Chapter 5

Oliver's eyes got ad wide as he thought they could possibly get. He fell to the floor in his hurry to open the door. What was Miley doing on the porch? What was going on? Why was she out there when it was pouring like it was?

"Miley? Get in here! You'll get sick if you stand out there," he said.

"Hi, Oliver. Thanks. I really need to talk to someone and you're the only I could think of. Do you mind?"

"no, but you do know you could have called," he said. Miley gave what seemed to be a cross between a giggle and a sniffle.

"I know, but I- I just had this weird feeling that I wanted to come and see you. You know what I mean?"

"not really but that's okay," he said to her, giving her a gentle smile.

" what's wrong Miley?" he asked her as he walked into the hallway closet. He got out a pair of his sister's old sweat pants and an old t-shirt for Miley. She went to the bathroom to change into dry clothes.

"So what happened?" he asked once she walked out. She looked at him with an unreadable expression. It seemed to him a mixture of fear, embarrassment, shame, but mostly pain. He inched closer. He gave her an encouraging smile to go ahead and talk about it. She had multiple loose strands from her pony tail that was falling out. He tucked the few strands of hair behind her ear causing her to blush.

"so what happened?' he repeated. She looked at him. She knew she could trust Oliver, but it didn't make it any easier to talk to him about what had just happened.

"Well, I had met this guy at a party once, and he knew how messed up Cameron was so he said that if I ever needed anything to call him. I didn't want to go alone to this Hannah thing tonight because I would look pathetic to the press and I really didn't need that at the moment, so I asked him if he would go with me." She looked down with a hesitant pause.

"and next?" he coaxed her gently.

" And then it seemed to go fine at first, but then he decided to humiliate me. He put his hand on my waist, or that's what he said." Oliver understood her indication immediately. He was a guy after all. He looked down, not meeting her eyes, but still listening closely.

"oh," he said. Miley stood up from her perch on the bed and started pacing as she finished the story, talking quicker and quicker as she went on with her story.

"I tried to get him to take his hand away, but he wouldn't. when he saw what kind of scene I was prepared to make, he shoved me into a kiss, just for the press! The jerk! Naturally I slapped him, but he didn't like that much. He shoved me to the side asking me what was wrong with me. Imagine! Him asking what's wrong with me! He had the nerve! Then he forced me into a dark room to 'talk' to me. It just ended up to be a place where a bunch of his friends were waiting so they could beat up a pop star so some other horrid intention." She shuddered. Oliver snapped his head up at this moment. He rushed over to where she stood.

"Did they hurt you? Are you okay?" He asked anxiously as he inspected her arms and hands and then her face. He slightly paused as he brushed his hand over her cheek for any damage done. She took his hand away.

"I'm fine. they didn't have enough time to hurt me. I was close enough to the door to just bolt out. of course a dark room means the press is going to think you're a 'naughty girl' and take all kinds of pictures for their assumptions." She felt a hot and salty tear go down her face followed by many more. She forced herself to continue.

"So I ran. I just ran until I got home. I watched a chick flick, tried sleeping, but I just couldn't get over the fact that I'd been used again!" she sobbed. The tears were coming faster. "God! Why do I have to be such a screw up!? I make the worst decisions! I have no judgment! It's like everything I touch gets messed up!" she started crying even harder. Without a moments hesitation, Oliver brought her chin up and wiped away the tears accumulating on her face and brought her into a hug. He felt her shaking and noticed how cold she was. He pulled back to look at her.

"You're not a screw up, you are a little cold though." She giggled and nodded her head.

"You want a blanket or something?" she nodded her head again. He went out to the hallway closet again to get her a blanket. When he came back she was perched on the bed again, sitting cross-legged. He Wrapped her shoulders into the blanket. He leaned up against the wall his bed was against and closed his eyes. He felt her move her way up to him to lean against his chest. He slowly opened his eyes and shifted his position to look at her. At the feeling of his body moving she changed her position to look up at him.

"is it okay if I rest here for a while?' she asked pleadingly. He sighed. How could he say no? It was raining outside like crazy and a rejecting friend was the last thing she needed at the moment.

"Sure," he said, straining, hoping she didn't notice. She did, but didn't think much of it. she was relieved and happy enough to be able to escape the mad world for a while. She moved to lean against his chest again. She drifted to sleep. She woke to a nudging on her shoulder.

"Miley," she heard Oliver whisper, "Miley, it stopped raining. I think you should head home." She slowly got up. She was really hesitant to leave. She didn't want to lose his company. He could somehow feel her reluctance, maybe just mixed in with some of his, but she had to go home.

"I'll walk you okay?" he said. She nodded. She got up and got her pajamas, which were still kind of damp, and went outside on the porch where Oliver was waiting for her. They walked to her house, and she walked in the French doors.

"thanks," she said, " for everything, really. If you weren't around, I would be a lot more of a mess."

"More of a mess than Brittney?" Oliver asked, lightening the mood. She laughed.

"No, I'd have to settle with Lindsay Lohan," she said, carrying on the joke. He laughed in response. They stood in silence for a couple of seconds. He suddenly broke the silence.

"well, goodnight. I hope tomorrow turns out okay," he said and he walked off towards his house. As she walked through the door she grimaced at the thought of tomorrow. There was no doubt the tabloids would be all over the place. She went up to her room and laid down and closed he eyes. She couldn't think about it. all she could do was dream sweet dreams, and try to ignore the fact tomorrow was going to be a nightmare.

AN: what do you think? is it good enough to continue? i want to hear from you! and thank you to those who reviewed my work! i greatly appreciate it!