Chapter 63

Friends, Flirting, and Pillow Fights

Holly's POV:

"Arty, you are a strange human." I shook my head at the boy sitting at my kitchen table. This boy is just….ugh.

Before he could reply, there was a loud 'tap tap' on my front door. I opened it to reveal a very happy, very pretty, Lili Frond. Apparently, she's even beautiful early in the morning. Her long blond hair was perfectly coiffed. Her pale summer dress hit her just at her thighs and fit like a glove. On her feet were sandals that were at least three inches. To humans, it probably wasn't much of a lift, but to fairies that was huge.

"You really shouldn't open the door that easily," she chided, wagging her finger at me.

"As I have told her countless times," Arty spoke from right behind me. And to think that I hadn't even heard the clumsy genius.

I stood there silently fuming as they went back and forth, talking about my 'deplorable security habits.' "Enough," I shouted a bit louder than I had intended. "Artemis, this is Lili Frond. Lili, this is Artemis Fowl."

"A pleasure to meet you," Artemis smiled, his voice smooth and somewhat alluring as he took her hand and kissed it. He kissed it. Like he had done mine last night. Well, apparently kissing hands was his new trademark.

"And you too," she giggled with a blush. A blush? Lili Frond never blushed. In fact, she made other people blush. I'll admit it. A part of me was saying 'bimbo.' And the other part was overruling that thought with how well I really know her now.

"So… what did you want, Lili?"

"You owe me a shopping day, Holly Short," she reminded me.

"Ugh," I groaned. Last week, I promised Lili that we'd go shopping. I hadn't said when, hoping that she'd let it go for a few weeks or maybe longer. Obviously, I had been wrong. "Lili, I have company. Maybe we can put this off until he leaves?" There, that should buy me a week.

But I should have known that Lili Frond was not someone to be daunted. "Oh please. What were you guys going to do today?"

"Go to the museum." Okay, so not exactly my cup of tea, but Arty would love submerging himself into our history.

"The museum. There's no way that he would enjoy it. ¼ is fairy history that he knows and the other ¾ is stuff that he uses everyday like CD's and flash drives." She turned to the teen. "Not very interesting, right?"

"Honestly, ladies, anything that we do is fine with me." So, I got the hint. Knowing Arty, he didn't want to shop. But on the other hand, the museum would seem a little…offensive to him.

"Let's go shopping," I grinned just to torture Arty. "It should be fun." He sighed, slipping on his ring and becoming Avian Sprout.

"Yay!" the blond giggled, jumping up and down, her chest bouncing with her. "I'll drive!" I rolled my eyes. She knows that I don't even own a car.

Arty and I followed Lili to her cute little silver Acorn Sports Car. The cute little car that happens to cost more than my house.

Artemis politely held the door open to me. "You're taller, Artemis. Sit up front with me." She grinned, practically oozing charm and appeal."

"Holly, would you like to sit here?" he asked me.

I glanced down at Avian. He was all legs just like I designed him. "No, I'm fine in the back."

He stared at me strangely, but said nothing as he opened the back door and allowed me to climb inside. The ride was mostly silent, the only noise coming from the radio. One of the many, many boy bands that plagued our radio stations now.

It was almost a relief to drive up to the mall. As we climbed out of the car, I could see that my blond friend was in hog heaven right now. After all, the mall was pretty much her third home right after the town house and Atlantic getaway home.

"C'mon Avian," she gushed, grabbing his arm and dragging him away, which left me to stare in open-mouthed shock. Has she really just gushed at him? No, I had to have imagined it. I shook it off and hurried behind them.

Lili grinned. "Welcome to the Haven mall," she cheered. "Ooooh, it's my favorite store."

She walked into Elf where she was greeted by name. For the next twenty minutes, Lili tried on outfits and came out to ask Arty how she looked. And every time, he told her that she looked fine.

Finally, after she had bought most of that store, she was ready to move on to the next one. "Don't forget to deliver that, Trish."

And so it went on, going from store to store with Lili wrapped around Arty and with me silently fuming. I stood watching her. She was flirting with Arty, finding reasons to throw her arms around him and squish her chest to his. She was giggling at nothing, flipping her hair, complimenting him, and completely ignoring my existence.

Needless to say, I wasn't very happy. Arty's my friend and I don't appreciate him being treated like a piece of meat. Especially not by this girl.

And to add insult to injury, I'd been one hundred percent that she was not a bimbo. I'd felt bad that people thought of her like that. But now I could see that she was exactly how I had thought she was.

Lili, the bimbo in question, stopped all of a sudden. "Oh my gosh. I really need to go to the bathroom to powder my nose. Holly?" she asked, turning to me for the first time since we had left the car. "Will you come with me?"

"Sure…"I gritted out from between my closed teeth.

"I'll be right back," she assured Artemis in a very unnecessary 'hang on' gesture that included running her finger across his collar bone.

She entered the painfully pink bathroom with a swagger to her hips and a grin on her face. As soon as that door had fully closed, I turned on her. "What the hell was that?" I hissed.

The woman stood in the mirror fluffing her hair and touching up her flawless lipstick. "That was me teaching you a lesson."

"What lesson?"

"That you, Holly Short love Artemis Fowl."

I was floored. All of that flirting. All of that acting? Just to prove that I 'like Artemis'? Ridiculous. She has to be crazy. "You're insane. I have absolutely no feelings for him."

"Oh please," she chuckled. "You've been green all day. In fact, a few times I was actually worried for my life."

I looked at her in shock, shaking my head. "You'd better be careful. You're my friend, but I will not let you play around with Arty." And I meant it. Artemis is my best friend and a genius, but physically, he's little more than a child and I can't let anyone take advantage of him.

"I'd never do such a thing," she replied and then she laughed at the glare that I was treating her to. "Well, not on purpose and never seriously. Humans aren't my thing."

"That was my warning. He's still just a kid."

Lili turned, staring at me with her deep, blue eyes. "And this is my warning: you'd better wisen up because next time the person flirting might just be serious. And she won't think of him as a kid. She'll think of him as he is and then it'll be too late for you."

"I don't like my best friend." I repeated for what felt like the thousandth time. It all felt so redundant now. What's the point of saying it if no one believes you.

"Just keep telling yourself that and maybe it'll comfort you when that Paradizo girl snatches him up."

"He has no feelings for her."

"You're right. He has feelings for you. Trust me, I know."

"And how do you know?"

"Well, he yelled at me for ditching and ignoring you when I'm supposed to be your friend. He stood up for you."

I frowned. I didn't remember any of that. "When did this happen?"

"While you were behind us, plotting my slow demise." she chuckled. "Though I admit that I do deserve it. I'll be the first to admit that I've been a vewy bad girl."

Well, I'll admit you've got to admire her honesty and gall. Though, even that couldn't endear her to me right now. "So, if we walk out of here right now, will you begin acting like yourself?"

"Yes," she promised. "Now let's go back before your little Artemis gets too worried."

I grinned as the two of us walked out of the bathroom. The rest of the mall trip proceeded as expected. Lili kept her promise and the three of us walked together with me stuck in the middle. And instead of flirting, she began acting like a normal person. By the time we made it back, I had acquired two bags to the thirty that Lili had coming to her home at a later date.

This time Arty insisted that I ride in the front seat, and he graciously took the back. Instead of music, there was the steady stream of questions pouring forth from my blond friend. Arty was patient and answered each to the best of his ability as a perfect gentleman should. And I couldn't help feeling just a bit smug since I already knew almost every answer. Since I really knew him.

All too soon, we were pulling up to my house. Arty and I waved to her before entering the house. "Where would you like me to put these?" he asked, holding up my shopping bags.

"My bedroom please." he followed me with the sole intention of putting everything away. As I was doing so, I tried to keep up a conversation. "The museum would have been better."

"Au contraire. That was not the worst shopping experience that I've had." I'm sure that his worst experience was probably with Juliet. Mine sure was. "I actually rather enjoyed it."

Now it was time for my eyes to widen. Arty, a true boy, hated shopping or anything shopping related. "Really? I'm going to have to tell Juliet that you said that."

I tried not to smile at the look of pure terror that was on his face, but it was impossible. "That is not necessary."

"We'll see," I replied mysteriously. "So, you met Lili Frond…"

He nodded and answered with a cryptic, "I did."

As her friend, and the one who had sort of unintentionally invited her, I felt like it was my responsibility to apologize. "I'm sorry she was so…overbearing."

He chuckled. "It's quite alright. She was just trying to make a point."

I'm almost one hundred percent sure that my chin hit the ground. There was no way that he was in on that. He couldn't. He wouldn't. "And how do you know?"

"In my time, I have done more than enough point proving. It was quite easy to see that she was just trying to annoy you."

Annoyed. It perfectly described how I felt right now. "And you knew?"

"I believe an animation said it best: "Ain't I a stinker?" he grinned, his white teeth glinting brightly. And to think, I'd been sure that he was oblivious. But no. He was actually sitting there enjoying my pain.

All of a sudden, I had the strongest urge to wipe that grin off of his face. So, I grabbed the closest thing to me, which happened to be a pillow, and thumped him on the head. Childish, but it had the desired effect of wiping his face clean. And just for satisfaction, I hit him again and again.

"Holly," he said, his voice full of warning and patience. "I would not do that again if I were you."

"And why is that?"

"Because if I am hit one more time, then I may just have to retaliate."

I laughed. Does he even know who I am? I am Major Holly Short, quite known for my daring. So as not to disappoint, I whacked him again.

I could see the light click on in his eyes as he did something completely unlike him. He picked up a pillow and whomped me in the side with it. It didn't hurt, but it was surprising. Arty was a perfect gentleman, he would never do anything so demeaning…so insulting. "This means war," I declared.

The two of us went on an on attacking each other for what seemed like forever. I'd hit him in the face and he'd hit me in the leg. On and on until finally we called a truce. We laid back on the bed, panting gently, holding empty sacks that had once been pillows. All of the fluff that had been inside was now… well everywhere.

I glanced at Arty. His hand was disheveled and matted with the fluff, and his shirt now hung strangely wrinkled on his frame.

But after looking in the mirror, I realized that I looked just as bad. My hair was sticking out in every direction, and I looked like a wild woman. The same fluff was matted in mine, and my shirt was up and hanging loosely off of my shoulders.

I flipped back laughing hysterically. This was just too much. Arty and I, lying on my bed, down everywhere, messy hair and clothes, and a slight sheen to our skin? Wow. Thankfully, no one was here to see this or it would power some very inappropriate visions.

Surprisingly, the genius also chuckled. "You don't even know what I'm laughing at," I panted after I had regained control.

"Actually studies show that laughter is contagious through…" he began.

Oh no. Not now. He was not going to end my happy high. "No science. No lectures."

He pouted slightly, but I just rolled my eyes. "We have quite a mess here," he said.

"Yes we do."

"And we really need to clean this up," he said. We. He was going to help me. Ah, only Arty.

"Ah, the joys of my life," I sighed.

He chuckled. "You seem tired. I'm going to try to rid my hair of this," he waved, indicating the fluff. "And you should take a nap. I'll clean up."

I looked up at Arty. "Are you doing all of this because you're a gentleman?" That did seem to be the answer to everything involving Artemis.

"Only partially."

"And the other reason?"

"You're my best friend and I care about you," he said before turning and leaving.

"You're my best friend and I care about you." His words bounced around in my skull, stinging like bees.

As I laid staring at the ceiling, I just couldn't get that out of my thoughts. I am his best friend and he cares about me. I am his best friend and he cares about me. He cares about me.

A/N:

Well, that's another chapter down! Yay! Thank you. Your love is very much appreciated. ;)

So, I know a lot of you guys are kind of worried about the length of this story. I'll be honest: It's long. After all, this story is a realistic development of their feelings. It'll take a while, but the reward is worth the time. Trust me, and keep reading. Please…for me.

So, yeah, thanks to all of my reviewers and people who added me or this story to favorites. I love you guys. Keep reading and I'll keep writing. Oh and to review. Flames are welcome. They're what keep me warm and toasty at night. ;)

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Yours truly, madly, and deeply,

Einstinette