Author's Note: So glad you're back! I want to thank all my readers again for tuning in to the latest chapter of our girls' story, with special notice to IkarusCazadores, DaburatheDemonKing, Truscott, LunaLovesMeGood, hpfreak2008, Gentry, Heir of Zammitelu, MiddiVampira, Hula Hoop Queen, DataAndrd, LaughLoveLive and xTexasgalx for their very nice, detailed reviews. Extra credit goes to xTexasgalx for noticing and grasping perfectly something that I have always taken very seriously in my stories: how I switch between referring to Miley and Lilly as wives, lovers, best friends or girlfriends. I do that to cement the fact that they are all of these and more to each other. From moment to moment one of those descriptors might be more appropriate than the others, but their relationship encompasses all of those qualities. I can only hope that someday I could experience a relationship like that for myself, and I hope that all of you are lucky enough to find that special person for you in your lives. I also had a request from Spandex Monkey Man to try to include a Cast of Characters to help everyone catch up with the newer characters introduced in this story, so I'll happily do so here. Please note that on the official show Sarah's last name has never been revealed, so I've given her one that immediately sprang to mind.

Miley and Lilly Truscott – our female heroines. I expect you already are familiar with them. )

Oliver Oken – other best friend to Miley and Lilly. Male. Dating Ashley DeWitt.

Ashley DeWitt – female friend to Miley and Lilly and Oliver's girlfriend.

Sarah Sweet – female classmate and current roommate of Miley and Lilly. Secretly dated Danielle Kent but now heartbroken by Dani for reasons still unrevealed.

Jamie Escante and Gina Giles – female soccer teammates of Lilly's, friends to her and Miley. Openly dating each other.

Danielle Kent – female volleyball player and classmate of all the above. Secretly dated Sarah Sweet for a brief time, but now openly hostile to Sarah.

Janelle Gertz – current reigning "bad girl" at Seaview High. Pretty much hates everyone but reserves special hostility for Sarah, Miley, Lilly and Dani in particular.

Mr. Corelli – male teacher at Seaview, director of Seaview's Senior Trip.

Cassie Hughes – female teacher at Seaview and roommate of Miley, Lilly and Sarah on the Senior Trip.

Please see chapter 1 for my Standard Disclaimers!

This Is Our Life

by Jo P.

Chapter 11: Nowhere to Turn

I don't want to be tough

I don't want to be proud

I don't need to be fixed and

I certainly don't need to be found

I'm not lost

I need to be loved

I just need to be loved

--Kelly Clarkson; "Maybe"

"Two minutes, Ms. Winfrey," a voice called from behind Miley. She slowly looked around, her nerves initially intensifying when she saw Oprah Winfrey sitting in a chair across from her but then calming as she felt a familiar hand rest itself on her right thigh, its warmth and comfort readily felt through the soft denim of her jeans.

"Something wrong, Hannah?" Lilly said as she gently caressed Miley's thigh.

Miley turned and smiled as she saw Lilly in her bright blue Lola wig, her face sparkling with a light dusting of glitter, matched by the dangling cobalt earrings she was wearing. "Just daydreaming," she said, emphasizing the middle syllable quite deliberately.

"Oh," Lilly said, no change in her facial expression save for the flicker of a smile. She leaned over and whispered in Miley's ear, "We're back on Oprah today to catch up with her. We just celebrated our third wedding anniversary yesterday, and we're also talking about the HLM Foundation's charity work in providing vaccinations and medicine to children and families who can't afford them." There was a pause, then Miley could feel Lilly's warm breath on her ear as her best friend whispered, "Plus you made love to me like a wildcat last night, maybe the best we've ever had." She punctuated her statement with a light lick of Miley's earlobe, sending a surge of excitement tingling down Miley's neck and side.

Miley quickly turned to look at Lilly, who had a saucy grin on her face. "It gets better?" she said softly, not quite believing that their sex life could get any better. Lilly's knowing nod set Miley's heart racing, as she could see the familiar desire deep in her wife's eyes and she knew with total certainty that Lilly was telling the truth. "Sweet niblets," she squeaked out as Lilly leaned forward. Their lips met and Miley felt her own arms wrap around Lilly as her wife's arms mirrored her actions, encircling Miley's chest with their deceptive strength as they lost themselves momentarily in each other, not caring how many sets of eyes or cameras were on them at that particular moment.

Lilly's cell phone alarm brought the two of them back to the present day as it signaled another morning for them to experience together. The girls silently crept to the bathroom, where they made love in the shower for the second morning in a row. This morning the contact between the two young women was softer, quieter, but no less intense. After they had reconnected to each other intimately, they spent long minutes in the shower, laughing and chatting as they washed each other's body and hair. The last few minutes they switched the shower to a bath and spent that time holding each other as they reclined in the hot bath. "Our own personal hot tub," Lilly said, getting a laugh out of Miley. "But I think my skin's wrinkling."

Miley nodded, then she and Lilly stood together. They quickly dried off and got their underwear on, then they opened the door and began working on their hair. By the time they were finished, Sarah was up and standing at the bathroom door. "Mornin' Sarah!" Miley said cheerily.

"Yeah, it is," Sarah said, her voice glum.

"What's wrong?" asked Lilly.

"Nightmares. All night." Sarah yawned, indicating just how little sleep she had gotten. "You two about done? I need to use the potty."

"Sure," Lilly said, grabbing a hairbrush. "I can finish doing Miley's hair out here." She took Miley's hand and led her best friend out of the bathroom, closing the door behind them.

"Wow," Miley said as she sat down on the bed, Lilly kneeling on the bed behind her. "Sarah really looks terrible."

"I agree," said Cassie as she turned over and then sat up in the bed, revealing a white baby doll shirt with a logo proclaiming HACK/SLASH on it. "She tossed and turned all night. Didn't let me get much sleep either." Cassie looked squarely at Miley and Lilly as she yawned. "When are you two going to fill me in on what's going on?" she said as she finished her yawn.

"Like what?" Miley said, smiling in an attempt to forestall the inevitable.

"Like why one of the happiest, most optimistic girls in all of Seaview High School looks like somebody just ran over her dog and kicked her cat," Cassie said. "I'm serious, girls. Sarah is really upset about something, and I know you two know at least part of what's going on."

"It's not our place to tell you, Ms. Hughes," Miley said in a subdued voice. "It's..."

"It'd be revealing something that affects not just Sarah," Lilly interjected. "Plus I really don't think Sarah would want us talking to anyone about it." After a pause, she said, "But if she felt like talking to someone, I think it might be you, Ms. Hughes. Just give her a little bit longer."

"Girls, Sarah is hurting about something, and the longer it goes on the worse it's going to get!" Cassie stood, revealing a pastel pink pair of boy shorts. "Is it an eating disorder?" she said, folding her arms across her chest.

"No," Miley said as she and Lilly both shook their heads. "We can tell you that."

"I'm in love with someone who doesn't care if I'm alive," Sarah said, startling everyone as she walked back into the main room. "Or at least I've got... feelings... for her. And I thought she had feelings for me too, but now she won't even talk to me." Sarah turned her back on everyone as she opened a drawer and began going through her clothes.

"Have you tried to talk to her about it?" Cassie asked.

A bitter laugh was Sarah's only reply as she rummaged through the drawers.

"Okay, I guess you have. Had you two gotten very close?" Cassie looked over at Miley and Lilly. Miley remained still, but Lilly's shrug revealed that they didn't know much more about that aspect of Sarah.

"We kissed a few times, and we held each other a few times," Sarah replied as she found a tie-dye t-shirt and pulled it on. "And we talked about coming out to our parents, but then she just..." Tears began to form as Sarah looked down, wiping furiously at her eyes. "She just quit talking to me. And then when I tried to talk to her about it one day after classes let out, she slammed me into the lockers and just walked off."

"What?" Miley asked as she turned to look at Sarah. "You didn't tell us that!"

Sarah shook her head. "No," she said as the tears continued to fall. "I felt ashamed. I felt dirty, for having those feelings about her. Like I deserved to be treated that way."

"You don't!" Miley said, standing up suddenly. "Nobody deserves to be treated that way, especially by someone they care about."

"Miley, she doesn't care about me, that's obvious," Sarah replied, gaining some control over her tears. "I just want to know what happened, because I think she used to... at the beginning."

Lilly sat down on the floor beside Sarah. "Well, I want to know what happened too, plus I want her to apologize to you for hurting you."

"Just let it go, Lilly, please," Sarah said pleadingly. "It's only going to stir up more trouble. Plus all her friends are on her side too. They all laugh at me when I walk by them."

"Do you think Dani told them?" Lilly asked, then she froze when she realized what she had let slip. "Oops. Sorry."

"Dani?" Cassie said, trying to recall whom she had seen with Sarah recently. "Dani Kent? You two were both witnesses to the whole... incident with Amber Addison trying to run over Miley and Lilly, right?" From the silence that filled the room, Cassie surmised she was correct. "Every time I've seen Dani lately she's been with her volleyball teammates."

"And Janelle Gertz," Miley added softly. "And Janelle is--"

"Friends with Amber!" Lilly said, finishing Miley's thought for her. "Somehow Janelle's involved in all this. Have you done anything to Janelle, Sarah?"

"No," Sarah said earnestly. "I have one class with her, and... Wait a minute. She wanted me to be her science fair partner, and I turned her down because I knew she'd make me do all the work."

"Plus you were a witness to Amber trying to kill Miley and me," Lilly added.

"But so was Dani," Sarah said. "So why is Janelle hanging out with her instead of being a bitch to her too?"

Everyone thought silently for a minute until Lilly stood and locked gazes with Miley. Smiles spread across their faces as they both said, "Oliver!"

"Yeah, Oliver'll know what's going on with them!" Lilly said, giving Miley a high five.

"We have to talk to him today," Miley said excitedly. "Sarah, we'll get to the bottom of this, but you have to stay away from Dani today."

"Why?" Sarah asked, looking up at them.

"Because you're hurting right now," Miley said gently, "and people who are hurting tend to do things without really thinking them through." She extended a hand to Sarah and helped her up. "Steer clear of her today."

"I just really need to see if she still has any--"

"No!" Miley said, poking Sarah in her shoulder. "You don't. Not right now. She's got you all twisted up to where you can't even think straight."

"Give us some time to find out what's really going on, Sarah," Lilly said.

Sarah considered, then she said, "I'm going to go get some breakfast." She stepped into a pair of cargo pants and then grabbed her sandals and hurried out the door.

"Let's go see if Oliver's up yet," Miley said.

"Right behind you, girlfriend," Lilly said as they ran out the door, still barefoot.

After a quick but quiet talk with Oliver and his promise to do some investigating, Miley and Lilly finished getting dressed and went downstairs to get some breakfast before the students assembled at the Metro station. Today was going to be a very busy and interesting day. Following a trip along the Metro to the Smithsonian station, the students were being released on their own recognizance to explore what they were most interested in.

As the students rode the escalators up and out of the Metro station, they began to break up and move in different directions depending on their chosen destinations. In one direction the many buildings that made up the Smithsonian museum and the Capitol Building far in the distance stretched before them; in another direction, the Washington Monument climbed steep into the blue sky. Beyond its imposing form lay the Reflecting Pool, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial Wall, the newer World War Two Memorial and several other sites. It was entirely too much to see in one day, but several of the students were going to try.

After being dismissed from the Metro Station, Miley and Lilly set their sights on the Washington Monument. It was easily the most striking sight visible from their current location along the green, grassy National Mall that led to it, and they found themselves somewhat awed by its imposing size. Even at this distance, over a quarter of a mile away, the Washington Monument dominated the Mall, if not the entire city as far as Miley and Lilly were concerned at that particular moment.

"Holy cow, that's tall," Lilly said with a subdued voice as the two of them stared at the white obelisk.

"Uh huh," Miley echoed, her voice similarly faint. After a minute, Miley said, "We should get started, hon. Lots to see today." She turned to look at her wife, who chose that moment to look at her as well. "You ready?"

Lilly nodded. "Walking shoes are on, camera ready, cell phone charged. You?"

"Got my shoes, got my phone, got my best girl," Miley replied with a smile.

"Awww," Lilly said before she gave Miley a hug and a quick kiss. "You're so sweet, Miley. Now let's get started."

"Just don't walk my legs off, Lilly!" Miley said as they set off at a steady pace toward the Washington Monument.

By three o'clock the two young women had managed to see the Washington Monument, the World War Two Memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial and the Vietnam Women's Memorial. They weren't able to take the tour to the top of the Washington Monument, but they had already decided to pass on that part anyway. They had bought lunch at one of the small carts along the Mall, with Lilly's appetite in rare form. As they finished up their lunch, Miley began gathering the trash from Lilly's assault on the food cart.

"We probably should start walking back," Miley said. "It'll take us at least thirty minutes to make it back to the Metro station, maybe an hour." The students were supposed to reassemble on the Mall next to the Metro station there at five o'clock, and Miley didn't want to be running late. As she and Lilly threw away their trash and began the walk back, her cell phone rang. "Hello?" she said as she answered it. Her other hand drifted down to her side, instinctively seeking out Lilly's hand and holding it gently as they walked.

"Hey darlin'!"

"Hey Daddy!" Miley said excitedly. "Oh my gosh, today has been so cool! We got to see all these monuments, and they're HUGE! We kinda walked our legs off, but it's been so worth it!"

"Hey Mr. Stewart!" Lilly called out as she leaned over closer to Miley's phone. "We love you!"

"Tell my daughter-in-law that everyone here loves her too, bud, okay?"

"We love all of ya'll too," Miley said. When there was a pause, Miley realized that this phone call had another purpose besides checking on them. "Is somethin' going on, Daddy?" she asked, her voice curious.

"Well, there's been a little change in the interview tonight."

"The phone interview with Rolling Stone?"

"That's the one. Or at least, it was the one. Seems that they talked to the record company and asked if there was any way they could arrange for a sit-down interview instead of a telephone one."

Lilly looked over at Miley. "Uh oh," she said quietly. She peered at Miley's face, which had become worried; Lilly's stomach had also begun to ache, mirroring Miley's concern. "What's going on, Miles? Is everyone okay?"

Before Lilly got too panicked, Miley looked at her and said, "Everyone's okay, Lil. Just that Rolling Stone wants to do a face-to-face interview with us."

Lilly shrugged her shoulders. "Okay. So we do the interview in three days when we get back. What's the problem?"

Miley stopped walking as she turned to Lilly. "Lilly! They're gonna do the interview with us tonight. HERE."

"What?!" Lilly said loudly as she also stopped and spun to face Miley. "But we don't--" Miley's hand over her mouth made Lilly lower her voice, then she dislodged Miley's fingers from her face. "But we don't have any of our stuff here! How can we possibly do--"

Miley thrust the phone toward Lilly, breaking her train of thought. Not missing a beat, Lilly said into the phone, "How can we possibly do an interview? We don't have any of our..." She waited, obviously listening to her father-in-law. "Oh," she said after several seconds. "Wow. How'd you manage that?" Another pause, then, "Okay, so what are you sending us?" Her face grimaced, then she said, "Did you pick out the clothes? Oh, Roxy helped? Well, that should be okay." She looked at Miley, then said with a smile, "Your dad's good, Miley." Suddenly her face lit up. "Well, heck, tell 'em Morton's Steakhouse! The one in Crystal City, at eight o'clock. Thanks, Dad 2!" She handed the phone back to Miley.

"Hello?" Miley said into the phone, still confused, but the phone was silent. She closed the phone and turned to look at Lilly.

"He said to tell you that he loved us and that he knew we'd do great." Lilly put her left arm around Miley and got them moving in the direction of the Smithsonian again. "He found out late yesterday about the interview, so he got Roxy to come over and help him get clothes for us. She picked out a bunch of different outfits for us and he overnighted them to us at the hotel in another suitcase. It should be there waiting for us by six o'clock here time."

"Here time?" Miley said, grinning at Lilly's choice of words.

Lilly gave Miley an exasperated look that neither of them believed was real for a second, then she smiled herself. "Hey, you understood what I meant, didn't you?"

"Yep," Miley said with a matching smile. As they started to walk again, however, Miley's expression turned more serious. "So all we have to do is pick up the clothes, decide what we want to wear, sneak off with our outfits, change somewhere between the hotel and this restaurant down in Crystal City where who knows how many of our classmates will be walkin' around, carry off a surprise interview, then change back to ourselves and get back up to the room before lights out." She looked at Lilly, skepticism evident on her face.

"It's not a surprise interview," Lilly said with a straight face, holding it for a few seconds before she smiled. "Oh, come on, Miles! We've done more with less! Remember you accepting that award while we were handcuffed together? That was a lot harder than this is gonna be!"

Despite herself, Miley began to smile as Lilly's enthusiasm began to take effect. "It might be fun," she admitted, getting a squeal from Lilly, who began jumping up and down from excitement. "But we have to be super careful!" she quickly added.

"Miley," Lilly said with a pause as she stopped jumping. "We can do this. And we can do it well. All we need is a bit of planning ahead, and we've got time for that."

When the two of them met up with Oliver and Ashley back at the Metro station, they were busy working on a plan to slip off for an hour or two for the interview. However, they couldn't reveal all the details to Oliver in this setting, as there was simply too great a chance that Ashley or someone else would learn their big secret. Oliver had tried to gather more information regarding Sarah and Dani, but all his contacts had simply been too spread out today. He promised he'd learn more tonight, once everyone was back at the hotel and free to relax.

After a fast trip back to the hotel, Miley and Lilly waited until the students had been dismissed for the rest of the evening before they made their way back downstairs to retrieve the package Robbie Ray had shipped to them. They were surprised to see that it had been sent in a large suitcase, locked securely to preclude prying eyes from peeking at its contents. Lilly pulled the suitcase behind them as they hurried back up to their room, where they tugged it into the bathroom and closed the door.

"So what's the combination?" Miley asked as Lilly looked at the Wordlock securing the suitcase's contents. The Wordlock was a twist on the standard combination lock in that it used a series of five letters as its combination, making it significantly easier to remember the combination.

Lilly thought for a moment, then she started twisting the letter dials. "Miley?" she said out loud before tugging on the lock, which didn't budge. "Nope. Maybe Lilly." She spun the dials again, and again the lock refused to open. "Well, there go the two most obvious choices."

"Try Lola," Miley said.

"Okay," Lilly said, but again the lock refused to yield. "Darn it! When did your dad get so sneaky?"

Miley sat down on the floor beside Lilly. "He's had to pick something that we'd figure out." She glanced over to see Lilly pull out her cell phone and dial a number.

Lilly listened for a minute, then an expression of frustration flashed across her face. "Mr. Stewart, when you get this message, we're trying to figure out the combination. Please call us as fast as you can!" She snapped the lavender phone closed then sighed loudly. "What the heck could it be, Miley?"

Miley leaned her head back against the wall and thought. "He's had to pick something that would stand for both of us," she said out loud. "That's why he wouldn't use either one of our names. It'd be leaving one of us out."

"Well, that's thoughtful of him," Lilly said sarcastically. As she saw Miley's look at her, she said, "Sorry, Miles. I see what you're saying, and it's sweet of him to be thinking that way, but right now we don't have a lot of time." She looked at her cell phone, whose display helpfully showed 7:40 PM. "Truscott?" Lilly said excitedly, then she frowned. "It's only five letters," she realized aloud.

Miley looked at the dial, noting that the last dial had a blank space. "Or four," she softly said.

"What would your dad think of when he thinks of us, Miley?" Lilly said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. As she did so, Miley pulled the suitcase closer to her. Lilly could hear her turning the lock's dial, and then she heard one of the best sounds she could hear at that time: the click of the lock opening. "You did it?" she said as her eyes shot open, not quite believing what she was now seeing. "You did it!"

Miley smiled as she handed the opened lock to Lilly for her to inspect it and began to softly sing, "L-O-V-E, Love, L-O-V-E, Love..." from her song "Bigger Than Us." Her smile broadened as she added, "That's how he thinks of us, Lilly. LOVE." She felt tears form in her eyes as she considered that revelation.

"Your dad is a big romantic, Miley," Lilly said as she leaned forward and kissed her wife tenderly. "And that is so cool that that's what he thinks of when he thinks of us."

"Yeah," Miley said, hugging her best friend tightly. "I couldn't think of a better way for anyone to think of us."

"Me neither, Miles." After holding each other for a few seconds, the girls sat back and opened the suitcase. On top was a large softsided bag, large enough to hold two outfits and two pairs of shoes. Both of them knew that Lilly would probably be the one carrying it, as having a purse fit Lola's image a bit more than it did Hannah's, so neither color nor design really mattered in regards to matching. Nevertheless it was a soft pink canvas, its straps and ties soft black rope, so it would go with most anything the girls put together.

The two of them packed the bag with their chosen outfits, then they closed and relocked the suitcase. Miley pulled it back into the room and put it beneath their other bags, being careful to rearrange things the way they were earlier. She stood back up to admire her own handiwork and said, "Perfect. They'll never notice it. Now all we need to do is to sneak out of the hotel and away from Ms. Hughes and we're all set."

"Miley?" Lilly said, her voice a bit uncertain.

"What?" Miley said as she turned around. As she completed her turn, she found herself just a few feet away from the green gaze of Cassie Hughes, and the expression on her face was not a happy one. "Uh oh," Miley said softly. She gave Cassie one of her dazzling smiles, but it was too late.

"Don't try that smile on me, Miley Truscott. It might work on your wife and your father, but I'm immune to it." Cassie folded her arms across her chest as she regarded Miley; as she did so, Lilly stepped around her and moved to stand beside her wife, taking her hand once she was there. "So what exactly are the two of you sneaking off to do?"

Lilly and Miley looked at each other. "We, uh, we really can't tell you, Ms. Hughes," Lilly said, "but it's nothing bad, we swear!"

"So it's not anything bad," Cassie said, glancing up at the ceiling in an overly obvious gesture of consideration, "but you can't tell me?" she finished as she again fixed them with a glare. "I might be a new teacher, ladies, but I'm not an idiot."

"But Ms. Hughes, we really have to go do this!" Miley said emphatically. "I mean, it's, like, super important!"

Cassie stood her ground and held her gaze. "If it's that important, then you should be able to tell me."

"We can't," Miley said as she looked down at the ground.

"But maybe we can show you," Lilly said quietly, prompting Miley to jerk her head back up and look at her wife.

"Lilly Bear say what?!" Miley exclaimed, her mouth wide open.

"Miles, we have to do this. It'll look really bad if we canceled or rescheduled, especially with that special issue coming out next week." Lilly looked at Cassie and hoped fervently that the young teacher was as trustworthy as they were hoping. "And I don't think Ms. Hughes will tell anyone once she sees how big a deal it really is." After a pause she turned to face Cassie and asked, "Will you let us go on the condition that you come with us? That way you can make sure that we're not doing anything bad."

Cassie considered that for a moment, then she said, "Fine. I'll need to tell Mr. Corelli that we'll be gone for..."

"Maybe an hour or two?" Lilly said, looking at Miley, who nodded in agreement.

"But you can't tell him where we're going or anything like that!" Miley added, her heart racing at what they were about to do. Bringing anyone else in on their secret raised the risks of someone letting slip who their alter egos were, and that was the last thing Miley wanted. But Lilly was right. It was already ten minutes until eight o'clock, and they'd be pressed for time as it was.

Seeing Miley's genuine concern, Cassie's steely exterior softened a bit. "I'll tell him it's a female thing," she said with a smile. "He'll be too embarrassed to press me for any details." Seeing the relief on Miley's and Lilly's faces, she sat down by the desk and called Mr. Corelli's cell phone, briefly telling him that she needed to take Miley and Lilly for an hour or two to take care of some female issues. As expected, he didn't ask for any further details, and within a minute Cassie was off the phone. "So, where are we going?"

Miley and Lilly grabbed Cassie by the hands and tugged her to her feet. "First, you need to put on a dark shirt," Miley said.

"Do you have a dress skirt or pants?" Lilly asked as they led her over to the closet.

"Well, yes, but--"

"Good!" Miley said, finding a crisp pair of dark gray slacks hanging in the closet. She took them off the hangar and thrust them at Cassie. "These are perfect!"

As Cassie dropped her shorts and began putting on the pants, a satin shirt lightly smacked her in the face. "Sorry!" Lilly said as Cassie looked up. She was holding two shirts for Cassie's consideration and had gotten one of them a bit too close to Cassie's face where she was bent over. "Didn't mean to smack you in the face with your shirt, Ms. Hughes."

Cassie stood up and took the satin peach blouse that Lilly had in her right hand. "Thank you," she said as she put on the blouse and buttoned it up. "Am I allowed to ask why I'm being dressed up?"

"So you look like a bodyguard," Miley said. "We'll change once we get down there."

Lilly hurried across the room and grabbed the pink canvas bag with their other clothes and wigs in it. "Okay, let's go!" she said as she scurried across the room and out the door, Miley and Cassie in tow behind her.

Cassie found herself intrigued as the three of them rode down the elevator and then hurried down the tunnel leading to the underground Crystal City. Wherever they were going, Miley and Lilly were in a big hurry. "So when are you two going to tell me what's going on?" she finally asked as they came to a halt halfway through the underground mall.

Miley and Lilly looked at each and smiled. It seemed that whatever they were nervous about earlier had passed. "Okay, Ms. Hughes, here's what we need you to do," Miley said. "Go down to Morton's Steakhouse and go inside. Just wait right inside the door until we get there. If anyone asks who you are or what you're doin', just say that you're waitin' on your client. Don't worry about sayin' anything else."

"We'll be right there, we just have to change too," Lilly added. "And we'll meet you inside the lobby of Morton's."

"Okay," Miley said, "we'll be there in just a minute." As they watched Cassie walk smartly down the mall in the direction of Morton's, Miley and Lilly let her get far ahead of them, then they began walking in that same direction. When they turned into the section of hallway that led to Morton's, Miley and Lilly hurried into the public bathroom near the restaurant. They took the far stall and closed and locked the door. Within minutes they had changed into their alter egos. As Lilly slung the pink canvas bag holding their regular clothes and shoes over her shoulder, they put on each other's lip gloss, a soft pink with scattered sparkles.

"You ready?" Lilly asked. She had put on a blue sequined miniskirt dress with white stockings spotted with pink polka dots, cobalt blue flats, and her bright pink wig.

Miley finished arranging her Hannah wig, letting Lilly check it carefully for any hairs that might be trying to escape. She had opted for a white t-shirt covered with a red tank top that hung just below her studded belt, overlapping with her black leather pants. For her shoes she had slipped on a pair of Lola's signature Sketchers sneakers, this pair sporting a dizzying spiral design of pink, lavender, baby blue and white. As Lilly smiled and took her hands away from Miley's wig, Miley said, "Ready. Let's go."

They opened the stall door, pleased to find that the bathroom was still empty. They walked briskly out of the bathroom, hurrying down the hallway the short distance to the restaurant. They didn't bother to look behind them to see if anyone had noticed the sudden appearance of two celebrities; they hoped no one had yet.

Cassie found herself growing increasingly uncomfortable as she stood in the lobby, enduring the curious looks from the staff of Morton's. However, she made a point to not show her discomfort to any of them. After just a few minutes, she noticed the staff in the lobby buzzing into an excited state, then she turned to see the cause of their excitement: the sudden appearance of Hannah and Lola Montana! Cassie found herself reaching into her pocket for her cell phone to take a picture, then she realized that wouldn't look very professional. Before she could chide herself, however, the two celebrities stepped up to the hostess counter and began talking to the hostess. Cassie sighed and turned to look back at the door, wondering where Miley and Lilly were when she felt a tug on her purse. She turned to look directly into the bright blue eyes of Hannah Montana, who smiled curiously at her.

"Sorry it took us so long," Hannah said. "Thanks for coming ahead and making sure everything was okay."

Cassie's brain was spinning, and it seemed like it couldn't find any traction. Does she have me confused with someone else? Was she really talking to me? No, no way. But then Hannah's wife Lola walked over to stand beside the music superstar. When she reached her wife, Lola took Hannah's hand, prompting Hannah to look at her wife and share a smile and laugh with the pink-haired actress. Now Cassie's mind was truly reeling, because she had seen that very gesture, that smile and shared laugh several times over the last two days. No. Fucking. Way. As Hannah very gently took Cassie's arm, she forced herself to breathe as the magnitude of the secret Miley and Lilly had just entrusted to her became apparent.

"Are you ready?" Hannah—no, Miley—said to her. Cassie just nodded in reply, unable to find her voice at the moment.

"Are you okay?" Lola—no, Lilly, asked softly.

"Yes," Cassie managed to whisper, getting a smile in return from both Lilly and Miley.

"Good," Lilly said, concern still evident on her face. She turned back to the hostess, who was patiently waiting on them and trying her best to conceal the shaking of her right leg. Morton's might serve senators and judges on a daily basis, but this was the first time they had served Hannah and Lola Montana. "Okay, I think we're ready to be seated," she said to the hostess, who appeared to be in her early twenties.

As they walked to their table in the dimly lit restaurant, Miley whispered to Cassie, "Just sit there and stare at the reporter every now and then." When Cassie gave her a look of disbelief, Miley just smiled and said, "Trust me, it'll work. That'll make sure he or she doesn't pay too much attention to you, since you're not really in a disguise."

As they reached the table, they saw that a younger man, maybe in his early to mid-twenties, was waiting on them already. A digital recorder was neatly placed on the table, ready to record the interview. As they reached the table, he looked up and saw them. He jumped to his feet, bumping the table and nearly toppling over his drink. A small amount sloshed out onto the pristine white linen tablecloth, but that was the extent of the spill.

"Mrs. Montana and Mrs. Montana, thank you two so much for agreeing to do this interview on such short notice. I know this isn't why you were here, and I apologize for any inconvenience." He extended his hand to Miley, who shook it firmly as he said, "Andy Harrison. And, uh, I suppose you already know I work for Rolling Stone, right?"

Miley flashed one of her dazzling Hannah smiles as she said, "Right!" She stepped to the side to let Lilly step up to likewise shake his hand. "And this is the love of my life, Lola," Miley said as Lilly shook his hand.

"Hey, you take us to dinner here, we give you a sit-down interview..." Lilly said, striking a pose of deep thought, "Sounds like a fair trade to me!" She heard Miley laugh beside her as they sat down in the booth almost completely surrounding the round table. Lilly noted Cassie stepped in front of the reporter as he started to sit down, sliding into the booth ahead of him to place herself between him and Miley. Bonus points for Ms. Hughes; she's acting the part really well.

As they ordered drinks—water for Miley and Lilly, unsweetened tea for Cassie—they looked over the menus. Miley could tell that Lilly was practically drooling over the choices on the menu, which made the smile on her face even more broad. She leaned toward the reporter and said, "Okay, let's get something straight right off."

He steeled himself, waiting for the superstar to tell him what subjects were off limits. It'll probably be their sex life. Celebs always want to skip the really hot stuff. However, he was completely surprised by what she said next.

"If Rolling Stone is paying for the meal, then we're leaving the tip."

He blinked a minute. "Excuse me?" he asked.

Miley looked squarely at him. "I said, if you're buying the dinner, then we're leaving the tip. That's the polite thing to do."

"I wouldn't argue with her on that," Lilly said, taking a drink of her water. "It's the least we can do."

"Um, okay," Andy said. Wow, not what I was expecting.

"Let me guess," Miley said, "you were expecting us to be some snotty stuck-up little brats, huh?" She smiled at his silence, taking that as confirmation. "It's okay, we've had people make that assumption about us before. But we're really not like that. If you take away all the albums, all the TV shows, all the awards, all the publicity, all the fame... Well, then we're just two eighteen-year-old girls who love each other so much that we're going to spend the rest of our lives together." She felt Lilly slip her fingers under her left hand. She turned to Lilly and said, "Love you, hon."

"I love you too, Hannah," Lilly said, and that very love was evident on her face as she looked at her wife.

Andy cleared his throat, trying to not get turned on by the obvious heat between his two interviewees. "Well, Hannah, Lola—is it okay if I call you two that?" After they both nodded, he resumed. "It's that very obvious, very strong love between the two of you that's put you on the top of this year's Hot List. Obviously, you're also going to be our Hottest Real-life Couple in addition to being our cover girls. I mean, let's face it, the way you two show your love is inspiring. And it's not just your love for each other, but your love for others as well."

Lilly smiled. She liked the sound of this so far. But it sounded like he had rehearsed this a bit too much. "Excuse me," she said as she reached over and placed her hand over his small notebook he had taken out and set on the table. "I know you've got some questions you want to ask us, and that's cool. But why don't you go ahead and ask them first, then we can just talk. You're going to get a better idea of who we are by really talking to us, not just asking questions and writing down our answers. So turn on your little recorder thingie and ask away." She smiled but held her hand in place over his notebook until he smiled and nodded in agreement, then she removed her hand. "Now let's find us a waiter or waitress so we can order our food," she said eagerly.

"See why I love her so much?" Miley said proudly.

As the interview went on, Cassie found herself still in a state of disbelief. How in the hell could Miley and Lilly Truscott be Hannah and Lola Montana? It's just impossible. Yet the more she watched Hannah and Lola touch and look at each other, the more she saw the very same mannerisms she had seen over the past few days. The way Miley liked to rub Lilly's hand with her thumb when they held hands. The way Lilly unconsciously leaned into Miley when they were both listening to or watching the same thing. The quick little smiles and glances at each other when they spoke. All those little details were there before her very eyes. But there was definitely something different about Hannah and Lola than she normally saw from Miley and Lilly. Somehow they were able to take this star power, this aura they exuded as Hannah and Lola, and dampen it when they were just being themselves. As Cassie realized that, a truth central to the core of the two young women became evident to their teacher. Being themselves. They're not Hannah and Lola, disguising themselves as two ordinary teenagers to avoid the crush of celebrity when they need a break. Hannah and Lola are the disguises, and Miley and Lilly are truly who they are. She gave the reporter a glare as she caught him looking at her. He quickly shifted his gaze, and Cassie nearly smiled at how effective that had turned out to be. She stole another glance at Miley and Lilly, now animatedly discussing both Hannah's music and how a percentage of its sales would go directly to the HLM Foundation's charities. They could live like royalty and have the best private tutors imaginable, but they chose to go to a public school and live like any other teenagers. She had already grown to think very highly of Miley and Lilly Truscott, but tonight she found her regard for the two of them double, if not triple. Instead of just enjoying the money and fame, they use their celebrity and their wealth to help others who need it, supporting children's causes aggressively through their charity foundation They share a tremendous amount of their wealth with others less fortunate. As Cassie thought along that path, she heard Miley say something that meshed perfectly with her current train of thought.

"Really, we could give every bit of this up, all the money and fame and awards, and we could walk away from it all as long as we had each other." As Miley said that, she turned to Lilly and looked deeply into her eyes. "And we'd be happy," she added with a soft smile for the woman she loved.

Lilly's eyes fluttered briefly as she smiled in return. "Completely happy," she replied, "as long as I have you." She kissed Miley briefly, their lips lingering only a second or two.

"So, Hannah, any thoughts on your new album?" Andy said, clearing his throat. "It's expected to reach U.S. sales of two million anytime now, with over a million songs already sold via downloads, so it's a hit by anyone's standards. What is it about this album in particular that really grabs you?"

Miley smiled even before he finished his last sentence. "What makes this album so special to me, without a doubt, is that the first single off this album is also the first song that Lola and I have written together," she said proudly.

"So, Lola," Andy said as he turned to look at her, "what was it like co-writing a song with one of the biggest music superstars ever?"

Lilly grinned as she remembered some of the difficulties they had encountered initially in working on the song together. Both of them tended to be rather stubborn, and there had been some arguments until they had come up with a rather unique method of focusing on the song's subject. "It was a lot harder than I had been thinking," she said honestly. "I mean, 'When I'm With You' is about the feelings we have for each other, so I just kind of assumed it was gonna be easy to write." She rolled her eyes and laughed once. "Boy, was I wrong. Trying to get the words to rhyme was the least of my worries. I never realized you had to come up with a rhyme pattern, then you had to work on phrasings to make sure the timing was right, then we went to work on the music, and then we had to go back and rewrite things to make it all fit together."

"There were a few arguments," Miley added with a knowing nod. "But we found a way to work things out whenever we started to get into an argument."

"Every couple is gonna argue," Lilly quickly said. "That's because no two people are going to agree on everything. But it's all in how you argue and how you resolve it that defines a relationship. We've fought over silly things before, but we always remember that we love each other. That keeps arguments from going too far. Sometimes one of us needs some time to cool off, and I think both of us always feel bad after we argue, but that's part of being married."

Miley squeezed Lilly's hand. "Yup, we work it out and go on. And that's what we did with our song. I couldn't be more proud of how well it turned out." She left out exactly how they had resolved disagreements over their song. When they had felt a fight brewing, they stopped what they were doing, went up to their room and made love. During those intimate moments, all the arguing faded away and was replaced with their deep, intense love for each other. Then, as they held each other afterward, they could set personal preferences aside and choose the correct words for their song.

"Do you think the two of you will be writing more songs together in the future?" Andy asked, snapping Miley out of her reminiscence.

"Oh yeah," she said quickly. Maybe a little too quickly, judging from how Lilly giggled.

"I'm looking forward to writing more songs with her, too, if she'll let me," Lilly added, leaning against her wife lovingly. "I really enjoyed our... brainstorming sessions."

"If no one minds changing subjects, Lola, do you have any plans to make the leap from television to the big screen?" he asked.

Lilly thought for a minute before she answered. "I'd obviously love to have the chance to do a movie, if the timing and the subject were just right, but Heroes has been very good to me, and I love being part of such a great show. Anything else I do is just going to have to fit in with it until NBC gets tired of me."

"How about your hair? I mean, you've singlehandedly popularized the current fashion wave of bright hair colors among teenage and young adult girls. Are those colors wigs, or do you just really change your hair color that frequently?"

Lilly knew she had to tread carefully on this question. She really didn't want to lie, but neither did she want to come out and admit she wore wigs, as that could give a clue to their true identities. She spoke slowly as she carefully selected her words. "Well, I don't change my hair as much as it appears. I mean, for every day I'm in the spotlight, there are several days when I'm not, so I don't really have to change colors every day. Plus I have the most amazing hairdresser in the world." She surreptitiously squeezed her "hairdresser's" butt with her right hand. "She takes such good care of my hair that I think I could change colors every day and it still be healthy. She's really amazing." Lilly smiled, satisfied with her answer. She had managed to suggest that she did indeed dye her hair those bright colors while still telling the truth all the way around.

At this point the steaks arrived, and Lilly found her attention rather distracted by the luscious meal set out before her. The interview became rather informal as everyone, even Cassie, ate their food with great relish. However, Cassie managed to give Andy another stern look or two while eating, much to her amusement.

As the meal and the interview came to a close, Lilly's phone buzzed silently against her hip. She pulled it out and checked the text message she had just received.

911

need u2 now

sarah n dani had a fight

lookin 4 sarah now

O

Lilly felt her heart start to speed up, and within seconds Miley had turned around to see what was wrong.

"What's going on, hon?" Miley said, her voice full of concern. Lilly positioned her phone so Miley could lean over and read the message but not show anyone else her phone. When Miley looked up and met Lilly's gaze, her pupils had widened considerably from her sudden fright. She turned to Andy and said, "I'm really sorry, but we need to go. A friend of ours needs us really bad right now." She and Lilly began scooting out of the booth.

"We're really sorry that we have to run," Lilly said sincerely. "I hope you had a good interview with us!"

Andy smiled as he likewise stood. "I had a great interview. You two were very open and answered pretty much every question I had." He paused, then he added, "Truthfully, I ran out of questions a while back, but you two are really fun to be around, so I just kind of kept things going."

Miley and Lilly smiled brightly. "Glad we could be such good interviewees," Miley said as she extended her hand, shaking his again.

"We look forward to seeing the article," Lilly said as she likewise shook his hand. "We shoot the pictures for it this weekend back in L.A."

"I think the article will do a great job of showing how terrific you two truly are," Andy said, smiling. "In a world of Hollywood shallowness and lies, you two are definitely something else."

"Wow, thanks," Lilly said. "That's really sweet of you to say." She turned to see that Miley was talking to their waiter, who really had done a great job. She saw Miley hand him a sizable tip then turned to Cassie and said, "You think you could find us a back way out of here, please?"

Cassie nodded and walked to the rear of the restaurant, where she found a man in a suit she expected was a manager. "Is there another way out of here for the Montanas? They'd prefer to avoid the front exit if at all possible."

He smiled. "Absolutely. We have a private exit this way." Cassie followed him as he showed her down a well-lit hallway whose door was marked Private—Authorized Personnel Only. "If you take the stairs up, it takes you to ground level outside. If you take this door here, it leads you back into Crystal City."

"Thanks," Cassie said, then she turned and hurried back into the restaurant, where she found Miley and Lilly standing outside the women's restroom. "Okay, this way," Cassie said as the manager walked past her.

"Thanks for having us! Your steaks are the BEST!" Lilly said loudly as Miley nearly dragged her into the hidden hallway.

As the door closed behind them, Cassie said, "What's the big emergency?" She stood so as to block the door in case anyone tried to follow them. "Oh, and you want to take the door to the left at the end of the hall to get back into Crystal City."

Lilly dropped the pink bag on the floor as she hurriedly shed Lola's outfit. "Sarah and Dani got into a big fight according to Oliver, and now Sarah's missing," she said as she pulled the dress over her head. She caught the shirts that Miley tossed to her and threw Miley's shirt from earlier back to her. "He's looking for her, but he needs us to help find her." She began tugging on her own clothes, finally stepping into her shoes as she handed Miley her sandals. She began stuffing clothes and Miley's wig into the canvas bag, finally scooping it up and throwing it over her shoulder. Right as she began to sprint down the hall, someone grabbed her bag from behind, causing her to spin around and nearly fall against the wall. "HEY!" she said as she finished turning around, coming face to face with Miley. And the large smile on her face. "What's the big idea, Truscott?" Lilly said heatedly. "I coulda fell when you did that!"

Miley reached up to Lilly's head as she said, "And you coulda run outside still wearing this," removing Lola's pink wig from Lilly's head and holding it out in front of her.

"Oh," Lilly said sheepishly. "Sorry." She turned around for Miley to stuff the wig into the pink bag. "Thank you, sweetheart," she said as sweetly as she could.

"You're welcome," Miley said as she turned Lilly around and kissed her on her cheek. "Now let's get going! What are you waiting for?" she yelled as she ran past Lilly and down the hall.

Author's Afterword: I need to add to my disclaimers that I make no claims on the outstanding comic book Hack/Slash, but I certainly enjoy it immensely. And yes, my character Cassie Hughes shares a first name (and initials) with the comic's protagonist Cassie Hack, but that's the end of the sharing and similarities between them. If you've never read an issue of Hack/Slash, take the time to go find one. It's worth it.

Next chapter the truth behind Dani's behavior begin to come out, and Janelle finally pushes her luck too far. Enjoy what she gets in return. Oh, and did I mention one of our beloved characters will be fighting to stay alive? I didn't? Okay, forget I said anything about it. What? You can't forget about it NOW? Oh. Hm. Well, I promise I'll hurry on the next chapter. I've gotten it down to about a week or so between chapters now, and I'm trying hard to keep that pace. See you soon!

-- Jo --