Love Bites
is a Fan Fiction story by James Doyle (his longest second-longest to-date), posted on FanFiction.Net and set in the universe of Hannah Montana. The story stars series main characters Jackson Stewart and Lilly Truscott. Its point of departure from the Canon is after the episode "Can't Get Home to You Girl".
The story begins almost two years after the aforementioned episode, at the beginning of the second semester of Lilly's freshman year in college. Jackson has returned to Tennessee to attend Tennessee University, while Lilly has turned down a full scholarship at USC to attend school in New York so she can continue her relationship with Oliver as he attends Jiuliard.
A few weeks following a supposedly-amicable breakup with Oliver, Lilly catches him in bed with a fellow Jiuliard student, one she'd suspected him of seeing on the side for quite some time. Humiliated and heartbroken, Lilly hastily packs up her belongings and sets out on an ill-planned return to California.
While en route, Lilly's car breaks down on a rural section of Interstate 40 in Tennessee. Having severed ties with her mother and Miley, Lilly calls the only person she feels she can still turn to: Jackson Stewart. When Lilly accepts Jackson's invitation to stay with him for awhile, it turns both of their lives upside-down, and takes their relationship in a whole new direction.
The tropes section will contain unmasked spoilers. If you don't want the story spoiled, go read the story.
Love Bites contains examples of:
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Alternate Character Interpretation - Oliver is portrayed as a philandering Jerkass, Jackson is portrayed as being more intelligent and mature, and Lilly is portrayed as more sober, cynical, and worldly. It's all chalked up to time and experience. - Benevolent Boss - Mitch McLean, owner of McLean's Office Supplies, is kind enough to hire Lilly and take her under his wing. All hell breaks loose when he goes on vacation and leaves his son in charge.
- Big Applesauce - Oliver's going to Jiuliard, Lilly left once she no longer had a reason to stay, and Mamaw Stewart didn't care for it when she visited some years prior.
- California University - Tennessee University, complete with a fictional college town.
- Chivalrous Pervert - Deep down, Jackson is unquenchably-hot for Lilly. That said, he loves her, and he'll have words with anybody who talks about her like a piece of meat.
- Covert Pervert - Henry Morris. While he's genuinely sympathetic toward Lilly's hardships, and does care about her to some degree, his main concern is getting into her pants.
- Die for Our Ship - Lilly and Oliver had to go for this one.
- Drugs Are Bad - This story can get a bit Anvilicious about it, particularly in the final chapter.
- Everyone Can See It - Lilly and Jackson are in love. Morris sees it, Miley sees it, Robbie Ray sees it, Mamaw Stewart sees it, but it takes Lilly and Jackson a few chapters to see it.
- Honest John's Dealership - What McLean's Office Supplies becomes when the owner's son takes over.
- Kissing Under the Influence - Lilly finds herself particularly susceptible to Morris' charms while stoned, and comes precariously close to getting raped.
- Marijuana is LSD - Played straight with Lilly's first experience, which has her a little more tripped-out than she probably should be. Subverted later in the story when Lilly starts smoking the stuff habitually, and it barely takes the edge off.
- My Car Hates Me - Lilly's Cobalt broke down for good en route to California.
- Plea Bargain - Lilly accepts the DA's offer of one year probation and four weeks' drug rehab for Misdemeanor Possession.
- Romantic False Lead - This is how Jackson sees Morris when he takes Lilly to the party.
- Sex Equals Love - Lilly and Jackson's first order of business after declaring their love for one another was to consummate their relationship.
- Shout-Out - Though not a crossover, this story contains several references:
- Suite Life franchise:
- Morris went with his parents on a cruise aboard the S.S. Tipton, mostly because he wanted to meet London. He lost interest when she struck him as being a dimwit.
- Mitch McLean and wife go on a second honeymoon aboard the S.S. Tipton, setting the stage for his son to take over.
- Miley as Hannah calls in a favor from London to get the Nashville Tipton for Lilly and Jackson's wedding reception.
- Also, Lilly and Oliver break up at the Waverly Sub Station.
- Suite Life franchise:
- Soundtrack Dissonance - Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World", which is perhaps the signature song of this trope, is used to highlight the surrealism of Lilly's first experience with drugs.
- Stoners Are Funny - Lilly and her party crew have quite the interesting conversation while toking it up.
- Title Drop - Author trademark. In the song lyric quoted at the very end.
- Tropaholics Anonymous - Lilly gets four weeks of court-ordered drug rehab, after which she and Robbie Ray attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and Jackson and Miley attend Nar-Anon meetings.
- Tyrant Takes the Helm - When Mike McLean temporarily takes over the business from his father, his primary concern becomes increasing the bottom line at all costs. Despite having a creepy crush on Lilly, he constantly berates her for not selling enough, and not being perky enough. He eventually fires her for her drug habit, which ironically, she took up to be able to deal with him.
