CHAPTER FOUR
FROM THE HEART
Miley and Lilly stood there, holding each other, for a long time afterward. Lilly rested her head on Miley's shoulder, gently running her hands through Miley's long chestnut hair. She smiled, content to be in the arms of the woman she loved, enjoying the warmth of her embrace and the familiar scent of her perfume.
"I love you," she whispered
"I love you, too," Miley whispered back, "Very much."
"Forgive me?" Lilly asked quietly. Miley smiled sadly.
"I think I'm the one who should be asking that," she said. Lilly fought the urge to giggle. She pulled away from Miley's embrace just enough so they could look each other in the face.
"That's enough of that," she said simply. "Let's just forgive each other and promise never to fight like that again."
"Sounds good to me," Miley replied happily. "How about we seal it with a kiss?" she asked in a teasing voice. Lilly didn't answer; instead, she grabbed Miley and pulled her into a searing kiss. They remained entwined, lips and souls joined, for many long moments. Finally, air became a pressing need, and they were forced to part.
"Have I told you lately how much I love you?" Lilly asked softly.
"I think you just did," Miley said with a grin. She began to gently stroke Lilly's cheek.
"Now, I could do this all day, but it's not gonna get us back on the road," she continued. Lilly nodded.
"I know... but there's always later." Lilly waggled her eyebrows suggestively. Miley swallowed.
She's gonna be the death of me yet, Miley thought to herself, but what a way to go!
"Come on." She took Lilly's hand in her own. "The sooner we start, the sooner we get there."
"All right, all right," Lilly playfully grumbled. Hand in hand, they started to walk. Fortunately, where they had broken down didn't appear to be too remote. It was still fairly early in the morning, and sun wasn't yet very hot. It wouldn't take long for it to get that way, however.
"Where are we, anyway?" Lilly asked.
"Somewhere near Bakersfield, I think," Miley replied thoughtfully. "I honestly don't remember what the last road sign we passed said. I was kind of… distracted."
"I'm sorry," Lilly replied softly.
"Stop," Miley said firmly. She smiled. "What's done is done; we don't need to talk about it anymore." She squeezed Lilly's hand.
"Okay," Lilly said happily. She paused a moment to take in their new surroundings. They were walking down a narrow paved road. Large, rolling green fields ran to the horizon on either side of the road. A shallow ditch ran between the road and the fields, providing drainage for irrigation.
"What do you think they're growing here?" Lilly asked. Miley looked out across the fields.
"Carrots, I think," she answered.
"Really?" Lilly responded excitedly. Miley smiled.
"Haven't you ever seen carrots growing before?" she asked.
"I'm from Malibu, Miley," Lilly retorted. "I get my carrots from a store." Miley laughed.
"Well, now you know where they come from."
"Must be a lot of work growing them," Lilly noted, taking in the sheer size of the large fields.
"Oh yeah," Miley replied. "Farmers work hard." Just up ahead, as the road began to curve away, they spotted a young girl, sitting in dirt beside the road. She had short blonde hair and looked to be no more than ten or so years old. She was wearing a pair of blue overalls with a small pink jacket. Despite her young age, she appeared to be alone.
"What's a little girl doing out here all by herself?" Lilly wondered aloud.
"I don't know," Miley replied, frowning. "Maybe we'd better go see if she's all right." They carefully walked over to the where the young girl sat, staring at the ground and kicking at the dirt in front of her. Lilly got down on her knees in front of the girl and tried to talk to her.
"Hi, there!" she greeted the girl warmly. The girl didn't answer, or even bother to look up.
"Are you all alone out here?" she tried again.
"Not s'posed to talk to strangers," the girl replied quietly, still not looking up. Miley and Lilly shared a look. Miley shrugged.
"Well, she's got a point," Miley said. "We are strangers, after all."
"All right, Lilly admitted. "Let's start over. My name's Lilly, and this is my friend Miley." She gestured to Miley.
"What's your name?" Lilly asked the girl. The girl finally at last looked up, a doubtful expression on her face. She stared at Lilly & Miley for a moment, and then returned her gaze to the ground.
"Emily," she said quietly.
"Nice to meet you, Emily," Lilly replied. "There – now that we've been introduced, we're not strangers anymore, right?" The girl smiled a little bit at that.
"I guess not," she said.
"Emily, are you out here all by yourself?" Miley asked, crouching beside Lilly. Emily nodded.
"Where are your parents?" Lilly pressed.
"At home," Emily answered after a moment.
"Do they know you're out here?" Miley cut in. Emily shook her head.
"No… an' I don't care," she said angrily.
"Why not?" Lilly asked gently. Emily looked up at her, and Lilly was startled to see there were tears in her eyes.
"They want me to move away," Emily said, her voice strangled. "They want me to leave my home, my school an' my best friend!"
"Your family wants to move away?"
"Yeah… all 'cause of my dad's stupid job." Emily tried to wipe her tears away, but more dripped down her cheek to take their place.
"It's not fair," she muttered crossly.
"Things like that rarely are," Lilly said sympathetically.
"I showed them though," Emily said, growing angry again. "I ran away from home… an' I'm not going back!" Lilly's eyes widened.
"Emily… don't you think your parents are worried about you?" Emily made a face.
"I don't care," she muttered. "They don't care what I want, why should I care about them?"
"They're your parents, Emily; they love you."
"If they love me so much, why are they making me leave?!" Emily shouted. She turned away, fighting back more tears. "I don't need 'em anyway… I can take care of myself." Lilly sighed.
This isn't working…
"Hang on a sec, Emily… I need to talk to my friend real quick." She quickly pulled Miley aside.
"Miles, what are we gonna do?" Lilly asked in a hushed voice. "We can't just leave her here!"
"I know, Lils," Miley replied, her voice equally quiet. "Maybe we can take her with us, see if someone at the gas station knows her parents."
"Maybe," Lilly said carefully. "Right now though, I think it's pretty obvious she doesn't want anything to do with her parents; and we can't just force her to go back."
"No, that would only make things worse," Miley agreed. Lilly's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Why don't you try talking to her, Miles?" Miley looked at the woman she loved with a puzzled expression on her face.
"Why me?"
"You know some of what she's going through, Miles; you moved all the way across the country to pursue your dream of being Hannah Montana."
"Yeah, but that was something I wanted to do. Poor Emily doesn't really have a choice."
"I know," Lilly responded. "Still, you can at least understand some of what she's feeling. Maybe, if you share with her how you dealt with it…" Miley couldn't resist a smile. Seeing Lilly's desire to help young Emily made her proud of the strong-willed and compassionate woman she'd fallen in love with.
"All right, Lils; I'll try," Miley agreed with a small smile. Together they walked back over to Emily, who was rummaging through the small backpack she had brought with her. She was looking frantically for something, but obviously wasn't finding it.
"It's gotta be in here!" she shouted in a panicked voice.
"What is it, Emily?" Lilly called to her. "What are you looking for?"
"My food!" Emily shouted back. "I know I packed some food in here!"
"Take it easy, Emily; we'll get you some food. It'll be all right." She looked back at Lilly hopefully.
"Really?" she asked softly.
"I promise," Lilly replied, reaching out to carefully take Emily's hand. She gestured to Miley, who walked over sat down on the ground beside Emily.
"You know Emily, I had to move once," she said quietly.
"You did?' Emily asked in a doubtful voice. Miley nodded.
"Yup; I used to live in Tennessee, way on the other side of the country."
"Why did you have to move so far away?"
"Well, there was a great opportunity out here for my family and I," Miley said. "So we took a chance."
"Weren't you scared?" Emily asked.
"A little," Miley admitted. "It was a big change, and I didn't know what to expect. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it was gonna be, though; in fact, it turned out great." Miley could see a flicker of hope in the young girl's face, though she tried her best to hide it.
"See, when I moved out here to California, the best thing I could ever have imagined happened to me."
"What was that?" Emily asked hesitantly. Miley smiled and put her arm around Lilly.
"I met my best friend in the whole world," she said happily. Emily looked at Miley and Lilly for long moment, noticing the happy smiles on their faces and the way they held onto each other's hands. Then she felt tears threatening to spill from her eyes anew, and abruptly turned away.
"I'm gonna lose mine," she whispered bitterly. "Mom an' dad are tryin' to take me away from her!"
"What's her name?" Miley asked softly.
"Destiny," Emily said sadly.
"How long have you and Destiny been friends?" Lilly jumped in.
"Since we were in kindergarten together," Emily sniffled.
"You must be really good friends, to stay together for so long," Miley said understandingly. Emily nodded.
"Destiny's the best friend I've ever had. She's always been there for me, always helped me when I needed it…" Emily found herself suddenly unable to continue, her grief stealing away her voice.
"Please don't cry, Emily," Lilly said sadly, squeezing Emily's hand. "It'll be all right." She felt her heart breaking, seeing the young girl's sad tears.
"You know what, Emily?" Miley asked her gently. "There's nothing in this world stronger than love. If you and Destiny don't let it, a little distance can't destroy the friendship you have." Lilly nodded in agreement.
"It may not be easy," she added, "but you can find ways to stay in touch and still do things together. If she's really your best friend… she'll never leave you."
"You r-really think so?" Emily managed through her tears.
"Absolutely," Miley & Lilly promised her together. Emily managed a small smile, and felt her tears begin to lessen.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "Both of you." Lilly looked at Miley, a radiant smile on her face.
"Now Emily, I think you should try talking to your parents again," Miley told her gently. "They love you, and I'm sure they must be very worried about you."
"I know," Emily said, nodding. "They'll probably be mad at me."
"Maybe," Miley admitted, "but they'll get over it." She stood up, and Lilly did so as well.
"Why don't you come with us, Emily? We'll find a phone and call your parents." Wiping away the last of her tears, Emily nodded and stood up as well.
"All right," she agreed, reaching down to pick up her backpack. "There's a gas station just down the road a little bit."
"You know the way?" Lilly asked her.
"Sure," Emily replied. "It's not far from my house."
"Good," Lilly said with a smile. "We can get you something to eat there, too."
They reached the gas station a couple of hours later, after a long but uneventful walk. Miley & Lilly bought some food for Emily, and something to drink as well, at a small diner near the station. Then they used a payphone to call her parents.
"What kind of car do your parents drive, Emily?" Lilly asked, noticing the younger girl looking anxiously out the window afterwards.
"My dad drives a red pickup truck," Emily replied distantly.
"Are you worried Emily?" Miley asked her.
"A little," Emily admitted nervously. "I know they're gonna be mad at me."
"It'll be all right, Emily," Lilly said comfortingly. "You'll see." A few minutes later, a dirty red pickup truck drove into the parking lot. A young blonde woman wearing glasses emerged from it, followed by a dark-haired man in a baseball cap. They rushed into the dinger together, and as soon as they saw Emily, they pulled her into a tight hug.
"Oh, thank god!" the woman, Emily's mother, cried in relief.
"You scared us half to death, Em!" her husband, Emily's father, added.
"I'm sorry mommy, daddy," Emily whispered through her tears.
"Why did you run away like that?!" her mother asked. Emily hung her head.
"I didn't want to move," she said, sounding ashamed. "I didn't want to leave Destiny."
"Oh, honey," her mother whispered soothingly. "Why didn't you say something to us? Running away isn't the answer."
"I didn't think you'd listen to me," Emily said simply. She pulled away from her mother's embrace to look at her parents "I didn't think you cared."
"Aw, Em," her father responded. "You know you can always talk to us. We could've worked something out." Emily nodded and wiped away her tears.
"I know that now, daddy. I'm really sorry… are you mad at me?"
"Right know we're just glad you're safe and sound, honey," her mother replied.
"I'm fine, mommy," Emily said. She looked at Miley & Lilly and smiled. "They helped me." Emily's mother regarded the two young women carefully.
"Thank you both, for looking after my daughter. It's nice to know there are still good people left in the world." Lilly smiled.
"We were glad to help," she replied. "I only hope, if we had a daughter, someone would do as much for her."
"We?" Emily's mother repeated. Then she noticed Lilly's hand entwined with Miley's.
"Oh!" She blushed, embarrassed. "Forgive me, I didn't realize…"
"It's all right," Miley interrupted. "We're not embarrassed about it or anything." She smiled.
"What are you talking about mom?" Emily asked, clearly confused by the conversation between her mother and her new friends.
"Nothing," her mother said quickly. "I was just thanking them for taking care of you. Anyway, I think it's we were heading home, Emily. We have a lot to talk about."
"Okay, mom," Emily replied. Impulsively, Emily ran over and hugged Lilly tightly.
"Thanks Lilly, for everything," Emily gushed. For the first time in perhaps her entire young life, Lilly found herself struck speechless by Emily's unexpected thank you.
"Y-you're welcome, Emily," Lilly managed. Grinning, Emily ran over to Miley and hugged her as well.
"Thank you too, Miley," she said. "I promise I'll think about what you said." Miley smiled warmly.
"Good," she responded, sounding very motherly. "Take care of yourself, Emily. Everything will work out, you'll see." Emily nodded, then quickly leaned in and whispered into Miley's ear.
"Take care of Lilly," she said quietly. She smiled, and Miley had the sudden feeling Emily knew much more about her & Lilly than she was letting on. Still smiling, Emily turned away and hurried back over to her waiting parents.
"Thank you both again, for helping our little girl," her father said earnestly. Miley & Lilly smiled and nodded, and the family turned around walked away. Little Emily waved goodbye as they stepped through the diner doors. Miley watched them get into their truck and drive away, a warm feeling spreading through her heart.
"You know what, Lilly?" she asked softly. "I think maybe, someday, you & I might make pretty good parents." She turned to look at Lilly, and was shocked to see her looking slightly pale. She hurried over to the woman she loved.
"Baby, are you okay?" she asked worriedly. Lilly nodded.
"Yeah," she replied. "Guess I just didn't expect Emily to hug me like that." Miley smiled knowingly.
"You really cared about her, didn't you?" she asked. Lilly fought back a blush.
"She was sweet," Lilly admitted. "Besides, it felt nice to be able to help her when she needed it."
"Yeah it did," Miley admitted with a grin.
"Besides," Lilly said mock-indignantly, "I'm not the one who's suddenly talking about having children!" Miley laughed.
"Okay, okay… guilty! I still think you'd make a great mother, though."
"So would you," Lilly replied softly. She gave Miley a small peck on the lips. "Now, how about we get our car fixed so we can continue our vacation?"
"You still want to?" Miley asked, trying to hide her excitement. Lilly grinned.
"Spend the summer with the woman I love?" she asked, tying to sound innocent. "Of course I do." Miley squealed excitedly and practically tackled Lilly, pulling her into a fierce hug.
"I love you, Lilly."
"I love you too, Miley… can I breathe now?"
A little while later, Miley & Lilly had their car towed to the gas station, where the mechanic on duty told them it needed a part they were going to have to order. Unfortunately, it was going to take 24 hours for the part to arrive, so they had no choice but to get a room at a small motel nearby and wait for the repairs to be made.
They decided not to call their parents however, neither one of them wanting to have to relive the arguments from before.
After having something to eat at the diner, they retired to their room for the night, both of them weary and tired. Miley allowed Lilly to take the first shower, and stretched out on the bed to watch some television in the meantime.
"This place so needs cable," Miley grumbled, flipping aimlessly through the channels.
"Nothing good on?" Lilly called out. Miley jumped, startled. She looked over to see Lilly walking out of the bathroom wearing only a white towel.
"That's okay," she managed. "I found something else to watch." Lilly blushed.
"Stop that," she giggled.
"What can I say?" Miley quipped. "TV has nothing on you in a towel." She watched as Lilly walked over to her suitcase to find her pajamas, bending over just enough to give a tantalizing glimpse of damp flesh as her towel parted slightly at the waist.
Sweet niblets… Miley thought to herself, suddenly finding it difficult to draw a breath. Her heart began to hammer against her ribs. Never before had she felt such a sudden, strangling rush of desire. She knew she loved Lilly, of course; more than she had ever loved anyone. Now, though, she suddenly knew she wanted Lilly… badly.
"Did you say something Miles?" Lilly asked, turning her head to look at Miley. Miley cursed inwardly, releazing she'd been speaking out loud without meaning to. Looking at Lilly, seeing the way her damp blonde hair cascaded down her shoulders, her beautiful blue eyes filled with love and concern, Miley felt her heart throb with love.
"Lilly?" she whispered.
"Yeah, Miles?" Lilly replied. Miley forced herself to swallow.
"Come here," she breathed. Lilly looked up, slightly alarmed at how quiet Miley had suddenly become. She got up and walked over to the bed, still clutching the towel around her.
"What is it? Are you okay?" Miley didn't reply; instead, she pulled Lilly down on top of her and kissed her passionately.
"Now I know why they say to always watch out for the quiet ones," Lilly quipped, once she could speak again. She gasped when she felt Miley began to plant feather-soft kisses along her neck, her hands sliding gently up and along her barely-covered body. Then Miley gently cupped one of her breasts through the towel, and a jolt of desire shot through Lilly.
"Like that?" Miley teased her. Lilly tried to swallow.
"What do you think?" she gasped. She opened her mouth to say something else, but the sensation of Miley's fingers beginning to slip inside the towel caused her to jerk back instead.
"M-Miley?" she stammered, holding the towel in place around her. "Please don't take this wrong, but… where is this all coming from, all of the sudden?" Miley looked like she was about to cry.
"I'm sorry, Lils! I… I don't know what came over me…!" She was on the verge of becoming hysterical, but Lilly silenced with a gentle finger on her lips.
"It's okay," she said softly. "Honestly. You just took me way by surprise!"
"Did you… did you like it?" Miley asked in a quiet voice.
"You have no idea," Lilly replied, blushing slightly. "I just didn't think… well, I didn't think you were ready for that kind of thing."
"I didn't think I was either," Miley answered honestly. She fixed Lilly's eyes with her own, willing her emotions to show through them. "I am now."
"You sure it's not just me walking around in a towel that's got you talking this way?" Lilly asked with a half-grin.
"I'm sure," Miley responded calmly. "I really want to share this with you, Lilly… I want to love you, like I've never loved anyone before." She swallowed.
"Like I'll never love anyone else." She reached up to slowly brush her fingers through Lilly's damp blonde hair.
"Please…" she whispered. "Let me make love to you." Lilly mouth had gone dry, and her heart was beating so fast she feared it might explode from her chest. Looking down at Miley on the bed in front of her, seeing the love and desire blazing in her eyes, she knew then and there she would never want anyone as much as she wanted Miley at that moment.
"Only if I get to make love to you, too," she whispered back. Miley smiled and nodded and reached out for Lilly, pulling the blonde into her arms once again. They kissed passionately, tongues warring with one another. Lilly moaned as she felt Miley dragging her nails along her body, pressing them together. They parted for a moment, and Miley looked up at her.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you t… ooh!" Miley's lips fastened on her neck, nibbling at her pulse point, stole away the rest of Lilly's voice. Then she felt Miley's hands slowly pulling the towel off of her, and she surrendered herself to the wonderful fire of Miley's touch
A/N: I've never written a love scene before, so I hope I did it justice. Let me know what you think. Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews; it's really flattering knowing people actually enjoy something I'm writing. Having my personal favorite author here, Kurrent, read & review my story was also a great feeling :)