I do not on Hannah Montana. This fanfiction does not represent the actors or actresses in the television show.
Miley had grown accustomed to watching Lilly gaze out the car window by now; it was practically how all their recent car rides went. Just as she always did, Miley sat closely beside her and linked her arm in Lilly's.
The girls had gotten up early. Well, Miley had. Lilly had already been awake and had begun softly stroking Miley's side.
Miley had awoken, huddled closely to Lilly under the covers. Lilly's hand was rested beneath Miley's shirt, in the curve of her hips. She loved the feeling of Miley's soft, warm skin. As she stared at the deeply slumbering face beside her, she smiled softly to herself and began to gently caress up and down Miley's torso.
When Miley's eyes fluttered open, she gladly greeted Lilly's sign of affection. She sighed happily and yawned; her lips sleepily found their way forwards to rest on Lilly's.
"Good morning, Lil," Miley inched closer to Lilly; her voice was rough with sleep, but her smile was soft and calm.
Lilly's smile remained painted on her lips. "Good morning, Miles,"
Lilly's voice had sounded rough as well, but it sounded more like that of exhaustion. This is what led Miley to suspect that Lilly was unable to sleep. She watched now as Lilly struggled to keep her drooping eyelids open.
In attempts to entice Lilly into sleep, Miley started soothingly running her fingertips up Lilly's arm. She noticed the hairs on Lilly's arm rise up and smiled. Lilly's eyes almost instantly closed and she let her body slump away from the window and more towards Miley.
Miley adjusted Lilly so that she was lying comfortably in her arms. When she heard Lilly sigh deeply and contently, Miley smiled and wrapped her arms around her snuggly. When she was certain Lilly was asleep, she lifted her head up.
"Daddy, how much further?" She kept her voice below a casual auditory level so as not to wake Lilly.
"Not long now," Robbie Ray answered from the driver's seat after glancing to the passenger seat at Heather. "Twenty- maybe thirty minutes,"
Miley sighed, "Okay…" She turned her gaze to Lilly who was still breathing softly in her arms. Part of her was eager for them to arrive at their destination, but it was easily overpowered by her wish for Lilly to get some sleep. She sighed again and then rested her cheek against the top of Lilly's head.
She too, allowed her eyes to close as she breathed in the scent of Lilly's hair. Sure, it smelled like the same shampoo she used, but it also smelled like Lilly, and it was one of the most comforting, familiar aroma's Miley knew.
Miley was much too restless to sleep, but shutting her eye's permitted her a clearer focus. She took this time to pull together her thoughts.
They were driving to Torrance to meet Lilly's Aunt Cheyenne; her father's sister. Lilly had remained reticent about her feelings on the matter, though she had shared that she was determined to do it. Still, Miley could tell how unsure Lilly was.
"Does… Does she know we're coming?" Lilly had asked her mother. She had tried her best to sound confidant.
Heather nodded comfortingly and stroked Lilly's hand from across the table. "Ye, sweetheart, we called her on Tuesday. We told her we'd be driving down tomorrow morning,"
Lilly furrowed her brow and looked down, seemingly flustered. "Does she even… want to meet us?"
Miley had reached under the table and rested her hand on Lilly's leg in attempts to put her at ease.
"Yes," Heather nodded again, "We had a long discussion. I had told her about what had happened with your father after it happened, and she told us she would do anything she could to help. When I called her last Tuesday, I filled her in on what had been happening, and asked if she would be willing to meet with you"
Lilly looked up at her mother anxiously. "And she said…?"
"She said she would be happy to, but only if you were the one who wanted too,,"
Lilly sighed heavily and chewed on his bottom lip. Miley gave Lilly's thigh a gentle reassuring squeeze.
Everyone in the room waited for Lilly's response, and Lilly felt their eyes on her.
"It's up to you, Lilly," Heather softened her voice.
The silence dragged on for another long moment. Lilly finally slumped down in her chair with yet another sigh. She rested her hand upon Miley's.
"Yes. I want to,"
Miley had felt Lilly's hand twitch as she spoke. She wasn't certain what the reason was, but she knew that Lilly was pushing herself to do this. She wasn't sure if it was good or bad.
Miley didn't even realize she had fallen asleep until she felt the car come to a slow halt. The sound of the engine died away and she heard the driver and front passenger door open.
"Miles," Her father whispered softly as he opened her door. "We're here, bud,"
Miley inhaled deeply as her eyes fluttered open and then released her breath in a heavy exhale. She felt Lilly stir in her arms and mutter a bewildered groan.
As Lilly sat up out of Miley's arms and rubbed her eyes sleepily, Miley stretched out her arms and turned to glance at Lilly.
Lilly gazed out the car window at the curb where Robbie Ray had parked the car. Magnolia tree's lined the sidewalks and provided shade in front of each house. Each house had the address number painted on the curb in front of it.
The houses on the street were all one-story houses with concrete stairs leading up to the doorway from the sidewalk. A fairly sized patch of lawn accompanied the front of each yard. The rooftops were layered with old-fashioned shingles. It was a nice neighborhood, but nowhere near fancy or expensive. It came off as a very simple place to live.
Lilly swallowed nervously. Miley stood up out of the car and walked around to Lilly's side of the car and opened her door. She extended her hand warmly and smiled sweetly down at the anxious Lilly.
Lilly turned her gaze up at Miley and chewed on her bottom lip. She hesitated and then reached forwards to accept Miley's offering hand. Miley helped her out of the car.
As Lilly stood up out of the car, she staggered; simply standing up straight proved to be difficult in her nervous state. She felt Miley's hand grasped her by the arm to steady her.
Dazed, Lilly looked up at Miley, who was staring back at her with a panicked expression on her face.
"Lil, you alright?" Miley tightened her grip around Lilly's arm nervously.
Lilly took a few moments to compose herself. She was sure if it was nerves, but she was very lightheaded and felt sick. She wrote it off, deciding it was from standing up from the car too quickly.
"Yeah, Miles, I'm fine," Lilly smiled weakly at her, but Miley was far from convinced.
Clearing her throat, Lilly looked up at Robbie Ray and Heather, whose eyes were watching her carefully. They were standing in front of a house that was several yards away from where the car was parked.
"Is that it?" Lilly asked. She already knew the answer.
Heather smiled sadly, seeing her daughter start to tremble. "Yes, sweetheart… This is it,"
"Alright," Lilly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. On her exhale, she opened her eyes and lifted her gaze to the house. It looked no different from the other houses. The brown shingles and the faded paint job of a seemingly random primary color.
Miley slid her hand down Lilly's arm and laced her finger's with Lilly's. Lilly felt the warmth from Miley's hand and pushed herself to take a step forward.
Time seemed to slow as Lilly approached the steps to the house. She wasn't sure if she wanted time to stop, or speed up. Her mind was blank and couldn't process what her body was doing. Still, she felt herself walk forward; one stumbling step at a time.
Before she knew it, she was at the front door. Miley slipped her fingers out of Lilly's and linked arms with her. She squeezed Lilly's arm to encourage her.
Lilly swallowed and lifted her hand to knock on the door. She ended up knocking much harder than she anticipated and her knuckles nearly turned white.
After an excruciating painful silence that seemed to drag on, the sound of anxious approaching footsteps drew nearer.
Lilly held her breath, and seconds later, the door swung open to reveal a tall, beautiful blonde woman with gentle blue eyes and an anxious smile.
Miley had to do a double take. She had thought Lilly resembled her mother a lot, but the woman standing in front of them was practically an older version of Lilly. It was a completely inappropriate time to be aroused, so Miley did her beset to put her newly sprouted fantasies of an older Lilly in the years to come in the back of her mind.
Miley watched as the smile on the woman's face slowly faded. Her eyes were locked with Lilly's. Miley realized that Lilly hadn't moved or spoken since the door had opened. She glanced over at Lilly, and saw an expression of bewilderment upon her face. Streams of tears silently trickled down Lilly's cheeks.
"Hello…" The woman in the door greeted softly. "Lilly… I'm your aunt, Cheyenne…" It seemed like she was struggling to hold back tears of her own. She reached forward and pulled Lilly into her arms.
Miley felt Lilly's arm leave hers, and watched as Lilly was enveloped into a tight embrace.
Lilly began to tremble again, and she weakly brought her hand up, resting them limply around her aunt's back.
Her aunt Cheyenne spoke again; This time, in tears. "It's so good to meet you,"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lilly and Miley sat on the couch inside the house. Robby Ray and Heather each sat in an armchair across from them. Cheyenne had pulled up a chair from the kitchen and sat between the two adults.
Lilly's eyes wandered around the room. There weren't many photographs or paintings on the wall. The house didn't seem very lived in, but it did give the feeling of loneliness.
As Lilly's eyes finished studying the room, they rested on Cheyenne. Cheyenne smiled briefly at her, but it seemed more sad than anything else. Lilly searched for Miley's hand, and held it tight.
Cheyenne cleared her throat awkwardly. "Lilly, I know this must be hard for you… I've been talking with your mother," She glanced over at Heather, who nodded in return, "And she'd told me everything that's happened up until now… We both thought it would be a good idea for you to meet… your father's side of the family, and get to know the whole story beside our family,"
Lilly nodded, but was unable to meet her aunt's gaze.
A silence passed in the room. Realizing Lilly had nothing to say, Cheyenne sighed and uncrossed her legs.
"Paul, Randy and I grew up with alcoholic parents…" Cheyenne seemed to be having difficulty getting her words out. "Our parents would stay out for days; weeks even. I was only 6 at the time, so I don't have a lot of memory about it, but I do remember that Paul took care of Randy and me. He was the oldest and I think he felt obligated to take care of his little brother and sister,"
Heather smiled sadly and sniffed back a tear. Cheyenne continued, tears welling up in her own eyes.
"Sometimes, our father would come home drunk. Randy would have left a mess somewhere, or I would be crying, and our father would lash out and come after us. Paul would take the beatings so that neither of us would get hurt. He'd back talk and provoke our father so that his attention would be on him. When he turned 18, he went and joined the Army, but not before taking us and dropping us off at a friend of the family's. They raised us after that, and we never heard from our parents again,"
Miley felt Lilly's grip on her hand tighten. She glanced over, expecting to see Lilly crying. Instead, she saw Lilly shifting her jaw and holding back what looked like anger.
"When he got back, he was a different person… He did nothing but drink. He yelled and screamed at us. Randy fought with him all the time… It…" Cheyenne was desperately trying to hold herself together. "It broke my heart… Paul was gone…"
Heather cleared her throat, seeing how Cheyenne was currently incapacitated.
"You're father and I dated through high school. Before he left for the Army, he proposed, and I said yes. When he got back, we were married. We were only married for four years. He had just changed too much… I tried to make it work. I tried as hard as I could, but there were some things he just couldn't let go of… He just wouldn't try…Not for me. Not for himself. Not for his three year old daughter…" Heather looked down at the ground. "I think he was aware of that… and hated himself for it… And when he hated himself, he drank. And when he wasn't drinking, he hated himself because of what he would do when he was drunk… It was an endless cycle. Eventually, he was drunk all of the time. He would hit me and force me to do things… I was so scared he would come after you… but I stayed with him because I kept hoping he could change. Then… he did go after you," Heather, too, was overcome by tears.
Robbie Ray frowned sadly and reached over to pat Heather on the shoulder in attempts to console her.
"I-I'm so sorry, Lilly…"
Lilly tried to speak without sounding agitated. "Mom… It's not you're fault… I don't blame you…" She sighed, after a long silence. "So… what…? Am I supposed to feel sorry for him?"
Miley felt Lilly's entire body tremble with rage. The rising tone of her voice scared Miley.
"'You had a hard life, so it's okay that you beat your wife and rape your daughter while you cut her up like a thanksgiving turkey,'" Lilly cried out, mockingly. She couldn't take it any more. She shot up and shook with anger, tears streaming down her face. "Life's hard! That doesn't mean you can feel sorry for yourself and hurt everyone around you!" Tears were streaming from her eyes.
Miley watched everyone's reaction and cringed at how sad and ashamed they looked. She stood up and took Lilly's arm back into hers.
"I think it's been a very emotional day… Is it alright if Lilly and I go rest for a while? She just needs time to absorb all of this,"
Cheyenne tried her best to smile. "Of course… There's a room set up for you girl down the hall… last door on the left,"
"Thank you," Miley nodded and started to pull Lilly away.
Lilly frowned, still angry. She hated the fact that Miley had to speak for her… but she knew Miley was right. Miley was always right when it came to what she needed. She allowed Miley to lead her out of the room and down the hall.