I really liked writing this chapter for some reason and it started to get real long but I just went with it. Lyrics by City & Colour.

Towards the Sun
Chapter 3

While I'm off chasing my own dreams
Sailing around the world
Please know that I'm yours to keep
My beautiful girl

They step inside a small colorful souvenir shop- or more appropriately, a quaint little shack- and are relieved as the stale air conditioning consumes them. Liam shuts the door behind them with a jingle of the bells and walks over to the register where an old woman is sitting on a stool, smoking a cigarette, and silently praying for more customers.

"Do you know Rocio?" Liam asks, slow and clear.

"Que?" she looks at him funny and so Liam repeats, "Rocio, Rocio Valdez?"

"Ay Rocio! Si! Si!" She gets up animatedly and leads him to the single window that overlooks the sea. She rubs the side of her palm on the glass and clears a patch of dust just big enough to see out of. Her long, wrinkled finger points to an old yellow fishing boat that is sitting at the docks, rocking back and forth with the water.

"Gracias," Liam thanks her and walks over to Miley who has found delight within the postcards. She is contently spinning through the rack of cards, some of which say 'Welcome to Tijuana' in big block letters or have a glossy photo of the ocean and say Paradise in a loopy cursive.

"You wanna get a few?" he asks and with a devious smile spins the rack around so that cards of big-breasted bikini models tanning in the sand are suddenly in Miley's disturbed sight. She makes a dramatic noise of disgust and laughs as Liam receives a disapproving slap from her.

"I just want to write to my parents," she says and chooses the Paradise postcard for 50 cents.

They walk down to the docks and spot a man hosing off the boat deck. His brown skin is dark like leather from his endless days in the sparkling sun, but Miley can see the secrets of the sea woven within his flesh. He looks determined, yet bored- stuck in a routine of fishing and occasional tourism too demanding for the wife and newborn waiting for him at home. Her eyes follow the direction of the hose; across the wooden panels and down the sides in a stream of foggy water. The boat's name is painted along the front and Miley thinks it says Libre but the "e" at the end had faded. Freedom.

A hand painted sign on the dock says:

ROCIO'S SUNSET BOAT CRUISE
$9 per person
Leaves at 7pm every night

Rocio turns off the hose and walks over to them with a furrowed brow. "You want boat ride?"

They nod and so he walks away silently, assuming them to follow. The first thing Miley notices are his eyes. They are blue like Liam's- as icy as the arctic sea but as kind as the sun. And they hold something deep- a secret, a truth, a feeling too desperate to hide for so long.

He leads them to step onto the boat. Liam holds her as they jump over the gap between the dock and the boat, where dark cerulean waters splash around, and where there holds a strong chance that Miley would be the one to fall through it. And so he held her tight.

Rocio is not what Miley had expected. She sees in him what she saw in his father at the bar- a desire to leave and be freed from the adversities of his lifestyle and to feel love without the concern of money weighing him down. He wants his family and a warm home and a laugh or a smile. She sees in him what others see in herself. And she felt sad for him, although nobody had ever quite felt that sentiment for her. ('Poor little famous girl just trying to grow up.')

Liam gives him $20 with every intention of allowing him to keep the change, and Rocio simply mutters a gracious thank you. They go to sit at the front of the boat but after a moment something is tugging so harshly at Miley's soul that she has to stand and walk away. She goes over to Rocio and boldly taps him on the shoulder and she is ready to delve into a history of a man that has not yet been told.

"I met your father," she states and he immediately freezes.

"I have no father," he tells her coldly and continues his work with a shake of his head.

"He wants to be with you, you know," she watches him sink onto the bench that wraps around the boat and so Miley sits down next to him, "He said so himself."

"That the truth?"

"Yeah."

Rocio looks away because his eyes are starting to gloss over in a natural state of tears. "I haven't seen him since I was 17. He loved me, I knew it, but he couldn't provide for his family and I hated him for that. I hated him for having us sleep under a leaky roof and eat just canned beans and rice as he went out to get drunk every night, but now I've got a family too and I don't have a clue what to do."

Miley frowns because she hates to hear of his strife and sorrow. She hates watching a few tears fall down his face, but he swipes them away cause he's gotta look like a man and men don't cry. She hates how he's got a leaky roof while she's got a brand new apartment in a city where people bathe in fame and riches- and she doesn't even like it there. But she listens to his story- his English is strong, but still hidden beneath a thick veil of Latin accent- and she absorbs it all.

"I don't think you should blame your dad," she says quickly, "I think you gotta realize that it's about love, not roofs and beans. And that God's not gonna let you down. He might test your endurance but he won't let you fall."

Miley leaves Rocio in a blind state of happy and concerned. She is glad to have helped somebody but what she is truly blind to is that fact that she is helping herself. She is finding faith again- in love and people and God. And it's helping her gain her balance back with every step she takes.

When another couple comes on board, Miley and Liam are both quite surprised. They are both very animated, rushing onto the boat in a hurry before it leaves the dock. After they get in Rocio starts the grumpy engine, settles down in front of the helm and they set sail.

The four of them are now sitting down without having exchanged many words. Miley is on the end hiding behind Liam's broad shoulders and trying to keep cover as secretively as possible but some things just aren't meant to be held back.

"You're that Miley girl on tv, aren't ya?" Miley shyly peaks her head out from behind Liam and nods. The man bellows a flustered laugh, awed in the presence of a celebrity and asks bewildered, "Well what in the san heck are you doin here?"

"Um," she looks to the ground and wishes so hard to undo this, "Travel is all."

The person next to him, who Miley presumes to be his wife, shoots him a 'look' and smiles warmly. "Well no means to make ya'll feel uncomfortable," she kindly interjects. "I'm Lilly Foster and this is my husband Roy." They both extend their hands and Miley and Liam introduce themselves too.

Lilly is wearing a long flowing beach dress and strappy leather sandals and Miley notices the bright pink lipstick that stains her lips and even a bit of her front tooth that has caught Miley's stare. The man beside her, Roy, is wearing one of those terribly cheesy Hawaiian button-down shirts that stretches over his protruding belly and he's got a big red cooler in his hands. They both speak with strong southern drawls that strangely makes Miley feel very comfortable. They seem harmless, Miley reasons; just a good ole southern couple with warm hearts and chatty tongues.

The sun is setting now and the air around it has exploded into an orange fire. The horizon is just a thin line, separating the burning sky and the dark blue sea, and minute by minute swallows the sun deeper into its hold. The light reflects onto the water, a pathway of rippling yellow from the rocking boat to the still sky and it creeps onto Miley's bare toes.

"Beautiful," Miley comments and with a sigh, leans back on Liam's chest. He wraps his arms around her front and rests his chin on the top of her head. She takes the Polaroid camera that she had bought back in California, holds it out in front of her, and snaps a picture. California feels so long ago; like there's a huge wall between who she was before and who she is now. It's an inexplicable feeling and she troubles with an explanation, even when trying to explain it to herself, and as she attempts to write to her family on the postcard she finds these difficulties troubling.

She watches the faded colors of the unexposed photo ripple into the brilliant sunset that is setting before her eyes. "I gotta tell you something." She turns around to face Liam and crosses her legs indian style.

"Thank you for doing this with me," she says, almost embarrassed, but it still felt good to say.

He smiles, "Can't think of any place I'd rather be."

"Ya'll want something to drink?"

Lilly and Roy have left their spot talking to Rocio and sit next to Miley and Liam. It's quite dark now, the sky not yet black but a very extreme charcoal blue, with the few boat lights and the moon and the stars acting as their only source of light. Roy opens up the cooler he had carried onboard earlier and takes out a few beers.

Liam looks to Miley cautiously and says, "I will only if you want." He was never one to push her into doing anything.

Alcohol is an unfamiliar devil to Miley and she has barely had more than a glass of wine. She always felt that she could have clean, natural fun- more fun than any drink or drug could give her. But she felt safe here, with Liam and these new people. And he knew he'd watch over her. Before she grabs the bottle, she warns herself and promises to have just one.

When the cold liquid falls down her throat, it startles her. It feels smooth and burning at the same time, and she chokes at the sensation.

"Are you okay?" Liam asks with concern written all over his face because Miley is his girl, and he won't let anything inflict her.

"It's gross," she laughs, feeling ridiculous. She immediately wonders how teenagers chug these things down one after another as if it's supposed to be enjoyable. And she shakes her head in disgust.

"Sorry," she apologizes to Lilly and Roy for wasting it, "But I just don't like it."

"That's alright, you only took a sip!" Roy laughs and soon enough the bottle is in his hand.

Liam reaches over to put his unopened beer back into the cooler but Miley stops him. "No Liam, I know you like this stuff. You should drink it."

"Well if you're sure," he says and she nods. Him and Roy delve into conversation and she smiles- happy that Liam is enjoying this time. Lilly is sitting next to her, sipping at her drink and with her sociable nature starts talk too.

"Are you two married?" Lilly asks.

"Oh no," Miley responds surprised, "I'm only 18."

"Really? You seem so mature for your age."

Miley responds blankly: "I had to grow up quickly."

"Well that's alright," Lilly shrugs and uncrosses her legs, "Roy and I met in college and married six months after graduation. He and I wanted to see the world together and share experiences and even though no ring or piece of paper should say what you are together, I have no regrets."

"None at all?"

"Well," Lilly presses her hot pink lips together in thought and takes another sip, "What I gather is that with most things- especially love- if the devotion is there, then you oughta chase after it and make it what it looks like in your dreams. If you can think to yourself all the weird and quirky things about him and still say to yourself you wanna wake up every morning with him beside ya then I'd say that's worth fighting for and to hell with what other people have to say. And I've got 25 years of good marriage and three good lookin kids to prove it."

Miley laughs and looks over her shoulder at Liam. She notices how crazily his foot dances, unconsciously bobbing up and down as Roy tells him about the time he bought a '71 Mustang for just 700 dollars and fixed it up with a fresh coat of fiery red paint and a new engine to make it work mighty fine. And how his face is getting a little prickly because he hadn't been able to shave in a few days and the way he'd run his hands over it in concentrated thought and overblown laughter. His laugh is a mix of a deep throated guzzle like Miley's that fades into a creepy little chuckle but there's nothing else that can get her to smile more than his laugh and his big warm smile. And despite all of that and more, she wants all of him forever.

"I'd like to think we'll get married someday," she says in an almost dreamy state of mind.

Lilly smiles at the reminiscing of young love. "You ever talk about it?"

"It never really comes up," she shrugs.

"Well you should," Lilly advises, "Cause you don't wanna be wasting your time."

She thinks to herself for a moment and remembers. She remembers his eagerness to go on this journey with her, and his gentle touch, soft kisses, his concern, his humor, and his readiness to give to people who need things a lot more than they do.

"I'm not wasting my time," she finalizes strongly. "I love him."

"You love him, eh?"

"Yeah," the sea rocks around her and the moon's reflection dances, "I really love him."

December 22, 2010

"The philosopher Sufi said that God drew a circle around the exact spot you are standing on. I was never not going to be here. This was never not going to happen."

I feel myself distancing from the traveling celebrity that's reluctant to talk to new people and transforming into a girl that's exploring herself and exploring common experiences and people. Beer is disgusting to me, who would've thought. I'm considering my future more- because it's more than just going along for the ride. I have to have a plan.

We're back in Liam's car and driving to the airport. I'm ready to fly.

Hope you liked it!