Miley screeched her car to an abrupt stop as she pulled into her driveway. She wasted no time, practically sprinting out of the car. Her mind was racing as she walked through the front door, through the living room, past the kitchen, and out the back door to Blue Jean's stall.

"Hey, buddy," She greeted frantically and out of breath. The horse was startled by her fast movement and reared back away from her. Miley took a moment to inhale, and then exhaled slowly, realizing she needed to calm down so she wouldn't spook Blue Jeans. After composing herself and relaxing her demeanor, she slowly reached up to soothingly rub between Blue Jeans eyes. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. It's turning out to be a heck of a weekend."

Blue Jeans bobbed his head and nudged Miley lovingly with his nose. He exhaled in a huff and a soft smile formed on Miley's lips. "Thanks, I needed that," She sighed and patted him on the neck as she walked over to grab him some hay. He followed her until she placed the hay in his food bin. He immediately started eating, tearing at the hay and chewing it loudly.

Miley sat and watched him, giving herself more time to sustain her composure. "Seriously..." She sighed, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do about this guy. Lilly's already been through enough as it is, and he's gonna be here until Monday..."

Blue Jeans looked up at her with a mouth full of hay, as if trying to let her know he was listening. Miley laughed. "I guess all I can do is my best. For Lilly's sake, and for mine," She wasn't sure exactly what she meant when she said this. "It's weird... I keep... imagining what it must have been like for her, but somewhere along the lines I forget that he's the one that she... was 'intimate' with, if you can even call it that. She deserves so much better. It should've been with someone who loves her, and would never hurt her, and..." Miley realized her mind was going into a place she wasn't expecting it to. Suddenly an arousing image involving not only Lilly, but herself as well, popped into her head. This startled her.

"I mean, I love Lilly, I do. She's my best friend, we do everything together. I couldn't imagine my life without her in it." She was annoyed at how flustered she sounded, and made an effort not to start crying. "I'd never let anything bad happen to her if I could help it. What David did to her makes me want to kill him." Miley was still trying to get the image of Lilly and herself out of her head, but it seemed reluctant to leave and linger on.

Blue Jeans jerked another morsel of hay from the bin and looked back at Miley, who was now completely lost in a daze. He huffed again and stomped his hooves, causing Miley to come to attention and look up at him. He was giving her a stern look. Miley blinked, trying to figure out what it was he was trying to tell her. Suddenly, she got it. "You're right, I really have to get going. I have to get back to Lilly," Blue Jeans bobbed his head again, and Miley gave him a grateful rub on the nose before leaving. "Thanks, Blue Jeans. You're the best. I'll see you later!" She smiled at him and then darted back to her car. Turning the keys in the ignition, she started the engine and buckled her seatbelt. Glancing at the clock, she saw that it had almost been half an hour. She knew she had to get back, fast.

Back at Lilly house, a silence had hung in the air for a while after Miley had left. This relieved Lilly, but she knew it wouldn't last for much longer.

"How's your shoulder doing?" David sat up from the chair he was sitting in and walked over to sit with Lilly on the couch. Lilly could feel herself tense up as soon as he sat down.

"Not too bad," She cleared her throat. "It's sore, but nothing I can't handle,"

David leaned over a little closer. "You want a massage? It might help loosen you up a bit,"

Lilly shook her head and struggled to find words to answer. "N-no it's okay. It's not that bad. Really." She couldn't even bring herself to look up at him.

"Come on, it's the least I can do. After all, I was the one who nailed you with a surfboard. I'll be gentle, I promise," David's hint of an aggressive tone, as well as his choice of wording made it hard for Lilly to argue. "Here, come sit in front of me,"

Lilly obeyed, unable to do anything else in her petrified state. David wasted no time placing his hands on Lilly's shoulders and began pressing down lightly with his fingertips. "You're so tense. Take a deep breath and relax." He brought his lips close to her ear as he spoke. Lilly did her best to breath, but inside, she was all knotted up in a different way; full of anxiety and fear. She was unsure of what David might do. "There you go. Doesn't that feel better?" David scooted closer, applying more pressure with his fingertips and resting his lips on the nape of Lilly's neck.

It didn't feel better. Along with the throbbing pain in her shoulder, which David had obviously forgotten was sore, Lilly shuttered as she felt his lips touch her skin. She closed her eyes; partly to stop any tears from coming out, and partly to try to mentally remove herself from the situation. She wondered how long Miley would be, and also just how far David was planning to go.

"I had a lot of fun today," David pulled away slightly to speak, but still breathed heavily onto Lilly's neck. "Oliver was a pretty interesting guy, but I don't think your Miley friend likes me very much. I get the feeling she's trying to block any opportunity we get for some action." He stuck his nose behind Lilly's ear and breathed in, smelling her, and then exhaled his hot breath into her hair.

Lilly's hair stood on end, she couldn't bring herself to move, let alone, speak. David's hands forgot their task as they started squeezing their way down her biceps and to her elbows until they were able to reach her ribs. Quite predictably, from there they found their way to her breasts and his enthusiasm rose. Nothing about his actions were gentle. It wasn't long before his lips found their way back to her neck. His saliva made her cringe.

A brief stifled noise escaped Lilly's throat and she couldn't help but allow the tear that fell from her cheek to drop. David must have mistaken it for a moan of pleasure because his actions only increased,reaching under Lilly's shirt and undoing her bra before she went back to fondling her breast.

This lasted another 10 minutes until David pulled back, out of breath and obviously aroused. "What do you think? Should we give it a go? We might have time before Miley gets back,"

Lilly took every ounce of strength she had just to speak. She was even able to pull away in a casual gesture. "U-um, I think I should really just... relax my shoulder. I don't want to strain it. I'm pretty exhausted, I think I'm just going to go get to sleep."

David made a pouty exhale and reluctantly withdrew. "Okay... yeah I don't want your shoulder getting all messed up. Take good care of it tonight, and hopefully it'll feel better by tomorrow." David stood up first, and Lilly followed, not bothering to relatch her bra or straighten up.

"Yeah, I just need a good sleep," Lilly glanced up at him nervously. David smiled and then pulled her into a kiss. Lilly managed to get through it, knowing her escape was drawing nearer.

"I'm probably gonna sit out here and watch TV for a bit. I'm not that tired yet." He grinned and held Lilly in a hug for a few more moments. "I'm guessing Miley'll be back soon. I got the impression she's staying over again. But I'll see you in the morning! Make me a delicious breakfast again!" He pulled away, and Lilly knew she needed to leave now.

"I'll see you in the morning, goodnight," Her voice lacked emotion. Somehow she made it down the hall to her room. Shutting the door behind her, she didn't bother turning the light on. She managed to get to her bed fell into it. There wasn't much else to do except cry.

Miley burst through the door full blast approximately 16 minutes after Lilly had retreated to her room. The sound of the TV was audible from the other room and she walked into the living room without announcing herself. Not that anyone wouldn't have heard her coming. Her eyes rested on David, and she wasn't sure what to think.

"You're back," David stated, lowering the remote in his hand and glancing up at her.

It took Miley a brief moment before she was able to speak. "Where's Lilly?" She was still looking around the room for her.

"She went to sleep not too long ago. Wants to rest her shoulder." David turned his attention back to the TV and began surfing through the channels.

"Oh," Miley was slightly relieved but still felt unsettled. "It's been a big day, I'm turning in for the night, too."

David didn't seem to care much. "Kay. 'Night." He didn't looked at her as he spoke, but Miley didn't care, she walked out of the room and briskly made her way to Lilly's door. She couldn't see the light from under the door and hesitated, suddenly feeling anxious and scared. Placing her hand on the knob, she urged herself to keep going. She opened the door and stepped into the dark room before closing the door behind her.

The only light was that of the moon coming in from the window. Her eyes were not adjusted to the dark, but she listened, and could hear Lilly weeping softly from the direction of her bed. Miley trusted her senses and made her way over to the bed, only tripping a few times.

"Lilly?" Miley spoke softly as she approached. "It's okay, it's me. I'm going to turn the lamp on, okay?"

There was no response from Lilly other than a wet sniffle. Miley sat on the edge of the bed and reached to turn on the lamp. The room was flooded with a dim light and Miley saw Lilly huddled under the covers of the bed. Taking a deep breath. Miley prepared herself.

"Lilly, sweety, what's wrong? What happened?" She scooted closer and started to pull the covers off. Lilly tried to keep them wrapped tightly around her at first, but quickly gave way to Miley's attempts.

As the covers were removed, Miley's heart ached at the sight of Lilly curled into a ball and sobbing into her knees. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were stained wet with tears when she was finally able to look up at Miley. She looked like she wanted to speak, but wasn't able to find any words.

The expression on Lilly's face told Miley all she needed to know. Miley had to force herself to act rationally. Instead of storming out of the room and punching David in the face, she climbed into the bed beside Lilly and practically had to scoop her up into her arms. She could feel Lilly trembling as she desperately tried to stop sobbing.

Miley sighed, calming herself, and rested her chin on the top of Lilly's head as she pulled her closer. "It's okay, Lil, just take some deep breath's. Everything's gonna be fine, I'm here now." She didn't know the details of what had happened, but an immense sense of guilt for having to leave in the first place loomed over her.

As Miley began rubbing Lilly's back in attempts to comfort her, she noticed Lilly's bra strap was undone and limply hanging from her shoulders. A mixture of rage towards David and a sudden uncontrollable arousal from caressing Lilly's braless back clashed in Miley mind. She swallowed dryly and forced herself to breath as well.

After several more moments of the two doing their best to maintain composure, Lilly took one last staggered breath in before she spoke. Her tears still hung in the sound of her voice. "Welcome back, Miles." She did her best to smile, and continued to try to keep the tears from coming back.

Miley wanted to cry too. In her head she was sobbing and holding Lilly as close as she could, never wanting to let her go. She knew, however, that she needed to remain calm to not upset Lilly further.

"Lilly..." Miley did her best to sound as soothing as possible, "Are you okay? Can you tell me what happened?"

Lilly sniffed and reached to wipe her cheeks with her sleeve before she attempted to sit up and answer. She must have been weak from crying, along with her sore shoulder, because she wasn't able to sit up much before lowering herself back into Miley's arms. Lilly seemed anxious at this, but Miley hugged her tenderly to let her know she didn't mind holding her. Lilly relaxed and breathed in.

"I-it wasn't... as bad as it could have been," She meant to assure Miley with these words, but Miley couldn't help but tighten her grasp around Lilly in angst from her words. "He offered to give me a massage for my shoulder. I told him it was fine, but he insisted and I c-couldn't..." Lilly paused, feeling her emotions rising as she thought back to it.

Miley anxiously stroked Lilly's arm with her thumb. "What'd he do, Lilly?"

Lilly exhaled shakily and cleared her throat before she answered. "He just got a little rough with his actions... and eventually just started kissing m-my neck and undoing my bra and..." Lilly really hoped Miley could put the next part together without her having to say it. Miley did, of course, and could unfortunately picture the entire thing in her mind.

"Did anything else happen?" Miley tried not to sound too distraught.

Lilly shook her head slightly. "He wanted to keep going but I told him I wanted to rest my shoulder and go to sleep." She was slowly starting to feel better after Miley had began comforting and had almost stopped crying.

Miley, on the other hand, was feeling worse by the second, but at least Lilly had been able to get away and nothing else had happened. After a brief silence, Miley found the capability to speak. "I'm glad you're okay. I'm wont leave again until those airplane doors shut and the plane leaves the ground with him on it."

"It's not your fault, Miles. I'm fine, I just got really shaken up." Lilly sighed, feeling Miley's strained emotion, and shifted in Miley's arms so that she could place her arm around her in return. Miley struggled to push down all the exciting sensations this brought her, but relaxed more and repositioned herself so they were both laying down. Miley really wished she could believe Lilly's words.

After a hanging silence, in which both seemed to be enjoying themselves, Miley hated to be the one to bring it up, but it needed to be addressed. "So, what do you think we should do about tomorrow?"

Lilly, who had become so relaxed that she almost drifted to sleep, fluttered her eyes open and sighed, slightly stretching her sore body out and snuggling closer to Miley. "Anything low maintenance. I don't think I'd survive another day like today. Maybe get Oliver to help out again, he really did a good job distracting David."

Miley nodded in agreement and sighed peacefully as she felt Lilly's warmth against her. "The Getty Villa might be a good idea. Walking around a museum shouldn't take too much energy, and hopefully all the exhibits will keep David busy."

"That sounds good," Lilly stifled a yawn and closed her eyes again, deciding not to fight sleep any longer.

Miley's eyes remained opened. She looked down at Lilly in her arms, and admired her sleeping face. She was about to close her eyes too when Lilly spoke.

"Hey, Miles?" Lilly didn't open her eyes to say this, nor did she move.

"Mm-hmm?"

Lilly turned her head, resting her face on Miley's shoulder. Her voice was a tired but genuine sounding mumble. "I love you,"

Miley's heart jumped, and she was sure that Lilly could hear it pounding in her chest. She didn't know how to take these words, though Lilly said them to her all the time and she had never had this problem before. She did her best to respond without sounding too anxious. "I love you too, Lil," She pressed her lips to Lilly's forehead and saw a small smile form on Lilly's lips. "Goodnight,"

When Lilly woke up, her neck and shoulder were stiff, and she could barely move it without an uncomfortable tension. She groaned, and sat up in bed, taking a minute to adjust to the bright morning light. She noticed how cold she felt, and realized it was because Miley wasn't in the bed with her, or in the room. She panicked for a second, but knew Miley wouldn't have left without telling her, so she groggily left the room to investigate.

Stepping into the hallway, she walked towards the kitchen, where she heard movement and also smelled something that was almost foodlike. She was relieved to find Miley standing over the stove with a spatula. Miley smiled as she saw Lilly enter.

"Morning Lilly!" She said cheerfully. "How are you feeling? There's some ibuprofen on the counter with some water if you need it."

"Thanks," Lilly blinked and walked to the counter. "You're up early. What are you cooking?"

Miley smiled, "Burned french toast!"

Lilly laughed as she took some of the ibuprofen from the bottle and washed them down with some water. "You're hopeless when it comes to cooking. Do you want any help?"

"Nuh-uh! Don't worry, I'll make sure yours isn't burned." Miley flipped a piece of the bread over in the pan and then watched as Lilly stiffly sat down in a chair at the table. "Are you still pretty sore?"

Lilly nodded, "Yeah, more than yesterday. Feels like I might have some bruising going on too."

Miley frowned, seeing Lilly gently try to loosen up her shoulder with a look of discomfort on her face. She did indeed spot the edge of a large purple-blue mark exposed by the neck of Lilly's shirt. "Do you think you need to see a doctor?"

"No, I don't think so," Lilly shook her head. "It'll heal eventually, I just gotta take it easy."

It still worried Miley, but she let it slide. "I already talked to Oliver about our plans for today. He agrees we should take it easy and said not to rush you. So take your time and whenever you're ready we can let him know we're on our way to meet up and carpool. He offered to pay for parking and everything too, even though I told him I didn't mind chipping in."

Lilly smiled, "That cornball. It's so cute when he tries to be a gentlemanly,"

They both heard a door down the hall open, and knew that David was coming out. Miley saw the color leave Lilly's face in a matter of seconds.

David groggily walked into the kitchen in his boxers and looked at the two of them. "Morning," He yawned, scratching himself and pulling up a chair at the table with Lilly. "Breakfast on it's way?"

Miley forced a grin and nodded. "Yup, just about." She still wanted to punch him in the face.

"How's your shoulder feeling today, Lilly?" David looked right at her, and Lilly tried her hardest to avoid his gaze.

"It's a little stiff today," She cleared her throat, discovering that her voice had suddenly become faint. "We were thinking we'd keep it low key and spend the day walking around the Getty Villa in Malibu."

"Sure," David yawned again and stretched out his arms in a prolonged motion before bringing them to rest him "Is that like a museum or something?"

"Yeah, it's got different art exhibits and paintings, and a garden. It really pretty." She glanced at Miley, who was watching David's actions like a hawk.

David blinked, unphased by Miley's eyes. "Cool, that sounds fun." He didn't sound convincing at all.

Miley served up their plates, making sure to give David the coldest pieces of the french toast. He didn't seem to care one way or another and simply began eating. Poor Lilly had lost her appetite again at the stress of having David present, but Miley saw she did her best to eat what she could.

After they all finished eating and rinsed their plates, Miley decided to take control of conversation before anything else could happen. "Well, we're on no time schedule, so let's just take our time to wake up and get ready. We can aim for meeting Oliver at noon."

"Okay," David's expression was unchanged as he blankly glanced at Miley. "I'm gonna jump in the shower then," He walked down the hall and into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

Lilly exhaled when he was gone, already looking tired. Miley walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her in a hug. "We'll get through this,"

Sighing, Lilly leaned into Miley's arms and returned the gesture. "Yeah... Thanks, Miley."

David took his time in the shower, which was fine with Miley because it gave her and Lilly more time to prepare for whatever the day was going to bring. They went into Lilly's room to get changed.

"So, if, for any reason, you get separated from Oliver or me today, we should have some kind of plan so David doesn't corner you." Miley pulled yesterdays shirt off as she spoke and then looked over at Lilly who was doing the same.

Lilly moved more slowly than Miley, and as she removed her shirt, Miley's eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the deep bruise on her shoulder. It was a lot bigger and more swollen than Miley had first thought.

"If you need to stop and rest at any point, don't be afraid to speak up, either. We can have Oliver take David around if you start hurting and need to sit down." She glanced back over at Lilly as she removed her pants, but forced herself to look away before too long.

"I will," Lilly assured her, almost convincingly as she struggled to pull on her new pair of pants.

Miley frowned. Lilly already seemed completely exhausted. "And if we get separated, just call me as soon as you can. It should be okay, I don't plan on going anywhere without you, but it's good to be safe.

Lilly smiled, which helped ease Miley's mind a bit and finished slipping on her shoes. "Okay. Yeah, I know you wont let anything happen, Miles. Thank you."

Miley was temporarily stunned by Lilly's beautiful smile when she said this. She found it hard to move at all.

"Are you ready, Miley?" Lilly looked at her, confused by her sudden pause.

"O-oh, y-yeah. Let's get going." Miley blushed, and they both left the room.

David was finishing getting dressed in the bathroom, but it wasn't long before he emerged and they were ready to go meet Oliver.

Miley had offered to drive, after seeing how stiff and sore Lilly still was. It was a quiet ride to meet Oliver, and Miley noticed David almost seemed to be pouting and annoyed. Her best guess was that it was because he was realizing Miley had no intention of leaving him alone with Lilly again. She was glad he was getting the picture, but was also uneasy that he seemed to be deep in thought.

Once they met up with Oliver, Miley was sure to give him a brief look that told him his assistance was desperately needed today. Oliver noted how tired and slow Lilly seemed, and was ready to give it his all.

"David! Good to see ya again, buddy! You sleep good last night?" He slapped David on the back as a greeting.

David caught his balance, not expecting the abrupt gesture. "Yeah, you too. Slept good. No real problems."

"Good to hear," Oliver grinned. "Well, David, ladies, shall we all pile i my car and head out?"

Miley and Lilly nodded, and David seemed to be in agreement. They walked to Oliver's car. David knew the drill by now and took the from seat. To help with the heavy silence that took over the car as they left, Oliver turned put on some upbeat music.

As they pulled into the parking lot, David was suddenly blown away by what he was seeing. The building was quite an impressive structure, lined with pillars and surrounded by beautiful greenery. As they approached the entrance and waited to get in, he stood looking around at everything he could, his mouth slightly ajar.

When they had passed through the entrance and he saw the statues and the long body of water that stretched across the plaza, he became even more excited.

"This is really something!" He kept gazing at his surrounding in awe.

Oliver was flipping through the pamphlet he had picked up at the entrance. "It looks like the main exhibit is on Aphrodite."

"Isn't that that one chick of war or something?" David glanced at Oliver inquisitively.

"No," Miley quickly answered, rolling her eyes. "She's the Goddess of Love." Miley found herself blushing at having to say this and then looked over at Lilly.

Oliver nodded and read from the pamphlet. "'Aphrodite is typically associated with love, beauty, and sex,'" Miley caught David looking over in Lilly's direction as Oliver read on. "'The essence of the Greek Goddess' power was to provoke desire, and it was said that there were none who could rival her beauty.'" Now Miley caught herself looking in Lilly's direction.

"Huh." David shrugged. "That's pretty cool. We definitely gotta check it out."

"For real." Oliver agreed. "We picked a good time to come. Let's go see us some Aphrodite!"

Oliver lead the way, reading the map on the back of the pamphlet and David followed behind him. Miley hung back with Lilly who still wasn't moving too quickly. Luckily, Oliver was able to keep up with David and the two of them set out to look at all the statues, vases, and artwork.

Miley and Lilly went at their own pace, stopping to take time to look at a statue of Aphrodite that stood in the middle of the exhibit.

"So much detail." Miley spoke quietly in awe.

"Yeah," Lilly nodded, she was very quiet.

Miley nervously glanced over at her. "You doing okay?"

Lilly seemed to sway unintentionally where she stood. "I'm a little light headed," She admitted weakly, "My shoulder's starting bugging me."

Miley frowned. "Want to go sit down outside? I can go get you something to drink,"

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," Miley placed her hand on Lilly's back to steady her. She looked pale.

"Come on, I'll help you outside." Miley guided Lilly outside to the table and sat her down. "There's a concession stand right over there, I'll go get you something to sip on okay? I wont be far."

Lilly pressed her hand to her forehead and nodded, looking completely drained. "Thanks Miley,"

"I'll be right back," Miley walked over and got in line. She waited patiently, making sure to look back and check on Lilly ever few moment. Soon it was her turn to order. "Two lemonades, please."

"Coming right up!" The man and the stand smiled and started making the drinks. "Are you enjoying the exhibit?"

Miley nodded. "Yeah, it's incredible. Some of the stuff in there must be hundreds of years old."

"Easily," The man finished one drink and put it on the counter before starting the other. "There are many myths and legends about Aphrodite, mostly involving her many lovers. She's a goldmine for artistic inspiration."

Miley nodded, thinking over what she had learned. "Where there any lovers she had that were different than the others?"

The man paused and frowned in thought. "Well there's Adonis, I guess. I don't know much, just what I've read around the museum, but supposedly, Aphrodite found him as an infant after his mother was turned into a tree to escape her bloodthirsty father. She took him to the underworld so that Persephone can care for him. He turns out growing into a handsome young man and Aphrodite returns for him, but Persephone isn't too excited about giving him back. After they start to fight about it, Zeus decides to jump in and says that Adonis will stay with each of them a third of the year, and then the last third with whichever of the two he chooses. He chooses Aphrodite of course, and they spend every moment they can together. She even takes up hunting for him." He finished the second drink and placed it on the counter next to the other one. "That'll $2.50."

Miley dug out her wallet and gave him the money. She hesitated to ask at first but she wanted to know the rest of the story. "So what happened after that?"

The man smiled at Miley's peaked interest. "Aphrodite finally pried herself away from him to attend to some of her own personal business she couldn't put off any longer, but before she leaves, she warns him never to attack an animal that shows no fear. He agrees but not long after she leaves, he comes across a wild boar and ignores her warning. The boar ends up killing him. Castrates him and he bleeds to death. Aphrodite rushes to save him but its too late. He ends up back in the underworld, and when she realizes this, she and Persephone are back at square one arguing about who gets him. Zeus decides at that point to just split their time with him into half a year each."

Miley raised her eyebrows in surprise, taking both cups in her hands. "That's... different," She didn't really know what else to say.

"Yeah, Gods and Goddess' sure have human drama topped." The man smiled. "Enjoy the rest of the exhibit."

Miley smiled. "Thank you, have a good day." She turned and started walking back to the table, the story still fresh in her mind. As she finally looked up, her heart jump and she dropped both cups of lemonade to the ground. Lilly was no longer sitting at the table.