I love you guys.

"You know Lilly, if you came to one of my parties, we could have a lot of fun together," Miley said casually, watching Lilly fixedly to gauge her reaction. The blonde in question froze, her fork retreating from Miley's plate, no longer on a mission to sneak off with some bacon slices.

"Why would you even recommend that? You know I hate your crowd of people," Lilly growled, glaring at her once beloved meal.

"Then why are you over here?"

"Food."

"And?" Miley drawled, certain there was more. There had to be. Lilly looked away, her lips twitching. "Come on, Lilly. Why are you here?"

"I just feel that I need to be. I don't really have a reason," she fibbed peevishly.

"Oh, okay..." Disappointed with her reply, Miley transferred the rest of her breakfast onto Lilly's plate and left the table. She ambled across the room to the couch and grabbed for a remote, switching the TV on as she sprawled herself on the length of the couch. Lilly scowled and then looked at Miley with a confused glower. She couldn't figure out what exactly conjured her sudden urge to reassure Miley with her other unspoken reason, but she stood up with an agitated sigh regardless. She walked over to Miley, leaning over the back of the couch, meeting the girl's gaze.

"I also kind of... like you," she admitted, albeit reluctantly. Nevertheless, Miley smiled brightly, sat up, and dragged Lilly into an uncomfortable hug.

"Ditto."

"Lilly!" Miley yelled heatedly, shooting up from the sand with her hands on her hips. "What's the big idea? You just stepped on my sandcastle!"

"Oh..." Lilly glanced down at her sand engulfed feet innocently. "That was a sandcastle? I thought you were just making a lump."

"You're dead," Miley snarled.

"Only if you can catch me," Lilly mocked, spinning on her heel and sprinting along the shoreline with a murderous Miley in tow. There wasn't much of a crowd, so she knew using people as obstacles was out of the question. Miley was hot on her tail, but she quickly headed out to the sea, wading through the water until she was able to swim. Her heart rate was flying as she heard splashing behind her and when she felt a firm grip snatch up her ankle, she twisted and freed her leg from Miley's hand.

The waves were getting harder to fight and Lilly was growing weary in the oceans violent clutch, but she needed to escape punishment. Though, there was no fear within her at the thought of being captured by Miley. She could feel the smile stretched across her face and she confessed to herself that she was having fun with the overdramatic brunette. She was so full of vivacity and borderline intelligence that Lilly couldn't help but feel a pull towards Miley's natural allure.

Lilly's mouth tasted like salt and her head was slipping under the water more often, which was a clear indication that she needed to take a break from the outrageously fast pace she was swimming at. She slowed down and scanned the water for Miley during her pause, finding her a few yards away, but she wasn't moving. Assuming she was also resting, Lilly halted her arms' movement and kept a watchful eye on Miley as she caught her breath.

There was something odd about Miley's position. She wasn't facing Lilly and she was allowing waves to swallow her entire head every so often like a corpse that had yet to sink. Considering it to be a trick of Miley's, Lilly silently paddled towards the brunette, not seeing any motion coming from the girl's limbs. Suddenly concerned, Lilly grabbed Miley's shoulder, but Miley remained face down in the ocean, floating in place.

In one panicked motion, Lilly pulled Miley's head back and covered her mouth with her hand, feeling no breath hitting her palm. Too scared to feel Miley's wrist for a heartbeat, she swum them back to shore despite her physical exhaustion.

There were no lifeguards in sight and Lilly wasn't about to go on a hunt for one, knowing it might just be too late, so she expertly pinched Miley's nose, tilted her head back, and dipped down to breathe life into her companion's chilled body. She withdrew and pressed her hands against Miley's chest, counting to herself as she pushed down rhythmically. Gaining no response after thirty compressions, Lilly exhaled into Miley's mouth again and returned to the chest compressions a moment later.

Terrified and close to tears, Lilly was ready to give up and call the ambulance, but a small cough emitted from Miley and she froze. Water flooded from Miley's parted lips and she continued to cough hoarsely, her face contorted in pain.

"Oh, my God," Lilly breathed in relief and softly sat Miley upright so she wouldn't swallow the water she was spewing out. She rubbed the girl's back and Miley gasped for air. "You're okay. You're okay," Lilly whispered repeatedly, the extremity of her happiness and shock mingling, causing her body to tremble lightly as she held Miley.

"Lil... what... what happened?" Miley asked, her voice scratchy from the dry salt still coating her throat.

"You tell me! I turn my back for one second and you go and drown!" Lilly shouted, but regretted her outburst instantly when Miley winced and looked away sadly.

"I... I don't remember. I just, I was chasing you and then the water got really hard to swim in and I tried to call you, but I was sucked under..."

"Miley..."

The sheen of Lilly's eyes painfully twisted tender areas inside of Miley and she quickly sought out a diversion. She observed the beach and noticed that not one person was near by. "D-did you rescue me?"

"Yeah. I wasn't just gonna let you die. You still have to prove yourself to me and I don't think you'd be able to do that at the bottom of the ocean." Lilly smiled grimly and her heart flipped in response to the utter admiration glinting in Miley's gaze combined with the neediness evident in the hug of gratitude she was encircled in.

"Thank you so much, Lilly. You saved my life and I don't think I'll ever be able to tell you how much it means to me that you cared enough to save it."

"Of course I cared Miley. Life isn't something you should throw away and yours has been endangered before this ordeal. What you do at the parties, the places you wake up in... Someday you're not going to wake up at all, you know. I saved you this time, but, as cliché as it sounds, I can't save you from yourself."

"You have been," Miley said quietly, still tangled around Lilly. "I don't know how, but you make me want to change my act. Will you stick around and help me, Lilly? Please?" She asked, the heartbeat beneath her ear reminding her of what she lacked only minutes ago.

"I will," she answered, wishing she could deny Miley's request. She didn't need the drama in her life again, she didn't need trouble leaving another whip lash on her back, but what she did need was a friend. And Lilly couldn't think of anyone other than Miley who was so keen towards the prospect of friendship with a washed up skater.

"Thank you," Miley said again, drawing back. She kept her arms securely around Lilly's neck as she gazed into Lilly's unshielded blue eyes. They were glimmering uncharacteristically and Miley noted the wet trails running down her cheeks, but chose not to mention them. She smiled and Lilly returned it, taking Miley's breath away as quickly as she'd given it to her. Miley always believed Lilly to be a pretty person, but on closer inspection, and with the dazzling addition of her smile, Miley decided Lilly was not pretty, but beautiful.

Something in this seems off. I'm sorry.