Oh look guys, two chapters in one day. I know you probably can't stand my sad attempts at balancing a storyline with a Liley line. So...Here's a Liley chapter just for you guys.
---
"Lilly, what happened to your hand?" Jackson asked, concerned.
I'd forgotten about my hand, which hadn't pained me at all today. However, I'd left the bandage on, because the bruises looked very painful. "I slammed it in my car last night." I lied smoothly. "It hurt."
"Can you---" he began.
"Still play?" He snapped his mouth shut. "Yes. I think. I actually haven't tried yet. But it doesn't hurt now, so I think so."
"Good. Hey Sarah."
"Hey Jackson."
"So," I asked, "Where is everyone else?"
"They're upstairs on the computer. We're looking up the last of the music, and Jake is downstairs listening to the song, trying to get the drum beat right. He'll probably have it in a few minutes."
"Ok." There was a slightly awkward pause. "Where's your family?"
"Well, Dad's away until next Sunday, and Miley doesn't leave school until around 5 today."
"Oh. Ok."
Sarah gave me a look, apparently thinking I was being too blunt. But, before anyone could say anything, Oliver and Matt came charging down the stairs, papers in hand.
Hey, Lill-" Oliver stopped, seeing Sarah. "What are you doing here?" He asked, not rudely.
"Just hanging out with Lilly, coming to see how you guys sound."
"Anyways," Matt cut into the conversation, "We've got the music, so let's go guys." Oliver started moving again, racing Matt down the stairs.
"Well," Jackson looked at Sarah and I, "Let's."
I pulled my guitar case higher up on my shoulder and Sarah and I followed Jackson to the recording room.
"So, I think we should all go into the room one at a time, recording our parts separately. Then we can lay them together into the song. After that we'll play together as a group. Is that ok?"
We all murmured in agreement, then Jackson continued. "So, there's a rap part in the beginning, and I figured you would want that right Oliver?"
"Of course."
"Well Lilly," he gestured at me, "is going to play lead guitar, so you'll play the second, rapping over the beginning of the song and all the other rap parts too."
"So I'm still singing?" I asked him.
"Yea. You'll do the bleed it out part. Can you do the almost scream part? The way they do in the real song?"
"Yes. It won't sound exactly the same, but I think it will sound ok though. If it doesn't, I'm sure we can figure something else out."
"Ok, so who wants to go first?"
"I'll do it." Jake spoke up. "I think I can finish the fastest. When I'm in there though, I want to listen to it first so I can hear the beat one more time. Ok?"
"Sure."
Jake walked in to the room, sat on his stool and put on his headphones. He picked up his drum sticks and gave the thumbs up. Jackson turned a few knobs, then pressed play, turning up the volume until Jake nodded to him. Jake listened in silence, nodding, I assumed, to the beat. Then, he broke out, drumming along with the song. When it ended, he pulled his headphones down, pressed a button.
"Are you ready to record?"
"Totally. Let's go."
"Ok. Put your headphones on, thumbs up when you're ready." Jake put his headphones on, pulling the Mic down towards him. He got his drumsticks ready, and Jackson hit record. Jack gave him the thumbs up, and Jackson hit play on the song. Jake reacted immediately, starting by doing background vocals on the first rap section, saying 'Time, Line, Sine, Mind.' In just the first lines alone. He went over a few more words, then there was a short pause and he came in with the drum, pounding on it. He kept up a good beat, sometimes pausing and sometimes going faster. He was maybe a minute from the end of the song when he messed up. I wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't paused a few beats. Then, he looked up, pulling off his headphones. Jackson paused the song and stopped recording. He pushed the button.
"You can cut that together right?" Jake asked. "Or do I have to start over?"
"No. You'll just have to start from about thirty seconds before that so we can put the parts together."
"Ok, good." Jake put his headphones back on, finishing the song with no further incident. Matt went next. There wasn't actually any keyboard in the song, so he was going to listen to it a few times, then add whatever he wanted, maybe putting in his own little keyboard solo. It would mean there would be a small break in the drumming, but we all agreed that would be ok. While Matt was first beginning to listen to the song I picked up the lead guitar papers,, trying to memorize the words before it was my turn. The music wouldn't be too hard; I'd heard this song a few times before.
I was just getting ready to go in, but by the time Matt finished it was about six, and everyone was hungry. So, we put everything away and went upstairs, looking for food. Miley was there, just starting dinner.
I hadn't realized it until I saw her, but there was an aching in my chest, a pain that wouldn't go away. But, just being in the same room with her made that go away. Unfortunately, it was replaced by a new feeling, a sort of electricity that pulled me in her direction, telling my brain to reach out and touch her. My heart beat faster, as if it hadn't functioned properly all day. I wanted nothing more than to follow that instinct, wrap her in my arms, and take her away. She looked up as she heard us all come into the kitchen. There was a look of mild surprise on her face when she saw us all, but a smile spread quickly across her face when she saw me.
She opened her mouth as if to say something, then shut it. She started over. "I didn't know everyone was here Jackson." She gave him a look.
"Sorry, Miles. We'll have enough food for everyone right?" He looked hopeful.
The look on Miley's face softened. "Sure we do. I've got to go next door to get some more noodles for the spaghetti though, so I'll be right back. Lilly, you want to come help me?"
I looked at her, surprised she was asking me, in front of everyone, to come to her house. "Sure," I managed to choke out past my beating heart. The boys headed upstairs to play games, and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Oliver drag Sarah out of the back door. Miley walked to the garage door that was in the house, and we found ourselves alone in the garage. I followed Miley through the door in the garage to the stairs that led to her front door. She paused, reaching her hand behind her. Knowing what she wanted, I reached out and took her hand. I loved that it was so smooth, and just the right size for mine. We kept going up the stairs, and she unlocked the door with the keys in her other hand.
Once we were inside I reached by the doorway, flipping on the light switch. It looked exactly the same on the inside as it had last night. Miley gently pulled me into the kitchen, and she leaned against the island. She quickly kissed me on the lips.
"You know, I missed you today."
"I missed you too."
"I actually thought-" she looked down, ashamed.
"Thought what?"
"I thought that, after last night, Chet had scared you away." She didn't look back up at me.
I touched the side of her face, gently pulling her chin up so she would look at me. "Miles, it's too late for anything to scare me away from you. You've got me."
I pulled the hand I was still holding up and kissed it. Miley watched me do it. I let go of her hand. She put her hand on my neck, and my heart started to race again. Suddenly, her lips were on mine. This was different from any time we'd kissed before, which had started out hesitant, progressively getting more intense. There was a fire in this, a fire neither of us could control.
Miley and I pushed at each other, fiercely wrapping our arms around one another. I thrust my tongue into her mouth, and she wrapped her hands in my hair, holding me ass close to her as I could be. My hands traveled down her back, resting under the edge of her shirt, touching the soft skin there. She moved, kissing her way down my jawline, then sucking ever so softly on my neck. She kissed my neck again, making her way back to my mouth.
Out tongues wrapped around each other, and the room got hotter. Miley put her arms around my neck, and I picked her up, putting her on the island. She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I settled my hand on her waist, fiercely kissing her. Miley took her arms from around my neck, pulling up my t-shirt. I pulled away from her, raising my arms so my t-shirt could come off. Miley threw it on the floor, and, kissing her again, I undid the buttons on her blouse, slid it down her shoulders, and it came to rest on the island. I put my hand at the base of her back, pulling myself closer to her so that our stomachs were touching. She ran her hand lightly down my back, causing me to shudder while goosebumps sprang up on my arms. She pulled back a bit, sliding her hand over the toned muscles on my arms, then lightly across the defined muscles of my stomach. I tensed my muscles, and Miley looked away from me.
"You're very in shape Lilly." She didn't wait for me to answer. "You're very young."
"I know."
"I just…I don't understand."
"What?"
"You." She wrapped her legs tighter around me, as if afraid I would pull away. "I'm afraid to lose you. I need you. And it's soon. Too soon."
I didn't know what to say to that, and, apparently, Miley had nothing more to say either. She wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me to her once more, kissing me with the same intensity as before. I leaned towards her, until she was lying on the counter with my hands on either side of her. I kissed her, massaging her tongue with mine. Her hands traveled up and down my torso, leaving burning trails wherever they touched me. I kissed her cheek, down to her neck, across her collarbone, and then back up. Then, a phone rang.
I reached into Miley's pocket, and without thinking, answered it. Miley kissed the side of my cheek, nibbling on my ear, holding me down close to her. "H-hello?" I asked, my voice trembling.
"Miley?" The voice on the phone asked. I looked at the screen. It said Jackson.
"N-no. It's Lilly." Finally Miley stopped, looking at me. She gently ran her fingers through my hair, which was hanging over her face, but it didn't cover up the worry in her eyes.
"Why do you have Miley's phone?"
I thought quickly. "Miley left her phone on the island. She's in the bathroom."
"Ok. What's taking you two so long? You've been gone twenty minutes."
"Well…" I panicked, looking for a reason. "We've been looking, and we can't find any of her spaghetti noodles. We might have to go to the store."
"Ok. Hurry back." He hung up without saying goodbye. I shut the phone, and Miley took it from my hand. She sighed, and I knew we needed to go back.
"Sorry Miles. I don't know what I was thinking, answering your phone like that."
"Lilly, we have to be careful. It was Jackson though, so he won't care. But what if that'd been my boss? How could I honestly explain spending time with a student?"
"Miley, we're girls. What can we really do?"
She looked at me, then pointedly stared down. I was still leaning over her, and we were both shirtless. I got her point. "Ah. Sorry. But would your boss really call you cell phone?"
"No…but not the point." I stood up, backing away from her. "You're not careful enough Lilly. Just, please."
"Ok, ok. I am sorry." I picked up my shirt. "I was otherwise occupied you know?" I put it back on.
Miley was still looking at my stomach, which was now covered by my shirt. She looked up at me. "Oh, I know." She picked up her shirt, getting ready to put it back on.
"Do you?" I stepped to her, grabbing her shirt so she couldn't put it on. I kissed her, and she kissed me back, almost desperately.
"No!" She half yelled, pulling the shirt from my hands. "If we keep this up, we'll never get out of here!"
"Is that such a bad thing?"
"Yes Lil." She finished buttoning her shirt. She walked over to the cupboard and pulled out a box of spaghetti noodles. She turned around, and looking at me, burst out laughing.
"What?" I demanded self consciously.
"You," she gasped, still laughing, "Have sex hair."
"I wish." I muttered, stepping into the bathroom to see for myself. I couldn't really tell, but Miley muttered something that sounded a lot like 'Me too.' I went to fix my hair, and Miley stood next to me, as we prepared to head back to the other side of the house, where we would play innocent yet again.
---
Go on. Please review.
PS...I just heard something fantastic from my great reviewing buddy Croaker001. I just passed 200 reviews. Thanks a lot guys, I love that you love to read me. Woo!!