A/N: Hey guys! As always, thanks so much for your lovely reviews! I can't tell you how much I appreciate them. So, here's the next chapter!

Nick smiled as he watched Miley sleep. Her lips were slightly parted, and the blanket partially covered her body. Her hair was strewn all over the place, some of it even hanging off of the couch. She looked so peaceful. He could sit there and watch her for hours. He was still in a fair amount of disbelief over what she had said the night before. She loved him. The most amazing girl on the face of the planet loved him. He felt like the luckiest guy in the world.

A faint knock on the door regrettably prompted him to get up. He made his way to the front door, thinking it was probably Joe or Lilly wondering why Miley didn't come home last night. God, they were all probably worried sick. Unless she had called them before. He assumed that she would've texted Lilly, considering they informed each other about everything. But he was not expecting the face that he saw when he opened the door.

"Macy?"

The pretty brunette grinned, and threw her arms around him. "Nick!"

He almost stumbled backwards, he was so surprised to see her. She pulled away, and smiled at him. He didn't know what to make of this. His ex-girlfriend showing up at his door with his current girlfriend sleeping on the couch a few feet away. Man, if Miley woke up...this was about to be very awkward.

"Macy...hey! You look great!", he remarked truthfully. And she did. She looked almost exactly the way she had when he had last seen her. He used to think she was the most beautiful girl in the world. Until he met Miley anyway.

"Thanks! So do you! It's so good to see you again!"

"Right. So, what brings you here?", he asked as he stepped outside, shutting the door behind him in an attempt to avoid waking Miley up.

"Oh, I'm in town now!", she excitedly informed him. "I just thought I would come see you. I've really missed you, Nick."

He just nodded. God, he hoped that she wasn't here thinking that he was interested in them getting back together. He did care about her, and there was a time not too long ago that he would've been very receptive to the idea. But he was in love with Miley now. Whatever he used to feel for Macy wasn't there anymore.

"So, how have you been?", Nick asked, forcing an awkward silence away.

"I've been good. But now, I'm great. Because I finally get to see you again", Macy replied, her eyes staring directly into his.

Oh yeah. Getting back together was definitely her intention. But he didn't have to actually tell her he was taken, thanks to Miley opening the door at that particular moment.

Miley looked at the two of them in confusion. She wasn't fully awake yet, but she could still see the seductive way in which this unfamiliar girl was looking at her boyfriend. And she didn't like it. Not one bit.

"Uh, am I interrupting something?", she asked, being careful to avoid an accusatory tone.

"No, you're fine", Nick said quickly. He slipped his arm around her waist, and turned to Macy. "Macy, this is Miley. She's my girlfriend."

To his surprise, Macy didn't appear that stunned by his statement. She smiled, and extended her hand out to Miley. "Hi. I'm Macy. Nick's ex-girlfriend."

Miley's eyes widened a bit, as she wasn't really sure how to respond to that. The other girl appeared nice. But she also appeared sneaky. Like she had an agenda. However, Miley decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, and she shook the girl's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Macy."

The other girl didn't stick around very long, but she had peaked Miley's curiousity...and reminded her of her insecurities. Nick had never talked in depth about one particular ex-girlfriend. In fact, he rarely spoke of an ex at all. And she certainly didn't want to think about Nick with any other girl. But when they went out to eat lunch that day, she couldn't help herself.

"So, this Macy girl...how long did you date?", she asked as casually as she could manage.

But Nick could see that she was thinking very deeply about that morning's incident. "Seriously? Uh, probably about a year", he answered. "But I'm completely over her. If that's what you're worried about."

Miley fiddled with her straw. "I don't know. I mean, she's really pretty. And the way she was looking at you..."

He reached his hands across the table, and she reluctantly placed hers in them. "Miley, it doesn't matter how she looks at me. Or how pretty she is. Which is not up to your level by the way. You are the one that I love. You're the one that I want to be with."

She smiled, the assurance of his love making her feel much better. "I know that. I should've never doubted the way you feel about me."

"No, you shouldn't have", he agreed in a teasing tone. "But that's okay."

"Hey, guys!"

They turned to see Joe and Lilly approaching them with Belle and Myles running ahead to them.

"There's my baby girl!", Miley grinned as Belle wrapped her arms around her neck.

"Did you and Aunt Miley have a good date?", Myles asked excitedly, plopping down in the seat next to his uncle. "It lasted an awful long time."

Nick laughed. "Yes, we had a great time. But shouldn't you two be in school?", he wondered, looking up at Lilly and Joe.

"They got out early today", Lilly informed him as she and Joe took the last two spots at the table. "And of course, the first order of business was food because they had sloppy joes in the cafeteria."

"Ugh, say no more", Miley said, wrinkling her nose.

"Hey Belle, why don't you tell your mom what happened at school today?", Joe suggested, causing the little girl to smile.

"Mommy, I'm getting married!"

Miley almost choked on her water. "What?"

Lilly laughed. "Apparently, your daughter accepted Anthony Oken's romantic marriage proposal on the swingset at recess."

"Oken? Wait, like Oliver?"

The blonde shrugged. "I don't know. But how cool would it be if it was? I haven't seen Oliver in forever."

"Me either. I would love to see him again", Miley remarked before turning her attention to Belle. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to go for you getting married for at least fifteen years, little miss."

"But that's so long!", Belle protested in a dramatic fashion. She could certainly be a real drama queen when she wanted to.

"Aw, it's not so long", Nick pointed out. "We'll talk about you marrying Anthony when you get older, but we want to have you to ourselves for a little bit longer."

The little girl decided she could live with that. "Okay. But I don't have to wait fifteen years for you and mommy to get married, do I?"

Everyone laughed, but Miley decided that she would really have to talk to her daughter about what questions were appropriate to ask Nick. Sure, things were good between them, but she didn't want to jinx it by thinking about marriage just yet. Though she had to admit, she loved the idea of becoming Mrs. Nicholas Lucas someday.

Nick loved this girl. He really, really loved this girl. Because there is no way that he would sit through two and a half hours and counting of Gone with the Wind if he didn't. He glanced at his brother who was trying not to fall asleep, while Lilly was wiping tears from her eyes. Next to him, Miley was doing the same. See, these movie nights with the four of them were usually pretty fun. Except when Lilly and Miley got to pick what they watched. Then, they always ended with the girls crying, which made their heads hurt, which resulted in him and Joe going to Wal-Mart at midnight for Tylenol.

"Joe, wake up!", he heard Lilly insist. He could see her shaking him out of the corner of his eye, and couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm awake", Joe grumbled. "I was just resting my eyes."

"Well, you can't rest your eyes during the best part!"

"This is the best part?", Nick groaned, sincerely hoping that she wasn't serious. "Nothing has been interesting to me for this entire movie."

"Yeah, me either", Joe agreed. "We don't make you guys sit through stuff like this."

Lilly looked at her husband like he was crazy. "You made us sit through all the Saw movies! That's ten times worse!"

"That's true", Miley chimed in, looking at Nick. "That was pretty bad."

"Those movies were not even scary", Joe scoffed.

"No, but they were bloody and weird and I had a nightmare about that creepy old man! I highly doubt that you have a nightmare about this!", Lilly pointed out, motioning to the TV screen.

Miley cracked a hint of a smile. "I think what Lilly is trying to say is that while Saw was very entertaining, it had no real plot. This is one of the greatest love stories of all time."

"It did so have a plot!", Joe argued. "It's about a demented dying guy who wants to teach people the value of life!"

Nick nodded in agreement. "And how can this be considered a love story when they don't even end up together?"

Lilly rolled her eyes. "So? Most great love stories have tragic endings."

Joe shook his head. "But that doesn't make any sense!"

"It does make sense!"

"No, it doesn't!"

While her friends were having their daily spat about something completely pointless, Miley grabbed Nick's hand and led him quietly into the kitchen. At that point, they both started laughing.

"It's really a good thing they've both got a sense of humor, or they would've never made it this long", Nick remarked.

"Oh, yeah. They definitely keep things interesting", Miley agreed, grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator. "The next Rhett and Scarlett."

"Them?", he joked, motioning to the other room. "I think that fits us a little better. Except you aren't nearly as annoying as Scarlett."

She set her bottle of water on the counter, and gave him her best seductive smile. Pinned against the counter, he had no escape. And he didn't want one. Her lips were so close to his, he could almost taste them. But as he went to kiss her, she suddenly pulled away.

"What did you do that for?", he asked, clearly confused.

"Still don't think I'm as annoying as Scarlett?"

"Well, I guess you have your moments", he conceded as he ran his fingers through her hair. She smiled, and brushed her lips passionately against his.

"I love you", she said softly after they broke apart. "It feels so good to be able to say it now."

"Yeah, well, I love you more", he said playfully.

She laughed, sensing where this was headed. "Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Do too."

Macy didn't like this. She wasn't the type of person who schemed to break up people. At least, not before now. She still loved Nick. She had always loved Nick. But he was obviously in love with this Miley girl. She had seen the way that he looked at her. And in any other circumstance, she would've walked away.

But she had gotten an offer that she simply couldn't refuse. Her financial difficulties had been growing more severe by the day, and she honestly thought she was going to end up on the streets. But then, like the answer to her prayers, this guy calls her and offers her $100,000 to break up her ex and his girlfriend. And so, she found herself in a shady, abandoned parking lot on the bad side of town in the middle of the night.

"It'll all be worth it", she whispered to herself. She would get the money, and if she was lucky, maybe she could even get Nick back.

A shiny silver car pulled up beside hers, sending chills up her spine. Reluctantly, she forced herself out of the car, and was greeted by a blond man wearing sunglasses. She had only met with him once before, and he was wearing them then too. Obviously to conceal his identity. Why else would someone wear them at night? This seemed shady on so many different levels.

"Did you meet with them?", the man asked sharply.

She nodded nervously. "Yes. I did what you asked."

He slipped an envelope into her hand. "Good. Here's the first five thousand. The more you do, the more you get. Understand?"

"I understand."

"And you know the next step?"

She nodded again. "Yes."

Macy tucked the envelope securely in her purse, knowing that she couldn't afford to lose it. By the time she looked up again, the man was leaving. And while she was having second thoughts about this whole thing, she had a feeling that this wasn't someone that she wanted to make angry. She was in too deep to get out now.

And the plot thickens...lol. So if you liked it or have any suggestions for what should come next, drop me a comment and let me know! I love hearing what you guys think!