part 2/3: the love story
back to part 1
you’re still holding all of my heart
I am so excited for this part, you don’t even KNOW. Nick and Miley are the greatest, and pretty much my ultimate RL OTP. I will ship them for the rest of my life, I’m pretty sure.
They met when they were thirteen, on June 11, 2006, at the Time For Heroes picnic thing. Nick already had a crush on her because of Hannah Montana, but all Miley knew about Nick was that he thought she was pretty. They met, and Miley, in her autobiography, describes it like something out of an adorable movie. Which I am such a sucker for.
He came up to me with a bunch of guy friends and introduced himself. Instantly, I wanted them all to go away and just be with him. He started to shake my hand and I said, “I don’t do handshakes, I do hugs.” When he hugged me, I noticed his scratchy shirt and blurted out, “I hate your shirt.” So that was just about the first thing I said to him: “I hate your shirt.”
That night, they went out with some of their friends, and afterward, Nick and Miley talked on the phone for four hours. They had a ton in common, and were immediately boyfriend and girlfriend. I CANNOT HANDLE HOW CUTE THAT IS, OKAY. <3
They were super happy and super in love. And yes, they were young, only fourteen for most of their relationship, but I don’t think that means you can’t be in love. I think it’s different than the way you love someone when you’re sixteen or eighteen or twenty-five or whatever, but it’s still love.
There’s also like, at least a 90% chance that Miley was Nick’s first kiss, which is so sweet it gives me a toothache, ugh.
And they live right down the street from each other, and used to ride their bikes together - NICK WOULD SING “MY GIRL” TO HER BUT CHANGE THE WORDS TO “MILEY” - and get up crazy early so that they could see each other before they went to work, and…so cute, I can’t even.
One of the best things about shipping a couple where both of them write music is that you get songs to help you tell their story. And they wrote some fucking cute songs about each other. These are not me tinhatting, that comes later - all songs in this part have either been confirmed (thanks Miley!) or made hardcore obvious by something (like Hello Beautiful being confirmed by 7 Things - thanks again, Miley!).
Hello Beautiful - Jonas Brothers
Hello, beautiful
How's it going?
I hear it's wonderful in California
I've been missin' you
It's true
But tonight, I'm gonna fly
Yeah, tonight, I'm gonna fly
Cause I could comb across the world
And see everything
And never be satisfied
If I couldn't see those eyes
As I Am - Miley Cyrus
Gonna stay in bed today
'Cause I can't stand the light
Don't know why I get so down
I won't be much fun tonight
And I can't believe
You still want to hang around me
It's not so pretty all the time
You don't mind
To you, it's all right
As I am is how you take me
Never try to push or make me different
When I talk, you listen to me
As I am is how you want me
And I know I found the piece that's missing
I'm looking at him
Inseparable - Jonas Brothers
You know when the sun forgets to shine
I'll be there to hold you through the night
We'll be running so fast we could fly tonight
And even when we're miles and miles apart
You're still holding all of my heart
I promise it will never be dark
I know we're inseparable
I will give it all
Never let you fall
Cause you know we're inseparable
I would give it up
Just to show you I'm in love
Cause you know we're inseparable
Sometime in early 2007, the relationship soured a little bit. Their schedules were conflicting, and at 14, shit like that is hard, so they fought a lot. They ended up breaking up, which is crazy depressing, but hey, the Jonas Brothers got super fucking famous off it?
S.O.S - Jonas Brothers
This is an S.O.S.
Don't wanna second guess
This is the bottom line
It's true
I gave my all for you
Now my heart's in two
And I can't find the other half
It's like I'm walking on broken glass
Better believe I bled
It's a call I'll never get
Next time I see you
I'm giving you a high five
'Cause hugs are overrated, just FYI
Clear - Miley Cyrus
I wanna put the past behind
Try, and maybe I can find better days
The first time in a while
I think I even feel the smile on my face
I got a whole new perspective
(It's so clear)
You can't treat me that way
It's so
Clear to me now
I got a whole new perspective
It's so clear to me now
You can't treat me that way
It appears to me how long you tried
To make me think
It was me who was being the fake
So clear
Goodnight and Goodbye - Jonas Brothers
You say you didn't mean to break my heart
But girl, you did
But I'm over it
Adieu to you and all your games
All your crazy friends
This is the end
Hold on tight
It's a roller coaster ride we're on so
Say goodbye
Cause I won't be back again
Up and down
You're all around
Say goodnight and goodbye
G.N.O (Girl’s Night Out) - Miley Cyrus
I say hey, boy
Don't you wish you could've been a good boy?
Try to find another girl like me, boy
Feel me when I tell you I'm fine
And it's time for me to draw the line
'Cause it's a girls night
It's all right without you
I'm gonna stay out and play out without you
You better hold tight
This girls night's without you
A little while later (a month? I’m not sure, Miley is vague in her book), they were both at the White House Easter Egg Roll and saw each other for the first time since they broke up. Miley says that was it, they were back together, and it didn’t matter what had happened before.
Start All Over - Miley Cyrus
Fantastic and romantic
All a big surprise
(Big surprise)
You've got the warning, hesitation pushed aside
It's sooner than I want
But you caught my heart
I guess I'm ready now to start
I'm gonna start all over
Out of the fire and into the fire again
You make me want to forget
And start all over
Here I come, straight out of my mind or worse
Another chance to get burned
And start all over
I'm gonna start all over
They still had to spend a lot of time apart because of their schedules, but they were making it work much better the second time around.
And it probably helped that Miley sent Nick some half-naked pictures of herself. I feel super sketchy talking about fourteen year olds possible sex life, but um, you don’t send pictures like that to someone who you’re not at least thinking about hooking up with, even in a very PG-13 kind of way.
I mean, look at this picture. That is some hot shit. …I’m sorry I’m such a pervert :(
They tried to keep it quiet, but…didn’t do a very good job. I guess it was technically all rumors, and they often flat out denied it, but…it was obvious. I didn’t even really follow either of them at that point, and I pretty much knew they were together.
The Jonas Brothers were on an episode of Hannah Montana, and Nick and Miley were crazy cute in it - he called her pretty twice and sighed and she giggled and I died, it was wonderful.
THEIR LITTLE INTERLACED FINGERS!
And Miley did an interview with Ryan Seacrest at one point, during the Best of Both Worlds Tour, where he asked a bunch of rapid-fire questions about Nick, clearly trying to get her to trip up and admit something, and she pretty much did.
Click to viewRyan: Will you marry Nick Jonas?
Miley: I don’t know.
Ryan: Miley, are you in love with Nick Jonas?
Miley: I am not in love with Nick Jonas!
Lady: Is he in love with you?
Miley: Yes.
Ryan: Have you made out with him?
Miley: No.
Ryan: Will you make out with him?
Miley: *laughs* Yes.
Lady: Has he given you jewelry?
Miley: Yes. …as a friend though.
Ryan: As a friend?
Miley: Yes.
Ryan: No, I think you’re in love.
Miley: I am not!
In October 2007, they went on tour together. Which you would expect to be awesome, and I’m sure it was! Miley seems to get along really well with Joe and Kevin, and there are tour videos where it looks like they’re having such a great time.
And they are super adorable dorks together, so that had to be fun.
When Miley did the switch from Hannah Montana to Miley Cyrus, the Jonas Brothers performed a few songs, so before that, they would always perform We Got the Party. There is this part during the performance where Nick and Miley walk up the catwalk together, and videos from that have made me happier than like, any video should.
WHEN SHE KISSES HIS CHEEK AND HE TOTALLY BLUSHES, I DIE.
…and then it crashed and burned because the universe hates joy. And me, because it crashed and burned on my motherfucking birthday. At the concert I wanted to go to. Wtf.
So, yeah. They broke up on December 19, 2007. Miley talked about it a few months later in Seventeen magazine: they literally broke up right before going onstage, after deciding that it just wasn’t working out. And they both cried! You can definitely see how not-okay they were that night in this video (the audio is horrible, mute it or deal with static):
Around 1:20, they do their walk up the catwalk, and Nick’s face when she touches his hair breaks my heart.
They were both heartbroken by this. Miley was just uh, more vocal about it afterward. But on Christmas Eve, Nick wrote Sorry about it, and it’s…so fucking perfect. It’s one of my favorite break up songs ever, seriously.
Sorry - Jonas Brothers
Filled with sorrow, filled with pain
Knowing that I am to blame
For leaving your heart out in the rain
And I know you're going to walk away
Leave me with a price to pay
Before you go, I wanted to say, yeah
That I'm sorry
For breaking all the promises
That I wasn't around to keep
It's on me
This time is the last time
I will ever beg you to stay
But you're already on your way
After the BoBW Tour wrapped up in January, the Jonas Brothers went on their Look Me In The Eyes Tour, and Miley…briefly turned into a hot mess. She dyed her hair black, because Nick had wanted her to get highlights and she was rebelling against everything he had wanted her to be, and she rebounded with Tom Sturges, her music producer’s son.
Which mostly seemed to mean taking slutty pictures with him. Yay for trying to make Nick jealous?
By April of 2008, Nick was dating Selena Gomez. I don’t know when they met or when they started dating, but they were definitely together during the DC Games, which were filmed in April.
This started a whole Team Miley vs Team Selena thing, that escalated when Miley and her best friend Mandy made a video mocking a video that Demi and Selena had made (please don’t watch the video and hate on Miley for it - she was a fifteen year old girl with a broken heart, trying to cope with an intense break up and the fact that her ex had moved on to another pretty serious relationship really quickly, I would’ve been a bitch in that situation, too).
Kevin was even seen wearing a Team Demi and Selena shirt that summer. …yeah, I don’t know why he did that, either.
Nick and Selena were incredibly subtle about the whole thing. Except it was in that totally obvious Jonas Brothers way where Nick literally said “Selena is a great girl and anyone would be lucky to date her.” Yeah, no one has any idea what that means. *rolls eyes*
Also, there was that whole thing where they accidentally both told magazines the same story about a first date…
On June 17th, 7 Things was released. Sometimes, I try and imagine how Nick felt the first time he heard it, and I literally can’t. It was probably really weird for him. If people had somehow missed Miley’s Seventeen magazine article where she finally admitted they had dated, the video made it pretty clear. In it, she’s wearing a ring he gave her, holds up a picture of the two of them (his face is covered, but the hair is a total giveaway), and is wearing one of his dog tags that he gave her. I seriously admire her for the guts it must’ve taken to make a video like that.
7 Things - Miley Cyrus
The seven things I hate about you
You're vain, your games, you're insecure
You love me, you like her
You make me laugh, you make me cry
I don't know which side to buy
Your friends, they're jerks
When you act like them
Just know it hurts
I wanna be with the one I know
And the seventh thing
I hate the most that you do
You make me love you
[…]
The seven things I like about you
Your hair, your eyes, your old Levi's
And when we kiss, I'm hypnotized
You make me laugh, you make me cry
But I guess that's both I'll have to buy
Your hand in mine
When we're intertwined
Everything's all right
I wanna be with the one I know
And the seventh thing
I like the most that you do
You make me love you
Miley briefly hooked up with Lucas Till while filming Hannah Montana: The Movie, but I don’t think it lasted any longer than filming.
In September, her dad introduced her to Justin Gaston, a twenty-year old underwear model (she was fifteen at the time, and he might have only been nineteen then, but whatever).
The age difference is a little sketchy, but it seemed like she was finally happy again, and he didn’t seem like a bad guy, so I liked them together, for the most part.
Sometime between December 2008 and February 2009, Nick broke up with Selena. In December, too, Miley performed 7 Things in Germany and said it was for anyone who hates their ex-boyfriends, and at the end, said “I still hate you.” Yeah, they didn’t do a very good job of moving on. Nick did a better job pretending to have moved on, and then Selena’s album came out, and the one song she wrote on it, I Won’t Apologize, is all about how she’s dating someone who is clearly still in love with his ex-girlfriend. OKAY, I WASN’T GOING TO POST ANY SONGS BY OTHER PEOPLE HERE, BUT WHATEVER:
I Won’t Apologize - Selena Gomez & the Scene
You had me to get her.
And here, I thought it was me.
I was changin', arrangin' my life to fit your lies.
It's all said and all done.
I gave it all for the long run.
Can she say the same thing?
I guess this is goodbye and good luck.
(I can't be what you want me to be.)
[…]
Remember the time when you said you were out with your best friend.
But it wasn't the best friend that you know I thought you meant and
I used to assented, I didn't know I could be free.
But I am, and I won't go back 'cause you so don't deserve me.
(I don't even want to be her.)
And then, at the Kid’s Inauguration Concert, this awesomeness happened: The last time I saw Prince Charming, we hugged. I closed my eyes for a moment. It was a strange hug, but I did not want to let go. In that moment, I just wanted to imagine that it was two years ago, and things were the way they used to be.
There’s a bit of screaming and obnoxious-ness in this video, but 0:49 on is like, vital to your life, okay. When Nick clearly notices that Miley’s onstage and heads over, and then the fact that he barely hugs Demi, but wraps both his arms around Miley. The hug is just long enough for it to be a big deal without being awkward, and she closes her eyes, and he hugs her so tightly. And then she just keeps looking at him while he’s working his way down the line, and even after, when he’s just standing in front of her (AND THE FUCKING GIRL FILMING THIS KEEPS FREAKING OUT IN MY EAR, JFC). And, maybe this should go more in the upcoming tinhat section, but Nick hardcore lingers on the stage at the end, even after his brothers go offstage, until she is right behind him. …god, these kids do things to me, ugh.
In March, Miley’s book Miles to Go was released, and there’s a whole chapter solely about Nick, called Prince Charming (yes, that’s his signature there, a girl in London got him to sign it), and she talks a lot about their relationship in the book, from the beginning to the end and their possible future (including saying what songs she wrote about him!).
She appeared on The View to promote it, and talked about how they are still friends, and she had texted him that morning to complain about how early it was and he told her to have fun. She also said she still loves him with everything in her, and he’s her favorite Jonas.
On April 11th, Nick and Miley went to lunch at the Village Idiot in LA and it was…pretty much the best fangirl day of my life, no joke.
Until then, no part of me actually thought they would get back together, but literally the second they started hanging out again, they both seemed so much happier, and I totally got my hopes up.
When Miley Tweeted that afternoon that she was “having lunch and talking about music with an old friend,” I’m pretty sure fandom had a collective heart attack.
Nick and Miley started talking about how they were “reconnecting,” and Miley was tweeting about him all the time, or tweeting happy song lyrics or lyrics from freakin’ Inseparable, while Justin kept tweeting cryptic, sad nonsense. It was kind of incredible to watch, like…watching two people find their way back to each other in real time. *is a dork*
(Confession: I don’t know exactly when this was, and never remember to find out. But it’s awesome, and I’m putting it here in the timeline cause I want to.)
Around this time, Nick and Miley rewrote a Jonas Brothers song to tell their story, and recorded it. It’s heartbreaking and honest and beautiful and one of my favorite songs in the world:
Before the Storm - Jonas Brothers feat. Miley Cyrus
No, this isn't what I wanted
I never thought it'd come this far
Was thinking back to where we started
And how we lost all that we are
We were young and times were easy
But I could see it's not the same
I'm standing here
But you don't see me
I'd give it all for that to change
And I don't want to lose her
I don't want to let her go
Standing out in the rain
Need to know if it's over
'Cause I would leave you alone
Flooded with all this pain
Knowing that I'll never hold her
Like I did before the storm, yeah
Before the storm
Sometime around the end of May, Miley and Justin broke up. Probably because Miley was at least emotionally cheating on him. I feel kind of bad for the guy, but…you can’t get in the way of true love, dude, sorry!
The Disney stars filmed the Send It On video, and Nick and Miley are adorable and flirty and so clearly in love in all the backstage pictures and videos. My favorite is the ping pong one even though it’s just like, two seconds. I love them just doing normal couple things, idek.
And then in mid-June, Joe did us all the favor of confirming that they were back together (1:45-2:15). Cause he’s a sweetheart like that. It kills me that Larry King doesn’t seem to understand what he just got them to say, but whatever, we all caught it.
We also all caught Nick making a special trip down to Tybee, Georgia on June 11th to visit Miley on the set of The Last Song, which I’M SORRY, you don’t do for someone who is just a friend. Also, you don’t usually kiss a friend on a jet ski.
On June 20th, Miley returned the favor by making a special trip to Dallas for the first stop of the Jonas Brothers tour to perform Before the Storm with Nick. The performance gives me goosebumps, especially the part where Miley puts her hand on his back in this really intimate, comforting way when he sings “I don’t want to lose her.” And she kind of kisses his cheek when they hug before she leaves the stage. My heart.
…and then, once again, everything went to shit, because the universe hates me. And epic love. >:(
While filming The Last Song, Miley met Liam Hemsworth, the Australian actor who was playing her love interest. There was a confusing month or two where her Twitter stopped making any sense (somedays she’d tweet things that were clearly about Nick, and some days she’d just tweet confusing nonsense). IT WAS UNPLEASANT TO BE A NICK/MILEY FAN THEN, OKAY.
It was even worse the day this picture came out, because this is off set, not rumors or cryptic tweets. On August 21st, Miley and Liam were spotted kissing goodbye in a Georgia Airport, and shortly afterward, Miley admitted they were dating.
Um, it was weird, to say the least? One minute, Nick and Miley were dating and seemed so happy and in love, and then he went on tour and she went to go film a movie, and it all fell apart, and she started dating this guy! It was like whiplash (nothing compared to the like, retconning of her own life she started doing this year, but we’ll get to that).
After the US leg of their world tour, the Jonas Brothers went to Toronto to film Camp Rock 2. While there, Nick wrote a song called While the World Is Spinning, that he played on tour in January. This is ever-so-slightly tinhatty, but considering the timing, the lyrics, and the fact that Nick introduced it by saying that it’s about how we’re always surprised “when people just do what people do,” I figure it's pretty obvious.
While the World Is Spinning - Nick Jonas & the Administration
I can't be more obvious
I'm in pain
She won't even let me in
From the rain
All the pictures in the frames are cracked
'Cause she's afraid
Of everything they're gonna say
Behind her back
So try to look in my eyes
Tell me that you're not surprised, oh no
'Cause nothing is changing
Everyone has to lie sometimes
Do you know what it's like
To make up your mind?
Don't be alarmed when sinners stand
While the world is spinning
Also while filming Camp Rock 2, Nick hooked up with Courtney Galiano, a dancer in the movie, and also MY FAVORITE SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE DANCER EVER. I think it was kind of casual and short-lived, but um. It’s really hot for me to think about it, because she’s one of the hottest girls in the world, imo.
Then Miley was on tour and still dating Liam (ugh), but she still found time to make air quotes around “sincere apology” while performing 7 Things in London. Moving On: You’re Doing It Wrong.
In December 2009 or January 2010, Nick remembered that there is still another Disney star he’s allowed to date! So, him and Selena got back together.
Neither of them confirmed it, obviously, but they both did the awkward avoiding the question thing whenever interviewers tried to bring it up, instead of denying it. They were really adorable, and I was hoping it would work out.
It…did not. By mid-March, it was over, and they went back to saying they were single in interviews. No one really knows what happened: the two main stories are that they decided to break up because Selena was leaving the country until July, or that Nick kind of flipped out when he saw Miley and Liam at the Oscars, and Selena was basically like “not fucking again, dude.” Either way, it was over really quickly.
Nick might have briefly dated Nicole Anderson, who plays Macy, his love interest on JONAS this season. No one really knows for sure? I think they might have dated casually for like, a month. I don’t know and I don’t like talking about it because it makes me feel weird in a way I don’t like to think about!
Miley and Liam, on the other hand, were not over at all. For a while, I was okay with their relationship, because she seemed happy. But then Liam just started seeming more and more like a douche, and like he’s kind of controlling. Her opinions on a lot of things suddenly changed and she began a lot of statements with things like “well, we think…,” and not really in a way where it seemed like they just happened to have the same opinion. It worries me a little bit, because Miley is someone who gets very wrapped up in relationships, and I look at her and see signs that she might be changing for him, not because of him, if that makes sense? Meh.
Also, the retcon of her life is incredibly frustrating. She talks about Liam like he’s her first love, and that this is her first “real” relationship. She says that their anniversary is June 15th, when it so is not, because her and Nick were dating at that point. The 15th is the day her and Liam met, which IS NOT AN ANNIVERSARY. And she always talks about how her favorite date with Liam was a date in the movie, or she fell in love with Liam because of the things he was saying in the movie and it’s like…um, you know you’re not dating the character, right, honey?
I’m not bitter, I have no idea what you’re talking about! I want Miley to be happy, more than anything, but I want her to figure out who she is by herself. She needs to be single for a little while, honestly. And she just deserves better, I think.
In late May, Miley started going on a promo tour for her new album, Can’t Be Tamed. There were a lot of interviews and everything, but the best part was a concert she did in Portugal, where she performed Full Circle, off Breakout.
She introduced it by saying, “it's about two people who no matter what, they're always gonna come back together, no matter what anyone says or all the bad people that try to keep you apart. It's a personal story. Surprise, surprise, it's about a Jonas Brother.” Obviously this is not any kind of love confession, I’m not crazy. But it is kind of interesting that she still thinks of their relationship like that, even after all this time.
A few weeks later (a few days after Nick arrived in London for Les Mis, I believe), Miley performed another concert in Madrid. And she changed the words to some songs, the way she does. I honestly can’t tell if they’re changes about Nick or about Joe, because the Joe/Demi break up had just become public knowledge (changes/additions in bold).
I probably shouldn't say this
But at times I get so scared
When I think about the previous
Relationship we've shared
It was awesome, but we lost it
It's not possible for me not to care (I don’t care)
The seven things I hate about you
Oh, you
You're vain, you’re gay, you're insecure
You love me, you like her
You make me laugh, you make me cry
I don't know which side to buy
Your brothers, they're jerks
When you act like them
Just know it hurts
I wanna be with the one I know (it’s not you)
And the seventh thing
I hate the most that you do
You make me [---] you
It's awkward and it's silent
As I wait for you to say
What I need to hear now
Your sincere apology
When you mean it, I'll believe it
If you text it, I'll delete it
Let's be clear (you won’t anyway)
Oh, I'm not coming back
You're taking seven steps here
But whatever, because on June 21st, Can’t Be Tamed came out, and it was the greatest day. Mostly because there is one song that is for sure about Nick, and two others (that I’ll talk about later) that probably are.
Take Me Along - Miley Cyrus
The city of angels is lonely tonight
Keep myself alive by candlelight
Say she can't love you like I do
Look me in the eyes and say it's true
I ask myself, is this love at all?
When I need you most, you let me fall
I'm always here at the side of your stage
Would you live your life, pretend I'm okay?
(Don't you know that this ain't over?)
I'll be okay
I'll hold you close, I will stay forever
I, I don't understand why you're leaving me
I, I don't understand, now without you I can't breathe
Please, don't, don't leave me here
Take my hand, I'm bleeding tears
I don't understand why you can't take me with you
And I repeat. Moving On : You’re Doing It Wrong.
In London, Nick was also doing that “moving on” thing, but I liked it way more with him, because he picked someone way hotter than Miley did. So, while in London, one of those shitty British tabloids reported that Nick was dating both of his costars - Lucie Jones (Cosette) and Samantha Barks (Eponine). Nick cleared the story up on twitter by saying “I am not dating both my costars Samantha AND Lucie.” Which uh, means he was dating one of them. And it’s pretty clear, at least to me, that it was Samantha.
Samantha tweeted a lot about how amazing he is, and seemed really sad on the 25th, his last day there. Plus, she came back to London from wherever she was filming a tv show to spend that last day with him, something they tried to keep the paparazzi from finding out about, but they managed to get this picture. Which made me flail with joy. I ship it so hard!
Right now, they’re off doing their own things. Miley is filming LOL in Detroit and Nick is getting ready for tour. They say they’re friends, and every few months, magazines and like, gossip blogs and shit like to print stories about how they’re texting and Liam is jealous. I hope all of these things are true. Most recently, there’s a rumor that Miley and Liam broke up - she apparently told someone at the hotel she’s staying at that she’s single. THEY BROKE UP. Confirmed on August 25th, Miley and Liam broke up.
At this point, more than anything, I just want them to be friends, for real. Not the kind of friends who only text occasionally or hang out when they’re not dating other people. Real friends. The future doesn’t matter (yes it does), I just want my two favorite Disney kids to be bff. IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK? :(
if you ask me i will stay (part 3)