Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

"Hannah, how did you break your arm?"

"Will your concerts be cancelled because of this?"

"Where have you been for the last few weeks?"

"Is it true that you're dating Oliver Oaken?"

The faux-blonde pushed through the crowd of reporters to the building where she was going to be answering questions from the press. Only certain press agents were allowed inside to ask questions and those who had not been invited or had been rejected had resorted to crowding outside in hopes of getting some answers out of Hannah before or after she met with the other press agents.

Finally, she was inside the building in a small dressing room so she could gather her wits about her before she went to meet the reporters. Taking a drink from a water bottle that had thoughtfully been left on a small table, she wished that Lilly was there with her. Not Lola, but Lilly. She missed her like crazy. It had been two weeks, two long, agonizing weeks, since she had confessed her love for her blonde best friend, and there hadn't been a single moment in one of those days that she hadn't wished that she hadn't said anything.

"Hey, Bud, are you ready?" her dad asked softly. She looked up to see her dad, mustache and hat in place, standing in the doorway with her brother standing behind him. Nodding, she stood up, took one last long drink from the water bottle, and followed him out of the room and down the hallway.

"Miles, listen, don't… don't do anything stupid, okay?" Jackson whispered as they paused in front of the door that opened up into the room of reporters. "Remember everything that you're holding in your hands right now. And try to do what's best for what's the most important."

"Okay, thanks, Jackson," she whispered back, giving him a small smile.

Then her dad opened the door for her and she walked into the room, sitting down at the table that had been set up for her and looking out at the eager faces of the reporters and the flashing lights of the cameras. "Okay, um, first question?"

All of the reporters started shouting out questions and she pointed to a young, black-haired woman in the front row. The woman stood up, reading a question from her notebook. "Is it true that you're dating Oliver Oaken?" she asked. The air was filled with an expectant silence as the reporters waited for the answer.

"No," Miley spoke into the microphone. "Honestly, I don't want to associate myself with Mr. Oaken at all at this point. Yes, he's a nice guy, but he hurt one of my closest friends. I know that there's a rumor going around that we're going to do a tour together, but that isn't true, either. There was never a plan for the two of us to do a tour, and, in the foreseeable future, there never is going to be a tour. Next question." She pointed to a man in the back and he stood up.

"How did you break your arm?" he asked.

She looked down at the bright pink cast plastered on her arm. "I was upset and I punched a wall," she answered. "And no, I will not be answering questions as to why I was upset. Next question." A mousy man in the second row was next.

"Why haven't you been out in public recently?" he asked. "Where have you been?"

This was a hard one. The reporters stared at her expectantly and she let out a loud sigh. "It's because, very recently, I've lost someone very close to me," she said quietly. "No, no one has died, but… I've lost a very close friend. My closest friend. It's hit me hard because there isn't a single moment in the day when I don't think about her or wish that what happened could have gone almost any other way. And I haven't been out because it's very… difficult to function without her."

"Who is this friend?" another reporter called out. "Is it Lola?"

Miley took a deep breath. "The truth is, I'm ending my career," she announced. "I'm going to have one last concert as a sort of farewell concert, and then I'm finished."

"Miss Montana, are you not under contract?"

"What does your label have to say about this?"

"Are you going back to high school?"

"Is there anything that's pushing you to make this choice?"

"When did you decide this?"

"Will you still be making public appearances?"

"My contract ends in three weeks and I have fulfilled all requirements with the exception of one last concert, which will be my farewell concert," she answered, watching as the reporters started scribbling what she was saying down in their notepads. "My manager and I have a meeting with the label tomorrow afternoon, although I don't doubt that they'll be contacting me as soon as they hear the news. My schooling will go on as it has been. I decided this on my own and I've been working up to this for a while. And I will be making limited public appearances, if any at all."

"So this is the first time your label will be hearing about your decision to retire?"

"Yes, it is," she said. "Next question."

"Why did you decide to retire?"

"I want to get back to my roots," she replied easily. "No, I'm not going back to Tennessee, so don't bother looking for me there, but I've drifted away from who I am. From who I used to be. And I've realized that maybe I need to get away from all of this, from the fame and popularity, to get myself back. And I would really appreciate it if you would respect my privacy."

"Where is Lola?"

For the first time during the whole interview, the room was quiet. The reporters stared at her expectantly, pens and pencils poised over notepads, waiting for her to answer the question. Miley stared back at them with wide eyes, her mouth open, words at the tip of her tongue to answer, but nothing coming out.

"I think Hannah has had enough," her dad finally said, stepping in. He motioned to the men standing at the doorways, who started to herd the reporters out of the room. He was asking her questions, and Jackson was there, and Roxy, but she only had eyes for the young man who was making himself as small as possible so he would be overlooked by the men herding the reporters out. She pushed past everyone and walked towards him, sitting down next to him. He looked at her with wide eyes, obviously unsure of how to react to her immediate presence.

"What's your name?" she asked him.

"Uh, it's, um, Bryan," he stuttered.

"Bryan, can you do me a favor?" He nodded gulping loudly. She pulled a wad of bills out of her pocket, counting it out and pressing it into his hand. "There's five hundred dollars. Put in your article, right on the front page of whatever newspaper you work for, or say on air for whatever news station you work for, that I, no, that Miley misses Lilly. Write that down. Miley misses Lilly. Do you have that?"

The reporter quickly scribbled it down in his notepad, circling it multiple times and putting a large star by it. He looked up directly into Miley's eyes and, for a moment, she thought that he saw right past the thin disguise she was wearing.

"Can I ask you a question?"

She nodded.

"Where is Lola?"

She sighed and looked away. "To be honest, I really don't know. I'm sorry that I can't help you more. But thank you very, very much."

He nodded, scribbling something else down in his notepad as he stood up, mumbling to himself and almost bumping into the doorframe as he left. Miley felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to see her brother standing above her, an understanding and sympathetic look on his face.

"Come on, Sis," he whispered. "Let's go home."

Miley stood in her room, looking in the mirror and running her fingers through the hair of her wig. This would most likely be the last time she would be Hannah Montana. Ever. While she knew that she was making the right choice, it was hard to comprehend that everything was going to change. Hannah had been a part of her life for years and after this concert, she would only be Miley.

There was a knock on her bedroom door and it slowly opened to reveal Jackson standing in the doorway dressed in a pair of jeans, a nice button-down shirt, and a sport jacket. He smiled at her tentatively and walked into the room, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Miley smiled back at him and turned back to the mirror, adjusting her necklace so it was perfectly centered. Her eyes traveled down her arm to the friendship bracelet Lilly had made her when they had first met and tears sprung to her eyes.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," Jackson murmured, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into a hug. "Lilly'll come back. She always does. Trust me."

"How can she come back when I broke my promise to her?"

Jackson pulled away and lifted her chin with his finger so they were staring into each other's eyes. "Listen to me, Miley," he instructed quietly. "You guys have been best friends since the first day you met, which is almost eight years. I know you tell each other everything and you can barely go twenty minutes without some form of communication. I mean, Lilly's literally sleepwalked to our house! There's no way that she's going to break off your guys' friendship. It might take a little while for her to adjust, but she'll come around."

"I told her that I like her, Jackson," Miley murmured sadly, and a look of surprise flitted across his face. "She… she probably hates me now. I mean… she probably thinks that I'm just some pervert who only became best friends with her so I could… I don't even know, Jackson. I'm so scared. I'm scared that I've lost her."

"Hey, hey, none of this," Jackson whispered, wiping away the tears that were beginning to slide down Miley's face. "Lilly is going to come back. If you begin to doubt that, then you're just going to make this a whole lot worse for yourself. You guys have been through a whole lot together and I don't think she would let something like that get between you two."

Nodding, Miley wiped at her face, grateful that she hadn't put on her makeup yet. Jackson wrapped his arms around her, engulfing her in a hug. The brunette collapsed into him, lying her head on his shoulder and trying to keep herself from crying.

"Thank you, Jackson," she whispered. There was a moment of silence. "Why can't we normally be like this? Why do we have to fight all the time?"

"Because you're my sister and I'm your brother and that's what brothers and sisters are supposed to do," Jackson answered playfully. "Besides, this house wouldn't be half as much fun if we didn't argue a little bit, would it? And Dad wouldn't have the opportunity to enjoy disciplining us."

"I guess we have to humor Daddy, don't we?" Miley murmured into Jackson's shoulder.

"What else would he have to do if he didn't have to yell at us?" Jackson asked. "Straighten his hair?" Miley laughed. "Come on, Miles, we have to get out to the limo. You don't want to be late for your last concert. And I need to get there to impress the ladies." He pulled away and looked down at her, a playful smirk on his face. Patting her on the shoulder, he turned to leave.

"Jackson?"

He stopped and turned. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem, little sis."

Miley hesitated. "And Jackson?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you."

"Love you, too, Miles."

He gently shut the door behind him and Miley looked into the mirror one last time before following him out.

"Miss Montana, there's someone here to see you. She says that she knows you."

Miley looked away from the dark TV screen, her eyes settling on the young man dressed in all black and wearing a headset. A clipboard and pencil was clutched in his left hand and his right hand rested on the doorknob of her dressing room.

"Send her in," she sighed, turning away from him. The door closed softly and her heart fluttered in hope and excitement. Maybe, just maybe… no, she couldn't get her hopes up. There was a soft knock on the door and it opened quietly.

"Miley."

The faux blonde jumped to her feet, turning quickly to see Lilly standing in front of her, the door closed behind her. For a moment, Miley didn't believe that it was really her best friend standing there, dressed in the baggy cargo shorts, one-size-too-big band t-shirt, red beat-up Vans skate shoes, and backwards black baseball hat worn over her blonde hair that was tied up in pigtails. Her skateboard was held tightly against the side of her body under her arm and a light sheen of sweat covered her face.

"Lilly?" Miley whispered, eyes wide.

The blonde licked her lips and hesitantly set her skateboard down on the ground. "I… I've been thinking," she said boldly, but Miley could tell that she was nervous by the way her eyes were always focused on something other than Miley. "I mean, not that I don't usually, but… I've started boarding again in the past couple weeks, and I… why does this have to be so hard?" She groaned and turned away from Miley, rubbing her eyes with her fists.

"Do you hate me?" Miley asked in a small voice.

"No!" she yelled, startling Miley. Lilly turned to face her. "No," she repeated in a quieter voice. "I could never hate you."

They were both quiet, awkwardly standing across from each other.

"Why now?" Miley asked finally.

"Because I miss you," Lilly answered, meeting Miley's eyes.

Both girls rushed forward, wrapping their arms around each other and holding each other tightly.

"I'm so, so sorry," Miley whispered as she buried her face in Lilly's hair. Tears were streaming down her face and leaking onto the top of Lilly's head, but at the moment, Miley didn't care if the skater saw that she was crying. For once, she let herself break down in front of her best friend instead of pretending that she was perfectly okay.

"I am, too," Lilly murmured, holding the faux blonde. Hands rough from skateboarding and landing hands-first on pavement grasped Miley's wig and gently tugged it off, dropping it on the floor. Lilly took a step back and gently loosened the hair tie in the brunette's hair and loosed her curls so they fell softly around her face. "There's the Miley I've been missing," the blonde smiled.

"What… what are you thinking?" Miley asked quietly, eyes wide in fear.

"I'm thinking that we should get out of here so we can talk where people won't walk in on us and wonder why the heck Hannah Montana has brown, curly hair," Lilly answered. "Besides, it feels weird to be in your dressing room as Lilly and not as Lola."

Miley looked around. "This is it," she murmured. "After this, Hannah's name is gonna be taken down off the door and some other pop star is going to come here before concerts with her best friend, laughing and giggling before the stagehands knock on the door for the twentieth time and tell her that if she doesn't get out on stage in twenty seconds, then the whole concert will have to be cancelled. She's gonna take a quick ten minute break between number that turns into fifteen because she ate too many of those little French pastries filled with cherries. And she's gonna come in here afterwards and fall asleep on the couch only to be woken up by her friend jumping on her and pushing her to the ground."

"Are… are you sure that you want to end all of this?" Lilly asked hesitantly. "I mean, this has been half of your life for almost eight years. It's going to be hard to adjust to not having any of this anymore."

"Yeah, but I wasn't able to be myself for half of my life," Miley explained with a small smile. "I mean, yeah, singing and performing is a part of my life that I can't live without, but I can do other things to fill in that space. There's always the school musicals, and once we get to college, there's singing groups and I can always come back as Miley and perform as myself."

"You know that… that I don't mind you being Hannah, right?" Lilly asked slowly. "If you're doing this because you think…."

"No, I'm doing this for myself," Miley interrupted. "Now how about we get out of here. I'm in the mood for some ice cream."

Miley sat across from Lilly at one of the picnic tables set up outside of Stella's, a burger joint that had been built fifty years earlier almost directly on the beach. The brunette poked her ice cream sundae with her spoon, watching as Lilly devoured her large chocolate ice cream cone.

"Are you gonna eat that?" Lilly asked eagerly, staring at Miley's mashed-up ice cream sundae. The brunette shook her head and pushed it towards the blonde, watching in amusement as Lilly started to shovel spoonfuls of vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, and nuts into her mouth. When she was finished, she pushed the plastic bowl back to Miley and burped obnoxiously.

"I saw the message on the news channel," Lilly finally said after a long period of silence. She continued when Miley didn't say anything. "How did you get that on there?"

"At the Hannah press conference a couple weeks ago," Miley answered, playing with the bracelet on her wrist. "One of the reporters tried to avoid the security guards so he could stay and ask me more questions, and I paid him to somehow get that message out to you, through the newspaper or TV station or whoever he worked for. It turns out that he the news anchor on CNN."

"How come you manage to do all these amazing things for me?" Lilly asked in an exasperated tone of voice. "You jump out of a plane so you get to see me on my birthday, you manage to convince your dad to let me live with you until my dad manages to get a bigger apartment in the school district, and you write a message to me that runs on national TV for three straight weeks."

"Don't make me answer that question," Miley murmured, looking away.

Lilly was quiet for a moment. "You… you really like me?"

"Lilly…."

"No, answer the question, Miley," Lilly demanded. "I don't want you to skirt around the question and leave me guessing about how it is between the two of us, okay? We will always be friends. No matter what happens. I will never let anything get between the two of us. But I don't want us to be hiding things from each other, either."

The brunette sighed. "Yes," she answered quietly. "I like you. Are you happy now?"

"As more than a friend?"

"Yes, as more than a friend," Miley snapped, surprising Lilly. "Do you have to push the point, Lilly? It hurts, Lilly, it actually hurts. Don't push the point, because every time you ask a question, it's just gonna drive a stake deeper and deeper into my heart. If you don't ask any more questions, maybe I can get over this, okay? I'm not gonna ravage you in your sleep or sneak into the bathroom while you're taking a shower. Everything's exactly the same as it was before, except now you know."

The blonde reached out a hand, placing it on top of Miley's. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "I don't know what you're going through right now, and I know that me asking questions isn't going to help, but I want to help in whatever way possible. If you want me to do something or stop doing something, go ahead and tell me. Whatever makes this easiest for you. You're my best friend and you were there for me when I was going through a rough time, and now I want to be there for you while you go through this."

"Just… just don't leave me," Miley whispered, looking into Lilly's eyes. "I can live with you not liking me, but I can't live without you as my friend."

"I'm not gonna leave you," Lilly whispered. "I promise."

Well, there you go. I'll have the next chapter up within the next week. I don't want to post it too soon; I want to keep you guys guessing for a little while longer! ;) Sorry guys, but I can't resist! Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: Anti-Gravity111, Satan's Camaro, AlvinFan07, joske432, IAmsterdam3, JustAnotherSlowGoodbye, dcjp, karleen3863, TheBoredOne85, .287, XxuntouchablexX, Freudian Slips Cause Problems, and Breyton2009. You guys are awesome! And once again, extra thanks to Freudian Slips Cause Problems for the story idea!

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