Another update? Yes indeed :)

Sorry, again, for taking so long with my writing. In my other story update, I explained that I've been super busy these past few months and now with school that makes things worse. I am plugging away at my stories whenever I find the time, so no worries there. I'm not giving up on these. Although, the last update for this story only got 4 reviews... Where's the love? lol.

There's on thing I need to explain for this. I have set Lilly's birthday in November, before Miley's. It's going to be the 10th. I did this only because I realized in "This Is The Life" that Lilly drove them to the cabin when they first started becoming friends. If she hadn't had her birthday yet then she wouldn't have been able to do that...so yeah, lol. That's why I did this. No bid deal, right?

Anyways, on with the chapter! Hope you enjoy it and Please let me know what you think. I try not to sound like a review addict, but they are nice... ;) Enjoy!

Chapter 10 – Birthday Week Disaster

November 5

The cafeteria was filled with hungry students but Lilly was still able to find a secluded empty table to sit at. She was currently writing in a notebook, brainstorming ideas for Miley's seventeenth birthday. It was only three weeks away, about, so she was slightly nervous that she wouldn't be able to think of anything amazing on time. A sigh escaped her lips when her mind started to wonder and suddenly Lilly found herself drawing several small hearts around Miley's name. She couldn't help but smile.

"Whatcha doin'?"

Lilly nearly jumped out of her skin. "Miley!" she yelped, quickly picking up her notebook in an attempt to hide her ideas. "You scared the hell out of me."

"Sorry," Miley chuckled, removing her hand from her mouth. "Not my fault you were so engrossed in that thing." Miley then took a seat next to her girlfriend who still had the notebook pressed against her chest. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing… Nothing at all," Lilly replied with an innocent smile.

"Come on, you don't expect me to believe that, do you?" For good measures, Miley tilted her head to the side, batting her eyelashes.

"Please don't give me that cute look…" pleaded Lilly.

"Then tell me what you're up to," Miley laughed out.

"No can do, sweetheart." Lilly's eyes widened when Miley lunged forward at her; wrapping her arms around her. "Miles!"

Lilly's laughter had always been contagious so Miley wasn't surprised when she, herself, started laughing harder. "Then tell me!" she giggled out as she tickled the blonde's sides.

"N-No!" Lilly wiggled desperately, trying to escape her girlfriend's ticklish grasp. With no such luck, Lilly dove onto the table top but, as usual, Miley was quick to catch her.

"No so fast, missy." Miley pressed her body against Lilly's to prevent the blonde from moving, causing each of them to laugh as Lilly continued trying to escape.

Lilly finally gave up the struggle after several moments. "Fine! I surrender!" She smiled, completely out of breath.

"Now that's more like it." Miley then got up and grabbed Lilly's hips to help her up.

"Well, it was supposed to be a surprise, but… I've been writing down ideas of what I want to do for your birthday…"

Miley's face fell. "Oh, I'm sorry… I shouldn't have made you tell me…"

"It's okay," Lilly reassured. "It's not like I told you what the ideas were."

"True… But I still feel bad." Taking a small step forward, Miley wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist. "Your birthday is in five days, though."

"I know, it's just…we didn't know each other all that well on your last birthday and I really want this one to be amazing," reasoned Lilly.

"That's really sweet, Lilly." Miley smiled. "Just remember that I hadn't met you until after your birthday last year. Therefore, I want more than anything to make yours outstanding."

"Trust me, it will be." Lilly closed that statement by pressing her lips to Miley's.

"All right, we get to see some live action!" laughed a guy from one table over.

Miley turned her attention to the next table to see the obnoxious guy in her music class Collin, along with Gabe and a bunch of other jocks smirking at them. "Can't you guys grow up?"

"Hey, it's not our fault you two love public display of affection," Gabe commented with a smirk.

"In fact, we appreciate it," Collin added, winking at Miley.

Lilly glared at him. "Whatever you guys are talking about, knock it off!" Not giving them a chance to respond, Lilly gently grabbed Miley's wrist and led them away from the group of boys.

"Do you have any idea what that was about?" Miley confusingly asked once they exited the cafeteria.

"No." Lilly shook her head. "They're probably just being guys. I wouldn't worry about it."

"I don't know…" Miley was skeptical but really didn't know what to think of the situation. "Whatever… Let's head to class early so we can talk in peace."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Smiling, Lilly looped her arm around her girlfriend's waist while Miley slung hers around the blonde's shoulders. They were both in far too good of a mood to care about rude comments from fellow classmates.

Out in the courtyard, Oliver sat patiently in the shade while waiting for Allison to join him for lunch. He wanted it to be romantic; just the two of them. Things were going so well between them. Never in his wildest dreams did he think he could ever be with such an amazing girl.

"Hey, Ollie," Allison said while taking a seat next to him.

"Hey babe," he replied, giving her a light kiss on the lips. "Hope you don't mind eating outside today."

"Not at all." Suddenly her face turned serious. "Hey, um…you didn't happen to see the latest junk magazines, have you?"

"No… Why?" he asked, clueless.

"Apparently there's stuff about Miley from Halloween. I haven't seen it, but from what I've heard, it's not good."

"Whoa, wait, what did they say about her?" His worry for Miley continued to grow.

"I keep hearing people talk about how she cheated on Lilly "again" and I guess there's pictures of Lilly and Miley making out. I'm not sure, but that's what I've been hearing."

"Oh… Well, it doesn't sound too bad. Just the usual crap."

"Could be… But why are people being more obnoxious about it now?" she wondered.

"Guess we'll have to check it out later. Now," he said while holding up his paper lunch bag, "shall we?"
"We shall." Deciding to think about the issue later, Allison took out her lunch and shared a wonderful meal with her boyfriend. He was probably right anyways. Just the usual gossip."

Throughout the rest of the day, Miley had been getting more and more snide comments from a variety of students at school. Most of the comments involved Mikayla, of course, but she didn't understand why everyone laughed whenever she hugged or kissed Lilly. Allison mentioned something about a story in a magazine but neither of them knew what it was about exactly.

Miley was currently in her second to last class and kept glancing up from her homework to lovingly gaze at the back of Lilly's head. She had been so sweet all day with wanting to make her upcoming birthday so special. The brunette had been on the same train of thought for Lilly's birthday.

Hearing the bell ring brought joy to Miley and she stood up instantly. "Yes!" she happily cheered.

Lilly turned, raising her eyebrow at the brunette. "We still have study hall to go to, you know," she stated.

Miley smirked, leaning closer to her girlfriend. "I was thinking we could skip," she whispered with a wink.

"Miley Ray Stewart, I'm surprised at you," laughed Lilly, mocking her surprise.

"Riiiight… So you in?"

"Hell yes." Lilly nodded. "It's not like we have a ton of homework anyways."

Once all their things were gathered, the two lovers exited the classroom and headed towards their lockers. "So, like, if I said I was going to jump off a bridge would you do it to?" Miley teased while shoving items into her black and purple plaid backpack.

"Yes," Lilly drawled out slowly. "Of course I'd try and stop you first, though."

"Good to know." With a radiant smile, Miley leaned across to kiss Lilly's lips. "Love you."

"Love you, too. Now, let's get out of here before someone notices."

After glancing around to see if anybody was watching, the girls quickly made a beeline towards one of the back doors of the school building. It was a good thing their houses were fairly close.

"We'd have to go to your house 'cuase my Dad's most likely home."

"Actually, I'm kinda hungry. Wanna head to the beach instead and eat at Rico's?" Lilly asked.

"Okay. Wanna drop stuff off at your place first and then head over? My bag's kinda heavy."

"Sounds like a plan." Smiling still, Lilly took Miley's hand into her own. This was going to be a very relaxing afternoon and evening.

"Why do people keep looking at us funny?" Miley groaned in annoyance while taking a seat on a stool at Rico's. "This is getting really, really annoying."

"I wish I knew," Lilly responded somberly. She hated seeing her girlfriend so agitated.

"Hola, ladies," Rico greeted, smiling mischievously. "What can I get for the two of you?"

Miley arched an eyebrow. "Jackson always warned me about you… What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing… Anyways, what would you two like?"

"Hot dog and nachos, please," Lilly answered.

"Just a hot dog for me." Miley turned to Lilly. "I'll steal some nachos from you." She smiled innocently.

"You're lucky you're cute," Lilly replied, patting Miley's knee.

"Comin' right up!" Rico said cheerfully. "Oh, Miley, tell Jackson he should come back soon and work here again."

"Yeah… I'll get right on that," she answered sarcastically.

"You should." After Rico took out a couple of hot dogs from the rolling hot dog cooker, he placed them into two separate buns and then added nachos with hot cheese sauce onto a foam plate. "There you are, ladies," he said as he set them down in front of them. Still smirking.

"Okay, seriously, what's with the smile?" snapped Lilly.

His smile faltered slightly. "Wait… You really don't know?"

"Obviously not," Miley shot back.

"Well then, allow me to show you." Rico ducked behind the counter and shortly after returned, holding onto a magazine. "I kind of figured you two already saw this…" He laid it out on the counter for the girls to see.

Miley nearly choked on her hot dog once she finally saw what all the fuss was about. "Oh my God!" she shouted, snatching the magazine in her hands.

Lilly jumped from both the shock of the news and Miley's outraged voice. "Is that us at Oliver's house?" she asked quickly, looking over Miley's shoulders to see better.

"Y-Yes…" Miley couldn't take her eyes away form the two photographs taken on Halloween. One was from when she had dropped Mikayla off at her place. They had hugged and that was clearly displayed on the cover. The photo next to it was Miley and Lilly fooling around on Oliver's porch. What really got her, though, was the headline they chose for the cover.

'MILEY STEWART TRICKS AND TREATS THIS HALLOWEEN'

"…Miles?" Lilly cautiously asked, placing her right hand on Miley's shoulder. The brunette had been quiet for quite some time now and the blonde was becoming pretty concerned. "You okay…?"

Miley slammed the junk magazine down on the counter hard, causing both Rico and Lilly to jump. "What the hell is wrong with people?" she shouted, clearly angry.

"Miles, calm down. It'll be all right," Lilly tried reasoning.

With narrow eyes, Miley whipped her head to look into Lilly's eyes. "No it won't! Do you not see what they took a picture of us doing?"

"Y-Yes, but" –

"Then it's a big deal!"

All eyes were on them now and after a moment Miley let out a frustrated groan, stood abruptly, and angrily walked away.

Lilly was frozen in place, not sure what to do. It wasn't until Rico let out a nervous laugh that she remembered she was surrounded by people.

"Wow… Didn't think she'd react like that," Rico stated awkwardly.

"I…I gotta go…" Lilly got up as well, avoiding eye contact with everyone looking her way. Her main priority right now was to get to Miley and comfort her.

Not even ten minutes later, Lilly had finally gotten to her house. She was hoping Miley would still be there so they could talk about this. To her luck, when Lilly walked through the front door and into the living room, Miley was sitting on the couch; arms and legs crossed. "Hey…" she quietly greeted.

Miley said nothing. Instead, she followed Lilly with her eyes as the blonde took a seat next to her.

Lilly couldn't take the uncomfortable silence anymore. "…Please talk to me… I need to know what I can do to make you feel better."

The angry brunette shook her head. "To make me feel better? You wanna know what would make me feel better?" she asked, raising her voice with every word.

"Why are you yelling at me?" Lilly asked in an attempt to defend herself.

"You're the one that wanted to fool around outside!"

Now Lilly narrowed her eyes. "You agreed to do it!"

"It was still your idea!"

"So you're seriously mad at me for something we both did?" Lilly asked with frustration while leaning back against the couch. "Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

"There are pictures of us having sex, Lilly! Of course I'm mad about it!" Miley yelled.

"Nobody's going to know exactly what we're doing, Miles! It's not like we were naked! Besides…shouldn't you be more upset about the fact that people think you're sleeping with Mikayla?"

Moments passed where all they did was lock eyes. Lilly had never seen Miley this mad before. Her heart was pounding wildly and she really didn't see why the brunette was so angry. With her nonetheless. After a short while, Miley finally shook her head and rose to her feet. Lilly was quick to follow.

"One would think you'd be concerned about all of this… Don't you care that everyone's going to start calling me a slut now? It's one thing when people just assumed that we sleep together, but now there's obvious proof that we do… And to top it all off, there's all this Mikayla garbage going around. If we had gone upstairs in the first place then none of this would have happened!"

Normally, seeing Lilly's pained expression would have broken everything inside of her, but Miley was far too upset to feel that way right now. When Lilly remained silent, Miley got fed up. "Fine, don't say anything. I'm out of here…" Picking up her backpack, Miley swung it over her shoulder and headed towards the door; tears blurring her vision.

Seeing Miley leave sent off panic throughout Lilly's body. "Miley, wait!" she shouted, but was too late. Miley left; slamming the door shut behind her. Tears spilled over once she realized what had happened. Miley was mad at her and Lilly had no idea why.

Robbie Ray leaned against the kitchen island looking over his cook book to get an idea on what to make for supper. He was still shocked and upset by what he saw in the papers while he was out grocery shopping, so the only thing he could think to do to cool his nerves was to cook. It wasn't Miley he was upset with. No… It was the perverted paparazzi he was livid with. Robbie just hoped Miley wasn't too upset about it if she knew yet.

As if on cue, Miley came bolting through the door. When Robbie looked up and saw tears in her eyes his heart ached. It was a safe bet that she saw the trash magazines.

Miley froze in the middle of the living room when she saw her father watching her with concerned eyes. She swallowed around the lump in her throat to no avail. "Y-You saw, didn't you…" she hoarsely stated.

"It's, um…It's kind of hard to miss, bud…" Robbie Ray responded softly.

A high pitched sob escaped Miley as she dropped her backpack; falling backwards onto the couch. Her hands covered her face to hide the tears. She couldn't hold back any longer. The pictures were everywhere.

Robbie rushed over to his daughter's side to comfort her as best he could. "Hey, bud, it's okay…" he reassured, hugging her tightly. "It's okay…"

"N-No," she cried, shaking her head against his chest. "Everyone s-saw the pictures…Everyone…" Her voice broke at the end of her sentence, making her take in a deep breath.

"Don't worry, Miles… I'll make sure that magazine company pays for this. They can't put pictures of under aged teens like that in their articles."

Miley pushed back at that. "God, you can tell what we're doing?" she asked in embarrassment.

"Miles, it's pretty obvious that you two were having a very…fun…make out party…thing…" he said awkwardly.

"Wait," she said, wiping her eyes, "that's all you think we were doing…?"

Robbie rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on, bud, of course I know what you were doing… Only because I've known for a while and you're my daughter… I just know things…"

Miley decided to leave that part of the conversation at that. "Yeah, well, Lilly doesn't even care. She kept saying 'It's fine' but it's so not fine…" She then wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "How could she not care…?"

"I'm sure she cares, Miles." He kissed the top of her head for good measure. "How about you go bring your homework up to your room and then come help me figure out what to eat for supper." Miley simply nodded, gave him one more hug, and then stood. Robbie waited until she reached the stairs before adding: "Oh, and we'll discuss why you're home early from school."

Miley flinched, knowing she was in trouble, before slowly climbing the stairs.

Hours had passed and Lilly still hadn't heard a single word from Miley. She was currently lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, with Oliver next to her. Lilly had sent him a text when she knew for sure that school was over for the day. He came right after bringing Allison home and had been with her ever since. She needed the company.

"How you holdin' up, Lils?" he gently asked, keeping his eyes on the ceiling.

Lilly dabbed at her eyes with the sleeve of her long sleeved t-shirt. "I've never seen Miley so mad before…" she said brokenly.

"She'll get over it. You and I both know that."

"What if she doesn't?" Lilly panicked. "This whole picture thing really made her snap."

At this point, Heather poked her head through the open door. "Guys, supper will be ready soon."

"I'm not hungry," Lilly said, wrapping her arms around her stomach tightly.

"Honey, things are going to be fine," the older blonde reassured.

"You didn't see how mad she was…" Lilly's voice was starting to fail her and tears were quickly re-filling her eyes yet again.

Heather walked over and took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Lilly, I'm sure Miley's just upset that her personal life is being displayed for the whole world to see. She was most likely shocked and didn't know what to think of her emotions. Just give her some time and she'll come around. This has to be hard for her and her career."

Lilly nodded, not knowing what to say to that. Sure, she knew her Mom was trying to make her feel better, but it wasn't working too well. "I just want her to talk to me…"

"And she will." Heather patted Lilly's arm before standing. "Come down when you're ready to eat. Should be ready in five minutes."

"Sounds good, thanks," Oliver answered.

Once her Mom left her bedroom, Lilly sat up with a sigh. "…Do you think she's right?"

"Of course," Oliver said somewhat cheerfully. "I mean think about it… Miley's a role model to millions and then a picture of her doing something very personal, along with a statement saying she cheated on you the same night, is plastered everywhere. Miley's probably just in shock right now and blew up at you for no good reason. I highly doubt she's actually mad at you."

Lilly sighed again. "I hope you're right… I think I'd actually die if she broke up with me…"

Oliver chuckled to himself. "Like that would ever happen, Lilly. Listen, why don't we go down to eat and then head over to the skate park to get your mind off of this?"

"…Okay…" Lilly then swung her legs over the edge of her bed. "I'll be down in a sec. I'm going to try calling her again."

"All right. Good luck." Oliver gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and then exited the room to give his friend some privacy.

With a shaky sigh, Lilly picked up her cell phone. She took a moment to study and admire the picture of Miley she used for her wallpaper. It was such a beautiful photo and Lilly wanted nothing more than to make Miley smile like that again.

Lilly pressed send after finding Miley's number and held the phone up to her ear, desperately hoping she'd answer this time. But the sound of her voicemail message broke Lilly's heart all over again.

'Hi, this is Miley. Can't get to the phone right now, so please leave a message and I'll call ya back! Bye!'

Lilly dropped her phone onto the bed with a defeated look in her eyes. A tear made it's way down her cheek and she angrily wiped it way as she stood to leave. Her heart was breaking because Miley wasn't giving her a chance to help fix things. If she wasn't going to talk to Lilly, then the blonde had no idea what she could do to help…


Drama!

Hope that was worth the wait. I already know what I want to write next so hopefully I won't take flippin' forever to get the next chapter up :p

Thanks for reading! Leave your thoughts! :)