A/N: Because LJ tagged me again, I couldn't resist:
Our arc should be read in the following order. It will make more sense that way:
Part 1. Teardrops On My Guitar by LJ, http://www[.]fanfiction[.]net/s/5200486/7/Niblets
Part 2. Tears by Me, http://www[.]fanfiction[.]net/s/5092930/49/Bits
Part 3. Twitch by LJ, http://www[.]fanfiction[.]net/s/5200486/11/Niblets
Part 4. Once and Again by Me, http://www[.]fanfiction[.]net/s/5092930/50/Bits
Part 5. Being Hannah by LJ, http://www[.]fanfiction[.]net/s/5200486/12/Niblets
Part 6. is below. Remove the brackets from the above addresses.
We will probably be doing another collaboration again, but we will try not to make you guys jump around so much for it. I can't speak for my partner in crime, though. /smiles/
Haunted
By Melissa
"Everything costs something. The only questions are the price and how you have to pay it."
---
She had thrown it.
And when she was finally sleeping, exhausted by crying, and I dared to reach across and look at the brightly flashing screen…
Lilly finally saw why.
The light was not a beacon of hope in the darkness. It was quite the opposite. Just a reminder of what could have happened.
It was a simple text message.
'You're not pregnant.'
The blonde recognized the sender as a nurse from the doctor's office she and Miley happened to share.
The battered device finally broke completely under the pressure of Lilly's grip. She hadn't realized she had been clutching it so tightly until the cracking sound of plastic.
Oh thank God.
Lilly wasn't what you would exactly a religious person, but she was thanking every deity she could think of.
Not wanting to disturb the finally slumbering brunette, she pulled her own cell phone gingerly out of her pocket. She then sent a text to the one person she hadn't spoken to in months.
Oliver.
Their breakup hadn't exactly been copasetic. They had dated for a while, but it just hadn't been working out. Oliver felt a lot more for Lilly than she did for him. To her, they had always been better friends.
He hadn't agreed.
After the parting of ways, Lilly had gone on to date Matt. Oliver continued to hang with Miley, but they didn't do things, all three of them, anymore.
It was a simple message. 'Meet me at Rico's tomorrow. 12pm.'
She didn't get a response. In all honesty, Lilly didn't expect one. She was just hoping Oliver would take the invite and she would see him tomorrow. He deserved to know what happened to Miley.
The blonde watched her best friend, spooning around her gently but snugly. The shiny tracks of shed tears were still visible on cheeks that used to do nothing but smile.
---
[The Next Day]
Oliver Oken sat alone at a table, arms crossed and looking less than happy about it.
He had received a text message at a very ungodly hour from his once best friend, and girlfriend. It was unexpected, and had opened up a lot of wounds that had barely begun to heal.
Lilly had left Miley slumbering in her bed. She hadn't been getting much rest lately. With a quick word to Jackson, the skater left to go down to Rico's. To talk to the one person she hadn't spoken to or seen in months.
Lilly scanned the area briefly before spotting her once best friend. She took a deep breath before walking over slowly to where he was sitting.
She took a seat and watched him for a moment. That certainly wasn't happiness to see her.
Since the blonde obviously didn't look like she was going to start the conversation, he decided he would.
"Lilly. What do you want?"
The words felt like rocks in her throat, scratching and cutting.
"Fine." He got up to leave.
"Miley was raped." Her voice was soft and heartbreaking.
He immediately stopped in his tracks, walked backwards and took his seat again.
"What?"
The facial expressions on the brunette boy would have been humorous, had the situation not been so terrible.
"Are?…How?…When?…"
The skater just looked at her ex boyfriend sadly.
"She was out late one night, needing some time to think. She never did tell me exactly what it was she was pondering. A couple of boys came along…"
"A couple?" His voice broke.
Lilly's face grew dark. "Yeah. One of them was Matt."
The table they were sitting at suddenly was upended. Oliver was standing, breathing heavily and obviously enraged.
"He…He…" Oliver couldn't even say it.
The blonde girl shook her head. "No, he didn't. But he sure didn't stop the one who did."
A few moments of silence passed between the friends.
"Is she…pregnant?"
"No. Thankfully not. Results came from the doctor's. Didn't exactly want to trust a home pregnancy test, no matter what it said." She rubbed her forehead and sighed. "I can't even imagine…"
Oliver slowly sat back down.
"What do we do?"
Blue eyes looked into brown. "What can we do? That…thing…took everything from Miley. She…god, Oliver…there's nothing I can do to make it better. It…she…is so broken."
Oliver nodded. He had grown a bit curious when Hannah Montana wasn't so much in the spotlight as much anymore. That was extremely odd, for Miley. She loved it.
At least, she used to.
---
Miley slowly opened her eyes. She was bit cold due to the air conditioning. She snugged the bed sheet tighter around her.
Then she realized that she was alone in bed.
Where had Lilly gone?
She felt the tears threatening again. She was so tired of feeling this way, being violated in every single sense of the term. And it wasn't getting any better.
She still saw him, everywhere. Walking down the street, at rehearsals, and especially when she closed her eyes.
Every fiber of her being wished her mother was here. Moms are supposed to make every thing better, right?
Miley swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up. She walked to the bathroom to splash some water on her face.
After doing so, and drying her skin, she stared into the mirror, not recognizing who was staring back.
Tears patted their way against the porcelain of the sink as her body shook with sobs.
On the edge of the sink was a straight razor. Jackson had discovered the wonders of hot lather and a close shave. While his bathroom was being worked on with renovations, he had taken to using Miley's bathroom.
With a shaky hand she picked up the razor, testing the weight in her hand. She then flicked it open, looking at the very shiny, sharp blade. Her brother was kind of fanatical about keeping it keen.
"It would be so simple…" she whispered to the empty silence.
"Yes, it would," her reflection answered back.
The End?
