Chapter 16

A Little Closer

Lilly and Miley were driving off to the beach. It was 3 PM and pretty hot for a Saturday afternoon. It was the ending of the first week of spring break and in anyway, their friends wanted to celebrate anything during spring break.

Miley talked Lilly into wearing a bikini, but agreed to let her wear a sarong around her waist. It confused Miley why Lilly was so shy about her body. She's so fit from all the sports she does, or used to do.

When they reached the beach, they saw their friends playing volleyball, swimming, and talking. Lilly saw Joanie sitting on the beach with Becca. She still hadn't talked to her about her problems. She wanted to, but nothing much happened in that week. Oliver was hanging out with his family; Lilly was busy with preparing for her cousin's arrival.

"Lilly, want to tan a bit before swimming?" Miley asked and Lilly shrugged.

"I kind of want to talk to Joanie for a little." Lilly said and Miley nodded.

"Sure, I'll just go by myself then." Miley said loudly.

"Just ask Becca to go with you!" Lilly said and they both walked to Joanie and Becca.

"Whatever." She sighed and went to Becca and asked her.

The two of them left, leaving Joanie and Lilly alone on the beach. Joanie sat on a beach towel and had her bag on her side. She was sipping a bottle of water while watching the volleyball game going on. Lilly dropped her bag on the sand and sat down next to Joanie.

"How's the game?" Lilly asked and Joanie shrugged.

"Todd's team is winning and Sarah's team sucks." Joanie said and looked at Lilly, but was taken back at her outfit. "Wow, you're looking super hot." Joanie winked at Lilly, making her slightly flush.

"Oh shut up, Miley made me and she wouldn't let me wear shorts like you. She gave me this sarong. How wrong." She sighed and crisscrossed her legs, looking at Joanie.

"Whoa, what's so serious going on? Relax chick." Joanie said and moved to lie down on the sand. "When we used to hang out, you were so chill, now you're serious and drama-ish."

"Well that was before I was in trouble, or was in any sort of drama like the one with Oliver." Lilly groaned and put her hands on the towel.

"Then tell me, what's going on between you and Ollie?" Joanie asked as she covered her eyes with her arm.

"Problems? Nothing much…" Lilly sighed and looked over at the volleyball match. "Well, Miley loves Oliver-" Lilly started but Joanie shook her head.

"Give me the dirty stuff, I know about your love triangle or… square? Whatever you want to call it." Joanie put a hand on Lilly's knee. "You don't have to be embarrassed."

"How dirty?" Lilly asked, feeling a little confused.

"Whatever you feel like telling that you couldn't tell anyone at all?" Joanie suggested. "Anything."

"Okay." Lilly thought for a moment and nodded. "I think Oliver is closer to me than Matt is. Matt's afraid that I'm leaving Oliver for him, which is true, but Oliver said I have to try and make Matt not like me?" Lilly said and sighed. "During my trip in Seattle last year, I met up with Oliver."

"Ooh getting interesting." Joanie said and sat up.

"We kept flirting and such, and one reason why I'm so against drinking is because I got drunk one night when I saw my cousin and Oliver making out that I 'drank my emotions away'. Of course that doesn't help because you get a huge headache afterward. Oh and I spilled my emotions to him that night." Lilly said as she looked in the air to remember everything that happened in Seattle.

"Wow." Joanie said as she listened to Lilly's story. "And that's why I never drink much, even if I always provide the keg."

"Yeah." Lilly sighed. "We started dating soon after that and we got terribly close." Lilly blushed and thought of what happened at the lake house. "We were invited to stay at his friend's lake house and we pretty much went skinny dipping there…" Lilly narrowed her eyes. "And we almost had sex then, but it was more of a feel thing."

Joanie gaped at Lilly and covered her mouth. Lilly bit her lip and continued her story.

"We'd get so close to having sex so many times, but we wouldn't do it…but…" Lilly trailed off and Joanie gasped.

"You're not a virgin after all." She caught on, only for Lilly to blush an even red color.

"Look, I'm not really comfortable talking about my 'sex life'-"

"But at least you have an actual one, unlike Miley." Joanie joked. "So what happened?"

Lilly sat for a little and looked around. Everyone was occupied doing their business swimming, surfing, playing volleyball, tanning. Was it safe to explain this entire thing out in the open?

"My last night in Seattle, I was packing and Oliver snuck in my room… and it happened then." Lilly shrugged. Not much, but it was sweet."

"Sounds like you had a better time than me with sex." Joanie pulled her hair from its bun. "How was he?"

Lilly gave her a weird look and rolled her eyes. "That's stuff I don't share with people." She said and got up from her seat.

"Well, that's what Becca and I did at your party!" Joanie exclaimed. "Details!"

"No." Lilly laughed. She started to untie her sarong and Joanie got up from her seat.

"Fine." She sighed. "Going for a swim?" She asked and Lilly nodded.

When Lilly dropped her sarong, she wore a clear belly ring so that no one could see her piercing, but she could feel Joanie looking at her.

"When did you get that?" She poked it and Lilly laughed.

"Shh." she told her and covered it with her hand. "It's not supposed to be visible, but it sucks being out in the open." Lilly shook her head. "It's kin of old." Lilly said and walked to the beach.

"I so want one." Joanie followed Lilly to the beach.

--

It was about seven when people started the bonfire. Oliver came then and Matt arrived a few minutes after him. Almost everyone who was there in the day stayed to watch the bonfire and even wore their swim suits. It was oddly warm that night too, it felt like summer, but of course Lilly's insecurities drove her to wear a jacket and long surf shorts.

Matt had his arms around Lilly as he talked to Miley who was next to Oliver. Lilly just stared at the fire.

"I had a friend who used to go to the beach late at night. One night, he was with his friends and he had this change." Matt said. "He got possessed by some lady, it was freaky. That's why I was so hesitant to come over tonight."

"Are you talking about Jamie's boyfriend last summer? I remember that happening. Jake freaked out, he was friend with her boyfriend." Miley nodded.

Lilly looked at Oliver and smiled at him. He winked at her and eyed her up and down, making her blush.

"Hey, I'm going to the bathroom, I'll be back okay?" Lilly said as she took something form her bag and left.

Matt and Miley continued on their talk about ghosts, but Oliver was curious about where Lilly went. He looked into the darkness and hoped that she was okay, and only saw her figure get smaller and smaller as she walked further.

"The fact that the lady was talking through him was freaky. It wasn't his voice at all. It was dark." Matt looked at the fire.

"Hey at least he's better now!" Joanie said, interrupting their conversation and sat next to Matt.

"I'd think you'd be with your other friends." Miley said and raised her eyebrows.

"Well, all they're talking about is boring stuff." She looked at the group of boys and girls who were playing around and throwing stuff at each other. "Ghost stories are interesting."

"And disturbing." Sarah said and joined the group. "I know many stories." She grinned.

Oliver sighed. "As interesting as this sounds, I would join you guys, but I have an important phone call to make."

He got up and took out his cell phone as he walked away.

He was halfway to the other end of the beach when he saw someone walking toward him. He flashed his phone up and started to freak out. The talk of ghosts made him a little antsy about being alone. He hoped Lilly was alright.

"Who's there?" He called out and the person froze in place.

"Who are you?" They said in a deep voice.

"Uh… Oken." Oliver said and the person started walking toward him. "Whoa, who are you?" He asked and he rose his phone up in the air to get a clear view of the person.

He saw slender legs first and a small body, wearing shorts and a jacket. "Truscott." She said and Oliver grinned.

"How do I know if you're not a freak?" Lilly joked as she took his hand.

Oliver smirked and pulled her close to him. "Well, we hooked up in Seattle… we have a thing going on at the moment… what more do you want to know?" Oliver asked and Lilly giggled.

"Okay, good enough for me." She kissed his cheek. "Especially with the haunted stories going on, it's stupid." She sighed.

He put his free hand on her waist and traced her fingers inside her jacket to the small of her back. "How about I be your protector tonight?" He asked.

She laughed. "Yeah right, I don't need protecting. What more can you give me?" She led him toward the beach.

"A lot, you should know." He laughed and let go of her. He pulled his shirt over himself and threw it on the sand, along with his cell phone.

She took off her jacket and threw it beside Oliver's shirt. "Swimming this late? Reminds you of what happened at the lake huh?" She laughed and walked into the water. She was surprised that it wasn't as cold as she expected it to be.

"Of course, but can we get as close as we did then? Especially if one of out friends just walks by or has good eye sight, they can clearly see that two people are playing around here." He followed Lilly into the water.

"Maybe." She said and cupped her hands. She put it under water and gathered water, splashing it over to Oliver.

"Hey!" He exclaimed.

Lilly giggled. "Wow, how many." She stuck her tongue at him.

"Did you know that at night, water is warmer than sand because the water absorbs the heat from the sun slower than sand?" He then asked.

"Wow, Oliver, since when did you actually know something?" Lilly sarcastically said, walking deeper into the water.

"That's not nice." He laughed and quickly went to her side to wrap his arms around her.

He lightly kissed her cheek and pulled her close to him. Oliver's hands guided to the back of Lilly's bikini, pulling the strings that tied it together.

Lilly jerked back and blushed. "Out in the open? You really want to replay what happened at the lake."

"And hopefully you'll be less shy." Oliver kissed her ever so softly, guiding her backward and to shore.

He put his hands back to the small of her back and slowly brought her down, to lay on shore with just her legs in the water. He lay above her and kissed from her mouth to her neck. His right hand moved to her stomach, stroking it lightly, and moved upward just to lie between her breasts.

Lilly closed her eyes, her face flushed as she kept her hands at her sides. She bit her lip as Oliver nipped at the crook of her neck.

"Oliver." She started. She should probably warn him about her problem now.

"Shh… just relax." He said.

With that, his hands moved from the middle of Lilly's chest to the bottom of her top. Lilly blushed and looked down to see what Oliver was going to do. He was unsure of what to do, but Lilly moved her hand over his and pushed his hand up with her bikini top.

Oliver blushed and moved up to kiss her lips. Oliver licked her lips, asking for entrance when Lilly automatically opened her mouth. Oliver's hands left his side and cupped her breast, making Lilly stiff, but loosen up afterward. Lilly giggled once he started fondling with it.

Oliver smiled and kissed down her neck, moving down again, but with his hands trailing down her stomach. Once he reached her shorts, he tugged at the button, but Lilly got up.

"Oliver wait." She said just as Oliver unbuttoned them.

"Don-"

"No, stop." Lilly said and Oliver stopped.

"What's wrong?" He asked, but saw Lilly's flushed face.

"I… cant. I mean, I want to, but… I'm kinda… it's that time of the month…" Lilly trailed and his eyed grew.

"Oh, but you're in the water." He said and she blushed even more.

"Tampons."

Oliver nodded. "Wow."

Lilly cupped his face. "Trust me, I want to, but I can't… And that pretty much sums up why I attacked you at my party like that."

"Why?" He asked and she laughed.

"Before or during a girl's thing… we get more excited than usual. I'm almost done though, I'm on my fourth day and I usually end at four days." She said and noticed Oliver's eyes dropping to her chest. She covered her chest with her arms and pushed his face back.

"Let's go back." She got up and Oliver got up and hugged her from behind.

"Okay." He kissed her neck and put his hands over hers and pulled her hands from her chest. He fixed her top and tapped her breasts.

He put on his shirt and gave her the jacket. He held his cell phone in hand and the two walked back to the bonfire.

"Trisha's coming in a few days for a few months." Lilly brought up and Oliver nodded.

"Less private time with you." Oliver sighed.

"Well, it doesn't matter. She's here for a job because she dropped out of high school. She wants to start off fresh and her mom said that if she can't find a job here, she has to go back to Seattle." Lilly looked at her feet.

"Do you think she'll tell people about us?" Oliver asked and stopped in his tracks.

"Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know, I don't care. Let people find out, sure, but I don't know how to break it to Matt. Especially since he already got his suit for Senior Ball next month." Lilly shook her head.

"He's so sure you're taking him." He lightly chuckled.

"Well, we are 'dating'." Lilly started walking and Oliver followed behind.

"So are we." He said under his breath and soon, they reached the group.

"Oh wow, you're both wet!" Miley exclaimed once she saw the two.

Lilly smiled and sat next to Joanie who stole the spot next to Matt. She looked at Matt and Miley and saw that they were giving her weird looks.

"I snuck up to Oliver and pushed him in the water. He grabbed me and pulled me in."

Lilly watched Oliver sit next to Miley and put her arm around Miley. She shrugged like it didn't bother her and looked away, but she knew it wasn't working. She was just with him and now he's with Miley. Was it something she said?

"That sounds like fun. Are you okay?" Matt said and she could feel Matt reach to put his hand on her knee.

"Yeah, don't worry." She smiled and side eyed Joanie who was staring at her.

A/N WHOO Hope you liked this chapter. And now everything starts. Lilly's getting Jealous… Ah. Tell me what you thought of the chapter. I hope it wasn't too much for you.