xxPUSHiNG me away {NiCKjonas],, 01

- - - Nick's P.O.V. - - -

"What are you doing here?" Nick asked. He glanced at Vanessa, who was simply staring. He reached or her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Oh come on, didn't you miss me?" Miley smirked, twirling a piece of blond-streaked hair around her finger. "I just wanted to talk to you."

Nick stood back so Miley could st ep inside. She shut the door behind herself and strode confidently into the living room, dropping onto the couch.

"You wanna go upstairs for a second?" Nick whispered. "Find out what's with Joe or something?"

Vanessa nodded. "Yeah, okay." She dropped his hand and ascended the steps. Nick watched her go and then joined Miley in the other room on the couch.

"Seriously, why are you here?"

"I missed you," Miley said, tracing her finger down his arm.

Nick slapped it away. He suddenly felt very bare without his ring. "Stop. I know what you're doing."

Miley sighed and pulled a CD out of her purse, handing it to him.

"What's this?" He turned the case over and examined it.

My new song. I wanted to know what you thought of it," she offered innocently.

"What's it called?"

Miley snatched it away and stood, popping it into the CD player that was sitting on the coffee table. "Seven Things."

Nick unwillingly listened to the entire song. Miley smiled when she ejected it. "So?" she prompted.

"It was-"

"I wrote it for you. About you," Miley blurted.

"That single sentence reminded Nick of every memory he had from when he and Miley and been a couple. It made him remember why he'd liked her so much in the first place. But just as quickly as he'd remembered, he snapped out of it. He was with Vanessa. He loved Vanessa. "No."

"Nick?" Miley laid her hands over his.

"No!" Nick pulled away from her and stood up. "I don't want this, okay? I don't want you."

"Where's your ring?" she tried to change the subject.

"It doesn't matter," he said hurriedly. "We aren't talking about -"

"You're right," Miley interrupted, again twirling a blond chunk of hair around her finger as she, too stood. "We aren't talking." And before he could object, Miley kissed him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Oh, so this is why you wanted me to go upstairs, huh? That's just great, Nick."

Nick pushed Miley away, causing her to stumble over the rug and fall roughly into one of the chairs, but he didn't care. Vanessa stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking on the verge of tears. Her hair was still sort of messed up from their prank, but he no longer found it ocmical. She shook her head in a disappointed manner, biting her lower lip.

"I come to grab Joe a stupid water from the fridge and this is what I get?" Vanessa shouted. "I should have seen it coming, right?"

"Vanessa!" Nick called, but she'd already turned to run upstairs.

"Nick."

Nick turned to see Miley standing in front of him, tugging on the necklace she was wearing. "Nick, I -"

"Get out."

Miley opened her mouth, but Nick cut her off. "Just get out!"

- - - Vanessa's P.O.V. - - -

Vanessa bolted back to Joe's room, where Joe and Kevin had been waiting for her. She slammed the door as hard as she possible could. Joe and Kevin stared as she dropped onto Joe's couch, pulled her knees to her chest, and rocked back and forth. She probably looked psychotic, but she didn't care. It was all she could do not to burst into tears.

"Vanessa?" Joe asked tentatively.

"What!" Vanessa practically shouted. Kevin got up and then sat down next to her. He took her shoulders and forced her to look at him.

"You need to tell us what happened," he said quietly. Vanessa felt Joe sit down to her right. "Okay?"

Vanessa nodded and he released her. Before she could even open her mouth, the image of Nick and Miley flooded her mind and she started crying. Hot, angry tears sliced down her cheeks, and she felt as if somebody had stabbed her right in the heart.

"Miley was at the door," she choked. "I just went to get Joe his water. Nick - Miley - kiss - I..." she broke off and burried her face in her hands. Joe wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, trying to console her.

He took her hands and squeezed them. "It's okay," he whispered, also seeming as if he wanted to cry. "It's okay."

Vanessa let her head rest against his chest and cried right onto his shirt. After a while, it got kind of wet from her tears, and she managed to say, "I'm sorry. I -"

Joe shook his head wordlessly, which caused her to bury her face in his shoulder and cry harder, though her sobs were now slightly muffled. He was being so nice to her, even after the prank had made him mad.

Kevin had been pacing the entire time, randomly bursting out in curse words. Normally, it would have been funny to hear Kevin mutter, "Stupid fucking bastard," but in this situation, it was hardly comical.

When Vanessa finally stopped crying, she say up straight, catching a flash of herself in a mirror that was mounted on the wall. Her face was red and splotchy and her blond hair hopelessly wrinkled and knotted. "I look like shit," she moaned.

"You look fine," Joe insisted as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. "You just need to sleep for a while. Kev can get you a blanket and you can sleep here. I'll call your mom."

Vanessa nodded, wishing she could give him a grateful smile. Instead, she said, "Okay."

Kevin dramatically ripped the covers off Joe's bed, stole the pillow, and presented them to Vanessa with a flourish. She had to smile at this. She took them and fixed up Joe's couch so she could sleep on it comfortably. When she'd curled up in a ball under the blankets, Joe smoothed her hair a little before leaving to call up Adrienne.

Before Kevin shut the door, he told her, "Just because Nick was, you know, an ass, doesn't mean we're gonna stop caring about you."

Once the door was closed, Vanessa couldn't stop a fresh batch of tears that were itching at her eyes. She tried to blink them away, but to no avail, and finally just succumbed to misery, crying as quietly as she could manage, now feeling bad for getting Joe's pullow wet, along with his shirt.

Happy Sweet Sixteen, Vanessa.