A/N: Hey guys. Surprise surprise! It's been less than a month since I've updated! (barely, but its the thought that counts!) These last few chapters have been a bit rough to write, especially since I've never been through a breakup, or all the things that go along with it. Hell, I could be completely BSing my way through this for all I know and it might actually be completely different than what I think. Oh well.

This chapter is wayyy shorter than all my other chapters and for that I'm sorry. It's just that there's not much I can go on for the moment without revealing too much, and this is the only way to keep things organized the way I wanted. But don't let the length fool you - this one actually has more content than the last one (surprising, I know!) and is much more emotional. By the way, after this chapter, there are only THREE MORE CHAPTERS LEFT! (including epilogue, so really, that means there's only TWO MORE CHAPTERS LEFT!) Thank god!

And before this incredibly long author's note gets to the point of annoying, I'd like to present another contest! WOOOOO!

What chapter did the promise Jake made to Miley take place in? (AKA The chapter the flashback referred to)

Remember, you must answer the question completely AND leave a review in order to win! And the prize is the next chapter before anyone else gets to see it! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and I'll see you all later!

It had been two days since Miley had locked herself in her bedroom and Mr. Stewart was worried sick. The first night, he banged continuously on the door, begging her to open up and let him inside. He could hear her sobbing through the walls and he didn't know what to do. The last time something like this had happened was when his wife passed away, and he was no better at handling the situation now as he was back then. He didn't know who to call, since he wasn't sure who caused her such pain and didn't want to make things worse by calling over the wrong person.

After a while, he gave her some space, knowing she wouldn't want it any other way. He thought that maybe she would come out on her own the next day. Sadly, he was mistaken. He'd try to catch her when he'd hear her door slam on her way to the bathroom, but he always missed her by a few seconds. She barely picked at the food he'd leave outside her door, even when he made her favorite dish – breakfast for dinner. By the second day, her room grew deathly quiet, making him even more nervous. At least when she was crying he knew she was ok, but silence meant that she could have hurt herself.

Around six o'clock on Sunday, Mr. Stewart couldn't take it anymore. He had finally found the house's master key and strode down the hall toward her bedroom, ready to take drastic measures. He softly knocked on her door, trying to coax her out one last time. When he got no response, he used his key, the door unlocking with a soft 'click'. He slowly pushed open the door and his eyes widened as he took in the sight of her room.

It looked like a bomb exploded. Things were all over the place; her dresser was knocked over, glass showered the floor, and her lamp was shattered. He carefully stepped into the room, making sure not to trip over the various items littering the floor. As he made his way through, he noticed the doors to the Hannah closet splayed open, its state identical to the room he was standing in. He felt a twinge of anger course through him when he saw many of the one-of-a-kind items smashed and strewn about and was ready to yell, when something on the floor made him stop.

A picture of Jake and Miley was glinting in the setting sun, the glass covering it cracked and broken. He noticed that the pictures holding Lily and Oliver lay untouched and realized the cause of her pain. Just as he was ready to storm out and cause Jake the same amount of pain his daughter was feeling, he heard a small sob from under the corner. Turning, he saw the bed in complete disarray, with crumpled sheets all over the place and a shaking mass under the comforter. He carefully walked over, avoiding any glass, and sat on the edge of the bed. Another sob confirmed his thoughts and he slowly pulled back the covers, revealing a thoroughly disheveled Miley.

Curled tightly in a ball, she clutched the covers protectively, trying to shield her father from seeing her in such a state. Her glassy, red-rimmed eyes were dry, showing that she cried all the tears from her body. Her hair was somewhat greasy from lack of bathing and was no longer bright and bouncy as before. Her nose was red from constantly blowing it, making her look absolutely awful.

Mr. Stewart gently pulled the covers from her grasp, to which she softly protested. She finally relented and looked up in his eyes. His heart broke as he saw his daughter's eyes laced with pain and rejection staring into his. She tried to hold her tears back as she croaked, her voice sore from crying.

"Daddy…" his heart tore more at his daughter's pitiful plea and his eyes softened.

"Oh, Baby Girl…"

She suddenly started sobbing again as he scooped her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. She buried her face into his collarbone and wailed at the torment her heart was going through. She clutched at his shirt, trying to get a grip on something as the world she knew was dissolving before her eyes. It had been almost eight months since she had started seeing Jake and suddenly it was all gone. She had fallen in love with him and as soon as she had, everything went down the drain. He didn't want her – he had never wanted her. He had only wanted her counterpart and he lied straight to her face. But as much as she wanted to hate him, to say she couldn't stand him, she couldn't. She loved him; totally, wholly, and completely loved him with all her heart. She heard love hurt – she just didn't know it would be this bad.

--

The next day at school, Miley was at her locker gathering her books, despite her father's tempting invitation to stay home. She knew that she couldn't hide forever and had to move on, even if it was hard. School was important to Miley's future and the way for her to make a living. Yes, she could always rely on her Hannah money, but seeing as how she currently despised her alter-ego, that wasn't her first choice.

She shut her locker and took a deep breath. She could do this – all she had to do was make it through the day without seeing Jake and she'd be fine. Psychology might be a bit difficult, but if things got too tough, she could always tell her teacher she was having menstrual problems and he'd let her leave class. He always was a bit squeamish about those kinds of things. Lunch was definitely going to be awkward. Lily and Oliver didn't know about the breakup, and if Jake decided to sit with them, she didn't know what she'd do. She figured she cross that bridge when she came to it.

Nodding to herself, she turned to go to class and saw Jake standing across the hall. Blue locked onto green and the world stopped for a few seconds. Miley felt her throat go dry and her heart lurched, trying to reach him. He looked worse for wear; his golden hair looked unkempt, his clothes were wrinkled, and his once bright eyes were now dull and lifeless. He stared at her, regret and sorrow showing in his orbs. Her heart went out to him, until she remembered what he did to her. She broke her gaze and looked to the floor, willing herself not to cry again, and quickly moved down the hall, as far away from him as possible.

A few periods later, Miley found herself back at her locker when she was approached by the new student, Marco Blye. He had just joined Seaview last week and was assigned to be her Physics partner after her old partner, Justine Kleinberg, broke both her legs and became home-schooled. Miley immediately became friends with the somewhat attractive boy and sometimes helped him catch up on the material previously covered before he attended school.

Miley looked up to see Marco standing next to her, holding her physics book that she left behind in her haste to leave. She smiled and thanked him before discussing that night's homework. When they finished, Marco casually leaned against the lockers and nervously stuttered out a question.

"So, um, Miley, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to, uh, go out some time?" She gazed at the poor boy with pity and was about to gently decline, when someone beat her to it.

"Back off. She's with me." Miley whipped around and stared at Jake in disbelief. Marco, taken aback, blinked a few times.

"Excuse me?" Jake growled and stalked toward Marco, glaring menacingly down at him.

"I said, she's with me." Marco stuttered nervously and backed away slowly.

"I'm sorry, man. I didn't know…"

Miley looked at Marco, apologizing to him through her eyes, and he left the two alone, visibly shaking the whole way. Miley turned back to Jake, eyes blazing with fury, and roughly pushed him in the shoulder.

"What the hell is your problem!?" she hissed, "Haven't you already caused enough damage?" Jake looked down at her, still angry from his encounter with Marco.

"Well, when my girlfriend gets hit on by another guy, he needs to get straightened out. It's my responsibility as your boyfriend to provide that service!" Miley's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed.

"I was under the impression that we are no longer dating, Jake," she spat out his name, her anger overriding her love for him, "So you don't need to provide that service anymore." A look of shock briefly crossed his face and his anger disappeared, instead replaced with regret.

"Miley, please, we can't let a fight ruin the special thing we had. We've been together for almost eight months – doesn't that mean anything to you? Don't throw everything away over something so stupid." Miley felt like she had been slapped in the face.

"Stupid? You think this is stupid? You think breaking promises – promises that are really important to me – is stupid? Choosing the one person who always made me feel inferior over me is stupid?" She closed her eyes and shook her head, willing herself not to cry for the second time that day. "Jake, you must be pretty stupid to think that I could get over what you did. Especially if you think the whole thing is 'stupid'."

She looked up at his sad, sea-green eyes, remembering when they used to look at her with pure, unadulterated joy. Her eyes glazed over with fresh tears and she tore her gaze away, brushing hard against his shoulder and heading toward the bathroom. He watched her go, completely defeated. He knew things would never go back to how they were, and that thought started to slowly kill him inside.

--

By the time lunch came around, news about Jake and Miley's breakup had spread like wildfire. People who had witnessed the heated scene were treated like celebrities as they retold the tale of what they saw. A few girls sympathized with Miley, while most gave fake condolences before stalking Jake around the school.

Miley was sitting at an empty lunch table, picking at the food on her tray, when Lily and Oliver suddenly plopped down and immediately began bombarding her with questions.

"We heard about you and Jake!"

"What happened?"

"Everything was going great – what could have caused this?"

"Are you pregnant?"

Miley and Lily both turned to Oliver, giving him a 'what the hell?' look. He only chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding their looks. Sighing, Miley turned back to her lunch tray, not in the mood to talk to anyone. She glanced up when she heard a pack of squealing girls and suddenly wished she hadn't. Jake was sitting a few tables down from hers and was surrounded by millions of fawning girls. They were stroking his arms and whispering in his ears, each trying to be noticed by the handsome actor. Looking at them made her sick to her stomach and she looked away, feeling even more nauseous when she saw her food.

She quietly excused herself, rejecting Lily's invitation to accompany her, and left the lunch room, never noticing a pair of sad, green eyes following her. Taking a deep breath, she made her way to the nurse's office, ready to call her father and go home. Today was worse than she thought it would be and she didn't think she'd be able to last the rest of the day. Maybe tomorrow would prove to be better. She could only hope.

When she got home, she immediately rushed into her room and locked the door, not wanting to talk to anyone at the moment. Thinking that listening to music would cheer her up, she flipped on her radio to her favorite station and cringed at the song playing through the speakers.

"You'll always be my thunder, and I said…" She switched stations, hoping the next song would take her mind off of Jake.

"I'm stuck on a boy, who fills me with joy…" Growling in frustration, she switched stations again.

"I want to taste you one more time again, I'm all over you, I'm not over you…"

Mrs. McPhillips, the Stewarts' neighbor, yelped when a radio came crashing into her bed of hydrangeas.

Miley slammed her window closed, unaware of Mrs. McPhillips' rants, and flopped onto her bed, emotionally exhausted and prayed that she'd get over that damn boy soon.