Here's the next chapter.
Swinging her legs out of bed, Lilly winced at the stiffness in her back. The pain had disappeared, but occasionally she could still feel the bruises that could barely be seen if one looked closely. She looked at Miley and all thoughts about the stiffness in her back disappeared.
The brunette was smiling softly, her hair spread out behind her on the pillow. She was lying on her side and facing Lilly, her arms spread out on the place Lilly had just vacated because they had been wrapped around her all night. Lilly didn't want to wake Miley up, but she knew that if she didn't and she went surfing, she would get a lecture from the brunette later.
"Hey, Miles, wake up," she whispered, shaking her lightly. The brunette moaned and threw her arms over her face, turning away from Lilly. Lilly knelt on the bed, leaning over Miley and pulling her arms away from her face. She kissed her lightly on the forehead, then on each of her eyes, and on her nose. Lingering over her lips, she smiled when Miley opened her eyes, a hungry look on her face. She quickly jumped off Miley, putting her hands on her hips as the brunette pouted at her.
"Come on, that isn't fair," Miley said, sitting up quickly.
"You're the one who said that you wanted to wake up with me so you could watch me surf this morning," Lilly said, a grin spreading over her face. "You could always stay here and I could just go surfing by myself. I wouldn't mind that in the least." Miley raised her eyebrows at her. "Okay, maybe I would mind a little bit."
"Well I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not," Miley said, throwing the covers off and standing up. "I'm just going to throw on some clothes while you get changed into… what do you wear when you go surfing? A wetsuit or a swimsuit?"
"Don't you wish I'd wear one of my bathing suits," Lilly said, smiling. "I wear a wetsuit. There's too much of a chance that a bikini wouldn't hold up against the waves and I don't want to be surfing half-naked with all those boys there. They might appreciate the show, but I definitely would not enjoy giving it."
"I would appreciate the show, too," Miley murmured.
"What was that?" Lilly asked, pretending that she hadn't heard what Miley said.
"Nothing," Miley said quickly. "I was just saying that I should probably change into my bathing suit. But I might get cold since I won't be in the water. You know what, I'm just going to bring a notebook and a pen and see if I can find any inspiration on the beach. I heard that there was going to be this really hot girl there today and I'm hoping that if I catch a glimpse of her, I might get an idea for a new song."
"Oh really, a hot girl?" Lilly asked, pulling her wetsuit out of Miley's closet. "How the heck did this get in here?" she muttered to herself.
"Yeah, she's supposed to have the most amazing blue eyes and this gorgeous blonde hair, and the hottest body in the state of California," Miley said mischievously.
"Just California?" Lilly asked, slipping off her pants and underwear and struggling into her wetsuit. She pulled off her t-shirt, throwing it on top of the pile of her discarded clothes and pulling on the rest of her wetsuit. Miley walked up behind her, zipping up the back of the wetsuit and turned Lilly around to kiss her.
"That's what some boy said," Miley whispered, leaning her forehead against Lilly's. "But I say that she has the hottest body in th'world. Of course, I might be a little biased cause she's my girlfriend, ya know?" She accentuated her Tennessee accent, pulling Lilly in for another kiss. "Course, ya might disagree with me."
"Yeah, I think I might," Lilly murmured against Miley's lips. She abruptly pulled away and pushed Miley towards the closet. "Now get dressed or it's going to be really busy at the beach and I'll have to wait in line to get a wave."
"Okay, okay, I'm going," Miley said irritably. "Gosh, I have one bossy girlfriend." She quickly got dressed, throwing a hoodie over her t-shirt and grabbing a notepad along with a pen. "I'm ready, come on, girlfriend, you're going to miss all those waves like you were complaining earlier."
"Wrong way," Lilly laughed as Miley headed towards the balcony doors, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her out into the hall, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Mr. Stewart was already up and cooking breakfast, the smell of French toast starting to drift through the house.
"You girls on your way to the beach?" he asked, noticing Lilly's wetsuit. "Should I make some more for you for when you get back?"
"That would be great, Mr. S," Lilly said, pulling Miley past the French toast and towards the door.
"Y'know, Lilly, I think you should grab your surfboard out of the garage and meet me back here," Miley said, coming to a stop and eyeing the French toast hungrily. Lilly nodded and ran out the door, leaving Miley only minutes to grab a stack of French toast and hide it under her notebook. When Lilly came back, her mouth was stuffed full and she was trying to hide four pieces of French toast behind her back.
"I was going to say that you should take something with you to eat at the beach, but I think you already have that covered," Lilly said. "Um, do you want to finish eating that or just head down to the beach right now? Cause I can wait if you need me to wait."
"No, I'm good," Miley said, spewing French toast all over Lilly.
"Don't talk with your mouth full, how many times do I have to tell you that?" Mr. Stewart said, getting some paper towels and handing them to Lilly. "I swear, you're starting to fill in your brother's place. Stuffing food in your face as fast as you can, sneaking it behind people's backs, talking with your mouth full, and trying to hide everything you've done behind your back."
Miley swallowed quickly. "Hey, that is not true," she said heatedly. "First of all, I just took a really big bite, second I was only hiding the food because I didn't want to make Lilly hungry. And you know what happens when she's hungry. She eats and eats and eats for hours, then she would be missing all those waves like she was complaining about earlier. And you know what, I'm just going to shut my mouth right now because it looks like I just stuck my foot in it."
"More like your whole leg," Mr. Stewart muttered as Lilly glared at Miley.
"I'm sorry?" Miley offered weakly.
"We'll talk on the way to the beach," Lilly said sternly, pointing Miley towards the door. She gave a cheerful wave and a wink to Mr. Stewart before she followed the brunette out, shutting the door behind her. They walked in silence for a while, Miley taking an occasional bite out of her last piece of French toast.
"Look, Lilly, I'm really sorry," Miley said. "I didn't know that it would upset you this much. Otherwise, I would have never done it."
"I'm not really upset," Lilly said lightly.
"Wait, what?" Miley asked, turning to face her incredulously. "You were making me sweat all that time for no reason? That's so not fair!"
"Yes it is," Lilly said, laughing. "And it was funny watching you think about what you were going to say in order to get me to forgive you. I wasn't going to break it to you that I'm not upset this early; I was planning on watching you struggle, you know? But I love you, so I'm not going to do that to you."
"Thank you, honey," Miley said, pulling Lilly in for a one-armed hug. "I love you, too. And just for that, I'm going to ask you now instead of waiting to ask you."
"Ask me what?" Lilly asked as they arrived at the beach.
"Well, I go back to Tennessee three times a year, once during the beginning of the school year, once during the middle, and once during the summer, and one of my visits is coming up in a couple weeks, and… and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me. I really want you to meet Aislinn and my grandma, and I think they would both want to meet you, too. And I really don't want to be away from you for two weeks."
Lilly smiled excitedly. "You really want me to go with you?" she asked. "Okay, I just have to ask my…" she trailed off, the smile fading from her face. "Normally I would have to ask my mom, but now I don't have to. I guess as long as your dad says it's okay, I can go, then."
"I'm sorry," Miley whispered, pulling Lilly into a hug and kissing her on the top of the head. "If I had known that this was going to bring that up, I would have waited a little while to ask."
"No, I'm glad you asked now," Lilly said decisively. "I don't want my mom to ruin everything else for me. If you want to ask me something that has to do with my mom, then you go ahead. She isn't going to bother me anymore and I'm not going to let her. I want to go, Miley."
"Whoa, the waves are huge!" a guy yelled as he ran past them, his surfboard dragging on the ground beside them.
"Go on and catch some waves," Miley said, kissing Lilly lightly. "I'll be waiting on the beach for you. Who knows, maybe that hot girl showed up."
Lilly laughed, pecking Miley on the cheek and running towards the water, her surfboard held firmly under her arm. Miley watched her for a few moments before she decided to find a place to sit down on the beach. The blonde ran into the waves, throwing her surfboard down on the water and making sure that it was securely fastened to her ankle. She paddled out into the ocean, away from where most of the early morning surfers were gathered. Glancing back at the beach, she saw Miley sitting down a few feet away from the water, intent on the notebook and pencil in her hand.
Suddenly a wave washed over her, knocking her off her surfboard and into the water. She felt the tug of the string attaching her to the surfboard and made her way to towards it, drawing in a gulp of air as she broke the surface.
"Hey, you get a bigger wave than you're used to?" a guy asked as she climbed back on her board. She shot him a nasty look and paddled away from him, aware of the next large wave coming in. To his surprise, she caught the wave, which was much larger than the one that had just knocked her off her board, and rode it out, glancing over to the shore to see Miley staring proudly at her.
"Whoa, that is hot," the guy said as Lilly smirked at him. The smirk was immediately wiped off her face as he paddled towards her. "Um, my name's Mark. Are you… are you doing anything later today? My friend is having a party over at his house and I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go with me."
"After the way you treated me, definitely not," Lilly sneered, watching for the next large wave. There was nothing as far as she could see, but she would keep an eye out. The waves could really sneak up on you.
"Look, I'm sorry, it's just… there are a lot of tourists who come out here and think they can surf, and I thought you were one of them," Mark said, running a hand through his hair. "And I really regret that, now, because you obviously know what you're doing and you made me look like an idiot. I would really like to take the time to get to know you…"
"You would like to get to know me or my body?" Lilly asked. "I really don't hook up with guys like you, you know that? Its just… guys are always looking for one thing, and that's something that I'm not interested. I'm not going to your stupid party, and if you'll excuse me, I would like to get some surfing in because I have someone waiting for me. Someone who actually cares about me and not sex. Thanks, but no thanks."
"Oh, so you already have a boyfriend," Mark said, raising an eyebrow and grinning at Lilly. "I see how it is. What will it take to get you to come to this party tonight? Come on, I'm a lot better than any guy you could manage to come up with."
"Leave me alone," Lilly said on the verge of tears. "Just… get away from me."
"I…" he started.
"She said to go away," someone said, paddling up behind Lilly. She turned around to see Oliver sitting on his surfboard, his skin gleaming with water and sweat. When Lilly looked at him, she realized he had really been working out and had managed to put some muscle on. "Or do I have to make your go away?"
Mark shook his head, muttering something about ripped boyfriends and turning his surfboard around. Lilly and Oliver watched him go, making sure he was far enough away before they started talking. "Are you okay?" Oliver asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine now that he's gone," Lilly said, taking a deep breath. "Thanks for that. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come along."
"Hey, you would have managed," Oliver said with a grin. "I mean, you are Lilly Truscott, and no one messes with Lilly Truscott without getting some serious damage. How about you take a few more waves while I go in and tell Miley not to worry. She looks a little anxious from here. What do you think?"
Lilly turned to look for Miley and found her at the edge of the water, notebook and paper clutched tightly in her right hand and her left hand brought up to her face to shield her eyes from the rising sun. Both Lilly and Oliver gave her the thumbs-up sign, but she continued to stare straight at them. "Oliver, I'll go…" Lilly started.
"No, I was about to get out when I heard you and that Mark guy," Oliver said, holding up a hand. "I'm supposed to meet Kylie in forty-five minutes and I don't want to be late. I'll have some time to talk to Miley for a bit and go home to change before I have to head over to her house to pick her up. Really, Lilly, relax and have some fun. I'll take care of Miley, okay?"
"Thanks Oliver," Lilly said. "Have I told you that you're the best friend ever?"
"What about Miley?" Oliver asked, confused.
"She's my girlfriend," Lilly laughed. "It's just a little bit different. Now go on before you're late for your date. Miley's going to drill you if I know her even half as well as I think I do. Go ahead, I'll be fine. And thanks again."
"No problem," Oliver said, standing up as a wave headed towards them. He rode the wave into the shore, running along the beach as his surfboard came to a sudden stop. Lilly watched as he picked it up, walking over to Miley who was jogging towards him. Oliver started to talk, gesturing wildly with his hands as Miley questioned him, an intense look on her face. When the brunette waved to her, Lilly took it as a sign that everything was okay and she was fine to resume her surfing.
After an hour of surfing, Lilly paddled towards the beach, getting out of the water and heading towards Miley, who was tapping the eraser at the end of her pencil on her notepad. She looked up as Lilly ran towards her and shielded her eyes against the sun. "Hey, how were the waves?" Miley asked, standing up. "Were they as good as they looked from back here?"
"They weren't bad, but they could have been better," Lilly said, hoisting her board up and sticking it upright in the sand. "What did Oliver say?"
"He told me about Mark and pointed him out to me," Miley said darkly, staring down the beach and pointing him out to Lilly. "I've been watching him ever since, but he hasn't even glanced in your direction. Hopefully it'll stay that way."
"Well, I was planning on heading back to your house to take a shower," Lilly said, picking her board up out of the sand and swinging it under her arm. "What do you think? Do you want to stay here for a little while longer or do you want to head back? It's up to you."
"Whatever you want, sweetie," Miley said, kissing her gently.
"Okay, let's head back to your house, then," Lilly said, swinging her free arm around Miley's waist and smiling as she squealed and shimmied away from her. "What, are you afraid of a little water or something?" Lilly asked mischievously. "Come on, don't you love me?"
"Of course I do," Miley said. "I just don't love the fact that you're wet."
Lilly grinned and ran at Miley, dropping her surfboard as she lifted the brunette up. She swung her around laughing as they both fell on the ground, rolling in the sand and landing with Miley on top of Lilly, their faces centimeters away. "I love you," Miley whispered, her lips hovering just above Lilly's. She suddenly jumped to her feet, laughing at the disappointed look on Lilly's face. "Hey, that's what you get for doing that to me this morning."
"Fine, but I'm going to get you," Lilly said, standing up and grabbing her surfboard. "Come on, I want to take a shower and get some of that French toast your dad is making. It smelled really good and I think someone in China could hear my stomach growling right now."
They ran towards Miley's house, Lilly dropping her surfboard on the back deck and running into the house with Miley close behind her. Mr. Stewart turned as they burst into the house, shaking his head as they raced up the stairs towards Miley's room. "I guess I'll get making the French toast!" he yelled over the squealing coming from Miley's room. "And don't you be doing anything that you would be ashamed to do in front of me, you hear me?"
"Yes, Daddy!" Miley yelled as Lilly grabbed a change of clothes from Miley's closet and headed into the bathroom. She quickly pulled her wetsuit off, or as pulled it off as quickly as she could, and stepped into the shower, sighing as she felt the warm water pelt her skin. Suddenly her father's face appeared in her mind and she stumbled back into the wall of the shower, yelping as she fell.
"Hey, Lilly, are you okay in there?" Miley asked from outside the bathroom door. "Do you need me to come in there?"
"I-I'm f-fine," Lilly yelled.
"Okay," Miley said uncertainly. "Well, just call me if you need me."
Lilly quickly stood up, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to banish her father's face from her mind, tears pouring down her cheeks as she realized that it wasn't working. "M-Miley?" she yelled. There was no answer. "M-Miley, p-please, I n-need you."
The door opened and Lilly was suddenly under the impression that her father was there and he was coming to get her. She slid back to the floor of the tub and pulled her knees to her chest, whimpering as she heard someone just outside the shower. The curtain pulled back to reveal Miley standing there with a worried look on her face. When she saw Lilly curled up on the floor of the tub, she climbed in, clothes and all, and gathered the blonde to her chest, rocking her back and forth.
"Tell me what happened," she whispered in Lilly's ear.
"I just g-got into the shower, and h-his f-face popped into m-my m-mind," Lilly stuttered, burying her face in Miley's shoulder.
"It's okay," Miley whispered. "He isn't here, okay? He's never going to touch you again. You're safe, now, remember? You're at my house."
"I know," Lilly whimpered.
"Hey, it's okay to cry," Miley whispered as Lilly tried to hold back her tears. "It's okay to be afraid, I just want you to know that you're safe and that no one is going to touch you if you don't want them to."
Lilly burrowed into Miley, letting her tears flow freely. She clung to Miley's t-shirt, grabbing fistfuls of it and squeezing it as she sobbed. Miley kept her close, whispering in her ear that she was safe and that she didn't need to worry about her father anymore. All of the hot water was gone by the time Lilly had calmed down and Miley swiveled around to turn the water off.
"Do you want me to stay here with you or do you want me to leave and wait outside?" Miley asked.
"Stay here," Lilly whispered. Miley nodded and stood up, her clothes dripping as she got out of the shower. She grabbed an extra towel from the cabinet, drying herself off as best as she could while Lilly got dressed. "Um, do you want me to get dry clothes for you?" Lilly asked.
"Yeah, that'd be great," Miley said, pulling off her t-shirt and wringing it out in the bathtub. Lilly ran out of the bathroom and towards Miley's closet, grabbing her a change of clothes and racing back to the bathroom to find the brunette standing in front of the mirror completely naked.
Lilly had seen Miley naked before, but it only seemed proper to turn away as Miley quickly pulled on her clothes. The brunette pulled a brush out of a drawer and pulled Lilly into her bedroom, sitting down on her bed and patting the space between her legs. "Come on, I'll brush and French braid your hair," Miley said, smiling slightly. Lilly complied and sat down, closing her eyes as the brunette started to gently pull the brush through her hair.
"Are you feeling better, now?" Miley asked after a few moments of silence.
"Yeah," Lilly said. "Thanks, Miley, I don't know what I would do without you."
There was a knock on the door and Mr. Stewart opened it slightly. "Are you two dressed in there?" he asked.
Miley rolled her eyes. "Yes, Dad," she said in an exasperated tone.
He opened the door all the way. "The French toast is ready," he said.
"Okay, thanks Dad," Miley said, starting to braid Lilly's hair. "Just let us do our hair really quick and we'll be down in a minute." Nodding, he left the room, gently closing the door behind him. "That's weird," Miley said.
"What?" Lilly asked.
"He closed the door," Miley said, finishing Lilly's braid. "Whenever I've had any of my boyfriends over or whenever Jackson's had any of his girlfriend's over, he's always made a point to keep all the doors open in the house so if we go anywhere, he can just walk right in and interrupt whatever we're doing. And he's always managed to walk in just when we're about to kiss."
"Let's see if it works this time, then," Lilly whispered, turning around to face Miley. She tucked a strand of the brunette's hair behind her ear and gently stroked her cheek, leaning forward to kiss her. Their lips touched and Miley fell back against her pillows as Lilly fell forward on top of her.
"I think we have our privacy," Miley gasped as they separated.
"Yeah, me too," Lilly whispered, scrambling to get off Miley.
"Could, um, could you brush my hair out?" Miley asked shyly after a moment. Lilly smiled and motioned for Miley to turn around, grabbing the brush from off the bed and gently pulling it through the brunette's hair. She gently French braided it, turning Miley around and kissing her gently before jumping up off the bed.
"I'm hungry, let's go eat," she said excitedly.
"Of course, I should have known that that would be the only thing on your mind," Miley sighed, standing up and heading after Lilly, who was already out the door and running down the hall towards the kitchen. When Miley got into the kitchen, Lilly was sitting at the island, a large plate of French toast in front of her, maple syrup in one hand and a fork in the other.
"These are really good," Lilly said through a mouth full of French toast. "Thanks, Mr. S, I was starving back there."
"Starving, were you?" Miley asked, crossing her arms over chest and raising her eyebrows as Lilly turned to look at her with a guilty expression on her face. "Well, you seemed quite content ten minutes ago, didn't you?"
"I was just complimenting your dad's wonderful cooking," Lilly said nervously as she swallowed. "He deserves to be…"
"Don't bring me into this," Mr. Stewart said with a small smile on his face. "I just made breakfast, I'm not getting into World War Three here, okay? This is between you and Miley and I'm going to respect your guys' relationship."
"I am so going to remember that," Lilly muttered as she took another bite of her French toast.
"Daddy, can Lilly come with me to Tennessee next Friday?" Miley asked.
"Yeah, I suppose," Mr. Stewart said, turning towards the frying pan and dropping anther four pieces of French toast on it to be cooked. "I'm going to have to call the school and arrange for her to be absent for three weeks, but I think I can do it. They didn't really mind you taking off for three weeks, but that's probably because it was Shannon who was on the phone and she has this hug crush on me…"
"Okay, Dad, no offense, but I don't really care," Miley said, cutting him off. "I just wanted to know if Lilly could come with me. You're going to have to call the airport and get another ticket for the flight I'm taking and make sure Lilly is sitting next to me."
"I'll do that as soon as I clean up after breakfast," Mr. Stewart said, flipping over the French toast.
"Thanks, Daddy," Miley said, giving him a big hug and sitting down next to Lilly. "This is going to be so much fun, I can't wait for you to meet all my relatives. Hopefully Luanne won't be around that much, I'm crossing my fingers…"
"She's changed a lot," Mr. Stewart said, putting another four pieces of French toast on the plate in front of Lilly. "Your grandmother called yesterday to make sure you were still coming and she said Luanne was really looking forward to you coming. She said that she even went shopping and got you something to try to make up for everything that she did to you when she came over here."
"Nothing she could ever buy me would ever make up for everything she's done for me," Miley said angrily. "If she even thinks…"
He turned to her. "I know that she did a lot of stuff to you when you were younger, but I really do think you should give her another chance," he said, running a hand through his hair. "I'm not saying that you have to be best friends with her or anything, but at least listen to what she has to say."
"Fine, but I'm not hanging out with her at all," Miley said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm not going to forget all that stuff she did to me. Did I tell you about the time she pushed me into the well by Grandma's house? She told me that there was a big goldfish in there and I leaned over to look for it, then suddenly I was falling forward and I landed in the well. I broke my leg and they had to lower the bucket to pull me out. She didn't even get in trouble because she ran to tell everyone!"
"She said she apologized," Mr. Stewart said, turning back to the stove.
"Well, she lied," Miley said.
"You're still upset about that?" Lilly asked incredulously.
"I broke my leg!" Miley exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. "I wasn't able to do the summer play at the church because I was on crutches for three months! And Luanne got the part!"
"Oh, well you left that part out," Lilly said.
"That reminds me, I have to call Oliver," Miley said, snapping her fingers. "And he's on his date with Kylie right now, so that means I'm gonna have to wait."
"Well, let's go wait in front of the TV," Lilly said, standing up and grabbing Miley's arm as she proceeded to drag her out of the kitchen and into the living room. "Your dad said that he picked up that new movie with Orlando Bloom and I really want to watch it. The critics gave it five stars and he's supposed to have a really hot… I mean, he's supposed to play his part really well."
"Nice save," Miley said, sitting down on the couch as Lilly put the movie in, turned on the TV, and grabbed the remote.
"Oh, and did I tell you that it's supposed to be really scary," Lilly said with a grin as she sat down next to Miley. "I know how much you love scary movies."
"I hate scary movies!" Miley said, close to tears. "You know I have nightmares…"
"Except for when I hold you," Lilly whispered, wrapping her arms around Miley's waist and pulling her onto her lap. "And during the scary parts, we can…"
"Cover each other's eyes," Mr. Stewart said, walking up behind them.
"I was going to say make out," Lilly whispered in Miley's ear, making the brunette giggle. "But whatever floats your boat, Mr. Stewart," she said brightly, turning to face Miley's dad. "Trust me, your daughter will be unable to see a single thing on that screen during the scary parts."
Mr. Stewart looked at Lilly warily and nodded slowly, walking away and muttering to himself. Lilly pressed the play button on the remote and grinned as Miley whimpered, covering her eyes as the movie started.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter: AshleyAlien1408, musicisinmysoul, IkarusCazadores, and Truscott. I'll try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, but until then, REVIEW!!!!
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