Chapter 19: The End of the Beginning

"Now this is not the end.

It is not even the beginning of the end.

But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

-- Winston Churchill

Disclaimer: I do not own Hannah Montana.

"Miley? Hell-o?" I asked through the phone, sticking my hand out of the window, and letting the cool breeze sweep over my fingertips.

I heard Miley mutter something over the phone, but couldn't make out what it was.

"Um, L-lilly?" she stuttered.

"Yeah?"

"I'm, uh, I'm going have to c-call you back." And without another single word, she hung up.

"Okay," I mumbled to myself, removing my hand, and closing the window. The car came to a halt as we reached a red light, and Oliver placed his hand on my thigh. He twisted his body, pushing his head forward to meet my lips in a short kiss, and then rubbed my leg soothingly. I smiled gently at him and said, "I wonder why Miley had to call me back."

"Who knows?" He shrugged. The red soon changed to green and Oliver began to drive again. "So…what are you going to do about Scott?"

"According to you, break up with him obviously!" I mimicked him and he chuckled.

"I got that part…but do you have any idea how?" I gnawed on my lip, sinking deeper into my seat.

I have no clue how I'm going to break up with Scott.

I can't even begin to fathom one possible way to call it quits.

Seriously.

"Ugh, I don't know what I'm supposed to do, Oliver. I just, I just don't want to hurt him."

"Lil, obviously you're going to hurt him. It's inevitable. Besides, any guy who isn't crushed from being dumped by a girl as amazing as you has got to be crazy."

"Such a charmer," I said, the corners of my mouth pulling up into a smile. He winked at me and then moved his gaze back to the road.

---------------

We parked in front of Miley's large beach house, and I began walking up to her porch. A loud thud echoed and a grunt soon followed. My body twirled around, and there I saw Oliver lying face down on the ground, his hands somewhat propping him up.

"Ow," he groaned and I bit my lip, trying to keep any giggles that threatened to escape locked up.

"Are you, uh, okay?" I asked. He looked up at me angrily with an expression of such disgust that I burst into laughter.

"How is this funny?!" he questioned, pulling himself up from the ground.

"You—should—have—seen—the—look—on—your—face," I choked out through giggles. He sent a death glare in my direction and brushed off his clothes hastily. After a few more moments of my excessive laughter, my sides began aching and I grabbed hold of my hips, trying to calm myself down.

"Let's just get going." He sighed.

"What did you even trip over?"

"The curb," he said sheepishly and I shook my head at him, a final laugh lingering on my lips. "Hey, it really hurt!" We walked up to the Stewart's front door and my face softened.

"Aww, would a kiss make it better, Owwie?"

"It might help." He grinned. Tilting my chin upward, the space between us became smaller as we became closer. Our lips met and his hand sneaked its way behind my neck, holding on to me tightly. A shiver tingled my spine at his very touch and I could almost feel my heart melt. I heard the front door open to the left of me, but figuring it was only Miley, and not wanted to break our kiss, Oliver and I stayed connected…simply to learn that we shouldn't have.

Shock ran through my veins as I heard an infuriated, "Lilly?!" I tore away from Oliver's grip, and disbelievingly looked into the sharp green eyes of Scott.

Oh shit.

"What the hell is going on here?" He asked, staring hard at Oliver.

Oliver looked from me to Scott and then back to me and then back to Scott, not knowing what he was supposed to do.

"Scott, I can exp—" I started.

"What the hell do you think you're doing kissing my girlfriend?" He took a step closer to Oliver. When he didn't say anything, Scott shoved him and I could tell that was only the beginning.

"Whoa, dude," Oliver said quietly and backed up a bit.

"Scott, come on, don't start a fight," I warned and grabbed his arm.

"Well who does this guy think he is?"

"He's my best friend…" I trailed off.

"So that gives him a right to kiss you? Wait, why are you even standing up for this guy? Why did you let him kiss you? What…what's going on?" Scott questioned, and I nervously glanced at Oliver and then at Miley, who was standing in the doorway.

"Um, why don't we go somewhere to talk..." My hand then slid into his and I guided him around Miley's house so that we had reached her deck. Taking a seat on the steps, I pulled Scott down with me, our hands still locked.

I sighed heavily and looked down as my feet twisted inward.

"Scott…I don't know how to tell you this, but…but…" I shook my head. He's been there for me when I needed him and he doesn't deserve this. He shouldn't be hurt and I sure as hell shouldn't be the one to hurt him.

"Lilly, what is it?" he asked softly, and lightly lifted my head up and turned me toward him.

"You know that I love you, right?"

"Well I would hope so," he responded and looked at me funnily. I can't even believe he's not screaming at me right now. I mean he saw me kissing another guy. Like, hello. Red flag.

"Well, I do. I do more than you know. It's just that…I don't think I'm…in love with you," I managed to get out and swallowed harshly as I could feel a lump in my throat form.

He looked at me a little taken aback.

"But…but Lilly, how you can say that? I mean falling in love with someone doesn't just happen over night. It takes time and discovery and--"

"You know when you're in love. You just have to know, because I know that I'm in love wi—" I stopped myself from spilling the rest. I mean I don't want to torture the poor guy.

Then again, he did already see us kiss…so he probably figured I had feelings for Oliver…but he didn't really say anything.

This is all too confusing.

"How can you be saying this after all that we've been through? All that I've done for you…all that I've helped you through. I saved you, Lilly…I saved you when you were falling." His words rung through my head and I knew that it was true. He was right and there was nothing I could to do change that.

"This is too much for me." I said and took my hand away from his. My head fell down and I rubbed my temples.

"Too much for you?! What about me? I'm the one that's being broken up with for Pete's sake!"

"Well you think this is easy for me? Because trust me, it isn't!"

"Oh, but it was easy to cheat on me?!"

"I…I never meant to hurt you."

"Oh yeah? Then what is this? Why are you doing this, Lil?"

"Because I have to do what's best for me, Scott! I have to what I want and what I need…for once in my life, I want to be in charge. I'm sorry, Scott, but I'm in love with Oliver. I can't help it. I can't help what I feel. I shouldn't be with you if I'm not going to give you what you deserve and you deserve a lot. You're amazing guy, and you're going to make some girl really happy one day. I'm sorry, it's just I'm not that one."

"What do you want me to say? Am I supposed to act like this is okay? I should go and punch that scumbag for kissing you when he knew you were taken."

"Well, what about me? I kissed him, too…"

"So how long has this even been going on for? How long have I been giving you my all when you certainly haven't?"

"No, don't think that. It was just since yesterday. Look, I didn't mean for this to happen. I think things just wait for that right moment to fall into place. Unfortunately that moment happened when we were still together."

"Such a waste of time," he mumbled standing up. I joined him.

"What, coming out here?"

Why did he come anyway?

And how did I not see him at the airport?

These are the questions that haunt me…

"No, being in a relationship with you. I wasted a whole year and a half of my teenage life being taken, when I shouldn't have been."

Ouch.

He started to walk back into Miley's house to get his belongings. I followed him in and out of her house and watched him walk through the front door.

"You know, I never said that I regret our relationship." He turned his head back to me. "…Because I don't." He nodded and let out a breath I could tell he had been holding in. I gave him a shy smile, and he unexpectedly returned it.

And so marks the end of one chapter of my life, and the beginning of the next.

---------------

It was later that day and Oliver and I had taken a nice walk to the beach, just like old times. I had brought a blanket from Miley's house and set it out in front of us before taking a seat.

"Well that was definitely an interesting break-up." I said, pulling my knees up to my chest and watching the waves crash into each other. It was music to my ears and I loved it.

"Yeah. Well, at least you don't need to worry about him anymore. Now all your concentration can be put towards me." He grinned and I laughed. "I probably shouldn't get too excited, though. You are leaving pretty soon and then we have college to think about afterwards. How are we gonna make it through all that? I mean, I could barely be away from you for two years when we weren't even a couple, but now we're together and we have like five years to spend apart. Well, sure, there are breaks and stuff and we might get to visit each other every once in a while, but what'll happen to us?"

"Oh, Oken..." I mumbled.

"What? That's a pretty big hurdle to jump over. I mean, long distance relationships are tough, I'm sure."

"There's plenty of time left to worry about the future…and the next step we'll take…and what we'll do at the next fork in the road. But right now, all I want to do is enjoy each and every one of these moments that I'm spending with the person I love." I tangled my fingers into his and laid down on the blanket, pulling him with me.

The Malibu sunset was as beautiful as ever, with a blend of pinks and purples and yellows and oranges painted over a blue canvas. With one color flawlessly flowing into the next, it seemed so fitting, so perfect, as if they we are all going home, going back where they belong.

"Boy, have I missed this," I spoke softly.

I looked over at Oliver and found him looking right back at me, which brought a smile upon my lips and his. I squirmed over so that our bodies were touching, and I wrapped my arms around his torso. My head fell gently onto his chest and I felt at place. I felt happy with who I was and where I was and most of all, the person I was with.

"You know the only thing that's missing right now?" I asked, snuggling closer to him.

"What?" I bit my lip, looking up at the beautiful sunset once more.

"Drama." The word rolled off my tongue effortlessly.

"Yeah," Oliver laughed lightly and I moved my head up so that it was parallel to his. I kissed him sweetly and pulled away, letting my forehead rest against his."Let's try and keep it that way."

-THE END-

A/N- Okay, I know what you're thinking, 'Wow, could that have been any cornier?!' The answer's no, haha. I can't help it…my endings are always so cheesy...and I wanted to incorporate the title in somehow once more...so yeah. I'm so, so, so, so sorry about the wait. I was just unexpectedly busy the past few weeks, but I hope you enjoyed the ending. Sorry the break-up scene was pretty darn lame, but I didn't want to drag it out too much. Well, I can't thank you all enough for reading and leaving your thoughts. I appreciate it so, so much. You guys help me keep going and are all absolutely awesome. :D

Peace and love,

Valx3.

P.S. I loved your reviews, Sinead and 'Emmzi'! Hahah XD. You two are hilarious. :)