Disclaimer: You get the point.

A/n: Thanks for the reviews, they're very much appreciated. Here's chapter eighteen up for you guys. Sorry for not following my weekly update policy. I've had a very busy week, but since all of my projects are handed in and done with, there is a chance that I will update sooner and more often. But there is also the possibility of me getting busier because of finals, but I'll try to not let that get in my way. Please read and review:D

Why Did Destiny Choose This?

Chapter 18

Will no longer drive me insane,

I must have been on the floor for hours, because by the time I had stepped out of the closet to get a bottle of vitamin water, I could see through the glass doors that the sun was high above the California sky, shining down onto the beach and the crashing ocean; causing the water to look like shimmering cerulean blue crystal, melted down into a liquid form. It almost looked like a massive bottle of swirled and shaken blue mouth wash. It's a great simile; right? But that's beside the point. The real point was that I had possible sat on my closet floor for about six hours doing absolutely nothing but thinking about the items I owned.

I looked around; not seeing where my dad had went. It was as if the whole entire house was empty.

"Daddy?" I yelled while standing in front of the refrigerator. When there was no response, I opened the cold door, and took out a bottle of bright pink, flavored water. As I put my hand onto the bottle, an imprint was left due to the condensation left of the outside of the plastic bottle. I closed the door, and twisted the bottle so that the top snapped off, and took a sip.

The water felt frigid cold as it slid down my throat. It felt so much better than the feeling of dryness, and the taste entirely wiped out the longing aftertaste from the toothpaste I had used earlier that morning.

I then closed the cap, and looked around for something, anything, to possibly take my mind off of thinking of things to pack. I knew I probably shouldn't be shirking the task off, but it was only going to be for a while or so; no more, no less. Besides, I couldn't concentrate. Something that distracted me for a while helped me to get back onto focus when I returned to the issue.

As I walked around my house, I soon found that there really wasn't that much to do. I looked out the window and saw the beautiful flow and currents of the ocean, being hit with sunlight. There were colors of blue, turquoise, and flashes of white from the glimmering reflection of sunlight. Something about the tranquility of the scene dragged me into the depths of the ocean; as wave after wave pulled back into the mass of water, I felt myself take another step closer to the beach and its white sanded shores.

Before I knew it, my bare feet were touching the warm, smooth sand of the beach, and I was headed towards the crashing shore, where the sand was being hit vigorously with waves and the crystal ocean water. As soon as I felt the boarder line of where the damp sand started, I sat down in a way that let my body be dry, yet my feet could be dipped into the ocean when the waves washed up onto the shore.

The water was a refreshing contrast to the warm, almost hot sand. As the water came up the sand and reached the tip of my feet, I placed my hands into the water. Every part of me just seemed to calm down. I bent my knees and turned my head so that my knees acted like somewhat of a pillow.

The bright sun felt warm against my bare shoulders. The turquoise spaghetti strap tank top that I was wearing slightly let in the heat of the sun, warming parts of my back; but not so much that I was burning. My hair collected at the top of my shoulders, draping downwards, protecting my face from much heat.

I closed my eyes as relaxation took over me. The rush of the waves rushed up and teased the tips of my fingers and the tops of my feet before returning back into the ocean. The sound of bubbling and running water filled my ears and sent a sense of serenity throughout my body.

A light breeze swept by, causing a mist of salt water to spray against places where I had exposed skin; such as my face, my arms, shoulders, and shins.

As the tide started to rise, I could feel the ocean's water rise from the base of my feet, to the start of my ankles. I opened my eyes to find that the water was indeed escalating. I looked out to the ocean and saw that the sun was now in a different position as opposed to before. I sighed, conscious that I had to get back soon. Either Lily or my dad would be at the house soon, possibly wondering about my whereabouts.

I took my hands and put them at my sides, supporting me as I tried to get up. The sand clung to my palms as I stood up. I dusted my hands; rubbing them vigorously against each other. Once my hands were close to clean, I dusted off my back and bottom before heading towards the direction of the house.

My feet brushed against the sand as I walked. I looked at the floor I drifted over. Step after step, I left an imprint into the ground beneath me. Soon, I found myself stepping onto the familiar deck that led to my back doors, and eventually into my house.

As I looked up, I found that the house was the same as it was, when I had left. No one was home yet, and Lily hadn't come by.

I checked the clock on the t.v. to find that it was four thirty. I glanced at the counter table, seeing that I had left my bottle of water on the table. I picked it up, and opened the top to take a drink. Before my lips could touch the rim of the bottle, the doorbell rang. I looked at the door, seeing a familiar shadow cast upon the shades. I placed the bottle back down onto the table, and headed towards the door.

"Hey, Lily." I greeted.

"Hey, Miley." She said while walking into the house. "So, what have you packed so far? You know, anything that you don't want doesn't have to stay here. I mean, you could always give them to a very close friend wh--" I stopped her knowing that she was referring to herself.

"I know Lily. Don't worry about it." I said in a chuckling manner. She smiled."And to answer your question, I didn't start packing anything." She dropped her jaw. "I couldn't." I finished.

"Miley, I talked to you like…" She paused. "Hours ago. How could you not have anything packed since then?" She asked. I shrugged honestly not knowing the answer myself.

"I couldn't. I couldn't think of what to bring, and what to leave behind." I said calmly, unlike Lily who was still standing with her jaw dropped. I chuckled. "It's no big deal Lily. Calm down. I'll get around to it soon enough." I implied.

"You said you wanted to leave within a week, Miley. If you want to leave, you have to start getting ready." I pursed my lips together knowing that she was right. In a sense I suppose I just wasn't all that ready to leave yet. I didn't know where to begin. Everything was just so…overwhelming. I had too much to do, with too little time.

She smirked in an 'I had a feeling this would be a big project' sort of tone if there was such thing as one.

I returned my expression by pouting as if I was saying 'I knew that, but I didn't know it would be this hard.'

She smirked once again, but this time in a way that seemed like 'You really need to learn.'

I tilted the corner of my mouth suggesting that I meant 'I guess I do.'

After that, I led Lily up to my room, where the dozens of boxes were still scattered about in various places of my room. Lily placed the black polka dotted tote she used for work, onto my bed, which was still left turned over and messy.

"At least you've actually been thinking about what to pack instead of ignoring the fact that you had to pack." She said with her hands resting on her hips and as she looked around the room. I leaned to the side with my elbow resting on my hip bone; my hand picking at the dry skin on my lips. She turned around and rolled her eyes.

"For the hundredth time, don't do that; it's a bad habit." She said as she slapped my hand from my mouth. I straightened up and crossed my arms over my chest.

"So-rry, mother." I said sarcastically. It was weird how over the years, Lily had turned into the person that took care of me instead of vice versa. It always used to be me making sure that she was okay during rough times, but now, it was like we had switched positions in our friendship. Now, it was like she was guarding me, protecting me, from the harms of the world. Just like I used to do.

Lily rolled her eyes and turned back around and started circling the room with her hands at her sides as if she was examining everything in sight. Her eyes traced over the outlines of objects and the shadows of them, closely looking at every detail of every item I had on for displaying in my room.

When at last she was done, she looked at me straight in the eyes.

"So, where should we begin?" She asked with her hands together behind he back. I pursed my lips together and shrugged. She rolled her eyes in disbelief. "There has to be something worth some sort of significance that you really want to take with you!" I nibbled on the corner of my bottom lip, concentrating hard on what there was to bring with me. Slowly, I walked around my room as Lily had done before. I traced my eyes over everything I owned and every little speck of dust the accumulated on the tops of shelves and drawers.

At last my eyes fixed onto various large books scattered about hiding under my flowing yellow bed skirt. A specific corner jutted out from the mass of yellow cotton. Their covers were weaved out of some sort of twine, like the kind you would find beach mats to be made of. I bent my knees (which cracked yet again) onto the floor in front of where the massive pile of book were.

I slowly trailed my fingers over the twine of one of the books. The twine felt like thin, thin rope. The texture of the book felt vaguely familiar. I was eager to see what was in the books, and at the same time some feeling inside told me to do otherwise. I shook the feeling away and eagerly reached for the books and pulled at them until they lay before me. There were words that were the title of the books that jutted out from the already textured cover in bold foam letters. I stared down knowing that it would've been a better idea to have followed my intuitions.

"Middle School Memories?" Lily asked as she picked a book from its place on the floor. I nodded, not taking my eyes off the empty spot on the floor where the book was a mere few seconds ago. It felt like so long ago since I remembered flipping through the scrapbook. At last, I glanced around at the other books on the floor. There were about four more. All of them were about the size of two middle school text books combined.

I trailed my fingers over the title of one book. High School Memories. There was a small opening which allowed you to frame a picture in that spot. In that frame, was a picture of Lily, Oliver, and me; each with their arm draped over the other's shoulder. We stood in the hallway of the high school smiling ear to ear.I cracked a small smile in a way which I only had to tilt the corner of my mouth into somewhat of a smile. There were so many times in high school. The best times to be exact. The times where I wished I could rewind back to and actually tell people things that I've always wanted to say. Things like…well, you know. Instead of now where I was sitting in my room, trying to pack, regretting not saying anything earlier.

Then there was a book called: College Memories. It was basically the same thing except on the cover; we were in front of the college campus instead of in a high school hallway. I pushed past the book with those thoughts not so old. I really had no need to be looking through them, especially because I still had them fresh in my head.

I sighed and pushed the book aside to reveal another book. This tile the title read: Lily. There was a picture of her from middle school, with her signature green beanie. It was a close up picture of just her head. Plastered on her face was a huge, dorky grin. I smiled.

"No way do you still have that." said Lily in disbelief as she looked up from the pages of Middle School Memories. I looked up to see that she was half way through the book.

"Apparently…I do." I said in a 'You better believe it' tone. She showed an expression that said 'Don't get smart with me missy.' I laughed and returned my attention to the book, and slowly I began flipping through the pages of the book. There were pictures of me and her, and sometimes just of her on her skateboard or something. Behind every picture was yet another memory from the past. Behind each memory was the thought of that moment in my head that had been hidden. It was like finding a dusty old box in the attic that you haven't touched in years.

As I finished I looked around to scan through another book. If there's one of Lily, there has to be one of Oliver too. My thoughts proved to be correct when I spotted a book in bold letters that showed his name. I felt a slight flutter in my stomach at the sight of his picture in the frame. It was once again from middle school. It was funny how he somewhat looked the same, yet over the years he had changed so much. I traced my fingers over his face. The picture was yet again another close up picture. He wore a dorky smile and it lit up the entire cover of the book, making it look totally different from all of the others. I felt an ear to ear smile creep onto my face suddenly.

I opened the page to find the first picture, a picture of me and Oliver in high school. I was next to him with my lips on his cheek. His expression showed something along the lines of 'Ehhh?' and 'Eww!' I started laughing hysterically, but my laughter eventually faded when I realized that I would never be the girl who made his heart flutter every time she kissed him. It would only be like a girl, giving her big brother a quick peck on the cheek saying 'thanks for being there for me all the time.'

I felt sadness come over my body. I closed the book, and turned it upside down so all that faced me was the twine cover of the book. I bit on the top of my lip and glanced away, trying to make the pain stop, but all that it did was grow, and grow, and grow to the point where I wanted to look for Oliver and blurt out what I've wanted to tell him for what seemed like forever. At the same time, I was conscience to the fact that it was impossible. He was probably on his way to Venice this very moment…with Becca…his wife…

As he said in his vows she was "The girl that makes me see life differently…" his "life long best friend." His words rang through my head just like the many memories of him. Just like every other memory…

Every other stupid, unforgettable memory…

A/n: So that was my first update in almost a week and a half. I'm sorry that it took so long to write. I think it needs more detail, but I really wanted to get this out. So please review and I'll try to update very, very soon:D