Before the Fame

The following night of the tour arrived when my mom knocked on my door as though she were the police, her voice ringing through the door.

“Get your ass out of that room and down those stairs! You don’t need to hold everyone up!” she exclaimed angrily.

Apparently, she knew something had happened between Nick, Miley, and I, but didn’t know what exactly it was. I didn’t plan on telling her and even through the constant pestering she gave me when I arrived home hours earlier, I didn’t break down crying until I got into my room and was alone.

I sighed before grabbing my things as I headed down the steps. I opened the door, pulling my luggage with one hand while the other was empty, but the same shoulder held my black travel bag. I saw two buses and Joe, Kevin, and Mr. Jonas in front of the first one causing me to assume that the first was our bus while the second had to be the family bus.

Joe was by my side in seconds before he took my things giving me a sympathetic look. Kevin came moments later giving me a side hug before he led me to their dad. Mr. Jonas smiled a little as he gave me a fatherly hug, but didn’t speak as he waited for my mom to exit a few moments later. She did so and he helped her onto their bus which was shared with Denise and Frankie whom I hadn’t seen yet.

The boys waited until the parents got onto their bus before speaking.

“I know everything. Joe told me,” Kevin said in a sympathetic tone.

“I’m sorry. What happened to the photo shoot?” I asked.

“It was moved to the first-same day of the next concert,” Joe answered, stuffing his hands in his pockets as Kevin lead the way onto the bus, opening the door.

I thanked him quietly before entering. It was the first time I had ever been on a bus like this. There was a small area for cooking and a microwave before we got to the eating/mini-lounge area, then finally the bunks and one bathroom. My eyes landed on Nick whom sat on the couch in the lounge, our eyes meeting after I realized he was there.

We both wore sad expressions, but it seemed as though he had something to say. Whatever it was, Joe laced arms with me before leading me to the bunks while Kevin followed.

“Your bunk is here on le bottom right while Nick-o’s is on the bottom left and I’ll be above you while Kevin will be above Nick,” he explained.

I nodded in comprehension, setting my bag in my bunk as he led me to the back where two closets were.

“And the sharing of closets will be sort of different,” he said, opening both closets revealing a full one while the other was half empty.

“I’ll be sharing with Nick, then?” I asked in confusion.

“Mm-hmm,” he answered with a smile.

I nodded once more before we walked back to the front of the bus. The driver started the ignition before we took off. I walked to the couch opposite Nick’s, sitting Indian style as I ran a hand through my hair, resting my head on the leather couch.

“Wanna watch TV?” he asked while Kevin and Joe just stood there watching us.

“Sure,” I answered with a shrug.

“Uh, we’ll be in our bunks. We’re kind of tired,” Kevin said, nudging Joe as he was about to protest.

“Yep, SO tired,” he said with an over-exaggerated yawn.

Both Nick and I gave him a look before he laughed nervously, then hugged me, but only ruffled Nick’s hair before walking to the bunks. Kevin shook his head before he said goodnight to both of us leaving us alone.

Nick flipped through the channels until a movie was on. It was a horror movie, but I wasn’t scared. We watched at least five minutes of it before he spoke.

“Scary’s good with you?” he asked staring down the hall towards the bunks before glancing at me.

I nodded in return causing him to ask another question, but he turned his attention solely on me and not the film.

“The argument wasn’t your fault,” he said in a low tone.

I scoffed before I responded.

“If it wasn’t my fault, then whose was it?” I asked realizing I’d repeated my question from hours previously.

We sat in silence for a moment before he spoke.

“I don’t know,” he answered.

“If being friends with you is going to cause so much trouble between you and Miley, then maybe we shouldn’t-,” I began, but he cut across me.

“I’m not ending my friendship with you because Miley’s delusional,” he said with certainty.

I bit my lip as a blush rose to my cheeks before speaking.

“She’s your girlfriend, Nick,” I replied, staring at him finally. I realized he was much taller than he was in 2005 causing me to look up instead of a diagonal angle a few inches.

“I know that, but you’re important to me, too,” he said, catching me off guard.

I swallowed, tearing my gaze from him as I felt butterflies in my stomach erupting. I was speechless.

“I shouldn’t be,” I replied in a sad tone.

“Why not?” he asked turning his body towards me now.

“Because I’m insignificant compared to her,” I answered honestly.

“Sam, you’re not. You’re important to me and my brothers and that means a lot,” he said with honesty.

“I don’t get it,” I began causing him to wrinkle his brows in confusion, “Why am I so important to you guys?” I asked, my thoughts landing on Noel and my mom.

“Because you’re our friend,” he answered simply.

I shook my head.

“That shouldn’t be a reason,” I replied.

“Then what should be a reason?” he asked catching me off guard.

I sat for a moment before I answered him.

“If I were your best friend, I’d understand, but I’m not, so-,” I began, but he cut across me.

“So, let’s change that,” he said with a small smile.

“W-what?” I asked taken aback.

“Let’s learn everything about one another so you can have that ‘significance’,” he said using air quotes.

“Are you serious?” I asked my heart racing at his words.

“Of course,” he answered, shoving me lightly with his arm as a larger smile appeared on his lips, showing his teeth.

It was then when I realized how beautiful of a smile he had, but I shook the thoughts away as he spoke again.

“So, Samantha Parker, tell me about yourself,” he said in an intrigued tone.

A smile appeared on my lips as well before I nodded eagerly as I told him everything about me as he told me everything about him.

…

I don’t know how, but somehow, Nick and I had spent hours laughing, joking, and learned a lot about each other. What was said in the magazines about his interests were true and even with the age difference, we had a lot more in common than I thought we did.

Neither of us could read music for the life of us, we loved steak, and hated messes, but there were differences we had, too like the fact that he absolutely loved sports while I could care less or how he knew how to swim and could probably do it in his sleep while I absolutely couldn’t. Or the fact that he had a HUGE appetite compared to my bird-like one.

But what caught my interest the most had to be when he asked one question.

“Do you want to listen to our CD?” he asked.

My eyes lit up with even more interest as I nodded.

He walked to his bunk, pulling out a laptop and headphones. He turned it on, unlocked it, and went to the CD part before clicking a few times. Then, he plugged in the headphones, handing me the one for my right ear while he took the one for his left. We listened to each and every song me loving each and every one of them. All too soon, however, they ended, Nick deciding to finally speak again.

“So, what do you think?” he asked.

“Wow. You guys have definitely come a long way since your last album even though that wasn’t a bad one, either,” I answered honestly.
He scratched the back of his neck nervously before speaking.

“Really?” he asked.

“Definitely! I absolutely loved Hello Beautiful, Games, Just Friends, and Hollywood,” I answered just as a yawn escaped me causing Nick to yawn as well.

“How long have we been up?” he asked, staring at the clock on his laptop.

It read 1:00 AM.

“Jeez, it’s one already?!” I asked in a surprised, yet sleepy tone yawning again.

“Yeah. We’d better get some sleep,” Nick said unplugging the headphones and then shutting off the laptop.

I nodded in agreement waiting for him before turning off the TV. Once he was finished, we headed to our bunks to head to bed. We stood for a minute realizing Joe and Kevin had really fallen asleep. An extremely quiet chuckle escaped the both of us before we spoke.

“Goodnight, Sam,” he said in a whisper.

I laughed a little at him before I responded.

“Goodnight, Nick,” I replied.

Just as I turned to face my bunk, Nick embraced me in a hug. We stood for what seemed like hours before he pulled away causing my heart to race. I felt so comfortable in his arms, but I shook the thoughts away again.

“Night,” he said again.

“Goodnight,” I replied before we climbed into our bunks, sleep engulfing us.