This is it my friends.

My daily routine consisted of going to the beach and surfing with Joannie. We actually had our own little part of the ocean where the guy surfers didn't come sniffing around looking to impress two chicks who were probably more skilled than they were. We were completely involved in showing each other up, seeing who could last on one wave the longest or who could take on the biggest without fumbling. I had to admit Joannie was a goddess on her board, better than me, that's for sure. But I was rusty and was more than happy to accept lessons I'd forgotten from Joannie. The competitions we had were only for fun and at the end of the day, when we pulled ourselves from the water, we'd be laughing and chatting as if we'd been friends for years.

Friends... Were Joannie and I friends now? Yes. That was the answer than sprung up among all others. She was my friend. Away from Amber and Ashley, Joannie was really laid back and kind of a punk. She wasn't bitchy, just a bit demanding, and really funny too. We both liked sports, so our bond grew from that. I'd meet her at the beach or the sports field and we played endlessly. Surfing, swimming, soccer, baseball, hockey, everything! I found that if I gave it my all, tried my absolute best in our activities, Miley wouldn't plague my thoughts. I filled my head with routines to beat Joannie and she didn't question my rough housing or intense attitude towards our games, she simply went along with it. She met me halfway with equal force and stamina and I really appreciated how fast days went by when I spent my time with Joannie.

Sometimes we were too sore the next day to do anything, so we'd lay around each other's houses watching TV. On those days, we didn't want to tease ourselves so we stayed away from the sports channel and watched old re-runs of Friends or bought horror DVD's so we could laugh and crack jokes at the phoniness of it all.

Life was... even.

My summer with Joannie equalled perfection. I'd really gotten into shape and we knew so much about each other now, we were basically best friends. She barely ever spoke to Amber and Ashley over the break and I think when school started up, my duo would become a trio. Me, Joannie and... Miley. Oh, God, Miley. I completely forgot that we weren't allowed to see each other and Miley was to be forced back into home school again. Here I was, having a great time messing around, while she was alone in Tennessee with a homophobic father and... and Travis. Shit! What if Robbie hooked them up?

Shit. Shit. Fuck.

On the fritz, I leapt from my unmade bed and paced my room. What the hell was happening to her? What if her dad nailed things so ferociously into her head that she came back a mindless straight girl? What if he convinced her to hate me? Shit.

"What crawled up your ass?" Joannie questioned, pausing the game we'd been playing on my Xbox. Blue locked with green and I knew I had to tell her. She was my second best girl friend in existence; she had a right to know of my deep love for Miley. I joined her on the tip of my bed and placed a hand on her shoulder and after taking a deep breath, I told her everything. I told Joannie of the kiss Miley and I shared, about our mutual feelings, about her dad's disproval, and then about what he wanted to do once they got back from Tennessee.

Joannie was speechless and there was something... sad about her eyes. It didn't appear to be sympathy, but I let it slide as I fell into her arms. Joannie's hugs were strong, empowering. When I hugged Joannie, I felt as if I could do almost anything and I needed that kind of promising embrace right now because I felt weak. I didn't want to lose Miley.

The first day back at school arrived and... no Miley. Of course. Her dad really did pull her out of school, but it wasn't a totally depressing day because I had Joannie. She was such a good friend. I felt bad for ever thinking she was a bitch because she really wasn't. She only acted like one because her only friends had been Amber and Ashley and she didn't feel like she could make any friends if she let her true self shine. But who she really was beat her fake self by far. Joannie was someone I could relate to and she wasn't really a makeup wearing, Paris Hilton wannabe. She was a talented athlete who preferred to wear nothing but her skin and clothes. No makeup.

On the second day, Joannie was acting very weird. She was jumpy and nervous and kept giving me these frightened glances, as if she was scared of me. Whenever I went to ask her what was wrong, she'd babble on about a game she'd watched last night or how annoying her mom was who consistently told her to get a job. I didn't know what was going on, but I figured she'd tell me soon enough.

And she did. We were at my locker and her focus was on something behind my shoulder. I went to see what took her interest, but she grabbed my face, stopping me from looking. And then Joannie planted a firm kiss on my lips. Taken aback, I couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't breathe. What was this numb skull thinking? Through my puzzled haze, I heard a single gasp. My eyes shot to our observer and there stood Miley. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung loose, appearing as bewildered as I felt, but her expression was mixed with tears of betrayal.

Miley then ran from me and I unthinkingly shoved Joannie off of me and tailed her. I wasn't going to lose Miley.

I was fast on my feet after my weeks of exercise, but Miley was no slowpoke. She must've been doing a lot of work on the farm to be able to outrun me for as long as she did. But she had a head start on me and when I actually lost her in a crowd, I knew where she was heading anyway. I slowed to a walk as I saw her hunched figure on the beach. Was this how she saw me when I was first here? Now I understood why she had wanted to befriend me. No one could turn away such a miserable looking person.

I sighed and took a seat next to Miley, who balled herself up even more and her eyes darkened, but the tears marking her face said she was more hurt than angry.

"Why did you even bother coming after me?" she snapped. Even though she was pissed at me, it felt so uplifting to hear her heavenly voice again.

"You looked like you needed a friend." I grinned, hoping Miley remembered the exchange of words upon our first meeting at this very spot.

"That's the last thing I needed actually," she recited, but her tone was light, worn out.

"Well, maybe more than a friend? A best friend? A best friend who didn't kiss Joannie, but was attacked by those nasty lips with no warning?" Miley had to know I didn't intentionally make out with Joannie, I mean, how could I when I had already dedicated myself to my hillbilly? Gradually, Miley faced me and I stared into her eyes for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. Actually, up until this moment, there was no life. I was just a walking zombie without having this Godsend at my side. The world was dead to me, everyone in it except her was dead to me, and I was dead.

"Maybe...more than a best friend?" Miley asked quietly.

Uncertainly, carefully, I drew closer, giving Miley every opportunity to move away, to hit me, to tear my heart out. But she didn't. She surprisingly followed my lead and met me in a long awaited kiss.

Life was breathed into me again.

Miley's mouth on mine dug me out of my self-induced grave and I was no longer a walking abyss. The delicate kiss was building over the shambles of our friendship, to create something so much more brilliant than what was there before and a Miley shaped hole was slowly being filled to the point of overflowing.

Soft, delectable, completing, mine.

"I've been wanting this since the second Daddy made you leave," she said, her breath stinging my suddenly alone lips. There shouldn't be a space between us, not ever, but these things had to be said. Damn. I blinked and gathered my strewn about thoughts.

"Me too... I thought you'd come back not liking me anymore because your dad and that Travis butthole forced religion onto you and told you it was wrong and all that crap." Not the smartest sentence, but my brain was practically just reincarnated and then blown away with the touch of our mouths, so I think I deserved to be excused for some slight disorientation and stupidity.

"Well, Daddy actually tried to do that, but I told him to let me live my life as I pleased. I've never spoken to him like that before... The thought of coming back to you made me keep up the argument and now I think he intends to kick me out because I also ignored him when he told me not to walk out the front door." I was going to cut in, but her soft hand stroked my face and my voice was gone. "But I don't care. I have you, that's all I need."

"Aww Miley, you're adorable, get those sweet talking lips over here," I swooned childishly. Miley raised an amused eyebrow and started to go along with my wishes, but all I received was a quick brush against her sweetness before she pulled back with a sombre look.

"One more thing. I don't want to see Joannie kiss you ever again."

"I was caught off guard! She threw herself at me before I even knew what was happening! I think she may have planned it, like she knew you'd be there to see it or something. I really thought that girl changed, but it seems she's just as bitchy as before." I know Joannie was my friend, but she almost ruined my chances with Miley, and for that, I hated her.

"Or she just really likes you," Miley reasoned and I shrugged, too busy showering her face with kisses to care what was messing with Joannie's head. She laughed gently, genuinely happy. Did I do that? Did I really make her happy?

"Miley, can I tell you something?" I asked, pausing in my attack on her beautiful and tastefully sculptured face.

"Of course you can," she permitted, giving me a kiss that intensified my need to get this one last admission across before I silently sunk into her arms, a place where I fit perfectly.

"I love you."

End

Well guys, I really didn't expect the end to be so soon, but here it is! I hope you've enjoyed this story because it was one of my favourites to write :)