This:

Miley still didn't sleep in my bed. There were connections to mend before she could trust me entirely again. But there was progress. She was talking to me more and seemed relaxed to be in the same room as me. She'd sit a little closer to me each time we shared the couch and I had to admit, I was starting to feel happier. There was no more of that awkward behaviour that irritated me to no end. No more alarmed eyes when I accidently touched her. No more noisy sighs that sounded like twenty times a day. All of that was over and I was content with the path we were strolling down together, but, of course, the sky couldn't be blue forever. There were foreboding clouds and these hideous obscuring messes came in the form of a phone call.

I was humming away in the kitchen, making lunch while Miley was at work. The shrill cry of the phone made me jump and I picked it up reluctantly. Sarah had called me last night, and she had no reason to call again so soon, which could only mean...

"Hello?"

"Lilly! My precious child! It has been so long since you last visited!" My mom chirped brightly. I rolled my eyes.

"It was only a couple months ago, Mother," I protested, already knowing where this was leading. I glanced at the clock, wondering how long it would be until I broke the news to Miley.

"Nonsense. I want you to come up and visit again. I need your opinion on a few new outfit designs and I'd love to meet that new little housemate of yours."

"Yes, Mother," I sighed, understanding long ago that there was never any use to be disobedient. Mother couldn't take no for an answer. She also was completely oblivious to her own condescendence, despite the number of times I had mentioned it.

"Wonderful! I expect you here tomorrow before lunch. I'll have Felicity cook you something."

Felicity, that poor, poor woman. She was Mother's personal chef and she'd been a loyal employee for ten years now. She cooked me meals when I was an overdramatic teenager fresh from a bad day.

I remember one time I had come home from school in the worst mood imaginable. I stormed my way into the kitchen, threw my bag to the ground, and fell onto the small footstool Felicity always used to reach higher levels in the many cupboards. The woman was in the midst of washing some dishes when she turned and found me glaring at the tiled floor. I wasn't sure what I looked like to her, but she burst out laughing and didn't stop until I joined in.

"Heavens! What has got you pulling such an ugly face?" Felicity cried as she caught her breath. My smile dropped once I recalled the day I had endured.

"This boy kept following me around all day, Izzy! I don't get it, I told him I was busy and didn't have time to talk, but he insisted on helping me in some way! He was frickin' deaf, I swear! He picked up my pencils if I dropped them, he brushed away my eraser dust if I rubbed out a mistake and he wanted to know if I was free to go out sometime. Like, what the hell? I can go out by myself or with Sarah, why would I go anywhere with him?"

Felicity chuckled and breezed over to me, crouching down so our eyes were level. Her face hadn't yet been creased by the lines of age, but the wisdom in her gaze was ancient.

"Darling, I think this boy might have a crush on you."

I gasped and found my tongue unable to form any words and my jaw hung loose as Felicity smiled and returned to the sink. As I processed the information, I felt my face scrunch up and I found my response, which was a very disgruntled, "Gross!"

That memory was one of my dearest, because I was so unaware of everyone's advances. I always was. Felicity was more of a mother to me, as she was the one who gave me constant advice and ridiculed me for my foolish behaviour when it came to boys and romance. Mother was too engrossed in her work and was too unlucky in relationships to offer any useful guidance.

Then there was Sarah. She was my friend since I was a freshman. She inspired me to continue with my work, to be as wild as I wanted to be on a piece of paper. For some reason, her vigour inspired me and I didn't shy away from her. Not that I could, she was a relentless chatterbox, and most of the time, she was simply thinking out loud while in my presence, and it's something I came to appreciate about her. Sarah was the one who convinced me to be more independent and move down to Delta with her. She came here because, apparently, she feared the corruption of a once humble city, and I came here because, well, I could be left alone. All the boys that Mother tried to set me up with, all the clothes she'd buy me that I didn't want. They were things that pushed me to escape.

"Alright. Bye, love you," I said abruptly, deciding to save the reminiscing for later.

"Lillian, wait!"

"What?"

"You will bring your friend, won't you?"

"Yes," I sighed.

"Alright, I'll see you tomorrow. I love you!" I hung up as soon as she said that.

God, I felt sorry for Miley.

I couldn't believe this girl. She was excited. She was excited to meet my mother. This was totally uncalled for and now Miley couldn't stop smiling and asking questions about the woman and my childhood. She bounced in her seat slightly and I had to force myself to pay attention to the road so we didn't crash. Not that it was likely, since this highway was usually deserted at this time on the weekend. Miley didn't notice the swerve of the car, and I supposed I didn't care all that much either. I mean, I was obviously ecstatic about having an actual conversation with Miley again, but I hadn't discussed my past in so long that I drew a lot of blanks when it came to remembering some events. Things were hazy, but Miley still paid attention to everything I told her, even when I had to pause several times in an attempt to put the fragments of my memory together.

"So, you're nothing like your mother at all?" she questioned.

"Well, I'm told I look a lot like her, but other than that, no. We're from totally different planets."

"Daddy always said I was just like my mama." Miley's voice was soft as she told me this and I smiled, because she brought up her mother so rarely. According to the small history available of Hannah Montana, her mother suffered a mysterious death. I never had the heart to ask Miley what the real cause was, but I knew it was a touchy subject and merely accepted the small bouts of information Miley was willing to share. Miley was a tender-hearted girl and there was still so much to learn about her. Silent observations could only teach me so much.

"Then she must have been a wonderful person." I dared a glance and caught Miley's cheeks colouring a pale red under her tan. Jesus, I made her blush.

"She was..." The nervous edge to her tone wasn't from discomfort, it was from embarrassment. What did that mean? That my subtle flirting wasn't repugnant? Was... Was Miley possibly interested? Now that was crazy! I needed to get a grip, because Miley made it quite clear that she didn't want to be anything more than friends. It was absurd for me to think otherwise and now I felt like a creep. A beautiful woman didn't ignore you for weeks and treat your existence like a disease if she wanted to get in your pants (Though Miley has been in them before, when, you know, she didn't have any clothes of her own.) Okay, time to think of something else.

"So, where's your dad?" Miley, you are a goddess.

"Not a clue. Mom was never one for faithfulness."

"You're joking! You don't know who your father is?"

"Oh, I know him, but he hardly takes the time to get to know me. I've met him about five times in my life and even that feels like too much," I grumbled, not at all impressed by the man that helped bring me into this world. He was a lazy, cocky, good-for-nothing scumbag.

"That's a shame, but at least you have your mama." Ugh, those innocent titles she bestows are so fucking adorable.

"And Felicity," I added.

"The chef?" I had mentioned Felicity briefly earlier.

"Yeah, I guess she took on the role of the father or something. My family is a little weird, I'll admit."

"You're a little weird too," Miley threw in with a slight shove to my arm, which sent my heart on a rampage as she laughed lightly. Man, what am I going to do about this?

"You have no idea."