When In Rome

Un Certo Consiglio Amichevole

Some Friendly Advice

Avoiding Oliver is really hard. I'd been trying to stay out of his way all day, for reasons that are beyond my understanding right now, but being in the same house in the middle of a foreign country means that avoiding someone is pretty hard. Especially when the house that you're in is practically in the middle of nowhere. You can't even go for a walk to try and get away, due to the fact that the nearest village is a while away. It would take about half an hour to walk there, and then another half hour to walk back. And the journey back is up a hill. So yeah, my plan to try and stay away from Oliver wasn't as successful as I'd hoped it would be. Plus, I couldn't make it look obvious that I was avoiding contact with him, because then Miley would get suspicious and... oh God, my brain is in such a confused state right now.

I wandered into the kitchen, trying to figure out what to do next. I wanted to go down to the pool, jump in, and forget about everything that may or may not have almost happened last night. That's what I really wanted. But I couldn't just forget about everything, because I didn't want to forget about everything. And yes, you heard that correctly. Lilly Truscott is seriously considering the fact that she may like her best friend Oliver Oken, as more than a best friend.

"Ugh!" I made a disgusted noise at myself for finally admitting it, and pulled open the fridge (with force, might I add) looking for something to eat. Preferably something comforting like chocolate, or ice cream.

Ice cream is kept in the freezer though, isn't it?

"What is wrong with me?" I asked myself, closing the fridge. Why was I thinking like that? Why, after knowing Oliver for... ooh, I don't know... my entire life... am I beginning to get feelings for him that aren't just friendly? Surely, if I was supposed to fall for Oliver, I'd have done it ages ago, and not now when I'm on a vacation and cannot run away from him! Sometimes life is just way to cruel to me.

Opening the fridge again, I looked inside, but didn't really take notice of what was in there. Not my fault. When you are thinking as deeply as I am, then you don't notice anything else around you, because how are you supposed to? Thinking serious thoughts doesn't exactly leave you much brain power to do other things.

Oh my god! I let go of the fridge handle, watching it absent-mindedly glide closed. What if, seeing as Oliver doesn't seem to remember what actually almost happened last night, that means that he doesn't like me that way? I mean, if you like someone like that, then you don't exactly forget about the fact that you almost kissed them in a swimming pool at midnight when there is nobody else around, do you? Or... maybe you do. I don't know. I've never been in this predicament before, so I'm not exactly an expert on what you do the morning after. Or the day after, seeing as most of the day has gone by now.

Wait. Why is that a problem? So what if Oliver doesn't feel that way about me, because I don't necessarily feel that way about him. I'm considering the possibility that I might. There is no certainty in that statement. I pulled open the fridge again, feeling like my brain was going to explode with the amount of contradictions I was making.

"Lilly honey, are you alright?" A voice from the doorway to the kitchen made me jump, and I spun around to see Mr. S standing there, watching me with concern on his face.

Oh crap. Well, what do I do now? He can tell that I'm not alright, obviously. I mean, I've just opened and closed the fridge about a hundred times, while my brain had an argument... with itself. That hardly sounds like I'm fine, does it? But I can't tell him that I might... you know... like Oliver. He wouldn't understand, and he might tell Miley, or even worse Oliver, and then where would I be? I'd be in Italy, confused, embarrassed and totally lost. That's where I'd be. And if I'm being honest, it doesn't exactly sound like a very nice place to be, does it?

"You just look sort of... lost. Are you bored? We could go into the village if you want - me and Miley saw some pretty little shops dotted around. Might cure your problem." Mr Stewart smiled, walking into the kitchen and looking at me.

I shook my head. "No. I'm not bored. I'm just... feeling weird today. It'll all be okay by tomorrow though. Heck, I'm hoping that it'll all be gone by later today, so you'll have to put up with my normal self again soon."

"You sure darlin'?" Mr Stewart always calls me darlin'. Without the 'g' on the end, because that's just how he talks, duh. "You know that you can talk to me about anything on this trip, don't you? Seeing as your mom and dad are all the way back in Malibu."

I sighed. I really wanted to tell him about all of this, and see what his interpretation of it was. Because, whether Miley likes it or not, her father is definitely cooler than either of my parents, and so I think that he'd probably be better to talk to. Whatever he said had to be better than this confusion anyway, right? "Actually Mr. S, I'm not okay. I don't know. Can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing." Mr. Stewart nodded, leaning against the counter and folding his arms, looking totally ready to listen. See, that's another great thing. My mom would keep cutting vegetables or whatever, instead of actually stopping and listen to what I had to ask her. In my opinion, you can't really offer your best advice while making dinner, because you're obviously distracted. She'll just be all 'yes Lilly', chop, chop, chop 'I understand' chop, chop, chop.

"Okay. Um... hypothetically... if there was this guy, and he'd been your best friend for practically your whole entire life... would it be weird to totally fall for him?" Subtle, Lilly. Real subtle. That wasn't totally obvious whatsoever. Apart from the fact that Mr. Stewart knows that you and Oliver have been friends forever and that he knows that Oliver happens to be a guy, he'd have never have guessed that it was Oliver that you were talking about.

Mr. Stewart pretended to think about, scanning his eyes around the room and nodding slightly. "Lilly, I don't think it would be weird to fall for someone you've been around your whole life. In fact, it's kinda common. Loads of people marry the person that they've been best friends with since birth. And you and Ol - I mean... hypothetically, this guy and girl would be better suited to each other than anyone, because they know each other so well."

Nice save Mr. S.

"Okay, so we can cut the hypothetical rubbish now, because I think it was painfully obvious who I was talking about..." I said, smiling at the fact that he didn't seem to want to totally embarrass me and admit that he saw right through my lame 'hypothetically' stuff. Even though he totally messed it up by beginning to say me and Oliver. Oh well. Thought that counts.

"Yeah... to be honest with you Lilly, I think we've all seen it coming. You and Oliver, you're such good friends, and he's a great kid. Miley's mentioned it a few times to me - it was only a matter of time before you figured it out. What brought it on anyway?"

I shrugged, not really wanting to tell him about the pool incident. That might put a downer on things. He probably wouldn't leave us alone for the rest of the holiday, which would suck. "Nothing... it was just yesterday, on the plane when I was totally freaking, he was really nice and held my hand and everything and I just... I don't know. He probably doesn't feel the same anyway, so there's no point in even going any further. I just wanted to see whether I was being stupid."

"Lilly, trust me on this one. Oliver will feel the same. You've just got to give him time to figure out what you just have."

Wow. Note to self: Mr. Stewart is incredibly helpful. Well, he is if he's telling me the truth. Which I think he is.

I nodded, and opened the fridge once more, this time taking out a can of soda. "Okay. Well, I'll take your word for it Mr. S. And can you promise me something?"

"Sure thing hun."

"Can Miley never hear about this conversation? I'd sort of like to tell her about this whole thing myself... when I'm ready," I said, knowing that it might be a lot to ask to stop him from telling his daughter something. Then again, it was none of her business.

Mr. Stewart smiled, and nodded. "What conversation? I just came into the kitchen, got a drink of water, and went back down to the pool."

I grinned. "So did I."

Ugh. Another... weird chapter. BUT the next chapter is where they go to Rome, and I love the start that I've made already. So look forward to that.