Miley rolled into me as I was zoning out and began to stir once again. She was waking up this time. I pulled back a little and her eyes fluttered open. She offered me a half-conscious smile and locked her eyes with mine. I held her gaze and three soft words escaped my lips before I could stop them:

"Good morning, Beautiful."

Miley's smile faded and a look of confusion took it's place. She studied my face for a moment before she giggled and sat up, shaking her head.

"I must have a monster bed-head right now, huh?" she joked, smoothing over the back of her head. "Funny, Mikayla. Funny." I sat up as well, frowning. She thought I was kidding.

"Miley, I was-"

"I get it, you were joking. It's okay." she said. I suppressed a sigh and nodded simply, faking a grin.

"Yeah, I was just kidding." I lied. I don't know why I did, but I couldn't say I was being serious. I couldn't just tell her what I was thinking, that I thought she really was beautiful and sweet and amazing and funny and adorable and sexy as hell-

"Mikayla?" Miley called, waving a hand in front of me. "You still here?" Dang it, I zoned out.

"Huh?" I said stupidly. I hate myself.

"You spaced out for a minute there." she said. "Are you alright?" Alright? Ha! Not by a long shot.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just a little hungry." I replied. "My mom just made breakfast, so we should go down before the fellas get to it." Miley nodded and I climbed out of bed.

"Hey Mikayla, can I use your bathroom?" she asked.

"Sure, it's right there." I said, gesturing to the door.

"Thanks. You go on down and I'll catch up in a bit." she told me, slipping out of bed and across the room. I left her alone and made my way downstairs. I made myself a hearty plate of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes and grits. What can I say? I really am a country kid, and unlike my brothers, I got my appetite from my Dad. I sat down at the table and waited. Justin came in through the back door with his work gloves on and paused when he saw me. He frowned and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Something wrong, Dorkenstien?" I asked. He looked at my plate and back at me.

"Are you sick?" he said. "'Cause I've never seen you pile that much food on your plate just to sit there and stare at it." He slipped off one of his gloves and put his hand to my forehead. "Do we need to take you to the doctor?" I slapped his hand away and he took a couple steps back.

"Don't be stupid, I'm fine." I frowned. Justin used his gloved hand to soothe the one I hit.

"Well if you aren't sick, why aren't you eating, Mikayla?" he asked.

". . . I'm waiting for Miley to come down." I said. By the look Justin had on his face, you would have thought he saw the most amazing thing in the world.

"Wow, t-that's so. . . polite, Mikayla." he murmured. I huffed and folded my arms.

"Hey, I can be polite!" I said defensively. He shot me a "that's B.S." look and I added, "When I wanna be. . ." I sighed and shook my head. "Look, it's different with her, okay? Go away." Justin studied me for a while and a smile slowly formed on his face.

"And just what are you smiling about?" I asked. He put his other work glove back on and shook his head.

"Nothing, nothing. . ." he said nonchalantly. "Except you're trying to be all nice and polite to Miley 'cause you're in love with her." My jaw dropped and I glared at my oldest sibling.

"I. . . I am not!" I fumed.

"Then why are you blushing?"

"Justin!"

"I'm just saying, Mick-"

"Shut up! Just shut up, okay?" I growled. "I am not in love with Miley! Now go away before I decide to throw away this polite junk and shove those gloves where the sun don't shine!" Justin backed off with his hands up in a surrender and shrugged his shoulders.

"Defensive, much?" he muttered, smirking at me. He jogged back out the door before I could tell him off again. Dang, that boy's fast.

"One of these days, I'm gonna shoot him." I sighed, shaking my head.

"Hey, Mikayla." came Miley's cheery voice from the kitchen door. My head snapped in her direction.

"Hey." was all I said. She walked in and looked at my plate.

"You haven't eaten yet?" she asked. I shook my head and looked down.

"I was waiting for you." I answered softly, kind of embarassed to say it out loud. The brunette 'awww'ed at me and I looked back up. She walked beside me and grinned brightly.

"You're such a gentlewoman." she said softly, tenderly running her fingers through my hair. A sudden sigh escaped me and I immediately cleared my throat when it passed, feeling more heat rise to my cheeks.

Thank you." I mumbled. Miley pulled her hand away and turned around. Thank God she didn't see me blushing. . .

She didn't see me, right?

Dang it, I hope not. She made herself a plate and joined me at the table. She smiled at me before putting her fork and knife to work on her pancakes. I was afraid of saying something stupid, so I stuffed my mouth with eggs. Problem solved. Man, I'm smart!

"So, Mikayla. . ." Miley said. My eyes locked with hers almost instantly. She used her fork to pick up a few eggs and held them near her mouth. "How'd you sleep?" She put the fork in her mouth and I unconsciously swallowed the food in mine.

A lot better with you there, Miley.

It was the truth, and you don't know how bad I wanted to tell her that. But I was wuss yet again and stabbed the pancakes on my plate.

"Slept fine. You?" I murmured, filling my mouth again.

"Best shut-eye I've had since I moved out here." Miley replied, poking at a sausage with her fork. "It's been kind of tough for me to adjust down here. . ."

"Oh. . ." I said. There was a small silence. "Miley. . . do you miss Malibu?" The brunette shrugged her shoulders with sigh.

"Sometimes I do," she answered honestly. "I miss my old house and the beach and my best friend Lily. . . Malibu's the place where I spent most of my life, you know? It's hard to wake up in the morning and not be in my old room, lying in my old bed, ignoring my big brother Jackson pounding on my door 'cause I did something to piss him off. . . but I guess I'll get used to it eventually." She cast a coy smile my way. "Believe it or not, you've actually helped me a lot."

"Me?" I asked. "How? I wasn't exactly rolling out the welcome mat for you when you moved in-" I frowned. "And I'm really sorry for that, too." Miley shrugged it off, letting me know it was fine.

"Don't worry about it." was all she said. "All that matters is where we are now, right? We're friends-" She smiled a little. "And I'm really glad we are."

"So am I." I agreed. The sound of an old pick-up truck engine drifted into the room. The guys were back.

"Is that your Dad's truck?" Miley asked.

"Nah," I answered, getting my now clean plate and putting it in the sink. "She's mine, her name's Lulu. His truck broke down on Thursday and he's still tryin' to fix it, so he's using my baby to get around 'til he gets the old thing running." Miley put her plate in the sink as well and we went on the front porch. Dad, Max, and Mr. Stewart were unloading new tools from Lulu's bed and heading off to the garage.

"Well, they'll be busy for a while." I murmured. Miley giggled and nodded and I turned to her. "What do you wanna do now?" She thought it over for a moment and shrugged.

"I don't know." she said. "Would you mind coming over to my place and keeping me company for a while? I wanna change and check on Blue Jeans."

"Sure, I don't mind. Let's go." I was fine in what I was wearing, so I could go with her. I didn't mind at all.

.oOo.

Miley went upstairs to shower and change, but I stayed downstairs. I was in the kitchen for a while, eating a green apple but curiosity got the best of me and I strayed to the backyard. I looked around and found Blue Jeans' stable.

"Hey, Fella?" I called, stepping out and into the white horse's territory. I took another bite from my apple. "Blue Jeans?" I heard a whinny and a slow trot coming from the stable. I jogged over and went in. "Blue Jeans?" I spotted Blue Jeans coming towards me and met him half-way.

"Hey, big guy." I grinned, putting my hand on the side of his neck. "How are you?" He snorted and shook his mane.

"Miley was worried about you." I said. "She wanted to come and check on you." He neighed and lowered his neck. I thought he wanted me to pet him, but he bit my apple instead.

"Here," I offered the fruit to him. "I already ate, you can have it." He didn't think twice about eating my apple. "Holly likes green apples, too." Blue Jeans paused and stared at me, becoming very interested when I mentioned my black horse.

"You miss Holly, Fella?" I asked. I offered him the apple again and he took it. "I think she misses you, too." Maybe we should go riding today.

Miley would like that, right?

That would be nice. I smiled up at Blue Jeans and he shot me a questioning look. It's funny how he and Holly can read me so easily and I can read them, too.

"Hey Fella, wanna help me with something?" I smirked. "You get to see Holly again if you do. Hold still-" I looked around and saw his riding reigns. I slipped 'em on and led him out. "Follow me." I saw Miley coming out of the house into the back, wearing jeans and a bright yellow t-shirt. She watched me lead her horse back to her with a curious look on her face.

"Looks like Blue Jeans made a new friend." she chuckled.

"Me and Blue Jeans got a proposition for ya." I said. Miley folded her arms and watched me with a twinkle in her eye.

"Do you, now?"

"Yup. We wanna go riding today. You, me, Holly, and this big fella right here." Miley smiled and put her hands on her hips. "What do you say, Miley?"

"Sounds like fun, so why not?" she smiled. "But. . ." She sent me a smug grin. "I thought Mikayla Russo didn't ride. What happened to all that racing stuff?" I shrugged and looked away briefly.

"There's this girl I met and ever since I started hanging out with her, I've started to take things a little easier." I said. "She makes me feel really good. . ." My brown eyes met Miley's blue ones. "And I guess she made me realize. . . I don't wanna miss a thing with her." Miley stood there, taking in my every word.

"Mikayla. . ." she said. "Do you. . . do you really mean that?" I let go of Blue Jeans' reigns and stood right in front of Miley, leaving little space between us. I took her hand and ran my thumb over the back of it.

"Miley, I really, really like you." I told her honestly. "And I can't fight it anymore. I want to be close to you. . . you're the only person that's been able to get close to me in a long time. You're different, and you're beautiful. I meant what I said this morning, it wasn't a joke. You make me happy and I wanna make you happy, too. And-" I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "I wanna give us a try. . ." I added quickly, "Th-That is if you want to. . ." Miley was silent, but the look in those beautiful blue orbs said it all. She leaned forward and closed the small gap between us, pressing her lips to mine. It felt absolutely amazing. I unconsciously let go of her hand and grabbed her hips, pulling her closer to me. Miley's hands went to my cheeks to caress them tenderly. The kiss was cute and sweet, but it definitely wasn't shy. I moved my lips against hers in a soft, yet wanting rhythm that Miley matched easily. We both pulled away when the lack of air became a problem, but stayed just as close. Miley rested her forehead against my own and locked her gaze with mine.

"Does that answer your question?" she whispered. I smiled and gave her a quick kiss.

"Does that answer yours?" I whispered back.

FINALLY! MIKILEY KISSIN'! :) So here is where the relationship really starts. Review, my lovely readers. I do this for you guys. :D