Y'all, I just want to say that this is not my fault. They started it! This is based off of When You Wish You Were The Star, except that Jackson didn't make his wish at the end, so Miley stayed in the other reality. Because sometimes things happen that can't be undone, and a loophole isn't the same thing as a reset button.

This is technically gen, but as you may have guessed from the summary, there will be some subtext (about the level they put in the show), and the sequel will be Miley/Lilly.

Warning: Um, yeah. This story has language. Also, crack.

Disclaimer: Marcia, Marcia, Marcia! I mean...fair use, fair use, fair use! (Don't own. Not making money. And come on, Disney, you weren't using this verse anymore anyway.)

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Prologue: Half The Story

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For I've not seen you in the flesh for so long
That I'm not sure we would know each other at all
We will lie under different stars
I am where I am and you're where you are, you're where you are.

- Trespassers William, Different Stars

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18 March 2008/11 October 2006

From where Angel was standing in the wings to the stage, the people in the audience all blended together, forming one rolling, indistinguishable mass. The girl onstage fairly flew across it, spotlight bouncing off her blonde hair like a halo, a grin glued to her face. She sang like she'd never stop and the audience cheered her into a third encore, but the smile never touched her eyes. Her voice was raw and open as a wound, and Angel knew the only thing holding Miley up was the sheer screaming strength of her fans.

Well, Angel thought. That, and the tab and a half of ecstasy she'd popped before the concert started.

"Goodnight, everybody!" Miley yelled into her headset, the last beats of Who Said still throbbing in the air. "I love you all!" She left the stage to thunderous applause and shouts of disappointment. She stumbled over a wire at the edge of the stage, but none of them noticed. They never did, too caught up in their own excitement.

Angel faded back into the shadows as Miley made her way backstage. It was better that way; Miley didn't like to see her. Miley tripped over another wire and couldn't right herself this time. She fell, landing heavily on her knees. She ripped the headset off and looked around, eyes glassy and blank. "I think I'm going to be sick," she said, to no one in particular.

No one seemed to hear her, people streaming by on either side of her without pausing, not even when Miley dropped to all fours, crawled the few steps to one of the back curtains, and started throwing up noisily.

Angel shook her head. This is not why I got into this business, she thought.

"Now that is just sad," said a voice from behind Angel. She turned slightly, taking in the two security guards lounging against the wall. Judging by his rueful expression, Angel thought the taller of the two had spoken, which he confirmed with his next words. "Poor girl's barely sixteen and look at her. It's a shame."

"Whatever," his companion muttered, looking decidedly less sympathetic. "Par for the course with this one. Only person I feel sorry for is the poor bastard who's gonna have to clean that up."

"Still," said the first one. He broke off when Miley retched again. Angel looked back at the girl and winced. Miley's hair had fallen forward, the ends of it dragging through the puddle of vomit. Angel resisted the urge to step forward and hold Miley's hair back for her; this conversation sounded more promising than anything she'd heard in months, though that wasn't saying much. She didn't want to do anything to interrupt it.

"Kid like her should be out having fun, hanging out with friends," the tall guard continued. "Not puking her guts out backstage alone."

"Shit," said the short one. "That's the price she's gotta pay for her fifteen minutes of fame. 'Sides, you're so concerned about her, why don't I see you over there helpin' her?" He pushed off the wall and sauntered away, the conversation clearly over as far as he was concerned.

"Yeah," said the tall one, straightening.

Come on, Angel thought. Give me something. Anything.

The tall guard spared Miley one last glance before he started off after his partner. "I just wish she could have fifteen minutes of happiness to go along with that fame."

Angel snapped her fingers and overhead a shooting star streaked through the night sky. Done. It wasn't perfect, not by any means, but it had been a year and a half and by this point Angel was desperate. She'd work with what she had.

Angel hurried forward and knelt beside Miley, reaching out to pull the girl's hair back and gather her up into a hug. Miley looked up at her, eyes struggling to focus.

"Angel?" she asked, pushing away once she recognized the woman. "I thought I told you not to come back anymore."

"Hush, child," Angel soothed. She tightened her hold on Miley. "I'm taking you home. Just for a little while, but I'm taking you home."

The next instant, they were gone.

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"I wish there was no secret, I was just Hannah Montana all the time," Miley said. "Sure would make life a whole lot easier."

Lilly laughed. "Hey, at least you get to be Hannah Montana some of the time. That's more than anyone else – Miley?" There was nothing next to her but empty air. "Miley? Where'd you go?"

Lilly turned in a slow circle. She was alone on the balcony, the door to Miley's room was still closed and Lilly hadn't heard Miley open or shut it. Besides, Miley had been right next to her a second ago. It was like she'd just...disappeared.

"Miley?" Lilly called again. No answer. Don't panic, Lilly told herself, trying to ignore the cold ball of fear settling in the pit of her stomach. She crossed the balcony and pulled open the door, sticking her head inside. "Miley? Miley!" Still nothing.

Lilly tore through the room, really worried now. "Miley?" The room was empty, and she dashed through Miley's decoy closet into the Hannah closet. Empty too. What the heck was going on here?

Fear welled up and Lilly didn't bother to try and stop it, letting the adrenaline give her speed as she pounded through the room and back out to the balcony. Maybe Miley had fallen. Visions danced in front of her eyes: Miley with her leg twisted beneath her at an unnatural angle, Miley passed out with blood pooling under her head. If Miley was hurt Lilly would never forgive herself.

The edge of the balcony railing hit Lilly just below the ribs, so hard she knew it would bruise in the morning, but she hardly noticed. She leaned over the edge, gripping the railing so hard her knuckles turned white. The ground below was as empty as the room behind her. No Miley.

It didn't make any sense. Where the heck was she? If this was a prank, she was going to kill Miley. She'd never talk to her again, not for the rest of her life. She – "Lilly."

Lilly whirled around. She blinked, then blinked again. "Roxy?" And was that – "Miley?" Relief washed through her. But where had Roxy come from? And how had Miley gotten into her Hannah disguise so fast?

"Lilly, listen to me," Roxy said. "We don't have much time. I'm not – "

"Lilly!" Miley interrupted, a dopey smile spread across her face. "Lilly, Lilly, Lilly. You look just like you!" She giggled, her laugh bordering hysteria. "Man, this is some good shit, I have to remember to text Traci tomorrow and thank her."

"Miley, are you okay?" Lilly asked. She started forward, only to stop abruptly when Miley threw up a hand.

"No!" Miley said. "Don't come over here! You'll disappear if you get too close, and I want you to stay. You always disappear. Not like her," she sneered, shoving Roxy away from her. "She sticks around no matter what."

"Miley," Lilly said, cutting herself off when Miley's eyes suddenly rolled back in her head and her body crumpled. Roxy dove forward and managed to get her hands under Miley's head before she could crack it on the ground.

"What's wrong with her?" Lilly whispered, horrified.

"Right now? I'd say it's the vodka and ecstasy she had before the concert," Roxy said, lowering herself to sit on the deck. "Long term is something else. That's why we're here."

Lilly shook her head. "Miley doesn't drink and she doesn't do drugs. And anyway, I was with her the whole time tonight, I would know if she'd taken anything."

Miley stirred a bit in Roxy's arms and then subsided, a groan escaping her lips. Lilly crept closer to them. "What did you do to her?" she demanded. Her nose wrinkled. "And what the heck is that smell?"

"She threw up."

Lilly peered down at Miley. Her face was slack, and even out cold Miley looked indescribably tired, as though the limitless energy Lilly usually associated with her best friend had been bled away. There were dark shadows under her eyes the make-up did little to hide and her hair was matted, the ends stuck together in clumps.

"She got it in her hair?" Lilly asked, feeling her own stomach start to churn. She thumped to the ground as her legs gave out and pulled Miley away from Roxy, settling Miley's head in her lap, heedless of the smell.

Five minutes ago everything had been fine, and now... "What happened, Roxy?"

Roxy sighed. "Lilly, look at me." Lilly tore her eyes away from Miley's face. "I need you to listen to me and not interrupt, because I don't have a lot of time to explain things. I'm not Roxy." She held up a hand to stop the question forming on Lilly's lips. "Miley calls me Angel, because that's what I am. I'm an angel, and Miley's wish came true. I made it come true."

"What?" Lilly asked, her mind reeling. Had Roxy done the drugs she'd accused Miley of doing? This was crazy, it had to be some kind of joke. This was a lot of trouble to go through for some stupid prank, but it had to be one. It had to. "What are you talking about? What wish?"

"The one she just made," Roxy said. "She wished she could be Hannah Montana all the time, and I made that happen. I took her somewhere where she was."

Lilly shook her head. "That's – no. She just wished that five minutes ago. Nothing like this – " She waved a hand towards the girl passed out in her lap. " – could happen that fast. This is – this is some kind of dumb prank or something, and I don't know how you got Miley in her Hannah disguise so fast, but both of you need to just stop it, just stop this right now, right – " Her voice broke and she couldn't go on. She put her hands on Miley's shoulder and shook her, she kept shaking her and shaking her but Miley wouldn't wake up.

"Lilly," Roxy said softly. "This isn't a joke. This is real."

"No," Lilly said, choking back a sob, more afraid now than she had been when Miley was missing. This couldn't be real. This couldn't be Miley, not this girl with pasty, gray skin and vomit in her hair, this girl who was so drugged and drunk she hadn't even known Lilly was real. Wake up, Miley, Lilly thought. Wake up and tell me this is a joke. I'll forgive you, I promise. Just wake up.

"Try to take her wig off."

Her hand shook as she reached down and slid her fingers into Miley's hair, tugging on it lightly. The skin of Miley's scalp tented up around each individual strand. She wasn't wearing a wig.

She wasn't wearing a wig. This was real.

"What happened?" Lilly whispered. Tears spilled out of her eyes and down her cheeks, dripping off her chin and soaking into Miley's hair. "I don't understand. What happened? How could this happen?" She pulled Miley up, wrapping arms around her and rocking her back and forth, needing reassurance that Miley was actually there, alive.

"It's been longer there than it has here," Angel explained. "A lot longer. Almost a year and a half. A lot's happened, but I had to bring her back to now."

"Okay," Lilly said, trying to think, to somehow make any of this make sense. "Okay. So her wish came true, and stuff happened, whatever, but she's back now. Okay. It'll be all right. We'll fix this. I'll get her dad and Oliver and Jackson – "

"No, honey," Angel broke in. "This is borrowed time. Miley made her wish, and she's got to live with it. We can't stay."

"What?" Lilly asked. "What do you mean?"

"We've got about...eight or nine minutes, now," Angel said. "And then we have to go back."

"No!" Lilly shouted, tightening her hold on Miley. "No, you can't take her! I won't let you."

Angel smiled sadly. "You won't be able to stop me, baby girl. Believe me, this isn't my decision, either. I would leave her here if I could."

"Why are you doing this?" Lilly said. "Why would you bring her here like this – show her to me, looking like – and then say you're taking her away and I can't help her? Why – "

"Because you get a wish, too, Lilly," Angel said. "I didn't grant the one you made, so you've still got one, and that means you can come with us. If you want to."

Shock loosened Lilly's arms. "What?" she said hoarsely. Miley slipped a little and Lilly let her settle back on the deck, her head pillowed on the side of Lilly's bent knee. She couldn't understand any of this. Things like this didn't happen. Wishes weren't real.

"Listen, Lilly," Angel said. Lilly looked at her numbly. "If you make a wish – if – you need to be very, very careful about what you say. Upper Management isn't too happy with me right now, and me pulling this isn't going to help matters."

"I can wish for anything, right?" Lilly said. "Can't I – can't I just wish for her to stay?"

"No," Angel said. "You can't negate her wish. I'm sorry, that's my fault. I've been working at reversing it a long time, and like I said, Upper Management isn't too happy about that. I had to get very creative to get her here at all, and they'd block me in a heartbeat if I tried to grant a wish like that. That's why you need to be careful. They're going to be angry, and they're going to try to interpret your wish the way they want it, not necessarily the way you mean it."

"I don't understand," Lilly said.

"Say you wish to go with us," Angel said. "You might go, but you might not stay. You might be there ten seconds, or ten minutes, and then you'd be back here. You need to be very specific. And, Lilly, I need to tell you...Miley isn't the only thing that's different there. You have a very different life. We don't have enough time for me to tell you everything, but I don't think you would like the changes. Miley didn't. You need to be aware of that if you decide to make a wish. Put your own timeframe on it. A few months, maybe, or a year. Or put in a loophole so that you can come back if you decide you want to."

Lilly squeezed her eyes shut until she saw spots. This was too much, too quickly. "What should I do?" she begged Angel. "Tell me what to do."

"I can't, honey," Angel said. "You have to decide for yourself. And I know this is a lot, but we've only got a couple minutes. They've been keeping me there, and they're not going to be happy I found a way around that. I have a feeling as soon as we go back I'm gonna get called on the carpet. I may not have another chance to come back here, so you have to decide now."

Lilly didn't know what to do. How was she supposed to decide something like this? How could she choose between letting her best friend, letting Miley, go back alone and jumping into the unknown, into the world that had reduced Miley to this?

Miley stirred, turning her head and opening her eyes, looking up at Lilly from an angle. "Lilly," she rasped. "I'm sorry." Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out again.

Lilly found it wasn't such a hard decision after all.

There was a streak of dried vomit going from the corner of Miley's mouth down to her chin. Lilly stuck two fingers in her own mouth to wet them and then wiped it off gently. She looked up at Angel.

"I wish to be with Miley," Lilly said. Watch out for loopholes, she thought, Angel's warnings ringing in her head. Put in a timeframe. Be specific. So she was. "Forever."

Angel didn't move for a minute, watching Lilly, her eyes unreadable as pools of night. Then she nodded once, slowly. Behind her head, another star shot across the sky. After that, there was only darkness.

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This was the prologue, so it was kinda short. The chapters will be longer. I think I'm going to go with a Monday/Friday posting schedule for this and the sequel, since that'll work best with all the other crap I have to do right now. There'll be five more chapters in this story, the next one will be up Friday.