A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! Danielle and Simar- you guys totally guessed it. I feel really predictable now. Haha. Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter.

Miley opened the door, and an amazing feeling of relief washed over her. Relief and joy.

"Mommy!"

"Belle!", she cried as her daughter ran into her arms. She held her tightly, letting it sink in that she was okay. Thank God she was okay. She looked up at Jake, who was standing in the doorway. She didn't know whether she should be grateful to him or kill him, knowing that he could be responsible for this. But that could wait.

"I love you so much", she whispered into her daughter's hair. "You know that, right?"

"I know. I love you too, mommy."

She smiled as the others rushed into the foyer, probably having heard them.

"Belle, thank God", Lilly breathed, exhaling a breath that she wasn't aware she was holding. Oliver smiled at the sight of his friend with her daughter. But while Joe was thrilled to have Belle back home, he knew that Jake was responsible for her disappearing in the first place. Therefore, he wasn't all too comfortable with the actor's presence at his house.

He kissed the little girl on the forehead. "Good to have you back, sweetie."

"Yes, it is", Lilly agreed, smiling as she tucked a strand of loose hair behind Belle's ear. "You are very very important to us."

"It's nice to finally get to meet you, kid", Oliver remarked. "My name's Oliver. I'm an old friend of your mom's."

"He's also Anthony's dad", Lilly chimed in, prompting a blush from the little girl.

"Hi", she said shyly.

Miley smiled, and nudged Oliver. "What do you bet we're in-laws one day?"

Lilly laughed, glancing around the room. "Hey, where did Joe go?"

"Listen, I didn't come here to cause trouble, I swear", Jake said, slowly backing away from Joe. But Joe was following him with every step.

"You know, I have to admit. I'm pretty surprised. I thought you would at least keep Belle for a couple of weeks. Make Miley really upset. What did you bring her back so soon for?"

He could tell that Jake was intimidated by him, and he wasn't about to let up now. Not until he found out the truth. Miley deserved that much.

"I didn't kidnap her, okay", Jake shot back, though there was an unmistakable hint of shakiness in that statement. "I got a ransom note, and I paid it. I got Belle back. Then, she was back here within an hour."

Joe rolled his eyes. "You're an idiot. Do you know that? If you took Belle, she will tell us."

That statement was met by a smirk. "Then ask her. Be my guest."

"What are you doing here?"

They both turned to see Nick standing behind them, his eyes shooting daggers at Jake. It was very rare that the actor found himself nervous, but the two of them were having that effect on him.

Joe turned to his brother. "Jake here found Belle. Isn't that awesome, bro?"

Nick's eyes widened in shock and relief. He felt like kneeling down to the ground and thanking God that Belle was alright. However, there was another part of him that was struggling to control the rage that was building up inside him. This pretty much confirmed that Jake was behind it. And there was no way that he was going to get away with it.

"You son of a bitch!", he yelled as his fist collided with Jake's face. The force of the blow resulted in his head slamming into the house's brick exterior.

Nick could see a hint of fear in the actor's eyes as he struggled to stand. He wondered how many times this creep had caused that look in Miley's eyes. And that just made him want to hurt him even more.

"You're going to regret that", Jake said quietly, wiping blood from his nose.

"If I were in your situation, I wouldn't be making threats", Joe commented.

"How many times did you do this to Miley, huh?", Nick remarked, the need to get justice for Miley spurring him on. "How many times did you throw her against a wall? How many times did you make her nose bleed?"

"Oh, the irony", Joe chimed in. "Except we aren't defenseless women. In fact, it would seem that you have taken that role now."

"What's going on out here?", Lilly gasped as she came upon the scene.

"I'll tell you what's going on", Jake replied. "This son of a bitch that you call a brother-in-law just attacked me for no reason!"

The blonde suppressed a smile. It was about time that Jake got what he had been giving. But she knew that this had to be stopped before Nick got in serious trouble.

"Nick, why don't you go be with Miley and Belle. I know they both really want to see you", she said, putting her hand on his shoulder to keep him at a distance from Jake.

Even as Lilly was trying to separate the two, Jake wouldn't quit. "I want to see them first", he said in an adamant fashion.

Joe looked at him in disbelief. "You must have lost your damn mind."

Jake turned to Lilly, knowing that he wouldn't get the other two to believe him. "I have to explain to Miley what happened. She deserves to know the truth. That I had nothing to do with this. I'm the one that brought Belle back home. That has to count for something!"

Nick walked away as Jake continued to defend himself to Lilly. Making his way into the living room, he saw Miley sitting on the couch with Belle on her lap. She was talking to a guy that seemed familiar somehow. He finally placed him as one of the parents at the Halloween carnival.

"Uncle Nick!", Belle cried, noticing his presence. The little girl hopped off of her mother's lap, and ran into his arms.

He grinned, and picked her up. "Hey! There's my princess!"

Miley smiled a bit as she watched them. So much that had seemed wrong just a few hours ago was now right again. But she knew that she needed to apologize to Nick. She felt awful about blaming him for everything. Not to mention pushing him away when they needed each other the most. She wanted it to be like this nightmare had never happened.

"Well, I think I should go", Oliver said, snapping her out of her thoughts. "But I'm really happy that Belle's okay."

"Oh, you don't have to...", she started to insist.

Oliver just smiled. "I can see when two people need to talk. But lets not be strangers anymore, okay?"

Miley nodded as she stood up to hug him. "Definitely. Thank you for being here."

"No problem." She watched as Oliver gave a brief introduction to Nick before he walked out of the room. And then, it was just the three of them.

With Belle still in his arms, Nick made his way to Miley. He hoped that everything would be okay between them again. Though he couldn't blame her if she was still angry. It was his lack of attention that allowed all of this to happen to begin with.

"Hey", he said softly.

She gave him a faint smile. "Hey."

Belle looked back and forth between the two of them. Even she could detect the need for them to be alone.

"Mommy, can I go play with Myles?", she asked.

"He might still be asleep, baby", Miley pointed out.

"I won't wake him up if he is. I'll go play with Hannah."

"I guess", she relented, and Nick lowered the child down to the floor. They both watched as she ran, probably not in a very safe fashion, up the stairs.

Then, their gazes turned to each other. Both of them wanting desperately to apologize, but neither of them knowing how to formulate the right words.

"Thank God she's okay", Nick finally spoke, raking his fingers through his hair.

Miley nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Have you been able to talk to her about what actually happened?"

She shook her head. "Not really. I mean, I want to know. I have to know. But it can wait. Besides, I'm pretty sure that it was Jake."

"He was insisting that he's innocent", Nick informed her. "But even if he is, he deserved what he got."

Miley gave him a look of confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"A broken nose and possibly a concussion", he elaborated, allowing himself to smile a bit. "He was going to get a lot more, but Lilly stopped me."

She smiled back at him. "I wish I could've seen it."

Reluctantly, he took her hands into his own, and stared into her beautiful blue eyes. He knew that he would never do anything stupid ever again to risk losing her. Because if he lost her, he would lose everything.

"I'm sorry, Miley. For everything", he said softly. And he was certain that he had never been more sincere about any apology in his entire life.

Miley's lips moved like she wanted to speak, but no words came out. So, he continued. "I love you more than anything. And I promise that I'll never let anything like this happen ever again."

"Oh, Nick", she breathed, fighting back tears. "I'm sorry too. I never should've pushed you away like I did."

"Hey, I let you push me away. And that's something that I never should've done. I'll never be able to tell you how truly sorry I am for that."

"It's okay", she whispered, brushing her lips against his own. And it was like everything that was wrong in the world just melted away. All that mattered was them.

Maybe that was the moment when it finally hit Nick. How in love he truly was. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with this girl. Those few hours spent apart from her were the longest of his life. Before he met Miley, he liked his life. It was simple, no complications to deal with. But he had never known true happiness until she came along. And now...he was more sure than ever that they were meant to be together. And he knew what he wanted to come next.

He wanted to marry her.

So, Belle is back home. Jake's plan completely backfired on him. And Nick and Miley are stronger than ever! Could there be a proposal in the works? Hmmm...