Author's Note: Thanks again for the interest in my story! I'm really enjoying writing it. Thanks should really go to Miley and Lilly, because their feelings for each other almost write themselves. This chapter is a bit longer, but hey, that's how it goes sometimes. Hope you like this chapter just as much as the others! Standard legal disclaimers from the first two chapters apply to all these others.
You and Me, Together
by Jo P.
Chapter 4: Working for the Weekend
Only love can set us free
Only love can bear the truth
Only love can bring us peace
Only love can save me and you
--Sophie B. Hawkins"Only Love"
After a few more minutes of kissing, Lilly and Miley looked into each others' eyes, searching for acceptance, for confirmation of what both of them knew: that this was love, a love so strong that every obstacle in its path would be swept away. And in the cerulean depths of her lover's eyes, each girl found exactly what she was looking for.
Miley started crying first, a soft flow of tears. She then started gently laughing, as the tears slowly trickled down her cheeks. "Lilly, I'm sorry, but I'm just ... I just can't believe we're finally together," she said, tenderly. "I mean, I've dreamed about this for so long, and I was afraid that it would never happen, that I'd go my whole life without being crazy enough to tell you that I loved you." Lilly's lips on hers brought her words to a halt.
When Lilly pulled back, Miley could see that she too had tears working their way down her cheeks. Lilly leaned back down, first kissing the trail of tears off Miley's left cheek, then her right. She smiled, a warm, caring smile that sent reassurance into the depths of Miley's heart. "Oh, I know Miles, believe me," she said, still smiling. "And you know that if you cry, I cry, so just stop it, 'kay?" She paused, bringing her right hand up to softly caress Miley's left cheek. The tears running down her own face finally made her laugh at the dichotomy between her words and her body's rebellious action. "Okay, we can cry if we want to, how about that?" she said, letting the tears flow at that point.
"But they're happy tears," said Miley, starting to laugh herself. "Ahhh, why do we DO this?!?" she said, halfway protesting to no one in particular. "I mean, we're at one of the happiest moments in our lives, and we're crying, right after we made love for the first time!"
Lilly used her right thumb to wipe the new tears away from Miley's eyes. "Because we're women, Miles, that's why," she said, laughing. "Our emotions don't always make sense, even to us." She paused, looking down into Miley's eyes. "I mean, all this time, after I accepted that I was in love with you, I knew that you loved me, but I was so afraid that telling you would ruin it, like it would break the spell or something. But I still knew that you would always listen to me, to anything I had to say, and I knew that you'd accept me for who I was, no matter what. But I still was afraid. I mean, I was really afraid of what you would do, that you'd freak out and shove me away, and it was like I couldn't take that chance, not if it was a chance of losing you."
Miley reached up with her right hand, wiping away Lilly's tears this time. "But you know you could never do anything to make me run away, not from you," she said.
Lilly leaned into her girlfriend's touch, taking in the sensation of her fingers against her face. "Yeah, part of me did know that, but the other part that was scared just couldn't connect to that." She closed her eyes, getting lost in the sensation of Miley's touch. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes again, looking into Miley's bright blue eyes, which brought her radiant smile back in full force. As Lilly smiled, Miley's mouth mirrored hers in a wide grin. "But now, no part of my brain will ever forget this. No chance, girlfriend," Lilly said, before leaning down for another soft kiss.
"Mmmm, that's two of us that will never forget this," Miley said, closing her own eyes as they kissed. "Not ever." Taking a breath, she said, "And it feels so good for you to call me girlfriend and it be true in the way that I've wanted it to be for so long."
Lilly laughed, saying, "Yeah, it does feel good, doesn't it ... lover?" Her eyes sparkled with the last word. "I have so wanted to call you that, too, for a long, long time."
Miley answered softly, "You get to call me that forever, Lil. You and no one else."
Miley's heartfelt statement brought more tears to both sets of eyes, threatening to spill over again. "Same for me Miley. You're the only one I've ever been with. I mean, I've kissed a few boys, you know that, but never done anything more." She took a moment to compose herself, bringing the seething emotions under control as best she could. "And that's how I want it. I'm never going to be with anyone else, not ever. You're stuck with me."
Miley involuntarily half-sobbed, half-choked at this raw sharing of emotions. "Oh Lilly, I love you so much that it hurts. And I never want it to stop hurting, not this way," she said, wrapping her arms around Lilly's torso, pulling her down until she was lying on Miley, their hearts pounding against each other, both girls clinging to each other tightly as they rode out the waves of jumbled emotions together, exactly the way they wanted it to be. The way it was meant to be.
The ringing of the phone woke them from their sleeping embrace. Lilly shifted enough to let Miley stretch and reach the phone on her nightstand, reclaiming her place on Miley's chest when she settled back down.
"Hello?" Miley said, her voice hoarse with sleep, as she thumbed the button to put the phone on speaker, dropping the handset on the pillow so she could wrap her arms back around Lilly.
"Hey bud!" her dad said, cheerily. "Just gonna let you two know that Jackson and I got here just fine. We're getting' ready to hop on the boat right now, if I can get that boy away from this cute little girl at the marina. I swear, his mind just hops from food to girls and back again!"
Miley and Lilly both giggled at that. Lilly piped up, "Tell him that one of those two will be the death of him, Mr. Stewart!"
"Hey Lilly! You doin' okay this mornin', darlin'?"
Lilly looked at Miley, smiling from ear to ear. "Honestly, Mr. Stewart, I don't think I've ever been better than I am right this second," she said sincerely.
Miley nuzzled her face in Lilly's golden hair to suppress a snicker, getting a pinch on the butt in return. "Hey!"
"Miles, you okay? You run into something?"
Yeah, the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, and then the rest of whatever is after that, Miley thought. "I'm okay dad, Lilly's just getting a little frisky here," she said, getting a look from Lilly.
"You just wait Miley, you haven't seen frisky yet," she said, her voice dropping lower with a hint of something more than just playfulness. Careful Lilly, that's your future father-in-law on the phone, don't want to jump his daughter with him listening on the speaker.
Miley seemed to know what Lilly was thinking, because the expression on her face said that the teasing wasn't done yet. "Daddy, we're doing great. I promise. When you get back, I think we need to tell you something. It's something good, I promise!" she added quickly. She looked beside her to Lilly. The expression on Lilly's face was soft and comforting as she mouthed thank you to Miley.
Lilly leaned next to the phone adding, "Catch us some fish, Mr. Stewart! I like tuna steak myself!"
"Yeah dad, have fun. We promise to not lower the property values while you're gone," Miley said.
The laughter in Robbie Ray's voice was distinct as he said, "Alright girls, be careful. And if you want to ask Oliver over later to watch a movie or something, that's fine with me, but no one else, okay?"
"Okay Daddy, thanks!"
"Bye Mr. Stewart!"
"Bye bye girls," he said as he hung up. Something good to tell me when we get back, huh? I hope it's what I think it is, because Lord knows those girls are good for each other, and it's dad-blamed time they finally figured that out. He turner back toward where Jackson was leaning on the counter at the snack bar. "Jackson!! Quit yakkin' and get your butt over here. We're supposed to be catchin' fish on that boat over there, not catchin' girls on the pier!"
As Lilly hung up the phone, Miley took advantage of her girlfriend being stretched across her body by tickling her ribs aggressively.
"AHHH!" Lilly yelled, jerking back. Miley wasted no time in following up with another tickle attack, but Lilly was ready, grabbing her arms and rolling them over. However, she picked the wrong side of the bed to roll over to, and no sooner were they wrapped up in the blanket when the edge of the bed stopped, while the girls didn't.
Both girls shrieked as they fell, tangled together. Thankfully, the thick padding of the comforter absorbed most of the impact, leaving the two laughing madly as they lay sprawled out on the floor, arms and legs askew and sticking out of the comforter at odd angles. After several seconds of laughing, Miley said, "Oh Lilly, stop laughing, I'm about to pee on myself!"
Lilly said, "Oh, I guess it'd be too bad if I decided to tickle you back right now, huh," shifting into position but really having no intention of torturing Miley.
"NO! No you don't Truscott!" Miley yelled, trying in vain to disentangle herself from her lover's grip. "Ah! It's like to get away from--oof--an octopus!"
Lilly stopped holding her down, saying, "I love you, Miley, you know that?" as she shifted to let Miley get out of the knotted blanket.
Miley clambered out, then turned before she stood up to give Lilly a kiss. "Thank you," she said, "for not making me pee on myself," with a grin.
"Hey, no problem Miles. You know, in our position, you'd have peed on me too, you know," Lilly added, quite reasonably. However, her sentence trailed off when Miley stood and turned, giving Lilly an excellent view of her nude figure as she walked to the bathroom. "Wow..." Lilly added, to no one in particular.
As Miley went in the bathroom and closed the door, she fought hard to suppress her laughter. Oh Miley, you are SO bad, showing your butt off like that for your girlfriend. She grinned as she started the shower, then sat on the toilet. She yelled, "Get that mess of sheets off the floor, Lilly, since it's your fault they're there," but this time she failed to completely contain her laughter.
Through the door, Miley heard, "I heard that giggle, Miles, but because I love you, I'll gladly pick them up. And thank you for starting my shower for me!"
OUR shower, for us, Miley silently corrected. "Okay, all done," she said as she flushed the commode, checking the water temperature. Once nice thing about California, the water heated up much faster than it did in Tennessee. Deciding the water was perfect, she started to yell for Lilly when a towel snapped her on her right butt cheek. "OW!" she yelled, more surprised than actually hurt, as she jumped forward, slightly bonking her head on the shower door.
"Oh shoot Miley, I'm sorry," Lilly said, dropping the towel and stepping over to her girlfriend, checking her forehead. After inspecting the tiny red spot on her forehead and ignoring the fake pout on Miley's face, Lilly placed a kiss on her forehead, then said, "There. All better."
Miley wasn't giving up the pout just yet though. "Our first day as a couple, and you're already trying to kill me off for the insurance money," she said, putting on her most pitiful puppy dog face.
"Oh please, Miley," Lilly said. In mock seriousness she added, "You know I don't get anything until we're married, right?"
Miley said, "Oooooh you," swatting Lilly on the butt with her right hand, as Lilly tried unsuccessfully to dodge her. "You, Ms. Truscott, are saucy today!"
"And you know you love it, Ms. Stewart," Lilly replied, sticking her tongue out as she ducked into the shower. "Now, are you getting in here with me so we can get washed off, or is there going to be more sauciness first?"
Considering her options, Miley stepped into the shower, deciding that there was time enough for both.
After the girls finished their long, relaxing shower, they went downstairs and made breakfast. For a change, the two girls worked in near-silence, communicating with body language and facial expressions, plus the occasional playful swat. While different, it felt oddly comfortable to both girls, as if they didn't really need words to work together at some things.
While Lilly pulled the biscuits Miley had made out of the oven, Miley finished the omelets, putting each on a plate and grabbing her orange juice as they sat at the kitchen island. Lilly brought the bowl of biscuits, the small tub of butter and her grapefruit juice to the island and sat beside Miley, giving her girlfriend a hug before hopping up into her seat.
"It feels so good to be able to touch you whenever I want," Lilly said, a playful smile on her face.
Miley smiled back. "Yeah, I mean, I've waited so long to be able to put my arms around you. Well, not like as a friend, because we've always done that, you know, but as my girlfriend, so I can really hold you tight."
"And indulge your grabby hands?" Lilly asked, raising an eyebrow.
Miley actually blushed slightly, but she admitted, "Yeah, that too!" Both girls laughed at that, as they worked on their breakfast. Between bites, Miley said, "We need to tell Oliver, don't you think?"
Lilly swallowed a bite of biscuit before answering, "I think there are quite a few people we need to tell, I mean our families are definites." She thought before continuing. "Miles, I want you to know that I'm comfortable with telling as many people as you're comfortable with. I don't want us to have to lie and sneak around; I mean, I love you and I'm not ashamed of that. I could never be ashamed of that, because you are so amazing! You're beautiful, you're smart, you're funny, you're loyal and supportive..."
"I'm secretly Hannah Montana..." Miley added.
Lilly laughed, "Hey, call me crazy, but that really has nothing to do with it, not with how I feel about you. Miley, you could put Hannah away tomorrow, and Lola would go away with her, and I'd be happy just to be with you. No parties, no traveling, no movie premiers, no dresses, no cool new shoes, no concerts..."
"Okay, I'm not giving it up yet," Miley added, grinning. "So you'll have to keep Lola going for a little while longer, at least."
"'Kay," said Lilly, focusing on the last bits of her omelet.
Miley wasn't surprised, but she was pleased that Lilly wasn't just interested in her for her fame and fortune. In fact, she knew Lilly was telling the truth; she could be just as happy if Miley walked away from all the celebrity forever. But Miley also knew that as long as she wanted to keep performing as Hannah, that Lola would always be there to support her, and that's exactly how she wanted it.
Lilly took her plate to the sink, then she said, "I had one of the coolest dreams ever last night, Miley." She turned around. "It had," she paused just a second, "your Mom in it."
A chill ran down Miley's spine. "What happened in the dream, Lilly?"
Lilly continued, "Well, she was making breakfast for us, and we were both sitting here talking to her. And we told her that we were in love with each other, and she said that she was glad we had finally told each other, and that she was happy for us." Looking at Miley's face, she said, "Miles, I'm not wanting to upset you. Do you want me to stop?"
Though Miley was a bit more pale than usual, her voice sounded clear as she said, "Lilly, I think I had the same dream." The girls looked at each other, then Miley said, "After we told her, you said..."
"...That I'd always be good to you and take care of you," Lilly finished, shivering a bit. "And then she walked over..."
Miley swallowed, then said, "...And she hugged us both. And she said that she loved us."
Both girls just looked at each other, then they crossed the kitchen to hold each other. Lilly said, "What does that mean, Miley? I mean, we had the same dream!"
Miley smiled, even though Lilly couldn't see her smile due to the embrace. "I think it means that we're doing the right thing, and that Mommy is happy for us."
Lilly closed her eyes and said, "Thank you, Ms. Stewart, for raising such a great daughter. I swear to you, I'll make her happy."
Miley whispered, "You already have."
As the girls broke the embrace and held hands instead, Miley's mind returned to its earlier train of thought. Miley said, "I think we need to tell Oliver first, then our parents, if that's okay with you."
Lilly nodded, "That sounds fine. Oliver has been a great friend to us, and he deserves to know first." She walked over from the island and picked up the phone, dialing Oliver's number. "Oliver? Hey, this is Lilly." Lilly paused, then said, "Yeah, I'm over at Miley's. Hey, can you come over in a few minutes? We need to tell you something. We're finishing breakfast, so just whenever you get here is cool." Another pause, then, "No, I'm not telling you over the phone! Just get yourself over here, and we'll tell you when you get here. Bye!"
As Lilly hung up the phone, Miley said, "So we tell them today." Lilly nodded. Miley then said, "And now for one of the two big questions." Lilly waited, watching Miley. "Do we tell anyone at school, besides Oliver, that is?"
Lilly smiled, then walked over to stand behind Miley, wrapping her arms around Miley in a firm hug. "Miles, I already told you, I'm comfortable telling anyone that you're comfortable with."
Miley turned her head, seeking and finding Lilly's lips for a soft kiss. Breaking the tender contact between their lips, she said, "I'm okay with telling everyone at school." She looked into Lilly's eyes, warm and supportive. "I mean, it'd be so hard to go the whole day without holding your hand or hugging you. We probably wouldn't be able to keep it secret a day without blowing it, anyway."
Lilly giggled. "Yeah, you're probably right. And why should we have to hide just because we're both girls? I mean, that's so silly. I love you, you love me, our families are going to be okay with it, so what business is it of anyone else, really?"
Miley answered, "Exactly. If they don't want to see us hold hands, they can turn around."
"Yep. So we don't make a big deal of it, just kind of be ourselves and not hold back?"
Nodding, Miley said, "I think so. If we don't make some big fuss over it, everyone will just go back to something else in a week or two. But until then, we're probably going to be targets, at least slightly." She was a bit nervous about being so open, but she knew that the two of them could take anything that school could throw at them.
Sensing her lover's nerves, Lilly put another kiss on Miley's lips, this one longer and deeper. Miley shifted in her seat, turning more toward Lilly and wrapping her long arms around Lilly's waist, slipping her hands under the waistband of Lilly's shorts. This brought a smile to Lilly's lips, which Miley could feel in their kiss. "You like that, Lils?" she asked breathlessly.
"Oh yeah, Lilly likey," Lilly answered, running her right hand under Miley's hair and settling it on the back of her head, holding her head tightly against her lips as the kissing resumed.
After a minute or two, a knock on the door jarred loose the hold that love and lust were building in the two girls. "Oliver's here," said Lilly, reluctantly breaking the kiss.
"Yeah," said Miley, "and knowing him, he'll probably just--"
"Hey Miley, Lilly!" said Oliver walking inside.
"--walk right in after knocking," said Miley, finishing her sentence.
Oliver paused just a moment, processing what it looked like was going on. From his angle, he could that Lilly was standing right against Miley, with Miley seated but turned to face Lilly. Miley's back and thick mane of hair were blocking most of what they were doing from his view, but it looked like their heads were right next to each other. Are Miley's arms around Lilly?
Miley slipped her hands free of Lilly's shorts and released her girlfriend from her embrace, turning in the chair.
Uh, her arms WERE around Lilly, and it sure as heck looked like her hands were down her shorts! Oliver thought nervously. In fact, from their positions, it looked like they might have been...making out. Composing himself, he walked over to the couch, dropping himself onto it right in the middle. "So, what's the big secret I had to come over here to hear, since you couldn't tell me on the phone?" Oh man, did they finally tell each other? His nervousness quickly was replaced by optimism, as he hoped he was about to hear what he had been waiting on for weeks.
Lilly and Miley walked over to the couch, stopping as they reached it. "Scooch," said Miley, motioning for Oliver to move over. As he complied, the girls sat down, with Lilly directly behind Miley. Miley leaned back into Lilly, who embraced Miley, unable to suppress a big, big smile.
Oliver's optimism started to give way to happiness for his two best friends, whom he had watched dance around each other for quite some time. "You did it?" he asked them both. "You told each other?"
Miley's grin was just a big as Lilly's as she said, "Yes, we told each other, Oliver." She reached up with her right hand, finding Lilly's right hand and embracing it. "Last night, in fact."
"That is SO GREAT!" he yelled, jumping up. He then sat back down, leaning forward and hugging both girls tightly.
"Ack!" said Miley, caught between Lilly and Oliver.
Lilly leaned back, releasing the pressure on Miley, then said, "Okay Oliver, why don't you show your happiness for us by not squeezing my girlfriend like a python?" Her smile told Oliver that she wasn't really upset, and she really wasn't. He's happy for us!
Oliver released his grip on the girls, saying, "Sorry, just a bit excited here!" He ran his hand through his hair, searching for words. "Have you told your folks yet?"
Miley said, "Not yet. We both wanted you to be the first to know." Oliver smiled at the girls' thoughtfulness.
Lilly added, "But I think that Mr. Stewart already knows."
Miley turned around a bit, saying, "What?"
Lilly looked at Miley as she said, "I'm pretty sure he does Miley. I was ... kinda obvious when you got hurt yesterday. I mean, he caught me kissing you on your forehead."
Miley's eyes widened slightly. "Did he say anything?"
"No, and that's why I think he knows," Lilly said. "He just looked at me, and it was a really cool look. I mean, cool like okay, not cool like icy. He smiled at me and it was like he said that it was okay for me to hold you and take care of you, just without actually saying anything."
Miley pondered that for a minute. "He likes you a lot, Lilly. He's told me that so many times. And he knows that you'd never do anything to hurt me. Well, accidents happen and all that, but you'd never deliberately do anything to hurt me."
Lilly smiled, saying, "I'd rather hurt myself really badly than hurt you even a little bit, Miles. I love you."
Miley smiled back, squeezing Lilly hand. "And I love you." She thought again about any conveersations she'd had with her dad regarding Lilly.
Oliver spoke suddenly, saying, "Plus you dating Lilly really takes a huge worry off your dad's mind, Miley."
"What's that, Oliver?" Miley asked.
"She can't get you pregnant!" he said, proud of his logic.
Both girls said dumbfounded for a second or two, then they simultaneously grabbed pillows and bopped him on the sides of his head with them, Lilly striking from the left and Miley from her right. "Oof!" Oliver grunted, sandwiched between the two-pronged assault. The girls then started laughing hysterically, dropping the pillows.
"Well, Miles, he's right," Lilly said. "Hey, we can use that when we tell my parents! 'Uh, Mom, Dad, I'm going out with Miley, and you don't have to worry about me getting pregnant!' " she said, leaning back against the arm of the couch.
Miley leaned back on Lilly, but then she sat up, looking at Oliver, who was rubbing his eyes. "Oliver, we really love you, but sometimes you are such a ... boy!" She ruffled his hair with her left hand.
Lilly added, "Yeah, you really are, Oliver!"
Oliver said, "Um, thanks, I guess," smiling a bit more confidently. "So, um, how did you decide to do it?"
Miley and Lilly looked at each other for a moment, a look of concern on their faces, confusing Oliver. Then he realized the double meanings his words could have. "OH!" he said, turning a furious shade of crimson. "No, I didn't mean 'do it' like that, I meant, you know, tell each other...Oh man, I'm blushing, aren't I?"
The girls looked back at Oliver, then they couldn't hold it in any longer. Both started laughing hysterically, only made more intense when Miley rolled off the couch onto the floor, still laughing. "Oh Oliver..." Lilly started, with Miley finishing, "...you are SO red!"
"Okay, okay, I have a gift for sticking my foot in my mouth, okay? It's not that funny," he said.
Finally getting their laughing under control, the girls tried to focus. Lilly helped Miley back up on the couch, once again settling her girlfriend back in her lap. "Well, it was pretty funny, Oliver," Lilly said. "But we love you, even though sometimes you're really, really funny without meaning to be."
Miley just grinned, leaning back into Lilly's embrace and enjoying the feel of her girlfriend's arms around her.
His blush starting to fade, Oliver asked, "So you're telling your families today?" He lightly rubbed his hands over his face, willing the redness to go away more rapidly.
"Well, we'll tell my dad and Jackson when they get back from their fishing trip, but it sounds like at least Dad might already know." Miley realized that didn't bother her at all. She doubted Jackson would have any problem with it, but she really didn't care if he did or not. Lilly was where her future rested, where she planned on being for the rest of her life. Those who loved her would have to accept that.
Lilly leaned forward, resting her head on Miley's left shoulder. "We can tell my mom and dad in just a bit, if you want, Miles." She sniffed Miley's hair, enjoying the fresh, clean scent. "I can't wait to tell them, I mean, they just love you anyway Miley, and you make me so happy, so I bet they'll be just fine with it."
Not wanting to be negative, Miley still had to ask. "And what if they don't, Lilly?"
Lilly thought for a few seconds, but she never moved away from Miley. "If they don't, then it doesn't change how I feel about you. I love you, Miles, and I'm going to be with you, no matter who gets in our way. If my parents freak out and kick me out, then I guess I'll be sleeping here on your couch."
Miley smiled, leaning her head back into Lilly's. "Silly, you'll be sleeping with me, not on the couch," she said in a sultry voice.
"Okay, young ears here!" said Oliver. "Stop before my two best friends traumatize me!" Then he caught a glimpse of the mischief in their eyes. "Ahhh, you got me again!"
"Sorry Oliver," said Lilly, "but sometimes you just make it so easy."
Oliver tried yet again to get the conversation back on track. "Okay, so that covers the parents, so how about school? Is this going to be another big secret?"
Miley answered this one. "Nope, we're not hiding anything. I mean, we're not going to get on the intercom and announce it to everyone, but we're not going to keep ourselves from holding hands or sneaking kisses here and there like everyone else."
Now Oliver was a bit worried. Families were one hurdle to cross, but the kids at Seaview High were a different threat entirely. "Are you two sure about that? I mean, I expect Amber and Ashley will only be the ones leading the crusade against you; they may be lots more people against you two being a couple than you realize."
Miley countered, "We don't care, Oliver. I've dreamed about being with Lilly for so long, and now it's happened. My dream has come true, and I refuse to be ashamed of that or keep it a big secret. I mean, I've got the most beautiful, sweetest, most loyal girl in that whole high school for my girlfriend; you better believe I'm going to brag about that!"
Lilly was beaming. "Do you really think that about me, Miley?" she asked, slightly stunned.
Miley tilted her head slightly. "You bet I do, Lils. You're amazing, and being with you is what I am most sure of in my entire life. I'd give up anything to keep you."
Lilly fought to keep the tears from coming back out, whispering, "You are the amazing one, Miley, and I'm the lucky one. If anyone ever gives you a hard time, they'll have to deal with me."
Oliver cleared his throat, saying, "Hello, I am still here, you know." He looked at the girls, and realized that he needed to hurry up and finish, because his window of time here appeared to be closing, judging from the hungry looks the girls were giving each other now. "You two know I'll support you in whatever, I just don't want the two of you to get hurt by rumors and nasty things people might say about you."
Lilly gave Oliver a somewhat surprised look. "Hel-LO, Oliver!" she said, a bit forcefully. "Let's see, I skateboard for fun, other than Miley I hang out with all boys, I'm good at sports, I don't do the whole 'girly thing' real well, I dress in the neo-grunge style ... some of those bitches at school have been calling me a lesbian for two years now!"
Miley nodded her head, adding, "And that makes me a lesbian by association in those rumors. In fact, we've been accused of being lovers for a while now." She shifted on the couch, sitting beside Lilly and pulling Lilly's upper body down, resting Lilly's head in her lap. "And now those nasty rumors turn out to be true," she said, smiling as she looked down at Lilly.
Lilly returned the smile, looking up into Miley's blue eyes. "And we're so much happier for it! Maybe we should have acted on those rumors months ago," she said, reaching up to stroke Miley's face.
Oliver took that as his cue. "Well, I'm going to take off, I still have stuff to do at home. I'll wait to tell my folks just to give you two time to tell yours, in case they share information better than we realize."
The girls got up, walking Oliver to the door. As he opened the door, they both gave him a hug. "You're the best, Oliver," Miley said.
Lilly said, "Yeah, Oliver. Thank you for being such a good friend."
As he returned the hugs, Oliver said, "You two are the best friends a guy could ask for. And you're really cute together, too. Just remember, if anyone at school gives you a hard time, let me know, and I'll take care of them." And with that, he closed the door.
Miley turned around to look into Lilly's eyes. "Didn't you just tell me the other day about him being so scared of his neighbor's poodle that he almost wrecked his bike?"
"Uh-huh," Lilly mumbled.
"Good thing we can take of ourselves," Miley said, rolling her eyes. Suddenly, she found herself pinned against the door by Lilly, a fierce look of want in her eyes. As their lips came together, Miley involuntarily growled slightly, her desire making itself known. The look in Lilly's eyes matched the hunger in Miley's heart, and the two pulled each other tightly, trying to get as close as possible. Panting, Miley pulled apart long enough to ask, "Bedroom?"
Barely pausing in her assault on Miley's mouth, Lilly answered, "Bedroom."
The girls stumbled toward the stairs, with Miley's shirt already on the ground before they reached the first step, and then other clothes marking their progress toward the room they were now considering not just Miley's bedroom, but their bedroom.
Telling their parents would come soon enough, but first Miley and Lilly had to reaffirm their love, their commitment, their need for each other, in the most intimate and intense way they knew.
Author's Afterword: I realize that I broke my pattern of leading off with a Hannah/Miley song, but I highly recommend listening to Sophie B. Hawkins' "Only Love," at least for the start of this chapter. While I was writing the opening scene, this song came up on my Winamp, which I keep at random while I'm writing, and it fit the mood so perfectly that I had to just use it as the lead-in. That's one of my favorite love songs anyway, so it wasn't that difficult for me to break pattern for it. Next chapter, the parents get the news, and how exactly will things at school go? Until then, thanks for being patient; I promise I'm writing as fast as I can!
-- Jo --
