A/N: I know, you're probably getting tired of hearing me apologize for my late chapters, but I'm gonna have to do so again. For some reason, I really struggled with this chapter, so I hope it's okay. For those of you who correctly guessed the song from last chapter - "Candle on the Water" from Disney's Pete's Dragon - I haven't forgotten my promise either :)
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
CONFRONTATION
"Ohh… what happened…?" Felicia managed as Miley and Lilly gently helped her into a sitting position.
"You fainted," Lilly explained.
"Are you okay?" Miley asked in a concerned voice.
"I think so," Felicia said wearily, raising a hand to her forehead. She looked up at her two friends again. "Did I imagine it… or did you two just tell me you're really Hannah Montana and Lola Luftnagle?"
"It's the truth," Lilly admitted.
"We only hide our identities so we can have a normal life," Miley said softly. "If people knew who were really are, they'd never leave us alone." Felicia's eyes darted back and forth between the two young women standing in front of her, wondering if they could somehow really be her friends Hannah and Lola. Then Miley smiled.
"It's us, Felicia," she said. "Honest."
"She probably thinks we're crazy, Miles," Lilly quipped. "After all, without all the wigs and stuff, we really don't look much like Hannah and Lola."
"You're still the woman I love," Miley said softly. "Wig or no wig." Her smile grew.
"You are a little crazy, though," she added with a giggle.
"I blame you and all your crazy schemes," Lilly said with a grin of her own.
"I don't remember you complaining any, Truscott," Miley said lightly.
"And give up a chance to spend time with you?" Lilly retorted playfully. "Never." Miley leaned in close and kissed her lightly on the lips.
"Back atcha, girlfriend."
"It is you," Felicia breathed. "No one else could be that sweet and that crazy all at once." Miley and Lilly shared an amused smile.
"At least you'll never forget us," Lilly quipped.
"We're really sorry about keeping all this from you Felicia, but we have to be really careful," Miley continued. "We trust you though, and we know you'll keep our secret."
"I understand," Felicia said carefully. "And I promise, I'll never tell anyone." She cleared her throat.
"So, I uh… I guess I should start calling you Miley and Lilly now, huh?"
"As long as we're not wearing the wigs," Lilly said playfully.
"So how did you end up getting stranded here anyway?" Felicia asked curiously.
"My cousin, Luanne," Miley replied solemnly. "We're twins, sort of… and she decided she wanted to be Hannah instead of me."
"So she knocked us both out, switched places with Miley and stranded us here," Lilly finished. "We gotta get to Denver and stop her before she hurts anyone else." Felicia closed her eyes and lowered her face into her hand for a moment.
"Well, at least I know being friends with you two isn't gonna be boring," she quipped. She opened her eyes again.
"All right then, if we're gonna get to Denver in time to stop your nutcase look-alike cousin, we'd better get moving," she said solemnly. She was stunned when Miley and Lilly both walked over to her and pulled her into a hug.
"Thank you, Felicia," Miley whispered.
"For everything," Lilly added. "You don't know much we appreciate it."
"You're welcome," Felicia said softly, deeply touched by her friends' sudden gesture. "That's what friends do." She smiled.
"I'm sure I can find a way for you to express your gratitude later," she said teasingly, "but right now we've got some traveling to do!"
Some six hours later, roughly halfway through their trip to Denver, the girls decided to stop to grab a bite to eat and switch drivers. They chose to stop at a small Dairy Queen in Boise City, Oklahoma, for a quick lunch.
"I don't know how you can eat like that and still stay so thin," Felicia quipped as she watched Lilly devour her cheeseburger.
"She works it off," Miley said with a grin. Lilly almost choked. Giggling, Miley patted her on the back.
"You're bad," the blonde-haired tomboy managed.
"I don't even want to know," Felicia managed, trying not to laugh as well. A few minutes later, after their meal was finished, Lilly excused herself to use the restroom, leaving Miley and Felicia alone together for the first time. Miley hated herself for it, but she couldn't help feeling uncomfortable; even though Felicia had been a great friend, suddenly all Miley could think about was her and Lilly kissing, and she had to turn away before Felicia could see the stricken expression on her face.
"She told you, didn't she?" Felicia asked quietly. Miley swallowed.
"I, uh… I don't know what you're talking about, Felicia," she lied.
"For what it's worth… I'm sorry, Miley," Felicia said softly. "I hope someday you can forgive me."
"I guess it's stupid," Miley whispered, staring out the window at the quiet street beyond. "I don't know why I'm letting it bother me so much…"
"Because you love her," Felicia said simply, "and she loves you just as much. You belong together." Miley blinked and turned to look at Felicia again, a stunned expression of gratitude on her face.
"Thank you," she said softly. Felicia smiled.
"Anyone can see it," she said warmly. "Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen anyone as close as the two of you."
"She means everything to me," Miley whispered.
"She knows," Felicia replied. She reached carefully across the table and placed her hand gently on top of Miley's. "She knows, and she feels the same way."
"When this is all over… I'm gonna show Lilly just how important she is to me," Miley said softly.
"You guys talking about me?" Lilly's voice interrupted. Miley turned to see her girlfriend sliding back into the booth beside her. Grinning, she took both of Lilly's cheeks in her hands and pulled her into a warm, passionate kiss.
"Wow…" Lilly managed when she could breathe again. "What did I do to deserve that wonderful greeting?"
"I'll tell you later," Miley whispered, smiling sweetly.
"I'll hold you to that," Lilly said with a grin.
"I'd rather hold you to me," Miley said teasingly, her eyes sparkling with desire. Lilly actually blushed slightly.
"Um… right here?" she managed.
"All right, all right, TMI!" Felicia exclaimed, laughing. She playfully clamped her hands over her ears. "I swear, you guys are gonna scar me for life!"
"Sorry," Miley said apologetically, smiling as she found Lilly's hand underneath the table. "We'll try not to get too carried away in front of you, okay?"
"That would be much appreciated," Felicia said with a smile of her own. With that, Miley took a deep breath.
"All right… before we go any further, I guess I should explain about my cousin Luanne."
"I've been wondering when you were gonna tell us about her," Lilly remarked.
"Let's just say Luanne is my least favorite subject to talk about," Miley muttered.
"You don't have to talk about her if you don't want to, Miles," Lilly said gently. She squeezed Miley's hand in a show of support.
"No, it's all right," Miley replied, returning the gesture. "After everything that's happened, you both deserve to know who we're dealing with." She sighed.
"Like I told you before, Luanne is my cousin," Miley began. "My dad and hers – my uncle Bobby Ray – are twin brothers. Somehow, someway, she and I ended up looking almost identical too."
"You have a twin cousin?" Felicia asked, sounding stunned. Miley nodded.
"Luanne and I look a lot alike, unless you know us better," she continued. "We're nothin' like each other, though. As far back as I can remember, Luanne was always actin' like she was better than everyone else. Whenever we'd play games, she'd throw a fit if she didn't win. If Mamaw was givin' us some of her fresh-baked cookies, she always had to have the most. It was always all about her, all the time."
"I think I like her even less now, if that's possible," Lilly growled. Miley took a deep breath.
"Then everything changed," she said carefully. "When we were eight years old, Luanne's parents divorced. Of course, I didn't know what that meant back then; everyone just told us her mom 'went away'. After that, Luanne didn't come around for a long, long time… and when she finally did, she was different. She was mean."
"She didn't exactly sound nice in the first place," Lilly quipped.
"You don't understand, Lils," Miley replied. "She was cruel. It was like she enjoyed making us all miserable. One time, she pushed me into a mud puddle in my brand new Sunday school dress just so she could see me cry."
"Dang…" Felicia whispered. Miley tensed slightly, and Lilly gently squeezed her hand again.
"Luanne's obviously gotten worse, though… way worse," Miley managed. "She's taking it to the limit this time."
"What exactly did she do to you guys?" Felicia asked carefully.
"Like I said, she drugged us and left us on the side of the road while she took Miley's place as Hannah," Lilly muttered angrily. Felicia's eyes went wide.
"Whoa…"
"I don't know how, but we're gonna stop her," Lilly promised. She turned to look at Miley. "I won't let her hurt you again, Miles." Miley smiled gratefully.
"Thanks, Lils."
"One way or another… Luanne's going down in Denver!"
Elsewhere, as Hannah's tour bus neared Denver, Robbie Ray took a moment to pull Roxy aside to explain the situation to her.
"So you're telling me that's not Miley in there?" Roxy asked incredulously. Robbie Ray shook his head.
"No, that's my niece, Luanne," he said grimly. "She's only pretending to be Miley… and Hannah."
"Then where's the real Miley?" Roxy asked, sounding stunned. "And Lilly?"
"I don't know," Robbie Ray admitted. "Luanne's done somethin' to them, but I don't know what!" He ran a hand through his long brown hair.
"It's times like these I wish I knew how to use on a' them danged cell phones!" he muttered. Roxy arched an eyebrow.
"You mean to tell me you don't know how to use a cell phone?" she asked her employer, sounding almost amused. "Sheesh, wake up and smell the 21st century hillbilly!" With a smile, she reached into her jacket and pulled out her own small black phone.
"Hang on a sec," she said. "Let me see if I can reach them." She tapped in a speed dial command and waited. A few seconds later, a familiar voice responded.
"H-hello?" Miley answered uncertainly. "Who is this?"
"The woman who's supposed to be protecting you, girl," Roxy replied with a grin. "Which is pretty hard to do when I don't even know where you're at!"
"ROXY!!" Miley exclaimed joyfully. "Is everything okay? Is daddy all right?!"
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Roxy replied, and she handed the phone to a stunned looking Robbie Ray Stewart. He carefully took it from her.
"Baby girl, is that you?" he asked hestitantly.
"Daddy!!!" Miley shouted. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?!" Robbie Ray closed his eyes, whispering a silent prayer of thanks to whoever might be listening that his daughter was safe.
"I think that's supposed to be my question, darlin'," Robbie Ray managed. "You don't know how good it is to hear your voice right now. Are you and Lilly all right?"
"We're fine, daddy," Miley responded. "We're headed for Denver right now with a friend of ours." Her voice started to break.
"I was so worried Luanne might've hurt you!" she wailed. "Are you all right?!"
"I'm fine darlin', I promise," Robbie Ray replied gently. "I was more worried about you and Lilly."
"Has Luanne tried anything else?"
"Nothin' worth talking about," Robbie Ray muttered. "I was just telling Roxy we need to find a way to stop Luanne… and without giving away your secret."
"I might have an idea about that," Roxy spoke up. Robbie Ray looked over at her.
"What's that?" he asked her.
"Whatever we do, we gotta make sure it's kept quiet," Roxy replied. "I think changin' Hannah's dressing room in Denver might be a good start."
"Good idea," Robbie Ray agreed.
"Speaking of good ideas, I think Lilly has one too," Miley added.
"What kind of idea?" Robbie Ray asked carefully. There was a long pause.
"Let's just say Lilly and I are gonna need some new disguises, daddy!"
Not quite twelve hours later, the tour bus finally arrived at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre just outside of Denver. Robbie Ray and Roxy acted as though nothing was wrong as they escorted 'Hannah' into the backstage area, not wanting to make Luanne suspicious. A trio of security guards met them at the back gates.
"I'm afraid there's been a change of plans, Miss Montana," one of the guards said. Luanne glared at them.
"What kind of change?" she asked them threateningly.
"I'm afraid the dressing room you originally requested is unavailable," another of the guards replied. "Fortunately, we were able to find you another one."
"Well, it better be a good one!" Luanne growled. "For your sake!" The group made their way to a small, isolated dressing room on the far side of the backstage area. Luanne was not at all pleased.
"What is this?" she sneered. "I don't wanna stay in this dump! Don't you know who I am?!"
"Yes, we do… Luanne," a familiar voice retorted.
"And you're not Hannah Montana!" Another voice added.
"Not even close," a third voice growled. One by one, the three security guards removed their disguises to reveal themselves as Miley, Lilly and Felicia.
"Hey, what kind of trick is this?!" Luanne shouted angrily.
"No trick," Miley replied calmly. "I'm just here to get my life back." Robbie Ray turned to face Roxy.
"Roxy, would you mind waiting outside and make sure we're not interrupted?" he asked her carefully. "I need to have a talk with my niece." Roxy nodded.
"No problem," she replied. She turned and walked out, closing the door behind her.
"Fine, so you've got me," Luanne growled. "What are you gonna do with me? Call the police?"
"You know we can't do that Luanne," Robbie Ray pointed out.
"Oh right, your precious 'secret'," Luanne spat. "We wouldn't want the whole world to find out who Hannah Montana really is, now would we?"
"No, we wouldn't," Robbie Ray said sternly.
"Um, maybe I should go too," Felicia said hesitantly.
"You don't have to," Miley said softly, turning to look at her.
"It's okay Miley, I really this should just be a family thing," Felicia replied. She turned to leave as well. "I'll be right outside if you need me, okay?"
"All right… and thanks Felicia." Miley managed a grateful smile as their red-headed friend slowly walked out of the room. Once she was gone, she turned back towards her look-alike cousin.
"All right, Luanne, out with it," she said softly. "Why have you done this?"
"After everything I've done, why would you even care?" Luanne shouted angrily. "Hell, you never have before, why start now?"
"That's not true, Luanne," Miley replied. "We're your family, and we've always cared about you!"
"Don't lie to me!" Luanne hissed. "If my so-called 'family' really cared about me, they would've been there when I needed them! Where were you when my own mother up and left me just 'cause she didn't feel like being a mom anymore?! Where were you when my daddy tried to drink the pain away and I was left to try an' take care of him every time he came home and passed out?!" Hot, angry tears began running down Luanne's cheeks.
"Have you ever tried to take care of a grown man who'd rather drink himself stupid than be a father? Not to mention trying to do all the cooking and cleaning and lying to everyone just so you wouldn't lose the only family you had left?!" she shouted angrily. "No, when you were 12 years old, you had a normal life, with parents who loved you and took care of you! When have you ever had to give up anything in your perfect little life?!" Stunned and horrified, Miley couldn't bring herself to say anything for several long moments. Finally, she swallowed.
"I lost my mom too," she managed. "Believe me, I know how much that hurts…"
"I just wanted something for myself for once," Luanne said bitterly. "Just once, I wanted to be the one everyone loved, the one everyone looked up to!"
"Why didn't you just ask for help?" Miley demanded. "Why didn't you tell someone?"
"Would you have even listened to me?" Luanne retorted. "You and I haven't exactly been the best of friends." Tearing off Hannah Montana's blonde wig, Luanne angrily tossed it aside.
"Like your cousin said, we're still your family," Robbie Ray interrupted. "No matter what, we would've listened to you Luanne, and we would've tried to help."
"You can say whatever you want," Luanne muttered. "It doesn't matter anymore." She sighed.
"It's over." Reaching into her jacket, she pulled out a small knife.
"Put that down, Luanne!" Robbie Ray shouted. "Right now!"
"Relax, old man," she muttered. "I'm not plannin' on usin' it on anyone." She lowered her head.
"Anyone else," she added under her breath. She held the knife up so the dim light overhead reflected off of its blade.
"Have you ever felt like there's just nothin' left?" she asked quietly. "When you feel like everything you care about has been taken from you, and the whole world's gone dark?" The knife trembled slightly in her grasp.
"Luanne…" Miley managed, a cold feeling of dread growing in the pit of her stomach.
"I'm not gonna ask you again, Luanne," Robbie Ray said carefully. "Please put the knife down." Luanne looked up at him briefly, tears still sparkling in her eyes.
"No one cares about me," she said softly. "No one ever has. Why should they?" The knife began to move towards Luanne's exposed neck.
"Luanne, no!" Miley's scream echoed throughout the small room as she hurtled towards her look-alike cousin. She didn't entirely understand why she was doing what she was doing, she simply acted on instinct. She and Luanne had never gotten along after all, and the events of the last couple days certainly hadn't made things any better, but a part of Miley that the young brunette herself perhaps didn't even realize existed propelled her towards Luanne nonetheless. All she knew was that she couldn't let her cousin – still her family, despite it all – take her own life.
"Let me go!" Luanne howled as Miley's hand closed around her own, trying desperately to force the knife away from her.
"No!" Miley shouted back. "I'm not gonna let you do this to yourself, Lu!"
"Why do you even care?!" Luanne bellowed. Then, suddenly, she stopped. "Wait… w-what did you just call me?" Miley stopped too.
"Lu," she said quietly. Without realizing it, she had used her old childhood nickname for her look-alike cousin.
"You haven't called me that since…" Luanne found herself struggling to speak.
"Since we were kids," Miley finished for her. She swallowed. "When we used to play together..." Luanne's eyes widened.
"S-Smiley?" Luanne whispered, echoing Miley with her own childhood nickname for her cousin. "I… I…" The knife slipped from Luanne's fingers and fell to the ground. Miley tried to jerk her hand away, but the tip of the blade cut one of her fingers as it fell and she cried out.
"MILEY!" Lilly shouted. She was at her girlfriend's side in an instant, while Robbie Ray had already jumped up to try and stop the desperate struggle between Miley and Luanne.
"I'm all right," Miley managed. "It's not bad."
"Let me see," Lilly insisted. Miley smiled as Lilly carefully inspected the small cut on her index finger.
"Were you really worried about me?" she asked softly. Lilly looked up at her.
"Don't ever scare me like that again," she managed. Then she turned to look at Luanne. "Just let me at that psycho!" she muttered.
"Lilly, wait!" Miley shouted. "Please…!" To her astonishment, the tomboyish blonde saw that Luanne had not even moved. She was still staring at Miley, her eyes wide and filled with tears.
"Lu?" Miley asked her carefully.
"What have I done…?" Luanne whispered. "I… I…!" A moment later, she dissolved into tears, sobs shaking her body. Robbie Ray just stood over her, stunned. Without a word, Miley made her way back over to her cousin and pulled Luanne into her arms, holding her as she continued to cry.
For a long moment Lilly just watched them, completely caught off guard by Miley's actions. As angry as she wanted to be with Luanne though, there was something about the scene that just broke her heart. Not truly knowing why, Lilly crawled over to Miley and Luanne and carefully put her arms around them both.
"Lilly?" Miley asked softly.
"I'm here, Miles," Lilly managed. "I'm here…"
"Thank you," Miley whispered. Lilly lightly kissed Miley's shoulder.
"I'll always be here when you need me," Lilly replied. Miley managed a grateful smile. They stayed there together, wrapped in a joint embrace with Luanne, for the rest of the night.