Disclaimer: Anything or Anyone you may recognize in this story was not made up by me. No money is being made with this story. I'm still a broke college student who's trying to find her way in life.

AN: Let's just cut to the chase.. this is pretty much a filler. I've had it sitting in my hard drive for years now, when I should have posted it up a looooong time ago. Enjoy! HAPPY READING!

CHAPTER 22

When we got to the park it was empty, save for one lone figure on the basketball court. As we were walking across the large grassy field to get to the courts, Miley and I were holding hands, and she was babbling on about something or other. I pretended to give her my full attention, nodding my head and inserting 'oh yeah?' and 'uh huh' whenever it was necessary, while my attention was really focused on the person who was shooting hoops. The person had shooting and dribbling skills, from what I could see, and was really short. As we got closer, my eyes got more wider and my jaw dropped to the floor when I saw the person stop three feet above the arch and pull up to make a 3-pointer. I stopped dead in my step when we were close enough, pulling Miley's arm from her socket in the process, when I realized that the person was Shorty.

"Lilly?" I heard Miley's voice say faintly. "Yoo hoo!" she said as she waved a hand in front of my face. "Lilly!" she snapped. I blinked and shook my head.

"Holy mother fucking shit, Shorty!" I exploded, letting go of Miley's hand as I waved my arms around crazily and walked towards the court. Said girl was going up for a lay-up when I gave my outburst and she turned her head to look my way as she was in the air. Distracted, she didn't get to stop herself from flying head first into the sturdy pole that was holding the backboard up. "Shit, sorry!" I apologized as I ran towards her to give her a hand up. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, I'm good. No worries. It's not like that hasn't happened before," she laughed as she got up and brushed herself off. She looked up at the same time she was wiping sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand, and I gasped at what I saw. "What? Am I bleeding?" she asked. I shook my head and instead fingered the large bump that was on the left side of her forehead. "Oh, that? That's been there. I got jumped a few years ago," she said like it was no big deal. I gave her a look of disbelief. "Long story, I'll tell you more about it later."

"... right."

"Yup..."

Insert awkward moment here as we both stood in front of each other, rocking back and forth on our feet.

"You guys are so weird," Miley laughed, breaking the awkward silence as she brushed past the both of us and went for the basketball.

"Dude, your girlfriend is so hot," Shorty said breathlessly as we stood shoulder to shoulder now, watching Miley's swagger.

"Yup..." I agreed, enchanted by my girlfriend's assets. "Speaking of assets.. I mean girlfriends, where's yours?" I asked after Miley caught us staring at her and gave us a challenging look.

"Home, with my cousin. Sometimes she can be a pain in the ass and bug the shit outta me!" She exasperated, shaking her head in disbelief. "Maybe by the time I go back she'll stop bein' stupid," she shrugged. I looked at her like she grew a third head out of her shoulder. "What? It's the truth! She can be overbearing and crazy! And her knuckles are fuckin' bony! Maybe my cousin will help me out and be her punchin' bag for a while."

"Wow," was all I could say after she was done with her rant.

"Look, it happens, okay? I've been with this girl ever since my Senior year of high school, so we've been together for awhile. I love her with all of my heart, but sometimes she can be a little too much," she shrugged.

"But you're still with her?"

"Yes. Because when you finally meet someone who puts up with your bullshit, smacks you upside your head when you're being a dumb ass, and makes you wanna be a better person you stick with her."

"Yeah?"

"Definitely.

"Yeah...," I trailed off as I watched Miley shoot the ball, only to have it air and sail towards me. "Play ball?" I finally asked as I caught the ball and turned to look at Shorty. She smiled and nodded her head before reaching out a hand and knocking the ball out of my hands. I stared at her in awe as she dribbled the ball and went for a beautiful lay-up, the ball rolling off of the tips of her fingers and banking against the backboard before dropping into the rim.

"So wassup, are we gonna play or not? I didn't interrupt sexy time for nothing, right?" Shorty asked after catching her own rebound and passing the ball to me.

I started dribbling the ball and took a few steps towards the basket before pulling up and shooting a jump shot. The ball went in effortlessly and Shorty took that as my response that yes, we were going to play some ball.

–

After I was done with my third consecutive game of basketball I looked around the park for Miley and spotted her in the secluded section of the area having a heated discussion with Sarah. I called a water break and slowly made my way to where they were and caught tidbits of what they were saying as I got closer.

"Look! I'm done with her!"

"C'mon Miley! Give her another try!"

"No! I'm with Lilly now."

"Oh c'mon! Lilly is worse than Joannie!"

"No, she's not! She would never hurt me like your best friend did!"

"She would if she really knew what was going on," Sarah said in a suggestive tone.

"You wouldn't," Miley said all tensed up.

"Of course I wouldn't... maybe. But I'm telling you that Lilly Truscott will end up hurting you one way or the other."

Getting sick and tired of Sarah's bullshit, I finally made my presence known by wrapping my arms around Miley's waist from behind and giving her neck a kiss.

"What's going on here, ladies?" I asked innocently, but fixated Sarah with a hard stare.

"Uhmm... uhhhh... N-nothing," she stuttered.

"So you weren't just trying to convince Miley that I would become an abuser sometime in the future or anything, like your best friend?" I asked with one raised eyebrow. Upon hearing this, I felt Miley's body tense up in my arms and I squeezed her lightly, trying to convey that it would never happen. She still didn't relax so I gave her a kiss on the cheek. "How's she doing anyway?" I asked after pinning Sarah with my eyes again. "Did my fists do any justice to her ugly face?"

"Ugh! Whatever!" She said in disgust, rolling her eyes while shaking her head. "And you just totally contradicted yourself, so I stand by what I said earlier."

"Yeah yeah whatever. No one wants you here anyway. Why don't you go take care of Palumbo and stay outta my girlfriends life? You can tell your BFF to stay outta our lives, too."

"You're such an asshole! Hey! Are you even listening to me?!" she exclaimed when I ignored her and spun Miley around in my arms to give her a deep kiss. "Ew. Can you not? Hello! Ugh. Get a room," she spat before finally getting sick of our PDA and turning on her heels and stomping away. "Oh, and Miley? This conversation isn't done yet."

Miley's response was to shoo her away with the flick of her wrist before wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me even close to her.

After a few seconds, when Sarah's footsteps were no longer heard, I pulled away from the kiss and gave Miley a questioning look.

"What?" she asked as her eyes dropped down to my sweat stained shirt.

I tilted my head to the right slightly and raised and eyebrow. "What was that all about?" I questioned. I didn't want to be all suspicious or have any doubts, but that conversation was really interesting.

"What was what all about?" she asked, obviously playing dumb and still avoiding my gaze.

I stiffened up and dropped my hands to her hips, pushing her away slightly until she looked me in the eyes. "Miley," I said in a stern voice.

Her body slumped in defeat as her arms unwrapped from around my neck and fell down to her sides. "I don't know," she shrugged. I gave her a glare and she immediately explained, "She wanted me to break up with you and get back with Joannie."

"What?!" I asked outraged, "why the hell would she try something like that?" I was pissed the fuck off. I just got this amazing girl, after months of fooling around with other girls, and I was not about to lose her. This amazing girl who made my heart flutter and skip a beat, who put up with my bullheaded ways and told me the honest to God truth even if she knew that it would hurt me? I was not going to let go of her that easy. I guess what Shorty was saying earlier that day got to me, and I was hoping to keep Miley around for the long run, until she didn't want me anymore.

"Don't worry about it!" Miley stressed, "I'm not leaving you anytime soon for anyone, everyone who wants me can take a backseat for the long run, because I am not leaving the passenger side as long as you're the one driving."

I stared at her in confusion. What? "What?"

She rolled her eyes playfully and gave me a peck on the lips. "I'm saying that as long as you'll let me, I'll be your co-pilot."

"Huh?" I guess I was still out of breath and wasn't getting enough oxygen into my brain, because everything she was saying didn't make sense at all.

"I WANNA BE WITH YOU AND ONLY YOU FOR AS LONG AS YOU'LL LET ME BE YOURS!" Miley finally exclaimed, shaking her head in amusement and disbelief.

Understanding clouded my mind and I nodded my head, "Why didn't you just say that!"

"I did! You big ol' doofus," she said, shaking her head again. "I'm just glad your face is nice to look at, because I swear sometimes the whole 'dumb jock' and 'air head blond' things apply to you," she muttered under her breath as she leaned her forehead on my shoulder.

I growled playfully, wrapped my arms around her waist tightly, picked her up, and spun her around a few times. She giggled and wrapped her arms around my neck, squealing in delight all the while. "I'm pretty sure that you just insulted me, but thanks. Your face is nice to look at, too," I chuckled after I stopped spinning us and we were both settled with our feet on the ground. Miley was about to retort her own sarcastic response when a loud booming voice cut through our little atmosphere.

"HEY! YOU ASSHOLE!" I stiffened immediately, thinking that the voice was directed at me because let's face it, anything that had to do with me and girls only meant drama. Add the fact that the girls I had slept with thought they had some kind of claim on me all the time. "YOU THINK YOU CAN LEAVE ME AT THE HOUSE AND HIDE OUT HERE AT THE PARK? I DON'T THINK SO!"

We both turned around just in time to see Shorty jump up from the bench she was sitting on to run away from her girlfriend. "Ooooh, she's in trouble," I taunted.

–

AN: I've grown some the last couple of years, cuz yanoe... life has a way of kicking you in the ass sometimes? So, I don't know if I'll take this the direction I've been meaning to, take a whole new direction altogether, or just write whatever comes up into my head. I know it's been awhile, but I hope that there are people still in this fandom! I've been reading my work over again,and it just inspired me to get back into the game. I noticed a few errors throughout the story, and I'm planning on going back to change the mistakes. Thank you to any old readers who are still around, and hello to all you new readers. Hopefully I update soon! Keep your fingers crossed =P