Lily said nothing more, but rather nodded her head in agreement and then turned around so that she was no longer looking at me – Lily was avoiding my glance at all costs. From the way she turned her head I could see the back of her bare head clearly. Lily's hair was in two braids, as it had been styled for a while, but at the bottom of her head near her neck the hair was shaved, and I could see that the rest of her blond locks were getting thinner. The long scar that covered the space looked as if it was healing nicely, but I could tell that the stitches had only just been taken out. There was a line of deep red and surrounding it was a neat line of purple stitches. The skin around the scar was a pink colour – the scar was just hidden by her hat and that had been why I hadn't seen it before.

I started to say something to fill in the space in between us, but as I thought about it I'd decided Lily would probably no longer want to talk about her brain tumour. Instead, I sighed and picked up the book that had been lying out in open. I closed the book and placed it underneath the table where another shelf of books sat. As I was already up, I decided to pick up Lily's hat that had been placed there when Lily showed me her scar; I figured Lily might want to hide again. I slowly walked over to Lily, afraid that I might do something wrong, and placed the hat on her lap. She gave me a quick smile and then turned around to lie on the couch so that she was facing the pillows – there was nothing else I could do.

Mr. Stewart, who walked into the living room again after exiting while Lily confessed, came back into the room with a blanket and placed it on Lily who I now noticed, was shivering despite the warm Californian weather. Mr. Stewart smiled to me once he was done and mouthed Lily's Fine, as if he could read my mind. I nodded my head, even though I was still a little worried, and joined Miley's dad in the kitchen to get a drink of water.

"Miley still getting dressed?" I asked Miley's dad in a whisper so that I wouldn't wake Lily, who had fallen asleep once again. Mr. Stewart nodded his head.

"You might want to make yourself comfy," he added in his whisper, leaning in close to me so that he could lower his voice even more, "We'll be waiting in the car for Miley when it's time to go."

"Why's Miley so worried about how she's going to look anyhow?" I asked, peering at Lily quickly, "We're just going out to dinner."

Mr. Stewart shrugged his shoulders and took a drink from his cup – like me he didn't understand a girls mind. He and I were perfectly fine with going out to dinner in what we were wearing now. Lily, who was still dressed in her orange quarter sleeved shirt and jean capris, would probably think the same.

"How sick is she Mr. S?" I asked in a whisper that was so quiet even I could hardly hear it. But Mr. Stewart had understood.

"Honestly?" He asked me, motioning for me to sit down on a chair. I nodded, and propped my elbows up on the countertop to listen, "Lily's doing better, but doctors are worrying about whether the radiation therapy is working. If they continue the therapy, the brain tumour might get worse still. Lily's parents are talking to the hospital about starting Chemo instead, but then Lily will be out of school more and she needs to finish up the year."

"Finals aren't for another two months," I whispered back. "Lily can catch up on the work."

Mr. Stewart shrugged his shoulders and took another glance at Lily, "We'll have to see." He told me before he walked out of the kitchen and to his work space in the other room.

I sighed again, now that I was in silence. From the couch I could hear Lily take a breath in and then out, and then from outside I could hear a muffled version of Jackson and Cooper's conversation. They came through the door loudly, but I warned them to be quiet before they could wake Lily up.

"What time are you guys going out for dinner?" Jackson asked in a whisper as he and Cooper walked towards me.

I looked at my watch, "In about an hour." Jackson nodded and said nothing so I added, "What are you guys going to do tonight?"

"Watch a movie," Jackson told me. "And we're probably going to get a pizza."

"Mhm," Miley said loudly as she walked down the stairs – of course she didn't know Lily was asleep. "Pizza sounds really good right now." Simultaneously Jackson and I held up one finger to our lips to make Miley be quiet. When Miley noticed she looked over at Lily and nodded her head, she smiled at me and then went to get herself a soda from the fridge.

"Lily's been really tired today," Miley told us in a whisper as she came towards where we were all sitting. "Should we wake her up soon?"

I shrugged, "You'd have to ask you're dad."

Miley nodded, taking a sip of her coca-cola. She didn't budge from where she was; I guess Miley was going to let Lily sleep for a little bit longer – I agreed with this. The last thing we needed was a grumpy Lily. "I wonder what's making Lily so tired," Miley observed. Radiation, I shrugged lying about what I knew.

Before I said anything else I checked to make sure Lily was breathing – in case. I sighed silently as Lily's chest rose and then fell as she took in a deep breath. "She probably stayed up late or something," I lied.

Miley and I had to wait another half an hour before Lily stirred awake. We were both sitting on the kitchen counter playing BS when Lily swung her legs over the side of the couch and looked over at us. I smiled, and Lily gave one back but didn't attempt to get up from the couch. I noticed that Lily shivered again, like she had when she'd first fallen asleep, and pulled the covers back over herself. I turned back to Miley who was just noticing Lily awake.

"Good afternoon sleepy head," Miley announced loudly, as she was now allowed to use anything above a whisper. "You ready to go to dinner, or do you want to get changed?"

Lily shrugged sleepily, "I just need to get a jacket." She told us in a raspy voice as she attempted to get up from the couch and failed. "But I can do that later on our way out the door."

Lily shrugged sleepily, "I just need to get a jacket." She told us in a raspy voice as she attempted to get up from the couch and failed. "But I can do that later on our way out the door."

"Better get moving then Lily," Miley's dad said as he came into the living room from his office. "We're going to leave in a second."

Lily nodded and pulled the covers tighter around herself as she got up from the couch – successfully this time, and scooted her socked feet across the wood flooring to her coat that was hanging up near the door. When Lily got to her coat, she wasted no time in-between taking the blanket off and putting her jacket on. Lily sighed and walked slowly to where Miley and I were still sitting.

"What time is it?" Lily asked painfully, grabbing the closest chair she could find.

I looked at my watch, "Almost five." I told Lily, and she groaned.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Lily announced. "Be right back."

I nodded and watched Lily go, slowly again, towards the bathroom around the corner.

"All ready to go?" Mr. Stewart asked walking into the room again, and picking up the keys from the kitchen table. He looked around, noticing Miley and I but also that Lily was missing. "Where's Lily?"

We pointed towards the bathroom just as Lily came out and the three of us made our way out of the door towards the car. Once we were all buckled in, Mr. Stewart started to drive the twenty minute distance to the restaurant – no one talked much, Lily was leaning on the door with her head supported by her hands, and Miley was writing something down, probably another song. I sighed, and smiled at the picture, all of us together again.