AN: So I have added two new stories and updated my two longer works today. I feel really good about that!

Anyway, I'm warning you….this is not a happy Loe. In fact, it's a very, very sad Loe. I seriously almost cried while writing it. But, it deals with a very real issue, and while I have never gone through anything like this personally, there are girls who do. So, while this is a heartbreaking story, I hope my message comes out.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot. The song is "Tied Together With A Smile" by Taylor Swift (cause I just bought her CD, and I'm on a roll tonight!).

"Tied Together With A Smile"

Seems the only one who doesn't see your beauty
Is the face in the mirror looking back at you
You walk around here thinking you're not pretty
But that's not true, cause I know you…

Joe watched her from across the room. She was staring at herself in the mirror, and he could tell that she was overly criticizing herself…again. It was that stupid boyfriend of hers. He was always telling her that she wasn't thin enough, girly enough, pretty enough. In the past six months, she had become a shell of her former self. She gave up skateboarding and surfing and starting shopping and getting manicures more often. She had lost a lot of weight. Instead of this healthy, glowing girl he used to know, all that stood there now was this fragile shell of a girl.

Hold on, baby, you're losing it
The water's high, you're jumping into it
And letting go…and no one knows
You cry, but you don't tell anyone
That you might not be the golden one
And you're tied together with a smile
But you're coming undone

She wasn't Lilly anymore. She wasn't the same girl who he befriended five years ago at a Hannah concert. She wasn't the same girl he secretly fell in love with four years ago at Miley's Christmas party. She was now a robot. She was now a poser, a faker. She would always plaster on that fake smile and try to fool everyone into thinking that she was okay, that her life was perfect.

But Joe could tell that she was about to lose it. Joe could tell that her world was about to come crashing in on her. Joe could tell that there was more to her than what she wanted them to believe.

Joe could tell that this wasn't going to end pretty at all.

I guess it's true that love was all you wanted
Cause you're giving it away like it's extra change
Hoping it will end up in his pocket
But he leaves you out like a penny in the rain
Oh, cause it's not his price to pay
Not his price to pay…

Stupid boyfriend. How could he do this to her? How could someone take the once vivacious Lilly and turn her into…this? Why would someone be so cruel? All Lilly had ever wanted was love. Lilly had told Joe this on numerous occasions. Why Joe had never taken any of those opportunities to tell her how he felt, he'll never know. But he didn't. And now, here he was, forced to watch her waste away for a guy who will never care about her.

And he felt absolutely powerless to stop it.

Hold on, baby, you're losing it
The water's high, you're jumping into it
And letting go…and no one knows
You cry, but you don't tell anyone
That you might not be the golden one
And you're tied together with a smile
But you're coming undone

Joe shook his thoughts from his head and turned back towards the mirror, only to discover that Lilly was no longer there. That's when the feeling hit him in the pit of his stomach. Something was wrong.

He walked slowly towards her bedroom and opened her door. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Then he realized that there was water running. He tried to make himself believe that she was just taking a shower, but even so, he found himself walking towards the door.

He opened it to reveal water running over the tub and onto the floor. And there, floating in the tub, was his beloved angel. He immediately ran and drug her out of the water. He tried to wake her up. He attempted to give her CPR so many times he lost count. But nothing worked. And that's when he realized that she was…gone. His angel was gone.

He sat on his knees next to her body in the middle of the soaked bathroom floor, praying, crying, begging for a miracle. But none came.

Some people would pay such a high price to feel beautiful, never knowing that there was someone there all along who would have made them feel that way for free.

You're tied together with a smile
But you're coming undone…oh
Goodbye, baby
Goodbye, baby
With a smile, baby, baby