Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!!!

Slamming her locker shut, Lilly hoisted her books on her hip and started towards her first class. She had begged her mom to let her skip school and go to the hospital with Miley, but her mom made her go to school, saying that she couldn't afford to miss school. After a screaming match, Lilly finally agreed to go to school under the threat that if she didn't, then she would be grounded for two weeks.

"Lilly!"

The blonde turned to see Oliver jogging down the hall towards her. She clenched her jaw and quickened her pace, turning her back on the boy. She was not in the mood to deal with him at that moment and she didn't want to create a scene in the middle of the hallway.

"Come on, Lilly, wait up for me!" Oliver yelled, catching up to her and walking next to her. "Look, I'm sorry for what I did. You…you shocked me, okay?"

"I don't want to talk about this right now," Lilly said angrily.

"Please, Lilly, I miss my best friend," Oliver begged.

"Not in the mood, Oliver."

"Where's Miley?" he asked.

"I told you that I'm not in the mood."

"Did you…did you guys break up?" Oliver whispered.

"Leave me alone!" Lilly screamed.

The hall went completely silent as everyone stopped their conversations to turn and stare at Lilly and Oliver. Oliver was staring at her with his mouth gaping wide open. Tears started to stream down her face as her books dropped to the floor. She got down on her hands and knees, gathering her fallen papers in a pile and stacking her books haphazardly in the middle of the hallway. No one made a move to help her as she stood up again, running down the hall and out of the school.

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she keyed in Miley's speed dial number and pressed the phone to her ear, praying for the brunette to pick up. It rang four times before it went to her voicemail. Lilly snapped her phone shut and dropped it on the ground, her knees buckling under her as she fell to the grass, tears streaming down her face.

"Lilly."

She looked up to see that Oliver had followed her and that he had dropped to his knees on the ground next to her. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close and holding her as she tried to hold back her sobs. Oliver rocked her back and forth, whispering soothing sounds in her ear as she started to calm down.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

"It's…it's Miley," Lilly whimpered, burying her face in Oliver's shoulder.

"What happened?"

"She's sick," Lilly cried. "We don't know what's wrong. She went to the doctor's yesterday and she's going to the hospital today for an appointment with some specialist or something. I…I can't lose her, Oliver. She's my everything."

"You really love her, don't you?" Oliver asked softly.

Lilly nodded and pulled back from Oliver. She wiped her face with her sleeve. "Why are you mad that me and Miley are together?" she asked.

"I'm not mad that the two of you are together," he said quietly, looking away. "It's just…God, this is so hard to explain. Um, okay, please don't get mad at me, okay? This is going to seem really stupid, but…I don't know why it got me so upset, but it just did. You two have been dancing around each other for years, okay? And I've been waiting for you two to get together for a while now. Then we started dating and I thought…maybe that we were meant to be together, you know? After a few months, we break up and I try to get you two together, and when you finally get together…I'm jealous, okay? I'm jealous of Miley."

"Jealous?" Lilly whispered.

"Lilly, you're my best friend, but…I like you," he admitted, blushing. "I've liked you for a long time, okay? Since before we dated, and I've liked you ever since. I know I'm just being delusional because you're with Miley and it's obvious that you two really like each other, but…I'm jealous. And once you guys come out to the school, do you know what that will do to my reputation? I'll be accused of turning you gay! No girl will want to date me after that."

The blonde laughed. "Of course you would think like that," she said with a smile.

Oliver grinned. "Just trying to make you laugh," he whispered. "I've really missed you, Lilly. You're my best friend and I would never, ever try to do anything to hurt you. If you want to be with Miley, I'm going to respect that and support you guys. And I'll be right here by your side no matter what. I promise."

"Thanks, Oliver," Lilly whispered, leaning into him as he wrapped his arms around her again.

"No problem," he whispered. "Now how about we get to class? I don't think either of our parents would be happy if they found out that we skipped today. Then I can give you a ride to Miley's house or to the hospital after school."

Lilly nodded and Oliver stood up, extending a hand to haul her to her feet. He looped an arm around her shoulders and they walked back into the school side-by-side.

"Do you wanna come in with me?" Lilly asked as Oliver pulled up in front of Miley's house. She unbuckled her seatbelt and reached for her book bag in the backseat.

"I'll stop by later," he said. "It'd probably be better if you talked to her first, if you know what I mean. She's probably not feeling good and her visit to the hospital probably hasn't helped much. They don't do much for you at the hospital on your first visit. Usually just slap a cast on a random part of your body, have you sign papers not to sue them, and throw you out the front door."

Lilly laughed. "Thanks, Oliver," she said, giving him a one-armed hug. "You always know what to say to make me feel better. I'll call you later, okay?"

"Yup, and tell Miley to feel better," Oliver said as Lilly opened her door and got out. She closed the door behind her and watched as Oliver drove away before turning to Miley's house and trudging up to the front door. She twisted the doorknob and slowly opened it, sticking her head inside. Everything was quiet, which most likely meant that Miley and Mr. Stewart weren't home yet and Jackson was still at school or on his way home. But the front door was unlocked, so that meant that someone was home.

"Hello?" Lilly called out. No one answered. She shrugged, slipping her shoes off and tossing them to the side of the door. Heading up to Miley's room, she paused when she heard someone crying inside. "Miley?"

"Go away!"

The blonde gently pushed the door open and stepped inside, dropping her book bag on the ground when she caught sight of Miley's shaking form over by the French doors. Her guitar was in her lap and she was staring out at the ocean. "Miley?" Lilly whispered uncertainly.

"What would you do…if you knew you were going to die?"

She stared at Miley, eyes wide in fear. "What?"

"There're all those stupid songs out there. 'Live Like You Were Dying,' by Tim McGraw, 'Live Like We're Dying,' by Kris Allen or the Script or whoever wrote the damn song. They don't understand."

"Miley, you're scaring me," Lilly whimpered.

The brunette turned to look at her, tears streaming down her face. "I…I can't do this," she sobbed.

"What happened at the hospital?" Lilly asked.

"Go ask my dad."

Lilly didn't know if it was safe to leave Miley alone like this, but she figured that she had probably been sitting alone for at least fifteen minutes and five more wouldn't hurt her. She stepped forward and kissed Miley gently on the forehead, whispering, "I love you," in her ear before going to look for Mr. Stewart. She found him pacing on the back deck with his phone pressed to his ear. Opening the door, she slipped outside just as he sat down at the small glass table with a notebook and pencil.

"Can you repeat that?" he asked. He was quiet for a moment. "The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center," he repeated slowly. Lilly's eyes widened. "And what's the phone number? 1-281-829-7204, okay, thank you. Yes, I'll call if I have any more questions. Thank you again. Okay, bye." He hung up the phone and looked at Lilly with sad, tired eyes.

"Cancer?" she whimpered, tears starting to leak out of the corners of her eyes.

Mr. Stewart sighed. "We're just looking at all the options," he said tiredly. "The type of cancer the specialist at the hospital was concerned about is very unlikely for Miley's age, so she said that it's not probable, but better safe than sorry. I'm going to schedule an appointment with a specialist at one of the best cancer hospitals in the country tonight. Miley's gonna need you, Lilly. I know it's hard and that you're young, but can you do me a favor? Can you do her a favor?"

"Anything for Miley," Lilly said, nodding vigorously as she tried to hold back her tears.

"Be strong for her, Lilly," he said, putting a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Don't…don't let her see your pain. Me and Jackson and your mom are here for you, Lilly, but Miley…I don't know if she could take any more right now. Just promise me that you won't leave her and that you'll be strong for her. She needs you."

"I promise," Lilly said, nodding firmly.

"Thank you, Lilly," he said, letting out a sigh of relief. "You have no idea how much that means to me. And don't keep it inside. Promise me that, too, because it'll only hurt both of you in the end."

"Okay, Mr. S," she said. "I'm…I'm gonna go back to Miley."

"It's times like these when I really need you, Susan," Mr. Stewart murmured to himself as Lilly turned away. Then it hit Lilly. This was why everyone was so touchy about this. Susan, Miley's mother, had died of bone cancer when Miley was really little. They couldn't lose another family member to cancer. No, they couldn't lose Miley. Lilly couldn't lose Miley. She raced back into the house, up the stairs, and into Miley's room.

The brunette turned to look at her with watery eyes as she burst in and Lilly surged forward, wrapping her arms around Miley and pulling her close, letting her bury her face in her shoulder. She held back the tears and the fear. Miley needed her now and she had promised Mr. Stewart that she would take care of Miley. She had promised that she would help her get better. Lilly had promised.

She wouldn't let Miley die.

Well, there you go. Sorry about the lapse of time between chapters, but I've been getting horrible cases of writer's block. That, added with a humongous workload, has not helped in updating my stories. Once again, I apologize. Thanks to TheBoredOne85, AlvinFan07, musicisinmysoul, liarforthis, and AliasSpyCrazy for reviewing. You guys are awesome. REVIEW!!! I'll try to get the next chapter up in the next two weeks. Thank you all again.

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