11. The Secret is revealed

Hans took his friends to Bubba Gump, which is locatedl on the Santa Monica Pier for lunch. It was probably the most famous pier in the world, next to Pier 39 in San Francisco…it was definitely the most photographed one. Everybody knew the postcards with the theme park that seemed to stand in the ocean. Luc and Sabrina quickly figured out that having someone famous as a guide had it perks. You never had to stay in line, you received special conditions and were treated like a star, so the few fans who really came to ask for a selfie or a signature didn't really bother them.

Also at Bubba Gump's, a restaurant chain that was named after the movie Forrest Gump, they had no problem getting a table right away, even though the waiting time was announced to be at least 45 minutes. Hans didn't really like it to be treated differently than other people, but after all this walking around at the beaches, he was starving. After they gave up their order and waited for the food, Luc asked him:

"Ok, how did you end up with Miley? I somehow would have rather expected someone like Maria Sharapova or Jennifer Lawrence."

So Hans told the whole story again, but tried not to tell too much about Miley's recent problems. But at least Sabrina seemed to be pretty much up to date when it came to star gossip:

"To be honest, she's very different from what I would have expected. Everything I heard or read was about scandals, parties, affairs, drugs…um, sorry, I didn't mean for it to sound so negative…"

From one second to another, her head turned red like a tomato.

„Haha, don't worry, I already had this discussion with her father. And it's true, she was going through a rough patch. Due to her own mistakes, bad management, false friends, that's a long list. And to tell the truth, I really wasn't sure in the beginning if I really should start this relationship and help her out of this misery. Oh well, all it took to answer this question was one date. But believe me, before this PETA photo shoot, my opinion of her was exactly the same"

And just when they were done talking about Miley, Hans received a call and it was, of course, his girlfriend:

"Hey, is everything fine?" Hans asked surprised.

"More or less. I just got a call from Ellen, her guest for today's show has cancelled, and she asked if I could jump in. We're supposed to meet in an hour and discuss our interview. It comes a bit out of the blue, but if it's ok for you, I would like to go. At least we wouldn't have to worry anymore if people might see us together"

"Well, if it's really no problem for you to pull this through. I can't wait for the whole world to know that you're officially off the market"

"Haha, ok, I'll call her to confirm my presence. Oh boy, so we really are making it official now…"

"Don't worry, everything will be fine. You want me to pick you up after the show?"

"No, you don't have to, Ellen has a driver that will bring me to the beach house"

"Great. At least I know now what to watch on tv this afternoon…"

So today was the day where Miley would reveal her new relationship in front of millions of viewers. On one side, he really had a lot of respect for his girl that she wanted to do this on her own, on the other side, he would have felt more comfortable if he was there with her. He didn't care at all about what the public might say about this relationship, or how people would react. But he wasn't sure about Miley. Nobody could tell what kind of reactions they would provoke, but he was pretty sure there would be everything, from hateful comments over rumors that the whole relationship was just staged for PR reasons to approval. Miley was, despite all her scandals, still one of the most successful and famous young artists in the US, if not in the world, Hans was, especially in LA, very popular due to his basketball career. Not to forget about the fact that he was, unintentionally, one of the most powerful movie producers in Hollywood and co-founder of one of the biggest American IT companies of all time. He was a bit afraid that there would be a lot of haters once the news was out. But they would find out soon enough.

Since the Ellen Degeneres show, one of the most popular talk shows in the US, was aired at 4 pm, they just went to the supermarket to get everything for their barbecue and headed over to Malibu. If everything went according to plan, Miley would arrive around 8 pm.

When they arrived at the beach house, Luc just gave Hans a sarcastic look:

"A small beach house, I see. It's really not much bigger than uncle Tom's cabin"

"Hey, all I said was that it's a little smaller than the mansion"

That's when Sabrina got involved:

"Yeah yeah, doesn't matter. Now let us in, the pictures don't shoot themselves"

Hans opened the door with a smile, and again, his guests were in awe about all the luxury you could fit into such a house. Hans had no idea if the inventory really was the top of the tops, he just hired an interior designer and tried to explain him what he had in mind. With these information, the designer presented him a couple of different options, and Hans simply chose what he liked the most.

After they had put all the stuff for tonight away and Hans showed them the house (while Sabrina was busy taking tons of pictures), it was about time to switch on the television. Hans started to feel a bit nervous, he was really curious about how people were going to react.

Meanwhile, just a few miles away, Miley wasn't feeling any better. She was sitting backstage, waiting to be called to go out into the studio. She already talked briefly with Ellen how she was intending to lead the interview, and also told her that she should be prepared that the news would provoke some hefty reactions in social media. Ellen's words were more or less the following:

"Listen Miley, you have to be aware what's going to happen today. The young, naughty brat who received so much love from the American people over the last years, but did everything to offend them and who had…let's say a couple of scandals, somehow manages to catch the, after Prince Harry got married, most wanted bachelor in the US, if not the whole world. One of the most popular NBA players of all time, good looking, well-mannered and nice, fairytale rich…every young woman in Hollywood, single or not, would love to put her claws in his back. I can't guarantee how the reactions in the studio will be, but I'm confident that we can manage to get a positive one. And, what I'm going to tell you now is simply my own opinion. I'm very happy for you, because after everything you've been through this last years, you deserve a little luck. And I'm gonna jump into anyone's face who says something else"

Miley looked thankfully at Ellen and squeezed her hand. Ellen Degeneres was 59 years old and started her career as a Stand-up comedian and actor. Her natural talent got noticed by several producers, and in the mid-nineties, she got to host her own afternoon talk show, a show which had become the most popular show in the country, besides the Late-Night classics like The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, or the shows of Conan O'Brien or Jimmy Kimmel. After she outed herself, she had to fight many wars to establish herself in the entertainment business, and she was able to understand what Miley had to endure at her young age. What's more, she always had a great amount of respect before the fact that the young pop star never failed to, even during her biggest scandals and breakdowns, fight and stand up for the LGBT movement. That's why Ellen never hesitated to defend the young girl when she got dragged through every newspaper and website again. There was one time where she threw one of her guests, a so-called reality tv star, out of the show after she called Miley a heroin addicted part-time prostitute. Because of the age difference, you could say that Ellen was almost like a big sister to Miley.

While she was deep in her thoughts, someone knocked on the door, and when she opened, it was one of Ellen's assistants to guide her into the studio. She took a deep breath, and followed the young woman.

Even Ellen was more nervous than usual, because she was sure that Miley didn't realize yet the impact that the revealing of this relationship would cause. She knew Hans personally, she even had him over for dinner a few times, so she experienced first hand, how easy it was to forget what he represented. He was, together with Will Smith, the most beloved duo of Hollywood, probably of the whole United States, he was incredibly rich and one of the most powerful people in the world, if he intended to. Because of his sweet and nice behavior that he usually had, many people simply forgot in his presence what position he was in. She really liked him a lot, and she was sure, if there was anyone who could bring Miley back on track, it would be him. She was also convinced that, even if the whole nation would react in a negative way to this relationship, he wouldn't care at all and stand up for Miley, because that's just who he was.

When she received a sign that the commercial break would be over in 10 seconds, she tried to pull herself back together and announced her guest:

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for staying with us, and I'm very happy to present you my guest for today. She is one of the most talented young artists in the US, if not in the whole world, and over the last years, she has caused some…let's call it…controversy. Please give a big applause for Miss Miley Cyrus."

The audience had of course been informed beforehand that the planned guest, Kendall Jenner, had unexpectedly and on short notice canceled her appearance, but they had no idea who was gonna show up as a replacement. They were somewhat surprised, but still gave Miley a rather warm welcome, thankful to see someone famous at all.

Miley was just glad that most people reacted pretty positive when she came out. She gave Ellen a quick hug and sat down on the sofa while the moderator welcomed her:

"Miley, I'm surprised. No nude skin, no provocative gestures, you didn't even smoke a joint backstage…what's wrong?"

"Well, first of all, thanks for having me. And, what can I say, the last years were pretty…eventful, and I'm slowly realizing that my behavior during this time hasn't done me any good, but rather hurt me. And more importantly, that somewhere in these acts of rebellion against my Hannah Montana image, I completely lost myself and became someone I never wanted to be"

"Now, that sounds interesting. And this insight just came overnight, or what happened to you?"

"To be honest, I needed a very special person to tell me a few, pretty unpleasant, things about myself. From false friends to taking wrong decisions and acting in a self-destructive way, it included pretty much everything. And, contrary to all the occasions where my father tried to tell me the same things, this time it just sacked in"

"And what exactly do you mean when you say this time it just sacked in?"

"I realized that, no matter what I do, Hannah will always be a part of me. I'm not this sweet little girl I used to be in that Disney show anymore, but I'm also definitely not that person I tried to incorporate during the last years. I'm starting to learn that I should be proud of what Hannah has achieved, how many people she has touched and how many kids grew up having her as their role model. I surely am no angel, I don't think that anybody of us is perfect, but like I said, I'm out of this phase where I was convinced that I basically have to murder Hannah to be able to move on and being taken serious as a grown-up artist"

"That sounds very promising. One question that comes to my mind though, is: What makes a 16 or 17 year old girl use drugs, affairs and public scandals to rebel against her image?"

"A management that only cares about money, false friends, being naïve and stupid, there are many reasons"

This was new for Ellen, and she couldn't believe what she just heard.

"You want to tell me that your management advised you to consume drugs and alcohol, and sell this as a cool lifestyle to your fans?"

"Let's say, there were days where my manager paid attention that I didn't eat too much for lunch so I would get drunk faster on a party in the evening"

"And, where is this manager now, if I may ask?"

"Fired" was the short reply that Miley gave.

„I'm glad to hear that. And what about these so-called false friends, in what way did they influence you?"

"Well, to really change your image from being lovely and sweet to the cool, rebellious young woman, you have to hang out with the cool people and have fun. What I didn't notice was, that these people were only there when it was about making it on the front page of the gossip magazines, thanks to some new scandal. Every time I felt bad or had a tough time and was looking to get some support, I was being coldly ignored"

"No offense, but that sounds al a bit simplistic. Everybody's against me and tries to harm me. But what has been your role during this period?"

"Of course it's not that simple. I let myself get caught in this party and, let's call it Rock n'Roll lifestyle, and I took a ton of bad decisions. Most of all, I hurt a lot of people, unfortunately pretty much everyone that really cared about me and wanted only the best for me. I really hope that one day in the future I can redeem myself and earn their trust and love again. For now, I concentrate on finding out what I really want, and more importantly, who I really am, and this is still a long way to go"

"A way that you, hopefully, don't have to master all by yourself?"

"No, since last week, I don't have to anymore"

"So you're saying you're in a relationship again? After your break-up with Liam Hemsworth, you declared that you would never trust a man that much anymore to let him get close enough to you to be able to hurt you. I think we all remember the pictures of your public breakdown at a concert after it was made official that the two of you had ended your relationship"

"It's true, Liam has hurt me a lot. But, what can I say, I felt like I was drowning and finally someone came to save me. I didn't think it was possible, but yes, I am at a point where I'm ready to completely trust another person again"

"I suppose it was him who made you think about everything that happened over the last years?"

"Like I said, he told me some very unpleasant things about myself. When I told him that I had to change, that it was about not being only Miley anymore, he asked me a question I couldn't get out of my head. What's wrong with being Miley? This sounds very simple, and there's a bit more to it, but I just couldn't find an answer"

"And of course we all want to know, who is this guy who seemingly managed to tame the wildest young popstar in LA? Everything will be revealed after the break"

When the commercial break had started, there were a lot of discussions to be heard in the audience. This show didn't go like most of the people expected. Miley Cyrus, the spoiled brat that delivered scandal after scandal for years now, seemed completely changed, and was in a new relationship for over a week now, and nobody had noticed anything about it. You could feel the suspense that was present in the studio, and Ellen knew that the wild speculations on social media already started. And still, until now, it went way better than she hoped for, people were listening and fascinated from the story about this young woman that had to grow up in the spotlight, just to completely crash down, in front of the whole nation. And since she already knew the end of the story, Ellen knew it would cause an earthquake.

"How do you feel Miley? Everything's fine?"

"Yes, don't worry. To be honest, I will be so relieved when it's finally official"

Ellen said with a grin:

"Perfect. In that case, we'll let the bomb explode in a few minutes"

Shortly afterwards, the show went on. Ellen smiled to the cameras and greeted the viewers once more:

"Welcome back ladies and gentleman. We are here with our guest, Miley Cyrus, who will exclusively reveal in a few minutes the identity of her new boyfriend and what plans she has for the near future. But first of all, Miley, there are already some wild guesses on Twitter and Instagram about your potential partner. I'll give you a few names, and you can tell us if anyone was able to come up with the right person. So, first name that appears a lot…Justin Bieber. Miley, is it Justin Bieber?"

"Justin Bieber? God, no. I mean, nothing against Justin, but I already have enough problems on my own…"

For the first time today, the audience started clapping and laughing.

"Ok, next name on the list. Nick Jonas?"

"Nope"

"Orlando Bloom?"

"Uh, no, not my type. And I think Katy Perry would kill me…"

"Oh, now it's getting awkward, I have to mention this one: Hulk Hogan"

"Got me…"

"WHAT?"

„Haha, no. I love The Hulkster, but even I wouldn't be that crazy. And I already have a dad…"

"Ok, before we finally solve this question, what are your plans for the future?"

"I also have some news on this. Sunday, I will be in Washington D.C, to support the demonstration #marshforourlives. This summer, I will be one of the judges of The Voice and I plan on finally producing a new album"

„Well, that sounds like you got your life back on track?"

"I wouldn't go that far, but for the first time in 8 years, I can say that I'm really happy again"

"For the first time in 8 years…you know Miley, that sounds really sad coming from a 24 year old woman. Does that mean, you have been constantly miserable for the past 8 years?"

"Maybe not the whole time, that might be a bit over exaggerated, but let's say, I can't really remember too many happy days"

"Miley, before we reveal the secret, let me say this clearly in front of this audience and all the viewers across the country. You were the center of many controversies over the last years, sometimes because of your own misbehavior, a lot of times because people just abused you for your fame. You had to go through a lot for a girl of your age, and in my opinion, you deserve every bit of happiness that you might have right now, and I'm really glad that you seem to have found someone who supports you and gives you the strength you need"

"Thank you Ellen", Miley replied with watery eyes, and she got up to give a warm hug to her friend. And this was the one moment that made the audience forget about everything that happened over the last years and they let Miley back into their hearts. Everybody in the crowd was cheering as Americas formerly most beloved teenager and the talk show host lay in each other's arms.

"God, I didn't plan on getting that emotional. Ok Miley, last question before we reveal the big secret. What made you choose this unusual way to make your relationship public?"

"The other day, we were having dinner together with a couple that has been married for a long time now and who have a lot of experience living their lives publicly, and they advised us to take matters in our own hands, if we let the paparazzi "discover" us, people might think that everything is just staged and we would be looking for PR. What's more, we wanted to take the time to get to know each other better, and that's why we were kind of hiding for a while, and surprisingly, it worked out"

"So…are you ready?"

"Not really, but I don't think I have a choice now"

"Definitely not. Ladies and gentlemen, let me present you, Hollywood's newest glamourous couple"

A picture appeared on the big screen that was placed in the middle of the stage, and after a few seconds, the audience started booing.

Ellen showed a devilish grin as she said:

"And the second half of the picture will be revealed after our last short break"

During this commercial break, Miley had to smile:

"And people say that I'm the brat…"

"Oh come on, you have to build up the suspense, that's the whole point of entertainment. But the show will be over in a few minutes, which means we will show the picture right away, I'll ask you another two or three questions, you sing your song and that's it. Your driver is already waiting, so you can disappear without getting bothered. And whatever comes afterwards, I'm sure you'll get through it…together"

"Haha, I know. I somehow have a good feeling about this"

A few seconds later, the last part of the show was about to start.

"Welcome back to the final minutes of today's show. Now, we don't want to keep you waiting any longer, this is the complete picture of Miley Cyrus and her new, mysterious boyfriend"

Again, the picture appeared on the big screen, and slowly, the black half of it was getting revealed and after about 10 seconds, Hans could clearly be recognized. Miley was anxiously waiting for a reaction, and after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, the audience started to clap until it developed into a stormy applause and loud cheers. The young artist didn't even dare to dream about such a positive reaction and she couldn't prevent that a couple of tears were running down her cheeks.

"So…Jerome Hansen. Before we finish, you have to tell us one thing of course. How did you manage to catch the most wanted young bachelor in the US, if not in the whole world?"

Miley took a few seconds to pull herself together and answered:

"It started about two weeks ago, when both of us took part in a photo shoot for the animal rights organization PETA. We had a great chemistry right from the start, and for the first time in a while, I felt completely comfortable in the presence of another person. The following weekend, we met up in a night club in LA, where it happened that he told me all these…uncomfortable truths about myself. I actually did my very best to push him away from me that night, but he gave me a second chance which resulted in our first date"

"So let me ask my final question. How are 2 superstars like you spending their first date? It probably wasn't something like having dinner and going to the movies, that would have been all over the news"

„Actually, he picked me up at home, together with his former foster dog, and took me to a beach house in Malibu. We were making pasta after an old family recipe he had from his Italian aunt, took a walk on the beach, watched the sunset and we were just sitting on the terrace for hours, with a glass of wine, talking and enjoying each other's company. It was probably the corniest date I ever had…and it surely was the most beautiful day since I was 17 years old and had to stop with Hannah Montana"

The description of their first date was melting the hearts of the audience, at least of the female part. You could hear some Ahs and Awws, and some of the women were already telling their respective partner what they were expecting from them in the near future.

"And that's it for today. Like I said Miley, I wish you only the best, and next time, I expect to see both of you sitting on this couch together. But I don't think that the people here will let you leave without having performed a song, and you have chosen to present us an old classic by your godmother Dolly Parton, probably her biggest hit, Jolene"

Miley went over to the stage where the band was already waiting for her, and as soon as the music started to play, she felt like last week in Nashville. She realized again how much this kind of music and these performances meant to her, and how much she had missed this aspect of her life. But also the audience was excited, and a lot of them showed that they knew the lyrics pretty well. The song lasted for about 4 minutes, and when it was over, Miley went to the front row to thank them for the applause, but also for the way they reacted to her new relationship. It was one woman who hugged her and touched her in particular, when she whispered in her ear:

"It feels good to have you back"