Hey everyone, thanks again for all the great reviews. They do mean a lot :-) It's good to know that people like this story, cos I love writing it for all of you. So, this chapter is pretty important...it might not be very exciting...but important nonetheless. Hope you enjoy it anyways! Enjoy!!

Chapter 14- Daddy, I Can Explain…

Spring break approached rather quickly and everyone at Seaveiw High was overly excited. It was Friday afternoon, the day before break started, and Lilly was staring eagerly at the clock on the classroom wall. It was the final class of the day and she couldn't wait to get out of there. She sighed in frustration, "This agony will never end!"

Miley laughed, turning around in her seat to face her, "Don't worry, Lilly; it'll be over sooner than you think."

Lilly smiled, "I know…but not soon enough."

"Well, I'm not too excited to go home. I have to go to a meeting with my Dad at the studio."

"It doesn't sound so bad," she reassured her.

"They're so boring…Luckily there's instruments there so I have something to do there."

Lilly thought for a moment, then smiled, "Ah, you could write another new song while you're bored out of your mind."

Miley smiled back, "Nah, if anything, I'd finish writing a song."

Lilly's mouth dropped with a grin, "Another song?? Really??"

"Well, technically two…but I've only actually started one of them. The other one is just in my mind…you know, still in the works."

"It's still awesome. You have to let me know when it's finished."

"Uh…yea, of course. But, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to release it."

"Why not?" Lilly asked, confused.

"Well, um…I-I just don't know if, uh…it'll be good or not…yea…"

Lilly was still giver her the same confused look she had before, "I'm sure it'll be good, Miles."

"I hope so…I've been working on it for months. I just want it to be perfect…"

The bell rang and loud cheers erupted the classroom before Lilly could reply right away. They gathered their things quickly, "Finally!" Lilly said happily.

Miley grinned at Lilly's excitement, "Two weeks of freedom…We're gonna hang out a lot, just so you know."

"That's a no brainer," Lilly teased. They left the classroom and started heading out of the school. "Mind if I walk you home?"

"Sure," Miley tried to act casual by hiding her excitement. She glanced around, "Aren't we going to wait for Oliver?"

Lilly shook her head, "I'm not really speaking to him at the moment…"

"How come?" she gave her a questioning look.

"Well, um…we just had a disagreement about…something…"

"I see," she decided to leave it at that. After a while, they got to Miley's; she turned to face Lilly, "I'll call you later when I get back, 'kay?"

"Sounds good," they leaned in to give each other their usual good-bye hug. When they pulled apart, Lilly smiled, "At least try to have fun."

"I'll try," she smiled back. "Bye."

"Bye," Lilly turned and left.

Miley closed the door behind her as she entered the house, "I'm home!" She tossed her backpack by the door.

Robbie Ray walked down the stairs, putting his wallet in his pocket, "Ready to head out?"

"I guess so," she continued standing by the door, waiting for him to get ready. "How long is this going to take, Dad?"

"Don't know, bud. But, don't worry; I'm sure it won't be so bad."

"These meetings are so boring…Why do I have to go?"

"'Cos you're the famous pop-star, that's why. Now come on, we don't want to be late," he opened the door and they headed out.

At the studio, Miley's eyes were becoming heavy from sheer boredom. She wasn't even paying attention to what the producers and her Dad were saying; they weren't even talking to her. After glancing at the clock on the wall across from her, she realized that they have been there for almost two hours now. Letting out an annoyed, soft groan, she pulled out her cell phone. She opened up her picture gallery and started glancing at all of them with a smile on her face. Every picture she had taken on her phone were pictures of Lilly. She came across her favorite picture and simply just looked at it. Miley couldn't believe how beautiful Lilly was…and that smile…

"Bud?" Robbie Ray asked with a confused look.

"Huh??" she quickly looked up from her phone.

"We're going to go over some papers. You can go into the music room if you want to."

"Okay…" she quickly set the picture of Lilly as her phone wallpaper and got up. "About how much longer is it going to be?"

"Not even an hour. I'll come get you when we're done, alright?"

"Sounds good," she grabbed her folder and left the room. She walked down the hallway of the studio until she came across the music room. Before walking in, she double checked to make sure no one else was in the room; she wanted to be alone. When she knew she had the room to herself, she walked in and quickly went over to the grand piano. After sitting down on the piano bench, she pulled out her music and placed it on the piano. She examined it briefly, and then started to play what she had so far. Miley was pretty much done with the piano part…it was they lyrics that were getting to her. They had to be perfect. She's been working on this song for months. She continued to replay her song over and over, softly singing along with the melody. A smile spread across her face as ideas came swarming into her mind. After jotting them down, with quite a few touch-ups, she felt that her song was pretty much completed. She got so caught up with her song that she didn't hear the door open; she started singing.

Robbie Ray smiled, leaning against the door frame as he listened to his daughter's beautiful song. He loved what he was hearing so far; it was a great song. But there was one line that caught his attention the most…

"Help me before I get used to this girl…" her voice faded and her fingers stopped moving across the keys of the piano. She sighed as her elbows hit the keys and her face went into the palms of her hands.

Robbie Ray's eyes were wide; completely shocked. "Miles?..."

Her head shot up from her hands, elbows hitting the keys again as she whipped around. "Daddy??" she asked, startled. "You gave me a heart attack," she turned back to the piano to gather her music.

He stood there, looking at her, not really knowing what to say, "Miles, I…I liked that song…"

Without turning around, her eyes widened, "…You heard it?"

"Yea…" he walked over to her, "I did…How come you never told me?"

She turned to face him, completely scared, "Daddy, I…I can explain…" her voice shook.

"Let's just…head home, okay?" he turned and walked towards the door.

Miley slowly got up, gripping onto her folder, and followed her Dad out the door.

The ride home was very quiet, which made Miley more nervous than she already was. When they pulled up in their driveway, Robbie Ray pulled the keys out of the ignition and just sat there. Miley's heart was pounding in her chest as she kept glancing at her Dad. "Dad…" her voice cracked, "are you mad at me?..."

He honestly didn't know if he was or not. Sure, he was upset that she never told him before, but he didn't know if he was upset about the situation in general. "Just head inside…" he opened the door to the car and got out.

Tears rolled down Miley's cheeks as she slowly got out of the car. She watched her Dad go inside ahead of her; soon after, she went inside as well. When she didn't see her Dad anywhere, she darted upstairs to her room, slamming her door behind her.

Jackson was in his room, doing homework, and looked up when he heard the sound of a slamming door. Knowing it was Miley's, he quickly got up and headed over to see if she was alright. "Miles? Can I come in?"

"Yea…" her voice cracked again.

He opened the door and found his sister lying on her bed, staring up at the ceiling, with tears rolling down her face. "What happened??" he sat down next to her.

"Dad found out…" she wiped her eyes.

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, "What? How??"

"He heard me singing my new song…and now he won't even talk to me…"

"You probably just caught him off guard…He'll come around, Miles."

"What if he doesn't?" she looked up at him.

"Give him time, okay? He'll talk once he gets his thoughts straightened out."

Her gaze went back to her ceiling, "…Can you talk to him?"

He gave her a warm smile, "Sure." Jackson got up and left his sister alone with her thoughts. When he got downstairs he immediately headed out to the back deck. Just as he suspected, his Dad was leaning against the railing looking out at the ocean. He slowly walked up beside him, "Dad?"

Robbie Ray turned his attention to his son, "Hey, Jackson…"

"So, uh…Miley's pretty upset…Why aren't you up there talking to her?"

"It's…It's complicated, son," he looked back at the ocean.

Jackson continued looking at his father, "You shouldn't be mad just because she likes a girl."

"Wait…what? How did you…"

"I've known for years, Dad. You know how close Miley and I are…she tells me everything."

A hurt look came upon Robbie Ray's face, "Why couldn't she tell me?"

"Because, she was afraid that you'd, well…act like this. She doesn't want to disappoint you or have you think that it's wrong or anything."

"I'm not disappointed in her…I just don't know what to think…or say…"

"All you can really do is be there for her and tell her it's okay. There's nothing wrong with her liking another girl."

He took one more look at the ocean before turning around, "I guess I should go talk to her…"

"That would be a good plan," Jackson went back inside, leaving the rest up to his father.

Robbie Ray took in a deep breath and gave himself a few moments to think through what he would actually say to his baby girl. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he made his way into the house and up the stairs. When he reached her door, he stood there for a moment and then gently knocked on the door.

"What…" a sad voice called out.

"It's me…Can I talk to you?" he kindly asked.

"…I guess…"

He slowly opened the door and closed it behind him when he got in. Miley was still on her back staring at the ceiling. Robbie Ray sat down on the edge of the bed next to her; he still wasn't sure what he was going to say. To his advantage, Miley broke the silence before he did.

"You hate me…don't you…" she didn't look away from the ceiling.

He sighed, "Of course I don't hate you…"

"Then why have you been acting like you do?" she pulled both her hands up to wipe her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I was just…shocked. I didn't know what to think about it at first…The thing that bothers me the most is that you never told me before…"

"Well can you blame me? This isn't easy to talk about…" she rolled over to her side; not facing away from him.

"I guess I understand, bud…" he looked down at her and noticed that she was sadly looking at a picture of her and Lilly that was on her night stand. A sad smile formed on his lips, "…Does she know?"

Miley quickly looked away from the picture, "Who?" she tried playing dumb.

"Come on, Miles…" he smiled. "You like Lilly, don't you."

She bit her bottom lip and then let out a shaky breath. "Y-Yea…I do…" she looked down. "But, she doesn't know…"

Robbie Ray placed his hand on her shoulder, "Have you thought about telling her?"

"Of course I have…I've wanted to tell her since the very first time I saw her at my concert…"

"Love at first sight?" he wondered.

"No…not love at first sight. I don't believe in that…I just wanted to get to know her…" she laughed a little to herself and sat up. "And now that I have…" her voice started cracking, "I can't stop thinking about her…" tears started slowly falling down her cheeks.

Robbie Ray pulled her into a hug and she buried her face into his chest. He held her close, "It's alright, bud…" Even he felt tears lining up in his own eyes; he didn't like to see his daughter so upset. Just then, Miley's phone started ringing and he knew she wasn't in the mood to answer it. So, he reached over, picked it up, and answered it for her, "Hello?"

"Mr. Stewart?" Lilly asked in a very confused voice. "Did I call the house by mistake?"

"No, this is Miley's phone, Lilly." He heard Miley choke down a bigger sob at the mention of her name. "She's just, uh…not feeling very well at the moment."

Lilly became instantly concerned, "Is she gonna be okay??"

He smiled a little, "Yea, I'm sure she'll be just fine. Well, I'll, uh…tell her you called."

"Alright, thanks. Tell her I hope she feels better soon; bye."

"I will; bye, Lilly." They both hung up; he sat her phone down on the bed next to him. "…She told me to tell you that she hopes you feel better soon…" When she didn't reply, he figured that he should try to change the subject. "Want me to make you some loco hot cocoa?" She just nodded her head 'yes' and slowly let go of him; he kissed the top of her head. "It'll be alright, but…I'll be right back," he got up and left the room.

A little over ten minutes later, he finished making his famous cocoa and headed back up to Miley's room. Jackson came with this time to make sure she was alright. When they walked into her room, they found that she was sound asleep. Robbie Ray turned to Jackson, "Okay…want some cocoa?" he smiled.

Jackson laughed a little, "Sure, why not," he took the cup from his Dad.

After Robbie Ray tucked his daughter into bed, he turned his attention the picture Miley was looking at earlier. He couldn't help but notice how happy Miley looked in the photo, "She really likes her, doesn't she."

"Head over heals," Jackson replied.

He laughed slightly as he set the picture down. Miley really did seem happy when she was around Lilly. And that's all Robbie Ray wanted was for her to be happy…even if it meant her dating a girl…

So Robbie Ray finally found out, and he's okay with it, yay! lol. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll update ASAP...and trust me, the next chapter will be way better ;-) lol. Thanks again for reading!! Reviews are always appreciated.