Disclaimer:I don't own the legendary and amazing band Journey, nor Mr. Rolie, the lead singer. I don't, and never will, own their hit song 'Don't Stop Believing'… no matter how much I wish... Pretty much I own nothing but the plot.
A/N:I just got back from my vacation today, and while I was gone, inspiration hit me in the form of morning waffles and a marathon of 80's classics. Aah, Good Times, Good Times.
This one-shot is loosely based on a similar incident that happened to me earlier.
Threads of Journey's 'Don't Stop Believing' filled Oliver's ears as he woke from the long, drowsy sleep. Lazily he opened his eyes and they came in instant, contact with piercing light of the sun from outside. The brown-eyed boy let out an uncomfortable hiss, closed his eyes and turned his head in the direction of the music. Rubbing the sleep from his chocolate eyes, Oliver got up from the bed and looked around before placing his bare-feet on the cold, hardwood floor.
Shuffling his feet, Oliver slowly made his way down the carpeted hallway and with each step Journey got louder. Eventually the mop-haired male found his way to the source of the signature song. There, standing at the stove, was Lilly bopping her head and swaying her hips to Journey while singing the words into a spatula. Oliver mentally laughed at the surfer's extreme obsession with the 80's band she was currently serenading with.
"…Just a city boy. Born and raised in South Detroit. He took the midnight train goin' anywhere…" Lilly's tone deaf singing made Oliver cringe and at the same time laugh.
She stood there completely oblivious to her visitor and continued on with her singing and pouring the egg mixture into the sizzling pan. Not even paying attention to the laughing admirer she had watching her from the doorway. Turning with the spatula in hand, Lilly twirled in a circle towards the microwave reaching her hand out to the bread bag. Grabbing the bag in her right hand, her make-due microphone in the other, the blonde made her way back to the cooking.
"… A smell of wine and cheap perfume…" She shouted into the black, plastic "microphone".
She turned once more to her left and placed the whole wheat bread into the toaster and pushed down the leaver, then twirling again in the direction of the cabinet with plates.
"…Up and down the boulevard. Their shadows searching in the night…"
Lilly, doing her own version of a walk/dance, made her way back to the burning stove.
"…Living just to find emotion. Hiding somewhere in the nighhhhhhhht…"
Scrapping the scrambled eggs onto the two red plates, she walked/danced her way over to the table. Brushing her bangs out of her eyes and placing the spatula down on the dining table, Lilly looked forward to the door and screamed.
He hands immediately went to her chest, hoping to calm her racing heart. She stumbled back and found balance again leaning against the fridge. Oliver, her best friend and room mate, stood in the same position laughing and throwing his head back.
"Oliver, how long have you been standing there?!"
"Long enough to know you still can't sing… and you can't cook eggs." Oliver grinned at her and let out a low chuckle which was rewarded with the spatula hitting on the side of the head.
Grinning at her accurate target, "I made you eggs, now shut up and eat them," the aspiring journalist seated herself down at the table, grabbed her fork, turned off the stereo and dove into her breakfast.
Oliver eyed the eggs suspiciously then turned back to their creator and raised an eyebrow.
"What's the occasion?"
"Nothing. Just, I made too much," Giving him an annoyed look she continued, "Now are you going to park your butt and eat or question me all day on my motives?"
Shutting his mouth, Oliver did as he was asked and sat down. He picked up the silver fork and prodded the eggs; poking them repetitively. Are they poisoned?
"Stop playing with your food and eat it."
"Yes, Mom." Giving him an evil look, Lilly stuck her tongue out at him.
Their mornings usually started off with the daily bicker that they both knew meant nothing. It was their odd and unusual way of saying 'Good Morning' to one another. The two of them had known each other long enough to not spend their time on pleasantries. Having been together for almost 16 years, Lilly and Oliver's friendship wasn't tested on the times they spent giving each other emotion compliments, but on they way they knew one another like the back of their hand. Lilly would be willing to call Oliver on his shit, and in return he'd be able to keep his distance when she had her tantrums about a losing streak on a Football team. To the average person, Lilly and Oliver might get the stereotype of 'The Old Married Couple', but to them it was a normal occurrence. They never had to deal with the awkward moments of 'should I give you a hug if you're upset or give you space?' To them it was like second nature. Oliver knew that Lilly only wanted comfort when she denied wanting it, and Lilly knew that Oliver only wanted to talk after he'd eaten all the contents of the fridge on a sandwich. It was just like breathing to them.
"Do you have class today?" Oliver asked breaking the silence of chewing between them.
"Yeah, Lit. Don't worry though; Parker said she'd give me a ride. She has class on campus too today."
"Kay good, 'cause the car's still in the shop."
"Seriously? How much damage did Jake do to it? I though he just hit the rail."
"He did, but the dude behind him rear ended Jake. So the tail lights needed to be fixed too." Lilly shook her head before digging back into her eggs. "Oh, and next time, leave your Journey CD back in the apartment. Not everyone loves them as much as you, Lil."
"They're better than Lil' Wayne…" Lilly muttered under her breath.
"What was that, Mrs. Rolie?"
"Nothing. I'm just saying that if you and Jake don't want to hear Journey, then stop leaving Lil' Wayne in the car. You know I can't stand him." Finishing her breakfast, Lilly threw the dish in the sink and headed for her bedroom in search of clothes.
Following her trail, Oliver retorted, "If you just gave him a chance I'm sure you wouldn't hate him so much."
"I don't hate him. I just dislike his music, and you know that I can't stand that Hip Hop junk you listen to."
"It isn't junk," Oliver defended. "Besides, you need to stop reliving the 80's. We live in the 21st century, in case you didn't know."
"Just for that remark I'm wearing one of my many retro t-shirts" Lilly said smugly before closing her bedroom door to change.
Oliver rolled his eyes and leaned his body against her door. "I'm just saying you should start listening to music from this era… and I don't mean listening to songs that recently came out from 80's artists."
"Hey, that isn't fair! I've been listening to Ill Scarlett and The Killers quite a bit lately. Metro Station and Hot Little Rocket too! Not to mention Parker got us tickets to see Coldplay next Saturday."
"Oh, so sorry." Oliver said sarcastically.
"You know Ollie, you should stop listening to all that Rap stuff you call music. It'll melt your brain one of these days. Or your lack thereof."
"Hardy Har Har."
Lilly's door swung open and Oliver slipped to the ground without warning, nearly hitting Lilly on the way down. Her laugher chorused through the whole apartment when his body hit the ground with a loud 'THUMP!'
Stepping over his laid out body, Lilly made her way to the bathroom. "I think that was the highlight of my morning so far."
Oliver quickly got up from his spot on the carpet and walked over to Lilly, running his finger through his hair in embarrassment; a light shade of pink evident on his cheek.
"Aww, did little Owwie get hurt on the way down," Lilly teased while running the brush through her long golden locks.
Oliver ignored her comment and decided instead to see if she was actually wearing what she said she would, and wasn't surprised to see that she was. A white t-shirt with a black and white photo of The Breakfast Club donned her feminine torso, and a simple pair of faded skinny jeans covered her legs. She also added a black belt with a silver cassette tape belt buckle to the jeans.
"I didn't think you'd actually wear it, Lil."
"What? The t-shirt or the belt? 'Cause both were added to spite you," Lilly smiled innocently.
Oliver was happy that Lilly didn't grow up being one of walking advertisements for 'Hollister' or 'American Eagle'. It bothered him on a regular basis when he'd see those types of girls walking threw the halls of the university. It was as if those girls relied on the media to tell them what to wear and what 'Hot' is. Oliver and Lilly had often referred to them as 'Media Lambs'. The thing that differed Lilly, or any other girl for that matter, from the Media Lambs, was that she had a sense of individuality, and never let a magazine tell her what 'The latest celebrities in Hollywood were wearing.' It was admirable to say the least.
Applying a thick layer of toothpaste to the green brush, Lilly ran it under the faucet. "Are going to go do something or are you going to stand and stare at me all day."
"I… uh…-" Oliver blushed not realizing she caught him staring.
"By all means, stare. I really don't mind Ollie. You are a 19 year-old male after all."
"Well I would, but watching you drown your toothbrush is much more fun," Oliver watched as she still held the brush under the water.
"Kay look, I hate having it dry on my teeth. We had this talk yesterday, and I keep on telling you time and again," turning off the sink, Lilly stuck the brush in her mouth and began to brush.
"I don't have any classes today," Oliver answered changing the subject and Lilly turned and nodded while continuing to brushing her teeth.
"I'm probably just going to lounge around here all day and watch some TV. I'll see if anything interesting is actually on anymore. If not, I might just walk over to Jake's or something. I might make myself some food before I go. I'm not sure if we still have any turkey meat in the fridge though. I think you might have finished it off when you made your lunch yesterday." Lilly nodded once again to acknowledge his existence, but not paying enough attention to know what he was saying. To be honest, he lost her interest once he started talking about food.
Lilly spit the wad of foam into the sink, and ran the water to wash it down the drain. "Well, whatever it is that you do, don't do anything stupid with Jake. I don't want to drive all the way to hospital again."
"Ah, come on! That was one time, and it was supposed to be safe."
"Mhmm. Sure, sure." Lilly answered disbelieveably, "Just whatever you do today, make sure it doesn't disturb me. After my Lit class, Parker and I are heading over to that new little diner for lunch, and I don't want a call from you saying you might have fractured your wrist."
Ring!
Ring!
Oliver answered with silence, as he watched her walk out the bathroom door and in the direction of the ringing phone.
Picking up the cordless phone Lilly pressed the talk button, "Hello?" Lilly asked into the phone. After a moment or so, Lilly answered back into the phone once the person on the other end responded.
"Is that Parker?" Oliver whispered to Lilly.
Lilly nodded then turned back to her conversation with her friend.
"Put her on speaker. I want to say hi."
Lilly rolled her baby blues then decides to answer to her best friend's request. "Hey, Parks? I'm putting you on speaker. Dumb-Dumb over here would like to talk to you too."
Pressing down on the speaker button, a soprano voice rang through the room, "Hey Oliver!"
"Hey, Parks. How's it hanging?" Oliver asked.
"Upside down. You?"
"Not doing to bad. Trying to wonder how to get a new room mate though," Oliver teased.
"Haha, Lilly was mentioning the same thing just a second ago."
"Really? Is that so Lillian?"
"Yes it is Oliver." Lilly said using the same tone of voice.
"How is it possible that after all these years neither one of you hasn't killed the other? It's beyond me."
"Oh, Parks, I've tried. I just can't bring myself to do it yet. She'll always be my little Lilly-Pad."
"Please stop hugging me," Lilly grumbled with a smile.
"Just let him hug you Lils. He's your best friend, and you've got to give him at least one hug."
"Parks, you know my rule. 5 hugs a year and I've already given you one and Oliver one too. Remember, it's only March! Don't make me waste them."
"Your humor wounds me, Lils."
"She has a way of doing that doesn't she… Hey, Lils?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm on my way. I'm just crossing that Mr. Sushi place on 4th now, kay?"
"Sure, I'll just grab my stuff and meet you outside. Talk to you soon."
"Yep! Oh, and remember to bring Journey. You've got me addicted… Talk to you later, Lil. Bye Oliver."
"See yah on the flip side, Parker," Oliver joked.
Parker's laugh was the last thing they heard, and then the dial tone before Lilly hung up the phone. Walking back to her bedroom, Lilly grabbed her cyan bag and threw her Literature books and her laptop inside.
"I should be back around 5 or so. Depends on how long we'll be at the diner for," Lilly shouted out to Oliver, still collecting her things.
"Seriously? You got Parks addicted too?" Oliver asked avoiding Lilly's earlier comment.
"Apparently. Now move! I have somewhere to be," Lilly urged trying to move his body out of the doorway.
Oliver moved to side to let Lilly pass through the door, "I just don't get it. You have this ability to take the most non-interesting thing and turn it into a craze between people. How do you do it?"
"Hey! Journey's a classic!" Lilly rebutted, running around the apartment stuffing things into her bag haphazardly, "Now, don't you have something to do today; Like watching some food channel or making a sandwich… or something along those lines?"
"Maybe, but I'd much rather spend my time harassing you instead." Lilly growled in Oliver direction before walking over to the front door and dropping her bag on the floor.
"Do you have some sort of disease that makes it impossible to stay normal?" Lilly questioned while lacing up her black converse sneakers.
"I consider it a gift."
"Remind me again why I put up with you?" She asked opening the front door, ready to leave.
"Because I'm the only one that can put up with your obsession to Journey, hatred for all things scientific, your fanatic way of yelling at the sports on TV, the gibberish that you speak, your addiction to eating cold pizza—which by the way is still disgusting and unhealthy—and the creations that you make in the kitchen that you have the audacity to call food," Oliver said triumphantly.
Lilly rolled her eyes then flicked Oliver on the tip of his nose. "Ah yeah, that's it," turning on her heel Lilly headed for the door. "Oh, and Ollie don't forget to order the Chinese ahead of time. I don't want any distractions when I watch the Lakers game today," she threw over her shoulder, disappearing out the door.
A/N: Hope it's alright. FF dot net hates me or something, and as a result my grammer fixes have mysteriously disappeared.
Oh, and I have nothing against Lil' Wayne, or said artists music, it just he isn't my cup of tea. To be honest, any type of Hip-Hop or Rap makes to want to hit my head again a brick wall.
Review if you like whipped cream and syrup with your morning waffles.