Well, this is an all time low for me...I haven't updated in like...a month. xD. Sorry...it's just I couldn't find the inspiration for it but after some previous experiences and fantasies, here's what I came up with. Please tell me you'll stick with me all the way. 3 Please review. I'd love to know what you'd think. Chapter 8: Stay
As The Academy Is…'s "About A Girl" was blasting through Miley's iHome, she found herself jumping up and down on her bed in the hotel room. She felt really exhausted from the strange dream (or nightmare?) that she had last night and she just needed to shake some negative energy off of her mind. And just plain knock some sense into herself.
She heard a knock at the door and lowered the volume of the speakers. The song still played to give her room a kind of atmosphere. She sang along to it the whole time, not realizing who it was that was at the door. She figured that it would be Demi, who constantly texted her last night about what she did on her date with Joe. She was really happy for her new best friend.
"Eeee-yes?" Miley said happily as she opened the door without thinking.
"Hey, there, Miles," Nick said, trying his best not too laugh.
Her eyes widened and she turned the brightest shade of red. Her face turned hot but she decided to speak.
"Nick? What are you doing here?" She was this close to stuttering. She was so relieved that she didn't.
"Apparently I'm hearing you sing," Nick said, smiling, "We had plans today, remember?"
"Yeah…I remember…Sorry, I just feel sort of strange today. Stranger than usual, I mean."
"What's wrong?" It was so easy for Nick to reveal his sensitive side. Miley could melt right there from seeing his face turned concerned. It was just too damn cute and too good to be true.
"I had this totally weird dream…Like there was another me…And she was telling me things about my life. She was my doubt." Miley blurted out and then she covered her mouth.
Nick raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"
"Forget it," Miley said, giggling nervously.
"You okay? Did something happen?" He inched closer to her and gazed into her blue eyes, trying to get an honest answer. But knowing Miley, Nick knew it would be hard to get a real answer out of her.
"Not really…I guess work's finally catching up to me…I've been really stressed. It's no big deal. I get vacation sometimes…I can take a breather…"
He replied, "Well, that's good to hear. I couldn't stop thinking about you last night."
Miley turned immediately red. "Wh-Wh-What?"
He revealed an evil smile and laughed a little.
"Very funny, Nick," Miley said, rolling her eyes.
Nick stepped into Miley's room and sat himself on her bed. "So…what's up?"
"You can come in…" Miley said, "Oh, I'm leaving for Tennessee tonight. So luckily, I'll get to spend some time with the king of mischief."
"Wait…you're leaving?" His eyes widened.
Miley gave him a look of confusion. "Yeah…My dad told me this morning. I'm…kind of excited…No wait….I'm beyond excited!" She smiled.
He gave her a grim smile because he wasn't too thrilled about the news.
"What's wrong?" Miley said, clueless.
"It's nothing. Just kinda shocked that you're leaving so soon."
"Why would that be so shocking? I come and go like the wind," Miley said and sighed as she walked over to the window that led to the balcony. She stared across the town and the never ending traffic. Her face was expressionless and she continued, "You should probably be used to it by now, am I right? Or am I wrong?"
Nick looked down, avoiding Miley's eyes and what seemed like the truth. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
She turned to him, her face still the same. "That's what I thought."
"What's up with you, Miles? Where's the Smiley in Miley?" He asked, making the last statement something that could make her laugh.
She smiled at him and hesitated. "I'm fine, really…It's just I've been thinking a lot lately. Since I've been busy with everything, I haven't really had the chance to reflect on what's been going on or to live in the moment…It really hit me, you know? I felt like I lost myself."
Miley's hurt words hit Nick hard and he felt a pang of pain within himself. He never thought about it the way she had. She was famous and with that fame, there came a price. She wasn't given the same freedom as every other seventeen year old girl in America had. She was…different…and being different sometimes pissed her off.
"Hey…Why are you beating yourself up so much?" He stood next to her, following her sight and stared out to another direction, towards where the ocean was. The crashing waves somehow calmed her down, he could tell.
"I just…" Miley paused and he had the bad feeling that she was about to cry. "I've done so many stupid things without even thinking it through." A tear fell down her cheek. She wiped it immediately away and tried to maintain her cool.
"What are you saying? You sound like you just killed someone…Which you didn't…Miley…who's perfect?" He reached his hand over to her shoulder. She didn't move at all and stood there, stiff.
"You are," Miley said.
Nick laughed humorlessly. "Me? Perfect? Well, I'm close to perfect but I wouldn't say I actually was…" He was trying to make everything sound like a joke to lighten up the mood.
Miley stood there, giving him a blank look.
"You know I'm just kidding right?"
"Do you really want me to answer that question?" Miley raised an eyebrow.
Nick shook his head. "Sorry…What I'm trying to say is…I'm not perfect. At all. Why would you say that?"
"Well, you're smart. Wise. Talented. Sweet. Understanding. Strong…Well, you're pretty close to perfect."
Nick smiled at the confused Miley and took hold of her hand. His eyes brightened and they seemed to be saying Really? "And you're not any of those things?"
"I'm a mess, Nick," Miley replied, "That much I know."
"Well, if you ask me, I think that's pretty hot." He chuckled.
"I just…Think I let the fame get into my head. I've been acting like a spoiled little diva and look at me with Liam…I'm such a fake. I…I really don't know what to do," Miley said.
"Miley…" Nick wanted to protest.
"Nick, I've messed around with you too many times and with other people."
"But that's in the past. I've put you through hell, too…Remember that."
Miley smiled, eyes still revealing only sadness. "How could I not?"
He smiled back and waited for her to continue.
She turned serious again. "Everything I do seems…Well, pretty much like a mistake. Everyone expects me to do one thing and I have thousands of people out there wanting me to mess up again. I just…I can't handle that anymore."
"Now it sounds to me that you're acting like a coward…That's not who you are."
"Well, sure I can handle that. As if I give a cow's good morning sit down about what people think about me…It's just…I want peace and there are so many things I can be doing right now that I love…If I had a choice."
"Miley, did something happen?"
"The record company teamed up with American Idol and they are going to test out the chances of getting a new show called International Idol."
Nick raised an eyebrow saying What's your point? "What about it?"
"They're giving me this huge offer to go on a World Tour…For an entire year. It's called Around The World in 365 Days. It's to benefit world disaster relief and at the same time, we're going to be making auditions all over the world for the competition."
"That's great," Nick forced himself to smile. Sure, he was happy for her to get such an opportunity. But…for a whole year?
"Yeah…They really want me to do it…" Miley said, half-heartedly.
"But you don't want to," Nick said, worried but hopeful on the inside.
"Well…I'm torn. Isn't that a shock?" Miley laughed a little.
"Don't force yourself to do it. It's a little too much for you, don't you think?"
"I may not be Super girl but I think I could handle it…Getting to go around the world is an opportunity that rolls around like maybe once in a lifetime…Can I really pass that up?"
"But that's something you can't get out of. If you're in the middle of Rome and you have the sudden urge to ride Blue Jeans, you know you can't. You'd be making a commitment."
"True…And I'd miss everyone here so much…I don't think my family would want to follow me around and deal with my constant mood swings and motion…Besides, I felt like I was reconnecting with someone I never wanted to let go…I'd miss him too much."
"Really?" Nick smiled. "Does this guy happen to have three maniac brothers and a reputation of never smiling?"
"Actually, you might know him pretty well," Miley said, smiling back.
Nick wanted to gave in to what he's been trying to cover up. He was tempted to press his body against hers and feel the familiar yet always fascinating touch of her lips. He wanted to but he knew that it wasn't the right time. It was never the right time. He always thought that's how it was.
"Nick?" Miley looked at him, worried.
"Yeah?" Nick snapped out of it.
"You okay? You just spaced out. Not that I'm not used to it already." Miley smiled.
He smiled at her. "Nah, just thinking…So what are you thinking, Miley?"
"I think we should go out and burn some daylight. Paint the town red or something…" She went to go grab her purse.
"You have such a way with words, you know?" Nick said.
"You don't have to tell me. I know," Miley said, smiling.
They both walked out the hotel room, hand in hand. A little more relieved but still filled with decisions they had to face. But still…Miley felt that with Nick on her side, that no matter what happened, she'd be okay.
"Miley! Miley! Miley!" The paparazzi kept shouting at her as she and Nick made their way through the lobby which more likely seemed like an impossible task than something they've been doing the past couple of days.
"Does this mean you and Liam are over?"
"Are you cheating on Liam?"
"Are you and Nick getting back together?"
"Nick! Nick! C'mon tell us what's up with you two. We thought we heard several rumors speculating around you and Selena Gomez."
The two of them, irritated now more than ever, kept moving. They pretended that the sounds of cameras flashing and annoying paparazzi were the mere sounds of mosquitoes buzzing around them. When they managed to escape the hotel with the help of their bodyguards. They both ran into the car Nick rented and started driving off. Nick took full control and went into overprotective mode as he gripped the steering wheel.
"I think…we should've thought this through before we actually decided to go out…together…in the open," Nick said, breathing heavily.
"Um, yeah. Definitely. Awww, Liam's gonna kill me…"
"Chill, we didn't show that we were a couple at all. It was like every other time we hung out after the break-up. We didn't say anything and there weren't that many rumors…"
"But Nick, we both came out of the elevator together and they could suspect that we're both in the same hotel room. Oh God…They're gonna try to prove that I really am a whore," Miley said, groaning as she put her head on her lap.
"Miley, you never were a whore and they've got no proof. Plus, we weren't staying in the same hotel room. P.S. I'm wearing this damn purity ring," Nick said as he raised his finger out to her a poked at her cheek.
"But I thought you supported the cause…" Miley raised an eyebrow at him. She loved doing that to him.
"I do…" Nick said with plenty of bitterness in his tone.
Miley laughed a little because of the look on Nick's face. She bit on her lip to stop herself from laughing and when Nick turned to her, she just couldn't control it.
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"The fact that we're being followed?" Miley said as she looked through the rearview mirror, "Or the fact that I'm with you?" She smiled at him.
"We've gotta lose those guys," Nick said as he noticed the black van that had constantly stayed in their tracks. He looked at Miley, who was waiting for him to say more. "I like spending time with you."
She smiled and then turned away from him to look out the window. They were driving by the LAX Airport and then she asked him, "Where are we going?"
"I thought we'd go somewhere different," Nick said, concentrated on the road, "Okay with you?"
"Of course," Miley said, "By the way, not to spoil the mood…But how are we going to lose the paparazzi?"
"Easy," Nick said as we entered the expressway. A sinister smile formed around his face.
"Nicholas…" Miley said, nervously.
"Yes?" Nick smirked at her.
"You're not planning on risking our lives, are you?" She looked at him, her eyes widened.
"Life's about risk, baby," Nick said, laughing.
"You're so lame," she smiled, "But please, if you get us killed…"
Nick kept his left hand on the steering wheel and placed his right hand on Miley's left hand. "Trust me," he said, his eyes sparkling at her.
She was mesmerized and how she couldn't refuse him…well, she didn't really know. She took a deep breath. "Okay."
"You're lucky it's not Joe who's driving. I'm the beast who drives in this family."
"Uh huh…Nick, I said I trusted you. You don't have to say anything else," she said, laughing nervously.
So they managed to escape the dreadful paparazzi because Nick is a swift driver and managed to get his way around cars and confuse them. He was a true genius and he didn't let Miley forget that. They made it to what looked like another hotel…But Miley hesitated and looked at the building more carefully. She decided to ask Nick.
"What is this place?" Miley asked.
"It's a ballroom," Nick replied.
"Nick…why are we here?" Miley asked, with caution.
"I needed to pick up my ballet slippers…" Nick said.
Miley punched him on the shoulder and he gave her a playful smile. "No, really?"
"I thought we'd go dancing. I don't think anyone would suspect us here…"
"True…And I like the idea. It's original," Miley said.
They walked into the entrance and it looked like a place where huge parties could be held. It look elegant and beautiful with regal white walls all over the place. It was like Miley stepped into her modern version of a fairy tale. She was nervous but excited, not knowing what to expect what would happen next.
They stepped into a darker room that was still massively huge. The lights switched on when they stepped in and Miley's mouth opened wide. The floor was smooth and looked polished. It looked like a modern version of Cinderella's castle in the ballroom, except there weren't so many windows. The only few were pretty big but they were covered with violet red curtains. The chandelier was made of what looked like thousands of gems. Miley was speechless.
"Okay…If you want to back out from this, it's okay…" Nick said, shyly as he shoved his hands into his pockets and avoided her eyes.
Miley was about to squeal but she said, "No…This is amazing. We are going to dance because I really want to…Do you?"
"If it's with you, then I can't say no," Nick said, honestly.
"I can't stop smiling," she said to him, "You made me that happy."
"So…what do you want to dance to?" Nick asked.
"Hmm…This just seems so unreal to me. I never thought a guy would ever be into something like this," Miley said.
"I guess it really depends if that guy is with someone he really cares about," he replied.
As he said that, Miley was walking around the endless abyss of a ballroom in circles and she suddenly stopped and looked over at him.
He smiled. "So did you decided what song?"
"Let's dance to "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. I love that song," Miley said, breathless and not caring about how red she was.
Since Nick was the holder of the most contained songs in an iPod, well, in Miley's circle of friends anyway… he switched on the song and it blasted through the speakers so the two of them would be able to hear the song clearly.
Miley was lucky that she didn't dress too casual. She wore a short yellow dress that could've been wore to a prom and put her favorite red sports jacket over it. She took it off to get ready to dance with Nick. She was lucky that chose to wear her ballet flats.
Well, what Nick wore didn't matter so much since boys wore pants all the time but he wore his black leather jacket that had the T-birds sign on the back of it like from the movie Grease. He wore his pair of Levi jeans and cowboy boots.
When the guitar began to play, the two of them were already standing in front of each other, their hands intertwined.
The whole reason behind Nick taking Miley dancing was that so it didn't matter if they messed up. If they did, then they could mess around. That was the whole point. To have fun…and maybe some sparks could fly along the way.
They danced to the rhythm of the song for the first couple of minutes and whispered in each other's ears to give each other pointers. Miley couldn't take his eyes off of Nick's and she prayed that she wouldn't step on his feet.
Before they knew it, an hour practically flew by. They danced to Lifehouse, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Aerosmith, Lady Antebellum, too many to name.
That's when Nick put on a new song. Miley had never heard it before and she could tell that it was new. That's when she heard his voice. Her heart was racing this whole time but this made things more intense. He reached his hand out to her and she took it, just like the last 12 or so times that she had today. They began to sway to the song.
It's hard to believe, We've had our past, Cause you're not the only one, Now that the pain is done, Beautiful, one of a kind. All that I needed and more. Cause you're not the only one, Now that the pain is done, As his guitar solo seductively swept in, Miley could feel the tears slipping away from her eyes. She wanted to wipe them away but Nick pulled her into a deep embrace and she pressed her face and nestled it into his neck. Cause you're not the only one, Now that the pain is done, Tell me, tell me you'll stay. When the song finished, they let go of one another. Nick looked at her, worried. "Miley, are you okay? Please don't cry anymore…" "Nick…Was that song by any chance…for me?" Miley asked, wiping away her tears. "Well, yeah…It hasn't be released and I'm not sure if I should…because I wanted to run it by you first." Nick smiled at her and pushed away some of Miley's hair away from her face to look into her eyes. "I loved it. It was the most amazing thing…I…No words can describe what I feel…Does this mean…" "Yeah, Miles. I'm not over you and I don't think I ever will be," Nick said straightforwardly. Miley's eyes widened and before she could figure out if she should say anything else, she immediately stepped over to him, took his face into her hands and pressed her lips against his. "If it wasn't obvious enough, I was never over you and I'm pretty much positive that I'll never be," Miley said as she let him go. It was a short kiss and that left Nick disappointed. He immediately kissed her back and made the kiss last longer. They had no other words to say. It was flat-out obvious that their feelings for each other never died. Whether it was friendship, frustration, hate, pain, joy, love…They kept each other in mind…All the time…And sometimes, they didn't realize it. But the truth was, the absence they had of each other, really made their hearts grow fonder. There was no noise in the room but Miley could hear the constant sound of Nick's song, "Stay", in her head. When they let go, they just kept holding each other. "I don't know why I ever let you go," Nick whispered softly in her ear. "Nick, even you're not perfect," Miley said, laughing softly while squeezing him tighter. They smiled at each other and they didn't feel like letting go of each other anytime soon. Miley mouthed the words to him, "I love you." Nick caressed her face and said normally, "I love you." He lifted her off the ground and they spun in circles while the song "Anywhere But Here" by SafetySuit blew into its chorus. Miley giggled and she kissed Nick on the cheek. Well, they really had nothing much else to say. Words couldn't describe how they felt any longer. They were so happy that they told each other "I love you" because it's been too long since they've ever admitted that to each other. It's been so many years of war and drama but now they could finally connect all over again. Miley felt so happy but then she came to the realization that she still had so many decisions to make. Would she go on the world tour? Would she be happy to go to Tennessee now after what's happened? And what will be of her and Nick? Well, there was still time, Miley anticipated. There had to be time…She'd think about that later. All she wanted to do was fall forever into Nick's arms and despite how corny that sounded…she absolutely didn't care.
Where we are now.
Your hand in mine, babe,
Feels right somehow.
But now its okay,
So don't make a sound.
Cause its almost perfect,
So, baby, Don't you look down.
Leave that behind.
Cause none of it lasts,
All that we have is tonight.
Who's ever felt this way.
Don't let the world cave in,
Just tell me that you'll stay.
There's no need to be afraid.
We don't have time to waste,
Just tell me that you'll stay.
You're something special babe,
And you don't even realize
That you're my heart's desire.
I know you're scared,
But I promise, babe,
I'm not who I was before.
Who's ever felt this way.
Don't let the world cave in,
Just tell me that you'll stay.
There's no need to be afraid.
We don't have time to waste,
Just tell me that you'll stay.
Who's ever felt this way.
Don't let the world cave in,
Just tell me that you'll stay.
no need to be afraid.
We don't have time to waste,
Just tell me that you'll stay.
No, tell me.
Tell me that you'll stay