Here's another sweet, and somewhat bittersweet lollie one-shot.
Enjoy!
"Smile, Dream Weaver"
FanFic by: KeyLimePie14
With a soft, sad smile Lilly knelt down and opened the white quilt chest at the foot of her bed. Along with the smell of the cedar chest many other aromas wafted to her nose. All comforting to her in one way or another. She smiled at the things in the chest, but this time she wasn't just looking back, she was looking for one item in particular. She jumbled some things around, before uncovering what she was searching for.
With a small grunt she pulled the corner of the old blanket out from under all of her other precious items. She moved away an old sock monkey her great aunt had made for her before she passed away. With another gentle tug she pulled the main concern of her search, a baby blanket out from the chest.
She held it gently between both hands, stroking it. Feeling the textures of the knitted hearts and weave design she'd loved to feel ever since she was young. She held it to her face and giggled when the frayed edges tickled her cheek. The soft cotton texture felt good against her smooth skin. It smelled vaguely of wood smoke and old fabric. The quilt itself was only as old as she, but it was worn and frayed as though it were older. To say the least the small cream colored quilt was loved tenderly. And you could certainly tell this by looking at the now subtle, but never removed completely, stains that covered the article in certain patches.
The more Lilly looked at it, the more memories flooded her mind. It was as is the quilt were telling her its life story, begging her to remember all it had known, and seen. And remember she did. She remembered vividly how delicately she had sewn a patch, an old pocket off of a pair of blue jeans, over a worn out patch near the center of it.
She remembered the day her dog, only a mere puppy then, and teething, had chewed the bottom causing an uneven edge. It only made the quilt more special and priceless. Although at that time she had been so mad she smacked the puppy on her nose, causing the puppy to run and hide. Lilly remembered herself crying, and her mother pulled her onto her warm lap, and comforted her. Lilly apologized to her puppy when she and her mother returned from the ice cream parlor. Little Majestic happily accepted the cone her six year old owner held out to her.
Lilly even remembered why it smelled of wood smoke. She used to think of that smell the prettiest in the world, and in a way, while smelling the quilt, she still did. No matter how many times she had washed it that smell had clung to it. As if wanting her to never forget the night she had fallen asleep around the bonfire and Oliver had covered her up… trying to keep her body warm against the chill of the wind on that rare cold winters night.
She drew in a sharp cut off breath at the thought of him. He had been her best friend. No, he still should be her best friend. Had she not immediately rejected him when he confessed his deeper feelings for her. But she had just been so frightened by the thought of them holding each other as more than friends, she ran away, and in the process of pulling herself in from him destroyed all she had had with him; Their delicate friendship, the one that had been woven together as eagerly, and carefully as the quilt she held closely to her body, and the possibility of loving him as more than a best friend. She gave all of that up, all because she gave in to her fears. And everyday she regretted her choice.
Some days were tougher to get through than others. Such as, though often, she would see him walking down the hall at school and would allow her mind to drift off, even if just for a moment, to memories of running up to him and hugging him from behind, startling him. She relished at the thought of how she would giggle and he would instantly relax in her arms, making a joke of how one day she would kill him with that, but she wouldn't be focusing on his words, but rather how his body melded into hers.
She knew, given the chance, that she would take back her actions on that day; The day she selfishly pushed him completely out of her life. She wanted nothing more than to call him and hear his voice once more. To hear his gentle, deep laughter roll through her ears; the most beautiful sound in the world to her. She would give anything to see his smile directed at her. She missed the way his eyes shone when he gazed at her. He had always looked upon her with a gaze so sincere and meaningful. She knew he only ever looked at her that way, and that he probably always would. He'd even told her so. 'Lil, you're the only one I've ever loved.' He had told her that day those three words he dared to utter to her ruined everything. He had trusted her with all of his secrets. After all he didn't go around telling the world he wet the bed until he was eight, did he? Most certainly not. And Lilly felt special in knowing she was the only one he'd ever confided in with all things personal like that.
He'd only ever made one mistake in the wake of their relationship and that was trusting her too much. He looked upon her like she was a goddess. And when he looked at her this way, she felt exactly that. And sometimes that was not a good thing; others however, were magical. Like the time on her twelfth birthday when they got caught up in a moment and shared a breathtaking kiss.
But then, they'd always had a special bond so he'd never seen any reason not to trust her. He was not the one at fault. He simply did what he had always done; trusted her with his inner thoughts. Only this time it went sour because it relied on her to make or break it. She broke it; not only the uncommon bond of friendship, but also his heart. And that was always what tore her the most; seeing those few seconds of searing pain flash through his milk chocolatey eyes. The same eyes, in fact, that had once held laughter and joy. But she couldn't remember any other emotion that had crossed his face but those two seconds when his heart shattered to pieces right in front of her. She had told him no, she didn't feel that way, numbly and without emotion. She had been too scared to let him see what she had really been feeling then, so she lied. She just didn't want to ruin what they already had. Hadn't that turned out stunningly?
Lilly sniffled and realized that she had begun crying. She moved a shaking hand to her cheek and made an attempt at wiping the salty pain away. She breathed in one more ragged breath before reaching for the phone that lay in silence at her side. She just couldn't take it anymore. She had to let him know how she felt. So before she could talk herself out of it she was dialing the all too familiar digits. She sat, listening to the steady pound of her heartbeat in her ears and the beep, bop, boop of the different keys being pressed in. With each and every ring she began to realize how close she could actually be to hearing his melodic voice.
"Lilly?" She heard and her breath caught in her throat. She gulped, not even wondering how he knew it was her before she even spoke.
Only one thing was on her mind; the voice she had been pining to hear was breathing on the other end of the phone, anxiously awaiting her reply.
"Yeah, Oliver it's me." She heard herself reply, her voice sounding somewhat raspy.
"I never expected to hear your voice again. I figured you hated me." He blew longingly into the phone. She slowly smiled; just glad she wasn't the only one who had never forgotten. She laughed and breathed,
"Oh, Oliver don't be such a donut. I could never hate you." And it seemed that was really all that needed to be said. She smiled as his breathing picked up, meaning he was excited.
"Really?" He asked, sounding like an eager little kid.
"Really." She replied. And he laughed; a sound that she had been dreaming to hear for ages. It would all be back in place soon, she could feel it. She subconsciously threaded a piece of her baby quilt through her hands, knowing there were many more memories left to come for her and the quilt, who had lived a lifetime, but still yearned to remind her of more on another day, silently willing her to remember all it did, and would. She would remember.
She smiled, she just knew she would.
