Summary: From the outside this family looks as normal as the rest, but one girl has a secret that she can't share with the others, except for one. To admit the truth would be to reveal, in her mind, an incredible weakness. Follow the lives of Miley, LuAnn, and Alex, triplets who have not just one birthday in common, but two.
Disclaimer: I do not own any other characters recognized herein that are associated with the Hannah Montana world. However, Alex and any other characters not recognized are my own creation.
Author's note: Sorry this isn't a real update yet. For those of you that have previously read this story I've gone through and changed just a couple things, mostly grammar. For those just joining us, welcome. I'm currently laid up about to have surgery so I've got a lot of time on my hands and I plan to complete this story while I've got it.
Secrets of the Heart
Chapter One
All Lilly Truscott could hear as she ran up the stairs in her girlfriend's house was sobbing and screaming. Using banister she flung herself around the corner, ran down the hallway, and burst into the last bedroom on the left. Her already racing heart nearly doubled in speed as she took in the sight of her girlfriend Miley Stewart curled into a ball on the floor beside her bed with tears streaming down her face. She lay there rocking back and forth constantly screaming one word. No.
Crossing the room Lilly knelt down next to the dark haired girl and hesitantly reached out a hand toward her shoulder. Feeling the touch Miley yelled in fright, backing away from the unknown intruder. When she realized it was Lilly Miley launched herself at the blonde girl, wrapping her arms tightly around Lilly's waist and continued sobbing into her chest. Caught off guard by the sudden hug it took Lilly a moment to regain her balance before she wrapped her arms around her girlfriend, slowly leaning them back against the side of the bed.
"Miley? Miley, what's wrong?" Lilly asked, panic seeping through her forced calm. "It's ok, I'm here, baby." As the sobbing got louder Lilly felt her concern for the trembling girl increasing by the second. "What happened, baby?" Getting no response Lilly continued rubbing her hands softly over Miley's back in an effort to soothe her, gently rocking side to side and murmuring quietly in the brunette's ear.
After about five minutes Lilly noticed Miley's sobs growing quieter and the trembling was less violent than before. As the sobs grew less frequent Miley's breathing started to even out and Lilly looked down to see that Miley had fallen asleep, tears still rolling down her face. She continued to rock for a few minutes until she was sure that her girlfriend was really asleep and then carefully moved out from underneath her. Lifting the sleeping girl into her arms, Lilly walked the few steps to the bed and carefully laid her down, pulling the covers over her. Turning to go close the door she noticed something lying on the floor where Miley had been when she came in. Picking up the object Lilly's breath caught in her throat as she looked from the tiny positive symbol to the girl sleeping on the bed.
In a house three miles away from the Stewart home two girls identical in appearance to Miley were also crying, held by their boyfriends. Luann and Alex Stewart, older than Miley by six and three minutes respectively, had no doubts that their father Robbie Ray was going to kill not only them, but Oliver and Jake as well. Finding out that one of his sixteen year old daughters was pregnant would be bad enough, but two would be unimaginably worse and they had to tell Jackson. Their older brother would be nearly as upset as their father and would help him in hurting the two boys.
Luann slowly leaned back from Oliver's embrace and kissed him softly. He gave her a tight smile, tears in his eyes, as she turned in his arms to face the other couple. When her eyes landed on them she saw that Alex and Jake had their foreheads pressed together. She was nodding with tears rolling down her cheeks while he whispered something unheard from across the room, unshed tears in his eyes. Oliver dropped his arms to his lap as Luann got up off his bed, walked over to Alex, and placed her hand on her sister's back. Alex turned her head around to look into the blue eyes that matched her own and stood up to hug the other girl.
"Al, shhh, it's ok," Luann said, rubbing her back. "Everything will be alright, sis. We're not alone here. We have each other and Miley and-"
"Us," the two boys said at the same time, sharing a glance.
"That's right, Al. Jake and Oliver are here, Lilly, too. They're not going anywhere, and Dad and Jackson won't either."
"B-but, Lu," Alex said, taking in a shuddering breath, "Dad will be so m-mad and so will Jackson. What if he k-kicks us o-out? And Miley? Oh, God, she'll be so disappointed with us."
"Hey, no, Alex," Jake said as he stood up from the window seat, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Your dad would never kick you guys out, never. As for Miley, you know she could never be mad at the two of you, not really. She'll stand beside you through everything, no matter what."
"You know what else?" asked Oliver. "I'm not going anywhere and neither is Jake. We're here through anything. Besides," he stood and wrapped his arms around Luann from behind, "these babies will be two of the most loved babies ever."
"They definitely will," Lu stated as she started crying again.
"Oh, Lu, please don't cry. I wasn't trying to upset you," Oliver whispered in her ear, swaying side to side as he tried to calm his crying girlfriend.
"I'm fine, Ollie," she said turning in his embrace and wrapping her arms around his waist. "I have you and Alex and Miley and Lilly and Jake, I'm fine."
Oliver searched her blue eyes with his brown, trying to make sense of the emotions he saw warring within her. He could see her fear behind the façade of strength she was trying to keep up. There was a determination behind the fear though, one he knew well, and the reason he loved her so much. He brushed his thumbs over her cheeks to wipe away the tears and was rewarded with a small, watery smile. At the sound of someone clearing their throat they both looked up and into the face of Alex.
"Lu, we need to tell them."
"Yeah, I know. Who should we tell first, though?"
As soon as the question left her mouth they both said, "Miley."
"She'll be with Lilly at our house. I heard her say something about calling Lilly to watch a movie," said Luann.
"Did she seem upset to you this morning?" Alex asked taking Jake's offered hand as they all started to leave Oliver's house to go to the Stewarts'.
"She did look distracted," Luann trailed off. "We'll ask her about it when we get home."