Here's the next chapter.
Lilly stared up at the ceiling in Miley's bedroom as she waited for her best friend to finish talking to her dad about the situation Lilly was in without really revealing anything. This was the fifth time in two days that Mr. Stewart had asked to talk to Miley privately, and she knew that it was all about her, Lilly Truscott, the worst friend in the world. She knew that Mr. Stewart wanted to know exactly what was happening and that Miley would never tell him anything, even if she got in trouble for it. It made Lilly feel bad that she might get her best friend in trouble, but it also reassured her that she had the best friend in the world.
The door opened and Miley walked in, closing the door behind her and sitting on the edge of her bed, looking out the French doors leading to her balcony. They sat in silence for the next fifteen minutes, and then Miley walked out onto the balcony, shutting the doors behind her. Lilly sat up, staring after her best friend before walking out quietly behind her.
"Hey," Lilly whispered, shutting the doors behind her. Miley didn't acknowledge her, simply staring up at the starry night sky. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Miley said quietly after a moment. Lilly was quiet, waiting for Miley to continue as she always did. "It's just… do you ever… miss your dad?" She looked away from Lilly, biting her lip nervously. "You don't have to answer if you don't want to. It was a stupid question to ask."
"No, no, it's fine," Lilly said quickly, going to stand next to Miley and leaning against the railing. She paused before she replied. "I… I suppose I do. Not the… you know, that part of him, but before he changed, you know? The part of him that really loved me and cared about me, I suppose. Why?"
Miley hesitated. "I lied to you," she whispered. "Remember when I told you that I had a Hannah concert the night we were going to go to the mall? And how I said that Jackson was going away to college and my dad wanted me to be there? I lied about that. Really… that was the anniversary of my mom's death." She finished in a whisper so quiet that Lilly had to lean in to hear the end of the sentence.
"But… why didn't you tell me?" Lilly asked, standing up straight and facing Miley, who was looking down at her feet ashamedly. "I mean, I would have understood completely if you had… oh my god, Miley, I… I feel horrible now. You… you shouldn't have gone to school that day, you should have taken it off. I shouldn't even be here right now. This is all wrong…"
"Please don't leave!" Miley exclaimed, grabbing Lilly's arm as she turned to leave and started heading back into Miley's room. Lilly froze up and stumbled away from Miley, bumping into the railing and cowering away from Miley as she stepped forward. "Oh my god, Lilly, no, I didn't… no, I'm not going to hurt you, please, Lilly, trust me!"
Lilly slid down to the ground, pulling her knees to her chest and resting her forehead on top of her knees. "I'm so pathetic," she sobbed. "My best friend touches me on the arm and I freeze up then break down!"
Miley slid down next to her. "You aren't pathetic," she whispered. "What's pathetic is that I couldn't bring myself to tell my best friend that the reason I couldn't hang out with her was because my family was spending the anniversary of my mom's death together. I was afraid that you were going to think that I was weak and that you wouldn't want to be friends with me anymore."
"Really?" Lilly whispered, looking up at Miley. She had stopped sobbing, although tears continued to stream down her face. "But… why do you think I would ever want to stop being friends with you? I mean, we've been best friends since seventh grade!"
The brunette looked away from Lilly, staring down at her lap, where she was lacing her fingers together. "It's just… you're always so strong, and you never break down and cry like I would have, and… you're just… better than me, I guess. You're smarter and funnier and… more beautiful. All the guys at school look up to you, Lilly. They think you're amazing because you can play sports, and then they also think that you're insanely gorgeous…"
"Miley, stop it," Lilly said. "First of all, none of those things are true…"
"Are you kidding?" Miley asked incredulously, looking at Lilly as if she were crazy. She turned her body to face Lilly. "You're absolutely amazing at sports, and don't even try to deny that; you're better than some of the boys, even! Most of them! And Oliver told me that they all talk in the locker room about how they all want to ask you out, but they're too scared that you'll turn them down! Lilly, you can't deny it!"
"Fine, maybe some of those things are true," Lilly admitted, giving Miley a small smile as she turned to face Miley as well. "But you can't say any bad stuff about yourself, either. I'm never strong, except for at school because… well, I have a reputation to maintain. You're strong, Miley! I mean, you… you go in front of all those kids at school and withstand all their teasing even though your frickin' Hannah Montana! And if you even try to tell me that I haven't broken down and cried, you're wrong. I have never seen you cry in front of me, not really. There is no way I'm better than you are, either. You're incredibly smart, and you're way funnier than I am, and… I know all of the guys have their eyes glued to you whenever you walk past them."
Lilly looked away, blushing as she finished. "Miley, you… you think way too highly of me, really. I'm nowhere near as… anything as you."
They were both quiet for another moment.
"Look, Lilly, I'm sorry," Miley finally said. "I'm sorry for not telling you the truth about spending the anniversary of my mom's death with my family, I'm sorry for being the cause of this whole mess with the city and everything, and I'm sorry I just… grabbed your arm and stuff. I should be more careful. If it hadn't been for me, this whole thing wouldn't have happened. If I had just been honest then you wouldn't be like this right now and…"
"Don't blame yourself," Lilly whispered, putting a hand on her arm. "This isn't just your fault, you know. If I hadn't overreacted then this wouldn't have happened, either. This is both of our faults, and it doesn't do either of us any good to dwell on it, does it?"
Miley smiled down at her feet. "You're right," she said, turning to look at Lilly. "As usual. Let's just… try to put this behind us and… and get past this, okay?"
"What does your dad want to know?" Lilly asked, looking up at the sky. She felt Miley hesitate. "It's okay, you can tell me. I won't get mad."
"He… he wanted to know why you were so upset," Miley whispered. "I tried telling him that it was something I couldn't tell him about and he said that… that I was his daughter and he could order me to tell him anything and that he wanted to know by the end of the night. And… he said that if he didn't find out the truth by the end of the night, he would ground me and then call your mom and make sure you were grounded as well."
"You didn't tell him, did you?" Lilly whispered, still staring up at the sky.
"No, I told him that it was a secret and that you would tell him if you wanted to tell him," Miley said. "Lilly, I would never tell him anything you didn't want me to tell him, no matter what it was. You're my best friend, and I know that you would never do that to me…"
"I believe you," Lilly said. "But you should tell him."
"What?" Miley asked, turning to stare at Lilly.
"Go, tell him now and…, and tell him not to tell my mom," Lilly said, refusing to look at Miley. "Not the part about… about my dad, just what happened in the city. Tell him that I'm going to tell my mom when she gets back because I don't want to do something like this over the phone."
"Lilly, are you…?" Miley started.
"Miles, just go," Lilly whispered, looking over at Miley with tears in her eyes. Miley hesitated before nodding once and standing up. She opened the balcony doors, glanced back at Lilly one more time, before passing through quietly, closing the door behind her.
Lilly could hear the soft murmur of voices just beyond Miley's bedroom door and closed her eyes, blocking out the sounds. She didn't want to hear Mr. Stewart's reaction to what had been done to her, she just wanted to be normal again. The old Lilly Truscott who rode into the Stewarts' living room on her skateboard, scoffed down pancakes faster than Jackson, and stared after boys on the beach without any repercussions. Now she was someone different. Someone who walked down the street, her head down as she tried to avoid attracting any attention to herself. Someone who skipped whole meals. Someone who burst into tears when she caught a strange boy looking at her like she was a piece of candy.
She opened her eyes to see Mr. Stewart staring through the crack of Miley's door with a stunned and sympathetic look on his face. Turning away, Lilly wiped the tears from her face with the sleeve of her shirt and tried to forget that look. But she couldn't. It would be forever ingrained in her mind. And when other people found out, she would be getting those looks all the time.
There was a creak of hinges and a click as Miley closed her bedroom door behind her, motioning for Lilly to go to her. Lilly wearily got up, dreading what her best friend was going to say.
"Hey, um, my dad… he apologizes," Miley said quietly. "And he said you can spend as much time here as you want no matter what. Oh, and… we don't have to go to school this week. He'll call the school and smooth things over. Apparently your mom called and… she's going to be staying in New York for a while longer. Business is doing really good and she can't afford to leave."
"Miley," Lilly whispered, tears streaming down her face, and then she collapsed into the brunette, sobbing. Miley put her arms around her, pulling her close and sitting down on the bed. She rubbed her back soothingly and attempted to calm her by rocking her back and forth.
"Caterpillar in the tree, how you wonder who you'll be. Can't go far but you can always dream," Miley sang softly, rocking her back and forth. "Wish you may and wish you might, don't you worry, hold on tight. I promise you that there will come a day… butterfly fly away. Butterfly fly away, butterfly fly away, flap your wings now you can't stay. Take those dreams and make them all come true. Butterfly fly away, butterfly fly away, we've been waiting for this day. All along and knowing just want to do. Butterfly, butterfly, butterfly, butterfly fly away. Butterfly fly away. Butterfly fly away."
Lilly breathed in deeply one time before her eyes fluttered closed, butterfly fly away echoing in her mind as sleep took her peacefully.
Thank you to JustAnotherSlowGoodbye and musicisinmysoul for reviewing. I really appreciate it, guys. You have no idea how much it means to me. As for everyone else… PLEASE REVIEW!!! That's why I post this here!!! So I can get comments from you!!! Okay, maybe I post this cause I want to share it with you, too, but PLEASE review. I really do appreciate it! I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I can, but until then…
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