I do not own Hannah Montana. This fanfiction does not represent the actors and actresses in the television show.

Neither Miley nor Lilly had moved for several moments. Lilly finally sighed, frustrated. She knew Miley wouldn't remove her clothing first. First off, she was still shaken up, and secondly, she was never the person to do the initiating when it something that wasn't her idea.

Lilly stood up and turned around. "Okay, I'm going to take my clothes off now," If she had still been facing Miley, Miley would have seen the deep crimson that Lilly's face turned.

"O-oh!" Miley sat up and turned around as well, "I-I will too,"

Lilly swallowed and began lifting her shirt off. She could hear Miley behind her, doing the same. "P…Put you're clothes next to the fire, but not too close, okay? I won't turn around until you're ready,"

"O-okay,"

Lilly told herself she needed to calm down, and took a deep breath.

Across the fire, Miley was wondering what she was getting so flustered about. It was Lilly. It was just Lilly. Why was she so embarrassed and so anxious? She took a deep breath as well as she finished removing her shit, and was suddenly stricken by an uncontrollable curiosity. She peered over her shoulder at Lilly, and her eyes rested on Lilly's bare back. For some reason, she couldn't help but stare at Lilly's curves, and her smooth skin. A cut on Lilly's shoulder blade caught her eye.

"Lil, you've got another cut," She frowned, not remembering they were both naked.

Lilly turned to face Miley, surprised by her voice, and Miley quickly remembered as she saw Lilly's breasts.

"O-oh. R-right… sorry," Miley turned back around, blushing.

Lilly laughed quietly, and removed her skirt and leggings. "It's fine, Miles," She sat naked, feeling incredibly vulnerable, and waited for Miley to say she was finished.

Miley removed her bottoms and took one last deep breath. "Okay. I'm going to turn around and put my clothes by the fire," She announced. She saw Lilly nod.

She, as well, felt vulnerable and embarrassed, and anxiously set her clothes by the fire to dry. She shivered in the cold, and tried to get as close to the fire as she could. "Okay," She said, letting Lilly know she was done.

Lilly slowly turned around, using all the will power she had to keep her eyes on Miley's face. She nodded, and then started placing her own clothes around the flame. After she was done, she looked back up at Miley, who had been watching her. Miley looked away, blushing, and Lilly blushed as well, wondering if Miely had been watching her the entire time.

"Okay," Lilly stood after an awkward silence. Both girls were shivering, "It's really cold… so… let's figure this out,"

Miley nodded and felt her heartbeat quicken. She watched Lilly walk closer to her. The flame of the fire didn't provide a great deal of light, but she was able to see the details of Lilly's body. She swallowed hard, and held her breath, as Lilly sat down behind her. She felt Lilly's arms wrap around her from behind, and soon she could feel Lilly's body against her back; her neck, her breast, her stomach. Miley welcomed the sudden warmth Lilly brought, and leaned back into her.

It wasn't enough to cover every part of their bodies, but it was definitely warmer. "Um… okay, let's lay down and get our legs together," Lilly suggested timidly. Miley was too busy trying to figure out why her heart was beating so fast to realize that Lilly's was pounding in her chest. She nodded, and Lilly and she slowly shifted to lie on their sides.

Miley was considerably warmer with Lilly wrapped around her, and lying close to the fire, but she could still feel Lilly trembling.

"Hey… Lil? Are you still cold?"

Lilly hesitated. "No, I'm fine. Are you still cold?"

Miley suspected Lilly was lying, but she decided not to push the matter. "No, I'm a lot warmer," She felt Lilly pull her closer, and could tell that she was smiling.

"Good,"

Miley smiled too, though, she couldn't figure out why.

"You can go to sleep if you want," Lilly offered, "I'll watch the clothes and make sure they don't catch on fire. I can wake you up when they're dry,"

Miley didn't want to fall asleep and leave Lilly alone with nothing to do, but her exhaustion suddenly made itself known. She nodded and nuzzled closer to Lilly, closing her eyes.

Soon she fell asleep.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Miley," Lilly whispered, "Hey Miles, wake up,"

Miley's eyes fluttered open and she grumbled groggily. She was slightly disoriented, and had forgotten where she was. She did notice, however, the fact that she was very warm and comfortable.

Miley looked around the shelter and at the flame of the fire. Then, her eyes rested on Lilly. She suddenly noticed that she was in Lilly's arms, their stomach's and chests pressed against each other. Her face turned an amazing shade of red and she sat up quickly, although she was unable to forget the feeling of Lilly's body pressed against hers.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"

Lilly laughed and sat up too, "It's fine. You started shiver in your sleep and just rearranged yourself to get warmer," Lilly lowered her head and blushed as well, "I didn't want to wake you… and, it's not like I had a problem with it, so I just… tried to make you as comfortable as possible,"

Miley nodded, still flustered, "Th-thanks," she looked outside at the sky. It was still raining, but a dull light was coming through the clouds. "It looks like the sun's rising,"

"Yeah… hopefully the rain will clear up and we can try to find a way back…" Lilly reached over to grab Miley's clothes and hand them to her. "Here, you're clothes are dry. You can put them on,"

Miley took the clothes from Lilly, and watched Lilly grab her own and shyly start to put them on. She wondered why she was slightly saddened by the situation, and then embarrassed by her thought, she started to put her clothes on too.

Once both of the girls were dressed, Lilly sat up and added some wood to the fire. Miley continued to watch her as she carefully arranged the pieces of wood in the flame so that they would catch, and not smother the fire. When she was done, she sat back down and stared at the flame for a long while.

"Hey… Lil?" Miley spoke.

Lilly lifted her gaze from the flame and looked at Miley. "Yeah? What is it?"

Miley hesitated and furrowed her brow. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course you can,"

Miley hesitated again, seeming unsure of herself. "Why did you jump in after me?"

Lilly blinked, not sure how to answer, or even explain. She lowered her gaze back to the flame in thought, leaving Miley anxiously waiting for her response.

"Well…" She finally answered, "I… didn't want to lose you. I couldn't lose you,"

There was a long silence, and then Miley spoke; her voice trembling with tears. "It's just… I… I keep asking myself… "Would I have done the same thing for Lilly?" And I can't come up with an answer. I playing it in my head, and all I can see me doing is screaming and falling apart… You... you were just so brave… you risked your life for me without a second thought… and… I think… I would have been too terrified to do anything,"

Lilly didn't like seeing Miley in so much pain. She edged over to her and put her arm around her, pulling her closer. Miley buried her face on Lilly's should and continued to cry. "If you had been the one to fall in, and I didn't jump in after you, you would have been gone… and… I think that I never would have been the same… I don't think I'd ever get over it… I don't know what I'd do without you… I can't even imagine you not being there… You're the only one who always been there…" She wrapped her arms around Lilly and squeezed her tightly, collapsing into sobs.

"Hey, now," Lilly smiled softly, bringing her had up to gently stroke Miley's hair, "Stop trying to kill me off in that head of yours. I'm alive, and so are you, and that's enough to make me the happiest girl stranded in the middle of Colorado,"

Miley laughed softly through her tears and leaned into Lilly more. Her tears lightened, and she sat up to look at Lilly. "Don't ever go anywhere, okay?" She sniffled.

"You got it," Lilly smiled, and Miley felt a wonderful sense of relief and comfort. She lowered herself back down into Lilly's arms; she had grown very fond of being in that place. She wondered if that was weird, but she didn't really care. It just felt so natural, and she could stay there for hours without becoming uncomfortable.

While Lilly was holding Miley in her arms, Lilly was thoroughly confused about how she was supposed to feel. Miley's words made her feel wonderful but sad all at once. She loved hearing Miley say that she was important, but at the same time, she was saddened by the thought that it may not be in the way she wanted Miley to need her. She sighed, and decided that the best thing to do was just stay in the moment, and treasure the feeling of Miley in her arms. She pulled her in closer, and Miley seemed comfortable with it.

Miley fell asleep again. She was surprised how exhausting emotions could be. Once again, she was awoken by the sound of Lilly's voice.

"Mmm.. What is it, Lil?" She asked groggily as she sat up.

Lilly stood up and then helped Miley to stand. "It's stopped raining. We should start trying to find our way back,"

Miley nodded, and gripped on to Lilly's hand, giving the message that she didn't want to let go. Lilly smiled at this notion.

"If we start heading back upstream, we should have more luck," She started walking, holding Miley's hand in hers.

Miley followed behind her, timidly. She felt safe. She felt protected. She felt safe and protected; with Lilly.