stared angrily at it, walking slowly back towards it. Might as well do it now so I wouldn't have to completely fail English. She thought. Alex grabbed a pen and tapped it lightly on her notebook, trying to find something to write about. She then remembered what Justin said to her. Release your anger in a different way.

Alex knew exactly what she was going to write about.

OMJ

Alex entered her school the next day with gossip-filled whispers traveling around her. She looked at everyone curiously, wondering why the heck they were pointing at her and muttering quietly to one another. "I never thought that she would actually try to steal Nate from Miley. I thought that she hated Nate and that she and Miley were best friends." She heard one girl say. Alex felt her knees wobbling as that sentence ran through her ears. Well, too late, I already lost. She thought angrily before walking swiftly towards her locker.

Alex slammed her locker shut and made her way towards her classes with her head held high. The gossip about her couldn't touch her. She couldn't get hurt by that. They were just words that came out of low-minded people's mouths. Alex didn't want something as small as a stupid (but true) rumor bringing her down. She made a turn towards her homeroom to see Miley and Nate kissing each other near the lockers. Alex gasped and turned on her heel. She shut her eyes and shook her head before taking another way down to her class. Rumors couldn't break her armor, but seeing Miley and Nate kiss could.

As the day passed by, Alex ignored Miley and Nate as much as possible. She didn't even have enough courage to merely look at them. Every time she caught a glimpse at one of them, she either felt wrath or sadness like none other before. She couldn't stand them so much that she had to sit next to Justin and his band of geeks and losers during lunch. She found herself acting different. Her uplifting and bright attitude was turning into a dark and gloomy one. Alex didn't want to lose herself. She already lost the ones she loved the most anyways…

Language arts period came. Alex shuffled in her seat nervously, not making eye-contact with anyone in the room. "Well your assignments were due today! I hope that you all actually did them and completed them." The teacher said, looking accusingly at her students. "Anyways, who would like to start us off?" Of course, no one raised their hands. Their eyes wandered around the room innocently, acting as if they didn't hear a single word the teacher just said. "Come on, anyone?" the teacher sighed.

"I'll go." Alex squeaked. She didn't know exactly why she even offered to go first. She never went first in her life. Everyone was as surprised as she was. Heck even her teacher almost fainted of shock.

"Well, Miss Russo, that's really nice to see you participating! Who was your partner?" she asked, smiling at Alex. Alex didn't reply. She just stood up from her desk and walked up to the front of the room.

"If you don't mind, I'd like to read this by myself." She whispered.

"Oh, well, alright then."

Alex took a deep breath and looked around her classroom. Everyone's confused eyes looked at her except for two pairs. Miley looked down at her notebook, twirling her pen in the air as she pretended like Alex didn't exist. Nate on the other hand, looked at the door, yearning to make a run for it. Alex looked at her notebook and closed her eyes.

"The seven things I hate about you…" she began. Miley glanced up at Alex before returning her eyes back on her notebook while Nate finally brought his full attention to Alex. He frowned at her unhappy face before looking back at the door. "You're vain, your games, you're insecure." Alex continued. She gulped, feeling tears in the back of her eyes. "You love me, but you also love her." She said, her voice cracking. Miley and Nate's eyes shot up back at her. They stared at her intently, not daring to move their eyes.

"You make me laugh, you make me cry, I don't which side to buy. You put on this act that you're such a jerk. When you act like that don't you know it hurts? I wanna be with the one I know." Alex voice cracked. Tears began to fall down her eyes and she didn't know if she could continue on. "And the seventh thing I hate the most that you do," she took a pause and let out a small sob. "You make me love you." Alex instantly broke down. She dropped her notebook on the floor and made a run for it towards the empty cafeteria.

Alex huddled in front of one of the lunch tables, leaning her head on the chairs. She told herself repeatedly not to cry, but she just couldn't listen to herself. Her tears fell down slowly from her eyes again no matter how much she didn't want them to. Alex ran her fingers through her hair and wiped her tears away, trying to stop the crying. Suddenly, the cafeteria doors opened. Alex jumped up and turned to see who's at the door. She frowned to see that it was Nate, looking as sorry as ever. Alex turned back around and glared at her shoes.

"Alex – I – you – Miley – ugh." Nate sighed, scratching the back of his neck. Alex rolled her eyes but still didn't look at Nate. She kept her eyes fixed firmly on her shoes, not intending to look up. Nate sighed and walked up to her. He bent down in front of her and placed a hand on her arm. "I'm sorry." He whispered. He tried to tilt Alex's face so that her eyes met his, but Alex turned her head the other way before he got the chance to touch her. "Alex, please, you know that I'm sorry."

"Oh, yeah, I know that you're sorry. At least you're brave enough to say that. You know, if I knew that you would have just lied to Miley, tell her that I mean nothing to you, that what we had together was absolutely nothing, then I wouldn't even bother giving you the time of day. You know that you love me and that I love you, but I also know that you love Miley. I can't believe that you ran and hid under her skirt like a little boy when she threatened you to choose between us, Nate." Alex said, pushing him away. "I can't believe you chose her over me." She muttered.

"Alex-"

"And I thought that I finally found my Prince Charming." Alex scoffed. She shook her head. "I was right though. Prince Charming doesn't exist in my fairytale. He's just a figment of my imagination that will never happen. I guess I'm cursed or something like that. I'll probably never get married and never find love ever again."

"Alex, don't say that-"

"You know, you were the only guy I ever truly loved. I gave you my whole entire heart, my trust, my loyalty, my soul, and now I'm sitting here, feeling like crap in the middle of a cafeteria because you chose Miley over me. Nate, in the past you've wasted my time, effort, and energy, but wasting my love is the worst thing you could do to me." Alex interrupted again. Nate felt something worse than guilt. It was like knives were repeatedly stabbing him in the heart and they wouldn't stop. Alex looked at him and sighed. "Well you have nothing else to say. I'm leaving." She muttered, standing up.

"No, wait!" Nate said, grabbing Alex's arm before she could take a step. Alex opened her mouth to protest, but Nate's lips were already on hers before she could even think of a comeback. Nate forced his tongue inside of Alex's mouth, ignoring the fact that she's smacking his chest. Alex finally had enough strength to push Nate away and slapped him hard across the face. Nate looked down and touched his cheek. "I – I'm sorry. I guess I deserved that" He said, feeling ashamed of himself.

Alex panted slightly and glared at Nate. "Yeah, you did deserve that." She mumbled angrily. "But I don't think you deserve this." Alex grabbed his hand and pulled him in so that their lips met again. Nate forgot the hot pain on his face as Alex's soft lips were on his once more. He cupped her face and kissed her gently while Alex wrapped her arms around his neck. Alex slowly pulled away and glared at Nate. "I hate you for making me love you." She said, jamming her index finger against his chest. Nate smiled amusedly at Alex and hugged her tightly. Alex sighed and hugged Nate back, enjoying the warmth that he gave her.

Finally, she felt like she was at ease again. She felt like her world stopped crumbling apart for a split second. The light soared through the skies bringing a small amount of happiness as it entered her world. Nate was like that light. His arms around her were like her protection to her cracked armor, to her destroyed world. He was her hope, but he was also her main point of her undying depression at the same time.

OMJ

Nate walked in through his front door wordlessly. He shuffled his feet against the floor as he trudged upstairs into his room. He dropped his backpack near his door and plopped on his bed. He muffled curses into his pillow, complaining how unfair his life was. Shane and Jason walked into his room with large smiles on their faces. They jumped on Nate's bed, trying to get him to join them. "Nate! Nate! Dude, we have the best news ever!" Jason yelled excitedly. Nate groaned and threw a pillow at him.

"Get out of my room." He ordered, pointing at the door. Shane grabbed another pillow and smacked Nate in the head. "Dude, what the hell?!" Nate said, obviously pissed. Shane and Jason stopped jumping and stared down at their little brother.

"Nate has girl problems." Jason sighed, plopping down besides him. Shane frowned and did the same.

"That means we can't tell Nate that Hollywood Records wants us to do a demo for them this weekend." Shane said. Nate's head shot up.

"What?!" he yelled, smiling wide as ever. Shane and Jason smiled at him and nodded their heads. "No way! You guys are serious?!"

"Dude, would we seriously kid about this?" Jason asked.

"Oh, my god, we're going to make a demo for Hollywood Records!"

"Yeah, and if they like it they're going to sign us in, and we're going to be rockstars!" Shane yelled, pumping his fist into the air. The three did the same and yelled, jumping around Nate's room like they just announced world peace or the end of global warming.

"Yeah, then we'll move to California and finally live our dreams!" Jason yelled. Nate stopped and looked at his brothers.

"Wait, what?" he asked.

A/N: And there you go! Chapter seven is finally up! Also meaning that the end is coming near! Duh-duh-duhhn!! Sorry I had to leave you guys off on a cliffie! It was tempting! lol. I would of posted it on my birthday on Thursday but my parents had other ideas for me. lol. Parents. What could you do? Anyways, I worked superduper hard on this! I hope you guys enjoy this!