A/N: something REALLY random that I came up with. Haha. -shrugs- enjoy?

Disclaimer: I do not own. If I did. I swear to God, the events that this fiction is based upon would have never happened. Thank you.

Confused. Lost. She feels forgotten. It seems as if the moment she had stepped away from her best friend to go film in Puerto Rico alone this time, was the moment where everything they had, everything they were... had simply vanished.

They didn't get separated in a wildfire of emotions, no. It was quiet. Deathly silent. She didn't even realize she was dying inside until at least a month later, when the stupid social networking site had been flooded by the other girl. But nothing about her.

Connection had been slowly lost between the two, no longer did they speak over the phone for endless hours in the middle of the night. No longer did each of them turn on the camera and speak to each other over the computer nightly to keep the other company while they drifted asleep.

Soon, it was one text for every three weeks that passed.

Now, everything seems like a lost cause. Why breathe when the air you need is gone to grace another? Why live when your life has drifted toward another soul? Why laugh when your humor has run away?

So every thing's a mask. Every breath, smile, step, and laugh. A fake substitute for what used to be so genuine.

The truth is, she feels abandoned.

There was a time where her life was perfect. Her best friend could hold and love her without either of them worrying about what was going on.

And Nate Grey could sit and laugh with her as they shared random jokes.

Jason and Shane would help her cook and make fun of her whenever she missed a step in the instructions and their cookies would end up as blobs instead of the perfectly round circles.

That was when it was all perfect.

But now... now, everything was gone. They'd all left her, and for the one person who smiled at her with that too fake smile no less.

Yet somehow, she couldn't bring herself to blame or hate the other brunette popstar for her misfortunes. It wasn't Miley's fault that she couldn't hold onto what mattered most in her life.

She flies to Canada, attempting to bury herself in her work and have fun with the blessing of a little girl she's been introduced to.

Joey makes her smile. Joey gives her a reason to look forward to each day in Canada. Joey makes her laugh when she's strayed from her work and has engulfed herself in stupid thoughts about her.

Then he came along. Something to distract her even more. She knew pictures of them would show up online with stupid little taglines, but she couldn't bring herself to care, after all, the other girl would see these pictures. Part of her felt guilty about pretending to like him and messing with the strings to his heart, but she couldn't help it. She knew that it would cause at least a bit of jealousy in the other girl. Or at least, she'd hoped.

But she was proved wrong, because the other girl didn't seem to care at all. No call. No email. No text. Nothing.

So she swallows her tears and ignores the feeling threatening to cause her to break down crying in front of hundreds of fans, waiting for her to sign posters.

She fights, she fights with all of her might. Back to L.A., back to Toluca Lake.

She wants so badly to call these places home, but she knew they weren't. She knows that the big warehouse – where they first met – that's where home is. That's where she needs to be. But she can't go there.

A month passes, still nothing. Her birthday passes and she doesn't receive a surprise from the one girl she wants so badly to speak to again. Instead, she receives a simple text.

Happy Birthday Mikayla! :)

The blackberry is thrown into the corner of her room and she can't help but break this time. But only this time.

Another month passes and she's fully accepted the fact that everyone's left her. Except for one girl. The girl that's seen her through her worst.

Taylor Alison.

She helps her burn through the darkness.

But even so, it's hard to fight off nightmares when your partner is on tour and on the other side of the country all the time.

Just like another someone.

Her best friend attempts to establish contact again, and she's tempted to let herself fall once more. But fear of that dark tunnel that's she's visited one too many times holds her back, she only responds when she feels like she absolutely needs to.

Wrong choice, apparently.

Because contact between her heart and a horse-like boy increases, and they seem to flaunt their relationship to the public.

She wants to believe they're just friends

She knows they aren't. They're so much more. He's taken her place.

Again, she hides everything. Ignores that feeling of her heart being stepped on and shot at. Instead, she prepares her debut album.

She can't help but laugh at it now, as she leans back in her chair, munching on unhealthy snacks, even though her tour is going to start in a matter of days.

A picture is forwarded to her, and as an instinct, she opens the message.

The caption is simple.

Be careful.

-taylor

The warning scares her, but it's the attachment that shatters her.

That's when her entire world breaks.

Her heart and soul. Her best friend and ex-lover, in the arms her photographer, mid lip-lock.

This is different from Trace. They never kissed. He never touched the other girl – at least, not to her knowledge.

But this man – this man kissed her, he got to taste what she has ached for.

She spends the night gathering pieces. Finding reasons. Calling the only people she has left.

She spends the night gluing everything together and wishing that they had gone out in a wildfire, because after all, everyone knows that after a wildfire, the plants and animals come back and the land is even more beautiful.

And she can't help but think.

What happened?