A/N: I hope everyone's still enjoying the story - and thank you again for all your incredible reviews. You guys are awesome :)

CHAPTER THREE

TOGETHER

One week later, at exactly ten o'clock in the morning, the annual Harvest Fair Parade began winding its way down Main Street. Miley, Lilly and their families, along with just about everyone else in Pine Ridge, crowded along the street to watch the parade go by. The two girls sat together at the edge of the sidewalk, hands joined, their feet resting in the gutter.

"You think we're gonna win anything today, Smiley?" Lilly asked her best friend. Miley smiled.

"Are you kidding? We're gonna win first place for sure!" she exclaimed.

"I dunno," Lilly responded uncertainly. "I told you I wasn't very good…"

"Stop," Miley interrupted her, gently nudging her shoulder. "You're a lot better than you give yourself credit for, Silly. Besides, even if we didn't win a ribbon, we got to have fun making it together, didn't we?" she asked. Lilly smiled.

"Yeah, we did," she said simply. Miley squeezed her hand.

"Okay, so no more grumpy thoughts, Truscott!" she said playfully. Lilly laughed.

"Whatever you say, Stewart," she retorted, grinning as she squeezed Miley's hand in return. At that moment, a large float made to look like a corn field passed by them. A group of parents and children, all dressed like farmers, stood atop it and waved to the crowd. The children then reached into the buckets they held and began tossing handfuls of candy to all the kids watching the parade. Lilly jumped up, practically dragging Miley with her to grab some of the goodies. By the time they returned to their places on the sidewalk, Lilly had managed to collect more than a few pieces of candy for herself and Miley, which she happily shared.

"Here, Smiley," Lilly said, handing her best friend a piece of 'Bazooka' bubble gum. Miley gratefully took it, peeled off the wrapped and popped the piece of pink gum in her mouth.

"Hey, Smiley… you know how to blow bubbles?" Lilly asked her.

"Sure," Miley replied. "Watch this!" She quickly demonstrated her technique. Lilly made a face.

"That all you got?" she retorted playfully. She proceeded to blow a huge bubble with her own gum.

"Show off," Miley teased her. Lilly just grinned. More floats passed by, as well as the Pine Ridge High School Marching Band, and bands from other schools in neighboring towns. At the very end of the parade, the Harvest Fair Queen and her Court rode by as well, smiling and waving. Once they had passed away, Lilly jumped to her feet, bringing Miley with her.

"Okay, that was fun… now let's get to the good stuff!" she exclaimed.

"Sounds good to me," Miley agreed with a laugh. "No way are you getting me on the Zipper though!"

"You don't know what you're missing, Smiley," Lilly teased her. Miley stuck her tongue out.

"Sure I do… getting sick to my stomach!" she giggled. "Besides, we can ride stuff later. I wanna go see how our picture did!"

"All right," Lilly conceded. "Let's go check it out." Together with their families, they walked back down Main Street to the fairgrounds. The Home Arts Exhibit building was almost all the way in the back, not far from where all the livestock was kept and shown. It was a large gray metal building, separated into two sides. One side was filled with vendors selling all kinds of homemade arts & crafts; the other was completely dedicated to the Home Arts exhibits.

Miley and Lilly walked past all the exhibits from the various elementary school classes, to the back of the room where all the individual exhibits were shown. There, leaning carefully against the wall, was the picture Miley, Lilly and Miley's mother Susan had created together. A simple blue ribbon had been hung from it.

"Oh my god!" Miley cried out excitedly. "Lilly, we won! We got a blue ribbon!" Lilly just smiled and shook her head.

"I don't believe it," she whispered. She looked back over her shoulder at her mother, Heather, who was staring at the picture in awe.

"What do you think, mom?" Lilly asked her quietly.

"Oh, honey, it's beautiful!" Heather exclaimed. "You and Miley really made this all by yourselves?!"

"Well, Miley's mom helped us too," Lilly replied, blushing slightly. The picture itself, painted on clear glass, showed a simple, whimsical farm scene. A large red and white barn dominated the center of the painting, with a smaller green pasture nearby. All kinds of different farm animals filled the picture as well, among them two horses, with two slightly familiar looking young girls riding them – one blonde, one brunette. Finally, the painting was signed with a small 'M & L' in one corner.

"Miley's mom was the one who suggested we paint it on glass," Lilly explained shyly. "She helped us set it up and everything, and Miley and I did the rest. It's supposed to be Miley's farm."

"It was Lilly's idea to paint ourselves in it, though," Miley added with a grin. Lilly playfully swatted Miley on the arm.

"No fair tryin' to embarrass me, Smiley," she said with a smile.

"You did a wonderful job, Lilly-Bear," Heather Truscott said to her daughter. "You and Miley both; I'm proud of you." Lilly winced slightly at her mother's nickname for her, but hearing the pride and acceptance in her mother's voice wiped away the mild annoyance she felt in an instant.

"Thanks, mom," Lilly replied. She looked over at Miley again. "I guess we did okay after all, Smiley."

"You did more than okay," Robbie Ray spoke up. "You girls did great… and we're all proud of you."

"How about we reward our two artists with some fun down on the midway?" Susan Stewart offered, smiling as well.

"Now you're talking!" Lilly agreed excitedly. "Come on Smiley, let's go have some fun!"

"As long as you don't try to drag me on anything that spins or goes upside down, you got it!" Miley replied with a laugh. The grown-ups laughed as well.

"I know my husband probably has something else he'd rather do, so how about you and I escort the ladies to the midway, Heather?" Susan Stewart offered. Heather Truscott smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I'd like that, Susie," she said with a smile.

"All right then, I'll see all you ladies later," Robbie Ray announced. "I think there's some fried chicken with my name on it somewhere!" He gave a friendly wave and walked away.

Later, Lilly finally managed to convince Miley to ride something slightly less terrifying than the Zipper with her – the Ferris wheel – and they were soon having a great time together. Susan Stewart and Heather Truscott watched them from the ground below, each smiling at how close their young daughters had already seemed to become, in such a short time.

"They really are adorable together," Heather remarked. "I don't think I've ever seen two people become so close, so fast." Susan nodded in agreement.

"I'd almost say our little girls were meant to find each other," she added with a smile. Suddenly, unexpectedly, a wave of pain and nausea swept over her, and for a moment she thought her legs might give out beneath her.

"Are you okay?" Heather asked, noticing the way Susan suddenly seemed to swoon.

"Y-yeah," Susan stammered. "I'm all right. Just gettin' a little headache, I guess." She managed a weak smile.

"You want to sit down?" Heather pressed. She didn't entirely believe what she was being told, but she was also trying not to pry. Susan just shook her head.

"No, no… I'll be fine. I could use an aspirin though."

"No problem," Heather replied. She reached into her purse and pulled out a small bottle, which she quickly opened.

"One thing about having a little tomboy for a daughter, you learn to carry a lot of first aid stuff in your purse," Heather quipped. She opened the bottle, dropped a couple of pills into the palm of her hand and offered them to Susan, who gratefully took them.

"Thanks, Heather; I'll be right back."

"No problem, Susie; I'll keep an eye on the girls."

Susan found a restroom not far away and ducked inside. After swallowing the aspirin Heather had given her with a few handfuls of water from the sink, she splashed her face with some of the cool water as well.

The headache, or whatever it was, had struck her suddenly and without warning. Though she refused to show it in front her daughter and the others, it had badly frightened her as well. Susan had never felt anything like it before, and she hoped she never did again. Hopefully though, the aspirin would take away the terrible pounding in her head, and she could put the whole experience behind her.

Straightening her hair, Susan Stewart took a deep breath and headed back outside to find her daughter and their friends, banishing the disturbing thoughts from her mind.

By the time Susan returned from the restroom, Miley and Lilly were already off the Ferris wheel and attempting to play one of the midway games. She watched with amusement as Miley struggled to knock over a trio of stacked milk bottles by throwing a large baseball at them. Unfortunately, she just couldn't seem to knock all three down, and thus win a prize.

"Okay, that's it… this game is rigged!" Miley complained, after her third straight failure. Lilly just laughed.

"It's all in the wrist, Smiley… here, let me try." Lilly paid for another game and waited until the attendant put three more baseballs in front of her. Smiling, she picked one of them up, took a half step back, and hurled the ball with all her strength. The tower of milk bottles went flying. Miley's eyes went wide.

"How did you do that, Lilly?!"she gasped. Lilly shrugged.

"What can I say? I've always been good at sports," she said with a grin.

"Congratulations, Miss," the attendant said to her. "Which prize would you like?"

"That one," Lilly replied, pointing to a large pink stuffed elephant. The attendant retrieved it and handed it to Lilly with a smile. Turning, Lilly handed the elephant to Miley.

"Here you go, Smiley… for you."

"I can't take this, Lilly," Miley said hesitantly. "You won it, it's yours!"

"I won it, and I want my best friend to have it, okay?" Lilly replied with a grin. Miley blushed.

"Thank you, Lilly… I know the perfect place on my bed to put it!"

"Well, if you ladies are done, how about we go find something to eat now?" Heather suggested.

"Probably still find my husband over there, too," Susan joked. "He and Jackson can eat like there's no tomorrow!" Heather laughed.

"They'd get along great with my Lilly, then," she said with a grin. "Come on, girls." The four of them walked together over to the long row of food booths near the main entrance to the fairgrounds. Each booth was sponsored and operated by a different community, social or church group. They sold all kinds of delicious fresh food, made to order as only the friendly people of Pine Ridge could. Susan jokingly referred to them as "Church Lady Food Booths", but their homemade country-style food beat anything ever offered by a regular carnival, hands down.

"Well, what would you two like?" Susan asked her daughter and her best friend.

"Just some chicken I think, momma," Miley answered. "How about you, Lilly?"

"Chicken sounds good to me," Lilly replied with a smile.

"All right, Heather and I'll go get it," Susan told them. "You two sit down and wait for us. We won't be but a couple of minutes."

"Okay, momma," Miley responded. Susan and Heather walked off to order the food, while Miley and Lilly took a seat at one of the nearby tables set up for all the fair-goers to eat at.

"Well, are you having a good time, Silly?" Miley asked her best friend with a smile.

"Sure," Lilly said, smiling back. "I'm with my best friend, in one of my favorite places in the world; what's not to like?" Miley giggled.

"Thanks, Lilly; I'm glad to be here with you, too." Without really thinking about it, Miley leaned towards Lilly and rested her head on Lilly's shoulder. She looked up at Lilly and smiled shyly.

"I really had fun today, Lilly; thanks for being my best friend."

"How do you always do that?" Lilly quipped.

"Do what?" Miley replied innocently.

"You always make me smile," Lilly said to her. "I don't know how you do it. You just… smile… and I can't resist smiling back."

"Is that why you're smiling now?" Miley asked with a grin.

"I swear, I've smiled more since I met you than I ever have before," Lilly replied. "I don't know how you do it, Smiley… but I think I like it."

"Maybe that's just what best friends do?" Miley suggested. She snuck her arm around Lilly's back and began tickling her ribs. Lilly shrieked and pulled away.

"Tryin' to play dirty now, Stewart?" she retorted, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

"Watcha gonna do about it?" Miley challenged her. Lilly responded by quickly lashing out and tickling Miley's ribs as well.

"Okay, okay!" Miley laughed. "I give up!"

"Good," Lilly said playfully. "Next time you try to tickle me, there'll be no warnings; got me, Stewart?" Miley laughed and rested her head on Lilly's shoulder again.

"Yes, ma'am," she giggled. Miley began to idly draw on the dusty table in front of them. Using one finger, she drew large letters that read 'M & L – BFF'.

"Think so?" Lilly teased her.

"Know so," Miley replied, snuggling contentedly against her best friend again. Lilly smiled and returned the embrace, and they sat there happily together, wrapped in the bonds of love and friendship