Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Miley felt like she was on top of the world. Lilly was her girlfriend, Gabe had stopped teasing her about being gay because he was afraid Lilly was going to punch him in the face, she had passed her first calculus test with flying colors, Amber was sick and wasn't in school, and Ashley was being nice to her by not making fun of her at all.
The brunette glanced over at Lilly, who was lying on her bed and staring up at the ceiling as she hummed along to the radio. After a moment, the song registered as "Hey There, Delilah" and Miley smiled. She liked this song. And she liked Lilly. This song and Lilly went together perfectly.
"What are you grinning to yourself about over there?" Lilly asked suddenly, jolting Miley out of her thoughts. "We might be together, but that doesn't mean that I'm any more willing to go along with one of your crazy schemes. In fact, it might make me a little less willing."
"Excuse me?" Miley asked, faking offense. "My schemes are absolutely brilliant, thank you very much! Besides, I wasn't thinking up a scheme. There's no need to. My life is absolutely perfect the way it is." She smiled sweetly at Lilly, who just blushed and turned her head away in embarrassment.
It had been a week since she and Lilly had started dating and everything had gone perfect so far. They usually hung out at either Lilly or Miley's house because Lilly wasn't "out" to the public yet, although they had told Miley's dad that they were dating. The blonde was still nervous about telling her mom, so they usually stayed in Lilly's room when they were over at her house, which was perfectly fine with Miley.
Their physical relationship was progressing slowly, but surely. Whenever they knew no one was looking, they would lace their fingers together and Lilly would lean her head on Miley's shoulder. Miley kissed Lilly on the top of the head both times the blonde had fallen asleep on her shoulder. She had kissed her on the cheek once, but she had refrained from doing so again because Lilly had blushed a bright red and wasn't able to speak full sentences for half an hour.
"Tomorrow's Saturday!" Miley announced suddenly. "You're sleeping over at my house tonight since I slept over here last Friday. And Daddy can make us blueberry pancakes in the morning because he just bought a whole gallon of that blueberry syrup that we had two weeks ago. Then we can go to the beach and get ice cream from Rico's, even though it's terribly overpriced, and finally we can go to the movies, and then I can drop you off back home and then go home and collapse on my bed and daydream about our day until my dad comes upstairs and tells me that it's time for dinner."
Lilly stared at her for a moment before speaking. "Did you mean to say that out loud?"
"Well, maybe not the last part," Miley murmured, blushing. "But everything else, yes. Those are our plans for tomorrow. My dad won't mind, and didn't your mom leave for some weekend trip at three o'clock today?"
"Yeah, she's going to be in Vegas until Monday," Lilly answered easily. "She's flying in at seven o'clock in the morning and she's going to take me out to eat after school, which means that we can't do homework that night. Sorry." She gave Miley an apologetic look.
"It's fine, she's probably just jealous because I've been hogging you all to myself," Miley said, waving her off. "Besides, we'll start that English assignment tonight, which means we'll only have the essay part left by Monday. We'll easily be able to finish it by Tuesday. And I'll see you all day in school, so it's not like she's tearing the two of us apart or…."
"Miley, I want to tell her," Lilly interrupted quickly. "I want to tell her about us."
The brunette stared at her for a moment. "Okay," she said slowly, nodding as she looked away from Lilly. "That's perfectly fine. Do you… do you want me to be there with you or do you want to do it by yourself?"
"I… I think I'm going to do it by myself," Lilly answered hesitantly. "I'm going to break it to her slowly. First, I'm gonna tell her that I'm… that I like girls, and I want her to get used to that idea. And… and when I feel the time is right, we can tell her that we're dating."
"It's your decision," Miley murmured gently, sliding across the floor and reaching up to set a comforting hand on Lilly's. "And I'm going to be here for you no matter what happens."
"Thanks," Lilly smiled.
Miley couldn't help but smile back.
It was Monday night and Miley was focusing on her English essay, which was due the next day. She was just about to start writing the conclusion of the essay when her cell phone rang. Miley immediately shot to her feet and rushed across her room to where her cell phone was plugged into the wall, hoping that it was Lilly calling her and not her theatre arts partner calling for the fifth time that night wondering exactly how they should choreograph their rendition of "Walking on Sunshine."
"Hello?" she gasped breathlessly into the phone.
"Miley? Did you just run a marathon or something?"
"Lilly!" Miley squealed happily. The blonde sounded like she was in a good mood, which had to mean that her conversation with her mom had to have gone well. "I've been waiting for hours and Chelsea won't stop calling me and I'm almost finished with my English paper!"
"Someone had a little too much loco in their hot cocoa," Lilly murmured, and Miley smiled guiltily.
"So?" she asked eagerly. "What did she say?"
Lilly took a deep breath. "She's okay with it," she sighed. "She was a little surprised at first because of Oliver, but… man, I really wish you had been here. After a couple minutes, she literally jumped off the couch and started dancing because she was happy that I wouldn't get pregnant while I was a teenager."
They laughed together and Miley could practically hear the relief in Lilly's voice. "I'm happy for you, Lilly," she murmured. "So does this mean that I can officially take you out on a date now? I mean, I know we're not.. out, really, like, to the rest of the world, but would you… would you like to go out to dinner with me Saturday night? I know that I'm asking you over the phone and that I should be asking you in person, but I just couldn't wait and…."
"Miles, it's fine," Lilly interrupted. "I'm not gonna get mad at you for something silly like that. Of course I would like to go to dinner with you this Saturday."
Biting her lip to keep herself from yelling in triumph, Miley pumped a fist in the air in victory. "Okay, I'll pick you up at your house at seven?" she asked excitedly.
"Sounds good," Lilly answered, almost too calmly.
"Oh, and Sarah called, like, half an hour ago," she said, just remembering. "She said that she was having a party or something at her house on Sunday. Pool party, I think. She said she called you but you didn't pick up, so she just went ahead and called me. It's at three and ends at ten. Both of us are invited."
"Um, I'll have to ask my mom because I think we were going to do something on Sunday, but I'll let both you and Sarah know," Lilly replied. "But, hey, I have to go. I still have to write that English essay that's due tomorrow and then I have to double-check my answers for calculus. I wish I could talk more, but I'll see you tomorrow at the corner to walk to school."
"M'kay, I'll see you tomorrow," Miley whispered sadly.
There was no sound from the other end of the line and Miley was about to hang up, thinking that Lilly had already done so, when Lilly spoke. "You know I missed you after school," she murmured.
"Me, too," Miley whispered. "But you have to finish your homework. It's okay that you can't talk; I'll see you tomorrow."
"Thank you, Miles," Lilly said gratefully. "I'll call you before I go to bed."
"Okay, I'll talk to you in a couple hours, then," Miley said. She waited until Lilly had hung up to snap her phone shut. Sighing, she checked the time. It was only eight o'clock, which meant that she would have to wait at least three hours to talk to Lilly, if not more.
The blonde might not feel the same way, but Miley was already falling head-over heels in love with Lilly.
"Dad, you said I could borrow the car!" Miley exclaimed, feeling tears threatening to fall. Her date with Lilly needed to be perfect and she had asked her dad almost a week in advance if she could borrow the car, and he had said she could. Now he was saying that he needed it and her whole date would be ruined if she didn't have the car. She had to leave in two hours and she still had to get ready.
"Bud, I know I said you could use the car, but I really need it," he said gently. "You can have the car next weekend."
"But my date with Lilly is today," Miley cried, tears starting to slide down her cheeks.
Her dad stopped pulling the ingredients for a sandwich out of the fridge to look at her. Miley sniffled and wiped her face on her sleeve, trying to clear away the tears, but they kept coming. Sighing, he shut the fridge, setting the bottle of yellow mustard down on the counter, and walked over to her.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked gently. "I would have made sure that I didn't have to use the car. I thought that you just wanted to drive around the city with Lilly, not take her out on a date."
"Because Lilly just came out to her mom and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be telling you that we're dating yet because I don't know if Lilly is ready and I wanted tonight to be perfect and now it won't be because I won't be able to pick Lilly up," Miley sobbed, stumbling forward into her dad's arms. He sighed and pulled her into a hug, rocking her back and forth and awkwardly smoothing out her hair.
"Miles, I really don't know how something I had intended to be good turned into something that would make you cry," he sighed once she had started calming down. "I was gonna take you to get a car of your own as a early combined birthday and graduation gift, but that can always wait until tomorrow. If you had just told me that you were taking Lilly out tonight I would have taken you earlier today."
Miley pulled away from her dad and looked up at him. "Wait, you… you're getting me a car?" she asked, her voice raspy from crying.
He smiled down at her. "Yeah, I'm proud of you," he murmured, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "You're my little girl, except you're all grown up, now, and I wanted to let you know that I'm incredibly proud of how far you've come. Maybe you didn't make the best career decision in the world…."
"Dad," Miley muttered, raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms over her chest. Her dad hadn't been too thrilled when she had announced the end of her career. It had put him out of a job and he wasn't too happy about managing some stuck-up celebrity's life. Apparently she wasn't half as bad as some performers out in Hollywood.
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything," he relented, holding his hands up in surrender. "But if Hannah ever wants to make a comeback…."
"Dad."
"Fine," he sighed. "When you're ready. But I'll take you out to get the car tomorrow. Right now you have to get ready for a date."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Miley squealed, throwing herself at her dad and wrapping her arms around his neck. He laughed and patted her on the back before she pulled away and pecked his cheek quickly, quickly starting towards the stairs afterwards. "Oh, and Dad? Please don't tell anyone about me and Lilly yet. Or about Lilly coming out to her mom. I wasn't supposed to tell you…."
"My mouth is zipped," he promised, pretending to zip his mouth up. Miley just rolled her eyes at him as he pretended to lock his mouth and throw away the key.
An hour and a half later, Miley was standing in front of her mirror, looking at the outfit she had picked out, a simple sundress. She didn't want to overdress for the occasion, but she wanted to impress Lilly, too. Earlier, the blonde had called wondering what she should wear, and Miley had told her something comfortable but nice. Nervously smoothing out invisible wrinkles from her dress, Miley turned away from the mirror and went downstairs.
"Daddy, I'm leaving now!" she yelled as she went picked his car keys up off the coffee table and headed for the door. "I should be back by eleven and if I'm going to be back later, I'll call you!"
"Okay!" he yelled back. "Have a good time and stay out of trouble!"
Miley got in the car and sat there for five minutes, knowing that she didn't have to leave for another fifteen. But she was nervous and excited, so she twisted the key in the ignition and slowly backed out of the driveway.
The drive to Lilly's house would have normally taken five minutes, but Miley drove so slow that it took twice as long. She parked in the driveway behind Lilly's Volkswagen and cut the engine, taking a deep breath and slowly pulling the key out of the ignition. Taking another deep breath, she checked to see that she had her purse and her money before slowly getting out of the car and walking up to the front door. The light was still on in Lilly's room, which meant that the blonde probably didn't know that she was here yet.
Swallowing nervously, Miley climbed the two steps onto Lilly's porch and rang the doorbell, taking a step back away from the door as she waited for someone to answer it. A couple seconds later, the door opened to reveal Lilly's mom standing in the foyer.
"Hey, Miley, what are you doing all dressed up on the front porch?" she asked with a small smile. "Oh, where are my manners? Come on in. I don't want you standing out there like a stranger; you're practically family!"
Miley smiled weakly and stepped inside, wondering how she was going to explain this to Lilly's mom. Right at that moment, Lilly came running down the stairs and Miley's jaw dropped open. Lilly looked absolutely gorgeous in a pair of black skinny jeans and a form-fitting, strapless green top. The blonde had let her hair down, curls falling gently on her shoulders, and Miley could tell that she had even put a little makeup on.
"You're early," Lilly said accusingly, a small smile on her face to let Miley know that it was a joke. "But you look absolutely amazing."
"I didn't know you two girls were having a girl's night out tonight," Lilly's mom said.
"Oh, um, Mom," Lilly started awkwardly, walking over to stand by Miley, "Miley and I are together. Like, we're dating." She laced their fingers together and held them up in the air for her mom to see.
Lilly's mom looked between the two of them and Miley started to get nervous. Finally, she spoke. "I suppose I should have seen this coming a long time ago," she sighed, giving the girls a small smile. "You two were always closer to each other than any other friends ever were, weren't you? I'm not upset at you two girls, and I understand why you're hesitant to tell me, but I wish you trusted me a little more. I'm not going to kick my only daughter and her best friend out of the house."
Miley felt Lilly relax next to her and the brunette let a smile creep onto her face. "Thanks, Mrs. Truscott," she said gratefully. "Um, I know it's a little late, but… well, I want to do this right." She let go of Lilly's hand, noting the confused expression on the blonde's face, and took a few steps forward to she was directly in front of Lilly's mom.
"Mrs. Truscott, your daughter and I have been friends for an incredibly long time, and over the years of friendship, I have developed deeper feelings for her," Miley said seriously, trying to gauge Mrs. Truscott's feelings from her facial expression. "I have already asked Lilly to be my girlfriend and I've asked her on our first official date, but I would like to ask your permission to date her and take her out tonight."
The older blonde smiled at Miley gratefully. "Thank you for asking, Miley. Of course I give you permission." She looked past Miley at Lilly. "Lilly, let me just say, this girl is a keeper."
The brunette blushed and Lilly groaned as Mrs. Truscott started laughing. "Go ahead, girls, go on your date and have fun."
"She should be home by eleven o'clock, Mrs. Truscott, but if we're any later, I'll call you and let you know," Miley said, taking a few steps back and once again taking Lilly's hand in her own.
"That should be fine, Miley, thank you," Mrs. Truscott said, nodding. "Now you two girls have fun."
Lilly grinned and followed Miley out to the car, her grin widening when Miley opened the passenger's door for her and helped her in. Miley shut the door once she was sure Lilly was all the way inside and practically ran to the other side of the car, rushing to get inside. She fit the key in the ignition and turned the car on, smiling at Lilly before she backed out of the driveway.
"You look really nice tonight, Lilly," Miley murmured shyly, glancing over at her girlfriend to see a blush spread across her cheeks.
"Thanks, you do, too," Lilly replied, and Miley blushed. "Um, where are we going?"
"It's a surprise," Miley grinned, looking at Lilly as she stopped at a red light. "But I know that you're going to love it!"
"I brought money…" Lilly started.
"No!" Miley exclaimed. "You're not going to pay. I asked you out, this is my date, and I'm going to pay for you. I wouldn't have asked you out if I didn't fully intend to pay. It's the way things are done in my house, unless you're a girl dating a boy, and I'd feel bad if I made you pay tonight."
"Okay, okay," Lilly said, smiling to herself.
After a few minutes of silence, Miley turned on the radio and started singing along with Lilly to the song playing. They both grinned at each other and laughed at their slightly off-key singing, both fully aware but not caring that Lilly was way more off-key than Miley was. Then Miley pulled into the parking lot of Geoffrey's, one of the most highly-rated restaurants in Malibu.
"Oh my God, Miley, this is way too expensive," Lilly protested as soon as she saw where Miley was taking her. "And I'm way underdressed. We can just go to Sarah's or something, I really don't care. As long as I get to hang out with you and eat food."
"No, Lilly, this is my treat," Miley insisted, parking the car. "I want to do this for you, so don't even try to convince me to take you to Sarah's. We can go there any time. This is like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Plus, I already made the reservations."
"But you have to make reservations weeks in advance!" Lilly exclaimed.
Miley grinned. "That's where Hannah comes into play," she smiled. "The owner owed Hannah a favor, and I called it in. Outdoor table for two with an amazing view of the ocean. Reservation for seven-thirty. And it's seven twenty-five now. They cancel if you're five minutes late, so we'd better get in there. And don't worry about how you look because I think you look absolutely gorgeous, and so should everyone else."
"Okay, fine, but I'm going to get you back for this," Lilly muttered.
The brunette laughed in triumph and got out of the car, opening the door for Lilly and shutting it once she got out of the car. She reached down for Lilly's hand, taking it in her own, and led her through the parking lot, to the door, and into the restaurant.
"Do you have a reservation?" the host asked as soon as they walked in.
"Yes, it's under Miley Stewart," Miley said authoritatively. "My friend, Hannah, said that she called in a favor and that we had a reservation for today at seven-thirty with an outside, ocean-view table."
"Oh, you're Hannah's friend," the host said, his demeanor changing immediately from slightly condescending to completely accommodating. "Yes, of course, Hannah called earlier this week and your reservation was made. Your table is ready if you'll just follow me. I'm assuming you would like the dinner menu?"
"Yes, thank you," Miley answered, smiling and winking at Lilly as the host scrambled to get two menus. He gave them a large smile and beckoned for them to follow him, leading them outside and showing them to a table with a view overlooking the ocean. Miley pulled Lilly's chair out for her before sitting down herself.
"Your server will be with you shortly to get your drinks for you; take your time with the menus," the host said, bowing himself away.
Miley opened her menu. "Order whatever you want," she murmured to Lilly.
"But… but… I don't even know what half of this stuff is!" the blonde exclaimed quietly.
"Hey, hey, don't worry, I'll help you," Miley smiled. "Just focus on what you want to drink. You can have practically anything here."
"Is just a regular coke okay?" Lilly asked in a small voice.
"Anything for you," Miley murmured.
A server appeared at their table and Miley looked up at her.
"Hi, my name is Brianne and I'm going to be your server for tonight," she said with a smile, pulling a notepad and pen from the pocket of her apron. "Tonight's soup specials are wild mushroom soup and Tahitian corn chowder. Do you know what you would like to drink or do you need more time?"
"Um, can I have sweet tea with extra lemon?" Miley asked, looking down at her menu.
Brianne nodded and jotted it down, then looked expectantly at Lilly.
"Can I just have a coke, please?" she asked in a small voice.
"Of course," Brianne said, giving her a small smile before writing it down on her notepad. "I'll be back in a few minutes with your drinks and to take your orders." She quickly walked away and disappeared.
"What the heck am I supposed to get?" Lilly whispered urgently. "I think I need a translator to tell me what this menu says!"
"I said I would help you," Miley murmured comfortingly. "Do you trust me?"
Lilly nodded hesitantly.
"Then let me order for you," Miley said. "Trust me, I've been here before and I know exactly what you would like on the menu. But I'll let you order your own dessert when it comes time to choose. I think you would like everything on that menu."
"Okay, thanks," Lilly sighed, obviously relieved.
Brianne came back, setting their drinks in front of them and pulling out her notepad again, looking between Miley and Lilly expectantly.
"Um, for appetizers, she would like the Baked Brie in Puff Pastry and I would like the Lobster and Scallop Ceviche," Miley said, and Brianne directed her attention to the brunette, writing down what she was ordering. "And for the main course, she would like the Prime Kobe Wagyu New York Steak and I would like the Oven Roasted Chicken Breast. And we'll take the dessert menu after we've finished our meals."
The server nodded. "Okay, is there anything else I can get you?" she asked. "Oh, I almost forgot." She pulled some matches out of her pocket and lit the candles in the middle of the table. "If there's anything else I can get you, don't hesitate to ask."
"That should be it, thank you," Miley said, dismissing Brianne.
"Miles, this place is really nice," Lilly said, looking around with wide eyes.
"Yeah, my dad took me here for my sixteenth birthday," Miley said, looking at the view. "Although, we didn't get a table this good. This is probably because Hannah called for us and got the reservation. If I had called myself then we probably would've gotten a table inside."
"This is amazing," Lilly repeated, shaking her head. "How am I supposed to compare to this? I can't…."
"Lilly, no," Miley stated firmly. "Don't try to get reservations in the most expensive restaurant you can afford and then spend all of your money on one night. I don't want you to do that. The reason I took you here is because it holds a lot of memories for me, and I want it to do the same for you. My dad took me here for my sixteenth birthday, for Hannah's first platinum CD, and as a celebration for Jackson getting into college. And I'm taking you here because it's our first date. This restaurant represents firsts for me, at least, the really good ones. And this is the best so far."
The blonde smiled at her. "Thanks, Miley," she whispered. "I… I didn't realize it meant so much to you. Thank you for including me in something as important to you as this."
"Well, you're important to me, too," Miley murmured, biting her lip and blushing. "I really like you, Lilly."
"I like you, too," Lilly whispered back, reaching across the table and tangling their fingers together. "And I think it was really sweet, although unnecessary, for you to ask my mom's permission to date me and take me out tonight. No one else has ever done that. Not even Oliver."
"Like I said, I want to do this the right way," Miley stated. "I know that it's a bit of a shocker for your mom that we're dating, and I want to make this as easy as possible for her and, in turn, you. She doesn't need to be worrying about me randomly dropping by your house, taking you places, and then dropping you off at all hours of the day."
"But still, it was unnecessary," Lilly insisted.
Miley smiled at her. "But totally worth it." They were both quiet for a moment. "So… this is okay? I mean, it's a good start, right?"
Lilly laughed. "Are you nervous?" she asked incredulously. "You, the Hannah Montana, are nervous to take your best friend of eight years out to eat?"
"Yeah," Miley muttered, blushing. "I mean, I want this to be perfect."
"Miles, it doesn't have to be," Lilly said. "As long as you're here, I'll be happy."
The brunette blushed just as Brianne walked over to their table with their appetizers and set the dishes in front of them. Miley dismissed the Brianne after she had asked if they needed anything else and focused on the foot in front of her.
"Are you sure I'll like this?" Lilly asked uncertainly.
"Trust me, you'll love it," Miley said, starting to eat her own appetizer. "You probably shouldn't finish the whole thing if you want to eat dinner and dessert, but I can always help you, and you can try my appetizer, although I doubt that you'll like it. You almost puked when I made you eat scallops last time."
"Because they're disgusting," Lilly said, rolling her eyes. She took a taste of the food in front of her and a smile spread across her face. Miley watched incredulously as she ate slowly and moderately, something that she had never seen Lilly do.
"That's amazing," Miley muttered.
"What?" Lilly asked.
"I've never seen you eat without getting food on your face," Miley answered, shaking her head in incredulity.
Lilly wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms over her chest, faking offense. Miley just laughed and finished eating her own appetizer, pushing her plate away from her when she was finished. Ten minutes later, Brianne cleared their plates and set their main dishes in front of them. Miley's mouth started watering as she stared down at her food and she looked up to see that Lilly had already started eating her steak.
"You were right," Lilly said once she had swallowed a bite. "I do like the food you ordered for me. Maybe you should order for me everywhere we go."
"Um, no, I don't think so," Miley laughed.
After they had finished their dessert, Miley had ordered herself the Chocolate Crunch Torte and had ordered Lilly the Warm Crisp Apple Tart, Miley paid the bill, which she refused to reveal to Lilly, and led her out to the car.
"Thank you for eating with us, please come back soon," the host said as they left. "And please tell Hannah that she's welcome any time without reservations."
"I'll pass it on," Miley smiled as she held the door open for Lilly and followed her out. "Man, that guy pisses me off. He wouldn't have given us the time of day if I hadn't mentioned Hannah's name. That's why I really don't like special treatment for celebrities. But, then again, that's what got us the reservation."
"Hey, there are always going to be people like that in the world," Lilly murmured comfortingly, taking Miley's hand. "Especially in the restaurant business. You're just going to have to get used to it. And if you're at a disadvantage, just use Hannah. She'll always get you what you want."
Miley just laughed and opened the car door for Lilly.
"So it's nine thirty and you told my mom that if we got back after eleven you would call her," Lilly said. "You have to have something else planned because I know for a fact that dinner couldn't have ever taken four hours."
"You're right," Miley answered, buckling up and turning on the car. "But you're just going to have to wait and see."
She drove out of the parking lot and listened to Lilly talk about how good the food was at the restaurant. Finally, half an hour later, she parked on the side of the road and slipped off her shoes, motioning for Lilly to do the same and get out of the car. Taking the blonde's hand in her own, she led her off to the side of the road down a small path and onto the beach, which was completely deserted.
"I wanted to take you to the beach on our first date," Miley whispered shyly, biting her lip and smiling at Lilly. "I've always wanted to come to the beach with my date and walk barefoot along the water."
"Jake never did that with you?" Lilly asked incredulously.
The brunette shook her head. "No, which is kind of surprising considering he tried to do every romantic thing possible to keep me with him," she murmured. "But I didn't ask you out so we could talk about Jake. He's kind of a jerk and I don't really like him."
"Kind of?" Lilly asked, and they laughed together as they started walking down the beach. "Tonight was perfect, Miley. I really loved everything you did. It was amazing."
"I'm happy that I could make you happy," Miley smiled.
They walked along in silence for a few minutes before Miley spoke again. "I know it's a little soon to talk about this and I have absolutely no say in how this happens, but I was wondering if you were thinking about coming out to the school as a couple," she said in a quiet voice.
Lilly sighed. "I've thought about it," she admitted. "And you absolutely have a say in how it happens. I just… I'm really nervous because I saw what happened to you, and I don't want to have to be punching people every day because they're insulting us. No matter what happens with this relationship, you're my best friend and I feel like if people found out that we're together, you would get more criticism for it than I would. And I really don't want that to happen to you."
"You tell me when you're ready, okay?" Miley said gently. "Don't worry about me. We'll get through this together. I don't want you to hold back simply because you don't want me to get hurt. Things are going to happen, Lilly. I knew that when I told you that I'm gay. I knew that when I told you that I like you. It's something that I'm going to have to get used to if I don't want to hide part of my life from the world."
She shook her head. "I hate hiding things," she murmured. "That's what I did with Hannah, and if I did that with my orientation, I think I would eventually crack. I was always going to end up giving up Hannah. I just didn't know when."
"What are you going to do for college and stuff?" Lilly asked. "I mean, I always thought you would have Hannah, but now that you don't…."
"I'm going to major in music and then I have a choice to make," she whispered. "I can revive Hannah and continue living half my life basically as a lie, I can start a world of fame as just Miley, or I can start my own record company, which is sorely tempting. But I can't live without music being some part of my life."
"No matter what you do, you're going to be amazing at it," Lilly murmured.
"What do you want to do?" Miley asked curiously. Lilly had never really told Miley about her interests after she graduated from high school.
The blonde shook her head and shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know," she admitted. "I mean, I've always had an interest in a tone of different things. I've taken theater classes, art classes, business classes, and now I'm taking a writing class, but nothing's really stuck out for me. I mean, I guess I'm a really good writer from what my teacher says, but I don't know if I want to do that for the rest of my life. I kinda want to do something with my life, you know? Like, help people."
"You'd totally be good at that," Miley said. "You have such a big heart and I think you'd really like helping people."
Lilly bit her lip nervously. "Actually, I was kind of thinking about going to law school and… and going into family law," she whispered shyly. She looked at Miley for a reaction.
"Lilly, that'd be great!" Miley exclaimed.
"Really?" she asked hopefully. "You think I'd be good at that?"
"Well, yeah," Miley replied. "I mean, you're passionate about what you do, and you like helping people. You're an amazing speaker, and if your writing teacher says that you're a good writer, then that's going to help, too. I think that'd be perfect for you."
"I think I might apply to Harvard and Yale."
Miley paused. Harvard and Yale were on the complete opposite side of the country. If Miley stayed in Malibu with her dad in brother and Lilly went to Harvard or Yale, then they would never get to see each other. "Well, that would be great if you got in," she said slowly. "You'd get tons of opportunities if you went to Harvard or Yale."
"But I wouldn't get to see you," Lilly murmured.
"Hey," Miley said, stopping them both and taking Lilly's face between her hands. "Don't worry about that. Everything will work out, no matter where we go to college. Don't choose where you're going to go based on where I go. Choose based on where you want to go and whether or not the college is right for you. I want you to get a good education and get into a good law school, if that's what you decide to do."
Lilly nodded and they stared into each other's eyes.
"I kind of want to kiss you," Lilly whispered.
"Me too," Miley whispered back.
The brunette closed her eyes as she leaned forward, her heart beating in her chest. Time seemed to slow and come to a stop as she felt Lilly's warm breath against her mouth. And then she felt the blonde's lips touch her own, soft and unsure, and she tilted her head slightly, moving her lips against Lilly's. When she pulled back and opened her eyes, she saw that Lilly still had her eyes closed and was smiling.
"That was amazing," the blonde whispered, opening her eyes.
Miley dropped her hands from Lilly's face to her shoulders as the blonde wrapped her arms around her waste. Their foreheads pressed together as they stared into each other's eyes.
"Yeah?" Miley asked breathlessly.
"Yeah."
Lilly and Miley stood on Lilly's front porch, both trying to prolong their goodbyes as long as possible. Finally Miley looked down at her phone and, seeing that it was almost eleven o'clock, sighed.
"I should be going," she murmured.
"But I don't want you to go," Lilly protested. "Can't you stay over?"
"Probably not," Miley said, shaking her head. "First of all, you're mom probably wants to talk to you about the date. Second, it might be a little awkward for her if her daughter and her girlfriend both slept in the same room in the same bed the day they told her they had started dating. Third, my dad is waiting up for me and he would not be happy if I decided to stay over tonight. Maybe next weekend."
"Next weekend I'm taking you out on a date," Lilly giggled, tapping Miley's nose lightly.
"I really have to go," Miley whispered.
"Okay," Lilly sighed. "But I'm not happy."
"I'll call you tomorrow. I promise."
Lilly smiled. "I'll be waiting for your call. We can pick out clouds together!"
Miley made a face. "I don't think so." She kissed Lilly on the forehead. "Good night."
"Night," Lilly whispered as Miley walked to her car and got in. She waited until Lilly had gone inside and shut the door before pulling out of the driveway.
Tonight had been the best night of her life.
I was going to put more in there, but it ended up being twelve pages long and I decided I'd just continue in the next chapter. Only four chapters left! Wow, this is really going by fast. Well, I want to send out a thank-you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: zzCharmedzz1, AlvinFan07, Whurmy, XxuntouchablexX, TheBoredOne85, Breyton2009, LuisaHUAH, karleen3863, Freudian Slips Cause Problems, dcjp, Jaymes Maxwell, Kurrent, and Azula's Flame 1415. Thank you all so much; you're awesome! And extra thanks to Freudian Slips Cause Problems for the story idea.
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