Chapter 4, in which Lilly realizes that it is not, in all actuality, just a dream. Whoa. Thanks for the reviews and everything. I haven't had a chance to respond to them yet, but I'll try to. But thanks again! They make me soooooo happy! Updates will be slowing down, but I'll try to update when I can. Thanks again!
Here's chapter 4, and I hope you like it!
I don't own the Jonas Brothers, or any of the other characters who appear in this story.
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A couple of days later, Joe fidgeted nervously with the locket around his neck. He was sitting between Kevin and Nick waiting to do an interview for Teen Vogue. He was going to take this chance and find out once and for all if his dream girl was real. The locket and the lock of hair had made him 99.9 positive that she was, but he really wanted confirmation. So if she saw this interview and she mentioned it in their dream, she was real.
The interviewer walked in ad Joe took a breath. Here went everything…
After the interview, they had a photo shoot and Joe had talked to the photographer about incorporating certain elements into it from his dreams.
His brothers cornered him when he got home. He was heading to the bathroom when Nick pulled him into his room. Kevin was already sitting down on the Nick's bed.
"What's going on guys?" Joe asked, confused.
"We need to talk," Nick told him.
"We're worried about you," Kevin said. "You've been acting really strangely lately and we just want to know what's going on."
"You can talk to us, you know," Nick added.
Joe sighed and looked down. "Not about this, I can't. You guys will just think I'm crazy." His brothers started to protest. "No. You will definitely think I'm a 100 certified loon. I'm not hurting anybody; I'm not hurting myself. Isn't it enough to know that I'm happy?"
"It should be," Nick said quietly. "I don't know why it's not."
"Who is she?" Kevin asked gently.
Joe's head snapped up. "What?"
"So it's just a girl?" Nick was confused.
"It's not 'just a girl.' You should know that it's never 'just a girl.' And this situation happens to be more complicated than most. But we're making it work." Joe really didn't want to get into this with his brothers but he had a feeling that that wasn't going to happen.
"When did you meet her?" Kevin questioned.
Well, this was going to be complicated… "I haven't…not yet, anyway"
"You're happy with a girl that you haven't met yet?" Nick was trying to follow the conversation, but he was having a very hard time doing so.
"You'd better sit down," Joe told his younger brother. He slowly and haltingly explained to them meeting Lilly and their relationship and how he was sure that she actually existed outside of his imagination. His brothers were quiet for a moment, trying to process what Joe had just told them.
"So that's what was with the talk about lilies and sunflowers and stuff," Nick finally spoke up. A grin broke across his face. "You are so corny."
"Maybe a little," Joe said smiling. "But hopefully it will get the message across…"
"And that locket you're wearing now, it's from her?" Nick asked.
"Yeah," Joe answered eagerly. "And the fact that it carried over into the real world gives me hope that she's a real person and that I can find her."
"Joe…are you even listening to yourself? Be reasonable—"
Joe cut Kevin off. "I am being reasonable. I'm being very reasonable. And I know that it's hard to believe. That's why I didn't even want to tell you guys to begin with! But I know in my heart that she's out there!"
"They're dreams, Joe. They aren't real."
"But what about the necklace?" Nick jumped in. "If it wasn't real, where would it have come from?"
Kevin sighed. "It could have come from anywhere. A fan, Grandma's old jewelry box, Mandy…Joe could have found it and just forgot that he put it on. Don't tell me you actually believe in this, Nick."
"I believe that Joe believes it. It's enough for me. It should be enough for you, too," the younger boy answered softly.
Joe looked at Kevin, practically pleading with him. "God, Kevin, I know I can be silly and stupid and irresponsible and irrational and all that. And the things that you're telling me, the doubts that you have, have all run through my head a million times, but I still believe it. Can you just please believe me?"
Kevin had never seen his brother so serious before. "I can't say that I can complete believe your story," he said after a moment. Joe's shoulders slumped. "But I do believe in you. So if you believe it, I'll trust that."
"Thank you," Joe whispered.
"Is there anything you need us to do?" Nick asked.
"Not right now. All I can do is wait and hope that she sees the article."
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After that first kiss from Joe, Lilly had been in seventh heaven After that first kiss, every night he would greet her with a kiss and then they'd talk or kiss some more or just lay next to each other, enjoying each others' nearness. Even though she thought he was just a dream, she couldn't help the fact that this dream made her happy. . Both in her dream world and in the real world. She didn't notice it, but apparently Miley had. They were hanging out at Miley's house a few weeks later when Miley finally snapped.
They were sitting on the couch, doing homework and Miley had gotten back Lilly was singing. That wasn't unusual, but she sounded good. She sounded different. A lot of things about her friend had been different lately and Miley wanted to know what was going on.
"Okay, Lilly, who's the guy?"
"The guy?"
"Yes, the guy. And why haven't you told me about him?"
"What him?" Lilly hoped that denial would throw Miley off the scent, so to speak. At least maybe it would make her drop it.
"Don't play dumb with me, Lilly Truscott." Okay, so that plan hadn't worked… "I am talking about the guy that put that perpetual grin on your face. The guy that's caused you to stop sleeping over or stay up late talking on the phone, even on weekends. The guy that you haven't been telling me about for the past two and a half weeks. That guy."
Lilly gave in. "Okay, so there is a guy."
"Ha! I knew it!" Miley crowed in triumph. "Who is it?"
"It's not really what you think, though."
"Then what is it?"
"It's complicated."
"Who is he?"
"He's…the guy of my dreams," Lilly tilted her head and grinned. "Literally."
Miley just gave her a look. "I'm not following."
"It's Joe Jonas."
"Haha. Cute. Seriously."
"I am being serious."
"No, you aren't."
"Yes, I am. Maybe I should explain." So Lilly told Miley about everything that had happened in her dreams…"meeting" Joe, talking to him (minus the stuff about her dad) and becoming friends, the boardwalk, the locket, the kiss, their relationship now….
"So he's part of the reason for this new…confidence in yourself?" Lilly nodded. "Then I whether or not he's actually real, I like him!" Lilly hugged her.
"I know it's dumb to be so emotionally invested in a dream, but I can't help it. He gets me and I think I get him and …Miley, are you listening?"
Her friend's eyes had suddenly widened and she sat up straighter. "Wait here," Miley said and she ran up to her room. A few minutes later, she came down with a magazine. "This came out today. Daddy picked it up for me and I was reading it before you got here."
It was Teen Vogue. The Jonas Brothers were on the cover, but Lilly barely had time to even glance at it when Miley started furiously flipping through pages. She came to the spread on the Jonas Brothers and she showed it to Lilly. "Here. Read this."
"The Jonas Brothers Talk Spring Fling?" Lilly looked quizzically at her friend.
"Read the parts with Joe," the other girl explained. Lilly looked down.
Q. Since spring is coming and all, what's your favorite kind of flower?
She skipped past Kevin and Nick's answers and went straight to Joe's and read it out loud.
"'My favorites definitely have to be lilies. Yeah, lilies are awesome because they're simple but complicated in their beauty. You might think you see a simple beauty at a glance, but the closer you look, the more complicated and beautiful it gets. Or sunflowers. I love sunflowers. They just make me really happy and it always brightens my day when I see one…' That could be a coincidence." Lilly looked a little shaken.
"Keep reading."
Q. What's your idea of the perfect date?
"'Definitely heading down to a boardwalk or a pier and just having fun playing games. It would be cool if she beat me at a few of the games, but in the end, I'd win her the big prize. Or maybe it would be just dancing in an open field. I love to dance.' Miley…" Lilly's hands were shaking now. She could barely hold the magazine, so Miley took it from her.
"There's just one more you should hear. Question: What would your dream girl be like? Joe's answer: 'Oh you know, the usual nice, smart, blah blah blah, but she would understand me…and she wouldn't want to conform to any type of stereotype; she wouldn't be afraid to show that she's better than me at some stuff, or a lot of stuff, really, but she wouldn't be mean about it. And she wouldn't be afraid to dance in a field of sunflowers when there's no music.' Lilly, are you okay?"
Lilly was sitting on the couch, looking pale. "It could all be a coincidence, right? I mean it's not possible…it's…"
"Look at the pictures, Lill." Reluctantly, she did. The first one was of the three Jonas boys lying in the grass, all holding sunflowers. There was an individual picture of Kevin, then one of Nick but it was the one of Joe that made her catch her breath. He was dressed all in black, leaning forward towards the camera; in one hand, he was holding a lily and in the other, he was holding out the chain of a necklace. And on that chain was a silver oval locket with a sapphire in the center.
"It's a coincidence," she whispered, trying to convince herself of that. This just defied reality.
"Lilly…"
"This isn't possible."
"But it's happening." Lilly wondered how her friend had just accepted this idea so completely. It was incredible, it was outlandish…
"But it's not possible. How is this possible?" Lilly was just staring ahead blankly. Joe was real? What did this mean for them? Did the whole magazine thing mean that he wanted to find her? But…how was it possible for a dream to be…real. She always believed that dreams did come true, but not literally. Oh God, what did this mean?
"Lilly?" Miley asked hesitantly. "I thought you'd be happy about this."
"I don't know – it's –I am happy but – I'm confused." Lilly picked up the remote and turned on the TV, trying to sort through the whole situation. Miley came to sit beside Lilly and put an arm around her. As fate would have it, the Jonas Brothers were on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. The two girls watched as the boys talk to Ellen, being their usual strange but sweet selves.
"So Joe," the host said a few minutes into the segment. "I notice that you're wearing a necklace. It's pretty."
Joe fiddled with the pendent and looked at it with a smile. "Yeah, yeah it is. It was a gift." Lilly sat up straighter. It couldn't be…
"Oooh, from anyone special? Like from a girlfriend? Wink wink," she asked with an exaggerated wink.
Joe laughed. "It was from a really good friend." He was still looking at the necklace, and the camera zoomed in on it. Lilly gasped. It was the locket. But his next words shocked her even more. "And her name is Lilly."
"Oh God," Lilly whispered. Both Miley's and Lilly's mouths dropped open from shock. Miley definitely had not been expecting him to come right out and say it.
She looked at her friend and realized that it was a very good thing that the blonde was already sitting down.
Lilly had fainted.
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So this one is slightly shorter than the other chapters, but I hope you liked it anyway.
Please review and let me know what you thought! With questions, comments on my writing/plot, constructive criticism. It all makes me happy.
And in a shameless plug, I'm also working on another Loe story called "Through Their Eyes," in case you guys wanted something else to read :-) It's Lilly and Joe's relationship told from their friends' point of view. I know a lot of people who read this one have been reading the other one, too, so thank you!
And thanks for reading!
-v
