Summer of '09

Summary: Lily stays with her old best friend from camp, Alex, while Miley judges a reality competition in New York City. Will she give in to the temptation of a relationship with Justin, when she's on a break with Oliver? Lily/Justin, Loliver, Jiley

A/N: This is a little different from anything I've done before. I'm really not one for romance, but for some reason I love both Justin/Lily and Lily/Oliver, go figure. Basically, this is one of my very first attempts at a chaptered fic that actually has a prominent romance plotline. Also, while I have written for both shows before, I'm still a little shaky with the characterization. So please tell me how I'm doing, I can use all the criticism I can get. Thanks for reading!

This story takes place after the HM trio end their junior year. Lily and Oliver got together. But, it takes place before HM the movie.

Chapter 1

Malibu

Monday, 1:30 a.m.

Eleven. That was how many bottles of nail polish there were on Miley Stewart's vanity table. There were also fifteen ponytail holders, six tubes of lipstick, and one hair brush.

Seven pictures were stuck in the sides of the mirror on top of the vanity, but even though Lily Truscott was bored and couldn't sleep, she didn't dare examine them. They might be pictures of Oliver.

"How could he kiss her?" Lily suddenly exclaimed in the dark of her best friend's room. She'd thrown her arms up in a dramatic gesture, her back still flat against the air mattress on the floor next to Miley's bed.

A muffled, groggy voice came from under the bed's light blanket. "Maybe she smelled good or something."

That got Lily to sit up and glare at the part of the blanket near the pillow. "Are you serious? 'Smelling good' is an excuse for Oliver to make out with Joannie, all through free period on the last day of school?"

There was a rustling noise while the comforter moved around, then Miley threw it off and leaned against her headboard. "Well, what do you want me to say, Lily? For the entire week since school ended, you've been asking me 'how could he kiss her'? Over, and over, and over. Since I'm not Oliver Oken, and therefore don't know, I've run out of reassuring phrases like 'he still loves you, it was a moment of weakness,' and have moved on to saying the first thing that comes to my mind. Which, given that it's 1:30 am, is bound to not make any sense at all."

Lily considered Miley's little speech, then dismissed it. So what if Miley was growing tired of Lily's obsession with what Oliver did? They were best friends, and Miley would have to deal with it. "How could he kiss her?" Lily whined again, then fell back on the mattress and stared at the ceiling.

After Miley let out a deep sigh, she answered with her practiced response. "It was a moment of weakness. He still loves you."

"That's all I ask," Lily replied. A minute or two passed as Miley went back under her blanket. But Lily still couldn't sleep.

After finding out about Joannie – through another classmate who had seen it, to add insult to injury – she demanded that she and Oliver take a break from their relationship. Oliver had apologized many times, and explained that Joannie had cornered him. Joannie had told him that she missed him and just wanted one more make out session before summer break. Oliver tried to tell her that he was in a serious relationship with Lily, but Joannie hadn't wanted to hear it – instead, she'd pushed Oliver up against the wall and kissed him. While Oliver had been decent enough to admit that it was his fault for continuing, he claimed that all reasonable thought went out the window after Joannie's lips crushed against his.

Even though Oliver had been defending himself, Lily took that as a strike against him. What will happen if Joannie tries something like that again? Or another girl hits on him? How could she ever trust him again?

That's when she'd suggested they take a break. She needed time to deicide if she ever could trust him again.

And while she knew she did need the break, she still missed him like crazy. It didn't help that Miley still hung out with him. At first, Miley had been furious at Oliver herself. But when she cooled down she realized that he was still her friend, and that it wouldn't be fair to take sides…even if Oliver was clearly in the wrong, in Lily's opinion. While Lily objected to it deep inside, she was currently keeping her mouth shut and letting Miley and Oliver keep their friendship. But that didn't mean that she couldn't wince every time Miley mentioned that she and Oliver were going somewhere together.

She could just imagine him as he was at that moment, probably curled up on his bed at home, his hair messy and poking out from his blanket, a little bit of drool at the corner of his mouth…

Lily shook her head. She needed a distraction. "So Miley, you go to New York City in two weeks, right?"

Slightly less annoyed at the interruption, probably since it was about her, Miley pushed down the blanket so she could see Lily. "Yup, and I can't wait. New York City is the most awesome place ever. You so have to come!"

"I don't know, Miley. It's for two whole months," Lily replied. Of course, when Miley had first told her to come along while Hannah judged a new taped reality show in New York, called Next Teen Sensation, Lily had been thrilled. This was especially so now because it would be nice to for her and Oliver to be on opposite ends of the country.

But then reality set in. She'd really miss her mother – two months was a long time. That was also a long time to sponge off Miley, who had generously offered to pay for Lily to stay in the hotel with her.

"Oh, come on, it's not that long," Miley insisted. "It's like going away to summer camp. You said you've been to camp before. Well, this is the same thing…except for nasty cabins in the woods, you'll be in a four star hotel."

Lily laughed, a smile on her face for the first time in a while as she thought of her three summers at Camp Walden for girls in Maine. The camp had attracted her because of its excellent sports programs, and she made tons of friends. The year before eighth grade had been her last. Her mom hadn't been able to afford it the next year, but she wasn't sure why she never even thought to ask the year after…probably because then, it was much more fun to go to celebrity parties with Hannah Montana. "Yeah, I guess. I don't know, maybe. It would be fun to see Alex again."

"Alex?" Miley replied as she paused to remember the name. Her eyes widened when it clicked. "Oh yeah. She was like your best friend at camp, right?" After a second of thought, Miley became serious as she suggested, "Look, I know you feel weird taking money from me. Why don't you stay with her?"

Though the idea appealed to her, Lily shook her head. "No. No way. I couldn't ask someone I haven't seen in four years to let me stay with them for two months. I've seen you practically every day since you've moved to Malibu, and I still feel guilty letting you pay for stuff with Hannah money!"

"But it's not like you haven't talked to Alex in four years, right?" Miley pointed out. "You two are best internet buds. Chances are, she'll want you to stay as much as you want to stay with her."

Lily paused to consider that argument. It was true – for the past few summers, her and Alex always fantasized about meeting up. Lily had promised to teach Alex to surf if they both were ever in Malibu, and Alex wanted to show Lily the best places to shop if they got together in Manhattan.

Oh, the shopping…

It's not like Alex would have to pay for Lily to stay with her. And Alex's family owned a sandwich shop – maybe if she pitched in, she wouldn't feel too guilty.

And her mother already agreed to let Lily go to New York when Miley first asked. Lily would miss her, but like Miley pointed out, Lily had been away from her mother before.

As Lily glanced at the clock, she saw that it had been five minutes since she and Miley had started the conversation about New York. That was five minutes she hadn't been thinking about Oliver.

Well, she was sold.

"It couldn't hurt to ask," Lily admitted. "It's about 4:30 in the morning there, so there's no chance that Alex is logged on, but can I use your laptop to send her an email? I can't sleep anyway."

There was no response. "Miley?" Lily got up on her knees and peeked over the side of the bed. Sure enough, Miley had fallen asleep. "Miley!" Lily called in a loud whisper.

"Huh, what?" Miley replied with her eyes still closed.

"Can I use your laptop?" Lily asked again. When Miley didn't reply, she hissed, "Miley!"

While she turned away from Lily, Miley grumbled, "Yeah, whatever. My lipstick is on my dresser, next to the nail polish."

Lily laughed as she crawled over to where Miley's laptop sat on her desk in the corner, and took it with her back to her mattress. On the off chance her best friend was still conscious, Lily said, "I can't wait to go to New York. I hope you and Alex get along…"

An odd gurgling sound came from under the covers where Miley's head would be – she was definitely sleeping. Lily laughed again as she began typing her email to Alex.

New York City

Monday, 8:30 a.m.

The alarm clock's piercing noise was really beginning to annoy Alex Russo. While she had it programmed to play her current favorite song, it couldn't mask the incredible irritation of having to get up before noon on summer vacation. Really, it was criminal.

But if she wasn't downstairs, ready to work at her family's sandwich shop by 9:00 a.m. on the dot, her parents would ground her for the rest of the day. Her parents got it in their heads to try one last attempt to teach Alex responsibility, and they were doing it by making her work eight hour shifts at the restaurant every, single week day. After she consistently refused to show up before 12:30 p.m. the first week, they resorted to grounding her for the day every time she was late, even if it was only by a half hour.

She didn't have to like it, though. Finally Alex dragged herself up and reached for her wand on her nightstand. She pointed it at the alarm clock and chanted, "This stupid alarm clock is now not, a baseball should fill its slot."

Alex grinned in triumph when the clock turned into an average baseball. "Hah!" she remarked as she hopped out of bed. The window was open since her cheap father refused to put her air conditioner in this early in the summer. A wide smile still on her face, she wound up her arm, ball in hand. "And the pitch…" She hurled it out the window, where it bounced off the side of the apartment building next to her and ended up in the restaurant's dumpster. "It's out of here!"

"Alex!" Justin warned. Alex turned around to find her older brother standing in her doorway. Of course, the family golden boy was already dressed and on his way downstairs. "Didn't Dad tell you that you would have to start paying for a new alarm clock when you did that?"

"Relax, I'll get it out of the dumpster when I get downstairs and turn it back. It was just bad luck that one time it ended up in the apartment across the alley," Alex argued. She was almost fully awake, but dealing with her brother this early in the morning still irritated her.

Justin shook his head in disapproval. "Hurry up and get ready. The place is a mob scene this morning. You know how it gets during the summer with all those tourists."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be right down," Alex replied. When she ignored him on the way to her computer on her desk, he rolled his eyes at the brush off and left her doorway.

Not yet awake enough to start getting ready, Alex plunked herself down at her desk and booted up her computer to check her email. There was the usual junk email, some alerts from her favorite online stores that were having sales, and…an email from Lily.

Alex perked up instantly. The two mostly used an instant messenger service, so it was rare that they actually sent each other emails. Already she could tell that something was up before she clicked it open.

Hey Alex,

What's up? Are your parents still making you work those early shifts? I suggest programming your cell phone alarm extra loud and putting it under your bed, so that you have to get up to turn it off. It's what I do when I want to go surfing early.

Hm, Alex would have to consider that. But it definitely wasn't as fun as turning her alarm clock into a baseball and pitching it out her window.

Anyway, I know this is going to be sudden, but Miley (you remember, my best friend?) is staying in New York for two months while...her dad works on a reality show that's being filmed there. She asked me to go with her, but I don't want her dad to pay for me to stay in their fancy hotel for two months. Can I please stay with you? It's just that we always did want to visit each other. And I promise, I have some savings to pay for my food and stuff, and if there's an opening, I'd love to work at your family's sandwich shop. But I realize that two months is a lot to ask, and I understand if you can't do it. Miley and her family are leaving next week, so I'd really appreciate it if you got back to me soon.

Thanks!

-Lily

Surprised, Alex just stared at the computer screen.

This was so awesome! She'd always wanted Lily to come to New York. While she would've preferred to surf in Malibu, this was great too. And she could introduce Lily to Harper. She was sure they would get along well.

But then she realized that Lily would be staying at her house. Where there was a wizard lair right downstairs.

Could her family keep their wizard secret for two whole months? It was one thing to have kept it from Harper before she found out. While she was Alex's best friend, she didn't live there. Normally her parents were very hospitable to their children's friends, but this was different. Lily was right – two months was a long time. And she knew her parents would worry about keeping their family's secret.

On the other hand, Lily offered to pay her own way, and even work at the sandwich shop.

Well, it couldn't hurt to just ask her parents. Maybe if she promised them that she would be super careful about magic, they would agree. And she knew she wouldn't have to worry about Justin – he saw her pictures online, and let slip that he thought she was cute. The thought of her brother and her friend Lily together grossed her out, of course, but at least he would be on her side. Otherwise, she knew that he would be just as concerned about exposure as their parents.

That in mind, she turned off the computer and got up. If she was going to ask her parents about this, they had to be in a good mood. Which meant she had to be at work on time.