I do not own Hannah Montana.

Miley was ecstatic; Over the past few months, she and Lilly's relationship had grown sufficiently. Even though Lilly had gone back home to live soberly with her new sober mother, the two were inseparable.

Sure, Lilly couldn't exactly live at the Stewart house anymore, but mostly any other time, they were together, and no one could tell the difference.

Whenever Miley was with Lilly, her heart would race, and she found it nearly impossible to control herself. Any chance they got to be alone, they would explore more and more of each other's bodies.

Restless weekend nights were spent underneath Miley's covers in her bed; each girl would stroke the others smooth skin, and slowly and sensually caress the curves of the others body, as little by little, they undressed each other and released them from the clothes that bound them.

After they were both rendered naked under the covers, they would lay closely beside one another, taking in the warmth that the slightest touch sent coursing through their body. After this, they would fall asleep without going any further.

Part of Miley enjoyed the strength of their emotional interaction, but the other part hungered for more, and that hunger was getting stronger and stronger. She could sense the same hunger in Lilly.

Unfortunately, the way Robbie Ray found out about their relationship was by walking into the room after his morning jog to wake them up. After seeing his daughter naked in bed with Lilly, looking at him with a shocked expression as she pulled away from as kiss, he stared at them both, a little dumbfounded, and then slowly backed out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Miley and Lilly scrambled to throw on their clothes and anxiously went downstairs to confront their greatest fear: Their parents possibly rejecting their relationship.

They found Robbie Ray sitting at the kitchen table, still in his jogging clothes, with a blank look on his face. He glanced up at them as they approached, gazing at their nervous face, and then proceeded to double over in laughter.

Miley and Lilly exchanged worried glances as they watched Robbie Ray laugh himself nearly into tears.

"Um, Daddy…?" Miley had asked nervously.

Robbie Ray took a deep breath, and attempted to stop laughing. "I'm sorry darlin'," He said wiping a tear from his cheek. "I didn't mean to scare y'all. Look, I kinda already had my suspicions about you two, it's just, when I find out like this, it's… sorta funny, ya know?"

Miley and Lilly failed to see why it was funny. But they were glad they didn't sense any sort of rejection from him. Of course, shortly after, they were given the ground rules of seeing each other and being safe, and what was okay in the house, and what wasn't.

Luckily, no one had the guts to enforce or interject these rules, so, as long as Miley and Lilly were careful and didn't flaunt their relationship around, it was practically like nothing had changed. They were content with keeping their relationship intimate and personal.

Miley sat in her room, waiting for Lilly to arrive. She glanced out the window, her thoughts heavy on her mind. She wanted to go further with Lilly. She wanted to be closer to Lilly than anyone else. The problem was; she didn't know how to initiate it, and she could tell Lilly didn't know either. They were both being sensitive to the other's comfort level.

Miley leaned back in her chair and sighed. This was a problem that Miley couldn't solve with thought alone. She would have to be assertive and take the leap, knowing Lilly would be there to catch her.

A knock on the door interrupted Miley's thoughts and a smiled spread across her face as she heard Lilly's voice through the door.

"Miles, can I come in?"

Miley eagerly sat up from her chair and rushed towards the door. Opening it, she wrapped her arms around Lilly and pulled her into a warm kiss.

"You know you don't have to ask," Miley said, still smiling and excited that Lilly was now there. "There's no privacy between us,"

Lilly furrowed her brow and frowned, "When you say it like that, it sounds bad,"

Miley pulled Lilly further into the room by the arm and shut the door behind her. "But it's not," She whispered seductively into Lilly's ear. She could feel Lilly shiver in delight and led Lilly to the bed, laying her down and climbing on top of her to straddle her. She lowered her lips down onto Lilly's passionately and clung to Lilly's shirt, lifting it up to expose Lilly's stomach.

"You're pretty wound up today," Lilly said between breaths.

Miley pulled back and stuck out her bottom lip, showing her puppy dog pout. "You don't like it?"

Lilly smirked, and pulled Miley back down onto her. She kissed Miley heatedly and slipped her hands underneath Miley's shirt. "I love it," She whispered, placing her lips close to Miley ear, before she gently bit down on Miley's ear lobe.

Miley breathed out a pleading moan for Lilly to continue, and that was just what she did. Lilly brought her tongue to Miley's ear and sucked roughly on Miley's earlobe. She teased the ridge of Miley's ear, running her tongue up and down it lightly.

Miley's grip on Lilly's hips tightened as she shuddered with pleasure. Her breath was heavy, and soon she was fearful she wouldn't be able to control herself. She could hear Lilly's low breathing in her ear

As Lilly pulled away from her ear, leaving a parting kiss on Miley's jaw line, Miley sat frozen for several seconds. This made Lilly nervous, although she knew Miley would soon respond.

Suddenly Miley attacked Lilly's lips passionately with her own. She ran her fingers across Lilly's body and lowered her body down onto Lilly's. Lilly gladly returned the sudden outburst of affection, almost unable to keep up with Miley. She pulled Miley as close as she could to her.

After some time, Miley pulled back, panting and out of breath, and gazed down adoringly at Lilly. Lilly gazed back at her with the same expression, and Miley took a deep breath. She sighed and lowered herself next to Lilly, draping her arm across her and cuddling close. She closed her eyes and reached up to kiss the side of Lilly's nose before resting her head at Lilly's side.

Lilly smiled and continued to caress the skin on Miley's back. She was happy; and so was Miley.

As the two continued to lay there in silence, Miley eventually noticed that Lilly's mind was somewhere else.

"Hey, Lil," Miley sat up slightly. "What's wrong?"

Lilly blinked and sat up as well, to face Miley. "Nothing, Miles," She smiled weakly, "I'm just kinda tired, and being here laying with you is just… so relaxing…"

Miley smiled in return, convincing herself that that was what was on Lilly's mind.

It wasn't a lie; Lilly truly did feel most at ease when she was with Miley, but there was something that was bothering her that simply being with Miley didn't erase from her mind.

That morning, Lilly had come downstairs to find her mother cradling her head in her hands.

"Mom?" Lilly asked softly as she neared, "What's wrong? Why aren't you at work?"

Heather lifted her head; it could be seen on her face that she was overwhelmed and stressed.

"Lilly… honey… I lost my job. I was laid off,"

Lilly's eyes widened and she stared at her mother in disbelief, trying to convince herself that her mother was playing a bad joke.

"What?" Lilly breathed, "What are you talking about? You're one of their best employees!"

Heather shook her head and then lowered it back into her hands. "The company is claiming bankruptcy. Everyone's out of a job,"

A long silence passed, during which, Lilly's anxieties grew, "Wh-what are we going to do? I mean… it's not like we're rolling in money; we're barely making it as it is… Sh-should I start looking for a job? I'll get a job, mom. I'll get a job, okay?"

Heather continued to shake her head, "I just don't know, Lilly,"

Another silence passed, and Lilly stirred anxiously. Finally she spoke.

"I-I'm going to Miley's. I'll be back later,"

Lilly turned to leave, not receiving a single word in return from her mother.

Replaying it in her mind made Lilly anxious all over again, and Miley would have been blind not to notice it. She sighed and sat up again.

"Lilly, seriously, what's wrong,"

Lilly sat up again too. "Miles… it's nothing. Just some problems at home. Nothing serious, just rough times,"

Miley furrowed her brow and chewed on her bottom lip. "Lill, come on… you can talk to me about it,"

Lilly turned away from Miley's gaze. She felt ashamed and embarrassed, and above all, she didn't want to worry Miley. She couldn't bring herself to talk about it.

"Lilly," Miley said sternly, grasping Lilly's hand, "You've gotta trust me… You can't keep everything to yourself,"

Lilly flinched at Miley's touch. It was hurting her not to tell Miley, but she just couldn't do it.

"Miley, I-I have to go," She said, clearly on the verge of tears. "I'll call you later,"

Lilly stood up to leave, unable to look at Miley as she walked towards the door. Miley didn't go after her; she was too upset by Lilly's reaction. As Lilly closed the door, she could hear the sound of Miley's weeping. She cringed and strong feelings of self-loathing came over her.

Lilly walked home, her mind racing in a panic. She was worried about her mother not having a job. She was worried about how she couldn't bring herself to talk to Miley, and how that had hurt Miley. She felt overwhelmed and lost.

As she approached her house, she sighed heavily, readying herself for whatever she would be walking into, and opened the front door.

"Mom, I'm home!" She called, and then waited for an answer. The house was dead quiet.

Nervously she walked through the front entrance and into the living room. She saw the figure of her mother sprawled out on the couch. As she neared her, she saw a bottle of vodka, half drunk, sitting on the coffee table beside her mother.

Lilly was surprised at how unsurprised she was to see this. She glanced sadly at her mother. Heather was curled into a ball with tearstains on her cheeks; she looked miserable.

Lilly turned her gaze to the bottle. The silence in the house seemed to encourage the overwhelming fears and anxieties to enter back into Lilly's mind.

She reached her trembling hand towards the bottle and lifted it up. She held it, studying it with her eyes, her head screaming at her to stop. Tears were building in her eyes, and as she brought the bottle to her lips, her tears slid down her cheeks onto her lips.

One sip was all it took.