Trust

It was Saturday evening and I was walking down my driveway when I heard my sister's song, 'One in a Million', start playing. I was nearly at the door when I heard a beautiful voice start singing along. 'None of Miley's friends can sing, so who has that incredible voice?' As I got to the door I saw who the voice was coming from; Lily.

"Lily, your voice, its amazing!" I said as I entered the house.

"Uh, thanks." She replied going red.

"I don't get it, I heard the CD of you singing in the studio, it was terrible, why'd you sing like that?"

"Well, I thought if I sang really badly Miley would change her mind and do a special recording of the song for my mum, and I don't want her to know I can sing."

"Oh, well that makes sense, I guess, but why don't you want her to know you can sing?" I asked.

"It's complicated."

"Oh, well, if you ever want to talk about it, I'd be happy to listen."

"Thanks, you won't tell her will you?"

"Tell who, what?" He said smiling and winking.

"Thanks." She replied smiling too.

Miley arrived home four hours late after she had told Lily to wait for her at her house; she felt bad, 'I'll make it up to her, we'll go to the mall tomorrow.' As she entered her house she was surprised by what she saw, Jackson was asleep on the couch and Lily was asleep on top of him. She was about to go over and wake them but a look from her father changed her mind. Instead she took the throw blanket from the back of the couch and put it over them. Once she had, she joined her father in the kitchen to eat leftovers for dinner. As they were eating they noticed the sleeping pair stirring.

"Jackson." Lily mumbled only half awake.

"Mmmm." He replied

"Maybe I should go, I can see Miley tomorrow." She said slowly starting to rise.

"Don't be silly, it's the middle of the night and besides you're keeping me warm." He said as he pulled her back down and wrapped his arms around her.

"Ok, I'll stay, this is pretty comfortable." She said laying her head back on his chest.

Soon both were back asleep, Miley and Robbie Ray had gone upstairs to their beds and the whole house was quiet.

When Miley headed downstairs the next morning she found her dad flipping pancakes and Lily laughing at something Jackson had just done.

"Morning." She grumbled

"Morning." They all replied in unison.

Noticing Lily had finished her breakfast she put her hand on her arm and motioned for them to step outside on to the patio. She thought they would be out of earshot of her dad and brother; they weren't and the two guys listened.

"What's up Miley?"

"Nothing, I was just wondering why you slept on top of my brother last night." Miley said putting emphasis on 'on top'

At this Lily went red.

"I didn't mean to, we were watching DVD's and I fell asleep with my head on his shoulder, then next thing I know I'm on top of him, I could have moved but…" She paused

"It's ok; it was just kind of weird to see you on top of Jackson."

"Yeah…sorry about that."

"Its fine, wait, you were going to say something but you stopped, what was it?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

"Go on, tell me."

"Ok, I could have moved but…I was really comfortable."

"You liked it!" Miley teased.

"Yeah, a little." Said Lily very embarrassed.

"Hey, it's ok, as long as you remember he's my brother and you totally can't go there, not that you'd want to."

"Yeah, right, of course, I would so never go there." Said Lily though she knew she wanted to.

After that conversation Miley forgot all about it and she and Lily went to the mall as compensation for Miley being so late.

On Friday Lily arrived at Miley's to have dinner and a sleepover only to discover Miley wasn't back from her Hannah thing.

She was sitting on the couch rubbing her shoulder when she felt a pair of hands on her neck.

"Oh, Jackson, its you." She said as she looked behind her.

"Yeah, I saw you rubbing your shoulder; you want a massage?" He asked as he joined her on the couch.

"Um yeah thanks, that would be nice." Said Lily surprised at his kindness.

As Jackson started rubbing Lily's neck he noticed her wince.

"How'd you injure your shoulder?" he said as he massaged more gently.

"Oh we were playing soccer in phys-ed and as I got the ball this huge girl crashed into my shoulder, it completely winded me."

"Ouch, sounds painful, do you want some Paracetamol?"

"No thanks, your massage is really helping." She said as he moved his hands down to her shoulders. At this she began to moan in pleasure.

"Ohhhh, Jackson, ohhhh."

As she started to moan Miley approached the house not having heard the conversation they had just had. As soon as she realized it was Lily moaning she broke into a run.

"LILY…oh, I thought you two were…um, never mind." She said while going red.

"Miley, you thought we were…right here on the couch, I can't believe you think I would do that." Said lily shocked and a little offended.

"Yeah…sorry…"

"You have one dodgy mind sis; even I wouldn't do it on the couch."

"Ok, ew! Jackson that was too much information."

After having another conversation in which Miley apologized and Lily

reiterated that she wouldn't go there, this incident too was soon forgotten.

The following Sunday Lily's mum went away dropping Lily off at Miley's just in time for dinner. As Lily entered the Stewarts house she smelt something burnt, she saw Jackson in the kitchen taking something black out of the oven.

"Dang it!" he said as he dropped the pan into the sink.

"Is that dinner?" She asked

"Oh, hey Lily, yeah it was supposed to be, I was supposed to cook dinner tonight. Dad's on a date and Miley's in the shower, this was the one thing I know how to cook and I ruined it; I guess I'll order take out." He said looking upset.

"Hey, I know how to make my mums special Bolognese sauce, do you have mince, tomatoes, onions, garlic, celery, oregano, basil, parsley, beef stock and red wine?"

"Red wine?" he asked curious

"It's for the sauce."

"Oh, I think we have some of those ingredients."

"Ok let's get started." She said picking up the apron from the counter.

Once they had found the ingredients, Lily got to work while Jackson watched. He was impressed that the self professed tom-boy could cook.

"Here taste this." She said holding out a spoon with the sauce on it.

"Mmmm, tastes great." He said after taking a sip and managing to get sauce on his chin just below his lip.

"Oh, you got some right…here." Lily said as she wiped his face with her finger.

It just happened that Miley walked in at the exact second Lily's finger was on the bottom of Jackson's lip.

"What are you doing?" Miley asked Lily.

"Jackson had sauce on his face; I was just getting it off."

"Whatever." Miley said as she left to go to her room.

"I better go talk to her, oh by the way, the sauce is done; can you take it off the heat for me?" Lily asked as she left the room.

When she got to Miley's bedroom, she saw Miley sitting on her bed looking upset and angry.

"Miley, can we talk?"

"Why? So you can tell me it's not what it looks like. Save it Lily, I'm not buying it anymore."

"But Miley it's not, he had sauce on his face, I swear."

"You know what, it doesn't even matter, we both know I'm just going to assume the worst, I don't know why I do, I mean, you tell me nothing happened but I can't help thinking it did or could." Said Miley starting to cry.

"Miley, I would never do anything with Jackson, I know how much you would hate it, I couldn't stand to hurt you, you're my best friend." Lily said also starting to cry.

"I know, you're my best friend too, it's just…"

"It's just what?"

"I guess, the truth is, I don't know if I trust you anymore."

Too shocked and upset to say anything Lily left. She went downstairs and out to sit on the patio. On the way she passed Jackson who saw she was crying and followed.

"What did Miley do to you?" he asked as he sat next to her.

"Apparently, she doesn't know if she trusts me anymore, me, her best friend, how can she not trust me?"

"I don't know; I can't believe Miley said that."

"Yeah, me neither. What am I going do Jackson, what kind of friendship can we have if she doesn't trust me? You know, if she decides she can't trust me we're going to have to stop being friends." Lily said as she started to cry again.

"Oh, come here, don't worry, Mile's will never let it come to that." He told her as he took her in his arms.

Once she had calmed down he asked

"Is the sudden loss of trust because of us?"

"Us?"

"Yeah, you know, the falling asleep together thing, the massage thing and the sauce thing."

"Yeah, it is, Miley thinks that something has happened or will happen between us."

"I see. I'm sorry"

"It's not your fault, nothing has happened between us."

Silence fell between them and he looked at her, waiting, she noticed this.

"What?" she asked.

"You didn't say won't."

"Huh?"

"You said nothing has happened between us but you didn't say that it won't, like, in the future."

"Yeah, and?"

"It could?"

"Yeah, if Miley can't trust me then I can't continue being friends with her and the only reason nothing has happened is because Miley would hate it, but if we stop being friends then, it could."

"Oh, I get it. Do you want something to happen?"

"I don't know, maybe, do you?"

"Well, yeah, but not at the expense of your friendship with Miley."

"That's sweet of you, but what kind of friendship do we have if she doesn't trust me, thinks I'm doing something I promised her I wouldn't and always assumes the worst?"

"This is just a bump in the road; your friendship with Miley is too good to throw away over something as trivial as this."

"I know, I agree with you, but how am I going to fix this?"

"Like you two always do, you'll talk it out and end up being best friends again."

"How? How do I gain a trust I didn't do anything to lose, How do I make her trust me when I never gave her a reason not to?"

"Beats me." He said feeling bad he couldn't help.

"I think I'm going to go for a walk." She said getting up

"Ok, I'll just be preparing dinner." He said watching her walk away.

As she walked she thought about the other fights she and Miley had had, it didn't take long, there weren't many. Soon her mind came back to the argument at hand. 'I can't believe she thinks something is going on between me and Jackson, I would never do that to her. I trust her, like that time with her and Oliver. Her and Oliver, that's it!'

As soon as it came to her she turned and sprinted down the beach back to Miley's house. As she entered the house she saw Jackson heaping spoonfuls of spaghetti on to three plates. She didn't stop, she ran straight up to Miley's room.

"Can we talk?" She asked as she entered

"Um, sure, I guess."

"I'm sorry, earlier I didn't understand how you could jump to such conclusions, but it just came to me. Do you remember that time that I was late to our movie night and you had to hang out with Oliver for like any hour before I got there? When I finally arrived and went up to your room, I saw Oliver on top of you and completely got the wrong idea. You explained to me that you and Oliver had been pillow fighting and had fallen off your bed and that's how you had landed. I assumed the worst but when you told me otherwise, I trusted you were telling the truth. Just like I've been telling the truth about the stuff with me and Jackson. Now do you get why I was so shocked you that thought the worst of me?" Lily explained.

"Lily, I'm so sorry, I hadn't even thought about that, I can't believe I thought…you…, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I get it."

"So…do you still want to be friends?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Friends?" Miley asked as she opened her arms for them to hug.

"Friends." Lily said as she hugged back.

'Just like Jackson said we would be' she thought to herself.