A/N: Chapter Three up. I'd like to dedicate this drummer8907 for my first review ever. Thank you to my other reviewers, as well. It really makes this easier. Anyway, now we're in Portland Maine. There are some mentions of streets and harbors coming up in this chapter and in later ones. Generally, the streets, islands, harbors, etc, are all real places (thank you google earth!) But when it says "library" or "apartment" or something, I have no idea if that's what's really there. Big stuff though. So don't hate me if you know Portland and I've got it all wrong. Haha. Enjoy!
Disclaimer:What would make you think I would be lucky enough to own Hannah Montana?
Chapter 3: Better than This
"Oh Lily, I'm so glad you could come up here with Oliver," Mrs. Oken, Oliver's grandmother called from the front seat of her new-smelling Cadillac. Lily knew better though, and the car had to be at least four or five years old. She guessed at that age she didn't get to use it too often.
"I'm glad you're having me."
"Oliver talks about you all the time, you know," she said, smiling at Lily through the rear-view mirror. Lily elbowed Oliver in the seat next to her and laughed.
"Well she is my best friend," Oliver shot back a little defensively, but let it go easily.
"All right, this is my house," she said pulling into a concrete driveway that led to a small-sized white house. It looked very Victorian; well-kept though. Lily unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her car door. She immediately smelled the salty sea air and saw the water beneath the cloudy pale sky in the distance. It was cool and a little windy. Lily thought it was beautiful. More beautiful than the tropics with palm trees and Malibu's sunset.
There was something magical about the place. It was calm and she heard seagulls. She did a double take out towards the water, but it was too far away for her to be sure of what she heard. She wanted to lay down on the beach and take it in. Then a thought occurred to her. She hoped there was a lighthouse. That would make it so unreal.
"Lily!" Oliver called from the front step and motioned to her, "Come on."
"Oh, sorry. Coming!" she called back before running up to the door.
Lily and Oliver walked up the front stairs to the second floor to put away their things away when a though occurred to Lily. "So, where's your room, seeing as I won our scribble game?" she game him a mischievous look.
"Uhm, excuse me, but I believe I won that game," he stopped walking and turned around to face her. "But I'll tell you what. Since you tried so hard, and I would hate to see you sleep on anything less than royal, you can have my room anyway."
Lily hit him in the arm with her backpack jokingly, "Thanks, kid. I appreciate it. But I guess I could still see whatever it is you wanted to show me."
"Not now. I'll show you later. But this room is yours," he said, pointing at an open doorway. "That one's the bathroom, and this one is my door, since I took it off your hands. Actually though, the bed in here isn't too bad, " He said laughing, continuing to show the upstairs rooms to Lily. "Tell you what. You go unpack, I'll shower, and then I'll show you around town. Good?"
"Yeah, good," Lily said and shuffled back to her room. She picked up her suitcase, letting out a huff of breath as she released it, letting it fall to her bed. She unclasped the locks and threw open the top. It was an incredibly old-fashioned suitcase, but she only wanted to take one bag, and was the only one big enough. 'Besides,' she thought, 'It fits in with this scenery perfectly.'
She walked across her new room and pulled open a white-painted antiqued wooden dresser drawer. It matched perfectly with the other white wood furniture and the same robin's egg blue she had predicted earlier. She began piling toiletries and accessories into the small top drawer. But when she pulled a sweatshirt off the top of the pile in her suitcase, she stopped.
Setting the sweatshirt on the bed, she leaned in to take a closer look at what was lying in her suitcase. 'A picture frame?' she asked herself, and turned the felt-backed piece over in her hands. She recognized it instantly. It was a picture of Oliver and her about six years ago. They were ten and making pizza in the Truscott kitchen. Lily remembered it well. She smiled when she saw pizza sauce on Oliver's nose and flour trailing down her front. Oliver kept this picture in one of the scrapbooks his mom made.
'That must have been what he snuck into my suitcase,' she realized. He went out of his way to make sure she would remember him even when she was on vacation, spending every day with him. Somehow, the reality of it made her content, and she placed it on top of the dresser and stepped back to admire it.
Xxx...xxX
It was ten or twenty minutes later when Lily was lying face-up on her bed. "This is pretty comfortable. Good thing I got it out of Oliver," she thought to herself. She'd finished unpacking and kicked her suitcase beneath the bed just a moment ago and was now relaxing. She turned her head and stared wistfully out the window.
Just then she heard footsteps moving the old wooden floorboards. She flipped to her side quickly to see who had come in, when she saw Oliver standing in the doorway.
"Oliver! You almost gave me a heart attack!" she started to say, though couldn't figure out whether or not it had all come out like that when she'd seen that he was in a very shirtless state.'Well-toned,"she analyzed his muscular chest for a moment before realizing what exactly she was doing.
"Enjoying the view?" Oliver asked sarcastically, grinning down on her.
"You bet," she chimed, pulling her eyes up to meet Oliver's, then looking again out the window, "The beach looks beautiful from this room."
"No fair. You know that isn't what I meant," he teased.
"Oh?" she raised an eyebrow and smiled, "Oh. You mean that view," she said, moving her eyes between Oliver's chest and face, "It's all right, I guess."
Oliver rolled his eyes. "You're totally impressed and were definitely just ogling me. You should just admit it." he laughed and walked a little closer to the bed where Lily lay. "Anyway, I think you should return the favor and let me get a good view of something."
"Ew! Oliver! You flirt. Get out of here!" Lily waved her hands in the air and scoffed at him happily.
"No really. It's only fair after all. I'm devilishly handsome and willingly showed off my chiseled chest. I should get to see something at least as good as that!"
"Well I guess it's only fair," Lily stated and sat up on the bed. A smile tugged on the corner of her lip as she reached down and began to daintily pull off one of her socks. She looked down at her foot, pretending to admire it, then held it up for Oliver to see.
"Very funny, Lily."
"I thought so. Besides, my one foot is at least twenty times as good-looking as your bare chest. For all you're seeing, you should be naked in front of me," she stood up and decided to sit instead in the window seat.
Oliver laughed and reached for his jeans, gesturing as if he were about to remove them, but Lily stopped him.
"Just kidding!!" she shouted.
"I know, I know," Oliver mumbled sarcastically and lay down on the bed.
"Hey. I do believe that's mine," Lily protested.
Oliver took a second look at his seat, "Hm..I did say you could use it, but I don't believe my not using it was ever part of the deal," he said quizzically to her
Lily stood and pushed his shoulder, "Up. You said you'd show me the town."
"Guess you're right. Come on, then. There's a lot to see and it's already five. It'll be getting dark soon," he told her as he also stood to leave, but something stopped him. "Nice picture."
"Yeah," Lily blushed a little and her lips curled up a bit at the ends. She looked at her toes, "I found it today and it brought back some good memories, so I just thought I'd stick it up for fun."
"Good thinking, Lils," Oliver said, throwing a hand around her waist and walking her out of her bedroom and onto the streets of seaside Maine.
Xxx...xxX
Lily and Oliver were cruising down Shore Road in South Portland. Lily felt wind rushing through her hair and a rush of adrenaline. Mostly because she was riding a bike. Yep, that's right. Lily's smooth classy ride, courtesy of Oliver the heart-throb, was a cobalt blue road bike.
Lily had given him a hard time about it, but she was more excited than anything else. It would be an adventure all the time, and she wouldn't have to wait for Oliver to drive her anywhere since she hadn't gotten her licence yet.
As they traveled, Oliver was calling things out to her, "Lily! Lily? Can you hear me?"
"Yes Oliver." she said in a monotone to amuse him.
"Good. Look to your right. That's the library, the big brick building. And this right here," he said pointing up at a small building to her left, "Is the café. If you're ever looking for somewhere to hang out and meet some people our age, go here.
He continued south for some time, pointing out parks and museums and his favorite small beach just past Maiden Cove.
"Lily?'
"Yeah, Oliver?" she called in front of her.
"Follow me!" he shouted before turning sharply around another corner and heading in an entirely different direction. She laughed at his enthusiasm and sped up to catch him. He responded and began pedaling as fast as his legs would take him and she accepted the challenge. They swerved over the curving concrete road, floating, almost. Oliver screeched to a stop, surprising Lily, who almost flipped over her handlebars trying to imitate him.
"Lily! Are you all right!?" Oliver asked frantically, looking up to where she was gingerly sliding off her bike.
"Fine," she said. She really wasn't hurt, and didn't want Oliver to worry about her.
"Look over there," he said.
She obeyed and let her eyes fall upon a beautiful white stucco lighthouse. A red-roofed cottage was attached behind it, and she couldn't help but feel like she was in a story book. She looked down and saw Ferns and grasses surrounding her ankles and bright yellow flowers popping from them. "It's beautiful!" she exclaimed, "Is this what you wanted to show me?"
"Uhm, not quite, actually. But you'll know it when you see it. I know you love lighthouses," he told her, with a growing excitement in his eyes.
"Yeah," she whispered, taking in the view, "They're so picturesque. This is so perfect-looking, Oliver. With the blue water and the rocky cliffs. I...I love it. Thank you!"
"Don't get to excited. There's better stuff to come," he told her, "But I'm glad you like it," he paused and met her gaze, "Tired?"
"Yeah. Very," she said as the two lay down in the grass and stare up at the sky. Lily wondered what surprise could be better than this.
A/N: Chapter three done! Getting better, I hope. Now that some more stuff is happening. Next up? Oliver and Lily are getting comfortable in their surroundings, but they get a big surprise from ol' Grandma Oken. And yeah, It'll disrupt a lot. CONFLICT! Haha. Thanks for reading. As always, please review.
