Speak to me, when all you gotta keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through
-All American Rejects
Chasing Fire: Chapter 4
On her walk back to her house, Miley pulled out her Miley phone and dialed Lilly's number. After three rings, Lilly picked up.
"Hey Miley. How's your back?"
"It's fine-Ingrid actually helped me clean it out. It was really weird. But, I was wondering if Lola wanted to come with me to studio 6 for my interview? Just for moral support?"
"Of course I'll come! When are you coming to pick me up?"
"I actually out for a walk right now, how about I swing by myself and then we can go back to my house together?" There was a pause at the other end of the line. Then Lilly said,
"Sounds good to me…is everything all right, Miley?"
"I'll tell you about it in a sec. See you soon." Miley hung up and continued to Lilly's house. It wasn't that far out of the way, and Lilly's mom opened the door right away when she knocked.
"Hi Miley! Lilly's still upstairs, I'm sure she'll be down in a second so that you guys can get started on your project. You shouldn't put off work for this long, but what am I saying, come on in!" Miley smiled. Lilly's mom, despite being a little flaky and uptight, was always so nice .
"Yeah, I know, but I was busy earlier this weekend. Better late than never is what I always say."
"Hey Miley!" Lilly had come downstairs. She paused right at the bottom of the stairs as she took in Miley's appearance. Then she crossed the distance between them and linked their arms, pulling Miley out the door. "Bye mom, I'll probably stay over at the Stewarts tonight. See you in the morning!"
"Okay, bye sweetie." Lilly closed the door and turned to Miley.
"What is going on with you? You've been acting so freaky since we went to the beach today!" Miley took a deep breath.
"Well a lot has happened today."
"…like…" Lilly prompted.
"Like I just found out that my dad and Ingrid are getting married."
"Oh my God!"
"I know. I kinda freaked out on them and ran away. I just couldn't deal with that and with Jake being back, you know. So that's why…"
"WHAT? What did you say about Jake? When was this, did he show up on your doorstep and profess his undying love for you? Fall out of the sky? Oh! Did you get any more life-sized cutouts, cause the one that I've got is cute, but have you seen pictures of him lately?"
"Ha. No life-sized cutouts. He was the guy that ran into me at the beach earlier."
"Leslie?" Lilly said in a dubious voice. "Me and Oliver talked with him after you left, he said he moved here from Idaho, or was it Iowa? Anyway, he's got brown hair and Jake's a blond." Miley stared at her best friend.
"Wig, Lilly!" A look of comprehension came across Lilly's face, and she blushed.
"Well, how was I supposed to know?" Miley just smiled knowingly. "So Leslie is Jake?"
Miley nodded. "Wow, I bet he ran into you on purpose!"
"Ya think?" Miley said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "But what am I going to tell dad? I was all broody on Jake and he just added his whole other thing!"
"You should tell him that you're never going to like Ingrid and that he should be all yours forever and ever."
"I can't, though. He's been so happy lately. And she's not that bad." It's her son that's more the problem, Miley thought. She shivered as she thought back to her first impression of Tim.
He was quiet at first when Ingrid had brought him over for a 'Miley-Tim bonding session,' but when Ingrid and her dad had gone out to dinner, leaving them alone, he had started to ramble about really weird things. Like how he saw an interview with a prison inmate and he'd ended up crying. He'd started to freak her out, and she'd finally said something.
He'd gone berserk and started to yell at her, she didn't even remember what he said, but eventually he'd pushed her into the kitchen counter. He'd immediately stepped back and apologized, but Miley always had to walk on eggshells with him from then on. Whenever he got worked up, he took it out on the nearest person, which was usually her. She'd been living with his verbal and physical abuse for over a year now, not saying anything because to everyone else, Tim was the poster child for Mr. Nice.
"I guess I should just tell him that it was too much information at the time. I can't tell him that I hate Ingrid, or it'll break his heart. He thinks we're best girl friends!" Miley threw a hand up in frustration.
"Well, you are leaving to go to school soon, so it won't really matter." They'd reached Miley's house by this time. Lilly gave Miley an arm squeeze and they walked in the door together. Robbie was washing dishes.
"Tim and Ingrid left," he said. Miley relaxed a little. "Oh, hey Lilly. I assume Miles has told you about our engagement?" Lilly nodded.
"I'm gonna go pick out an outfit for tonight, okay?" She left father and daughter alone. There was silence for a minute before they both started talking at once.
"Listen, Miles…"
"Dad, I'm…"
They both stopped. Miley giggled and her dad smiled.
"Go ahead, bud." He said.
"I'm sorry that I left. It isn't that I'm not happy for you, cause I am. It was just a lot to take in. Plus, I ran into Jake today at the beach and my mind was kinda caught up in that." She looked up. "Forgive me?"
"Of course I do, Miles. I should have warned you about Jake, too. His agent contacted me to see if Hannah was interested in being in the Zombie High movie. They start the filming soon, so I knew he was back in town. I told him I'd ask you and then get back to him. You don't have to decide right now, though," he said quickly, as Miley's eyes got wide. Silence reigned in the kitchen again. "So you're really okay with Ingrid and I getting hitched?" Miley walked over to her dad and hugged him.
"I'm really okay with it."
