Five Months Later …

"You know, buddy, we can totally stay in Australia for a little while. Maybe take a little vacation. You've been working your ass off for months on this tour. What's the rush to get back here?"

Nick glanced over at the anxious Joe. Since Miley left, they had toured Asia, Europe and Australia, and Joe had done nothing but fuss over Nick and his mental state. He hadn't seen or heard from Miley since her swift departure from South America. He had made the odd unreturned phone call but had since given up on her returning his calls.

The tour had been awful without her. He couldn't concentrate on stage, his dancers hardly spoke to him, and his bus had unfortunately lost the woman's touch that Miley had brought to it.

He glanced back out the window. "I have some things to do here," he replied.

Joe sighed. "I wasn't supposed to tell you this, but you seem pretty convinced that you're going to find her here." He paused and then sighed once more. "Miley isn't here, Nick."

Nick spun around to face Joe, his eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you mean she isn't here?"

"It was time for Miley to follow her own dreams instead of watching everyone else's come true, according to the dancers. She got back here and apparently moved straight back to Tennessee after a week," Joe revealed.

"So she moved back."

"She's settled down in Nashville."

Nick's hand drifted to the bulging pocket of his jeans. He reached for the velvet red box and opened it to look at the vintage Cartier ring he had bought in Paris. He had, of course, bought a ring for Miley months beforehand, but that was still lying at the bottom of his sock drawer. That ring reminded him of nothing but the miserable five months he had spent without her.

"That ring is a beauty," commented Joe.

"So is she," Nick replied in a whisper. He leaned towards his driver and said, "Back to LAX please. I have a flight to catch."

Miley glanced at the ringing phone across her dance studio and then back at the group of loud and excited six year olds she was in the middle of teaching.

"Keep going with that step, girls. I'm watching you, Laura," she called, approaching the phone. She picked it up, looked at the caller ID and sighed. "Lilly, I'm teaching a class right now!"

"Oh, trust me. You'll want to hear what I've got to say."

"What are you talking about?"

"You know that Nick's tour ended last night in New Zealand, right?"

Of course she did. How could she forget? She was supposed to be on a plane at that moment, back from five months of travelling with her boyfriend and her friends. The tour had been her life for about four months solid before she left.

"He was seen flying into LAX this morning, then right back out of it this afternoon," Lilly announced.

"How is any of this relevant?"

"Miley, Nick was on the twelve o'clock flight to Nashville."

Miley didn't know what to do. Nick wasn't supposed to know where she was or what she had been doing since the tour ended. If he was in Nashville then that only meant one thing …

Miley quickly worked out the time in her head. Nashville was two hours ahead of Los Angeles, meaning Nick's flight left at two o'clock her time. And the flight was three or four hours long, which meant that he landed at about half past five. She glanced at her watch. It was half past six.

"He found you," Lilly announced.

"But how? I made the girls swear not to tell him about this!"

"I guess you forgot how close he is to a certain manager."

Miley's heart stopped when she heard the familiar velvet tone of Nick's voice. She almost dropped the phone to the hardwood floor. She couldn't even bring herself to turn around and look at him, but she could see his reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror on the far wall.

"You didn't honestly believe that I wouldn't come after you, did you?"

He looked the different to what he did when she left him. His curls had been cut shorter and his face had matured. He had clearly been working out more. His usual smirk, however, was the exact same.

"I-I have a class right now," she stuttered.

"Miley, we –"

"I'm not doing this, Nick. Not in front of the kids." She turned to the large group of girls and plastered a false smile on her face. "Okay, ladies. Back to work! And one, two, three and –"

"You know Nick Gray?" a stunned little girl squealed.

"He's my –"

"I'm her boyfriend."

Miley spun on her heel to face Nick, her eyes narrowed. "He is not my boyfriend!"

Nick smirked again and bit his lip slightly as he stared at her. "But I was." He scanned her up and down. "I still could be. Or have you found someone better?"

"Jealousy always was your problem, wasn't it, baby?" she spat. She turned away. "He's all yours, girls. Take it away."

The young girls swarmed around Nick, squealing and begging for pictures, screaming and yelling about autographs and hugs from their favourite singer.

Nick smirked at Miley yet again and shook his head. "I've been doing this since I was a teenager. You honestly think that I'm not used to this?" he called to her.

"Honey, I know. I just want to watch and see how long it takes you to crack."

"I've been through worse than being swarmed by little kids, doll."

Their old banter from when the tour first started almost made her smile. Almost, but not quite.

"So," Miley called over the squeals, "what brings the poster boy of America to Nashville? Have you suddenly decided to convert from pop to country?"

"He missed his girl," he replied, lifting his gaze and blushing ever-so-slightly.

"His girl has bigger fish to fry these days."

"Can't we just talk about what happened, Mi? It's been a long time," he pleaded.

Miley ignored his desperate request and looked at the dozen little girls. "Back to work, kids!" she called, but she was met by loud groans. "Cheer up! Mr. Gray doesn't want to watch a bunch of miserable little girls dance, do you?"

"You'll let me stay?"

"Only because I've been waiting for months and saving a few choice words for you that aren't exactly appropriate for a dozen six year olds," she replied.

Even if she was going to swear at him, she was at least going to talk. It was a start, wasn't it?

Nick watched as the kids lined up and obediently followed Miley. He had never realized that, on top of her outstanding talent in dancing, she was a fantastic teacher. The girls clearly looked up to her.

He met her gaze and smiled encouragingly. She had accomplished so much in just five months. He was beyond proud of her.

"One more run-through and then home time. And five, six, seven, eight!"

He noticed how hard the girls were working to reach Miley's standard. Her drive and energy were clearly as infectious among them as it was with him. Every single little girl adored the woman and worked hard to be as good as her.

"Okay, we're done for today! I'll see you girls on Monday."

Nick made sure that each girl had quietly left the dance studio before he slowly and purposefully walked over to Miley. He stood with his chest pressed to her back.

"I miss you," he breathed.

"After five months, all you can say is that you miss me?" Miley asked, appalled, but he could tell that she wasn't that angry, seeing as if she was, she would have moved away from him. "I won't come crawling back to you because you tell me that you miss me, Nick."

Miley glanced over her shoulder at him and walked across the room, away from him. Okay, maybe she was as angry as he thought she would be.

He sighed. This – earning her forgiveness, earning her trust – was going to be a lot harder than he expected. "I was stupid and a jerk and basically, I screwed up. I love you, Miley, and I need you," Nick said, his voice soft and fragile. "You've accomplished so much and I'm proud of you for that, but right now, I need you more than ever because it's been five months and I've been feeling like a zombie ever since you left." He knew he was rambling but he needed to say it all then or he never would. "I know that what I did on the tour that night was reckless and unforgiveable and completely and utterly stupid, but we were good together, Mi!" He sighed, and then let out a small smile. "And I need to kiss you soon or else I might just pass out."

Miley said nothing in response. She stared across the studio at him, shocked. She had expected everything with Nick to be over and yet here he was, fighting for her. Every speech she had promised herself she would give him if he ever showed up flew out the window as she choked back all the gut-wrenching sobs that she had been holding back for all those months, scared that crying would show that she missed him.

When words failed her, her lips did not.

She stormed across the room, tears streaming down her face, and wrapped her arms roughly around his neck. She brought his head down to meet hers and forcefully pressed her lips against his.

He automatically lifted her up and let her long legs wind around his waist, just as he always did when they were together. Their tongues mingled together and their hands roamed one another's body desperately.

"You can't just walk in here and tell me you love me," she murmured against his lips, her words muffled.

He simply grunts in response, lost in her kiss. It was sensual and sweet and lustful and loving all rolled into one. She felt familiar and safe in his arms, like he had finally come home.

"Forgive me," he murmured. "Please."

"You have months of making up to do."

"I can deal with that."

Nick pulled away and put her back on her feet, but he didn't let go of her. He felt the pocket of his leather jacket and, with a deep breath, pulled out the ring he had been storing in his pocket since the dates in Paris.

Miley saw the signature Cartier box and gasped, her hand instinctively reaching to cover her mouth.

"Before you freak out on me, please hear me out," he said calmly, his eyes never leaving her face as he tried to analyse her response. "The last five months have been hell without you, Miley. I did everything I could, including some things that I'm not exactly proud of, to try and forget you, but none of it worked. You were still there, stuck in my head, baby. I've written dozens of songs about what happened, but the lyrics are only about one tenth of how much I actually love you and how readily I would take back that show if I could." Nick sighed and shook his head. "I can charm a teenage girl in almost thirty seconds, but around you, I'm nervous and I somehow manage to do the craziest things." He knelt down on one knee and watched her with anxious eyes. "I've been fixated by you since I met you, Mi, and I can't handle life without you. I tried and it didn't work. I guess what I'm trying to ask is this – will you do me the honour of marrying me?"

Miley looked down at the dazzling diamond ring and held her breath. She hadn't seen him in five whole months and yet here he was in her dance studio, proposing to her on one knee, just like she had always dreamed of.

Nick bit his lip nervously at her shocked silence. "I know that this isn't some grand romantic proposal like women want, but –"

Oh what the hell, she thought.

"Yes," she said abruptly.

"Yes?"

"Yes, I will marry you."

Nick stopped shaking, though he didn't remember when he started in the first place. He rose to his feet and hugged her as tightly as he could. He pulled back slightly and slipped the ring onto her left hand.

"I will never put you through any of that again," he promised

"You better not, or else let's just say that you won't be having kids of your own. Got that, sunshine?"

Nick laughed, though he definitely didn't put it past his fiancée to achieve it.

"How about we head back to my apartment and talk?" Miley suggested.

"I thought we had sorted out everything about the tour," he replied, confused.

Miley chuckled and trailed her hand down his chest. "Honey, I haven't had sex in five months. You honestly thought that talking was anything more than an excuse to get you into my apartment?"

"Baby, you don't even need an excuse."

Neither of them had to say anything else, for she took his hand and immediately led him to her loft apartment above the studio.

Things were by no mean perfect; in fact they still had a lot to discuss, despite the fact that Nick had apologized for his behavior on their last night together on tour. However, they were to leave all the heavy conversation for another time, because now they were engaged, so why not celebrate? After all, it had been a long time since Nick had held his perfect yet completely crazy little dancer girl.

I suppose that's it. Cheesy ending, I know, but I thought it was kind of cute. Hopefully you enjoyed the final chapter. This story has literally been my baby, and I've worked so hard on it. Thank you to all the people who continuously reviewed and supported me. It meant so much.

I leave tomorrow for three weeks, so I won't be updating until the end of July/beginning of August. I'm going to work really hard and try to get the next chapter of A Thousand Miles From Home up before I go, but no promises.

I won't thank my reviewers this time, but you all know who you are. Most of you have reviewed on every chapter, and I appreciate that. Thank you all so much x