Publicity

42

Miley's POV

"Show me the Vogue cover," Mom exclaimed through the speakers, I watched her lips form the widest smile through my phone screen.

I rolled my eyes a little, I thought talking over FaceTime would make her less annoying and jumpy but I was wrong. I picked up the magazine beside me and presented the cover to the camera, I heard my mom shriek.

"Honey!" She exclaimed and paused, she was at loss for words. "...Oh my God!"

"I know," I muttered.

"It's amazing!"

"Yeah," I managed a modest smile.

"You and Nick..." She trailed off and sighed dreamily.

I felt my smile dropped as I lowered my phone in attempt to get my expression away from Mom's view. I realized Mom must felt so relieved and delighted...seeing me and Nick being together and then on the cover of Vogue. Her biggest dream came true.

On one hand I'm annoyed that she wanted her daughter to be with someone she hated a lot so bad, on the other I just felt endlessly guilty...I couldn't come up with anything to justify what I have led her to believe. Me and Nick being in love, being together.

"Mom, I have to go." I told her abruptly, she stopped being hysterical over me and Nick and looked at me. "I have a thing to attend tomorrow," I explained "I have to find a dress and everything." I lied, everything's been set out for tomorrow.

"Oh," Mom muttered, she understood. "Alright then, I'll talk to you soon okay sweetie?"

"Yeah, bye." I said hurriedly and clicked the phone off, Mom's face disappeared along with her voice. I dropped the magazine to my side before rubbing my eyes and exhaling a long sigh. Why am I still doing this? Lying to my mom...to help Nick? Have I really gone crazy...or just soft?

I blinked a few times, my eyes found the same magazine my mom just went crazy over and looked at it; no one could deny it was effortlessly breath taking, it gives me a strange aesthetic pleasure somehow. It was just simply beautiful.

I was temped to keep looking at it, to open the magazine and look at the other pictures, and thats what I did. I gave into temptation; looking through the pictures inside but none of it made me want to stare as much as the cover. It was more to me, it had memories, I remember the feeling of Nick's skin when it brushed over mine softly, his breath when he hesitated when unsure if it would be fine to kiss me or come closer. My heart fluttered over these little things, like aftershocks from the earthquake my heart gone through when me and Nick were creating these pictures.

I almost smiled to myself but quickly shook the thought out of my head, my fingers still tracing the sleek cover of the magazine, eyes still lingering on us, mostly at Nick. He's a great model, he's just a talented person in general. I didn't know if it was emotion he held in his stare, or it was just him being the great model that he is, either way the look he has staring back at me from the cover was intense, it was captivating, I couldn't look away.

I felt like I missed him, and I felt like it was fine to. Nick's a sweet guy, a caring person, and he's been really understanding and well, nice, really. I continued to stare at us--at him---how little distance there was, how erotic this picture actually is now that I really looked at it, how great Nick's abs looked and that v-line...how much sexual frustration this portrait of him holding my naked body is giving me.

God, I need to stop.

I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to shake the thought of Nick away, I realized this wasn't working and it only made me think about him more, his hot breath on my neck, his hard but cuddly built, his velvety voice...his inconsistency and his stubborness and his attitude and his playing around, hitting on every girl he sees.