A/N: For those of you that read Late Night Games, there may be a direct sequel to that coming… eventually, but for now, you'll have to settle for another normal interruption. Haha. This is still following in the sequence of the stories though, don't worry. I'd set it a few days after Late Night Games, the following weekend. Also, I tried to go more from Oliver's point of view this time instead of Lilly's. I'm not a guy though… so, let me know how I did.
Just An Armrest
Oliver walked quickly between the two buildings, trying to slow his stride, but he just couldn't help it. His sneakers squished in the grass, freshly watered by the Truscott's sprinkler system, even though they weren't supposed to water the lawn in the middle of the afternoon according to the rules set by the Neighborhood Home Owners Association. Heather Truscott always did play by her own rules though, kind of like her daughter. He drew in a breath, preparing to knock on the back door, but then he caught sight of Lilly, leaning on the counter, her phone against one ear.
She had a newspaper spread out across the kitchen counter, the index finger of her right hand pointing to something on one of the pages. He couldn't see her face entirely, just her profile, but she did not look particularly happy. Her jaw was clenched and her shoulders were tensed. His eyes widened when she kicked one of her sneakers against the baseboard of the counter and gave an irritated huff. The only person who could make Lilly this angry over the phone, besides him, was her mother. This couldn't be good.
Oliver tried the doorknob, turning it gingerly, not surprised to find it unlocked. When Lilly expected him over, she tended to leave it unlocked… usually. There was that one time where he stood there knocking for almost ten minutes because she couldn't hear him over the radio. He wiped his sneakers on the mat just outside of the door, trying to get the water and grass off the soles of his shoes. The mat used to say something about a humble home on it, but the letters were so faded, he could really only see the h of home. Easing the door open as quietly as he could, Oliver took a step into the kitchen.
"Mom, I have plans. Why couldn't you tell me this earlier?"
There was a pause while Lilly listened in on the phone, not noticing that Oliver was in the room, and he shut the door softly behind him, leaning against it, arms crossed while he took in the picture before him. Her hair was down, spilling over her shoulders, swishing along her back every time she shook her head in anger. He could imagine her eyes flashing every time she raised her voice too, even though he couldn't see them, her cheeks just a little pink from her frustration. If anyone asked him, he would never admit it, but Lilly angry was one of his favorite things to see, especially when she wasn't directing that anger at him. Actually, no, that wasn't true. He liked it then too. She just got this look on her face and this tone to her voice that was so-
"How could you not know? You said it was going to be a short meeting! How could there possibly be a perfume emergency?"
Perfume emergency? Really? Oliver couldn't help it. He gave a small chuckle at that, which of course made Lilly freeze before turning around. When she saw it was him though, her shoulders relaxed about a thousand percent, and even though she was rolling her eyes, she was smiling, just a little, biting her lip to hold it back now.
"Fine, mom, whatever. I'll talk to you later."
Lilly clicked her phone closed and gave Oliver a tight smile, turning around completely to face him.
"So, bad news?" he asked her, trying his best to stay right where he was. He was going to make a crack about how if she was going to leave the door unlocked, maybe she should pay more attention to it in case burglars decided to pop by for a visit, but he thought better of it. He also decided that maintaining his distance might be a good idea right now. He tended to have a hard time keeping his hands to himself lately when Lilly was angry. Or when she was laughing. Or when she was bored. Really, anytime he was around her.
"Argh. My mother is so annoying! She says she's stuck at a meeting because of a perfume emergency!" Lilly threw her hands into the air at the last sentence, punctuating her frustration. Oliver knew Heather worked for a cosmetic company, but he was still not entirely sure what is was her job entailed.
"Okay…" Oliver waited for her to go on.
"I have to watch my brother," Lilly explained, lowering her voice a little bit.
"Ah. I guess that means we're not going to the movies," Oliver replied, catching up to her mood now. He pushed away from the door, taking a place next to her at the counter to peer at the newspaper she had spread out behind her. He had been standing at the entrance to the room for long enough. It was going to look a little suspicious if he stayed there for too much longer.
"Yeah, sorry," Lilly muttered, turning around to look at the paper with him.
"Unless we take him with us," Oliver added, nudging her in the side and noticing that she had the paper open to the entertainment section, the list of theaters and movie times covering the pages he could see.
"I thought we were going to see that new slasher movie. I can't take my brother to see that!"
"Come on, it's PG-13. It can't be that bad." Elbows on the counter, Oliver turned his head to look at her, completely forgetting how close he was standing to her, and had to immediately turn his head back the other way, inhaling sharply. Her face was too close. Way to close. Taking a quick step back from the counter, he added, "Besides, it starts in like, forty minutes. We could make that."
"Oliver, he's nine. My mom would kill me if she knew I took him to see it," Lilly tried to explain, but she was eying him warily now, noticing that he appeared to not want to get too close to her.
"So, don't tell her. Tell her we're taking him to see that movie about the talking dog." He raised his eyebrows at her a little bit, smirking, trying to show her there was nothing wrong, that his avoidance was not her fault.
Lilly watched him, the finger tips of her right hand playing out a staccato rhythm on the counter top, before she gave in, just like he knew she would.
"Fine. But if he wakes up in the middle of the night because he's having nightmares about getting hacked into tiny pieces, I'm calling you to talk him down." She pointed her index finger at him for emphasis. "I'll get Mark and meet you at your car."
Oliver nodded his head, his eyes following her as she left the kitchen to go find her little brother. Then he sighed, muttering to himself, "you can call me even if he doesn't have nightmares," as he walked out of the kitchen's back door.
Five minutes later, Lilly and Mark were waiting for him in the driveway, and he was arguing with his dad on the front porch.
"Oliver, just take Owen with you. You won't even know he's there," Mr. Oken needled, opening his wallet, and handing him a twenty dollar bill. "I'll even pay for him."
"But dad," Oliver started to protest, his eyes flicking over to Lilly.
"Look, you're already taking Mark on your date. And I really need some quiet."
"It's not a date," Oliver mumbled unconvincingly. Owen burst through the front doors of the house and Oliver rolled his eyes. "You have to sit in the backseat," he told his younger brother as he turned to walk to the car.
With the younger siblings safely in the backseat and buckled in, Lilly began fiddling with the radio as Oliver drove. She couldn't find any music she deemed worthy for a car trip to the movie theater though, and quickly flicked the dial to the off position and sat staring out the window.
"How come you don't have to wear a seatbelt?" Mark asked Lilly in a voice Oliver recognized, one that was used by little brothers everywhere when they were about to spend a long time driving you crazy.
Lilly grabbed the belt, and Oliver saw her roll her eyes as she said, "I'm putting it on right now."
"So, we're seeing the movie about the talking dog?" Owen asked from the back.
Lilly angled her head to be able to see him in the side mirror and she tried not to laugh as he attempted to do the hair flip Oliver had perfected. Oliver looked at her out of the corner of his eye, knowing she saw Owen's attempt, and decided this was as good of a time as any to figure out just what they were going to see.
"Do you want to see the movie about the dog?" Oliver asked his brother, braking slightly as he turned out of their neighborhood.
"No, but that's what dad said. I wanna see the movie with the guy killing people in the woods!"
"Yep, you two are definitely related," Lilly muttered to Oliver softly.
She leaned back in the passenger seat, and Oliver could feel her eyes on him for most of the ride. He tried not to grip the steering wheel too tightly, but he kept catching the tips of his fingers turning white, and he had to force himself to relax.
***
"Is it gonna be scary?" Mark asked Lilly when the four of them were waiting in line to buy popcorn.
"Oliver says it shouldn't be scary," Lilly informed him, giving Oliver a significant look at that.
"Yeah, and you gotta remember, it's not real." Oliver nodded his head. "If you want, when it's over, I bet we could figure out how they do all of the special effects and the fake blood, okay?"
"Okay."
Mark nodded his head too, imitating the way Oliver tilted his, and Lilly had to roll her eyes again.
"And, remember, if the movie gives you nightmares, Oliver also said you can call him in the middle of the night, no matter what time, right?" Lilly smirked at Oliver, daring him to disagree. Wisely, he again, nodded his head.
"Can I get popcorn and gummy worms?" Owen asked, examining the case of candy at the counter. He was taking Oliver's whole "you can get whatever you want as long as you don't tell mom" speech very seriously.
"Uh, sure… if you share with Mark," Oliver told him, stepping up to the girl at the register.
Lilly waved off his offer to buy her something, saying she didn't want anything, and a tense five minutes later, after Owen and Mark debated whether they wanted butter on their popcorn or not, they were finally able to go into the theater. Oliver, his hands in his pockets to keep them in check, let the younger siblings go ahead of them.
"You think we're gonna get paid for this baby-sitting?" Lilly asked, elbowing him in the side.
"Hey, my dad gave me twenty bucks," Oliver responded, elbowing her back.
"Yeah, but you just spent it on junk food for your mini mes over there.' She gestured to their brothers as she spoke.
"Damn. You're right." He shook his head in mock defeat, but he grinned at her anyway.
"You should watch that language. Owen'll tell on you." Lilly hooked her thumbs in the back pockets of her shorts, slowing her stride just a little to prolong them catching up with their brothers.
"Right. I'm not worried about that. I'm more worried about your mom finding out I took Mark to see a horror movie." He gestured for her to go ahead of him as they walked up the steps, but she shook her head.
"Can we sit here?" Owen was at a row of seats at the first landing when he asked, and Oliver shrugged his shoulders.
"If you want to sit that close, sure, but it's really, really, close." Oliver tried to shoot Owen and Mark a telepathic message, letting them know that they were not going to want to be that close to the blood and guts on screen. Apparently though, he had not perfected the tone of voice required for it like his mother had, because both boys sat down eagerly. Oliver looked over his shoulder at Lilly, who was obviously not looking forward to being that close to the screen either.
"Do you guys mind if we sit further back?" Lilly asked, looking at her little brother, not at either of the Oken siblings. Mark's eyes widened, but he shrugged the same way Oliver had.
"You guys gonna be okay by yourselves?" Oliver asked, not sure if that was what Lilly had in mind, but figured it was better than arguing with his brother about where they were sitting.
"Yes, dad, jeez." Owen rolled his eyes and made a shooing motion with his hand.
Lilly swallowed a giggle, but was all business when she said, "okay, but stay together. If one of you goes to the bathroom, you both go, got it?"
"Got it!" both boys responded.
"Seriously," Lilly muttered, following Oliver up the steps, "I should be getting paid for this."
"Is it weird that I like your brother more than mine?" Oliver asked jokingly over his shoulder.
Lilly responded with a laugh, and nodded her head when he stopped at a row of seats about half way up. Oliver sat down in the second seat off the aisle, and Lilly slid into the one on his left. He cleared his throat, trying to think of something to say, and watched as her little brother turned around and waved at him. Oliver nodded his head in acknowledgement, and as Lilly bent to hook her purse around the armrest between them, he caught the scent of her hair, and it was suddenly too hot in the theater. He felt like there were just too many people, like he had to get away, but he just leaned back, slouching a little, trying to relax.
"You okay?" Lilly asked him as the lights started to dim.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He tried to brush off her concern, turning to look at her before having to quickly look away again. He was glad for the lack of light. Otherwise she would be able to see the heat that was flooding his face, and she would probably be able to read his mind, just like she always could.
He tried to concentrate on the movie and not on the girl next to him who gave off the scent of apple scented shampoo every time she moved. And he tried not to picture the color in her cheeks when she was yelling about something or the expression on her face the last few times when he had made the attempt to kiss her. And he tried not to let his frustration at not being able to touch her boil over. Because, really, this was not the time for that. They were at the movies with their siblings. So, maybe their siblings were a few rows up and wouldn't be able to see him if he did try anything. Still. Not the time.
Twenty minutes into the movie, and Oliver was in hell. He kept shifting from one side of his seat to the other. He wasn't sure what to do with his hands. Weren't horror movies the time when guys were supposed to do the whole yawn and stretch deal? He couldn't do that with Lilly. And, he didn't know if it was okay for him to lean on the armrest between them or not. She was leaning toward him, but not really, her body was just turned that way. And she wasn't using either of her armrests. He didn't want to use the one on his other side though, because then she might think he was trying to be further away from her. Even though he did think it was a better idea for him to be further away from her in his current frame of mind, that didn't mean he actually wanted to be further away from her.
Oliver sighed as the debate raged inside his head. He didn't even know what was going on in the movie. Some blond girl was knocking softly on a door, and the door creaked open all on its own, which was the universal sign for "don't go in there," but of course, she went in anyway.
"Stupid girl," he heard Lilly mumble to his left.
Oliver chuckled quietly, not giving her a response. They had been trying to be better at talking during movies, and he didn't really want to get kicked out of this one. Besides, he didn't want to talk about the movie. If he started talking now, it would be debating armrest etiquette, which he was sure the people around them would appreciate even less than commentary on the film.
But what if he did use the armrest between them and he had one of those moments where he forgot anything existed but Lilly? Moments like that were becoming a lot more frequent when he was around her. Sometimes, even when he wasn't around her. If he leaned on that armrest, he would be in the apple shampoo force field… maybe even close enough to her to figure out what kind of lip gloss she was wearing. And that could be dangerous in the dark. Very dangerous.
Okay, so this was most definitely a bad idea. He should never have convinced Lilly to come to the movies with him. If he was trying to avoid being close to her, what could possibly have possessed him to be sitting next to her in a dark theater watching a scary movie? She had her left leg crossed over her right, leaning toward him just a little bit again, and even in the dim light, he could see a loose thread from her shorts that moved over her thigh every time she shifted in her seat.
This was crazy. He was supposed to be watching a bunch of morally corrupt teenagers get stalked and sliced up by some pyscho on screen, but instead he was mesmerized by a thread sitting on his best friend's left thigh. A perfectly tanned and toned thigh. Oliver swallowed and inched his left arm on to the armrest between them, letting it rest there, just what the piece of plastic was for, deciding that if he was already going to torture himself by being next to her in the dark, he might as well go all out. If Lilly noticed, she gave no indication, both of her arms crossed over her chest while she cringed at something that was taking place in the movie. He forced his eyes back on the screen. He was the one who had suggested this movie; he should be watching it. Then Lilly's right hand was gripping his arm and she was turning toward him.
"What?" Oliver hissed, looking back at her.
"That's disgusting. Tell me when it's over," Lilly whispered, her left hand covering the corner of her eye to eliminate the movie from her line of sight.
"Lilly, come on, it's just a movie," Oliver whispered, looking back at the screen to do as she asked, but then he was facing her again, his right hand up to mirror hers. "You tell me when its over."
"No way, I asked you first," she shot back.
"Ssshhh," someone behind them hissed.
Lilly giggled, leaning a little closer to him, and he could feel her fingers warm on the skin of his arm, wrapped around it now in a comforting gesture instead of digging into his skin in fear. He gave her a smile in return, and they both relaxed. When several girls a few rows ahead of them screamed, and then shrieked with laughter, they both decided it was safe to look again.
Oliver was only able to focus on the movie for another few minutes though. Lilly's arm against his was too distracting. They were sharing the armrest now, her fingers still curled around his forearm, and his hand was itching to slide back just a little to slip his fingers between hers. It took almost all of his self control to keep that arm still. Not to mention, every time she gave a little jump, his gaze was drawn to that pesky thread again. There, on her thigh, just brushing her skin whenever a muscle twitched. The skin that was sun kissed because of so much time spent on the beach. And maybe, he thought to himself, sun "kissed" was not the way he should be thinking of her skin right now.
He tried to send his mind elsewhere, and even though his eyes were still on her leg, he softly asked, "do you think Mark and Owen are okay down there?"
"Hopefully. And if they're not, we agreed that it's all your fault, right?"
"Right."
After agreeing, Oliver realized he could feel her watching him. He always knew when she was looking at him. The only problem was, if she was looking at him now, she could probably tell that he was staring at her leg. And she was probably not going to think that he was obsessed with the stray thread from her shorts, so he made an effort to drag his eyes up to hers.
Yep, she was definitely looking at him. But, she didn't look angry. That was a good sign.
"Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, of course. I was just thinking." Oliver nodded his head, and he tried to stop it, remembering that Miley had once told him he looked like a chicken when he repeatedly nodded like that.
"About?" Lilly prompted, a small smile on her face again.
"Sshhh." It was from behind them again.
Okay, so maybe she wasn't all that interested in the movie either. Oliver wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not, but he did know he loved the smile. The one where she alternated between biting her lips and pursing them, trying to hold it back, but always failing. It was his favorite. It usually meant she was even happier than she let on, and he had noticed it a lot more often lately, when she was around him.
"Armrests," he told her truthfully, trying to make his voice even quieter.
Her eyebrows shot up, even in the dark he could see that, but the smile stayed on her face.
"Why are you thinking about armrests?"
Oliver could tell she was trying not to laugh, but he could also tell that she was genuinely curious. That was Lilly. She could want to make fun of him, but still completely be interested in what he had to say and understand where he was coming from, even when nobody else did. Another thing he loved about her.
"Well, when you're sitting next to someone like this, who gets the middle armrest?" he asked, feeling one of his eyebrows quirk of its own accord, almost challenging her to come out with a satisfying answer.
Lilly dropped down in her seat a little further, bringing her face a little closer to his, he assumed so she could lower her voice even more, and said, "I thought we were sharing."
He inhaled the scent of her shampoo, and yes, she was close enough now that he knew she was wearing her coconut lip gloss, the kind she usually wore when they went surfing because it had sunscreen built right in, and he almost forgot that he was supposed to respond.
"Well, we are," he told her a little cheekily, "but if it wasn't us, how do you decide? Would you just use the one on your other side?"
"I don't know," she whispered thoughtfully, before glancing down at their arms, hers still crossed over his, fingers on it, "probably."
Oliver knew he shouldn't really consider that a small victory, but he did. If it wasn't him, she wouldn't be sharing the armrest.
"Me too," he admitted. "But, you know, if I went through, like, half the movie, and the other person wasn't using the one in the middle, then maybe I'd use it."
"You've really thought this through," Lilly told him, that smile still there.
He was glad she didn't think he was crazy, well, at least not because of this.
"Only for the last few minutes."
"Sshhh."
This time around, it came from in front of them, and the two of them slunk a little lower in their seats, trying not to let anyone see that they were talking. Oliver saw her bite her lip for what seemed like the millionth time, and he wondered, also for what seemed like the millionth time if her lip gloss tasted as much like coconut as it smelled like the fruit.
And he just had to know. Because it was driving him crazy. Yes, he could have just asked her, but they weren't supposed to be talking anyway, at least, that's what he told himself, so he leaned toward her a little bit. To his surprise, Lilly didn't pull away. He felt her hand slide slowly toward his wrist, her fingers leaving a trail of heat on his skin, and he gave a sharp intake of breath when those same fingers slid between his own, keeping his hand there. He could feel her breath on his face as he moved in closer, and he paused, just to make sure this was okay, that she wasn't going to change her mind, but just as his nose brushed hers, a small bright light was suddenly on them, and he jerked himself back from her, leaving their hands intertwined on the armrest.
Lilly shut her eyes briefly as her head leaned back against her seat, and when she opened them, her jaw was clenched.
Oliver was the one who looked over at the source of light and said, "really? Right now?"
If the theater employee knew what had been about to happen, he tactfully ignored it, instead, motioning behind him, asking, "do these belong to you?"
Oliver shot his gaze around him and saw the forms of Owen and Mark, looking as though they just got caught with their hands in the cookie jar right before dinner.
"Of course they do," Lilly muttered.
The usher motioned for them to follow him out of the theater, and they stood, trailing behind him in the dark, Lilly, to Oliver's dismay, letting go of his hand. He settled for placing his hand on the small of her back to guide her from the room, and when they were outside in the lobby, he tried not to smile too widely when she leaned back into it.
"What happened?" Lilly asked, hoping that this was not going to be a lecture on the movie being too scary for kids under thirteen.
"They were disrupting the movie for the people around them. Talking. Throwing popcorn. Sorry, but they're going to have to leave." The guy did not look the least bit apologetic as he walked away from them.
"Throwing popcorn?" Oliver asked, trying not to laugh. "Who were you throwing popcorn at?"
"The people in front of us," Mark explained quickly, surprised that neither of their siblings looked more angry, "they were gross."
"Gross?" Lilly asked skeptically.
"Yeah. They were talking more than we were, then the guy had his tongue down the girl's throat for like, ever," Owen added.
Oliver and Lilly immediately took a step away from each other at his words, Lilly crossing her arms, and Oliver putting his hands in his pockets.
"Yeah, that's, uh, really gross," Lilly offered, looking at Oliver helplessly.
Oliver tried unsuccessfully not to smile at the expression on her face, and he saw her flush, but he wasn't altogether sure it was with embarrassment. "Just, ah, don't do it again," he told his little brother, and Lilly nodded her head in agreement.
"Does this mean we have to go home?" Mark questioned, looking back and forth between his sister and Oliver.
"If we go home, my dad'll want to know why we're back so soon," Oliver muttered to Lilly. "I don't really want to tell him I got kicked out of another movie with you."
"But this time, it's not our fault," Lilly protested.
"You want to explain to him why there was a make-out session going on in front of our brothers during the talking dog movie?"
"You think he'd believe it was a couple of overexcited baby-sitters?"
"Probably not."
Lilly cocked her head to the side, studying Oliver's face as she thought, and he would have been uncomfortable if he wasn't, yet again, watching her bite her lip and wondering about her lip gloss.
"Arcade?" she asked him finally.
"Arcade," he agreed, deciding the noise and the distraction of games in the other room was just what he needed to keep himself from staring too hard at his best friend. But then, they started walking, and his hand automatically moved to place itself on her elbow, keeping her close to him.
"How come you guys were fighting over the armrest?" Mark asked them innocently.
"What?" Lilly choked out just as Oliver said, "we weren't fighting."
Owen turned and narrowed his eyes at them, saying, "then what were you doing?"
"Oliver was scared," Lilly offered, smacking his side lightly with the back of her hand, "right?"
"Right," Oliver agreed, wisely deciding there was no need to say that she was scared first. "Besides, who fights over an armrest?"
The two younger brothers looked guiltily at one another before speeding up to get to the arcade. Lilly laughed, but Oliver just rolled his eyes.