A/N: Wow, thanks so much for the reviews, guys. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. Now, here's the next chapter...

She was burning up. It had to be ninety degrees, and there she was wearing a long-sleeve wrap and jeans. Miley looked around the park at all the happy little families. She was happy to be able to get Belle out of that house. Thank goodness Jake had left to film some scenes for his latest movie. Unfortunately, they were only shooting the movie about half an hour away. She wasn't wearing the engagement ring. Though she was still trying to figure out what she was going to do. She watched her daughter swinging quietly by herself. Sometimes, Miley wondered if Belle's life would have been better if she had given her up for adoption like Jake had wanted.

She couldn't help but marvel at how no one had figured out that she was in serious trouble. And if they had, they certainly had remained silent. True, Jake wasn't as big of a deal as he used to be. And Hannah Montana had disappeared a long time ago. Seemingly from the face of the earth. But she found it hard to believe that not one paparazzi had questioned why she wore clothes that covered up her whole body in the middle of summer. Maybe no one wanted to believe that Jake Ryan was capable of hurting the woman that he supposedly loved. But he certainly was.

"Miley?", she heard a hesitant but familiar voice utter, disturbing her from her thoughts. She winced at the soft touch on her shoulder, and turned around. She couldn't believe her eyes.

"Lilly?", she whispered, standing up. God, she had never been so happy to see her best friend in her life. She hadn't had any contact with Lilly in years. Jake had made sure of that. She looked older, more mature. But still the same somehow. She looked...happy. That was the only word that she could use to describe it.

Lilly excitedly wrapped her arms around her. Miley ignored the pain that coursed through her body with someone's touch. "I can't believe you're here!", Lilly exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in so long!"

"I know", she replied with a sad smile. She noticed the dark-haired man standing a bit behind Lilly. His hands were on the shoulders of a small boy. She looked at the man. "You must be Joe."

He nodded, extending his hand out to her. She reluctantly shook it. "And you must be Miley. Lilly's told me a lot about you."

Miley forced a smile. She barely knew the name of the man that Lilly married, much less anything about him. He certainly looked nice. And Lilly was wearing a tank top with denim cutoffs. Clearly, she had nothing to hide. She glanced at the little boy. He looked about Belle's age, maybe a little younger. He looked a lot like his dad, but she could see hints of Lilly, especially in his eyes.

"And what's your name, sweetie?", she asked, bending down to the child's level. The sudden change in movement hurt, but she tried not to let on.

"Myles", he answered shyly. Miley looked up at Lilly in surprise.

"After you", Lilly confirmed.

It touched Miley deeply to hear that Lilly named her child after her. If she ever had another daughter, she would name her after Lilly. That thought left her mind as quickly as it came. There would be no more children for her more than likely. Belle was declared a miracle child after all. Miley doubted that she would ever get a second miracle. Not that she needed another. Just another child for Jake to traumatize.

"So, you had a daughter, right?", Lilly spoke. "Where is she?"

"Oh, she's playing. Belle!", she called, her voice still hoarse from the previous night. Lilly couldn't help but suspect that something was wrong with Miley. She looked tired, depressed even. Lilly looked at Joe with a concerned expression on her face.

The little girl ran to her mother upon being called. Miley lovingly put her arm around her daughter, and looked at Lilly. "This is Arabella. But we call her Belle. Belle, this is Lilly. Mommy's best friend in the whole world."

Lilly smiled. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you, Belle. You are so pretty. Miley, she looks just like you."

And she certainly did. Other than her hair color, the little girl was practically a clone of her mother. Lilly couldn't help but think she would look just like Hannah Montana when she got older.

"Thank you", Belle said politely. "Mommy, can I go back to play now?"

Miley nodded. Myles looked up at Lilly. "Mommy, can I go play too?"

"That's fine with me. Uh...Joe, could you go with them?", Lilly asked, clearly wanting to talk to her best friend alone. They watched him lead the kids across the park.

"So, how are things with you and Jake?", Lilly wondered. "Things are still good?"

She wanted to tell her. God, she wanted to tell her. How many opportunities like this would she get?

"We're okay", Miley lied, her gaze shifting to her feet. "Things could be better, I guess."

That's when Lilly noticed how completely out of place Miley's outfit was. She could see her sweating. Her face had way more makeup than she used to wear. Something didn't seem right.

"Miley, why are you dressed like that?", she asked cautiously.

Miley didn't answer. Instead, she just stood there helplessly as tears welled up in her eyes. She couldn't hold them back. Not anymore. She watched as Lilly slowly lifted up one of her sleeves to reveal just a small portion of the bruises. She looked away, not wanting to look Lilly in the eyes.

But she heard her gasp in horror. Lilly stared at the bruises in disbelief, her heart breaking for her friend. "Miley...did Jake do this?"

She nodded just a bit, still looking away. Lilly covered her mouth with her hand, not even knowing how to respond. She wanted to give her a huge hug, but she knew that it would probably hurt if she had bruises like that on the rest of her body too. She had never liked Jake. But she couldn't believe that he would do this to Miley.

"How long has this been going on?", she asked, softly but firmly. Miley looked hesitant to answer. "Miley, please tell me."

"Since before Belle was born."

"Oh my God!", Lilly breathed. "Why in the world are you still with him? Why didn't you tell someone? If I had known..."

"You couldn't have done anything, Lilly. No one could", Miley stated. "And as for why I'm still with him, I couldn't tell you. Because I don't know myself. You're the only person that I've told about this, so please keep it to yourself."

"And let him keep doing this to you?", she asked in disbelief. "No way! What about Belle? Does he do this to her too?"

She shook her head. "No. But he's awful to her, and I hate it. I just don't know what to do."

"You have to get away from him! I can't believe he's been doing this to you for all this time! Why didn't you tell someone? Me, your dad, Jackson, Oliver...we would've helped you!"

"I don't know", Miley said quietly. "I'm just so scared. If I try to leave, he could try to take Belle. And I can't let that happen."

"Come with me", Lilly instructed, lightly placing her hand on her friend's back.

"Where?"

"I'm going to take you home", she replied. "You're going to get some things for you and Belle, and then you're coming home with us."