A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews, guys!

Anon- You made a very good point, and things will end up being more complicated than they appear right now. It wouldn't be very realistic if they weren't. I totally agree with you there.

Now, on to the story...

Miley stepped into the doorway of the swanky house. Belle's hand was latched onto hers, almost as if she could sense that something big was happening. Lilly and Joe followed behind them with Myles. Miley glanced around the house that she had lived in for the past eight years. It was beautiful. High ceilings, marble countertops, a backyard that most people would die for. But to her, it had felt more like a prison. She couldn't believe that she was actually leaving for good. She had wanted to many times before, but the fact that her best friend was behind her now made such a big difference. She wasn't alone anymore.

Lilly had discussed the idea of her temporarily staying with them with Joe who, much to Miley's surprise, was fine with it. She had never really realized how much she missed Lilly until now. And even though so many years had passed, it was like nothing had changed as far as their friendship went. She felt so lucky to have her best friend back. And she hoped that the extra support would give her enough strength to actually get out of this relationship that had slowly been sucking the life out of her.

"Mommy, what's going on?", Belle asked, looking up at her.

She sat down on the suede sofa, gently pulling her daughter onto her lap. "Baby, how would you feel if we went to live with Lilly and Joe and Myles for a little while?", she wondered, pointing Belle in their direction.

The little girl looked unsurely at them. She didn't really know them. All she knew was that they were nice to her and her mommy. And her mommy liked them. She decided that she liked them too.

"Is daddy coming?", she asked nervously.

Miley shook her head. "No, honey. Just you and me. What do you think?"

Belle gave her a hint of a smile. "Can I bring Hannah?"

"Who's Hannah?", Lilly inquired curiously, recognizing the name of her best friend's former alter ego.

"My doll. She's really pretty. Mommy got her for my birthday."

"Well, you can absolutely bring her", Lilly said, smiling at the little girl.

"Tell you what? Why don't you go get a garbage bag from the kitchen, and put some of your favorite toys in it?", Miley suggested. "But don't put Hannah in it yet. We don't want her to get broken."

"Why don't you go help her, bud?", Lilly implored to her son. They watched the two kids leave the room.

"Is there anything that I can do?", Joe asked. He wanted to help, but he wasn't really sure what he could do. "Any heavy stuff, maybe?"

Miley shook her head. "No, I don't think so. The only things that I want are Belle's toys, our clothes, and my photo albums. I'm not gonna fight Jake over anything else. It's just not worth it."

"You could go clean out the guest room", Lilly pointed out. "It's kind of cluttered in there right now."

"I'm on it."

Soon after, Miley stood in the giant walk-in closet, throwing clothes into a box. Lilly busied herself with Miley's giant collection of photo albums. She flipped through one every now and then. Some of them went way back to when they were just kids. She wished that she had some of these pictures. Miley looked so happy, carefree even. But as the pictures got more recent, it started to look like Miley's smile was becoming more and more forced. Like it was a facade meant to fool everyone who looked at her. It didn't fool Lilly.

There would be a genuine smile every now and then. There was one of Miley beaming as she held a pink bundle in her arms. It was obviously in a hospital room. She assumed that was the day Belle was born. Lilly had looked similar when she had Myles. But those smiles were few and far in between. She only wished that she had known about this sooner. Maybe Miley wouldn't have had to go through so many years of misery.

"That's my favorite picture." Lilly looked up to see Miley standing over her. She sat down next to her friend. "I remember the relief I felt when I first heard her cry. I tried to stay kind of detached when I was pregnant, but I couldn't help but love her. Even though I knew she probably wouldn't make it."

"Why didn't you think she would make it?", Lilly wondered.

"I lost two babies before her."

Lilly felt so sorry for Miley. How much could one person possibly go through? "Oh my God. Miley, I'm so sorry. That must've been awful."

Miley nodded. "It was. The second one was an early miscarriage. That was hard enough, but it almost killed me when I lost Ethan."

"Ethan?", Lilly said softly. "You already had a name picked out."

"Yeah. Ethan Robert. I uh...", she trailed off, unsure if she wanted to tell the story or not. She decided to continue. "I went into premature labor after Jake...he got angry with me one night...more angry than ususal."

"Oh, Miley..."

"Ethan wasn't due for almost three more months. The doctors couldn't stop the labor, and he...he didn't make it."

"I'm so sorry", Lilly said quietly.

"It's okay", Miley said, forcing a faint smile. She stood up. "We should get this stuff to the car. I want to be out of here when Jake comes back."

"Right." Lilly picked up a box, and headed out of the room with it.

Miley took one last glance around the house. And then, she flipped the lights out for the final time.

Joe was stashing some of his wife's things in the hall closet when he heard the doorbell ring. He opened it to reveal his brother.

"Hey, bro", Nick smiled as he closed the door behind him. "What's up?"

"Hey, thanks for coming, man. You know that twin bed that we've had in the attic?" Nick nodded. "Well, I need help getting it downstairs."

"Okay. Uh, can I ask why?"

"Lilly's best friend is coming to stay with us for a little while", Joe replied. "She's coming out of a bad situation. Abusive boyfriend. It's pretty sad."

Nick's features softened, and he instantly felt sorrow for a girl that he had never met. "You know, I don't understand how anyone can hurt an innocent woman for no reason. She's better off without him."

"I have a feeling that this isn't the kind of guy that she's going to be able to just walk away from. This has been going on for years, man. But anyway, we're gonna help any way we can. We don't have a whole lot of extra room, but I don't like the idea of the little girl sleeping in the attic, so we need to move the bed."

"Little girl?"

Joe nodded. "Yeah, she's got a daughter. Cute kid. About Myles' age."

After they had gotten the bed put back together in the sunroom that was rarely used, Nick took a seat next to his brother on the sofa. "You know, I think it's pretty awesome what you and Lilly are doing for this girl."

His brother shrugged. "She's Lilly's best friend. And she's going through a tough time. Lilly said that her family hasn't even been part of her life since she got back with the boyfriend."

"That's sad."

"Joe!", they heard Lilly's voice call. She appeared in the living room. "Oh, hi, Nick. Joe, can you help us get some of this stuff out of the car?"

"Yeah."

Nick smiled as he caught sight of his brother's little boy. "Uncle Nick!", Myles said excitedly, running to hug him.

"Hey, buddy. How's my favorite nephew?"

"Good."

Then, he saw a pretty little girl with blond hair and big blue eyes. Probably the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. She stood a little back from them, looking at him with curiousity and caution.

"Hey, sweetie", he said gently to the child. "What's your name?"

"Belle", she said shyly.

He held his hand out to the little girl. "Well, it's very nice to meet you, Belle. My name's Nick."

He heard the door close, and Joe walked into the room loaded down with bags. Lilly followed behind him. And then he saw her. Wavy brown locks that fell loosely down her back. The same startling, wide blue eyes as the little girl. She had a look of nervousness about her. Of course, she did. She had been abused. He almost felt guilty that he knew something so personal about her. Suddenly, he felt this intense hatred for the creep that had hurt her. How any man could lift their hand up to such a frail, beautiful creature was beyond his understanding.

Miley glanced around her friend's house. It was nice. Not the kind of nice that she was used to where she was terrified of spilling something on the floor or tracking mud in after a rainstorm. This house gave off a cozy vibe. Wood floors reached as far as she could see. A warm fireplace was the focal point of the living room. There weren't twelve-foot-tall ceilings or giant Victorian windows. But it felt more like a home than that mansion on a hill ever did.

"Hi", she heard a soft voice speak. She turned, and looked into a pair of warm brown eyes. He gave her a small smile. "My name is Nick. I'm Joe's brother."

She managed to smile back, though she knew that this stranger probably knew all about why she was here. And that knowledge just made her feel ashamed. She searched his eyes for some kind of judgment, but she didn't detect any. Only a sincere kindness.

Slowly, she extended her hand out to him. "My name's Miley."

Please let me know what you think!