Unsung

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters appearing on the Disney Channel's original series, 'Hannah Montana', created by Michael Poryes, Richard Correll & Barry O'Brien. Characters are copyrighted to 'It's A Laugh productions'. Original characters are copyrighted to the original author (QYM). This series is posted to Girls Loving Girls with full permission of the author. No copyright infringement is intended or implied.

Feedback: Every author in his or her own way makes it a point to ask for feedback when posting a story, well me I don't usually. But there are several reasons as to why a reader should consider taking the time to give it. The simple fact is that giving some form of feedback is truly the most important thing a reader can do after reading and enjoying a story. Hopefully in the process providing that author with at least one viable reason as to what you liked about the story. This small amount of time spent will no doubt inspire the author to write more and possibly at a quicker pace, knowing that they have a fan base who are waiting on their next works. So thanks for the feedback and please keep it comin.

Summary: In the ALL NEW 17th episode of 'Unsung', Miley's complicated relationship with Lilly keeps getting more and more so as the two battle over whether they should trust Oliver's chosen girl, Hannah's arch-rival Mikayla Gordon, with the pop stars secret. Later, Miley and Lilly are both of the mind set that the other doesn't want to let it be known they're dating. Though it's Lilly who takes comfort in the words of the pairs best friend.

Original Airdate: Monday, February 22, 2009 @8:30 p.m.
(following an ALL NEW 'Hey Mickie, Hey Mickie')

Story Codes: no sex

The next evening came much too soon as far as Miley was concerned. She donned her wig regretfully and fiddled with her bracelets as she waited for Lilly to finish prepping. Playing nice with Mikayla was going to prove extremely hard, especially since she couldn't even think kind things about the other girl, let alone carry a pleasant conversation.

"Lilly, I don't know if I can do this," Miley groaned, holding a fist to her forehead. "I just can't stop being angry with Mikayla."

Lilly put the finishing touches on her make-up and turned to view her upset girlfriend. "Miley… just relax. And remember. If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."

Sighing deeply, Miley nodded and tried to concentrate on that tidbit of advice. "I just have to keep quiet. That's what I'll do."

"Why do I get the feeling that you won't be able to do that?" Lilly reached a hand out expectantly. Miley took the offered limb and squeezed it tightly. "Look, Miley, if it gets bad, just tap me under the table and we'll leave."

"Even if it's before Oliver asks us to leave?"

Lilly pulled Miley close and placed a small kiss on Miley's lips, taking her time. "Whenever you want us to leave, we will."

"We better get going, then. I'm sure Oliver is expecting us any minute." Though she suggested they move, Miley hadn't budged – Lilly wasn't looking to change their arrangement either. It just felt right having Miley wrapped up in her arms.

Eventually, though, they pulled apart, each blushing lightly, and set out for the sushi place. It was close enough that they didn't require a ride there, but Miley pouted because, once again her beautiful red Camaro would be left in the driveway. She was sure it was feeling horribly neglected by now. Miley held tight to Lilly's hand as they walked the streets. Although they were both undercover as Hannah and Lola, they were both under-undercover, disguising their disguises so that Hannah wasn't mobbed on the streets.

The restaurant was less than a block away when Miley stopped short. Her brows knit together with worry.

"What if I ruin this for Oliver?" She whispered hoarsely. "I don't want to hurt him."

"You won't!" Lilly soothed.

"But what if I open my big mouth and Mikayla and I start fighting and Oliver has to choose! I don't want to lose him to her!" Miley's whispers were gaining volume and Lilly glanced around nervously – she didn't want someone overhearing.

"Hannah, just calm down." Lilly tugged Miley's arm, trying to get her moving again.

Miley did her best to take calming breaths. They entered the restaurant and Miley pulled her hat off. The restaurant's staff immediately paid attention to her and Lilly, guiding them to a table without complaint or a wait. Miley read the menu idly, glancing around the room. She spotted Oliver with a blonde girl; correctly, she deduced the girl to be Mikayla. He was smiling widely and she appeared relaxed.

"Are we going to head over there?" Lilly murmured.

Miley nodded, "Let's go, then."

Lilly was halfway across the room before she noticed that Miley wasn't with her. Glaring back at her obstinate friend, Lilly raised a demanding eyebrow. Dejected, Miley got up and followed after Lilly.

"Oliver, I didn't know you'd be here," Lilly greeted Oliver with a small smile.

"Lola, nice to see you," Oliver returned. "This is Faye."

Mikayla stared at Lola with barely hidden distaste. "Hello…"

"And this is Hannah, of course." Oliver stared at Miley for a second, begging her to behave.

"Nice to meet you, Faye," Miley grit her teeth.

"Likewise," Mikayla grunted and turned her attention away.

"Faye, these two are my really close friends… I think you'd like them if you gave them a chance."

Mikayla sighed and gazed at Oliver for several long seconds, "Must I?"

"Yes," Oliver reached across the table and patted her arm. "Please."

Mikayla gave Miley a reluctant smile, "I suppose you already know who I am."

Miley nodded, "He hasn't stopped talking about you."

Mikayla flushed slightly, glancing at Oliver who was beet red. "He's an interesting guy…"

Oliver beamed proudly. He was interesting. "And you're a pretty girl…"

Mikayla reached over to fix his hair, "You know I hear that all the time, right?"

He shrugged, "Not from me."

She conceded his point, "Not from you."

Miley was in shock. She'd never seen Mikayla so soft. "Can I ask you a question?"

Mikayla jerked her arm back, remembering herself. "What is it, Montana?"

"Do you think we could be friends? For Oliver's sake?" Miley extended her hand.

At first, Mikayla didn't respond. She stared blankly at Miley's hopeful face. Lilly and Oliver both held their breaths, anticipating some sort of argument to spring forth. Nothing happened, though, other than Mikayla accepting the handshake.

"For Oliver."

Miley sighed with relief. "Oliver, you can invite her if you really want to."

Lilly gasped – she didn't expect Miley to trust Mikayla with her secret. "Hannah, are you sure you trust her?"

"Oliver says she's alright. And his word has always been good enough for me," Miley sighed.

"Thanks, Hannah! Um, Mikayla, would you like to come to a barbeque with me? As my, um, date?" Oliver stuttered.

Mikayla bristled slightly; she liked being in control and making dates. She didn't hold onto boyfriends for long because of that behavior. Most of the guys she knew wanted to be the 'man' in the relationship. It was bothersome if they tried to make plans for her.

"I suppose." She jabbed a chop stick into her bowl of rice. "But don't get used to asking me places, Oliver. I make the plans here, got it?"

Oliver smiled, "I just have one other question, before you take the pants back."

She chewed on her lip a moment but sighed, "One last request."

"Would you like to go to a dance with me next Friday?"

"I suppose." That seemed to be her one answer.

Oliver pumped his fist in the air, "You're too great."

Lilly tugged on Miley's arm, "Hannah, a waiter is heading to our table… We should probably get back there so we can order."

Miley and Lilly bid the two goodbye and headed back to their table. Oliver watched them go with a smile.

"Thanks for trying, Mickey."

"Oliver, you will not call me that," she ordered.

"What should I call you?" He realized his mistake a moment after speaking. "Oh, sorry Faye. I slipped up."

"Just make sure to remember next time." She pushed her dishes to the side, finished eating. "Why was Hannah so worried about trusting me?"

"Well…" Oliver glanced at Miley and Lilly who were flirting openly as Hannah and Lola. He rubbed his head. "It's just, it's Hannah's barbeque. But she won't be Hannah. She'll just be herself so if you're there, you'll know who she is when she's not Hannah Montana…"

"Let me get this straight…" Mikayla tried to sort through his mess of dialogue, "If I go, I'll know who she really is?"

"Right. And that's a big thing for her. Only a few people know and we can't let her secret get out for the sake of her privacy." Oliver grabbed Mikayla's hand. "It means a lot if she'd let you into her life just because I like you."

Mikayla sighed. "I won't say anything. I promise. We might be rivals, but I'm not going to ruin her life."

"I knew she could trust you. I was telling her all along." Oliver brought Mikayla's hand to his lips, kissing the back of it tenderly.

"Enough." Mikayla rescued her hand, blushing lightly. "I guess I should thank you."

He shrugged, "There's nothing to thank me for."

"You're right." His behavior was to be expected, she reasoned. He was a nice guy and trusting people was a nice guy thing.

--

Lilly found that she enjoyed sushi much more than French food, though Miley wasn't sure if she was fond of it. The walk home after eating was pleasant. Since it was a little later in the evening, there were fewer people on the streets and Miley didn't have to be as covert. It also helped that the lighting was dim; therefore, people wouldn't be as quick to recognize Hannah Montana.

Miley kept her hand around Lilly's waist, holding Lilly as close to her as possible. She wasn't feeling very talkative but she didn't think there was much to talk about. The evening had gone well, the stars were out, and she had Lilly pressed against her. It was as close to perfect as it could get. Lilly's mood was slightly less enthusiastic, but content all the same. She wished they could be this close without hiding behind Hannah and Lola.

The lights were still on when Miley reached her house. She tugged Lilly inside with her and pulled her wig off.

"Miles, I should get home!" Lilly had already removed her wig.

"Come say hi to Aunt Dolly." Miley insisted. "She was asking about my current relationship last night and I didn't really want to explain without you."

Lilly hesitated further, "Can't this wait? I mean, I'll see her on Tuesday…"

"If you really want to put it off." Miley nuzzled Lilly softly. "I won't make you."

Lilly checked her watch, "It's not that I don't want to tell her, it's just my mom is expecting me home in like five minutes, and I don't want to rush this conversation."

"Good thinking." Miley agreed, "So… You want me to walk you home?"

Lilly shook her head, smiling. "No, I'm okay. You should go visit with your family."

After a short goodnight kiss, Lilly strolled home. Her thoughts were incredibly preoccupied – Miley could be so open about their relationship at times but so closed whenever it suited her. It was driving Lilly crazy. Either they were together or they weren't. It wasn't something that Miley could control on a whim.

She sighed as she stepped into her house. Miley would loosen up, she was sure of it. Winter break was coming and they would be able to settle into their relationship then. Soon enough, Lilly decided, she'd want less physical contact in public, not more. All they needed was a long break from other people.

--

During lunch the next day, Miley bought two tickets to the dance. Oliver also bought two and they returned to where the lunch table where Lilly was waiting.

Miley opened her mouth to talk, but Oliver's wistful sigh stopped her short. "I wonder what Mickey's going to wear."

"I thought you weren't supposed to call her that," Lilly grinned.

"What else am I supposed to call her?" Oliver asked, digging into his meal.

"Isn't her fake name Faye?" Miley chuckled; it was a silly fake name.

"Yeah, Faye Key." Oliver's eyes widened considerably. "I just got it! Fakie! That's really funny! She's so smart… and wonderful… and pretty…"

Miley shoved his shoulder, "Can you put a stopper in your gob?"

Lilly resisted the urge to reach under the table and set her hand on Miley's leg. "Miley, let him gush. You know how it feels to be a girl in love."

"Yeah!" Oliver agreed. Moments later his eyebrows furrowed, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Miley couldn't hold in her loud guffaws, "Niiiice, Lilly. Nice."

Lilly smiled smugly, "Don't worry, Oliver. We won't joke like this around her."

Oliver crossed his arms defensively. "You better not… I really like her."

"We won't… So, you gave her directions for tomorrow?" Miley asked.

"Yeah," Oliver returned to consuming his meal.

"And you're sure she's trustworthy?" Miley bit onto her lower lip. This was a big thing for her, letting her rival know her secret.

"She already told me she wasn't going to spill to anybody," Oliver reassured her as he slurped up a long strand of mystery meat.

Lilly grimaced in disgust, "How can you eat that stuff?"

Oliver grinned, "I'm a guy. It's food. You do the math."

"How do you know she's telling the truth?" Miley demanded.

"I just do. Miles, I know her really well." Oliver set his fork down. "If you don't trust her, just trust me."

Miley sunk down in her seat and cast her eyes to the floor. She felt slightly guilty for grilling Oliver like that. But… this was her secret they were talking about. If it got out, the life of Miley Stewart would be ruined. She'd be stuck as Hannah Montana. It's not like she just went out and told people for the fun of it.

Lilly rubbed Miley's arm – she wasn't sure if Miley would approve of this public gestures but it was something that friends did, right? Miley smiled at her gratefully.

"Ollie, put yourself in her shoes, will you?" Lilly whispered. "If someone finds out and even accidentally says something, her life as we know it is over."

Oliver's bright mood dimmed slightly, "I get it. I know what's at stake, but I trust her."

Miley waved a hand at him, "Let's just move on, okay?"

"So are we still okay with her coming?" Oliver questioned nervously.

"Yeah, yeah. But know this… If she says anything, I'm holding you responsible." Miley threatened.

He smiled weakly, "Good thing she won't say anything."

Miley shrugged. If he trusted Mikayla that much, she might as well give the girl a little credit. Lilly scooted her chair a little closer and tried to lay her leg next to Miley's. Miley shot her a warning glance and that killed any hope she had of physical contact in the lunch room. She completely withdrew and scooted more towards Oliver.

After school, Miley left Lilly with Oliver on the grounds that she had some family business to take care of. Lilly watched her run off with a heavy heart. Oliver took note of her long face and was very confused.

"Lils, what's up?" They walked slowly down the sidewalk. Her eyes were glued everywhere but on him.

"It's silly…" Lilly chuckled sadly. "I just… Miley just shuts us off whenever she wants… and I don't think that's fair."

Oliver nodded, "I saw that in the cafeteria."

"It's not even just that!" Lilly threw her hands into the air, "She pretty much decides when we're dating and when we're not allowed to even be touching."

"That's not good," Oliver agreed. "Have you tried talking to her?"

"No… I'm waiting for winter break. I was hoping that we'd be able to work something out then. It's just in the meantime; I don't know what I'm going to do. Is it so wrong to want to hold her hand? Or let our legs touch?" Although she asked the questions, Lilly wasn't really looking for answers. It was just nice to let someone else know her pain.

"It's not wrong at all," Oliver commiserated. "But at least you go to school with your girlfriend. I have no idea where Mickey is, what she's doing, who she's with…"

Lilly giggled, "Sounds like we've both got it bad."

"We should write a blues song for Hannah Montana." Oliver chuckled.

Lilly linked arms with him. "Thanks for being a good listener, Ol."

"No problem, Lil," he returned.

--

Meanwhile, Miley barreled into her house, nearly knocking Robby Ray over as she pounded upstairs and threw her backpack to the floor. Once again nearly toppling her dad, she ran back down and flung herself onto the couch.

"Hey there, bud, what's the rush?" Robby put his hand on his head, possibly to stop the spinning of the room.

"Where's Aunt Dolly?" Miley glanced around, "I wanted to talk to her."

"Without Lilly?"

"Yeah." Miley sighed, "Sometimes I think she doesn't want anybody to know about us. It's so frustrating. I tried to get her to come in last night but she wouldn't. So I figure I should tell Aunt Dolly before the barbeque, even if Lilly won't."

Robby wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Things involving a couple should be done by the couple, not one half of said couple. But he had already decided that he wasn't going to butt into his daughter's relationship with Lilly.

"She's down on the beach."

Miley shot off the couch and raced down to the beach. She was excited to find her aunt. Dolly would understand no matter what. For Miley this was the last person on her list of people she wanted to know about the relationship.

"Aunt Dolly!" Miley yelled when she was about fifteen feet away. She gave one last burst of energy to get her to her aunt's side.

"Hey there kiddo," Dolly greeted her with a wide smile.

Miley hugged her tightly. "I wanted to talk to you. It's about who I'm dating."

"I knew you were dating!" Dolly cried. "Is it that Jake Ryan boy? He was a cutie."

Miley shook her head, "That's kind of what I wanted to tell you… It's not a boy."

Aunt Dolly paused and narrowed her eyebrows, "Not a boy? What is he, then? A dolphin?"

"No, she's not a he," Miley tried to explain, "Aunt Dolly, I'm dating a girl."

"Oh, well that makes more sense." Dolly sighed, "I was hoping you weren't goin' inter-species."

Miley relaxed considerably, "It's Lilly."

Dolly beamed, "I knew you had good taste, sweet pea. Is she treatin' you right?"

Miley nodded, "The best."

"So why isn't she here tellin' me with you?" Dolly raised her eyebrows.

Miley let her hands fall to the sand. Her fingers sifted until they hit upon something hard – either a shell or a chunk of driftwood. "She didn't want to tell you yesterday, so I figured she wouldn't want to tell you ever."

"Did she have a reason?"

"She said she had to be home in like five minutes," Miley explained, "but I don't know if that's the truth."

"Seems like a good excuse, though, hun." Dolly dusted the sand off her Capri pants.

"But you're okay with her, right?"

"Of course, Miley. As long as she doesn't hurt you, that is."

Miley shook her head, "Lilly would never do that."

"Then you have my blessing." Dolly got up and extended a hand down to Miley. When they were both standing they turned and walked placidly up to the house.