Ok so I've managed to get motivated enough to post this next chapter up. It took me ages to get round to writing it but when I did I only wrote it in the space of an afternoon so I'm sorry if it's not great, I just want to get things moving etc. Christmas holidays too and I thought I would have loads more time to get things done, but I suppose not strangely. Also with a particular review that I got, I just want to acknowledge that I know that I have been spelling "Stewart" wrong by using "Stuart". I've realised this from after I posted the first chapter but for the sake of continuity, I did not want to change this. Sorry if this has annoyed any of you!! It annoys me everytime I read it... Grr! Lol stupid perfectionist writing rubbish. Anyway! Read on if you wish...
'They Say That Good Things Take Time' – Chapter 7
The rest of that week passed too quickly for the girls to have any real time to hold onto. The following Monday morning after they woke up together consisted of lunching with the officials who had run the show for them in Wembley. The afternoon held a further press conference in a big hall with Hannah Montana in the spotlight whilst little Lola Luftnagle stood slightly off-side but not far away enough to avoid being spotted altogether.
The press was in full flow questioning a very happy, yet secretly guarded, looking Hannah about her time spent in London and her general lifestyle before they eventually decided to rope in Lola who was happily sporting an outrageous blue wig.
"Lola," a ginger male began, clutching at a notebook and pencil whilst peering at her from behind his frameless glasses, "have you enjoyed your time spent in London?"
Lilly gulped as she felt the attention of the mass media suddenly switch from Miley to herself in the space of a second. She threw a terrified glance in the direction of Robbie Ray who watched her carefully from behind a large pair of dark glasses. An attendant bustled forward and proceeded to set up a chair for her next to Hannah and, after carefully guiding her by the elbow, settled her down on it. A microphone was also placed in front of her, the entire string of actions taking mere moments causing Lilly to fret over whether this had all been planned in the first place. She felt herself begin to sweat slightly underneath her itchy wig and had to resist the urge to rub at her forehead to eliminate the dual sensations. Miley, sensitive as always to Lilly's feelings, secretly placed her own hand over her friend's and intertwined their fingers. Lilly looked questioningly into Miley's face and the temporary blonde did not fail to notice the slight degree of fear within Lilly's bright blue eyes. She smiled encouragingly and nodded warmly at her friend who then gulped and finally responded to the reporter's question.
"Hello, erm, yes. I have enjoyed my time in London very much, thanks." Lilly said and attempted to follow her answer up with a rather weak smile.
The reporter jotted down a brief note onto his notepad whist a surge of arms were flung up into the air, eagerly jolting against one another in an attempt to engage the young women's attention. Hannah was acting cool and collected from her seat and casually leaned back in her chair slightly, appearing completely at ease with the situation whilst hidden under the protection of the table she gently ran her thumb soothingly over Lilly's knuckles. Lilly took in a few deep breaths and tried to mirror Miley's actions of appearing calm and collected. She squeezed Miley's hand slightly out of gratefulness and noticed out of the corner of her eye that Miley's lips curled slightly upwards due to Lilly's administrations.
"Erm, the guy in the red tie." Miley pointed at another male reporter who was keenly bobbing his arm up and down in an attempt to gain their attention.
Smiling rather smugly at his successful actions, the journalist cleared his throat slowly before questioning them in a steady, superior manner. "Yes. So, Lola, as we saw on stage, Hannah devoted one of her performances to you in a surprise gesture. How did that make you feel?"
Miley's face was stained slightly pink at the snide questioning and the hand that was clutching Lilly's suddenly became still. Lilly raised an eyebrow at Miley's unexpected nerves before she forced a sweetened smile and turned her attention back to the arrogant reporter.
"Well, clearly it was a surprise so I was in a slight state of shock you know?" Lilly giggled, "I just wasn't expecting it and as you guys probably know I don't make that many public appearances, so I guess that explains my rather lemon-like stature onstage." Some of the reporters chuckled good-naturedly, encouraging Lilly that she was doing well, "But, really I was very happy that she had done something like that for me. Hannah's such a great friend, she's always doing so much for me and after seeing that, well, you can see that quite obviously I'm very honoured." Lilly finished her answer with a smile and squeezed Miley's hand reassuringly once more, causing Miley to relax, turn her gaze from the table-cloth and back to Lilly momentarily before continuing with the conference.
Monday
10.45pm
Well, Miley's press conference thing went alright in the end, some of the journalists were complete creeps though. This one guy in a red tie kept making faces and never seemed to be happy with any of the answers Miley was giving him. He was a complete jerk in my opinion, and luckily he only asked me one question. Just another one of those idiots digging for the dirt. I liked this nice lady who was complimenting Hannah on her style though and another one who was asking about horse-riding in Tennessee, why can't there be more of them? Oh well.
It felt quite strange being involved in all of this with Miley. I know one thing for sure; it has opened my eyes about what she goes through all of the time, too much. At least she's not alone though and she's got her dad nearby. You can see why so many young stars go off the rails all the time; it's just that whole media sucking up your whole life thing. I mean, take Britney, she has no private life at all so of course she's going to go mental. God, I hope Miley never feels the need to shave her head…Hehe.
Well, only got a few more days of being in London, even though they're quite busy. Tomorrow she's got a CD signing so we've gotta face more screaming fans. Oh well, she loves seeing the kids getting all excited over her.
The following day, Hannah Montana's name was smothering banners and filling the streets from the throaty shouts of hundreds of children and adolescents. As their car drove past the long line of screaming fans, Lilly felt impressed by the large British following that Hannah had, which only strengthened Hannah's status as an international pop star. Lilly could not help but smile as eager, rosy-faced children, in Montana merchandise t-shirts, waved posters which they had made spelling out I love Hannah Montana with photographs of Hannah's standard, toothy, grin and hand making the peace-sign. Lilly glanced over at Miley who was positively beaming as her eyes, glued to the hoards on the other side of the window, absorbed the love radiating from the many children towards her. It was such a daunting prospect, thought Lilly, that so many people could love Hannah Montana, yet only she could call herself Hannah's best friend. She felt a strange sensation in her stomach when she pondered over the residing jealousy in the heart of each of these young people that Lola could be in such close contact with Hannah. It was strange to think that only she could touch and be with her whenever she pleased while these people had to settle with only being happy to see her momentarily with their naked eyes.
Hannah walked into the room where she would be doing the signing to be greeted by the excited screams of the many young fans who had already been admitted. Hannah was in her element, famous and aloof as always, she placated the crowds by genially waving in their direction whilst maintaining a winning smile upon her face. The photographers were keen to soak up as much of her as possible and Hannah was soon saturated in the light of hundreds of flashes before being guided to her seat.
Lola, who had been following at a slight distance, took a seat a short way behind Hannah to watch with Mr Stuart and could not help but be amused at the way the children treated her like a goddess. One by one the children were allowed to walk the few steps further toward the desk to be greeted by a smiling Hannah Montana who would gently extricate the CD from their sweaty hands and sign it kindly for them. Half of the children were so shy that they could not even stumble out one word to say to her, resulting in only a simple signature from the young star.
One particular adorable looking girl about eight years old, her hair set in two plaits and wearing a pink dress, wandered forward towards Miley with such a twinkling smile that Miley's heart warmed.
"Hello sweetie, what's your name?"
"My name's Lottie." The little girl timidly replied and smiled even more brightly as Hannah looked warmly down at her.
"It's nice to meet you Lottie," Miley said as she signed the inside of the CD case for her.
"Thank you very much." The little girl said as she took the CD back from Hannah and looked at it quickly before shyly looking up at Hannah once more, "Can I have a photograph please?"
Miley giggled softly at the little girl's request before getting up and walking in front of the table to join the little girl. The child's mother who flushed brightly at the star's kind administrations hurriedly fumbled in her bag for the camera before snapping a picture of her daughter with the super star's arm wrapped around her shoulders.
"Thank you very much Miss Montana." The mother positively gushed before leading her little daughter away once more and a smiling Hannah took her seat.
A handful of photographers immediately took interest in that single little girl and swooped on her and her mother as they headed for the exit. Lilly noticed that they quickly asked the child for an interview and she was certain, over all of the background hubbub of the remaining crowds, that she heard the little girl say that seeing Hannah was the best day of her life.
Lilly felt her heart soften as she watched Miley's kind actions towards the little children even though she was so tired from her performances the previous two nights. The CD signing over-ran because the young star was so eager to fulfill her fans' wishes and it was wearily that the two young women got back into their limousine to be taken to dinner by Robbie Ray.
Miley was yawning quite frequently over dinner in the restaurant and, still in the disguise of Hannah Montana; she was becoming gradually more irritated by the attention of the press from the other side of the window. It took all of Lilly's cheerful banter to prevent Hannah from snapping irritably at the continuous streams of fans that interrupted their dinner to have further autographs signed and, after a hasty dessert Mr Stuart decided to call it a day.
Wednesday
12pm
It's been a long day already and Miley and I had to get up really early again for another early morning chat show. She performed a couple of songs as well but she seemed to be quite tired today. There's not really a lot else to say. The tour is beginning to wind down and it's taking Miley with it I think, I haven't seen her looking so tired and we didn't even stay out that late. Hopefully she'll be better by tomorrow.
10.30pm
Well, this afternoon Mr S treated us and Miley and I got to go to a couple of museums in London, they were quite cool and Miley seemed to perk up a bit. She does like to learn and I thought it was really cool when we went to one quite historical museum and we saw all these old really cool samurai relics. After that we went to Leicester square and this ticket booth which gave us half-price tickets to any musical that we wanted so we went and saw Wicked on the stage. It was actually amazing and I had a really good time. It was really good for Miley too because she got to just sit back and relax for a little while. Then we managed to find our way back on the tube and came in and had a room service supper. Miley's sleeping right now because she was so tired. I'm feeling sleepy too so I think I'm going to say goodnight!
Miley was the first of the pair to wake up on Thursday morning and she tried not to disturb Lilly as she carefully slipped out of bed and crept into the lounge. She picked up the telephone in their hotel room and made the call through to her father's room.
"Hello?" Robbie Ray's voice greeted her on the other end of the line.
"Morning daddy," Miley whispered whilst throwing a furtive glance in the direction of the bedroom.
"Morning Miles, what can I do for you today?"
"I was just wondering if you sorted out the tickets for later on." Miley asked tentatively, knowing the big favour that she had previously asked of her father.
Robbie Ray chuckled gently, "Of course I remembered Miles, it's just about all you were banging on about yesterday."
Miley sighed in relief, "Thanks daddy. Are you really sure that it's okay? I mean, I hate asking you for the money…" her voice trailed off and she winced slightly at how stupid she thought she sounded.
"Aw come on now Miles," her dad replied softly, "I know how much this would mean to Lilly. Besides, it's the Hannah money that you earned anyway. You've done so well on this tour bud, you deserve to have a good time. Heck, Lilly deserves it too. You guys have had a busy couple of weeks."
Miley smiled, "Thank you so much daddy. If you could just shove the tickets underneath the door for later then that would be really great."
Robbie Ray promised that he would and, grinning, Miley hung up the telephone. Acting quickly she picked it up again and dialed room-service once more to order herself and the sleeping blonde a hearty breakfast. Miley glanced over to the clock hanging on the wall it was ten-thirty and beaming she skipped towards the shower.
About thirty minutes later, Lilly began to arouse from her sleep, prompted by something that was tickling her senses in the conscious world. Her eyes opened with a little difficulty, unwillingly as she had been enjoying her sleep so much. As the room came in to focus, she was aware of a smiling brunette, dressed in a bathrobe and with wet hair, gradually forming slow curls as it fell down her back, sat in front of her on the bed, holding a tray filled with breakfast goodies on it. Lilly's eyes opened suddenly wider and she felt her mouth begin to moisten slightly as she eyed the happy spread Miley had selected for her.
"Morning sleeping beauty," Miley said softly as she riskily greeted her friend whilst blushing slightly from her chosen words. She could not help herself, she had woken in a good mood and everything was going according to plan thus far. There was also a great deal of truth behind her coveted words, Lilly's golden hair was fully released and falling like a waterfall down her back as she groggily struggled to sit up. Her eyes were blinking slowly and luxuriously in the first moments of wakefulness and with every blink they grew bigger and more alert, life seeping into them as boundless as the blue skies about the city of London on this, finally cloud-free, summer's day.
Once fully upright, Lilly smiled back brightly at her friend, causing Miley to inwardly melt a little bit, before she set her attention on the breakfast tray and licked her lips. "Is this really all for me?" She asked, her eyes happily coming to rest on Miley's.
Miley laughed brilliantly, reveling in the joyous sensation which bubbled up within her and burst out unable to be contained within her being, "Of course it's for you silly, I wouldn't order such a piggish amount for myself." Her eyes twinkled as she looked dotingly upon her friend.
Lilly stuck out her bottom lip for a second in a sulky manner before shaking it off and, grinning, she got stuck into her breakfast. After her first, rather large, few mouthfuls she noticed that Miley was wandering around the room and sorting clothes for the day. Frowning and with half a load of food still rotating the inside of her mouth, she addressed Miley slightly uncouthly, "Hey! Aren't you gonna eat summin?"
Miley turned round and blinked slowly as Lilly hastily gulped and wiped the slight spray of food which had spurted from her mouth off her chin. Miley smiled in secret adoration towards her friend's appalling love of food and how, even with food all round her mouth and eating like a tramp, she was still gorgeous. However, Miley was not about to let Lilly get away with such poor table manners and gladly took up the opportunity to taunt her.
"What's that you're saying Pig Girl?" She asked Lilly and adopted her stance to resting one hand on her hip and quirking an eyebrow upwards.
Lilly, who was currently taking a few huge gulps from her glass of orange juice, almost spat half of it out over the bed as she heard Miley's response. Spluttering and attempting to compose herself, Lilly just about managed to draw her attention away from her plate and reply, "Oh know you didn't."
"Mmhmm," Miley replied with equal sassiness in her voice, "Oh yeah I did. You heard me sister, I called you Pig Girl."
"Puh." Lilly retorted objectionably and took another swig of orange juice for good measure.
"What? Is that the best you can come back with?" Miley taunted her friend and then broke into a fit of the giggles as she tried to pick out her underwear for the day. The curtains were only half-drawn and the section of drawers that Lilly had previously chosen for Miley's normal clothes was currently hidden in shadows. Miley had to check that the pants she had chosen were reasonable and so held them up to the light only to discover that they were a very lacy pair of sexy panties indeed and she flushed furiously before trying to stuff them back into the drawer once more.
Lilly, however, was nobody's fool and, after being pounced on by Miley, was eager for revenge. "What in the name of Sam Heck are those Miss Stuart?" Her eyes narrowed and she smiled tauntingly as she watched her friend grow redder by the second.
Miley seemed to have no answer for her and stumbled around, furious with herself for letting Lilly get away with teasing her so cheaply. She hastened to pull out a skirt and t-shirt and quickly matched them up with a simple silver necklace for the day.
Lilly was not to be so easily placated after being mocked herself and followed Miley carefully with her eyes as her friend desperately tried to flee the bedroom.
"Erm Miley?" she asked just as Miley was about to go out of the door.
"What Lilly?" Miley replied her cheeks were still holding a slight pink colouring and her big blue eyes were reproachful.
"Nothing really, I was just wondering if you were going commando today seeing as now that you've rejected the slutty panties, you don't seem to be keen to wear anything else." Lilly finished with a giggle as Miley groaned in frustration at her neglectfulness and cast her eyes up towards the ceiling.
She then had to proceed in doing a walk of shame back past the laughing blonde to fish out a pair of black pants with a pink puma covering the bottom. Before she turned to leave she held them out and threw all caution to the wind, "Are these suitable?"
Lilly smiled and nodded in a queenly manner, "They will do, now get thee to the bathroom, peasant." She replied in her best British accent as she waved Miley away.
"Thank the lord." Miley slurred before flouncing into the bathroom and shutting the door.
Lilly chuckled and returned her attention to her food; Miley was so amusing when she embarrassed herself in front of Lilly, yet the blonde could only be impressed by the thoughtful nature in which Miley had picked out all of her favourites for breakfast. How did she always manage to be so considerate of her best friend in even the most simple of ways? Lilly was certain that Miley had set her up in a good mood for the rest of the day, only to grievingly remember that she had to tell Miley the truth later on. Lilly sighed and almost lost her appetite as she gazed remorsefully down at the remaining morsels on her plate. She poked some bacon pieces around her plate as she rested her head in her left hand, dwelling in regret that their last day in London would have to be spoilt. She could hear Miley happily singing to herself in the bathroom as she got dressed and Lilly's heart fell when she thought of just how much she was going to upset Miley.
Once Miley was dressed and she had hustled Lilly to shower and do the same, the two girls were happily weaving their way down Oxford Street in brilliant sunshine. The sun was warming their skin and causing their hair to shine as they contentedly window shopped and people watched their way through London. After having lunch outside a pleasant café, Miley progressed to give Lilly a foot tour of her favourite areas of the capital. They had bought their tube tickets for the day and gladly spent time navigating the underground system until they came out near Hyde Park where they stopped to sit and absorb everything from under the shade of some trees. It was after lunchtime during the summer holidays and small children were playing with a ball, kicking it around in a make-shift soccer game whilst arguing over who got to be the old heroes Beckham and Owen. Parents with babies were sitting on picnic blankets as dog walkers strolled by, whilst lovers lounged in the grass, Miley and Lilly merely sat in companionable silence for a while, propped up against their tree and fighting their inner demons.
As the afternoon wore on and Miley had grown to be weary of walking, she led Lilly to the Science Museum where they settled down to watch a three-dimensional educational film about sharks. Following this, they left and both got ice-creams from a stand nearby and leisurely sauntered down the street without a clear plan of what to do. Miley kept checking her watch and her bag to ensure that she still had the tickets for their evening whilst Lilly remained peacefully oblivious to her friend's erratic behaviour.
Miley eventually decided to take Lilly to a simple Public House for dinner where they sat outside in the beer garden, enjoying the warm early evening heat complimented by the lightest of breezes through their hair, and the knowledge that the sun would not set for the next couple of hours. They happily chatted about the highlights of their week and the amusing things that they had seen. Lilly once again teased Miley about all of the foolish things she had noticed her doing, whilst Miley, unable to find anything with which to reproach her provoking friend, merely giggled and playfully hit Lilly back.
Eventually the time came when Miley was leading Lilly away from Embankment station and along the riverbank of the Thames. The city was bathed in the yellow light of the sun as it began to set and from their position as they walked along the bank their eyes were drawn to the famous Houses of Parliament, which were glowing gold above the sparkling river. Lilly giggled as the pair walked past strange people dressed up as statues, making a living out of standing still for hours before suddenly changing position to the delight of their small audiences. Knowing that they had time to spare, Miley allowed Lilly to stop for a moment and throw a fifty pence coin into one of the money boxes causing the Nelson statue to shift position melodramatically and earning a burst of bright laughter from the blonde.
Miley smiled to herself as Lilly suddenly noticed the looming structure of the Millennium Eye and proceeded to tug at her best friend's sleeve as they continued to walk even closer to it.
"Miles, is that the Millennium Eye thingy I was telling you about on the plane?" Her friend asked in an awed voice.
"Hmmm? Oh yeah, I think it is." Miley lazily replied, yet her eyes twinkled secretly and a small smile spread across her pink lips.
"Wow." Lilly muttered. "It's even bigger than I thought it would be. How cool is it though Miles? It's like the biggest Ferris Wheel I've ever seen."
Miley had to take Lilly by the arm and drag her closer to the giant wheel as her footsteps became less frequent due to her attention being drawn to the many pods which were filled with a scattering of people that evening.
"Come on Lil, hurry up." Miley hastened her friend along.
"Oh, yeah, sorry, I'm just getting a bit distracted." Then Lilly stopped entirely, causing Miley to turn round and look at her questioningly. "Hang on a minute," Lilly began slowly, "You haven't said what we're doing this evening, even though you've obviously got something planned…" Miley watched Lilly and could almost hear all the ting cogs in her brain fitting into place as the realization dawned, "…No way Miles." A smile began to spread across Lilly's face until it grew into a grin which was quickly followed by a delighted "Eeeep!" as Lilly began to bounce up and down.
Miley laughed outwardly at her friend whilst inside her heart was bursting when she saw how happy she had made her. She struggled to make herself breathe normally before grabbing Lilly's arms and attempting to calm her down.
"Dang flabbit girl, you sure do know how to embarrass me." She said but she was unable to disguise the amused excitement in her own voice, "Now come on before we miss our pod."
She hurriedly led Lilly the rest of the way down the side of the river until they were guided into their own pod by an attendant once Miley had handed over the tickets. Once the doors were shut behind them Lilly rushed over to the other side and looked out over the Thames as they slowly began their ascent up towards the gradually pinker sky.
"Wow." Lilly said as she released a breath and Miley walked over to join her. "This is amazing. We have our own pod on the Millennium Eye and," she stopped for a moment to ponder, "if my calculations are correct, you've booked this exactly so we get to see the sun set." She turned to look at Miley in awe, "How do you manage to do it?"
"Do what?" Miley asked puzzled.
"Be the best friend in the world and give me the holiday of a lifetime in London. Seriously Miles, you're amazing." She replied softly.
Miley felt herself begin to blush and looked down to the floor as she felt her heartbeat increase with Lilly's grateful praise.
"I'm not amazing Lilly, you are. Today and tonight are for you." Then as Miley felt brave, she looked up and met Lilly's eyes. "It's all for you."
Lilly felt slightly surprised by her friend's admission and was, once again, thrown by Miley's selfless nature toward her. It was now Lilly's turn to look away as she felt hopelessly stupid and unkind for deceiving Miley about their friendship. With a mounting sadness she turned her gaze out towards Big Ben and noticed that they would soon become level with the clock face as the pod rose so slowly upwards.
Miley felt growingly flustered and foolish after her bold admittance to Lilly and turned to walk away from her a little bit to gaze out at the river, the air within their compartment was feeling suddenly close and slightly suffocating. Miley wrapped her arms around herself as she trembled from her inner turmoil, she was fed up with keeping her love for Lilly so contained yet, after Lilly had not replied, Miley was certain that she did not feel the same way about her. It was the most perfect setting to say those three words and originally Miley had thought she might be able to resolve herself with Lilly and admit her torturous love for the young blonde. Yet, now, Miley feared those fated words above everything else and decided to remain silent.
After a few short moments, Miley heard Lilly sigh, causing Miley to turn round and face Lilly who was already looking at her. Miley was slightly shocked and became wary of the fact that Lilly's blue eyes were softened by sadness and looking dangerously damp around the edges.
"Miley," Lilly began but her voice was already croaking from the cruel touch of her tears.
"Lilly?" Miley questioned softly and she crossed the pod in a couple of steps to where she could stand near her, to hold her if she needed to.
Lilly took in a deep and shaky breath before looking up towards the ceiling of the pod and then she turned her attention back to the pair of deep blue eyes which were looking at her with boundless concern and undisguised love. For a few short moments, Miley's walls had come down and Lilly could see her own reflection in Miley's eyes while they stood for an instant, as if in the eye of the storm, when their lives were about to change.
"Miley," Lilly began once more after swallowing and pushing back her tears, "there's something that I need to tell you. I should've done this a while ago." She looked at her best friend who only nodded and Lilly reached out to take her hand.
Miley looked down at the sudden contact. Lilly's hand was warm and caused tingles to surge up through Miley's body, waves of Goosebumps spread across her arms and she shuddered involuntarily from her touch. Lilly bit her lip nervously and the breaths that she was attempting to draw into her shaking body were as dense as water, she was finding it difficult to gulp them down her already tight throat.
After a moment she continued, "I don't know where to begin. The night that you asked me to come to London with you, my parents and I had a talk." Lilly paused and she looked upwards as if searching for some inspiration or saviour. She found nothing and when she looked back down it took all of her courage to face Miley's deep blue eyes.
"I don't really know how to tell you this." Lilly said whilst ashamedly releasing a sob, "This is actually the hardest thing I've ever had to do." Tears began to fall from Lilly's eyes and she had to raise a shaking hand to brush them harshly away as she sniffed and shook.
Miley could not stand to watch her friend get herself into such a state and surged suddenly forward, wrapping her arms around Lilly and drawing her into the tightest hug. They stood like that for a couple of minutes and Miley watched the pod grow relentlessly higher, as it now overtook the Houses of Parliament, and she was able to look across a greater view of London in an increasingly more orange light. She could feel Lilly's body trembling as she held her tightly and tuned her body into the desperate beating of Lilly's heart against her own chest. Miley's pulse became faster as worry soon overcame her for Lilly and in fearful anticipation of what she was going to tell her.
Finally Lilly drew away but took both of Miley's hands into her own. She looked deeply into Miley's ocean blue eyes as if searching for the bottom, but she could never find it. With a great sigh and using the last of her courage, Lilly opened her mouth to speak once more.
"We're moving. We're moving to St Louis."
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Miley was standing completely still, almost as if she had been paralyzed but gradually her eyes widened and Lilly stood with tears falling gently down her face as she tentatively waited for the brunette's reaction.
"What?" Miley asked. The word came out barely more audible than a whisper and after a second she dropped Lilly's hands only to turn her back on her and walk to the other side of the pod. Miley looked down at the river below her as her heart crashed against her ribcage, her legs felt weak and she knew that they could buckle beneath her at any moment. Her whole body was trembling and she did not even try to prevent the tears that unashamedly wet her cheeks and dripped off her chin to the floor.
"I'm so so-sorry Miles," Lilly said whilst choking over the sobs that painfully wracked her throat. She could not bear the distance between them and her whole body was sensitive to the despairing pain which she had inflicted, electric within the claustrophobic atmosphere of their small pod.
It seemed to Lilly that an age had passed during the minute that Miley stood alone and gazed down below them. The wheel was still turning and they had not yet reached the highest point of their climb. The sunlight was stunning, now beaming through the glass in a warming orange-red colour; it bathed the city and the river beneath them, and seemingly embraced everything it touched to make it beautiful. As Miley turned round and gazed into Lilly's tear stricken face, she could not help but still appreciate the beauty of her brilliant eyes, as striking as the darkening blue sky above them, just as boundless yet more alive. Her hair was falling about her face and behind her in a radiance which burned all the brighter for having the sun's falling rays set it alight like fire. Lilly's pink lips were parted slightly and her body was shaking as she warily watched Miley, not knowing what her reaction would be and inwardly bracing herself, expecting the worst.
Miley instantly softened as love filled her every fibre, she desired nothing more now than to hold the blonde girl and tell her that everything was going to be alright. She crossed the pod without even being aware of the movement; her whole body was burning with such an intensity to be with her Lilly and to touch her that she did not notice anything else.
Lilly stood completely still as she had watched Miley, the brunette's face had been unreadable, all that Lilly could see was that same wild emotion in Miley's eyes which she had noticed those few other times during their holiday. As Miley approached her, time seemed to slow down for Lilly as she kept her eyes locked with Miley's, watching the wild storm which was battling within them, her emotions red hot and raw and Lilly felt her body tensing, unable to know what Miley was about to do.
As Miley drew Lilly into her arms and held her close, she felt the other girl's anxious body slowly relax and she raised her own arms to hold onto Miley. The two stood still, only breathing together, in their compartment as it came to the final spurt where it would reach its highest point. They were clinging to each other as they knew they were over the brink now and the hourglass was set, the last few grains of time that they had with one another were now running out. Miley held Lilly as closely to her as possible, willing them to become one being, yet she knew that this was impossible.
Lilly pressed their wet cheeks together as she moved her mouth to find Miley's ear. Barely able to speak above a whisper, she managed to murmur again, "Miley, I really am sorry. I didn't mean to not tell you for so long. It's been killing me inside deceiving you like this…"
Lilly trailed off as she felt Miley slowly shake her head before taking a steady breath which Lilly felt throughout Miley's body, they were so close that Lilly could sense everything.
"I love you." Miley whispered into Lilly's ear, knowing that Lilly would not understand just how much, but saying it because she needed to, "I love you." She said again, as the wheel went over the top and the girls began their descent. "I love you."
"I love you too Miley." Lilly whispered back, "You're my best friend in the whole world. And I'm so sorry."
Miley slowly drew away from their embrace to look at her properly again. Both girls had mirrored expressions, sadness filling their red eyes and cheeks that were glistening with tears. A few damp strands of hair were stuck to Miley's temples and Lilly gently raised her hand to brush them away from her face. Miley sighed at the relieving touch of Lilly's cool hands and closed her eyes in release from anxiety. She opened them again to find Lilly staring worriedly back at her with eyes full of concern and sorrow. Miley smiled, although she did not know why, and slipped an arm around her friend's waist, turning them back to face the window.
"Let's just watch the sunset, okay?" Miley said softly and they completed their descent in silence.
Miley was not entirely sure how they made it back across London to their hotel, all that she was aware of was Lilly and staying in contact with her or else she might lose her already. They returned to their hotel room to find an enormous box of Cadbury's chocolates on the table in the lounge.
"They're from your dad." Lilly said after reading the label.
Miley nodded and came to the slightly bitter conclusion that her father must have known before she did. He was obviously trying to cheer them up but Miley felt completely hollow, her big blue eyes empty as she stumbled into the dark bedroom and fell face-down onto the bed.
Lilly heard the gentle flump of her friend's body hitting the mattress and hovered on the other side of the door at a loss of what to do. Miley had been speechless for almost an hour now and the blonde was beginning to grow restless at what to do to help her. In her mind she furiously fought to find a solution or something that she could say which would make Miley feel better. She sighed in frustration at herself, it was always Miley who was the better friend in these situations, and she had always known the right thing to say to bring Lilly out of a mood whereas Lilly always found Miley more complicated. It was true that Lilly could bring Miley around with her good humour but in terms of dealing with emotional trauma, Miley was so much better at talking things through than Lilly who preferred to laugh them off.
Lilly swallowed down her anxiety and peered around the bedroom door. She squinted into the dark room until she picked out Miley's form, spread out over the bed with her head in a pillow. Lilly could just make out that her best friend's body was shaking slightly and with a gentle sigh; Lilly walked into the room and took a seat next to Miley on the bed.
Miley had not heard Lilly come in but within her sorrowful haze she felt the bed dip down slightly beside her and soothing hands burrow their way into her hair, gently kneading at her scalp and stroking the warm curls away. She shifted her head slightly in the damp pillow and turned to gaze blurrily up at Lilly through a layer of tears. Miley blinked and allowed the drops to fall down her soft cheeks whilst she stared up at Lilly.
"Hey." Lilly said softly, her gentle voice breaking through Miley's shell causing Miley to blink and then shift slowly onto her back. Lilly lowered her hands to her lap and looked anxiously at her friend.
"Hey." Miley replied and her lips curved into a sad smile. She outstretched her arms in a gesture which signaled to Lilly that she wanted her to come near. Lilly only too happily obliged her stricken friend and lay down with her on the bed. They were in their usual sleeping positions, yet lying in each other's places; Miley rested her hand on Lilly's waist whilst the blonde trailed her fingers once more through Miley's brown locks. They lay in silence as time dragged by, unknowing of how much time had passed and uncaring, all they wanted was each other's company.
Eventually, Lilly found her voice to speak once more. "Miley, I'm really sorry."
Miley looked at her friend closely, "Lilly, it's not your fault."
"I should've done something, I should have argued and screamed and fought my way out of going, but I didn't." Lilly sounded so defeated and sad that Miley shook her head adamantly on the pillow.
"No. That's not right Lilly. I know what's been going on in your family. I remember when your dad lost his job last time and everything went wrong for y'all. I know you didn't want to tell me what was going on at the time because it was too difficult but I could see that you were so hurt by it all." Miley was speaking strongly, her southern accent becoming thicker from sentiment and Lilly could almost feel the hot emotion in Miley's throat radiating from her. "Lilly, I don't want you to suffer again like you did the first time round and I understand that you don't want to either. I know this is going to be hard, but we're best friends, we can survive this."
"God Miley." Lilly said softly, "What did I ever do to deserve a friend like you?"
"Shut up." Miley said, but not viciously, and fearing that she had startled Lilly she squeezed her waist even tighter for a second, "Don't talk like that. I never thought that I deserved someone as patient and as good-humoured as you to follow me around all the time and bring me back to earth when I was being a drama queen. Shucks Lil, you put up with all the Amber and Ashley trauma with me and gave a dork from Tennessee a place in the school system. Without you," and tears lined her eyes once more, "I'd be sitting with the stinky geeks, there would be no confident Hannah Montana and I'd feel totally worthless." Miley shook slightly as her love for Lilly which had begun from the moment they became friends overcame her once more.
"Hey," Lilly said and made calming shushing noises until Miley had become more still. "Where would we be without each other?" She mused, acting strangely seriously as she shuffled closer to her friend. She breathed in Miley's scent and thought of how much she was going to miss her sassy brunette friend. Hannah Montana did not even come into this, Miley was the best friend she had ever had and the degree of loss that she was going to feel when she moved away was unfathomable.
Miley could feel the warmth seeping from Lilly through the bed sheets beneath them and moved herself a few desirable inches closer to her. Lilly smiled as Miley's forehead unwittingly touched her own before she remembered back to the early hours of Monday morning in which she had awoken to Miley's cozily sleeping on top of her. Mimicking Miley's stance earlier in the week, Lilly snuggled closer to Miley, raising her head onto Miley's gently rising and falling chest and wrapped her arm around her waist. Miley sighed contentedly and smiled into Lilly's hair. She pressed her lips into a kiss and warmly blessed the blonde's head, moving her lips soundlessly against Lilly's skin, crying out I love you with every inch of her being.
Lilly's warm body shifted slightly on top of Miley and squeezed her tightly, she felt surprisingly comfortable resting on top of her friend like this and very safely reassured. The two lay in silence, bathing in each other's warmth and filled with saddened love for one another. As sleep made their eyelids grow heavier and their minds became more muddled in thought, Lilly groggily managed to murmur an "I love you" to Miley before promptly falling asleep a small moment before the brunette.