Early June 2009

Between December and June, a lot had happened, changing everything as my friends and I knew it. Nick had finally grown a pair and followed my advice – he tried to fix things once and for all with him and Miley. I won't lie: I was immensely proud of them, more than I could possibly put into words. They had somehow overcome the initial awkwardness between them and were trying to get things back to that one-of-a-kind friendship they had while they were dating. They were trying to bring that one thing that made them 'Nick and Miley' back to the surface, and I loved it.

That April, their lunch date had helped them out a lot. Any of the tensions left over after they started talking again were sorted and they had even agreed to record a song together for the boys' new album. Sure, some paparazzi found them and the photographs were splashed across international magazines and gossip sites, but for once in their relationship, they were both able to overlook their complete lack of privacy due to the fact that they had found each other again.

We all were doing a charity single together that summer, and in June, we were due to record the video. I distinctly remember watching from behind the camera with Joe whilst Nick and Miley recorded their section of the video together.

"What happened between them?" Joe asked softly.

I wasn't really sure how to answer that question. How do you begin to explain where they went wrong? What happened in the final months of 2007 was just the tip of the iceberg – nobody noticed the underlying problems: their trust issues, the contrasting tempers, their strange love/hate mood swings. Their entire relationship had some kind of toxic element, as perfect as their chemistry was. Then, of course, there was the fact that I had no idea how to explain to him that his actions since the break-up had been part of the reason that everyone's lives had been so divided. The way that he and Kevin had automatically sided with Nick made everything change. It had suddenly become as though we each had to choose a side - we were either Team Nick or Team Miley, and by Joe and Kevin leading the way, it was as though they approved of everything that people said and did to hurt Miley. It was understandable that they choose their brother first, but surely even they understood that what they did never made anything any better for anyone.

As I watched them, their chemistry was palpable.

Tangible.

Undeniable.

When they looked at the each other, everyone in the room could feel something sizzle between them. Their talks had not eliminated their problems or melted some of their underlying tensions, but it allowed us all to look at them without seeing the warring exes and the bickering of the heartbroken teenagers and finally see that, underneath all that arguing, they still cared for each other beyond measure.

"I'm not really sure," I replied to Joe, my voice soft.

"He never really talked about it much," he said. "What happened, I mean. They ended things so quickly. After they broke up, he just acted like the past two years had never happened and that everything was as right as rain."

I found it strange that Nick didn't talk to his brothers about it much. It didn't explain why Joe and Kevin had acted like Miley was some sort of contagious disease that we couldn't even speak of. How could they have made her life miserable for a year if they didn't even know what had happened? It just didn't make sense that they would get involved in a situation they knew nothing about.

"They were good together," Joe continued.

Was that really true though? Were they really good together or had we just convinced ourselves that their love was some kind of fairytale that made them good together? When they were good, they were great. But when they were bad, they were freaking horrible. Their story may be one of the greats of our generation, but the great love stories aren't always healthy. Look at Romeo and Juliet: the fact that neither one could stand the thought of life without the other wasn't necessarily healthy.

I watched Selena across the room that day. I knew that she still was not over Nick. Every glance, every touch between Nick and Miley was killing her. She was trying to smile and act like everything was fine and that she was happy for them, but I had known her long enough to realise when she was upset. It was another one of those torn-loyalty situations for me. Was I supposed to be happy that Nick and Miley were finally making things right, or was I supposed to be supportive towards Selena and tell her that Nick didn't deserve her in the first place?

Because Nick didn't deserve her. Selena was worthy of someone who would love her unconditionally, someone who wouldn't use her to get over their ex. What Selena needed was someone who was going to take care of her and worship the ground she walked on rather than wish it was someone else walking on that sacred ground.

We were supposed to act normal. Hell, Selena and Miley were supposed to act like best friends when the only things they believed they had in common were Nick, me, and the fact that both wanted to rip the other's head off. We were supposed to frolic through the grass and sing like it was something we did every single day, like none of us had a care in the world (except, of course, climate change). Obviously Selena and Miley avoided each other as much as humanly possible, and yet Selena's eyes were glued to Nick and Miley.

I sat down beside Selena during a break and nodded my head towards Nick and Miley.

"Are you okay with this?"

"Do I have any other option?"

"Not really."

"I still love him, you know."

"I know."

There was a silence between us as my words sank in for her. Everyone knew she was still in love with Nick, even after everything he had done to hurt her. Yet I knew that my acknowledging her love for Nick was different for her, because I saw all three sides to that sick and twisted love triangle.

We watched them together. I watched the couple I had admired since I was fourteen, while she watched her rival fall in love all over again with the boy she loved. We were watching from different perspectives, but we were seeing the exact same thing: two people who should never have spent a day apart, despite the nasty side effects to their relationship.

"He never looked at me the way he looks at her," Selena says softly.

"No, I don't suppose he did."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I know how much Nick loves Miley. There is no one on this earth that could replace her in his eyes."

I knew I was being harsh. Selena was in love with this boy, and there I was, basically telling her that she never had a chance with him, not now that Miley was back in the picture. But she was my best friend, and she deserved to know that she deserved better than a life of waiting around for someone who would not come back to her (or at least that's what we thought).

What Selena deserved was someone to look at her just like Nick looked at Miley – like the earth and the moon and the stars all were based around her, like nothing in this universe could outshine her.

I looked back at Nick and Miley that afternoon and realised that what all of us really wanted was to have a love like theirs. Whether it was Joe or Selena or even me, we all just wanted to replicate that adoration of one another and to feel like there was somebody who would love us wholeheartedly and unconditionally. All any of us wanted was to be the princess that Miley was to Nick; to have that sparkle in our eyes that Nick always seemed to have.

I don't think that any of us have a chance of finding someone with whom we can share that kind of love. That kind of love is a one in a million kind of thing - once in a lifetime. It's epic and endless, and though it is not always as pure as I once thought, it is innocent.

My mother used to recite her favourite Bible excerpt to me a lot. She used to tell me that love is patient and love is kind. She told me that love always trusts and love always hopes. Though Nick and Miley were not always trusting or patient with one another, the one line in that passage that was constant with them was the fact that love perseveres. There are no circumstances under which Nick and Miley could give up completely or hope that their lives together would unwind and fall apart. There was always that perseverance and that hope that some day, whether it was as a teenager or some day fifty years from now, their lives would entwine once again and they would become one once more.

So, I know that you all want a little bit more dialogue, but I'm just trying to get some events over and done with so I can move on. I may not have made this clear from the beginning, but some of this story will stretch into the future. Once I get to the point where absolutely everything written is fictional, there will be a lot more dialogue, I promise.