Here's the next chapter.
Lilly stared out at the waves crashing on the beach, her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on the tops of her knees. Tears continued to stream down her face as she thought about the last few days. Everything had gone wrong and almost nothing had gone right. She had gotten a call from her mother two hours before telling her that they might be moving to New York if her next deal went well. Lilly had almost told her that she was pregnant but decided that she would keep it from her as long as she could. Maybe if she popped it on her at the right time, they wouldn't move.
And then there was Miley. They had been best friends since seventh grade and now she had just found out that the brunette had a crush on her. Miley had been the person Lilly knew that she could count on to help her through everything, especially her pregnancy. If she told Oliver that she was pregnant, he would most likely freak out and try to avoid her until they graduated from high school.
She stood up and walked towards the water, kicking off her flip-flops and walking into the ocean so that the waves lapped at her feet. There was only the sound of the water crashing on the shore, the cry of the seagulls wheeling above her head, and the occasional rumble of thunder in the distance. Her thoughts crowded her mind, each pushing itself forward so that she would pay attention to it. Her father. The rape in the city. Her pregnancy. Miley's crush on her. Moving to New York. Her mother's disregard for her.
Rain started to patter around her, wetting her hair down and lightning flashed in the distance. Her mind screamed for her to run out of the water, but she chose not to, keeping her feet firmly planted where they were. She imagined yelling her name, actually caring what happened to her.
Then she was suddenly swept off her feet and someone with strong but gentle arms was holding her. Rain fell on her face, blinding her, and then a bolt of lightning struck the water only a few hundred feet from where she had just been standing. She shivered involuntarily from an image, her being burnt to a crisp, popping into her mind.
The person who was holding her gently set her on the ground and kneeled next to her, breathing hard. Lilly wiped the water out of her eyes and was surprised to see that Miley was the person who had saved her. She watched the brunette carefully as she gradually caught her breath and sat back on her heels, fell on her butt, and crossed her legs in front of her.
"What the hell do you think you were doing?" Miley demanded, her hair falling in front of her face. "Why didn't you move when you heard the thunder? You could have been killed!"
Lilly shrugged and looked away, intent on avoiding Miley's eyes.
"Come on, my car's parked a little ways up the beach. We can go back to my house and clean up," Miley said, standing up and extending a hand to help her up. Lilly hesitantly took it and hauled herself up, letting go of Miley's hand as soon as she was standing. Miley looked hurt, but didn't say anything, casting her gaze to the ground as she led Lilly to her car.
The drive back to Miley's house was endured in an uncomfortable silence. They automatically headed to Miley's room out of years of habit and Miley closed the door slowly, leaning her head against the frame. Her shoulders shook as she started to sob, surprising Lilly, who stood there motionless before walking up behind her and gently placing a hand on the brunette's shoulder. Miley turned to her, eyes red and tears streaming down her face. "Were you trying to kill yourself?" she whispered. "Did I really hurt you that much?"
"No, Miley, I…" Lilly started, but Miley cut her off.
"You don't understand, Lilly, you're the best friend I've ever had," the brunette said, sliding down the door to sit on the floor. "If you… if you died, then I don't think I could…" She stopped, sobs overtaking her and preventing her from speaking.
"Look, it's not… it's not what you're thinking, okay?" Lilly asked, sitting down next to her. "I was just… I was thinking things over and I… I was being stupid. I've had a lot going on in the past couple days, Miley. I was raped multiple times, I remembered that my father used to rape me every night, I found out that I'm pregnant, my mom told me that we might be moving to New York, and you said that you liked me."
"Wait, you might be moving to New York?" Miley asked, her sobs halting abruptly as she looked up to stare at Lilly with an incredulous expression on her face.
Lilly nodded, tears coming to her eyes. "I… I can't move to New York, though," she said tremulously. "I wouldn't be able to deal with all of this without you, Miley."
"It's going to be okay," Miley said, wrapping an arm around Lilly's shoulders. "We'll figure something out, I promise. If worse comes to worse then you can come live with us, okay?"
"I think I would do that as a first option," Lilly said, smiling slightly as she leaned into Miley. "And Miley?"
"Yeah?"
Lilly took a deep breath. "I really wish you had told me that you liked me earlier," she said.
Miley looked away. "I've liked you for a long time, Lilly," she said. "I'm going to be honest with you with everything from now on. The truth is I have tried to tell you tons of times. It's just… every time I was about to tell you, something else happened that messed the circumstances up for me. Like… I was going to tell you right before you started going out with Lu-kissed-every-girl-in-the-school, but then he came along."
"Lucas was a jerk," Lilly said. "Why didn't you just tell me after I dumped that shrimp on him?"
"Because I didn't want you to get hurt anymore," Miley said quietly. "I was afraid that you would be offended or something and I didn't want to hurt you anymore than I already had. I knew that it was hard on you when you found out that Lucas was cheating on you and I didn't want something to happen to our friendship."
"How long have you liked me?" Lilly asked.
The brunette hesitated. "Ever since you first walked up to me and introduced yourself to me in seventh grade," she whispered.
"Wait, you've liked me for four years and you haven't told me?" Lilly asked incredulously. "What about Jake and all your other boyfriends?"
"I kind of dated them to forget about you," Miley whispered. "Not, like, totally forget about you, but just forget that I liked you, because it hurt too much. Every time I saw you flirting with boys, or heard you babbling about hot guys, or whenever you went out on dates, I felt this ache in my chest, like there was a big hole there and it was just trying to suck me inside myself and make me disappear completely. The worst part was when you and Oliver started dating and I caught you guys making out in my living room. That hurt so bad."
"You must have been happy when we broke up," Lilly said in an upset voice.
"No, it hurt even more when you guys broke up because you were so sad and upset," Miley said, making Lilly look at her in surprise. "It hurts me even more to see you hurt. I would rather have you happy and me hurting than me happy and you hurting. All I want is for you to be happy, Lilly, and if you're going to do it with some boy who honestly loves you and treats you like you should be treated, then I can live with myself."
"Miley," Lilly whispered, wiping a tear from the brunette's cheek with the tip of her finger. "I'm so sorry, I never realized…"
"Do you want to know what I love about you the most?" Miley whispered. She stood up, not even waiting for Lilly to reply, and grabbed her guitar off its stand to the right of her balcony doors. She sat down on her bed, throwing her shoulder strap over her head and balancing her guitar on her lap.
"The seven things I like about you: your hair, your eyes, your old Levi's, when you smile I'm hypnotized, you make me laugh, you make me cry, but I guess both sides I'll have to buy, if you were mine it'd be divine, but everything's alright. I wanna be with the one I know… but the seventh thing I like the most that you do… you make me love you," Miley whispered the last part. Tears streamed down her face as she set her guitar down next to her.
Lilly stood up and sat down next to Miley, pulling her into a hug. "If we were a movie, you'd be the right girl," the blonde sang softly. "And I'd be the best friend, who you'd fall in love with, in the end we'd be laughing, watching the sunset fade to black, show the names, play that happy song again."
"No, Lilly, you're just making it worse," Miley sobbed, pulling away from the blonde. "Don't… don't do that to me, okay? If you really feel uncomfortable, just leave. I can't stand you doing this to me."
"Miley…" Lilly said.
"Just go away!" Miley yelled, looking up at Lilly with bloodshot eyes. "I'm finished with this, okay? This is over and done with. Forever."
Lilly opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Tears started to stream down her face as she stood up and started to back away from Miley, a hurt look in her eyes. She had no idea what was going on with Miley, but she knew that she wasn't helping the situation and that it would just be best if she disappeared from her life forever.
GIVE ME A REASON ~ GIVE ME A REASON ~ GIVE ME A REASON
"Hey, what're you doing on there?" someone yelled as Lilly climbed onto the rail running along the edge of the bridge. Below her was a large expanse of water. She laughed as she remembered something she had seen online once. If Hannah Montana jumped off a bridge, 95% of the teenage girls living in America would follow her. "Come on, get off of there, you're going to fall and get hurt."
"I'm already hurt," Lilly murmured to herself.
She looked down at the water, her balance perfect from years of skateboarding. Taking a deep breath, Lilly closed her eyes and jumped off the rail, plummeting through the air towards the water. As she fell, frantic thoughts started to push forward to the front of Lilly's mind. What will my mom think when she finds out? What about the baby? And Oliver? Oh my god, and Miley… no, Miley doesn't care. She said that it was over and done with forever.
All the air whooshed out of her lungs as she hit the water and pain erupted all over her body. There was a second splash and she felt someone grab her around the waist and move forward. She tried to struggle against them, but every move she made induced pain in every part of her body. Then she was being pulled out of the water and there were sirens, people talking, and beeping noises, something being put over her face. She was being strapped down to something and someone was talking to her, but she couldn't see anyone and she couldn't make out the words. "Miley," she whispered. Suddenly, all noise disappeared and everything went completely black.
Thank you to musicisinmysoul and JustAnotherSlowGoodbye for reviewing. Please REVIEW!!! I'll get the next chapter up as soon as possible.
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