A/N: Well, it's been a while I know. All I've been doing recently is reading rather than writing, but I'm hoping to at least finish one story, although it's difficult atm. Life keeps getting in the way. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Saving The Last Dance For Her – Chapter 6

"Rain.

Drops of water trickle down the window pane.

My gaze turns to the glass,

And all I see is rain.

Cold breath mars the scenery, the very same

View I turn to every day,

But all I see is rain.

I cannot look away, though I don't stand to gain.

But how can one go out

When all I see is rain?

Outside, the sun shines brightly - it feels no shame.

And then, I close my eyes,

There; in my heart is rain."

Lilly blinked and stopped speaking. Mr Corelli was the first to begin the quiet smattering of applause. "Well done Lilly, an interesting, if not slightly morose, poem on different types of weather and how they affect one's mood." Lilly inclined her head in response to his reaction whereupon he gestured for her to take a seat and called the next student forward.

Miley Stewart turned around in her chair as if to say something to her best friend, but decided against it, bit down upon her bottom lip and turned to feign interest in the next speaker. It wasn't until class was dismissed and the three best friends were seated around the lunch table that Miley began her interrogation, "So, Lilly, whatever inspired you to write such a sad poem?" Miley asked, leaning forward across the table to stare at her friend with an intent expression. Lilly merely offered Miley a small smile before taking a nibble from her hamburger. Miley was not affronted and proceeded to press on with her questions, "I mean, it was a good poem, don't get me wrong. But… has someone upset you or something? You're normally much happier in your creative writing assignments. I thought you would write about the sun and the beach…"

Lilly's smile grew, "Oh Miley, I get where you're coming from. You think I'm simple. Well, it seems you were wrong, I have more depth than you first knew."

Miley raised her eyebrows in protest, "Lilly, I have never thought of you as a simpleton. Believe you me; I just didn't know that you were sad about something."

Lilly chewed her burger thoughtfully, "But, I'm not sad Miley."

Miley looked confused, "Has someone said something to upset you?"

Lilly actually laughed, "Look Stewart, you don't need to play the part of the concerned friend and you most certainly don't need to try and psycho-analyse me. Gosh, can't a girl make up a little poem for an English assignment without getting therapy for it afterward?"

Miley frowned, "I dunno Lilly, it's just uncharacteristic. That's all I'm saying."

Lilly merely shrugged her shoulders and finished stuffing the remainders of her lunch into her apparently bottomless stomach. "Look, I've gotta go, soccer meet." Miley nodded as she watched Lilly hop to her feet, grin brightly at her friends, before darting away.

Miley sighed, but Oliver Oken was too busy with his French fries to notice. Miley sighed again, more dramatically with her head in her hands, and this time the doe-eyed boy looked up, "Alright Miles. Spit it out."

"Spit what out Ollie?"

"You know what. Something's up." Oliver announced and threw his scrunched up napkin down onto his plate, which he then pushed away as he turned to give Miley his full attention. "Come on now, tell Uncle Ollie."

"Oliver, I'm worried about Lilly." Miley stated seriously, "I mean, it's not like her to be so… 'morose' as Mr Correlli called her. Who writes about the rain? We don't even see much rain in Malibu!"

Oliver looked puzzled, "I think she was trying to be ironic. Ya know, like the rain was her inner mood which is the opposite of what it is outside. That she's actually very lonely and depressed but is putting on a front for everyone to see…"

"Exactly!" Miley threw her hands up, "You do get English class."

"Well, I don't have straight 'B's' for nothing." Oliver stated proudly and puffed out his chest impressively.

"Yeah, yeah." Miley waved her hands around, "Whatever. But now do you see where I'm coming from?"

Oliver pouted, "Err…No."

"Ollie!" Miley whined, "Lilly is obviously having trouble with something and she's expressing it in a form of poetic angst."

Oliver started to shake his head, "Oh no. No, no, no."

"No what?" Miley interrogated.

"Enough of the 'girl talk'. I know what you' re like. You take every little thing and blow it way out of proportion. Miley, Lilly is fine, okay?"

"I'm her best friend Oliver." Miley said, her voice etching ever higher, "And I know everything is not fine." Oliver looked perplexed, "So will you please tell me what's wrong with her?"

"There's nothing to tell." Oliver spread his hands out in front of him, yet when Miley failed to be comforted, he rose to his feet, "Look Miles, class is about to start again and I've got to return a book to the library. I'll catch ya later. And don't worry."

Miley watched the boy's retreating back in silence. Since when does Oliver go to the library? She pondered, before taking one final gulp of her drink, I'm gonna get to the bottom of this.

Miley didn't have to travel very far, however, for she soon caught sight of the troubled blonde and their doughnut talking in hushed whispers in the corridor. Miley checked the time on her cellphone, they still had ten minutes left of lunch and neither of her friends were where they said they would be. Taking her position behind a group of chattering girls who were shuffling in an animated formation down the hallway, Miley Stewart crept unnoticed toward her best friends and disappeared behind a jutting section of wall.

"Are you sure you're okay Lilster? I mean, the poem was pretty intense." Oliver queried as he leaned up against her locker, whilst the blonde desperately tried to create some form of organizational pattern within the jumbled mess that threatened to splurge out onto the floor at any given moment.

"Yes Oliver, I'm fine. I'm doing just great and you don't have to keep asking me how I am every second of the day." Lilly replied, and her voice had a slight edge to it that her friends rarely heard.

Oliver put his hands up submissively in front of him, "Look Lilly, I'm just trying to watch out for you okay. I don't like seeing you working yourself up."

"I'm not getting worked up about anything Oliver." Lilly hissed, "And I don't want to talk about it. Especially not at school."

Oliver shrugged and lowered his hands to his pockets, "Okay then Lilly. I'll catch you later though, drinks at Rico's yeah? We can really talk about things then."

"Sure." Lilly sighed and offered him a small smile, "I think Miley's got a rehearsal for a performance after school anyway so we'll have plenty of time." Oliver nodded and moved on down the corridor, nudging shoulders with Lilly first who rolled her eyes and resumed her attempt at tidying.

Miley's body was prickling and her throat was dry. She was filled with a strong sense of discomfort, yet she didn't quite know the exact source for it. She was anxious that her friends were keeping things from her, and even more so about what those matters actually were. Hundreds of different scenarios, growing steadily more far-fetched, were taking nest in her mind, falling over one another and vying for position at the forefront of her thoughts. The most common of these thoughts was that Lilly and Oliver were secretly dating. Miley squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head whilst taking deep breaths, surely a relationship such as one between close friends was to be celebrated, and not lived out uneasily. Miley blinked and looked over to Lilly. Her sky-blue eyes were filled with a haunting sadness, and Miley longed to trace the origin. She stepped out of her hiding place, cleared her throat and approached her best friend.

From hearing Miley approach, Lilly's reaction was one of shock on seeing the brunette appear, as if from nowhere. She momentarily forgot what she was doing, her hand slipped in her grasp of the three textbooks she was attempting to stuff into the narrow locker space and, with a clatter that turned some heads, most of her belongings fell to the floor. "Ah, crap." Lilly muttered while she bent down to sort out her mess.

"Sorry Lilly," Miley hastened to help and apologize, "that was totally my fault."

"S'okay." Lilly said as she stacked up books into her arms, "I just didn't notice you there. You kinda snuck up on me." Lilly giggled nervously and failed to meet Miley's eyes.

Miley scrabbled around on the floor after the pens that were trying to roll away and under the lockers, "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to make you nervous." Miley's spoke quietly, yet there was an undertone in her voice which at once confirmed Lilly's suspicions that Miley had overheard her prior conversation.

Lilly's light eyes flashed up at once and she was faced with an unexpectedly compassionate pair of azure eyes. "Lilly…" Miley began, and reached for the very same text that her best friend had been aiming before.

Lilly's hand closed down on top of Miley's, and hot pink awkwardness flooded the blonde's soft cheeks. Lilly looked toward the arrangement of fingers on top of fingers and swallowed dryly, before sliding her hand cautiously away and gaining possession of her book. Both girls rose to their feet and Lilly, looking flustered, met Miley's eyes again, "You heard our conversation, didn't you?"

Miley blinked, "Yes."

"Look Miley…"

"Lilly," Miley interrupted, "it's okay. And I'm fine with you meeting Oliver after school on your own. But you don't have to keep it from me. I don't mind, I know that you and Ollie are close…" Miley's voice unwillingly strained the last word and she chewed her lip.

Lilly quirked an eyebrow and her eyes grew brighter with interest, "What do you mean… close?" Miley made an uncommitted noise before handing over the last of Lilly's stationary and proceeding to aid the blonde with her locker arrangements. "Miley," Lilly began slowly, "you don't think that Oliver and I are…?" She didn't need to finish the sentence because the brunette squirmed, verifying Lilly's suspicions, "EW!" Lilly squeaked, "Miley, that is wrong on so many levels. I mean, first of all, he's Oliver." Lilly stated dramatically, "And secondly… he's OLIVER!"

Miley laughed, "You're right. How could I ever think that." She instantly felt a shock of relief and blood returned hot and fast to her drained cheeks. She watched Lilly smile and found herself smiling with the girl, for how could she ever be truly happy if her best friend was not? Yet Miley's warmth began to dissipate when the flicker of that emotion which she had caught in the blonde earlier flared up in her bright eyes. Lilly looked as if she were hungry, she had that same manic desire that appeared when she had been starving for half the day, between meals. But this time it was nothing to do with food, Miley was certain, and it was underlined with degrees of sadness that Miley could not understand. "Is everything okay at home?" Miley suddenly broached, afraid that she had missed a sign along the way.

Lilly turned to look at Miley, bewilderment etched in her expression, "What?" She asked softly, "Yeah, yeah, everything's fine." She replied distractedly, "Stop worrying Miles."

"I do worry about you though." Miley sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "Won't you tell me what's up?"

Lilly shook her head, "Nothing is up. Maybe I'm just having a down day. Maybe my blood-sugar levels are low…"

"Lilly, you just had lunch." Miley answered matter-of-factly.

Lilly gave Miley one of her famous grins, "And?!"

Miley laughed again, and decided to give up. "Alright then, Little Miss Mysterious."

Lilly winked at her, "I like to keep you guessing Miley Stewart."

Miley's mouth twitched, "You sure do. But anyway, I think I have a remedy for you." She reached into her bag and pulled out a chocolate bar. Lilly's eyes twinkled and Miley waved the treat tantalizingly before the blonde's face, "Now, dance monkey. Dance for you food."

Lilly giggled and snatched the chocolate straight from Miley's hand, "Miley, I'm not that simple."

x-x-x

Miley could not stand still. She stepped from foot to foot on the sand as if it were hot coals whilst chewing fretfully on her lip and looking edgily around her. Her head was itching in the new wig and the sunglasses which she had chosen were pinching the skin on her nose. Yet these were probably the only sunglasses that Lilly had never seen and being a carrot-top was practically like wearing a cape of invisibility as she finally came to sit at Rico's bar.

"Will you stop being so jumpy? You're going to give yourself away." Jackson hissed at his sister as he handed her a soda.

"Quiet Jackson." Miley barked at her brother.

"You're not supposed to know me, remember?" Jackson teased and pretended that he couldn't hear her.

Miley scowled at him, though the effect was quite lost due to the ridiculous shades blocking half of her face. "Lilly's going to recognise me."

"Nuh-uh." Jackson disagreed and shook his head, "Not in that ginger wig or in those weird clothes." He pulled a face, "This is the last thing she would expect anyway, you're meant to be rehearsing tonight." Jackson paused halfway through pouring a coke for another customer, "Do you really think this is a good idea Miley? I mean, snooping on your best friends doesn't seem to make any sense to me. What exactly are you trying to get out of this anyway?"

Miley shrugged, "I don't even know Jackson. I just know that something's up…" Miley's body suddenly became rigid as she spotted the familiar blonde girl and brunette male walking towards her. "Now hush your gums and make like you don't know me." Miley whispered, hastening to trot back to the magazine she had spread over the top of a nearby table and feigned reading.

"Hey Jackson, two cokes and some nachos to share." Oliver asked whilst slamming some dollars down. Lilly wandered over to the seats which they normally occupied around a small table, just a few feet away from Miley, "Here we go," Oliver said as he placed his purchases down, "this one's on me." He said with a friendly grin and Lilly smiled, pocketing the money she had been counting up to give to Oliver. "Now," began Oliver after taking a sip of his drink, "to business." Lilly's face paled and she started drinking her coke very quickly, "Miley." Oliver stated firmly.

"I knew it!" Miley hissed victoriously under her breath and tried to lean in even closer, without being noticed.

"Miley." Lilly repeated, and her voice was lilted with sadness. She suddenly buried her face in her hands and openly groaned, "What am I going to do Oliver?"

Oliver looked at her closely, "Well, what do you want to do?"

Lilly looked up, and she was notably shocked, Miley could see as she desperately peered over the top of her magazine whilst trying to appear nonchalant. "Nothing." Lilly responded, quite animatedly, "I don't want to do anything Oliver. I just want it to stop."

Oliver nodded understandingly, "Well, I can understand that." He took another sip of his coke, his brow furrowing as he pondered over the next direction for the conversation to take, "But, and I'm going to talk hypothetically here…" Lilly looked worried, "What do you want to happen?"

Lilly raised her eyebrows and lowered her voice, "Oliver, surely it would be simple, even to you, to know what I would want to happen in this situation." Oliver shrugged his shoulders and Lilly looked awkward, "Well, you know, a… a response. A sudden announcement that it's the same for her." Lilly flustered.

Miley's stomach churned, What in the name of Sam Heck is Lilly talking about? Miley wondered, yet something was brewing and Miley squeezed her eyes closed, trying to block out the notion that her analytical mind was pushing forward, because it was a crazy idea and Lilly wasn't like that.

Meanwhile Oliver had nodded in agreement, "Totally, that would be the ideal solution." Miley blinked; certain that she had missed something here, during her scrabbled musings, "Do you think you would tell her?"

Lilly's eyes widened, "When and how Oliver?" She replied, the tone in her voice depressed and hardened, as if she had already made up her mind about it. Oliver shrugged helplessly and tried to say something further, but Lilly cut across him, "If I say anything, she's going to think I'm crazy and then drop me as a friend. What will I do without her? Nothing. Having Miley in my life makes everything better Oliver. My parents' divorce, the fact that I haven't spoken to my dad in over a month… Just seeing her everyday; laughing with her and having her as my best friend. It's more than enough."

Miley's insides were bubbling, and she was certain that this was nothing to do with the copious amounts of soda she had just bolted down. Oliver spread his hands out imploringly in front of himself, "I just wish…"

"Just wish what, Oliver?" Lilly interrupted, quietly with pleading eyes, "That I will get over how I feel about Miley and move on? That when I see her everyday I don't feel like I've just been electrocuted. That I don't dread and desire her hugs equally. God Oliver, I'm both terrified and ecstatic to be around her. I'm scared that if she hugs me I might break down in tears or… start kissing her. You know what?" Lilly looked at Oliver almost ferociously now, "I just want to be loved by her. Loved in that way, loved until I feel that I can't breathe because it's almost suffocating me, but it wouldn't be. Because it would be bliss. Because that is how I love her Ollie. I love her without end, and with everything I think I am."

Miley's ears blocked out further sound as blood pounded her head, starting with the flushing of her cheeks and thrumming in her ears. Her whole body was hot and a lump was present in her throat that she tried to swallow. Her chest was in twisted knots, and she couldn't find the right state of being to undo them. She watched as Lilly and Oliver continued talking in front of her, but really couldn't make out what they were saying. Miley gathered up her magazine and her bag, slowly now, and tried to draw as little attention to herself as possible. She felt conspicuous, naked, and to be spotted by the other two now would be a disaster. She couldn't risk Lilly finding out that she had just discovered… discovered what? Lilly loves me. Miley shook her head and stumbled away, she thought she heard Jackson call out to her but ignored him also, intent on getting away, on going somewhere…

x-x-x

Miley was in her room, bunching her fingers into her hair and wrenching off the disgusting wig. She unbuttoned the unflattering blouse and finally disposed of the painful sunglasses. She stripped down until she was in her pants and a light top before flopping on her bed and allowing her world to spin around her. Lilly loves me, more than a friend. How could I have been so blind not to have noticed? Miley frowned as she analysed every little moment the pair had together. She could not decipher anything unusual in their behaviour toward one another that they had been doing differently since the time that they had first declared themselves as 'BFF's'.

Yet the thought of Lilly feeling about her this way did not disturb Miley, as it would do if it had been Oliver, it merely intrigued her. She had never been one to give much thought to that kind of thing, she had never been so inclined, and this was Lilly. Her Lillypad and her bestest friend, even though she would never admit that to Oliver.

Tears unexpectedly burst from Miley's azure eyes and spilled down her cheeks. She hated how Lilly had been made so miserable, but had never been able to tell Miley because her misery revolved so painfully around the unknowing girl. But Miley could not stop crying and she wept because she could not give Lilly what she wanted. She could not love her best friend back.

All that she knew was to continue, to be normal and to make life easier for Lilly. She pulled herself out of her low spirits with the conviction that it was probably just a phase; at least that was what Miley hoped.

All you gotta do is watch me…