Here's the next chapter.
"Hey, Lilly, wake up, it's time for breakfast," Miley whispered as Lilly's eyes fluttered open. "It's eleven o'clock and my dad said that you should eat now before he has to make lunch. He made chocolate chip pancakes and there are strawberries and whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Jackson's having a party down there and if you don't get down there soon, there isn't going to be anything left."
Lilly slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, and swung her legs out of bed, stumbling forward into Miley before muttering an apology. She stumbled down the hallway towards the kitchen, falling back into a chair and taking the plate Mr. Stewart handed to her, throwing on some strawberries and pouring on the whipped cream and chocolate sauce.
"How come she can have whipped cream and chocolate sauce?" Jackson complained. "This isn't fair, you barely even let me have any syrup!"
"Jackson," Miley said, coming into the kitchen, "shut up."
"Boy, don't you have a class in a couple hours?" Mr. Stewart asked, flipping some pancakes on the griddle. "Get going or you're going to be late. I don't want to have to listen to you complaining later about everything you have to go over because you were late for class. Actually, I don't want to hear you complaining about anything. You're lucky I'm letting you stay here while you're getting everything situated in your dorm room."
Jackson grabbed a stack of three pancakes and walked out the door, grumbling to himself. Mr. Stewart took the pancakes off the griddle, putting them on a plate and handing the plate to Miley, before pouring some more batter on. Miley sat down next to Lilly and grabbed the maple syrup pouring it over her pancakes and starting to eat.
"Now that Jackson's gone, I would like to talk to the two of you," Mr. Stewart said, sitting down in a chair across from the two girls. "Lilly, I apologize for my behavior, I had no idea that something like this had happened on Friday. I thought that it was another one of your boy things."
"That's still an emergency," Miley muttered between bites of her pancakes.
"But I called the school this morning and arranged for you two to be excused for the rest of the week," Mr. Stewart said, ignoring Miley's comment. "And I also called Miley's doctor and had an appointment scheduled for you next Monday."
"What?" Miley asked, dropping her fork on her plate as Lilly stared at him with her mouth gaping open. "Daddy, this wasn't part of the agreement! You weren't supposed to tell anyone! Did you tell the school, too?"
"No, I told the school that a very close friend of the two of you just died and that you were attending the funeral," Mr. Stewart said calmly. "You're very distraught and almost unable to speak due to shock and sorrow, so when you go back to school, I expect you to act like Oliver died, except it isn't Oliver. I said it was a girl named Leanne. But Lilly, you need to go to a doctor to have things looked over. I would insist that you see someone to talk to, but that really isn't my business because you aren't my daughter. But I'm responsible for you right now and you're like a second daughter to me and I'm not going to let something like this pass when something could be seriously wrong."
Lilly just nodded, staring down listlessly at her pancakes.
GIVE ME A REASON ~ GIVE ME A REASON ~ GIVE ME A REASON
Lilly walked out of the doctor's office, head bowed, and headed over to Miley, who was waiting anxiously with her father. She looked questioningly at Lilly, but the blonde just shook her head, clenching and unclenching her left hand nervously. Miley stood up and put an arm around Lilly's shoulders, whispering in her ear as her father walked up to the doctor, who was standing in the doorway leading to the examination rooms.
"We'll talk when we get home, okay?" Miley whispered, glancing at a girl who went to their school. The girl was staring at Lilly curiously and was leaning forward to hear what Miley was saying. "Come on, we can go out to the car and wait for my dad to get back from talking with the doctor."
The ride back to Miley's house was uncomfortably quiet. Lilly stared straight ahead the whole time, her hands folded neatly in her lap until they parked in the driveway. She rushed out of the car, slamming the door behind her, and ran into the house, leaving Mr. Stewart staring understandingly after her and Miley staring after her with a confused expression on her face. Miley looked up at her dad with a curious look on her face and he just motioned to the house and Lilly.
"Hey, Lilly, what happened?" Miley asked, carefully walking into her room. She sat down on the bed next to Lilly and looked surprised when Lilly started crying. "It's going to be okay," she whispered. "Just tell me what's wrong and everything will be fine, okay?"
"I'm… I'm pregnant," Lilly sobbed into Miley's shoulder.
Miley's mouth opened slightly in surprise and she promptly shut it, gathering Lilly up in her arms and running her fingers through her hair. Lilly cried for another hour before she finally calmed down enough to pull back from Miley, wipe her tears on her sleeve, and stare sullenly down at the floor.
"What am I going to do?" she whispered, tears starting to stream down her face again. "I don't know if I can deal with all this, with what happened in the city, my father, my mother being out of town, and school. Miley, I can't do this."
The brunette hesitated before speaking. "What did the doctor tell you about your options?" she asked slowly and quietly.
"She said I could keep the baby or give it up for adoption," Lilly whispered. "Or that I could… could have a… an abortion. But I can't do that, I can't! I mean, it wasn't the baby's fault, was it? It was those stupid men's fault! If it hadn't been for them, I wouldn't be in this mess right now, it's all their fault. Miley, what am I going to do?"
"You could… give the baby up for adoption," Miley suggested quietly, putting an arm around Lilly's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her.
Lilly hesitated. "I know it sounds stupid, but… but it's my baby and… and I don't want anyone else having her. I love her, Miley, I really do." She started to cry again and Miley gathered her in her arms, whispering comforting words in her ear.
"Wait, you said her," Miley said.
"What am I supposed to call the baby, an it?" Lilly asked.
"I suppose not," Miley said, sighing.
"If you don't want to be friends with me anymore, I understand," Lilly said quickly, pulling away from Miley. "I mean, if I were you, I wouldn't want to be friends with me cause everyone at school will think…"
"Lilly, don't even think that," Miley said, cutting her off. "Don't even think that I wouldn't want to be friends with you because of what happened. This isn't your fault at all, and even if you had done this on purpose, I still would be friends with you. I'm going to be right here next to you this whole time, no matter what you say, no matter what other people say, and no matter what happens, okay? Face it, you're stuck with me."
The blonde gave Miley a small smile. "Thanks Miles," she whispered, leaning her head on Miley's shoulder. "It's just… I can't believe that this is happening to me, you know? I always planned on graduating high school, going to college, then getting married, getting a job, and finally having kids. But it's all… backwards now. Now I'll probably have to get a job and…"
"No, you're going to focus on school," Miley said. "I'm not going to let that happen to you. You're going to be able to do everything that you want to do. Hannah's got enough money for that and she doesn't let her best friend's life fall off the end like that. Lilly, I'm going to help you in every possible way I can, okay? Don't even think that anything is going to be any different other than the fact that…"
"I'm going to get fat and sick then I'm going to have a baby to take care of," Lilly said, standing up and backing away from Miley. "You don't understand, this is… this is a life changing experience. When someone has a baby, they aren't the same, okay Miley? Even if they give the baby up for adoption or if they get an abortion… you know what, I'm really considering just getting an abortion."
"No!" Miley yelled, shooting up from her seat. "You can't get an abortion!"
"Oh, way to be selfish, Miley," Lilly said, putting her hands on her hips. "The only reason you want me to have the baby is so you can have a kid to take care of without actually having to go through anything to get it."
"That's not true!" Miley yelled, near to tears. "Lilly, it's you who doesn't understand. I… I know what I'm talking about, okay?"
"How do you know?" Lilly asked. "You've never been through this… have you? You would have told me about that, wouldn't you have?"
Miley hesitated. "No, it didn't happen to me," she whispered, turning away from Lilly and facing the balcony. "But there is some stuff that I haven't told you. The only reason I haven't told you is because I didn't want it brought up in front of my dad and brother. They're both really sensitive about it. You see… I have an older sister. She's five years older than me and two years older than Jackson. A few months before my mom died, she found out that she was pregnant."
"Wait, where is your sister?" Lilly asked angrily. "How come you haven't mentioned her before?"
"She lives back in Tennessee with the rest of my family," Miley said quietly. "The reason I haven't mentioned her before is because whenever anyone says her name, my dad gets angry and starts breaking things and my brother gets quiet for a few days. I would be in a lot of trouble if my dad found out that I was telling you about her. That's the reason that I always visit my family back in Tennessee by myself except for on certain occasions when my dad makes sure she won't be there."
"What's her name?" Lilly asked softly.
"Aislinn," Miley whispered. "But she… when mom died… she was really upset and she didn't take it well. She locked herself in her room for a few days and Jackson was the only one who could get her to eat or anything. Dad… he didn't really pay much attention because he was so distraught. After a few days, she came out of her room and said that she was going out with one of her friends. When she came home… she was in tears. Jackson thought it was because mom had just died but she had… she had gotten… the baby… it was gone. Her little baby boy was gone."
Miley's voice broke at the end of the sentence and they both stood there for a few minutes before Miley spoke again. "The abortion ruined her," she said so quietly that Lilly had to step forward to hear her. "She was an emotional mess after that, and it didn't help that Daddy didn't approve of it and pretty much kicked her out of the family. Grandma took her in, but nothing was ever the same again. Jackson was broken. It had hurt him when he had found out that his big sister, his idol, was pregnant, but to find out that she had killed the baby…" She turned to Lilly, tears in her eyes. "Don't get an abortion. I don't want to see you get hurt any more than you are."
"I didn't know," Lilly whispered, tears still streaming down her face. "I'm sorry… now I feel really stupid."
"Hey, no, it isn't your fault," Miley said, gathering Lilly up in her arms. "I never told you about her. Don't worry about anything more than you have to, it isn't good for you or the baby. You know what, some of my dad's chocolate pie is left over from the other night, how about I go get some of that and some ice cream and we go down to the beach and just hang out there for a little while. We can get the surfboards out of storage and sit out on the water."
"Okay," Lilly whispered. "I would like that."
They went down to the kitchen where Mr. Stewart was starting to make dinner. He was pulling random things out of cabinets, looking at a cookbook every so often and searching through his cupboards until he finally found what he was looking for. "I'm making lasagna tonight, is that okay with you Lilly?" he asked as Miley pulled the chocolate pie out of the fridge.
"Sounds great Mr. S," Lilly said with a weak smile.
"If you need anything, just tell me and I'll see what I can do," he said, awkwardly patting her on the back. Tears leapt unbidden to Lilly's eyes and Miley hurried to her side, pushing her father out of the way.
"Daddy, why don't you finish dinner?" she asked. "It's okay, Lilly, come on, let's go on down to the beach. You can carry these plates and I'll grab the surfboards, okay?"
"Hey Miles, can I talk to you for a sec?" Mr. Stewart asked, and Miley nodded, smiling encouragingly at Lilly and motioning for her to go on. Lilly left the house but hovered outside the door, wanting to hear what he was going to say to Miley.
"You really love her, don't you Miley?" he asked after a few moments. There was the sound of containers clanking together.
"Yeah, but she doesn't like me like that," Miley said, which surprised Lilly. She had thought Mr. Stewart was talking about Miley loving her like a sister, not like a crush. "And she needs me right now, Daddy. I'm not gonna tell her that I like her like that right now, she's going through too much. Maybe not ever. I don't want to lose her as a friend. She's the best thing that's ever happened to me ever since Mom…"
Miley trailed off and Lilly stared ahead sightlessly. Miley liked her? How was that even possible? She had never told Lilly that she was gay and she had always dated boys and commented how boys were cute. They had even had huge fights over who would date who! Suddenly Miley was speaking again and Lilly snapped her mind back so she could listen to the conversation taking place inside.
"I think I'm just going to have to find someone else," Miley said. "She's probably the only person I'm ever going to love like this, but I'm sure there's someone else out there for me. I don't want her to get hurt any more than she already is. She's been through so much, Daddy, and I don't know… I don't know if I'm going to be able to help her as much as I would like to. She doesn't deserve this."
"You're doing as much as you can," Mr. Stewart said. "She would do the same for you, and you know that. And who knows, maybe she likes you, too. I think it would be best if you were honest with her about that. Now how about you go out there before she gets nervous all by herself. Dinner should be ready in about two hours."
Lilly urged herself to move as Miley's footsteps got closer to the door, but she couldn't. The door opened and Miley came face to face with her. "Lilly, what are you… were you… did you hear… wait, I thought… what are you doing?"
Shaking her head, Lilly dropped the two plates of pie, shattering them. "You… you… I thought…" she whispered, turning on her heel and running. She heard Miley calling after her and then Mr. Stewart yelling her name, but she kept running, not stopping for anything.
It wasn't possible that Miley could like her like that. She would have told her before; she would have been honest because best friends tell each other everything. Except Miley didn't tell her everything. She hadn't told her that the reason she couldn't do her sleepover was because it was the anniversary of her mother's death, or that she had an older sister who had had an abortion. It shouldn't be surprising that Miley hadn't told her this, either. But it still hurt.
Thank you to musicisinmysoul and Megyn129 for reviewing the last chapter. Sorry it took me so long to post this. PLEASE REVIEW!!! I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible.
AThousandTimesMore