I had planned for this to be up at the start of the week, but I went to post it Thursday night and the entire chapter had gone, so I had to rewrite the whole thing. Hope you enjoy :-)

I had no idea what drove my parents to do such a thing to me. I was a big girl and I could handle myself while they 'sorted out their issues'. Heck, I had been doing it for long enough. It was nothing new for me to cook my own dinners and go to bed without saying goodnight to them.

It had been a two-day road trip from New York City to the suburbs of Dallas, Texas. While my parents decided whether or not a divorce was the right decision in New York, they had shipped me off to Texas to live with his best friend Paul and his family.

"You'll be fine," Dad said as he pulled up outside Paul's house.

My mom leaned forward from the backseat and touched my shoulder. "I'll be down here to visit you for Thanksgiving, and your dad's coming down to spend Christmas with you guys. And remember, Miley. No matter what happens, your father and I will always love you."

I rolled my eyes. Well, that was complete bull. If my parents really loved me, they never would have forced me to pack my bags and move from my home and everything I had ever known to Texas, where I knew absolutely no one.

Dad got out of the car and started unloading my bags from the car. "The time will fly and you'll be back in New York before you know it."

"I still don't get why I have to come down here," I muttered.

"We don't want you to have to sit there while your father and I decide what's best for our family."

That was complete bull too. The thing my mother really didn't want me to see was her throwing some plates at my father's head for sleeping with his receptionist while she was away for a weekend with the girls in the Caribbean.

I turned around and looked at the house. I had to admit that it was a pretty cool house. It was like something you'd see in those movies about suburban families with deep secrets that completely mess up their lives, or maybe that was just what I wanted to think. Maybe I just wanted to think that the people I was going to spend my senior year with would have issues that would distract them from mine.

The door opened and a short woman with tight black curls walked out of the house, grinning from ear-to-ear. "I thought I saw a car pulling into the driveway!"

Mom walked over to the woman and hugged her. "Denise! Thank you so much for taking Miley in at such short notice," she said.

The woman pulled back from the hug and walked towards me. "Nonsense! We're delighted to have her join us!" She smiled at me and hugged me. "Miley! I haven't seen you since you were little. I'm Denise. Welcome to Dallas."

I faked a smile. It was Denise's fault that my parents clearly thought I was about seven years old. "Thank you for letting me stay here, Mrs. Gray."

"Oh please, call me Denise."

Okay, the woman didn't seem that bad, but that didn't make me want to go home any less.

"My daughter Demi is delighted to have you staying with us," continued Denise. "She's pretty tired of being the only girl in this house. I guess it gets a little exhausting for her to have four brothers."

Dad came around the car, carrying my bags. "Hey, Denise. Where shall I put these?"

"If you leave them on the porch, I'll get the boys to bring them round to the pool house in a little bit," she replied. She smiled at Mom and I and led us into the house. "When are you coming down here to stay, Tish?"

"I was thinking about Thanksgiving, unless you guys have something else planned."

Denise shook her head. "You and Miley are welcome to spend the holiday with us. Same goes for Billy Ray when he comes down here at Christmas." She sat down at the kitchen table. "Sit down and make yourselves at home. Paul should be here any minute. He's just getting the pool house ready for Miley."

Dad came into the kitchen and sat on my other side, as far away from Mom as possible. He tried to do it as subtly as possible, but he made it obvious that a two-day road trip back to New York with my mom was as much time in close contact with her as he could handle.

The French doors leading out to the back opened and Paul walked in. I recognized him from the many times he had come to visit my dad in the city.

"Paul," Mom said. "It's nice to see you. Thank you for taking Miley in like this."

"It's our pleasure," Paul responded. He sat down beside his wife and smiled over at us. "I'm afraid the main house only has four bedrooms, so Miley will be sleeping out in the pool house with our daughter Demi."

"That's no problem," Dad said. "Miley will also be happy to comply with any house rules that you have."

"There aren't many really. The curfew is eight o'clock on school nights and midnight on the weekends."

I nodded. I didn't really care about a curfew, even though I never had one back in New York. It wasn't like I was going anywhere. My friends and my boyfriend were all back in the city, so it wasn't like I had anything to do or anyone to meet.

"School starts on Wednesday," Denise said. "I can take Miley into the city to get some things on Monday while I'm there with Nick, Demi and Frankie."

Dad nodded. "That would be great. Thank you, Denise."

Denise's gaze drifted to me. "Miley, why don't you go out and check out the pool house? Paul and I would like a word with your parents before they go." She pointed at the doors Paul had come through. "Just go down the porch steps and the pool house is across the yard and on your right."

I walked out the doors and looked around. The pool was large, but their backyard was so big that there was still enough room for the pool house, a lawn, a patio and a large tree with a tree house.

A dark-haired girl peered out the door of the pool house. "You must be Miley!" she called.

I approached her and nodded. "Are you Demi?"

The girl smiled and nodded. "My mom told me to show you to your bedroom once you came out here. Follow me." She held the door open for me and led me into the pool house.

There was a large living room with a small kitchenette in the corner. The living room was decorated in cream and blue colours, and there was a flat-screen TV mounted on the far wall.

Demi stepped forward and led me towards a door on the left. "It used to double as a guest house, but then Frankie was born and we needed an extra bedroom so I moved out here and Frankie got my old bedroom," she explained. "So now it's just me out here. Grandma used to stay out here when she visited, but she moved into a home in Memphis last year."

I watched Demi as she pushed open the door and ushered me in. Demi seemed nice, but I wasn't looking for friends. I had those in New York, and I sure as hell didn't need anymore.

"Well, this is your room!" She smiled at me and looked around the bedroom. It was spacious and decorated in orange and blue. "I hope you like it. My parents weren't sure about whether you would or not, but –"

"I love it," I said quickly.

Demi sat down on the edge of the bed and smiled up at me. "So, tell me about yourself. My dad says you lived in New York. That must have been pretty awesome, huh?"

Damn this girl talks a lot, I thought to myself. I forged a smile and nodded. "It was great. I had awesome friends. I went to one of the best schools in the city, and my boyfriend was really amazing."

"Was?"

"Oh, we're still together," I said quickly. "It's just that I'm not sure whether this long-distance thing is going to work out between us. It's not exactly easy to stay together when you'll only see each other via Skype until summer," I explained. I looked away. I had no idea why I was telling Demi, a complete stranger, so much about my relationship with Liam. It wasn't like she even cared.

"I'm sure that it will all work out between you guys," she reassured me. "Anyway, don't worry too much about settling in here. We moved here when Nick and I were about seven, and everyone made us feel like we belonged. Nick, Selena and I will help you make friends and stuff."

"Who's Selena?"

"My best friend."

"And you and Nick are the same age?"

Demi nodded. "Twins. I'm seven minutes older, but he doesn't like to be reminded of that. He thinks that, because he's a guy, he has the right to rule my life or something."

"Where are your brothers now?"

"Frankie's up in his bedroom. Nick is at the gym for football practice before school starts next week, and Joe is out with his girlfriend in the city. Kevin's in South America right now. He and Joe don't start back at college for another two weeks," Demi replied.

I nodded and sat down beside her on the bed. "So, what's the party scene like around here? Back in the city, there was a party pretty much every weekend."

"There are about sixty or seventy kids in our class, and since we live in the suburbs, everyone normally has family at home and so there aren't any big parties until somebody's parents go out of time." She sat up and grinned. "Actually, there's a party at Nick's friend Jack's house tomorrow night. You should come! We can introduce you to everybody."

I pretended to be interested and nodded. I didn't really want to go to some party where I knew nobody but the people whose pool house I was living in, but I thought that it would be rude to turn Demi down when she had been nice enough to invite me.

"That sounds like fun," I said softly. "Sure, I'll come."

Demi clapped her hands excitedly. "Great! I can't wait for you to meet my friends. They'll love you!"

There was a knock on the door. We both looked up and saw Denise at the door. She smiled over at us. "Ah, I see you've met Demi," she said. "Sorry to interrupt you girls, but Miley, your parents are just about to hit the road again if you want to come back out and say goodbye."

Reluctantly, I rose to my feet and trailed after Denise. I didn't care if I never saw my parents again – okay, that was an exaggeration, but they were dumping me in a completely new state where I knew no one but a man in his forties.

My parents were waiting for me beside the pool. Mom's face lit up when she saw me. Dad smiled over at me and held his arms open for a hug.

"We're going to miss you so much, baby," Mom whispered as her and Dad came towards me.

Dad hugged me tightly and murmured, "We know that you're not exactly happy about staying down here, but it really is what's best for now while your mother and I sort everything out back in the city."

I said nothing. Every time I had voiced my opinion on being shipped to Texas when we were still in New York, my parents had yelled at me for 'foul language'. Well, foul actions call for foul language, if you ask me.

Mom kissed my forehead and held my head tightly in hers. "If you need anything at all, sweetie, just call me. Remember, we'll put some money in your account every Wednesday."

I still said nothing. I followed them through the house in silence. I stood beside Denise as they clambered into the car in silence. I watched while they drove away from the Gray's house in silence. There were no words I could think of to voice how I was feeling, so I made the wise decision of keeping my mouth shut.

Their car disappeared from sight, and I felt Denise place her hand on my shoulder.

"Come on, Miley," she said softly. "Let's get inside. The boys came home about ten minutes ago and Paul would like to introduce you."

I followed Denise back into the house, still slightly numb, unable to believe that my parents had basically ditched me in Texas so that they could fight with each other in peace and quiet.

We entered the living room. I saw Demi curled up in an armchair, laughing loudly at the curly-haired boy with his back to me. Paul was sitting on the arm of Demi's chair with a little boy sitting at his feet.

A boy with short dark hair and stubble was in the armchair beside Demi's. He looked up at me and grinned. "You must be Miley."

Denise pushed me further into the room. "Yes. Miley, these are my sons. That's Joe over beside Demi. Over on the floor, that's Frankie. And on the couch is Nick."

The curly-haired boy turned to face me and smirked slightly. His curls were cut short, leaving his vision clear. His deep brown eyes bore into me, watching me as I stood awkwardly in the doorway. He had toned and well-defined muscles in his arms and chest. I couldn't help but notice that he had the fingers of a piano player, long and slender. His hands just looked so soft …

"Hi," he said, his voice smooth like velvet.

"Hey," I said, my voice squeaking slightly.

He smirked again and moved down the couch slightly. "Mom, Miley, come sit with us. We were just talking about the party at Jack's tomorrow night."

"Be home by twelve," Denise warned, joining her son on the couch.

Nick turned to face me and chuckled. "Are you just going to stand in the doorway or are you going to sit down beside my mom and join the conversation?" he teased.

His eyes watched me carefully as I gently sat down between Denise and the arm of the couch. Knowing that he was watching me gave me a weird feeling in my stomach. The last time I had felt that way … I shook away my thoughts and tried to focus on the conversation.

Because the last time I had felt that way … Well, the truth was that the last time I had felt that way had been never, and that thought scared me a little more than it should have.

I apologise for any mistakes etc. In order to get this out before school starts again tomorrow, I was kind of rushing. Hopefully you all enjoyed the first chapter, even if it was a tad boring. I promise that things will get more exciting as the story goes on! Please review and tell me what you thought. Thank you x