These Things Have Changed

“Nick we need to talk.” I said once we were alone on the bus. We were stopped at a gas station and the three stooges were getting food. “About what?” He asked sitting down beside me. I sighed. “I can’t do it. I have to tell Mitchel.” I said to him. “Ally no you can’t.” He said with his eyes bugging out. “Nick I have to. You don’t understand.” I said and he started shaking his head. “Look, remember what happened with me? Remember when I found out about you and Selena!? I lost it Nick. Everything….don’t you want to save Miley from that?” I whispered the last part. He sighed and sat back into the couch. “They’ll hate us both.” He said rubbing his hands over his face. “If she loves you as much as she says, then Nick it’ll be okay.” I said putting a piece of stray hair behind my ear. “That’s the thing though” He started as I went to stand up. I turned and sat back down. “She was the first to say I love you. Right away almost…..how am I supposed to know she meant it? I mean you can’t know that fast if you love someone right?” He asked looking at me. “Well there’s love at first sight.” I said not knowing what else to say. “Do you believe in that?” He asked me. “I like to believe it’s true.” I said and he just sighed. “Well I’m telling Mitchel, he deserves to know…” I said looking over at my phone on the tiny coffee table. “Maybe.” Nick said to me. “What do you mean maybe? Nick I don’t want to do something to someone like you did to me. I’ve been threw enough to know how much it really hurts you. I don’t wanna be the cause of that pain.” I said toying with the draw strings on my sweatshirt. He laughed gently and I looked over to him. “Do you know he had three girlfriends in the past month and a half? That he told every single one of them he loved them?” Nick asked looking at me. “No, I didn’t know that.” I said shaking my head. “So what’s your point?” I asked him. “Al I’m just saying don’t believe that he is truly in love with you…take it from someone who thought so to.” I cocked my head in confusion. “Not Mitchel Ally. God sometimes you can be so dumb. I just meant I’ve believed someone loved me and then they just turned around and ended up writing a hit song about how much they hated me…” He said. “And look who you’re with now. That same girl.” I said with a laugh. He sat there for a moment and then stood up. I watched as he walked to the door. “I’m gonna call her….but Al just so you know, I wasn’t talking about her.” I watched as he walked away out of my sight. I sat there thinking to myself. He thinks I’ve hated him. This whole time. Maybe that’s why he’s been so bitter towards me. I mean unless he’s talking about some other girl who’s a singer that he’s been in love with…but what are the chances of that? Pretty slim right?

The bus started moving and I was shaken from my thoughts. I stood up and ran to the front. I saw Joe, Kevin, and Nicole eating at the table and they all stopped laughing and starred at me. I twisted around and went to his bunk and I ripped back the curtain. He wasn’t there. “Where’s Nick?” I asked them. “Why?” Joe asked and I rolled my eyes. “Were on a bus Ally. Where could he have gone?” Nicole said smirking at me. I twisted back around and saw the bathroom door opening. “Nick!” I shouted and he jumped. He looked at me and sighed while rolling his eyes. “Scared me Al,” He said. “Nick. I hate you.” I said starring at him. “What?” He asked highly confused and taken back. “I hate you. I hate you so much that I- I, I” I said starting to stutter. “You what?” he asked annoyed. “That I love you. I am one hundred percent, fireworks going off, butterflies in my stomach every time you say my name, Can’t breath when I think of what’d I do with out you, Sparks flying when we kiss, grand slam home run, scream it at the top of my lungs and I don’t care who hears it in love with you.” I said. My mind was so flustered while I was yelling this at him. I took a deep breath and he starred at me shocked. I laughed and shook my head. “Sorry, just thought I should tell you.” I said looking down and then back up at him. “Ally you are crazy.” He whispered to me as he put his forehead to mine. I smiled. “So I’ve been told” I said just as quietly. He put a hand on the side of my face and I put my hand on top of it. He leaned in and we kissed. I could feel the familiar magic in this kiss. His kisses are the reason I believe in love. He pulled away but our foreheads were still connected. “I love you to Ally. More then you could ever know, and plus I think you took all the sayings usually used to describe the feeling.” He said and we laughed. I heard a spoon drop from the kitchen. “Wow. I did not see that coming.” Joe said. “I don’t think any of us did.” Kevin said. “Guys we can hear you!” I said and then we heard some slaps and laughed. “You two are never allowed to leave each other ever again. I can’t handle all the drama that comes with it.” Nicole said to us.

“I’m shaking Nicole. What if he hates me?!” I said sliding the phone further away from me. “Ally, he’s not going to hate you. If he does it won’t be forever. I mean think about you and Nick….you hated him for a little but I mean now things are back to the way they once were.” She said pushing the phone back towards me. “But we had history.” I mumbled. We’ve had this conversation twelve times in the past half hour. “It’s ringing here!” She said throwing me my cell phone. “NICOLE!” I shouted as I caught it. “DON’T YOU DARE HANG UP!” She shouted back just as I heard a faint “Hey Al.” I took a deep shaky breath and answered, “Hey” Nicole stood up and walked to the back to give me some privacy but I wanted anything but to be alone right now. “What’s up?” He asked. “Um Mitchel I need to tell you something.” I said nervously looking away from my own reflection in the window. “Okay shoot.” He said and I could hear the TV in the background. “So okay remember the after party?” I asked. “Yea, are you alright? I mean you seemed pretty bad when you left. Hangover this morning?” He asked with a slight laugh and I sighed quietly. “Um no I was fine this morning. But when we got back to the hotel um something happened…” I said I could hear the soft music playing from the back room and the faint voices of my family and best friend. “What happened?” He asked getting more serious. “Um well I couldn’t really do anything in my state.” I said avoiding the truth. “And…” He said wanting to know the point. “Well Nick had to help me into bed…and well we kind of uh…” I was now sitting at the kitchen table debating on weather or not to jump out of the moving bus before admitting the truth. “Ally you and Nick did what?” He asked a little more sternly. “We hooked up.” I said quietly and I heard him sigh on the other line. “Mitchel I’m so sorry” I whispered. He didn’t say anything, the line was silent except for his breathing on the other end. “Say something” I said to him. “What do you want me to say Al? Oh okay thanks for telling me!?” He somewhat shouted and I winced. “I knew you’d get mad” I said. “Ha, did you think I’d be all happy about this!? Ally I can’t talk to you right now.” Then the line went dead. I shut my phone and put it down on the table and starred out the big window and watched the cars rushing by. That could have gone a little better…

“So did you call him?” Nick asked as he sat across from me. “Mhm” I said not looking away from the cars. “Well?” He asked. “He was mad.” I said as he took my hand. “Did you call Miley?” I asked looking at our hands. “Not yet.” He said. “Well I suggest you tell her before Mitchel does.” I said looking at him. “Why would he call her? Did he say he was going to?” He asked. “No but I don’t know if he will, he seemed pretty mad. He hung up on me.” I said. “Alright, I’ll call her right now.” He said letting go of my hand and grabbing his own cell phone. “Nick she’s going to hate me.” I said. “No she won’t, she’ll hate me.” “No Nick, she-she sent me a text message at the award show it said to back off of you.” I said and he sighed. “It’ll be alright Al I promise.” He said to me. “Yea you’ve said that before.” I said standing up and walking back to my bunk. I hopped up and fell asleep listening to Nick saying he was sorry to Miley over and over again, then came the infamous line, “I can’t help who I fall for”. I fell asleep remembering the day he had said that to me. “I’m so sorry” I whispered out loud. I was apologizing to anyone who would listen, toanyone who cared, and to anyone who mattered.