A/N: At this rate, I'm sorry for everyone who is subscribed to me because in one night you got Gossip Girl, House, and Hannah Montana, but oh well! Although Jesse is perfectly good for her, I thought Miley and Jake had been through far too much for one picture that's not really even that incriminating to break them up.

"Why is Jake here…?" Oliver's question trailed off as Lily made her way into his arms. Partially to be close to her boyfriend and… partially so she could step on his foot if he started to say things he shouldn't.

Jake, however, noticed nothing, or pretended not to. "I'm here to support my girl."

Miley chimed in, wrapping her arms around Jake's waist, "You're not the only good boyfriend around here."

After a bit more small talk, Miley announced that she and Jake had to get going to rehearsal for her Christmas special. She wanted to give Lily and Oliver some alone time, anyway. The two couples waved goodbye to each other as Miley and Jake walked out the door hand in hand.

While they walked toward Jake's car, he pulled on her hand and brought them to a stop. Miley tucked a strand of the Hannah wig behind her hear and turned to face her boyfriend. "Hey, what's wrong? We've got a rehearsal to get to. They can't exactly do a lot without me there!"

Jake reached for her other hand so that he was holding both of them in his, and his thumbs drew random patterns on the back of her hands. "Actually, Miles, can we talk first? Before we head out? I really need to get something out." He pulled her over to a bench that was on her front walk.

"I guess, Jake. What's wrong? You're starting to worry me." She let out a nervous giggle and sat down next to him. His arm slid around her shoulder as he pulled her closer and looked into her eyes. He got so lost in them that all he wanted to do was lean in, close the space between them; kiss her with everything he had. So that's exactly what he did. Their moments together, alone, were few and far between. Both of them having famous personalities, their busy touring schedules, and her dad made these moments all too rare and cherished between the two of them. Jake moved closer, slid his free hand to Miley's waist, and pressed her closer with the hand that had shifted to the nape of her neck.

To say that Miley responded enthusiastically would be an understatement. She felt good with her friends and family, she felt great performing as Hannah, but in Jake's arms? That's where she felt amazing and free.

When they finally broke apart, Miley felt the need to whip out one of her southern quips, "If that was all you wanted, you just had to ask, there cowboy!"

Jake laughed at what he had always considered an adorably quirky part of Miley's personality, even before he knew enough to know that she and Hannah were the same person. "No, I really do need to talk to you, I just got carried away when I was looking at how beautiful you are and thinking about how long it's been since we've kissed."

He settled his hand from her waist back on her knee, forcing a modicum of distance between the two. This was important. He needed to get it out in the open. "Miley, there's something that happened that I think you need to hear from me. I owe you this, and I certainly don't want you to end up reading about it in some tabloid before I get a chance to tell you."

Jake took a deep breath, "last night, we hit a big milestone for my next movie and we went out to celebrate. I know I'm not old enough, but a lot of the time, that doesn't matter when you're part of a movie cast. Your dad's usually with you when you're Hannah, so I'm not sure how much experience you have with people shoving things at you that you know you shouldn't try." He could tell that Miley was going to interrupt him, so he rushed on, "Anyway, I had a couple of drinks and-"

At that, Miley did cut him off. "Jake! You know how I feel about you drinking. You could get in real trouble! You know how my dad and friends already feel about you, do you think getting an MIP is going to improve their opinions of you?"

She kept rambling, Jake tried to cut in, "Miley. Miley! MILEY! Hey, that's not even what I was getting at. I know you don't want me to, and I'm sorry. I didn't even realize the first drink had alcohol in it until I started to feel the effects. It was dumb. But it gets worse."

Miley stood up from the bench and took a few steps away. "Oh, no, Jake. What did you do? Please tell me you didn't." He knew that she was seconds away from losing it, but she still deserved this explanation from him.

He joined her on her feet and tried to reach for her hand, which she quickly yanked out of the way. "Miley, there was a girl there. She was all over me, no matter how many times I moved away from her, she kept coming back. She would sit down next to me and press herself against me. She would try to dance with me. She was trying everything. Eventually, I told her that I wanted to tell her something and I put this really big smile on my face. When she leaned in, I said to her, 'I've got a girlfriend and you really need to leave me alone.' Then I noticed camera bulbs flashing, so I kept the big smile on my face as I walked away from her. Miley, I'm sorry. I promise nothing happened with us. I swear it to you!"

Miley gave him her classic "oh dear goodness, how dumb can you be? look" as she wound up her hand and cuffed him across the back of the head. "You're an idiot. You made me think you cheated on me, ya jerk! We go out as Hannah or as Jake Ryan and people are all over us. I know you have girls all over you. When I go out, I have guys that want to be all up on me, occasionally even a girl- which, don't get me wrong, Hannah flattered, but Hannah don't swing that way- it's just what happens. I'm way more mad at you about the drinking thing." At that, Miley turned and stomped off toward Jake's car, Jake following behind, shaking his head. He loved his girlfriend, but some days, he swore he would never understand her.

"You said that Jake was a cheater! What did he cheat on? A test?" Oh aren't children just adorable! Lily's face screamed annoyance as one of the young child actor's for Hannah's special kept repeating what he had overheard. She also couldn't step on his foot like she could whenever Oliver kept talking after she wanted him to stop.

Unfortunately, Miley had heard, "Jake a cheater? Okay, Lily, what do you know?"

Lily and Oliver shard a brief look before Oliver pulled the picture up on his phone and handed it over to Miley. "Han?" Lily asked cautiously, cognizant of their aliases "Hannah, you okay?"

Miley had frozen with the phone in her hand, staring at the picture. "Yeah, umm," Miley sniffled and swiped at a couple of traitorous tears that had leaked out. "Yeah, Jake already told me about this. I just didn't think I would have to see it." Miley handed the phone back to Oliver and stuffed her hands in her back pockets. "I just wasn't expecting that to hit me so hard. Umm, I'll be right back." Miley turned on her heel and stalked quickly to the dressing rooms.

Instead of finding her own quarters, Miley went to find Jake's. As she knocked and heard the assent to come in, she momentarily forgot her gloomy mood at the sight of Jake getting ready to be a young boy for the child/Mrs. Claus sketch. He had the bright eyeliner drawn on and was getting ready to apply the bright red blush to give him the stereotypical youthful appearance. Jake noticed her trying to fight back a laugh. "See what I go through for you, Miles? I must love you. He leaned over and gave her a quick peck, but when she didn't return it, he noticed the momentary glee at his visage had evaporated.

Jake put down the make-up and hooked an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. "Hey, Miley, what's wrong?"

Unable to meet Jake's eyes, Miley spoke to the ugly dressing room carpet, "Uh, the camera flashes you noticed with that girl last night? One of them belonged to a band member of Oliver's. He showed me the picture. I guess it was just harder to see you kissing another girl's ear than I thought it would be." Miley sniffled again, trying to maintain her composure.

Jake stiffened, "Hey, I told you. I wasn't kissing her ear, I was telling her to leave me alone."

Miley moved away from him and sat down in the chair in front of the room's large mirror. "I know you did, Jake, but how do I know that's the truth? You're gone from me for so long, how do I know that you don't get bored or lonely while you're away shooting a movie?"

He was silent for so long that she wasn't even sure he was still in the room until she looked up into the mirror and met his eyes- eyes full of hurt and betrayal. "Miles, I thought we were better than this. I thought we trusted each other."

Miley turned around in the seat to meet his gaze face-to-face. "Jake, I do. It's just, how do you think I felt seeing that picture? It's not easy."

Jake threw his head back I exasperation. "Do I know how you felt, Miley? Are you kidding? I'm the one who walked in on you saying you wanted to kiss that Jesse guy! I know how it feels to see the person you love almost cheating on you, trust me."

Miley stood up so she was face-to-chest with Jake and then tried to make herself seem as tall as possible, "Jake, that is totally different, and you know it!"

Jake took a step back and began pacing the room, "Why? Why is it different, Miley? Because It's you? I heard you say that, I then heard you lie to me about what you were saying, and I chose to back off. Your happiness means more to me than my own. I told you that I just wanted you to be happy even though I knew that it would kill me inside to lose you. I can't stand that thought. But if it was what you wanted, then I told myself that I would pretend to be okay with it. Then you said that you chose me and I didn't question it. I didn't ask you about him ever again. I didn't even know that he wasn't in your band anymore until the next time I came to one of your concerts."

Miley didn't know what to say at first. "Jake, I didn't know it meant that much to you. I'm sorry. I guess I never really asked you how you felt or really talked through our feelings."

Jake crossed the small room and placed a hand on Miley's hip. "I don't want to lose you, Miles. You're too important to me. I just wish you could trust me the way that I trust you."

Miley drew Jake closer as her arms wound around his shoulders and her hands threaded into his hair, "I'll work on it, I promise. You're Jake Ryan, I get a little jealous of all the other girls wanting you, but I will try." She pulled back to look into his eyes, "Thanks for being of that trust."