"Miley! Lilly! I'm glad you could come over!" Lola Ryan quickly let her friends into the Montana mansion.
"We came over as fast as we could," Lilly said. "How is she?"
Lola sighed, "Hannah has been up all night. She just keeps crying, and when she runs out of tears, she gets mad and starts yelling. And then when she gets tired of screaming, she turns dead silent and depressed. Then the whole cycle starts over again."
"Oh my god, that's terrible!" Miley said.
"Yeah," Lola agreed. "The break-up really got to Hannah. How is Nick?"
"We sent Oliver to go see him," Lilly explained. "But from what I've heard, Nick isn't doing too hot either."
Lola shook her head, "I can't see how the split was 'for the best' if they're both so miserable."
"Actually," Miley said, "I think they were both even more miserable before."
The three girls started walking upstairs. Hannah wasn't making any noise which meant she was probably at the silent/depressed part of the cycle right now.
"How did this happen?" Lola asked. "I thought Hannah and Nick were just peachy together, but then BAM! they break up."
Miley shrugged, "I'm guessing a lot happened behind the scenes that we don't know about."
Suddenly, Hannah's weak voice could be heard, "Miley?" she croaked.
"Yeah?" Miley called back.
"Can you come in here? I want to talk to you," Hannah's voice was all dry and raspy, worn out from all the crying and shouting.
Lilly and Lola started walking away, "We'll be downstairs if you need us."
Miley walked into the room and saw Hannah sitting in the middle of her bed with her arms wrapped around her knees. Her eyes were just as Miley suspected: red and puffy. Slowly, Miley went over and sat down beside Hannah and put a gentle arm around her friend.
"Hey Hannah, how are you feeling?"
"I would say I've felt worse…but I think this is the worst I've ever felt before."
"Oh Hannah," Miley gave her shoulders a little squeeze. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Hannah looked up and stared into Miley's eyes for a moment before she looked away again. "Where do I start?"
"Let's start at the beginning, a very good place to start," Miley sang (yeah Sound of Music!). That made Hannah smile a little.
"Let's see…um, I think it started last spring," Hannah said.
"What started?"
"The whole falling-out-of-love thing."
"Okay, continue."
"So it was March, I think. It was at that huge party Jake threw, you remember? Well, when I was there I saw how all the couples danced together. Or if they weren't dancing, they were off to the side making out or something. My point is, all the couples were close to each other and the way they looked at each other and held each other…it's like you could physically see the love. Kind of like when you and Jake are together.
"And then I noticed how Nick and I weren't doing that. We were sitting side by side on the couch just talking. And that's when I realized that I really didn't love Nick anymore. I only liked him as a friend.
"I was just so caught up in my fantasy, you know? It's every person's dream to fall in love. I thought I had mine. But I guess I thought wrong."
Miley tried to think of a way to comfort her friend, but she couldn't think of any, so she stayed quiet and listened to what Hannah had to say.
"I wanted to love Nick. And I wanted to him to love me. What a childish thing to want!"
Miley rubbed Hannah's shoulders, "Hey now, it's okay. You shouldn't feel guilty for loving someone."
"Really?" Hannah looked at Miley. "Because Nick confessed to me…he was in love with y-this other girl."
"What?!"
"Yeah, but I pretty much figured it out myself. The way he looked at her, the way he got jealous when he saw her with her boyfriend. Nick was head-over-heels in love with the wrong girl."
"Wait," Miley said, "I'm confused. If you weren't in love with Nick, and Nick wasn't in love with you…why didn't you guys break up back in March?"
Hannah sighed, "Because we're selfish pigs, that's why. If I was smart and had dumped him back then, I might not be in this mess right now. I didn't realize holding onto him would cause me so much pain in the end."
"But I still don't get it. How were you guys still in a relationship if you both only thought of each other as friends?"
"Well we thought of each other as just friends, but out physical relationship wasn't exactly platonic."
"...so you were like friends with benefits?"
"I guess," Hannah got out of bed and started pacing. "I was addicted to his touch, even if I wasn't addicted to him. I had never felt this way before. I wanted him to kiss me and hold me forever. And Nick, well, he needed some love too. That other girl was killing him on the inside. We were both each other's support system."
"Then why did you break up now?" Miley asked.
Hannah stopped pacing and said, "Because I realized that all this pretend-love was only tearing my heart apart. When Nick would look me in the eyes but I knew that he was thinking about y-that other girl, it was like a punch in the stomach. He made me feel whole when he was with me, but after he left, it's like he took a chunk of me with him. I was slowly becoming…nothing."
"You did the right thing," Miley said.
"I had to let him go," Hannah nodded. "It's not like he's ever going to have a chance with y-that girl I mean, but I had to set him free anyways."
"Why do you keep adding the 'y' in front of 'that girl'?" Miley asked.
"Uh..."
"Who is this girl Nick's in love with anyways?"
"Uh…" Hannah stumbled for words. "I don't think I'm at the liberty to say."
Miley gave Hannah a weird look, but decided to move on. "Are you okay now?"
Hannah wiped away the last of the stray tears and smiled, "Yeah, I think so."
"Let's do something, you, me, Lilly, and Lola. Just us girls." Miley suddenly perked up. "Do you want to go ice skating?"
Hannah laughed, "That's random. But sure."
Lilly and Lola walked down the stairs while Miley went into Hannah's room. They sat down on the couch.
"Do you think Hannah and Nick will be okay?" Lola asked.
"I'm sure they'll be fine," Lilly said. "I don't know about their relationship though."
"That's too bad."
"Yeah."
Lola decided to change the depressing subject, "So, what's up with your life?"
Lilly groaned and leaned her head back, "Oh, don't get me started!"
That got Lola intrigued, "What?"
"I just found out Oliver, Jackson, and Joe are all in love with me," Lilly mumbled.
"WHAT?"
"Uggggh."
"Lilly! Tell me!"
"So I accidentally found out my best friend, my best friend's brother, and my other best friend's brother have all liked me for a while. If that doesn't freak a girl out I don't know what does."
"Oh my god!"
"Yeah…and worst part is that I don't like any of them."
"This is like a soap opera."
"I'll say. What do you think I should do, Lola?"
Lola shrugged, "Maybe it's just a phase. Maybe all three guys will realize that you don't feel the same and they'll stop pursuing you."
"I really hope so. Joe, Jackson, and Oliver are all like brothers to me. You don't date your brother. That's icky. It would be like you dating Jake."
Lola imagined herself dating her brother, "AAAACH! That is icky!"
"Lilly, Lola!" Miley suddenly appeared on the stair and was dragging Hannah by the wrist, "Come on, we're going ice skating!"
"Come on, Nick," Oliver said, "You've got to stop moping."
Nick just growled at him.
"Nick, it's just one girl. I've been rejected tons of times and I'm fine!" Oliver tried to cheer his friend up.
"Just one girl?! Hannah is not just one girl. She was something else."
"But you're not even in love with Hannah! You love M—"
"I know, okay! Stop reminding me!" Nick sat down on the floor and banged his head against the wall.
Oliver kept going, "So why are you so upset? Did you really think Hannah was just going to stick with you when she knew you didn't love her anymore?"
"But I did love Hannah. Only it was just as a friend. And now I've lost one of my best friends. That's why I'm so upset."
"You and Hannah can still be friends," Oliver suggested.
Nick turned and glared at him, "Ha, that's funny."
The two were quiet for a while. Nick grabbed his guitar and started strumming, just to get his mind off of things, "Tell me about your problems, Oliver. Because I'm sick of listening to mine."
"My problems?" Oliver laughed. "Like the fact that I'm in competition with you and Miley's brothers for Lilly?"
Nick smiled half-heartedly, "That was pretty funny last night."
"To you, maybe! When we left last night, Joe decided to make it like a battle. He was all 'No hurt feelings and may the best man win.' And you know what? I think I already lost."
"Aw, now you come on!" Nick said. "Don't give up on Lilly. You can't let my brother beat you! Just because my love life is screwed doesn't mean it affects yours by association."
"…you're weird."
"Heartbreak does that to people."
"Okay, we need to get you out. I'm calling the guys together. I'll get Joe…wait no, him and me are still in that Lilly-competition-fight. I'll get Jackson…oh wait, no, I don't think he's talking to me anymore." Oliver sighed. This whole Lilly thing has ruined their friendship. "Um…oh I know! We'll go get Jake! He's cool, right?"
"Except for the fact that he's Miley's perfect boyfriend," Nick grumbled.
"Well Miley won't be there, it will be just us guys. Let's go, uh, ice skating!"
Nick laughed, "That's random. But sure."
Isn't it cute how Nick and Hannah said the same "That's random. But sure." :) But uh oh, they are all going ice skating?! Is the rink big enough?
The story isn't going fast, but I'll try to update sooner!