Oliver Oken stood in the rain with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

It was cold. He looked at the cloudy Malibu sky above him. The weather was never as warm these days as it had once been. It didn't bother Oliver at all. He had long since lost his enthusiasm for the beach. That was where she had first kissed him.

Oliver shook his head. He tried not to think about it, but everything seemed to remind him of her.

He checked his watch. He had gotten there way too early. Once again, he had rushed. He was always rushing; probably because the only worthwhile place he ever went was to be with her.

He knew they would be late. They were always late, but Oliver didn't have the energy to get mad. He felt completely drained, exhausted, and spent. Sleepless nights had become a routine thing to him, and all of his waking moments were spent thinking of her. It was a hard life to live, and the effects of it all were taking a toll on his body.

He could remember the day Lily had found him in the storage closet. Pale, shaking, and upset, he had just witnessed them kissing in the hallway for the first time. He didn't think he could bear to watch, so he had turned on the spot and ran for the first hiding place he could get to.

"Oliver?"

Silence.

"Oliver, I know you're in there!"

"..Go away.", he mumbled.

She pushed the door open.

"Oliver!" Lily stared open mouthed at the trembling figure before her, slouched on the floor, his head in his hands. She rushed forward and knelt down beside him.

"What's the matter?"

He couldn't answer the question. Tears stung his eyes and his throat burned.

But she knew. They both knew what the matter was, and Oliver knew that to see him so upset, so emotionally attached to another girl, must have broken Lily's heart.

"Oliver...I hate seeing you like this.", she said, her voice trembling. "I really hate it."

He forced himself to look up into her bright blue eyes, and immediately regretted it. He saw the mirrored hurt, sadness, and heart break that he felt everytime he looked at Miley. Everytime he looked at a person he loved so much that didn't love him back.

"Lily, I...", he started, unsure of what he could even say to her.

But she kissed him, and when Oliver felt the longing in her lips he knew what he had to do.

He pulled away, and awkwardly started to tell her that he didn't feel the same way, but she stopped him.

"I know! I know...", she said quietly, wiping her lips and looking at the floor. "I just don't want you to feel like no one loves you. Because...Because some people do."

Oliver could never quite forget that day. The memory of it creeped up on him at unexpected times. Late at night, when he was all alone trying and failing to fall asleep, during the day in school, when he saw her smile just barely conceal the sadness and despair within, and sometimes...sometimes even when he thought about Miley. He felt guilty, knowing that the same pain she inflicted on him, he inflicted on Lily. He was ashamed that he felt the way he did, and why couldn't he be happy with someone that wasn't already in love with someone else? Why couldn't he love someone who was more than available? Someone that knew him better than most, and would treat him better as well.

But he couldn't. He just couldn't. Because as much as he felt guilty about Lily's feelings for him, he felt even more a deep, burning passion inside of him for Miley; something that seemed to grow stronger everyday, even as their friendship crumbled apart.

After all, once Jake Ryan had entered the picture, Miley didn't seem to want to spend much time with anyone else. This was another thing that brought Oliver back to the guilt he had about Lily. Because he knew that as much as he was hurt by the situation, Lily must have been suffering in silence far worse. She not only loved someone who didn't love her back, she had now seemingly lost her best friend as well. The best friend who unintentionally stole the heart of the one boy Lily had given hers away to; only to be smashed to pieces that day on the storage closet floor.

After that day, Lily seemed to be trying to move on. She had given up on Oliver and told him one fateful day about her new feelings for Jake Ryan. Oliver tried to give her advice but just couldn't. After all, they were in the same boat. A sinking ship sailing along the stormy waters of the Jake and Miley current. It was dangerous and challenging, but neither one of them could seem to give up.

Oliver didn't care much for Jake Ryan, so loving Miley never really bothered him on the friendship front with him; but Miley was Lily's best friend. So secretly loving her best friend's boyfriend had to make Lily feel some sort of guilt.

But Oliver had to give her credit. Because as much as Lily had talked about how much she liked Jake when he had first chosen her, she said nothing of those feelings when Miley had actually started going out with him.

Oliver thought it was a real classy move. He knew that Lily must have cared too much for Miley to let Jake get in the way, and he really admired her for trying to hang onto their strong friendship. As for Oliver's friendships, he didn't really know the state of things. He was never really able to open up to Lily about his feelings for Miley, possibly because he didn't even think he could explain it in words, and his friendship with Miley was just.. complicated. There really were no other words for it.

Oliver looked over at the parking lot and spotted three heads emerging from a car. They had arrived.