A/N: Hey there everyone! Long time no see, I know, but it's been quite a busy month. I'm proud to say that my birthday was this past week and I am now officially 18! WOOT! I'm legal! (which means I can get busted for everything I do...:grumble grumble:) Yes, so in addition to that, I've been away on a fabulous spring break vacation, but now I'm back and have provided my lovely readers with this brand spankin' new chapter!

Ah, yes, and two quick notes before I let you go ahead and read your heart out. First, I'd like to congratulate ttran59 for winning Chapter 15's contest. She's already gotten her prize and I hope she enjoyed it very much. Second, I'd like to explain that although in last chapter's A/N I stated that there would be only two chapters left + epilogue, I have changed my mind and scratched a chapter. Therefore, let it be known that THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER BEFORE THE EPILOGUE! I couldn't think of a better way for it to end and prolonging the story would be painful and unnecessary for both me and the readers. Thank you, that is all. Happy reading! (and PLEASE let me get more reviews than last chapter. I know it was short, but damn!)

Jake gazed blankly at the clear blue water, wondering how he got to this point in his life. The most important person in his life totally and completely hated him. The director of Zombie High was close to firing him for his streak of poor acting during the last few weeks. His grades were dropping, causing his parents to get angry at him, and Carley was constantly chewing him up about the break up, calling him an idiot each chance she got. And it all happened in a month.

The water looked cool and inviting, and the thought of never coming up for air again started to sound quite appealing. He continued to stare unblinkingly from his seat on the diving board of Oliver's pool, unaware of anything but his thoughts, while a worried Lily and Oliver watched from the hot tub.

He had been catatonic like this for weeks, moving through life as though in a daze. He talked to no one, ignoring them when they'd try goading him into conversation. His eyes were red from constant lack of sleep, causing his grades to plummet horribly, and he no longer cared about anything in life. His father told him to get over her, but how could he? How could Jake get over someone who had opened his eyes to everything life had to offer and taught him how to live it?

Lily watched Jake as he sat precariously over the water and sighed deeply. The pathetic sight of him broke her heart and she wanted to scream at both him and Miley to open their eyes and see just how much they needed each other. She knew Miley didn't mean it when she said she hated Jake; she knew it was just her pride talking. It was obvious that Miley was still in love with the kid, and if Jake's behavior over the past month was anything to go by, Lily was sure he felt just as strongly.

If only they'd get over that damn fight of theirs and make up already. Yes, Miley had been deeply hurt, but Lily knew that boys couldn't always be held completely responsible for the things that came out of their mouths – they were programmed to be stupid. She was sure that Jake didn't mean what he'd said – he just wasn't thinking properly, and now he sure as hell was sorry about it. Now, normally Lily always sided with Miley, but this time she didn't think she could. Why couldn't her best friend just see that she and Jake were perfect together?

Oliver too watched Jake, feeling sorry for the boy. He'd seen how Jake was moping about and thought that inviting him and Lily over to the house would cheer him up. Unfortunately, it didn't. While Lily and Oliver headed into the hot tub, Jake only climbed onto the diving board, shirt and shorts still on, and sat at its end, his back facing them. Lily had tried coaxing Jake to join them in the hot tub, but Jake didn't respond, only staring at the cold pool water below him.

Oliver turned his gaze to Lily and noticed she was also watching Jake, a worried frown plastered on her face. Feeling Oliver's gaze, she turned to look at him, seeing a matching look of worry. He blew out a sigh of defeat.

"What are we going to do, Lily? He's been like this for weeks and although Miley is our friend, he's our friend too." Lily looked back at Jake.

"Oliver, I don't know if there is anything we can do. We've tried almost everything." Lily closed her eyes in frustration. "Damn it, why can't Miley just see that they're perfect together? Why does she have to be so damn stubborn?!" Oliver chuckled lightly, causing Lily's gaze to snap back to him. "It's not funny, Oliver!" Oliver's chuckle died down.

"Sorry, Lily, but you know how Miley is. She's the most stubborn person we know. You know she won't ever talk to Jake unless she's forced to be in the same room with him; it's just how her stubborn nature works." Lily's eyes widened in excitement and she roughly shook Oliver's shoulders.

"Oliver, that's brilliant!" Confused, Oliver watched as Lily reached behind her for her cell phone.

"Wait, what? What's brilliant? And what are you doing?" Lily scrolled through her phonebook until she found what she was looking for. She glanced back up at Oliver, a mischievous gleam in her eye.

"Getting Miley and Jake back together." Pressing the 'Send' button, she calmly waited for someone on the other line to pick up, smiling when she heard a familiar voice. "Hey, Jackson? I need a favor…"

--

Having just finished probably one of the worst concerts of her career, Miley fell tiredly onto the couch in her dressing room and buried her head in her hands. Although she sang her peppy, upbeat songs perfectly, her voice cracked miserably and tears sprang to her eyes during each song she'd written about Jake. All the time she'd spent trying to get over him was completely wasted during this concert and Miley wanted to scream her lungs out in frustration. How much more heart break could a girl take before God finally gave her mercy?

Everyone was telling her to forgive him, even Jackson, who had come home for winter break, and her father were hopping onto the 'forgive Jake' bandwagon, wanting to see her happy again. She'd explained to them all what he'd said to her and although they agreed with her at first, they soon turned tables and told her to take him back. So what if it had been a month? That didn't change anything. And that stupid, absolutely, totally, completely beautiful poem he'd written her for her birthday two weeks ago was full of nothing but lies, so why should she get back together with him when he only said those things in order to date Hannah Montana?

Lily was the hardest to convince, but when Miley told her that she hated Jake, it finally shut her up. Unknown to Miley, however, Jake had overheard what she'd said, causing him to lose almost all grips to reality he had left.

Cursing under her breath, she slowly pulled herself up from the couch and began changing into her normal street clothes, trying to distract herself from the deep ache in her heart. She gently pulled her blonde wig off her head and tossed it onto a table before grabbing a tissue and wiping the heavy layers of makeup from her face. She was horrified to find her face wet, and when she looked in the mirror, she saw a few tears running down her cheeks. The fact that Jake Ryan could still make her cry after all this time made even more tears fall from her eyes as she realized that she still loved the stupid bastard with all her heart.

An urgent knock on her door startled Miley and, hastily wiping her face of any tears, she beckoned them to enter. Jackson entered the dressing room and, once spotting Miley, began to quickly ramble.

"Miley! There you are! Oliver called and said Lily needs you right now," he began throwing her things into a bag, still going on about Lily. "Apparently she's crying her eyes out and Oliver doesn't know what to do." Worried, Miley too began gathering her things.

"Why didn't she call me? Why'd she try talking to Oliver, of all people?"

Jackson suddenly stopped what he was doing, panic overtaking his face. Lily had not given him an answer to that question and he didn't know what to say without giving away the whole scheme. Looking around for inspiration, his eyes fell upon the bright blonde wig lying innocently on the table.

"Your concert! Yeah, she, uh, knew you had a concert today and didn't want to bother you…" Nodding her head, Miley quickly grabbed Jackson's arm and dragged him from the room.

"Then let's get going! You'll have to take me over there."

Releasing a silent sigh of relief, Jackson followed his sister out the side Stage door and into his awaiting car. Revving up the engine, Jackson slowly backed out of the alley and, after being told to go faster by his sister, stepped on the gas, quickly making their way to Oliver's house. When they arrived at the house, Miley looked at Jackson in confusion.

"Jackson, why are we at Oliver's house? Lily's the one who needs me, remember?" She knocked on his skull, symbolically telling him he was an idiot, and Jackson threw her wrist off of him.

"Lily came over to Oliver's when she knew you were unavailable, smart one." Miley wanted to wipe the smug grin off his face for being bested by him, but instead got out of the car.

"Thanks for driving me, Jackson. This might take a while – you don't have to stay. I'll just walk home when I'm done." Jackson nodded and pulled out of the driveway, a large smirk on his face.

"Might take longer than you think, Sis," and with that, he took off toward home.

As Jackson sped off, Miley climbed the steps to the front door and rang the bell, waiting for Oliver to answer. After a few seconds, she tried the bell again, only to hear no footsteps nearing the door. Remembering that Oliver always kept his back door unlocked, she carefully made her way through his hedge-lined path toward his backyard, unaware of who she was about to see.

--

Jake continued to gaze longingly at the water, wondering if it would offer any form of escape from this disaster his life was currently in. He knew that, if it were to happen, he'd at least want to hear Miley's voice one last time for comfort. A loud, high pitched scream of frustration reached his ears, temporarily breaking him from his comatose-like state.

"What the hell?!"

Jake's head snapped up at Miley's voice, recognizing it anywhere, and almost laughed at the coincidence. She looked really good – much better than he did, anyway. Anger radiated from her body and he knew it was from seeing him. He saw her anger multiply when she looked over at the hot tub and saw Lily and Oliver sitting there, innocent smiles plastered on their face.

"What is he," she pointed a finger at Jake as she spat out the word with disgust, "doing here?" Oliver chuckled nervously, afraid of Miley's angry warpath, while Lily calmly explained the situation.

"Jake is here because he was invited." Miley glared coldly at Lily when she realized the call to Jackson had been a set up.

"I can't believe you, my own best friends, would set me up like this!" She turned to look at Jake, a harsh glare in her eye. "You know I can't stand him!"

Jake felt all the air slip from his lungs. Those words hurt more than he thought they would, especially after he'd heard them before. It was one thing to hear them in passing, but to hear them come straight from her mouth was something entirely different. He knew there was no hope left for him to hold on to now, not with that final slice to his heart. Gazing into her angry, blue eyes one last time, two words silently left his lips, causing Miley to do a double take.

"I'm sorry."

Closing his sad green eyes, he leaned off the diving board and plummeted into the water. Wide-eyed, Miley, Lily, and Oliver watched as Jake slowly sank to the bottom of the pool, his heavy clothes weighing him down, and made no indication of coming for air. Large bubbles of air broke the surface, signaling that Jake was purposefully exhaling all of his air into the water. Miley covered her mouth in horror as she watched one last air bubble break the surface before the water stilled and Lily screamed in fear, clutching onto Oliver's arm.

"Oliver, do something! He's trying to kill himself!"

Oliver, who had been frozen in fear while watching his friend slowly die, quickly scrambled onto the ledge of the hot tub and dove into the frigid water. He ignored the goosebumps that broke out over his skin and opened his eyes, searching for Jake. Once he spotted him, he propelled himself deeper into the water until he finally reached Jake's still form on the pool's floor. Jake's golden hair floated about his face, covering his closed eyes, and the pool cast a ghostly blue shadow on his skin and lips. Oliver grabbed Jake under his arms and hoisted him into a sitting position before moving one arm around his chest and kicking off of the floor, carrying Jake's limp body with him. Oliver's leg muscles strained under the additional weight of Jake's clothing and his lungs started to hurt from lack of oxygen, but one look at Jake's pale face had him kicking as hard as he could to the surface.

When the boys broke the surface, Oliver gasped in gulps of much needed air, taking care to make sure that Jake's head stayed above water. He pulled Jake to the edge of the pool, where a now sobbing Lily and Miley cried out at the sight of the limp boy. They quickly grasped onto Jake's arms once Oliver got in reach and hoisted him out of the pool while Oliver pulled himself out. Miley kneeled by Jake's head and frantically felt his neck for a pulse, letting out a loud sob of relief when she felt a faint one reach her fingers. After confirming that the small rise and fall of his chest was breathing, Lily and Oliver quickly ran into the house in search of towels and warm clothes while Miley pulled Jake's freezing wet shirt off his frame.

She began rubbing his body all over, trying to pass her body heat onto him in order to warm up. Seeing that it wasn't working very well, she temporarily forgot her anger towards him, wrapped her arms around his body, and began rubbing him frantically, not caring that she was getting wet in the process. Now crying hysterically, she pleaded for him to wake up, rubbing her hands on his cheeks to stimulate blood flow to his brain.

"Wake up for me, Jake, please! Please wake up!"

She stared down into his handsome face and brushed his wet golden hair back, watching as he slowly began to regain color into his cheeks and lips. She pleaded with him again and again to wake up as she ran her small hand up and down his broad chest in comforting strokes. She gasped in surprise when she felt a large hand weakly grasp it, pausing it mid-stroke. Her eyes flicked down to see that the hand belonged to Jake and snapped back to his face to see his bright green eyes slowly flutter open.

Before either could say anything, Jake quickly leaned onto his side and began violently coughing up the water from his lungs, his body wracking from the force. Miley rubbed his back soothingly, letting Jake take his time removing every last drop. Sucking in a shuddering breath, Jake's body collapsed onto the floor from lack of strength. Worried, Miley pulled him back into her arms and gently massaged his throat, allowing his passageways to relax and breathe oxygen more easily. Once he had established a stable breathing pattern, Miley hugged him close to her body, silently thanking God for sparing Jake's life. A small mumble caught her attention and she looked down to see a grin on Jake's face.

"I could wake up to this every morning. Maybe I should try drowning more often." Outraged, Miley dropped him painfully onto the brick-covered ground as his egotistical attitude reminded of her of who she was holding. She ignored Jake's grunt of pain as he hit the ground and stood up, glaring down at him.

"You asshole! Trying to win me back by drowning?!" She shook her head sadly at him. "That's pathetic, Jake, even for you." Jake slowly stood up, enraged at Miley's accusation.

"For your information, I wasn't trying to win you back by drowning! Only complete psychos would do something so despicable!" Miley sneered at him.

"My point exactly." And with that, Miley turned around, intending to leave.

--

Lily and Oliver finally got all the needed supplies and were making their way outside when the noticed that Jake was awake and arguing with Miley. With towels in hand, Lily was about to go through the door and intervene, when Oliver's hand on her shoulder stopped her. Looking at him curiously, she asked what he was doing. Oliver shook his head and gazed out at the fighting couple.

"Lily, this is something they need to work out themselves. We can't intervene." Knowing that Oliver was right, Lily dropped the towels onto the floor and watched as Jake and Miley talked for the first time in weeks.

Outside, Jake was having a hard time controlling his temper with all of the nasty comments Miley was throwing his way. Not wanting her to get the last word, he quickly lashed out at her back.

"You think I'm the psycho? Have you looked in the mirror lately! You're so stubborn that you refuse to accept a sincere apology for a damn mistake! If that's not completely psycho, I don't know what is!" Fuming, Miley turned around and stomped back to Jake, ready to give him a piece of her mind.

"You stupid, egotistical, good for nothing bastard! You think it's my fault that we broke up?! You're the one who broke my heart, Jake, not the other way around!" Jake snarled in fury at her claim that she hadn't broken his heart.

"You have no idea what it's like to have your heart ripped and shred to pieces, Miley, none!"

The electricity around them crackled dangerously. Miley narrowed her eyes in pure, unadulterated anger and swung her open palm at Jake's face. Having learned from last time, Jake's fast reflexes caught her wrist mid-swing, yanked her forcefully to him, and powerfully smashed his lips onto hers, all in one fluid motion. She immediately responded with as much ferocity, relishing the wonderful smell of him she missed so dearly. He wrapped an arm around her hips and pulled her closer, trying to feel as much of her as he possibly could. Trying to keep her knees from buckling, she grasped onto his bicep for support and arched into his body, parting her lips and letting his tongue slip through. His hand, still gripping her wrist tightly, loosened as more and more passion pumped into their bodies, and slowly moved upward until his fingers entwined with hers. The simple touch flooded Miley's mind with memories of them together; of her love; of her heartache.

Gasping at the stab of pain in her heart, she roughly pulled herself away from him and shoved his chest, sending him stumbling backwards. Fat tears rolled down her cheeks as she shook in anger for letting her guard down. He gazed in astonishment at her sudden change in attitude, but she ignored it as she began to scream at him.

"You know nothing! You know nothing about how long my heart suffered, or how many nights I stayed up crying over you! I want to hate you so much, so much, but I can't! My stupid heart won't let me hate you and it's like adding acid to a burning wound!" Shocked at her admission, Jake's eyes softened.

"Then why wouldn't you accept my apology?" Miley gazed at him unbelievably, amazed that he still thought his so called 'apology' could make everything alright between them.

"Because that apology was a complete lie! Everything you said was a complete lie!" Anger coursed through Jake's veins at her lack of trust in him.

"Why can't you believe me?!" Miley's face turned red in fury at his audacity.

"Why should I believe you?!" Without warning, Jake grasped Miley's upper arms tightly, causing her eyes to widen in fear.

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!" he roared.

Inside, Lily and Oliver's mouths dropped open in complete surprise. They'd been expecting the kiss, but they sure as hell weren't expecting that! Slowly, a large smile replaced their open jaws and they looked at each other, grinning from ear to ear.

Back outside, Miley stared wide-eyed into Jake's sea-green eyes, his outburst catching her off guard. He searched her blue eyes for any type of response to his feelings and slowly let go of her when he found none. Whatever was left of his heart was now gone as rejection shoved its way into its place. Trying to maintain whatever dignity he had left, he swallowed the large lump in his throat and slowly backed away from her.

"I, uh," he cleared his throat, trying to keep his voice from cracking and his tears from spilling, "I should go. I'm sorry...for everything."

Miley watched a tear slip down his cheek as he picked up his damp shirt, threw it over his head, and moved past her to leave. The sight of the mighty Jake Ryan crying was enough proof that his words weren't lies and that his feelings weren't fake. She knew that as great of an actor as he was, he had never cried in front of anyone before and knew that he must be going through a really painful heartache in order for him to do so. Wondering what to do, she noticed Lily and Oliver watching through the glass doors and motioning for her to go after him. Smiling at her friends, she decided to do just that and quickly went after him, hoping he wasn't too far ahead of her. Lily and Oliver shared two identical grins before speeding toward the front of the house, hoping they weren't going to miss the show.

Stepping onto Oliver's driveway, Jake continued cursing himself for getting himself into such a vulnerable state. Hot, angry tears of rejection burned down his cheeks, reminding him why he never bothered with love before. Was love worth it? He wasn't so sure anymore. Looking for something to take out his frustration on, he picked up one of the larger rocks lying on the ground.

"GOD DAMNIT!"

He hurled the rock into the distance, not caring where it landed or what it hit. A small hand on his shoulder startled him and he whipped around, ready to tell the person to leave him alone. When his green eyes met blue, all the tension flew from his body. Miley's soft gaze looked over his tear-stained face, upset that she had caused this beautiful boy so much pain and was intent on trying to fix his heart as best as she could. Her fingers gently brushed the tears from his eyes, her own growing moist from the amount of love that radiated from the green orbs. Raising herself up on her toes, she cupped his cheek and softly whispered, "I love you," before capturing his lips in a gentle kiss.

Jake's chest exploded when the words left her lips, raining down on him like shooting stars. One hand weaved its way into her hair, cupping the back of her head; the other lightly grasping her upper arm as he softly pulled her closer to him and explored her mouth with his own. She sighed in pleasure when his tongue slipped through her parted lips and danced with hers. Her fingers played with the damp hairs at the nape of his neck and he let out a throaty groan when she nipped lightly at his lower lip. Needing air, Jake unwillingly parted from Miley and, gazing deeply into her ocean-blue eyes, brushed her unruly curls behind her ear.

"Do you really love me?" Smiling softly at his insecurity, Miley gently stroked Jake's face.

"I really do."

Jake smiled at her and, unable to contain his joy, brought his lips down to hers once more as a low rumble of thunder boomed overhead. Love really was worth it after all.