'They Say That Good Things Take Time' – Chapter 13

"Lilly!" Miley shouted down the beach as the image of the retreating blonde's back came into focus, "Lilly, wait!"

Lilly stopped in her tracks and waited as she heard the soft thumps of Miley's running footsteps increase in volume as she drew nearer to her across the sand. Miley came to a panting stop behind her and doubled over briefly as she attempted to catch her breath. Lilly was standing still, her back turned against Miley whilst her mind raced with thoughts and questions which seemed to hurdle over one another before racing back round again to stumble and fall over each other once more.

Miley raised a hand to Lilly's shoulder and gently squeezed it in an attempt to get the blonde girl to turn around. Lilly jumped slightly from the surprise contact before she slowly turned to face Miley. The brunette's hair was still as curly as she had always remembered it, although looking slightly dishevelled after her run as Lilly gratefully gazed upon its natural state, no longer disguised by the Hannah wig. Miley's eyes were flashing a brilliant blue and Lilly was able to see them clearly now that the barrier of the tinted glasses had been removed. They were filled with confusion, but looked soft in the pale light of the full moon that they had to see by. Her lips still retained their luscious fullness and were pouted slightly as Miley came to her full height, with hands on her hips, a couple of inches taller than Lilly. The singer's chest was still rising and falling more dramatically than normal as her body recovered from her unexpected sprint. Lilly smiled inwardly as she fondly gazed upon the memorable features of her friend; it was still the same Miley, but something was different.

"Lilly," Miley spoke first, "what the hell are you doing here?" There was a slight note of anger in her voice and Lilly remembered that she had not told Miley she was coming and then she ran away.

"I came as a birthday surprise." Lilly admitted.

"What? Really?" Miley seemed slightly happier and her lips spread into a familiar smile, which made Lilly feel suddenly guilty for acting so strangely.

"Yeah." Lilly shrugged and shrank slightly from remorse.

"But, why did you run away?" Miley probed softly.

Lilly shrugged before she turned to look into Miley's eyes, which were filled with unasked questions and a slight tremor of dread that only added to Lilly's creeping suspicions.

"I ran away because I was scared." Lilly announced lamely and closely watched for a response. Miley's reaction was guarded and she remained expressionless whilst her eyes coolly studied Lilly's face.

Lilly allowed herself to take a couple of breaths before she continued, "Actually, I came to see your concert earlier tonight."

"Oh." Miley said gently. She felt both dejected that Lilly had not told her and frightened for the reason she had run away.

Lilly nodded lightly, "Yeah." She rubbed the back of her head as she began to feel uncomfortable. After seeing Miley perform tonight, she knew that something was definitely wrong, but after not seeing her best friend for a few months and barely finding time to talk, she felt slightly wrong about looking into her personal issues. "Erm Miley," she bravely continued, "what's happened?"

Miley blinked nervously and her hands curled into balls, which she squeezed as if to reassure herself.

"It's just," Lilly took a breath, "you didn't seem right on stage tonight."

Miley cleared her throat and coughed as she took a few steps away from Lilly and turned her attention to the dark ocean behind the blonde.

"Well, I guess I just haven't been feeling myself recently." She stated quietly and Lilly immediately pitied her.

"Since I moved away?" Lilly asked.

"Yeah." Miley nodded gently and wrapped her arms around herself for comfort. "It's been so hard here without you." Miley continued unexpectedly and her brilliant eyes jolted Lilly slightly as they connected. "I've missed you so much." She finished huskily before looking frightened and turning back to the water.

Lilly's heart rate began to quicken as her mind flickered over the distraught emails and the long moments of silence during their rare phone calls. Miley seemed to be consumed with grief and Lilly did not know how to heal her. The pressure of being missed to such an extent had really gotten to her over the past month, making her reluctant in replying, and then Miley had sent her that song…

Lilly frowned slightly as she remembered and the reason for her running away returned to the forefront of her mind as she looked on at the fragile Miley standing before her.

"Miley?" She asked, and on cue Miley's head snapped up as she gave Lilly her full attention. "You sent me a CD, with a song on it."

"You got that?" Miley half-whispered, her body was starting to tremble in anticipation of what Lilly was going to say next, and from fear as she remembered the context of the song.

"Yes, of course I did." Lilly replied, "But why did you send it to me?"

"What?"

"Well, I know that it's about saying goodbye so at first I thought it was about me." Lilly was speaking quickly, as if out of fear that Miley would stop her, "But then I also realised that it was really intense, that the person the song was about was thought about all the time, almost obsessed over. Then you talked about kissing! So I thought it must not be about me…" Lilly laughed nervously and her eyes flickered over Miley so quickly and searchingly that Miley thought she was going to crack.

"Well," Miley stuttered, unsure of what to say and thrown completely off guard, "I-I don't know. I thought you would like it."

"I do like it Miley, I never said that I didn't like it…" Lilly trailed off as she sought for what she was really trying to say.

"Then what's the problem? Why are you making such a big deal out of a stupid song?" Miley reacted defensively.

"I just don't understand!" Lilly almost shouted at Miley in a sudden burst of clarity, as she ran her hands through her hair which was loose and running wildly over her shoulders, "Why would you write that song and then send it to me? It just sounded like something that you would send a guy that you really like." She finished in a quieter tone and the eyes that met Miley's were searching and troubled.

Miley gasped and she faltered, it seemed like the moment of truth that she had always dreaded had finally arrived, but surely she could put Lilly off the scent for a little longer.

"I-I don't know okay. I guess you leaving was something that sent me out of my head. And okay, I know the words were radical and us kissing accidentally that one time obviously meant nothing." She tried to state reasonably, "It was not what I meant. Sorry."

Lilly did not seem to be convinced and, unable to look at Miley, turned her back on the brunette to face the ocean. She did not speak for a moment as she allowed the sound of the waves crushing the sand beneath to lull her into a sense of security. She had missed home more than she had allowed herself to, but being here with Miley, on this night, was suddenly harder than anything else she had ever done. The tang of the sea air in her nostrils, filling her head with a heavy sense of remembrance allowed her mind to turn back to a few hours before. Lilly sighed reluctantly as she continued with her back to Miley.

"What about the other song?"

"Sorry?" Miley repeated. Her voice was hoarse from panic and she felt her throat tighten suddenly as Lilly was delving deeper, as if gouging out an already open wound.

"The other song. The one you sang tonight." Lilly repeated quietly.

There was a pause between the two girls as Miley crossed her arms in front of her, wrapping them tightly around her narrow body as she stared relentlessly at the back of Lilly's head, trying to read her mind and decipher her feelings.

"It was just a song about missing someone. That's all Lilly." Miley said and finished with a careless shrug, which she forgot the blonde could not see.

Lilly cleared her throat, "Just a song Miley?" She turned back around again, speaking quietly and her eyes stung Miley's own as they made the contact, which the brunette had previously been craving, yet now she felt frightened.

"Yeah, just a song. Like all my other Hannah songs."

"No." Lilly stated. She took a hesitant step closer to Miley. "They weren't just songs. They all had a purpose, a reason." She fiddled with her hands in front of her body as her mind sought back to the lyrics that Miley had sang so sorrowfully earlier that evening. "All that's left is all these ashes… And where does the love go? There's so much feeling in those words Miley."

Lilly's hands spread open in front of her as if appealing to Miley to have further answers for her. Miley was silent, her face was expressionless and the only response that Lilly got from her was from the stormy emotion within the oceanic eyes. Lilly frowned slightly as she tried to piece together more sections of the song that had stood out so frighteningly for her. Finally the chorus that was different from the rest of the song came back to her mind, and it seemed strikingly more vivid to her than even Miley, glowing underneath one hundred lights on the stage.

"If you don't want to tell me you love me babe… just know I'm gonna have to walk away. I'll be big enough for both of us to say, be happy."

Miley looked down at the sand as she heard Lilly robotically stumble over the words of the song which she had spent precious mournful hours writing.

"It sounds like a love song Miley." Lilly said.

Miley felt rising anger flush her cheeks and her eyes darkened. She loved the girl standing before her more than the words of either song could ever express and she hated herself for making their friendship suddenly awkward now that Lilly was coming closer to reaching that inevitable realisation.

"Well it is! Okay?" She burst out suddenly, her emotions wild, causing her to heart soar and pound her chest at the same time. She was so overwhelmed by the shocking surge of feelings that she felt as if she was going to be sick. Her hands were trembling while she ran them nervously through her hair, pushing it back off her face and unwillingly letting Lilly see all of her for the first time ever. She felt suddenly naked, alone and piteously fragile.

"About me?" Lilly whispered.

"Yes." Miley finally conceded.

Lilly was shocked into silence and swayed from the brunt of Miley's admission. She was so stunned that Miley could ever feel that way about her that she gasped and put her hand to her chest where she felt her heart fluttering wildly beneath it. Her soul was reaching out to the broken girl in front of her, but her mind reined her in and kept her in check as she felt astounded by something so great, yet Miley had never told her.

"What? B-but how? And why?" She stuttered out as her eyes widened and she feverishly joined Miley in feeling stricken and torn apart. Their world had been turned upside-down for the second time that year and secretly Lilly was beginning to feel like she never actually knew Miley at all.

Miley was feeling helpless and spread her hands out hopelessly in front of her. Her blue eyes were appealing to the blonde with a great, consuming sadness as her heart called out to her, driven into a beating anguish as she tried to stem the tides of emotion. "I don't know why, or how. It just happened! I love you Lilly. I love you. More than I ever thought it would be possible to love another person, more than I ever knew I would. And more painfully than a girl should love another girl." Miley's voice was cracking underneath the pressure of immeasurable feeling that she had just admitted for Lilly.

"For how long?" Lilly asked quietly, wincing inwardly as she feared the answer. She felt like she was stepping into the unknown with Miley now, everything was brand new and glimmering with hidden dread. Miley seemed suddenly changed, she looked different now that the veil had been drawn back and as she stared at Lilly with such frank honesty, Lilly felt as if her own skin was burning from the hot touch of Miley's raw desire.

"I don't know. I think, in some way, I have always loved you. I just never realised what kind of love it was until we were probably about fifteen." Miley replied softly.

Lilly nodded and she swallowed in an attempt to loosen up her dry throat. She watched Miley in silence, noticing how the girl shifted awkwardly in front of her on the sand. Miley was hunched over slightly and holding herself as if in an attempt to prevent her body from breaking apart. It was only her blue eyes which gave away everything about how she was feeling, their gaze was so fierce and devotion was directed intently at Lilly, secretly willing her to feel the same.

Lilly did not know, in all honesty, how she felt. She had never looked at Miley in that way, she had never thought that it was possible to look at her like that. Miley had always been her best friend and she had been closer to Lilly than anyone else in her family or tight friendship circles. The two were inseparable and understood each other so completely that Lilly had often contemplated amusedly over whether they were actually soul mates. She had not realised then just how close to the truth she had been and, now that she was on the beach with Miley in her time of need, built a mental wall against the other crowding thoughts, which called out to her in strange reminders of times when Miley was so obviously in love with her, yet Lilly had not noticed.

"I'm sorry." Miley choked out and the words sounded more like a sob as they were closely followed by brimming tears.

"I just can't believe it." Lilly said, and it was true. After all the years of knowing Miley and never realising that she felt so strongly about her, it just seemed unreal.

"Well, it's true. And I can't hide that from you anymore. It hurt so much not to speak about it, but now I think it hurts even more to talk about it. To stand here in front of you, feeling my heart beating so painfully with love for you and knowing that you'll never feel the same." Miley was speaking quietly but emotion strung through her voice, making it strong and clear. She did not bother to brush away the tears that ran down her cheeks but stoically let them flow and did not tear her fiery gaze away from Lilly's face.

"God." Lilly uttered. A part of her wanted to turn and run away once more, in an attempt to escape her responsibilities, but then another part, the greater part of her that loved Miley, stilled her surging thoughts and she walked toward her.

Miley flinched slightly as the skater approached; she had feared that Lilly would run away again, but the sight of her approaching made her tremble and cower. At the feeling of Lilly's comfortable arms wrapping themselves around her body, and the familiar scent of her hair filling the air around Miley and clouding her misery, she could not help but melt, sobbing, into the other girl's presence. Lilly hushed and soothed her, rubbing her hands up and down Miley's back to still her as she had done on many other occasions before hand. Miley felt so small underneath the starry heavens that she sank, trembling, into the sand below. Lilly crouched down beside her friend and slowly pushed back the long, damp strands of hair that had collected on Miley's face. She looked into the eyes which were glistening from the residing tears within them, but Lilly did not know what to do other than these comforting motions. She adored Miley and still loved her more than almost everything else, but this wrenching feeling that Miley had secretly housed about Lilly for so long had altered everything and secretly frightened Lilly, although she did not know why.

Eventually, Lilly managed to coax Miley into standing and, holding her hand, walked silently back to the house with her. When she let them in the back door, by the light that was still on, she could see that Miley was a pitiable sight. Her cheeks were pink and blotchy and her eyes had swollen slightly from the amount of tears she had cried that night. In this exposing brightness, Lilly really noticed that Miley had become thinner during the time that she had been away, yet her brilliant eyes glowed brighter than ever, set alight again by Lilly's mere presence.

Robbie Ray quickly got up from his position on the couch that he had taken up when Miley had earlier bolted out of the house. His eyes widened in surprise as they cast over Lilly who was looking scared and sorrowful. She did not talk to him and he did not speak to her as he ran his eyes over his daughter, and in that instant Lilly realised that he also knew the truth about Miley's feelings for her. The blonde skater suddenly felt uncomfortable and ashamedly looked down at the floor as if Robbie Ray had scolded her.

"Lilly." He said in wonderment as his mind raced over why his daughter was in such a state. Miley's own eyes looked up to meet his and he bit his lip as he tried to decide what to do. "You better get upstairs bud." He said softly to his daughter before looking at Lilly sadly once more and walking into his office.

Lilly walked with Miley up to her room, and watched from the doorway as the brunette sat down on the edge of her bed, fiddled with her hands nervously and looked up at Lilly with piercing eyes.

"So what happens now?" Miley asked quietly.

Lilly blinked before replying as normally as she could, "Well, I've got to fly home again tomorrow, so I guess not a lot can happen, because we don't have much time to hang out."

Miley nodded and pointedly looked to where her diary had fallen onto the floor in Lilly's haste to get away earlier that evening.

"How much of that did you read?" She asked flatly, her voice temporarily void of any emotion.

"I read that you missed me." Lilly replied honestly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been nosy or read something so private to you," she openly cringed and Miley wrinkled her nose at the sight, "but I missed you too. So much. If that's any consolation." Lilly finished feeling uncomfortable and stupid.

A ghost of a smile lit up Miley's drained face and her eyes twinkled slightly as she fondly regarded her best friend. "I'm glad." She responded dryly, her voice trembling with a touch of her southern drawl.

Lilly felt the corners of her own mouth twitch as she gauged Miley's reaction and her heart warmed at the sound of her southern accent, which she had secretly obsessed over the moment that she first heard Miley talk.

"Do you wanna watch a film or something?" Miley asked nervously, her eyes flickering over Lilly and bracing herself for a negative answer.

"Sure," Lilly said, "I'd love to. We need to catch up anyway, it's been too long." She smiled.

And just like that, things seemed to be normal between the two girls. As Miley chose a random chic movie which soon appeared on her television screen and the pair sat with arms resting against one another for comfort, it was as if things had never changed. Miley still felt the tingling sensation which always came over her whenever any part of Lilly came into contact with her body, whilst Lilly revelled in finally being able to make up for lost time with her best friend.

As the film went on and one day turned suddenly into the next, Miley felt exhausted as all of the nights of staying up and thinking of Lilly seemed to dissolve as the object of her desire was temporarily in her life once more. She felt herself begin to succumb to sleep and her head drooped onto Lilly's shoulder. Lilly smiled to herself as she felt Miley's breath against her neck and then had to suppress a giggle when the songstress snorted in her sleep. Lilly took this moment as her cue to gently shake the sleeping girl into waking so that she could get ready for bed. Miley woke up with a puzzled expression which creased her features but, on seeing Lilly's smiling face when she came back to consciousness, smiled and settled into a comfortable position underneath her covers.

Lilly sat on the edge of the bed, watching Miley apparently drift off to sleep. She bit her lip nervously as she regarded her friend before slowly easing herself up off the bed to turn to the door. She jumped a little when she felt Miley's hand wrap itself around her wrist and she looked back to the bed.

"Lilly," Miley mumbled softly, "please stay."

Lilly nodded gently and carefully climbed into bed next to Miley who was already half-asleep. The brunette managed to open her eyes momentarily as Lilly lay down beside her and shuffled slightly in bed as she got comfortable upon the familiar mattress. Miley then curled up next to Lilly's side and at once fell into a deep sleep.

Lilly, however, was feeling more troubled and remained untouched by slumber for a little while further. She turned her sky-blue eyes to the sleeping girl beside her and felt her heartbeat increase slightly as she remembered everything that had happened that night. A lot had passed in the space of a few hours and she sighed to herself as she stared at her dearest friend who she had unknowingly tortured for the past few years.

Reluctantly Lilly allowed memories to come back of times when she should have realised that Miley loved her. Matt Marshall, one of Lilly's few crushes, was a key example of this and the blonde cringed inwardly as she realised that Miley had been in considerable pain as she dressed Lilly in girly clothes for the benefit of this young adolescent male.

"Come on Lilly, get out of my closet and show me the outfit!" Fifteen year-old Miley barked at her uncompromising friend.

"No way Miley! I look like something that threw up on Amber and Ashley."

"Aw come on Lils, I'm sure you don't look that bad."

Lilly walked out of Miley's secret Hannah closet and did a reluctant pose for her best friend. Miley's eyes widened and her voice caught in her throat as her tomboyish friend looked positively stunning in feminine clothes. Miley's eyes darted over Lilly's newly revealed curves that she only previously got to admire when the two stripped off at the beach. The golden hair was tamed and framed Lilly's cherub face to perfection, which was made up with the appropriate touches of natural make-up, enough to emphasize her beautiful blue eyes and make her lips ever so tempting.

Miley's mouth fell open slightly and she had to shut it quickly whilst Lilly shuddered at the sight of her new self in a floor-length mirror. At this point, Miley realised that she could no longer deny her feelings for the blonde. They were as real as the girl was herself, standing only two feet away and glowing with beauty.

"Lilly, you look really hot." Miley could not prevent herself from announcing before her cheeks flushed slightly as Lilly turned round.

"You really think so Miles?" Lilly had asked.

"Honey, just you wait 'till Matt sees you! He is gonna want to have you for lunch."

"Miley, you were checking me out!" Lilly whispered to her oblivious friend, as she remembered Miley's almost too enthusiastic reaction to the new outfit. Lilly's face glowed with an amused expression as she glanced over at the sleeping girl once more who shifted slightly closer to Lilly as she dreamed. Lilly smiled as she suddenly thought about all of the other selfless things that Miley had ever done for her, and now she finally knew the real reason why Miley always made her feel inadequate as a friend. She was always so comforting and so selfless, although she did mess up from time to time, and all because she loved Lilly and wanted to give her everything, even if it was only in secret.

Lilly sighed and wondered to herself how both girls ever got to be so unlucky. Lilly truly wished that Miley could have fallen for some guy, even if it was Oliver, so that she was able to be her truly generous self with them and enjoy life to the full for the past three years. All of the love songs that Hannah ever wrote must have been directed at her and suddenly they made sense, after Lilly had changed the gender specific lyrics of course.

Lilly realised that she was at a crossroads in her life, the dawning of Miley's truth had changed things but not the fact that they were best friends and had been since before Miley had discovered that she was in love with Lilly. Even though Lilly suddenly felt burdened and guilty that she unknowingly hurt Miley so much, she could not imagine a life without her and pledged that she would not run away again.

Eventually Lilly drifted into an uneasy sleep, often awaking to find Miley sleeping on peacefully beside her as she stirred from unsettling dreams that she could not remember.

The following morning, Miley woke late and sunlight was warmly glowing behind her curtains. She opened her eyes with a smile spread across her features and turned her head to look at Lilly. The space beside her in the bed was empty, however, and no trace of Lilly remained. Feeling suddenly frightened, Miley sat bolt upright and looked over toward the door which was standing slightly ajar. She inwardly cursed as she remembered that they shut it in the night. Lilly was gone.

Miley buried her face into her hands and began to tremble. No tears emerged from her dry eyes this morning and with great effort she pushed back her long hair from her face. Her vivid blue eyes turned to her bedside table to look at their photograph as if to find an answer as to why Lilly would leave, when they fell upon a folded piece of paper that was leaning against it.

With a shaking hand, Miley reached slowly across and picked it up to unfold it. She recognised it as a torn out page from her diary and the pen was the same colour ink as the one that she wrote her own entries in. Her eyes immediately recognised Lilly's slightly scruffy and slanting handwriting as she took a deep breath and started to read.

Miley,

I'm really sorry that I didn't stay to see you this morning but I had to leave and as I write this you are still really fast asleep! I tried to disturb you without intending to… if you know what I mean? But you just wouldn't wake up! I've never liked waking up anyone so I just kind of left you and I'm sorry if that was the wrong decision to make.

About what happened last night and all the stuff that's going on between us… I don't care. I love you Miley, you're the best friend that I've ever and will ever have and nothing can stand in front of that. I wanted to tell you all of this last night but I can never put into words just how much you mean to me.

I hope you didn't think I'd run away again and I hope that you find this note before you get yourself into a state and worry that I hate you and have left you or something. That's crazy talk Smiley, and you're stuck with me.

Anyway, I gotta go or I won't make my flight.

TTYL, I promise.

Love you,

Lilly.

A/N: And that's all she wrote... aaaw... I bet you're all wondering what happens next? Well there's still a bit more of their journey to go but it's planned out so we'll get there eventually. Thanks for the great reviews, I'm glad that you were all so eager for this chapter! The next one is about halfway there but it's a bit tricksy to write. Until a bit later this week... I think that will be about right for posting.