Disclaimer: I don't own Hannah Montana.

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A/N: Thank you all for reading and reviewing! Sorry I'm posting this so late, I forgot that I didn't post it, so here it is. Don't forget to review after reading ;)

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The Joys and Pains of Camping with an Oken

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Chapter 7:

Lilly's signature knock hit his bedroom door about three hours later. Three soft knocks, just like she had done last night, just like she always did in the past whenever she was about to enter his room.

He was already up. After he talked to Miley earlier, he had trouble going back to sleep. He spent the time rolling in his bed, thinking of possible ways to confess his feelings to Lilly.

And now, he was in the middle of dressing up, just when she knocked. He lifted his clean shirt from where he placed it on the bed, and fumbled for the sleeves holes. His back was to the door. He turned his head around when he heard the door slightly open, again she did that without gaining his permission to enter, and saw her poke her head inside.

"Rise and shine, sleepy–" she began, but when she saw the bed was already made and that Oliver was not sleeping in it but standing by it instead, with his upper body bare, she froze. "Oh, sorry!" she said in surprise when her eyes landed on him. Her cheeks suddenly colored with a light shade of pink.

He smirked and pulled his shirt over his head, then turned to face her. "That's okay, Lills. Come in."

She hesitated, but saw he was now fully dressed so she did. "I didn't know I'd be interrupting –"

He chuckled. "No worries. You're lucky I'm a guy. A girl will have a fit if a guy walked in on her changing," he said, gaining a smile from her in response.

"That's true," she said. "I'm surprised you're even up. I thought you'd still be asleep."

Oliver gathered his dirty laundry and threw it in the laundry basket in the bathroom, and he and Lilly made their way downstairs. He let out a loud yawn. "I thought so too, but then I woke up at six and couldn't go back to sleep."

"Six?" she asked in surprise. "What, did aliens knock on your window and asked you for directions back home?" she joked and he couldn't help but smile.

They sat down at the breakfast table. Only Owen was sitting there, eating while reading a comic book. The door to the cabin was open and Oliver could hear the three parents sitting on the porch and talking. The strong aroma of their coffee drinks entered the kitchen through the open door together with the cool morning breeze.

As he poured himself a cup of coffee, desperately needing caffeine to stay alert, he sighed. He poured Lilly a cup as well. "Close. Miley called me," he muttered, hiding his lips behind the rims of his cup while taking a whiff and enjoying the fresh smell of his hot beverage.

Lilly made a face at what he said, her eyebrows knitting together in confusion. "Miley? What did she want?"

Oliver sipped on his drink and savored the instant effect of wakefulness that it awarded him. He shrugged, feeling his cheeks getting warm, and he wasn't sure if it was the coffee or the fact that he was trying to avoid that conversation that made that effect. He cleared his throat. "Basically annoy me," he said. He didn't want to tell Lilly the real reason behind Miley's call. He may have decided that he will profess his feelings for her today, but right now was not the time, especially now when they had audience.

His answer obviously didn't satisfy Lilly, for she kept asking questions. "Why at six, though?"

He shrugged. "It was noon over there," he said simply.

Lilly reached over the table and grabbed a cookie and dunked it in her coffee. She was silent for a moment, but Oliver saw her thinking about it. He knew she wanted to know more, and surely enough she looked up and said, "Did she ask about me?"

Oliver shook his head. "I wasn't really in conversation mood, so I kinda made her hang up quickly."

"Still, it's weird she called you and didn't call me."

Oliver sighed again, noticing the hurt in Lilly's voice. Trying to make things better, he said, "Are you honestly complaining that she didn't wake you up at six in the morning? You should be thankful, Lilly. The sun wasn't even up yet." When that didn't work and Lilly still looked gloom, he added, "Besides, you talked to her yesterday."

"Yeah, for like five minutes," she said and took a bite off her cookie.

Oliver reached out and rubbed his hand softly on her forearm. "If it makes you feel better, we talked less than that. I'm sure she'll call you later. She said she has rehearsals today, maybe she'll call you after."

"Yeah, maybe," Lilly said softly, looking blankly into her cup of coffee.

"What rehearsals?" Owen suddenly asked, looking up from his comic book.

Oliver paled and Lilly shot him an annoyed look. He was so caught up in their conversation that he forgot what he was saying and that his brother was listening. "Umm... Miley has... a... piano recital."

Owen looked doubtfully at Oliver. "I thought she was going to Europe for a vacation."

"Uhh..." Oliver looked at Lilly for some help. She rolled her eyes.

"No. I was supposed to go to Europe for a vacation while she had her recitals," Lilly explained. She finished her coffee in one large gulp and got up to rinse her dirty cup in the sink.

Oliver sighed in relief at the save and thanked his lucky stars that Lilly was a quick thinker and not as dumb as him.

He watched her carefully, her back was facing him, and he couldn't see her face, but for the last fourteen years he had managed to learn her body language pretty well so he easily noticed her tensed shoulders and rigid movements, and knew she was still bothered. How could he make her forget and move on?

He leaned back in his chair and watched her. "Lilly, you guys talk all the time. It's only been two days. She'll call you later."

She shrugged one shoulder. "I don't care," she said stiffly.

"Riiight..." Oliver said slowly. He smirked, knowing it will only trigger her nerves.

Her body tensed up even more and she huffed just as he expected her to do. She turned the water off and shook any droplets of water off her hands in the sink before drying them in a towel. "Oliver, shut up," she said between clenched teeth.

She turned on her heel and walked off to her room. Acting fast, before he knew she will lock herself in there for a while, Oliver shot up from his chair and ran after her, calling her name. "Lilly, wait. We said we'd do something together today. Forget Miley, forget Europe for a second. You're here, right? Let's make the most of it, let's go out."

She looked into his eyes, as if contemplating what he said.

"Come on," he pleaded. "I know just the right place we could go."

She raised one questioning eyebrow. "If it's involves a pair of wobbly bikes –"

Oliver laughed. "No, it's a simple hike, no more than an hour. Just make sure you put on a swimsuit and your pair of Converse and you're all set. I'll take care of the rest."

The skeptical look she gave him never left her face. "I don't know, Oliver. The last time we went for a swim, you tried to drown me."

"No, I didn't," he protested, going on all over again about how he honestly thought she was Miley.

"Well, I'm not in a mood to go swim in the lake again."

"We're not going to the lake."

"Fine," she said and sighed, giving in. "I'll be ready in ten minutes."

Oliver smiled brightly, his happiness that he actually managed to convince her was showing all over his face. "Great!"

He watched as she proceeded to her room and shut the door behind her. Once she was out of sight, Oliver went up to his own room to change into his swim trunks and fetch a backpack. He stuffed it with two towels, a blanket, and sunscreen lotion, and also managed to prepare two peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches and also threw in two cans of diet soda.

"Where are you going?" Owen asked, still seated in the kitchen table with his comic book, his eyes were following Oliver around the room.

"To the Lightveil Cave," Oliver replied distractedly, looking around the room, tapping his chin while trying to think if he had forgotten anything else.

"Oh, cool! Can I come too?" Owen asked excitedly.

Oliver was caught off guard by his young brother. He did expect him to ask that. He turned to look at him. "No," he said strictly.

Owen pouted at the refusal and muttered something incoherent under his breath, but Oliver ignored him.

Lilly emerged out of her room a minute later, dressed in a long, white, sheer beach shirt that almost completely covered her khaki shorts, and she also wore her red Converse shoes, just as she was told. Oliver could clearly see the top part of her green bikini underneath her shirt.

"Is this okay?" she asked, turning around in a circle and looking concerned. "I didn't know exactly what to wear –"

"It's perfect, uh, I mean, good," Oliver corrected quickly.

She smiled coyly. "Great, so can we go now?"

"Yes, please," Owen answered before Oliver could, a bitter note in his voice. "I can't watch Oliver drooling all over the floor anymore." Oliver turned to shoot a menacing glance at his brother.

Lilly laughed nervously and Oliver's cheeks turned pink, whether from fuming at his brother or from embarrassment, he wasn't quite sure.

"Ignore that rat in the corner," Oliver said as he ushered Lilly out. "I don't know why my parents insist that we're related. He only said that because I told him can't come with us."

"Well, why can't he?" Lilly asked innocently, stopping in place.

"Uh..." Oliver said, browsing for a quick excuse. "Because this is about you; you need to have fun. I already made plans and babysitting him was not on the list. After all, I did promise Miley I will show you good time."

"Still, it's a bit harsh, Oliver."

"Lilly, he's a big boy. My parents will make sure he's not bored, believe me."

She seemed convinced and he was glad she let it go. The last thing he needed was his brother towing after them and interrupting his plans.

They said goodbye to their parents as they crossed the porch and Lilly followed Oliver into the woods.

They walked down a narrow path up the hills, losing sight of the lake. The trail was enclosed by the growing crowdedness of the trees. It was shadowed, but glimpses of the sunlight broke here and there through the branches. "Where are we going exactly? You never said," she asked.

He smiled. "Well, it's a surprise."

She nudged his side. "You're so mean! You know I hate surprises!"

"Liar! You love surprises!" he countered.

"I do not! Sure, I love getting things, who isn't? But you should know by now that if you got a surprise for me, you shouldn't say anything; because if you do, then it makes me curious and I hate not knowing things."

"But it's not fair," he said.

"Why?"

"Because you know I love tormenting you," he joked.

She nudged his side again and he laughed.

After an hour of walking through the trees, Lilly began to hear the distant sounds of unmistakably what seemed to be a flow of water. She couldn't see anything around her besides woods and undergrowth, so the source for the current of water remained a mystery.

"Oliver, you said we're not going to the lake," she accused.

"We're not."

"Then what is the –" And before she could complete her question, they stepped out of the woods. Accustomed to the shadows, she squeezed her eyes as the light suddenly hit her face. It took several blinks before she saw the scenery before her eyes.

She was standing in a field of greenery, a small meadow patched on a cliff, overlooking the lake. All this time they were walking and she never noticed they were climbing up. She could see everything: the encircling mountain tops, the shimmering water of the lake below and the houses and cabins that sat on the banks.

Oliver walked over and stood by her side. He extended his arm and pointed down to a specific place near the lake. "This is where we started," he said and she noted the Okens' cabin.

"This is amazing," she admired, turning around and taking it all in. She could not ignore the sounds of a stream nearby. She decided to search for it, running over to the other side of the cliff and rounding a large wall of boulders. Oliver followed her. She stopped right at the edge of the cliff and observed what she found. From a higher point in the mountain above them, a stream of water gushed out. The current fell down and went through a large hole in the ground below. They stood right above it and Lilly leaned over and saw it was leading into a pool inside a shadowy cave.

She looked back up at the waterfall before her, the water streaming forcefully, looking almost white.

As if reading her thoughts, Oliver said, "It's called the Lightveil Cave. Well, not really. Owen and I named it like that. You can probably see why. I actually have no idea what its real name is."

"It suites," she said, noticing how the water formed a shape and color just like a bride's veil as they flowed down. She turned to look at him and grinned brightly. "Thank you for bringing me here."

He smiled back. Anything for you.

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A/N: If you wonder, the scenery is made up. I've never been to Lake Tahoe before, so if you have, then you probably know there's no such place there. And if there is, then it's not something I was aware of...

This is more like a filler chapter. I intended on going on, but I'll leave the rest for the next one, because there will be much more going on. If I get reviews, I will post it quickly. If I won't, then the update will have to wait... I hope you enjoyed, if you did, please review and tell me your thoughts.