"I'm actually here to talk to you."
I looked up at her, noticing that she was even more beautiful than I'd remembered her, and I'd seen her less than 24 hours ago. She was wearing this red dress and her hair was down and... okay.
"Hi," I said, and she shook her head slightly, as though she were trying to be sure that this wasn't some sort of hallucination.
"Hey," she said quietly, obviously still trying to make sure that she wasn't delirious.
Silence fell between us. I didn't know what to say now, and Lilly obviously didn't either. But somebody had to talk, because this was just getting awkward.
"How are you?" I asked, mentally hitting myself as I said it. I'd driven up here, rehearsing the exact thing to say, and thought I had it sussed, but when she opened the door... would it be cheesy to say that I forgot what I was going to say. She was just standing there, and...
"Been better," she smiled weakly, and then looked down at the floor. After a few seconds, she looked back up at me. "Oliver... how are you here?"
I raised my eyebrows. "Well, my mom and dad... you know, I don't really like thinking about that..."
She laughed slightly, and rolled her eyes. "No. I meant, how did you find out... how did you find me?"
"It wasn't easy, let me tell you that much. You said that you were coming to Malibu, so that was the first place I drove. I went to Rico's first, because you mentioned going there, and I guessed you had to live close by. Obviously it was near a beach, and you said that you lived near a beach. I asked a few dozen people whether they knew you or where your parents lived. A few of them told me this street, so I've just been knocking on random people's doors. This woman a couple of houses down said that the Truscott's' lived here, and that's the story," I said, hoping that it didn't sound as stalkery out loud as it did in my head.
"Right," Lilly said, looking slightly anxious. "Which brings me to my next question... what are you doing here?"
"I needed to talk to you. I couldn't just... wouldn't just... couldn't just..." I began fine, but trailed off slowly.
"Leave it like it I left it yesterday?"
"Yeah," I said, looking at the ground. I wanted to say something else, but it seemed a bit open, saying it while we were standing on her doorstep.
A silence spread between us again, broken only seconds later by the sound of footsteps from inside her house. "Lilly! How long does it take to get a - oh my god. But you're... and she's... and what the heck is going on?"
"Hi Miley," I said awkwardly, as the brunette came into view. "What's up?"
"Not much," she answered slowly. "You?"
I shrugged. "Yeah, kind of in the middle of something important."
Miley nodded, still obviously astounded. "Looks like it."
"Uh-huh," I nodded, and then looked back at Lilly, who was standing as though frozen in the doorway.
Miley walked forward, and gently pushed Lilly aside. "You can come in... I'm totally sure that if Lilly weren't frozen, she'd invite you in. But in her current state, she can't do that, so I'll do it for her."
"I'm not frozen..." Lilly muttered to her friend, and then turned to me. "Um... yeah. Come on in." She stepped aside, leaving a gap that I could step through. Once I was in the hallway, Lilly closed the front door slowly.
"Okay, not that we're not glad to see you Oliver, I need to ask: why the hell are you here? Forgive me for being so blunt," Miley said, looking at me expectantly.
"I needed to talk to Lilly about what she said yesterday," I said, not taking my eyes off of Lilly, who looked up at me. The anxiety was visible in her eyes.
"What I said yesterday? Can't we just forget it, because I seriously don't want to be fired, and I don't want you to hate me..."
She thinks I hate her? Jeez, Rachel was right.
"I don't hate you, Lills," I said as calmly as possible. Realising that I might have used a nickname that she didn't like, I rewound. "Lilly."
Miley looked back and forward; from me to Lilly, and then jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "I'm going to go... talk to my dad." Then, with one last look at the both of us, she walked into the kitchen, and I heard the back door close.
"I don't hate you," I repeated. "How could I hate you?"
"Because... because I told you that I loved you. And then ran out of your office. Look, I know that I sounded stupid, and I know that you probably feel nothing toward me, but please, can we forget it happened?"
Not taking my eyes off of her, I thought carefully about how to answer this. On one hand, I didn't want to forget it. But on the other, she did. Maybe, no matter what I said, she'd want to forget it. Making my decision, I shook my head. "No."
The silence resumed, before Lilly looked back up. "Well why the hell not? What's going to happen? You're not... firing me, are you? Please don't! I didn't mean to, it just... I just..."
"Lilly, I'm not firing you," I said, apparently unable to say more than one sentence at a time.
"Oh. Right. Well... why can't we forget that I ever said it then?"
I looked up at her, knowing that I had to tell her now. It wasn't like I didn't know how she felt about me. "Because maybe I don't want to forget that you ever said it."
Lilly hesitated before saying anything else. "What?"
"I don't want to pretend you never said it. Because... well, maybe I feel the same way as you do. Maybe I think I love you too."
You have no idea how good it felt to get that off of my chest. It was like a huge weight had been lifted off of my shoulders.
Lilly was staring at me blankly, as though she was still trying to comprehend what I'd just said.
"In fact, scratch those maybes. I do love you. And that was what I wanted to say to you yesterday, but I chickened out at last minute. I never thought that you were going to say the same thing, but when you did and the ran out... I was stunned, and didn't get out of the office in time to catch your elevator. And by the time I got out, you were getting into the car and driving away. But I couldn't leave it like that until Monday. I talked to Rachel and Jack, and Rachel said that the longer I left it, the more scenarios you'd be predicting, and I didn't want you to think I hated you for the whole weekend, because I don't. I feel the opposite, and so I had to tell you. I had to tell you that I loved you too," I said, praying for her to speak. To say something... anything.
She blinked, and stepped forward tentatively. "Um... can you say that again?"
"What, the whole thing? Because I'm not sure that I'll be able to remember the entire speech," I said.
"Just... just that last part," Lilly said, tripping up over a few words.
I kept my gaze trained on her face. "I love you. To be honest, I think I've been in love with you for a while, I just didn't think you'd feel the same way," I said. "But if you want to forget that you ever said it, then you can. I just won't."
For a minute I thought she was going to say that she was going to forget it. That she was going to pretend that this conversation never happened. The way she hesitated and bit her lip, and then looked away made me think that she wanted to forget.
But what she did next, made me sure that she didn't want to pretend nothing happened. That she actually wanted the exact opposite.
She walked forwards, and her lips were on mine, and her hands were around my neck, and my hands were on her waist. Everything was a blur, but a very good blur. A very good blur.
I pulled back, and rested my forehead on hers. She looked up at me, her blue eyes sparkling, and her smile infectious.
"I don't want to forget," she whispered, as if that much wasn't obvious. "I love you, okay? I don't know why, and I don't know how, but I do."
I smiled. "Same here."
Reality seemed to sink in, and Lilly pulled back, a worried look on her face. "What about working together?"
"What about it?" I shrugged, seeing no problem.
"Don't they frown upon it at the company? Dating someone in the workplace?" she asked, looking panicked.
I raised my eyebrows. "Okay, you're fired."
"What?" she exclaimed. "What?"
"Okay, fine. You can keep your job... but I'll quit," I said, with a shrug of my shoulders.
Lilly shook her head. "You can't quit. That's ludicrous. You can't quit a job where you get paid really well, just because we work together. That's insane, and I won't let you do that."
"Right... so I can't quit and I can't fire you," I said, raising my eyebrows. "How exactly do you want to solve this so-called problem?"
She folded her arms. "So-called problem? Don't you see that it's a big deal?"
"No," I shook my head, as though it was obvious. "No, I don't. Because as far as I'm concerned, it's only a problem if we break up. And I know for a fact, that if I ever broke up with you, I'd be a very stupid guy."
Lilly looked up at me, smiling slightly. "That's incredibly... incredibly sweet. Do you mean that? Seriously?"
"Of course," I said, taking her hands in mine. "So unless you plan on leaving me, I can see no problem."
"With a line like that, I think that if I left you, I'd be a very stupid girl," Lilly smiled, stepping back toward me.
I put my hands on her waist again, and looked into her eyes once more. "I hoped you'd say that."
"I know," she smiled, and kissed me again. The second time was better, if possible, than the first, but this time she was the one to break contact. "You want some food? There's like, a ton outside. And knowing you, you probably didn't buy anything to eat while you were at Rico's."
Not even bothering to ask how she knew that, I shrugged. "Aren't your parents out there?"
"Well you obviously have to meet them too," Lilly said, like it was completely obvious. Then again, I suppose it was. I just hadn't thought about it, because my thoughts had been elsewhere.
I guess I didn't look all that confident, because Lilly laughed, biting her lip as she did so. "Okay, well you can hardly expect to show up at my parents house, and not have to introduce yourself to them. Plus, Miley went out there about ten minutes ago, and I guarantee that she's told everybody in the vicinity that you're here. That's just Miley for you. To be Hannah Montana, you've got to have a big mouth. That's how you get the words out, apparently."
"Really?" I asked, not really believing it.
"Well, that's what she told me..." Lilly said, her arms still around my neck. "But I'm not sure I believe it either." She pouted slightly, and stamped her foot on the wooden floor. "Come on! You have to come outside, because I'm not leaving you indoors, and my mother will kill me if I disappear for the remainder of the party without excusing myself from the guests."
"I don't want to intrude," I said, knowing that this wouldn't work at all. Worth a try though.
Lilly rolled her eyes. "The intruding ship has sailed. It left port when you showed up at the door unannounced. Anyway, I was getting tired of being third wheel anyway. It's getting really old, and I can just tell that Miley and Jake don't want to be talking to me, while they could be doing... other stuff."
"What's 'other stuff'?" I asked, although I didn't think I really wanted to know anyway.
The look on her face told me that I really didn't want to know. She slid her arms from around my neck, and grabbed my hand instead. "Come on! My parents don't bite. Mike might, but he isn't venomous, so you should be fine."
I let her pull me out of the hallway and into the kitchen. "You're making me feel so much better about doing this."
"That was my intention," Lilly laughed, and pulled open the door to the back yard.
We went unnoticed for a few seconds but then Miley rushed over to us. "So?"
"So, what?" I asked, looking at Lilly confused.
Lilly hid her smile quickly, and looked at me, mirroring my expression. "What so?"
"You know what. Both of you know what. Now why don't you tell me what?" Miley said, putting her hands on her hips.
"What what?"
"What do I know what?"
"What?"
Miley rolled her eyes. "Oh so funny." Her eyes wandered down to where my hands were interlinked with Lilly's, and she pointed at them. "That's what."
"Miley, you're not making any sense," Lilly smiled, and pulled me away down the steps, leaving Miley standing next to empty space. Lilly found a space in the corner of the garden, where two empty chairs sat. She sat down in one of them, I sat in the other. "That was... weird. Miley is hardly ever speechless, but that certainly stopped her talking. I know that I'll get a full line of questioning later though. Not that I mind."
I smiled at her, and watched as she scanned the garden. "Sorry about dragging you into the party. It's just... I could hardly ditch it. Mom's been planning it for ages."
"It's fine," I said, meaning it. Why would I mind? Why would I mind about anything right now?
Lilly smiled at me.
"Lilly!" A shrill voice made her jump, and I looked up to see a blonde woman, who looked very like Lilly, running toward us. "Lilly, who's your friend?"
Blushing slightly, Lilly turned to look at the woman. "Mom, this is Oliver. We're sort of... together."
I looked up at Lilly's mother, who looked surprised, but happy nonetheless, and smiled. "Hey Mrs. Truscott."
---
"You'll stay here tonight Oliver?" Mrs. Truscott smiled warmly once almost all of her guests had left. Lilly's mom had been nothing but nice since I gate-crashed her party (unintentionally, of course).
I thought for a minute. I didn't want to impose, but it wasn't like I had anywhere else to go. Although I suppose that there's a hotel around here somewhere. There's a hotel everywhere. "I can just find a hotel room. I don't want to make trouble for you."
"Rubbish," Mrs. Truscott shook her head vigourously. "We had Miley and Jake stay here last night, so the guest room is all set up anyway. They're staying at Robbie Ray's tonight, so that room is unoccupied. Or you could stay in Lilly's room. I'm sure she wouldn't mind."
Lilly was out in the hallway, talking to Miley. I could hear the murmurs of conversation through the door, and caught my name a few times. Ah well. Should have expected it really. Lilly told me to expect it. And I could tell, while we had been talking to Miley and Jake earlier this afternoon, that Miley had been aching to ask Lilly what had happened after she left in the hallway.
"Well..." I began, not sure of what to do.
Ms. Truscott took this to mean yes, and smiled at me. "Good. You obviously have nowhere else to go, and why would you pay for a hotel, when you have a better service here?"
"Lilly has a boyfriend! Lilly has a boyfriend!" I'd had the pleasure of meeting Lilly's little brother, and this chant had been echoing around the house ever since. Lilly had threatened him a few times, but the chant had continued, and I knew that she was getting annoyed by it.
"Michael, if you know what's good for you, you'll shut your mouth like right now!" Lilly yelled from the hallway.
The chanting stopped, but I knew that it wouldn't last for long. He didn't seem the type to be too intimidated by Lilly, although he was running out of chances.
"See you tomorrow Oliver!" Miley called from the hallway.
"Bye dude!" Jake yelled.
I shouted back, and heard the front door close seconds later. A few seconds after that, Lilly walked into the living room, and sat down next to me.
"Lilly, Oliver's staying here tonight. I'm going to change the sheets," Mrs. Truscott got up, and left the room.
Lilly sighed. "So she drew you in."
"I didn't have much choice," I admitted.
She laughed. "My mom doesn't give people a choice. You either give her the answer she wants, or that's it."
"Well, I'll bear that in mind," I replied.
"You should," Lilly remarked, smiling slightly. "You know, 24 hours ago, I would never have guessed that I'd be doing this tonight," she said, leaning her head on my shoulder. "In fact, I sort of envisioned myself doing what I did last night. Watching Friends reruns, and trying to stop thinking about you. Oh, and trying to plan how to kill Rose without getting arrested."
I wrinkled my nose. "Kill Rose? Why would you want to do that?"
Lilly looked like she was about to say something, but then shook her head. "Never mind. I guess I shouldn't really want to kill her anymore anyway."
"No, tell me. Why do you want to murder- "
I was cut off by Lilly's lips planted firmly on mine. I guessed that this was probably a ploy to get me to drop it, but didn't mind. It probably wasn't important anyway. The most important thing right now, is the person kissing me.
So... about two more chapters left. Maybe an epilogue. Possibly three, but no guarantees. And I know that this isn't perfect, but I felt that it was pretty close.