Lots of Lollie'ness ahead, I think...Sorry for taking such a long time to update. I'll also be updating my other story 'Mommy and Me' either today or tomorrow.

Oliver tossed about in bed restlessly, pondering on the day's happenings. His mind was a tumultuous place, and dreadfully perplexing. He did not know what to think and how. What on earth would he talk to Lilly about the next day when they meet? He dreaded meeting her, let alone opening his mouth.

Yet again, the memory of Lilly leaning in at the spur of the moment, looking nervous and meeting her lips with his lingered in him, and made him feel giddy. Then, he sharply shook it out. He was supposed to forget it. F-o-r-g-e-t.

Again, he fidgeted anxiously, not a grain of fatigue or sleep overcoming him. His eyes refused to close, and body, to sleep. Sighing, he got up. He walked towards his window and parted the curtains.

A shiny beam of gentle moonlight streamed in and flooded the room with its silvery presence. Oliver gazed outside with fond languor, and got a sudden urge to go out into the night streets.

He shrugged on a shirt and stealthily headed down for the door. He unlocked it as quietly as possible and crept out into the open night sky with a bitter breeze surrounding him.

The streets were, predictably, completely deserted save a couple of old people. The roads wound ominously ahead of him, stretching out lavishly, bereft of the noisy vehicles.

He shove his hands into his pockets, strolling aimlessly forward. The walk certainly cooled his mind.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming closer. He froze in his tracks, praying, though the idea was wild, that it was not the very person he dreaded to meet.

Around the corner came, fully clad in a night gown, the surprisingly awake Lilly Truscott.

Oliver's mouth dropped in astonishment and embarrassment.

Lilly, too, froze upon seeing him, her eyes widening in horror.

Shoving his hands deeper in his pockets, he breathed in deeply, looking down. What on earth was she doing at midnight in the streets? Was it possibly the same reason he was here? Because she couldn't get a wink of sleep?

"I...er..." he muttered thickly, scratching his head.

"What...are you doing here?" she asked in a high-pitched voice. Even in the dark, he could make out the violent rush of blood to her cheeks as she spoke.

"Walking," he replied shortly.

Lilly managed to nod. "Right."

Oliver shrugged and continued walking, with Lilly beside him. "You?"

"I...well...me too. Walking," she gave a slight cock of her head.

Oliver nodded. He wanted to say something sarcastic, or dry, like 'Pretty early a time to walk', or the likes, but barely managed to get a few words out. "At...this time?"

Lilly squinted down at her shoes, while Oliver stared straight ahead. "Well...I wasn't sleepy..."

Oliver nodded. Same reason he was out, too.

"You?" she asked, still admiring every microscopic detail of her shoes.

He shrugged again. "Same here."

"Oh."

"So..." Oliver groped about for a sensible question to ask. "How's Miley now?"

Yeah right, that was a mighty sensible one! Stupid Oken!

Oliver did not look, but he sensed Lilly's body stiffen beside him. "W-what about her?" she choked out.

"I mean...has she gone home yet?" he queried, praying for the earth to swallow him up.

Lilly shrugged. "I...didn't call her."

"Oh." There was a pause as both walked silently ahead of them.

"So..." Lilly faltered. She too, was obviously thinking of a suitable question to ask. "Are you going to school tomorrow?"

There. A much more suited question. Why didn't I think of it?! Stupid Oken!!!

But the answer was tough. In reality, he did not know whether he should go to school or not. He settled with a mere shrug and a "Maybe".

"Oh."

"You?"

"I...don't know. I might."

"Oh." Oliver really could not figure out the sense in chatting to the very person he did not want to see, and that too in the middle of the night, on an empty street. It felt utterly and completely crazy.

"O...Oliver..." she started nervously. Oliver's heart sank. She was going to bring up that 'happening' again, which was the last thing he wanted to discuss about. "You...you've forgotten...everything...right?"

He eased, relieved that she did not go into details. He decided to be frank. "I'm trying to," he admitted honestly.

Lilly nodded. "Right."

"You?"

She gave another slight cock of the head. "Me too."

"That's...that's...good."

Lilly nodded. "It is. Because it...never happened..." She trailed off with uncertainty.

Oliver nodded, in spite of himself. Of course it happened, what on earth was Lilly saying? He had and nothing would change the past. Lilly seemed to be thinking along the same lines, too.

There was a long silence as they walked forward, with no particular destination in mind. Finally, after a while, Lilly whispered, "O-Oliver?" There was tension in her voice.

He looked at her for the first time that night, catching the edgy note in her voice. "Yeah?"

"I..." she faltered, taking deep breaths. "I..."

"You...what?"

She shook her head almost apologetically. "Nothing. It doesn't matter."

Oliver frowned and grabbed her shoulder, turning her around. "Is something wrong with you?" he asked. Lilly had never been so uneasy and worried, and something really seemed to bother her.

She pushed off his hand and turned around. "No. Forget it," she said firmly.

Oliver's frown grew. He was getting irritated by the minute that Lilly was hiding something from him. "Will you tell me what's wrong with you or not?!" he asked, his voice louder and a hint of anger in it.

She turned to him. "Leave it, I'm alright, fine?" she insisted with a pleading look.

"What're you going to lose if you tell me what's wrong with you?!" Oliver demanded in an almost-yelling tone. He couldn't get why the girl was so adamant in not telling him what was wrong. They always shared their troubles. It bothered him to no end that Lilly was hiding something, no matter how insignificant the thing was.

"I'm not telling you, okay?!" she retorted, her face scrunched up in tension.

Oliver gaped at her. "But...why not?"

"Well...because maybe you won't care even if I told you?!"

"It's about Miley going, isn't it?"

She looked flustered. "Wha...oh yeah. Yeah it is. I feel bad. Fine?" she muttered, not meeting his eye.

Oliver shrugged. "You've told me this before." Why was he having the feeling that Lilly was lying?

"That was what was bothering me." Lilly looked up at him defiantly.

His face fell, realizing that she was definitely lying. He decided to let it go. "Fine."

Lilly folded her hands impatiently. "Fine," she repeated, going closer to him. "Remember our challenge?"

Oliver remembered. The silent battle to ignore each other's existence. "No, I'm not in the challenge anymore."

"Because...?"

"I don't want to ignore you," he replied. "I mean...it won't be any fun."

Lilly raised her eyebrows. "You don't want...to ignore me?" she asked skeptically, wearing a very strange expression, as though she was not sure how to react.

"No," he countered quickly. "I meant...I don't like the challenge."

"And I repeat. Because...?"

Oliver frowned, staring at her very weird expression. From what he could make out from under the dim moonlight, she looked as though she was calculating something, and was wearing a twisted smile. He went closer, trying to figure out what exactly she was calculating.

She looked up, seeing Oliver coming. "What?" she drawled edgily.

He shook his head, the frown plastered on his mouth. He did not know why he did it, but he suddenly went straight forward and found himself kissing her. Surprisingly enjoying it.

It lasted for about a minute before he backed away, with Lilly wearing the exact strange expression.

He felt himself scratching his head. Everything felt so unreal. He was not sure if he was even conscious. "This did not happen," he said, mainly to himself.

Lilly broke into a smirk. "Oh it happened alright."

Oliver could not help scratching his head again. "Why are you smiling?"

To his surprise, Lilly laughed. "Oh you donut! Can't you see what just happened?"

"See what? I kissed you. Don't ask me why, I just did."

Lilly stared at him incredulously. "How thick can guys get? Don't you get it?"

"Get what?"

She laughed again. "You," she pointed to him. "like me."

There was a bewildered pause. "What?! I do not!" he protested violently. How could Lilly have the pluck to tell him that he actually liked her? The girl was mental, surely.

Lilly kept grinning. "Yeah? Then why did you kiss me?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, the same reason you did, I guess."

"Have you any idea why I did that?"

He shrugged. "How should I know?" This was getting weirder by the minute.

"I'll show you," she said, and, grabbing the collar of his shirt, kissed him again for a second time. And this time, Oliver felt as though he was literally floating on the edge of haven and earth.

"Did you like it?" she asked with a chuckle at his bemused expression.

"Wha..." Oliver scratched his head yet again. Here was this girl who was supposed to be his best friend, with whom he was sort of annoyed with, boldly kissing him and claiming that he liked her! Heck, wasn't he the one supposed to know who he liked?!

Lilly folded her hands again. "Well, all the hints add up to the fact that you like me."

"What hints?!" Oliver asked, infuriated. He was absolutely sure he did not, and would never like Lilly more than a friend.

"Oh, some hints," she replied loftily, rolling her eyes. "If your head got any thicker, your brain will get squashed. For god's sake, Oliver! I know it, you like me! Okay, and don't question that! That's why I kissed you, alright, you donut! To see if my theory's correct!" she shouted, exasperated.

Oliver shook his head. Here was Lilly Truscott, in the middle of a street, at midnight, shouting out that she knew that Oliver actually even cared to like her?! He pinched himself hard, to make sure he was not dreaming.

It hurt quite hard.

"Okay," he calmed down. "Okay...Firstly. Lilly, get your head checked. I do not like you. Get it? I thought you did, and that's why you kissed me in the first place, and this damn confusing thing happened, and we're in the middle of the street, kissing each other, while all the time, we do not even like each other! This is all because Miley fell in a coma!" he shouted in frustration.

Lilly gaped at him sadly. "How is this Miley's fault, you donut?!"

"Well, if she hadn't decided to move to Romania or wherever, I wouldn't have comforted you, and you wouldn't have felt the need to thank me or whatever by kissing me, you dork!"

Lilly opened and closed her mouth, wordless. "Fine!" she cried. "If you had only understood why the hell I'm bothering to tell you all this, then you would have shut up!"

"What is it then?!"

Lilly shook her head. "Forget it, Oliver. From now on...I don't think the three of us can remain friends any longer." She started to run in the direction of her house.

Oliver stared after her, not really registering what she had said. What gave him the stupid idea of going for a midnight stroll and landing himself waist-deep in the mess Lilly had created?!

The situation was kind of too unreal, I thought. But I was facing writer's block and all, I simply did not know what to write. Well, here it is. What say?