I do not own Hannah Montana.
Robbie burst through the front door of the Stewart house, carrying their luggage behind them.
"Woo-ee!" Robbie Ray hollered, "Sure is good to be home, ain't it, Jackson?"
Jackson seemed to be struggling with his attempts to wheel his luggage, along with Miley's and Lilly's, into the house.
"Yeah. Right. Sure, pop," He grunted, "Ya mind givin' me a hand here?"
Robbie Ray shook his head and smiled, "Aw, now, son, you know if I did that, I'd probably pull somethin'. You on the other hand still have those young, healthy muscles of yours. I'm sure a few suitcases ain't gonna kill ya,"
Jackson groaned as he hoisted one of the suitcases up. Immediately, one of the other ones fell over. "You gotta be kidding me! You bench twice the weight that I do!"
"Think of it as a lesson, son," Robbie Ray walked over and patted Jackson firmly on the shoulder, causing the other suitcases to topple over. "Next time you want help with something, don't put your feet up on the car dashboard when I ask you not to,"
"Pleaaasee?" Jackson begged, crawling onto his knees and clasping his head together in a pleading motion, "I'll listen next time! Honest, I will!"
Robbie Ray shook his head, getting far too much enjoyment out of the situation. "Nope. Better luck next time. Now I'm gonna go on up and jump in the shower. Go on and take those bag upstairs," He jogged up the staircase before Jackson could retort. Jackson groaned, and lifted up the suitcases, slowing moving towards the stairs and making his way up.
Several moments after Jackson disappeared up the stairs, Miley and Lilly walked through the door. Lilly's ribs were in pain and causing her to have trouble walking. Miley helped her from the car and slowly walk up the porch steps. When they made it into the living room, Miley gently lowered the wincing Lilly down onto the couch.
"You feeling okay, hon?" Miley sat next to Lilly and brushed one of Lilly's golden locks out of her face ad behind her ear.
Lilly smiled weakly, unable to hide her pain and discomfort in her expression, and from the way she rigidly sat. "Not really," She laughed.
Miley frowned, and, after a quick glance towards the stairs to make sure no one was coming down, shy kissed the corner of Lilly's mouth. Lilly smiled, a little more genuinely.
"Wait here, and I'll go grab your painkillers from your suitcase, okay?" Miley said as she stood up.
Lilly nodded at Miley, and gave her hand a squeeze. Miley hesitated before leaving, stopping to give Lilly a quick kiss on the forehead.
Once Lilly was alone downstairs, she tried to take a deep breath. Before she cold fully exhale, a sharp pain shot through her ribs. She grunted, and exhaled slowly, discovering that deep breath's were nowhere near in her future. Closing her eyes, Lilly went back to her shallow steady breathing. She had nearly dozed off when she heard Miley descending down the stairs and walk back over to the couch.
"Here, Lil," Lilly opened her eyes and saw Miley smiling down at her, holding out the prescription bottle for Lilly to take. "I'll get you some water,"
"Thanks, Miles," Lilly smiled sweetly and took the bottle from Miley. Miley left and went to the kitchen, shortly returning with a glass of water. Lilly took the glass from her and struggled to open the bottle.
Miley smiled and offered her hand to help Lilly open it. "How many?" She asked, emptying a few pills into the palm of her hand.
Lilly frowned, puzzled, "Uhh, I'm not sure,"
Miley laughed and turned the bottle to read the label. "Two ever 6-12 hours, or as needed,"
"Great," Lilly groaned. Miley handed Lilly two pills, which Lilly distributed to her mouth and chased down with a gulp of water. When she finished swallowing with slight difficulty, Lilly stuck her tongue out and coughed. "I hate taking pills,"
Miley sat down next to Lilly and kissed her cheek, nuzzling her nose against Lilly's ear. "It'll get easier, don't worry,"
Lilly sighed, and relaxed, completely melting from the sensation of Miley's kiss.
Miley jumped back at the sound of someone coming down the stairs.
"Hey girls!" Robbie Ray appeared, wrapped in his light blue bathrobe with a towel draped over his wet hair. "You glad to be home?"
"Yeah," Lilly answered glumly, missing Miley's close presence.
Miley nodded nervously in agreement.
"Boy, I'll tell you what, there ain't nothing like the stream of your own shower head!" He walked into the living room and sat down next to Miley. "Now, Lilly, how do you want to go about tellin' your mother what happened?"
Lilly stirred uncomfortably in her seat, trying to position herself so she wouldn't hurt her ribs. Finding that it wasn't very probable, she sighed and gave up. "Well, I was thinking we could… wait on that. I told her I'd be back on Friday, and that's still a day off…"
"Okay, so, once tomorrow rolls around and you show up on the doorstep with broken ribs and painkillers, then what?"
"Uh…" Lilly obviously hadn't thought that far, "I was thinking maybe I could just… not tell her until after they're healed?"
Robbie Ray frowned at her, scolding her. "You know you can't do that,"
"Yeah I know," Lilly sighed, "I'll tell her I tripped and fell when I was getting out of the raft or something, and that we were out of cell phone range so I couldn't call her,"
"Well, that's close enough to the truth," Robbie Ray nodded approvingly, "I guess you can't tell her Lola jumped after Hannah when she fell off a ledge,"
Miley flinched guiltily at her father's reminder. Lilly frowned and reached over to give her hand a squeeze.
Robbie Ray stood up from the couch, "Well, Miles, you had a concert planned for tomorrow. You think you're still up for it or do you wanna cancel?"
Miley sighed, frustrated. "No. I hate to do that to all the fans after they've bought their tickets…" She was starting to regret talking her father into letting her go on the trip to Colorado more and more. She was amazed at how much she went out of her way just to go with Zack; such as returning on the day of her next concert.
"What about you, Lil?" Robbie Ray asked, directing his attention to Lilly. "You want to sit this one out?"
"No way! I'm not missing out on a chance to see Miley perform!" Lilly looked over at Miley and smiled, causing Miley to blush and smile back.
Robbie Ray looked wary, "Well, alright, it's your decision. If your ribs start hurting let me know right away, okay? The last thing we need is you hurtin' worse,"
Lilly nodded. "Yeah, I will,"
"I'm guessin' you'll wait 'til after the concert to go home and face your mother?"
"That would be correct," Lilly laughed awkwardly.
"And you're planning on staying here until then?"
"If that's okay…"
Robbie Ray sighed and smiled warmly. "You know you're always welcome,"
Lilly sighed, relieved. "Thanks, Mr. S."
"Well I'm goin' on up and getting' some sleep. I bet you to are pretty wiped out too, so don't stay up too late," Robbie Ray leaned over to kiss each of the girls on the forehead.
"'Night, Daddy," Miley smiled up at him tiredly, suppressing a yawn
"G'night, girls," Robby Ray called after them as he walked away and disappeared up the stairs.
A brief silence followed where neither of them moved.
"Uh… Miles?" Lilly finally spoke.
Miley turned her head to look at Lilly. "Yeah?"
"Your dad… just kissed me on the forehead,"
Miley laughed and scooted closer to Lilly, resting her head on Lilly's shoulder. "I know. He's been acting a little weird,"
Lilly reached for Miley's hand and grasped it tightly, intertwining their fingers with one another. After a long, comfortable silence, Miley heard Lilly yawn.
"You wanna go upstairs and go to bed?" Miley lifted her head and asked.
Lilly moaned and sighed heavily. "Yeah… I dunno… if it's the meds, or what, but I'm totally… totally crashin',"
Miley laughed at Lilly's drowsy state and stood up from the couch, offering her hand to help Lilly up. "Alright, well let's get you upstairs then,"
Lilly mumbled half coherently and fumbled forwards into Miley's arms. Miley smiled and began her struggle to help Lilly up the stairs and into bed, where she cuddled close to Lilly's side, being extra careful not to go near her wounded ribs.
Lilly had a smile on her lips as she drifted off to sleep.
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Miley woke up the next morning to find Lilly sitting up in bed, holding her ribs tenderly. She sat up and edged closer to Lilly.
"What's wrong, Lil? Do your ribs hurt?"
Lilly winced and smiled weakly at Miley. "Y-yeah. Just a bit. The meds probably wore off after I fell asleep,"
Miley frowned at the thought that Lilly had been woken up in the middle of the night in pain.
"Hold on, let me get your pills," Miley fumbled clumsily out of bed and over to the nightstand where Lilly's prescription bottle sat. She twisted open the cap and poured two pills into her hand and handed them to Lilly. She then reached over and lifted the glass of water from the nightstand and gave it to Lilly as well. She watched as Lilly sighed and popped the pills into her mouth and chased it down with a gulp of water.
"Lil, you could have gotten up and got your pills at any time…" Miley frowned.
Lilly took another sip of water, trying to wash the pills down her throat. "I know… it's just, I don't really like taking them. They make me loopy,"
Miley sighed and scooted over to Lilly and kissed her cheek. "You're so stubborn,"
Lilly smiled, reaching her hand to take Miley's arm, and returned Miley's kiss, "Yeah, I know,"
"You want to wait for it to kick in or go get some breakfast?" Miley asked timidly, blushing happily from Lilly's kiss.
"Actually…" Lilly cleared her throat, "I'm kind of starving,"
Miley's eyes widened, her face taking on an expression of horror. "Oh no,"
"What?" Lilly asked, panicked by Miley's sudden change, "What is it?"
Miley's face was nearly white, "You're not supposed to take these pills on an empty stomach,"
Lilly laughed and cuddled close to Miley. "It's fine, Miles. I gotta stomach of steel, remember?"
Miley seemed apprehensive, but there was nothing she could do about it now. She sighed and stood up out of bed, immediately turning to help Lilly stand.
"Alright, well let's get some food in you,"
Lilly grinned, "Sounds good to me,"
After descending down the stairs and partaking in a breakfast of pancakes, courtesy of Miley, the girls sat down on the couch in the living room. Miley levitated close to Lilly, linking arms with her and resting her head in the crook of Lilly's neck. She closed her eyes and relaxed; a faint, satisfied smile on her face.
After a few minutes, Lilly stirred and cleared her throat.
"Hey, Miley?"
Miley opened her eyes and looked up at Lilly. "Yeah?"
Lilly looked uncomfortable, a hot sweat appearing on her forehead.
"I think I'm gonna be sick…"
Miley immediately sat up and reached to help Lilly off the couch.
"Come on," She was trying not to sound panicked, "Let's get to the bathroom,"
She got Lilly up and helped her hurry to the bathroom just in time. Lilly's face was white and her breathing was unsteady. As soon as they entered the bathroom, Lilly knelt down over the toilet bowel. She dry heaved several times, and then finally vomited. After several drawn out contractions in which Lilly continued to vomit, she panted, warm tears dripping from her eyes into the toilet, and sat back, writhing in pain.
Miley, who had shut the door behind them and watched helplessly knelt down at Lilly's side.
"Lilly, are you okay?" Her concern was obvious from the tremor in her voice.
Lilly coughed and winced in pain. "That… really… hurt my ribs," She gasped, trying not to cause her ribs any more pain.
"Oh, god, Lil, I'm so sorry…"
"It's not your fault, Miley…" Lilly struggled to sit up. "We just know not to take meds on an empty stomach,"
Miley helped Lilly stand, still feeling guilty.
Lilly smiled reassuringly at Miley, trying to lighten her mood. "I'd give you a kiss but that would be totally gross for you,"
Miley blinked away the tears that were trying to come out and leaned over to kiss Lilly's cheek. "You can do it later,"
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Miley made sure Lilly took it slow for the next couple hours. They relaxed, and took turns taking showers, each girl wondering about the other when the other was in the shower. The count down for the Hannah concert was closing in.
"You sure you're feeling well enough to go?" Miley asked as she adjusted her blonde wig on her head.
Lilly shot her a scolding glance as she carefully put on a purple Lola jacket over her lime green t-shirt. (She tried not to show any signs of pain, but the tight clothing was proving to be hard on her ribs)
"Miles, I already told you. I'm not missing seeing you perform. How would Hannah ever be able to sing if Lola wasn't there to support her?"
Miley laughed at Lilly's comment, and then wondered to herself just how accurate that was. She decided not to read too deeply into it; she knew Lilly was being cute and wasn't completely serious, but still, it made Miley question if she would be able to perform without Lilly there.
There was a knock on the door. "You girls almost ready?" Robbie Ray hollered.
"Yeah, Daddy, we're ready," Miley called back to him. She turned to Lilly. "You ready?"
Lilly cringed from a sudden sharp pain that briefly made itself apparent. But brushed it off. "Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go," She smiled.
The girls exited the room and walked downstairs, outside, and into the car. Robbie Ray was already in the driver's seat of the idling car.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road!" He backed the car out of the driveway.
As they neared the concert stadium, they all noticed an unusual gathering of people.
"Daddy? What's going on?" Miley asked, gazing curiously out the window. "They look… angry…"
Robbie Ray frowned and took his food off the gas pedal to slow down around the crowd. "I dunno, Miles… It almost looks like a protest,"
"Look, they have signs and everything… What do they say?" Lilly squinted at one of the signs. Her eyes widened as she read what it said.
"What?!" Mile exclaimed, obviously reading the same sign Lilly had. "What is that supposed to mean?! 'Lose the Lola'?!"
Lilly was silent as Miley continued reading more signs out loud, the anger in her voice rising with each one. " 'Lola = Bad'?! 'Say no to Lola'?! 'Lola is a Low-slut'?! That one doesn't even make sense! What is going on here?!"
Robbie Ray was busy thanking his lucky stars that he drove them there in their car instead of riding in the limo. They coasted by the crowd, and to the back entrance of the stadium.
Miley stormed out of the car and straight to backstage to where the stage manager was, despite her father calling after her, telling her to wait.
"Frank! What the heck is all this about? Why are there people outside boycotting Lola?"
Frank, the stage manager, blinked and stared at her. "You mean you haven't heard? Haven't you seen it on TV?"
"Seen what?!"
Frank sighed and led Miley over to the backstage television in the greenroom. Robbie Ray and Lilly caught up with them as they entered. Frank clicked on the television. It was already on the Entertainment channel.
"Hannah Montana's close friend and sidekick was rumored to be addicted to cocaine and other substances earlier today. Zack Jefferson revealed how he reportedly caught Lola doing drugs in her hotel room on a rafting trip in Colorado he took Hannah and Lola on."
Everyone's mouth dropped open as the television screen changed to an earlier interview with Zack sitting smugly in a chair, faking a concerned voice. "I confronted Hannah about it, but she denied that Lola would ever do anything like that… You may know Hannah and I had been dating, but in the end, she was in denial about Lola, and defended her. She chose Lola over me. More than anything, I'm just concerned for Hannah. I hope Lola doesn't push her habits onto her,"
Miley clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. "That son of a bitch," She seethed. Lilly remained silent and withdrawn.
The television clip ended and the reporter came back on. "Zack's longtime friend Brad was there to witness this account as well. When asked about the event, he—"
Robbie Ray had obtained the remote and turned the TV off. Miley was still seething in her anger, tears stinging her eyes.
"He has gone too far!"
"Personally, I don't believe it. The guy's full of baloney. I've worked with you girls long enough to know that's a load of bull," Frank frowned, picking up his clipboard from the table. "He's tryin' to get his 15 minutes of fame any way he can. Unfortunately, common folk eat this stuff up. It won't last forever. You can prove it wrong and the world'll go on. Just a major pain in the ass, that kid caused, if you ask me,"
Lilly reached over and took Miley's hand, in attempt to calm her down. Miley glanced over at Lilly and saw Lilly's timid, sad face. Her anger melted, and she suddenly just wanted to cry.
"It'll be okay," Lilly whispered, "It doesn't matter what everyone thinks…" Secretly, Lilly was crushed, but more than anything, she was relieved that Hannah's career hadn't been attacked. She might've had to break Zack's face if her had gone after Hannah. Lilly was content with taking the fall if it saved Miley.
Miley frowned, still struggling with the whole situation. "I… guess…"
"Come on," Lilly smiled warmly at Miley and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "You got a show to do; and I know better than anyone else that you shine your brightest when you're singing,"
Miley smiled at Lilly's comforting words, but she was beginning to think Lilly was wrong. Miley thought she was beginning to shine brightest when Lilly was at her side.
Despite all the Lola protesters in the crowd, Miley went on stage when the concert began and did her best to smile and ignore all the signs, and sing her heart out; for Lilly. Each sign made her heart ache. She could never "Lose Lola". Not now. Not again.
Lilly watched proudly from backstage as Miley performed, brushing aside the discomfort in her ribs. Miley took her mind off of it better than any pill could. She watched the whole time, never taking her eyes off of Lilly. Her adoration for Miley was obvious to anyone backstage; even Robbie Ray.
Soon, the concert was over, and Miley bid the crowd goodnight, avoiding all the reporters hounding her for comments on Zack's claim about Lola. Somehow, they made their way back to the car.
"Phew," Miley slumped into the back seat beside Lilly.
"You were wonderful," Lilly chimed cheerfully, "As always,"
Miley smiled at Lilly, edging closer, but staying a safe distance away with her father in the car. Robbie Ray started the car and pulled out of the concert stadium's parking lot, cautiously passing by the hoards of people.
As they entered onto the freeway and drove through the darkness of the city's night, Miley became bold and pressed up against Lilly, closing her eyes and resting against Lilly's arm. She felt safe in the darkness of the car with Lilly. It felt like their own blanket of security.
Lilly smiled down at Miley and began to stroke her forearm gently. She knew how exhausted Miley was, and was happy that Miley was comfortable enough to relax and close her eyes. She glanced up towards the front seat at Robbie Ray. He was driving, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Lilly slowly leaned down and softly pressed her lips against the top of Miley's head. Satisfied, she laid back and shut her eyes as well.
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Zack flipped his cell phone shut and turned to Brad, who was driving.
"You're all set up for an interview tomorrow morning. You got the story straight?"
Brad nodded, smirking mischievously to himself. "Yup. I got it down,"
"Good," Brad grinned and sat back in his seat. "Time to get this party started,"