Here's the next chapter. Sorry for the delay.

"Why in the world did I ever agree to this?" Miley grumbled to herself. It was five-thirty in the morning and she was standing on the beach in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. Usually she wouldn't get up so early on a day that she had off from school, but she had managed to drag herself out of bed for Lilly's sake.

Ever since Oliver had left four weeks before, Miley had been going with Lilly to the beach every morning because she wanted someone to go surfing with her. Miley had refused to make a fool out of herself and surf, but she had promised that she would at least stay on the beach and watch Lilly.

Sighing, sat down on the blanket she had set out on the sand and opened her guitar case. As long as she was going to be up this early, she might as well try to get something done. She clicked on the flashlight she had brought with her and set it on the blanket so the light illuminated a page of her song notebook. Lilly might be able to surf in the dim lighting but Miley most certainly could not write songs.

She watched Lilly stand up on her board as a wave approached and a smile flitted across her face when the blonde began to ride out the wave. Looking back down at her notebook, she started to write. A few minutes later, she was strumming her guitar and quietly humming the lyrics to herself. Stopping when something wasn't right, she quickly crossed out a word in her notebook and jotted something down, once again strumming her guitar and humming to herself.

"Hey."

Miley looked up to see Lilly standing over her, water dripping from her body and her surfboard sticking upright in the sand. The brunette rubbed her eyes tiredly. She hadn't noticed the passing time because she had been so involved in writing this song. Once she got inspiration, nothing could stop her.

"Is it seven already?" she mumbled, gently setting her guitar in its case and stretching. Her back cracked and she winced. Lilly laughed.

"Did you get carried away in your daydreams again?" the blonde asked, grabbing a towel off the pile they had brought with them and quickly drying off. She squeezed the water out of her braid and quickly stripped off her wetsuit to reveal a white bikini underneath. Miley's breath caught in her throat and she quickly looked away so Lilly wouldn't catch her staring.

"No, I, um, I just got some inspiration," Miley said quickly. "Do you wanna hear it?"

"Of course I do!" Lilly exclaimed, sitting down next to Miley. The brunette tried to ignore the closeness of the blonde and reached for her guitar, placing the strap over her shoulder and stroking the wood lovingly before pulling her song notebook closer to her.

"Um, it isn't finished yet, I only have a couple verses, and I might scrap them," Miley whispered hesitantly. She glanced over at Lilly and, seeing an eager expression on the blonde's face, began.

Standing on the edge

Waiting for a sign

To dive to depths below

Throw away my life

Searching for the one

Who will make me whole

Fill up my heart

Complete my soul

Watching vultures circle

Diving to the ground

Devouring those before me

A fate to which I'm bound

The last note was short and staccato. It wasn't meant to be happy, and when she looked at Lilly, she saw that the blonde was scared. Of what, Miley didn't know, but she knew that this, her, the song, had been the cause of it. She looked away, her cheeks flushing red as she waited for Lilly's verdict.

"Miley?" Lilly whispered.

The brunette looked up into Lilly's eyes.

"That's not a Hannah song, is it?" Lilly asked gently, and Miley shook her head no. "I think it was beautiful."

"Really?" Miley asked hopefully, her eyes lighting up.

"Of course," Lilly laughed. She sobered. "It's just… what inspired that? What's making you so sad? You usually don't write stuff like that. Not that I don't like it! I just… I'm worried about you, Miley. It seems like ever since Oliver left…."

"Oh, no, Lilly, no," Miley said quickly, putting her guitar back in its case and turning to face Lilly fully. "No, Lilly, this isn't because of you and Oliver. I promise." That was a lie. "Everyone goes through stuff like this. Remember how you were before you started dating Oliver? You kept moping around all the time because you thought that you'd never get a boyfriend who'd love you. This is the same thing. I just have a different way of expressing myself."

Lilly looked at her doubtfully. "Are you sure?" she asked uncertainly.

"Positive," Miley answered with a smile. "Now how about we pack everything up and head back to my house? My dad is making French toast and you know that as soon as Jackson gets up, it's gonna be gone."

She watched as Lilly quickly stood up, gathering up the towels and putting them in the beach bag Miley had brought with her. Slowly, she stood up and got off the blanket, closing her guitar case and notebook and picking them up along with her flashlight so Lilly could shake the blanket out and put it in the beach bag with everything else. Sand flew everywhere as Lilly shook the blanket out and Miley squeezed her eyes shut as a few grains flew into her eyes. A few tears leaked out of the corners of her eyes.

"Oh my God, Miley, I'm so sorry," Lilly said quickly, and Miley opened her eyes to see Lilly standing right in front of her, a worried and apologetic expression on her face. "I really didn't mean to."

"Its fine," Miley gasped, rubbing her eyes as she tried to get the sand out of her eyes. "Really, its fine, I'll be okay." Lilly looked at her with a confused expression on her face before she nodded slowly and backed away. The blonde picked up the blanket again, careful to walk farther down the beach and shake it out before folding it up and putting it in the beach bag.

They walked up the beach side by side, but they were both quiet. Miley wasn't sure why, because almost every other day she had come to the beach with Lilly, the blonde had babbled either about how good the waves were or how bad the waves were. Sometimes she commented on the cute boys who were just arriving with surfboards and tousled hair that made it apparent that they had just gotten out of bed, but that usually didn't happen. Ever since Oliver, Lilly had been more reserved about the boys she commented on.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lilly finally asked as they approached Miley's house.

"Yeah, why?" the brunette asked, stopping and facing Lilly. The blonde shifted uncomfortably.

"It's just… you've been getting up early for me every time I want to go surfing, and then you've been staying up late with me for sleepovers, there was the song back there on the beach, and you haven't been freaking out at me as much," she explained quietly, keeping her eyes trained on the ground. "Like, when I shook out that blanket all over you, you would have normally freaked out at me, but you just… said it was fine. You've been acting kind of weird lately, Miley."

"Have I really?" Miley asked, surprised.

"Yeah," Lilly nodded.

"I really hadn't noticed," Miley shrugged. "I mean, I get up early and stay up late with you because you're my best friend and you would do the same for me. And like I said about the song, it's just a phase, probably. It's how I express myself. As for not freaking out at you… well, it really wasn't your fault, was it? It was an honest mistake."

Lilly nodded slowly. "I guess it was," she conceded.

"Now come on, I'm hungry and I think I can hear that French toast calling to me," Miley said with a grin, grabbing Lilly by the hand and pulling her towards the house. Lilly followed, propping her surfboard up against the deck when they got there and running up the stairs after Miley. Miley watched as Lilly passed her and rushed into the kitchen to the large plate of French toast that had been set at her usual spot at the kitchen table.

Her blonde best friend had a point. Now that she thought about it, she really had changed a lot ever since Oliver had left. She had brought her grades up, many people had commented on how much she had improved in her singing and dancing as Hannah, and she hadn't been snapping at Lilly, her dad, or Jackson as much. She had no idea why she had changed so much, but as long as the changes weren't bad, she would take them.

"Hey, Miles, are you gonna stand there all day watching me eat or are you gonna come over here and eat yourself?" Lilly called across the living room. Miley smiled at her, set her things on top of the piano, and went into the kitchen. The questions and the wondering could wait until later.

"Hey, bud, wake up."

Miley stirred, turning over to see her dad standing over her. She glanced over at her nightstand to see that it was two in the morning. Sighing, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What is it?" she grumbled. "If Hannah's album just went platinum, I'm gonna be really mad. That could have waited until morning."

"No, Miley, it's Lilly," her dad said, and her heart froze. He would only wake her up about Lilly if something bad had happened. "She was sleepwalking and she fell down the stairs. Her mom called 911 and an ambulance came to take her to the hospital. She should be fine, but her mom thought that you might want to know so you wouldn't be waiting for her to come by here tomorrow to walk to school with her."

But Miley was already out of her bed, pulling a pair of sweatpants on over her pajama shorts and searching through her dresser drawer for a clean bra. She whipped off her shirt and her dad groaned, shielding his eyes as she pulled a pink sports bra on and put a t-shirt on over it. "Well, what are we waiting for?" Miley demanded, turning to her dad. "Come on, Lilly's in the hospital and I'm her best friend. I should already be there. I should have been there as soon as she got there."

"Miles…."

"Dad, please," she begged. "I promise I'll go to school tomorrow morning without complaining. But Lilly needs me."

"Fine," he sighed, and Miley slipped on a pair of flip flops before she ran downstairs.

"Come on, Daddy!" she yelled. He shook his head and followed her.

"It's going to be on the left, and don't run or you're going to end up tripping and falling, then you'll be the one in the hospital bed while Lilly comes and visits you at three o'clock in the morning." Miley ignored her dad as the elevator doors opened and she quickly walked out, turning left into a long, white hallway with doors on both sides. Every couple doors, there was a nurse's station where a young man or woman was typing quickly on a computer or filling out some forms in a manila folder.

Finally, she came to room 304, which was the room number she had gotten down at the receptionist desk when they had first come in. Mrs. Truscott was sitting just outside, engrossed in a book, but Miley could see the wrinkles of worry around her eyes and mouth. When Miley stopped in front of her, Mrs. Truscott looked up in surprise.

"Miley?" she whispered, standing up. "I didn't… when I called your father, I didn't mean for you to come all the way out here this early in the morning. I just wanted to let you know that Lilly wouldn't be dropping by tomorrow morning to walk to school with you."

"Hey, she's my best friend," Miley smiled, shrugging. "What sort of best friend would I be if I just went back to sleep after my dad told me that she was in the hospital? Is it okay if I go in or are the doctors in there or something?"

"You can go on in," Mrs. Truscott murmured tiredly as she sat back down in her chair. "Just don't wake her up if she's sleeping. The doctor said that she should get some rest."

"Okay," Miley whispered, and she went to the door, which was propped open slightly. She pulled on the handle and tiptoed inside quietly.

Lilly was lying on a hospital bed and Miley gasped when she saw the stark white bandage that had been wrapped around half of her face. Her right eye was covered by the bandage and Miley struggled to hold back the horrible thoughts of what could be under that bandage.

"Mom?" Lilly moaned.

"Uh, no, it's me, Miley," the brunette murmured, shuffling over to the side of Lilly's bed.

"Miley?" Lilly asked, surprised. She sat and up and turned to look at Miley with confusion in her eyes. "Am I dreaming again? God, this anesthesia is horrible. I'm gonna have to tell the doctor to give something else if I ever have to go to the hospital again."

"No, it's really me," Miley said, laughing quietly. "Your mom called my dad and he told me that you were sleepwalking again and this time you ended up in the hospital instead of in my bedroom." Lilly blushed and Miley hesitated before asking the question that was nagging her. "How… how bad is it?"

"Oh, not that bad, really," Lilly said cheerfully. "It's just a scratch, really, but the doctor says that it'll scar. This is gonna be so cool, though. I'm gonna look like a pirate or something. I won't even have to do much for a costume for Halloween this year!"

The brunette laughed, mostly in relief that Lilly wasn't seriously hurt. She pulled a chair away from the wall and sat down next to the hospital bed, just noticing that the TV was on and turned to some random channel with a stupid soap opera playing. Lilly bit her lip nervously and glanced between Miley and the TV.

"Why'd you come?" Lilly asked softly.

"You're my best friend," Miley said, shrugging nonchalantly, as if that would explain everything.

"Yes, I know that, you've said it a million times before," Lilly said, surprising Miley with the frustration in her voice. "But a couple months ago, you would have never gotten up at, what time did you get up? One-thirty? Two o'clock? You would have never done that because I was sleepwalking and fell down the stairs. Sure, you would have convinced your dad to let you skip school the next day so you could come see me, but you would have never been here at three o'clock in the morning. There's something going on, Miley, and I want to know what it is. Are you leaving or something? Are you trying to cheer me up before you go on some big tour and leave me just like Oliver did?"

"No, of course not!" Miley exclaimed, standing up so quickly that she knocked her chair over. "I promised you, Lilly. I promised you. And I keep my promise. I will never, ever leave you because I'm going on a tour."

"Then what's going on with you?" Lilly demanded.

The brunette sighed angrily and turned around, kicking her overturned chair. "I have no idea," she admitted. "I just… I've changed, Lilly. I don't know why, so don't expect any explanations from me. Trust me, as soon as I know, you'll be the first one I tell. But just… let me figure this out, okay?"

Everything was quiet except for the beeping of machines and the recorded laughter coming from the TV.

"I'm sorry," Miley finally whispered. "I'll go, now." She walked out of the hospital room, leaving Lilly staring after her with a confused expression on her face. Things were starting to get more complicated between the two of them, and it was all because of Miley. The brunette punched a wall in anger and a stab of pain shot through her hand and up her wrist. She ignored it, punched the wall once again, and hurried out of the hospital.

Sorry about the delay. My best friend was out of town for ten days and I was really bored, so I decided I'd pull out my skateboard and learned some tricks. I ended up wiping out in my driveway and bruising the bones in my hand. It was great. Not really. But I'll definitely be updating more often now. Thanks for sticking with me.

Thank you to the following people for reviewing the first chapter: Satan's Camaro, munnerz, Anti-Gravity111, Freudian Slips Cause Problems, 20kels, jacobsbabygirl01, HannahMiley1fan, AlvinFan07, JustAnotherSlowGoodbye, Azual's Flame 1415, and -7RyPtoPh4n-. You guys are awesome. And once again, extra thanks go out to Freudian Slips Cause Problems for the story idea. Without you, this definitely would not be in existence right now.

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