Chained In Your Love

Prelude

Nick

At age 7.

My stomach flutters as she squeezes her eyes shut. She pushes out her lips and waits for me to do the same. I push out my lips, just like hers and made my way over to her. As we inch closer to each other, I  squeeze my eyes close.

I was so nervous. Why are we doing this again? 

I feel a squishy wetness push against my lips an I immediately pull myself from the feeling. I open my eyes in shock at what happened.

Her eyes are wide with shock too. She wiped her mouth and I wiped mine. It was quiet.

"Well," she speaks in a quiet whisper, "say something." 

"Uh... Like what?" I shrug.

"Anything, it's just too quiet." She covers both her eyes in an attempt to hid. 

I think for a second. "Um, knock, knock."

"Who's there?" Her eyes still covered. 

"Orange."

"Orange, who?" She whispers. 

"Orange, you glad I didn't say banana." She didn't laugh.  Instead slowly peels her hands away and stare at me with a blank expression. We both just stare at each other.

"What are you doing!?" The tree house door flies open with a loud bang as Kevin screams at us, causing us both to jump.

We both scream and jumped up to our feet. I push the carpet up and pull open the 'emergency exit' to the tree house and I grab Miley's hand and we take turns sliding down the rope to get back to the ground.

"Hurry! He's coming!" She yells from the ground, waiting for me. Once I hit the ground, we run hand in hand away from my older brother Kevin as he chases us with some witch sounding howl. 

We run up to the back door of my house and I pull it open and we both run inside. 

"Mommy!" We push past Joe and Demi, who were already at the table eating their lunch, to hide behind my Mom. I point at Kevin through the glass window door  who bangs his chest like a gorilla howling into the air. 

"Kevin!" My Mom calls to him, with a smile on her face at him, as he steps in to the house. "I told you to call them in for lunch, not attack them."

"I wasn't attacking them," Kevin tries to catch his breathe. "We were playing..." He walks over to Demi and grabs at sides. "Tickle Monster!"

She screams as she tries to break free from his grasps with a potato chip in her hand. 

"Okay, Kevin." My Mom smiles. "That's enough games. Demi, your Mom will be here in an hour, so finish up so we can watch the movie."

"Nick and Miley," She turned to us. "You guys want lunch?"

We nod, still holding hands. 

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Miley

At age 14.

"You guys are the slowest walkers in the history of slow walkers." Joe complains.

"Well, maybe we wouldn't be walking if you would have passed your driving test." Demi teases with a poke at his face.

"Dem," he swats at her hand.  "That was so last months news. When are you going to get over it." Joe turns around to walk backwards while talking to Demi.