Disclaimer: First and foremost, THIS STORY CONTAINS NO REAL PEOPLE. It does, however, contain characters from Hannah Montana. I do not own these characters.

Wow! You people are incredibly! As always, thank you to the readers, and extra huge thanks to the reviewers!

After a fitful night filled with more tossing and turning than actual sleep, Lilly couldn't take it anymore. She looked over to the clock on her bedside table. "6:07" it shone in bright red light. Sighing deeply, she dragged herself out of her covers and stood up. She changed into a pair of sweatpants and put on her tennis shoes. As quietly as she could, she crept down the hallway and toward the front door, giving Joe's sleeping form one last glance before she grabbed her sweatshirt off the hook on the wall and left the house.

She walked down to the beach and found a spot to sit on the sand. She loved this time of day. It was all hers. There was no noise, no term papers, no chores to be done. It was just her and the ocean. She didn't need to worry about anything, or anyone.

A ways off into the distance she noticed two people walking out onto the beach towards the water. Though she couldn't be sure of their ages, they both looked to be maybe fifteen or sixteen. Each of them was carrying a surfboard, undoubtedly hoping to catch a good wave before they had to go to school. Lilly smiled, remembering when that would have been her. Her life used to be so simple. What had gone wrong? She had grown up, she supposed. And things would never be that easy again.

Joe was certainly seeing to that.

She sat for a long time just remembering and thinking. And feeling sorry for herself. Finally, she snapped out of her self-pity and decided that she should go back home. There was someone there who was worse off than her at the moment, and she would help him. Not because she had to as Kevin insisted, but because she was decent. She would do the same for anyone… Right?

She was so distracted by her thoughts that she hardly noticed when she was back home. Stepping inside, she decided the next order of business was breakfast. The first step was definitely coffee. It seemed like she could never get it strong enough for days like this. But nonetheless, she got a pot brewing and started pulling out ingredients for scrambled eggs. Just as she closed the refrigerator door, she noticed that Joe was leaning on the side of the doorway watching her.

"Look who decided to join the world of the living," she said. He really did look much better than he had last night.

He smiled, if not a bit weakly. "Heh, yeah." He looked at her for a moment longer, then went and hopped up on the edge of the counter.

"Do you want some coffee?" she asked, going back to preparing the food.

He grimaced. "Not the way you make it. Too intense."

She nodded knowingly. "I assumed as much. Just thought I'd ask, though. So how'd you sleep?"

No answer. She turned around to find him staring into space. "Joe?"

He shook his head, snapping out of it. "Sorry, what?"

"I asked if you slept okay."

"Yeah, fine."

She nodded and turned around to start making his eggs. "Do you still not like the yolks?"

"Yeah," he said.

Lilly smirked. "Plain egg whites it is, then. It seems like you would have grown out of that by this age."

He shrugged. "I can't help it if they're yucky."

That sounded more like Joe. "And what about your toast?" she continued. "Should I burn it black for you?"

"Yes, but not as black as your coffee." She smiled. He was definitely doing better than last night, even if he was still a bit strange.

Soon, the food was done and they were sitting down to eat, Lilly with her scrambled eggs and Joe with his non-yucky egg whites. Minutes passed with only the clink of forks. Knowing that Joe would never start the conversation, Lilly took it upon herself. "You know, you're going to have to go back eventually." She surprised herself with her nerve.

"Why should I?" he asked somewhat bitterly.

Lilly rolled her eyes. "I don't know. For your brothers, so they don't worry?"

"They're fine," Joe insisted through the last bite of his toast. "I'm sure Kevin's called you by now, am I wrong?"

She chose to disregard that statement and move on. "How about so you don't get sued for ducking out on your tour?" she suggested as she took their plates to the sink and turned on the faucet.

"Humph," he grumbled. "They can take the money. I don't need it."

"That's a really nice watch you have," she interrupted, pointing out the expensive timepiece around his wrist.

He ignored her and continued. "I wouldn't be any worse off without it."

Why was he making this even more difficult? Why did he always have to be so maddening? She began busying herself with the dishes to keep calm and took a deep breath. "Joe, you're being selfish. It isn't as easy as all that."

A long pause. Maybe he was coming to his senses. "Why can't it be?" Or maybe not…

Forcing herself not to scream everything she was thinking, she forged on. "Joe," she said bracingly. "I let you show up here, and cry all over my favorite t-shirt, and sleep on my couch, no questions asked. But now you have got to throw me a bone. What's going on? How did we go from not talking to you showing up here? You just can't keep doing these things, Joe! You can't!" She whirled around to face him. She expected him to have jumped up from his chair, maybe already be yelling his response.

But she was wrong. He was still seated, leaned forward onto the table with his chin resting on his arms, calmly staring into space. "It used to be mine," he said matter-of-factly.

"What?" she asked incredulously, cocking her head to one side.

"That t-shirt. It used to be mine."

She shook her head and threw her washrag down into the soapy dishwater. "Me too," she muttered as she stormed out of the room.

He sat for a second longer with his gaze fixed on an imaginary point in the air, then turned to stare blankly at the spot where she had stood moments earlier. Sighing slightly, he got up to finish the dishes.

Ooh, harsh, Lilly... lol. Hope you guys enjoyed Chapter 3. Leave me a review to tell me what you thought of it, if you'd be so kind. Until next time! :o)

-Char