Lilly found Miley huddled next to a palm tree a ways down the beach, face-in-arms sobbing.

"Miley? Honey?"

"He doesn't like me!" she wailed! "He—he—he—wahhhhh!"

Lilly would have been heartbroken for her if she hadn't known that this, in fact, was untrue. She knelt down beside her friend in the sand, put an arm around her, and dried her tears. "Tell me what happened." She listened patiently as Miley told her, still gasping and hiccupping.

"I'll slap him!" Lilly declared angrily. Miley looked at her curiously with tear streaked eyes. "Okay, here's the deal: I saw how he was looking at you earlier—he was definitely smitten. We'll fix your make-up, I'll go get him, you can tell him how you feel, and then you two can get past the weirdness and enjoy the rest of the night."

"I don't think so," Miley said softly, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I just want to go home and be alone, I think."

Lilly was horrified. "Nooo. You can't go! Please stay?"

"No. I already feel awful enough. I guess this is just proof that we're not meant to be. Now I just want to go home and deal with that realization." She was on the verge of breaking down again.

"At least stay long enough to say goodnight," she asked desperately. Miley nodded, and Lilly breathed in relief. She wiped the mascara traces off her friend's face and brushed some of the sand off her skirts. They got up and walked back towards the main area of the beach.

"Stay here," Lilly commanded firmly. She marched up to Oliver. "Listen, pal," she said seriously. "She's really upset. You have to tell her how you feel right now or you will lose the moment and you will lose her. Got it?" Oliver looked up at her, looking pitifully wrung-out. "Alright," she acquiesced. "One more smoothie for nerves, but then you've got to buck up and do it."

♥♥♥

Lilly nodded him in Miley's direction and, taking a deep breath, he started towards her.

She saw him coming and looked frantically for somewhere to duck and hide. She found nothing, and was forced to look at him when he reached her. Part of her was urging her legs to stride briskly away, yet she stayed rooted to place, unable to move.

"Hi," he said.

"Hey," she replied in a small voice, wiping self-consciously at her face again.

"I have to tell you something very important," he said very quickly. "Please don't leave until I've said it."

She nodded. "I'm listening."

He exhaled and looked up at the sky. "When I saw you tonight…" he hesitated for a long moment and Miley could feel her heart beginning to break all over again. "Miles, you looked more beautiful than ever. I realized that…that although you're one of my closest friends, we're not as close as we could be. As I'd like us to be."

Miley stood frozen, unbelieving. Tears clung to her lashes and shone brightly.

"I really like you," he said in a rush.

"I like you, too," she said, thinking how impossible it was that he was speaking the words she so desperately wanted to hear. "I do want more than friendship." Her heart was un-icing and warming up as it began to beat quickly.

"I've never really done this before," he began, breaking the small silence that had formed between them, "but isn't this the part where I kiss you?"

"I really hope so," she said quietly.

He stepped quickly towards her, put a hand on her shoulder and one on her face, and kissed her.

Anything he had been feeling all night was dwarfed by this. He felt like a bolt of lightning was tearing through him, setting his nerves on fire and filling him with passion and courage.

Her heart lit up and she threw her arms around his neck, pulling closer to him and wishing the moment would never end.

When he leaned back, he was breathing heavily.

"I told you I'd make it up to you," she said breathlessly.

"Girl, you got me, he said weakly.

She suddenly started laughing. "That wasn't so bad," she said, and he agreed. "Can you believe how nervous we were?"

"I thought I was going to throw up!" he said.

"Me too!"

"I couldn't eat!" he confessed.

"I noticed that, you must be starving."

"Nah, I drowned my sorrows in smoothie."

"Sorrows?" she looked at him quickly.

"I thought I'd messed it all up with you. Lilly told me you were going to leave."

"I was," she said quietly. "I wanted to."

"I'm glad you didn't," he said, looking into her eyes, experiencing the same thrill as always, that she was looking back at him.

"Me too," she agreed, gazing up at him and trying to pretend that his hands on her weren't all that was holding her down to earth.

"You wanna dance?" he asked.

"No," she said, ducking her head and twisting slightly away, "I'm all gross."

"Miley," he said in a low voice, turning her back to face him. Golden sand fell in a flurry from her skirts. "I think you look gorgeous." He took her hands and pulled her into the pulsating mass of jumping bodies. Soon they were jumping around with them, dancing like fools and laughing.

♥♥♥

After a long stretch of fast songs, a slow one began. Miley continued to jump around, dancing to the previous song, being purposefully elusive.

"Miley," he said, calling her on it. She pretended not to hear him. He took her arm and she stopped. "Dance with me."

She nodded and fell into his arms, resting her cheek against his shoulder, and happily feeling his warmth. Being this close, she could smell that clean boy smell of his and could feel his heart beat against her own. She closed her eyes and held onto him, relishing the feeling of his arms wrapped around her.

At one point he stopped moving, even though the song was still going. She looked up at him in sleepy surprise, and felt him kissing her again.

She whimpered softly and stepped closer to him, getting up on her tiptoes to be closer to his mouth. She felt her happiness would be eternal if only she could remain right here—like this—with him.

"I think I love you," she whispered against his lips, unsure if he heard her.

"I know I love you," he whispered back, and at that moment she felt a burst of warmth in her heart.

♥♥♥ le fin ♥♥♥