I've been awake for awhile now

you got me feelin' like a child now

'cause every time I see your bubbly face

I get the tingles in a silly place

fifteen-years-old

"Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, Lilly, Lilly!"

"Mmph," Lilly grunted, her hand fervently pulling the covers over her face. She rolled over and faced the wall, pressing her eyes tightly shut.

"Wake up, Lilly!"

"No," she said stubbornly, burying her face into her pillow.

"Do you not know what day it is, Lilly?" She felt someone tug lightly at one of her very loose braids.

"Not at the moment, no," Lilly replied, snuggling deeper into her pillow. "But I do know that I'm not ready to get up!"

"It's Christmas Eve, Lilly!"

Oliver pulled back her comforter and pried her eye open with his thumb and pointer finger. He lay down next to her and placed his face just inches from hers on the pillow. "Christmas Eve," he whispered, his hot breath tickling her cheeks. She giggled. He pinched her waist. "Pancakes. Are you going to get up now?"

Opening her other eye, she sighed. "Fine," she said, "But only for the pancakes, not for you, Oken." When Oliver and Lilly were three-years-old, the Truscotts and the Okens had begun the Christmas Eve pancake tradition. Every Christmas Eve at seven a.m. the families would head out to the Happy Highway Pancake House and eat piles of pancakes until the felt disgusting and sick. When Lilly and Oliver were eleven, the two families had agreed that the Happy Highway Pancake House had seen it's day and was too run down to continue the tradition. Oliver and Lilly, however, would have none of it, and had continued to make their way to the run down restaurant every Christmas Eve at the ripe hour of seven o'clock.

Oliver sighed and placed his hands behind his head as Lilly grudgingly stepped out of her bed. "I see I've lost out to the fluffy, sugary goodness of the Happy Highway Pancake House once again."

Lilly pulled a baby blue tank top and a pair of jeans out of her dresser and turned to face Oliver, who grinned up at her. She felt butterflies instantly hit her stomach and placed her hand there subconsciously. She wrinkled her eyebrows as she regarded the shaggy-headed boy in front of her. Oliver of all people should not be causing butterflies in her stomach… he was… Oliver for God's sakes!

"Are you okay, Lilly?" Oliver asked, and she snapped out of her trance, nervously tugging on the hem of her ragged gym shorts.

"Fine, fine," she replied quickly, nervously making her way for the bathroom. "I'm fine," she said once more, but more as a reassurance to herself.

it starts in my toes

makes me crinkle my nose

wherever it goes

I always know

sixteen-years-old

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Robinson will share their first dance as husband and wife."

As The Way You Look Tonight began to echo through the loud reception hall, Lilly watched as Paul Robinson twirled her sister Lauren onto the dance floor. Lauren laughed as Paul dramatically dipped her and Lilly sighed sadly. Lilly and Lauren had always been a team, and now Paul was whisking Lauren off to Minneapolis.

"Hello, there," she heard beside her.

She hastily wiped a stray tear from her cheeks and turned to face Oliver Oken, who stuffed a piece of cake in his mouth.

"Hi," she said, her attention turning back to the dance floor, where several couples had joined the bride and groom.

"Lauren seems happy," Oliver remarked, placing his empty plate on a nearby table.

Lilly nodded, half-smiling. "She is."

Oliver nudged her. "You're not."

"I am!" Lilly protested. "I'm happy for her. It's just going to be hard, not having her around all the time."

"You've still got me," Oliver grinned, giving her a goofy thumbs-up.

Lilly laughed. "Thanks, Ollie."

"I know what will cheer you up," Oliver said, a smirk playing on his lips.

Lilly cocked an eyebrow. "What?" she asked.

"Dancing with the hottest guy at the wedding."

Lilly laughed. "That would cheer me up," she said, returning his smirk, "But it seems he's already taken." She gestured toward a fat, balding, obviously drunk man who was doing the YMCA in the corner while several older women tried to escort him out of the room.

Oliver laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her onto the dance floor. "Okay, okay," he said, encircling her waist with his arms. "Second hottest."

that you make me smile

please stay for awhile now

just take your time

wherever you go

seventeen-years-old

Lilly tossed her gym bag over her shoulder as she walked out of the gym. "Later, Lilly!" Casey, her friend and fellow cheerleader, called. "Good practice, today!"

Lilly grinned and waved. "See you at the pep rally tomorrow!" She dug her hand through her purse, searching for her car keys.

"Lilly!" she heard and her head snapped up. She came face to face with a freshman cheerleader, Lindsey. "Lilly, did you hear?" Lindsey asked.

"Hear what?"

"Oliver Oken and Chris Talbott got into a huge fight. They almost both got suspended, but it was after school hours and not on school property so the principal couldn't do anything about it," Lindsey said, her eyes wide and her motions wild.

"Are they okay?" Lilly asked. She didn't care too much about Chris, an ex-boyfriend who had turned out to be a complete jerk, but she cared deeply about Oliver.

"I think so," Lindsey nodded. "Just bruises and bloodied up and everything. But Oliver was really pissed off at Chris, he started the fight!"

"Do you know where Oliver is?"

Lindsey nodded. "He was at his car a few minutes ago."

Lilly nodded in thanks and sprinted toward the parking lot. "Oliver!" she called as she reached her shaggy-headed friend. "Oliver, are you okay?" He turned around to face her and she could see where several bruises had already formed.

"Fine," he said softly, not meeting her eye.

Lilly wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "What happened, Ollie?" she asked quietly.

He sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it, Lilly."

"Come on," she urged, pulling away from him, but keeping her arms wrapped around his waist. "Please."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, the other hand resting on her shoulder. "After school, I was going to go surfing with some of the guys," he began. "We got there and we were just talking, joking around, and we started talking about girls."

Lilly nodded. "Okay," she said, beckoning him to continue.

Oliver unraveled himself from her arms and took a few steps away, his back turned to her. "He's a jerk, Lilly," he muttered quietly, kicking absentmindedly at the dirt.

Lilly scratched the back of her neck nervously, slowly getting an inkling of what might have caused the fight. "What did he say?" she whispered.

"It doesn't matter," Oliver replied, turning back around to face her. He placed his hands on her shoulders. "It doesn't matter."

She took a step back. "Oliver," she said, "What did he say?"

Oliver turned around again, taking a deep breath. "He said… he said that you were an easy lay." Lilly cringed. "And that if anyone wanted you, you would definitely take them. He called you a bunch of horrible names. I couldn't just let him do it."

Lilly felt tears stinging the back of her eyes. "I-" she began, but Oliver quickly cut her off.

"He's an asshole, Lilly," Oliver soothed, his arms quickly wrapping around her shoulders. "No one believed him, it doesn't matter."

"Thank you," Lilly whispered. "You didn't have to do that. Hit him, I mean."

"Yeah," Oliver replied softly, his hand moving slowly up and down her back. "I did."

the rain is falling on my window pane

but we are hiding in a safer place

under covers staying safe and warm

you give me feelings that I adore

eighteen-years-old

"I'm going out with Blake," nineteen-year-old Olivia Oken told her brother, puckering her lips as she applied lip-gloss in the foyer mirror. "I don't know when I'll be back, but I'm assuming you'll be fine." She turned and smirked at him, flipping her long, brown hair over her shoulder.

"Thanks for the concern, Olivia," Oliver replied, crossing his arms across his chest as he leaned in the doorframe. "But I think I'm going to be alright."

Olivia rolled her eyes and pinched his cheek. "Bye," she said, stepping out of the house into the summer shower that had just begun.

Sighing, Oliver flopped onto the couch and turned on the television. A few minutes later, he was sound asleep.

He awoke to a pounding on the door. He shook his head sleepily and stumbled toward the foyer, rubbing his eyes as he went. He threw open the door angrily, but as soon as he saw the drenched figure on the other side, concern swept over his face.

"Lilly?" he said, his eyes wide. "Lilly, are you okay?"

Lilly sniffed, her arms tightly wrapped around herself. "Yes," she said, though it was obvious she was not.

Oliver stared at her blankly. "Tell me what's wrong," he said, failing to notice that she was still standing outside in the rain.

She shook her head furiously, her white-blonde hair slapping the sides of her face. "I'm fine, Oliver," she said. "Can I just come in?" She gestured toward the house.

"Oh!" Oliver said, grabbing her elbow and pulling her in. A flush crept up his neck. "Sorry." He rocked back and forth nervously, unsure of what to say to his clearly upset friend. "You know what we haven't done in awhile?" he finally asked, and she looked up at him.

"What?" she murmured, pushing a strand of wet hair out of her eyes.

"Listened to the rain," he grinned, and grabbed her hand, pulling her up the stairs with him. When they were younger, Lilly and Oliver would pull out old blankets and sit in the Okens' attic, listening as the rain pounded on the roof. Oliver lay down on the ground and motioned for Lilly to do the same. He spread an old quilt over them and lay back, his hands folded behind his head. After a moment, Lilly lay down next to him, resting her head on his chest. He moved his arm around her and pulled her close.

"Talk to me, Lilly," he whispered, his thumb moving in a circular motion on her upper arm.

She sighed, snuggling close to him. "It sounds stupid," she said softly.

"It won't," Oliver reassured her.

She sighed again. "It's my mom," she whispered. "She's getting remarried."

"Oh," Oliver said quietly.

"I'm happy for her," Lilly said, "I mean, she's happy, and that's good… but… isn't it… doesn't it feel too soon?" Lilly's dad had passed away the previous year of lung cancer.

"All your dad would want is for you, Lauren, and your mom to be happy," Oliver said. "Lauren's happy, you said your mom was happy… that leaves you." He peered down at her. "Lilly, are you happy?"

She smiled. "Yes."

what am I going to say?

when you make me feel this way?

I just mmmm…

nineteen-years-old

Lilly stood by the baggage claim, nervously twiddling her thumbs. "God," she muttered, pacing back and forth, "Where is he?" The 'he' she was speaking of was Oliver, who she hadn't seen since their second year of college had begun in the fall. Now, with Christmas on the horizon, she stood in the airport anxiously awaiting his arrival back to Malibu.

After what seemed like an eternity, she saw his mop of brown hair gliding down the escalator. She let out a wolf-whistle and he grinned at her.

"My, my," she said, running to him and throwing herself into his arms. "If it isn't Smokin' Oken."

"Why, hello there, Ms. Truscott," Oliver replied, spinning her around. "What a pleasant surprise."

Lilly pulled away from him and looked him in the eye, her grin never leaving her face. "Jesus, Oliver, you don't know how much I've missed you."

"Oh, I think I do," Oliver replied, casually slinging an arm around her. "I mean, who couldn't miss these freakishly good looks?" He winked at her and began to lead her toward the baggage claim.

"Ollieeeeee!"

A loud shriek echoed through the airport and Lilly turned to see a tall, leggy brunette clumsily making her way down the stairs.

"Ollieeee!" she called again, and Lilly cringed.

The girl clicked her way toward the pair and instantly dropped her Prada bag when she reached them. "Gawd, Oliver, you can't just go leaving a girl in the middle of an unfamiliar airport. It can result in some major disasters." She flicked a strand of hair over her shoulder and then, noticing Lilly's presence for the first time, smiled sickeningly sweetly. "Oh, hello," she said, sticking out a perfectly manicured hand. "I'm Willa."

"Lilly," Lilly replied, taking Willa's hand in her own and shaking it firmly. "Lilly Truscott."

"Oh," Willa said, her eyes wide. "You're Lilly." She glanced at Oliver, giving him a smile, which he returned. Lilly felt sick. "Oliver talks about you a lot. You two are good friends, right?"

Lilly nodded. "Really good friends," she seethed. What does this girl have that I don't? she asked herself. Except for being perfect looking… "I know everything there is to know about Oliver."

She meant this to be insulting and intimidating, but Willa just smiled. "Cool," she said, picking up her bag again. "I'm going to pee," she said, turning to Oliver. "I'll be back in a second."

"Wow," Lilly breathed flatly as Willa clicked away, her hips swinging, "Charming."

"What?" Oliver asked, also watching the girl leave.

"Well, could you at least pick a girl with a little class?" Lilly squealed, gesturing at the empty space where Willa had stood.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver asked, genuinely confused.

"Her!" Lilly cried angrily. "She's so not right for you, Oliver."

"Oh?" Oliver asked, amused. "And who is?"

"I don't know!" Lilly huffed, then softly she muttered, "Me."

"Are you jealous, Lilly?" Oliver teased, nudging her with his elbow.

"No!" Lilly huffed. Then, letting out a long puff of air, she sighed, "Yes." It's now or never, she thought, as she gulped and took a deep breath. "Isn't it obvious, Oliver? I've always been in love with you! Everyone's been able to see it but you, even Miley." She turned away from him, her arms crossed over her chest. "But now you're with this ridiculous Willa person, and if that's what makes you happy then that's okay, but I just thought that now was a good time to let you know that I-"

She stopped her rant when she heard a peel of laughter behind her. Narrowing her eyes, she whirled around and stomped her foot, her fists clenched at her sides. "Oliver Oscar Oken," she seethed, pointing a finger at his chest. "Are you laughing at me?"

"I'm sorry, Lilly," he laughed, "But Willa's my cousin."

Lilly's jaw dropped. "You have to be kidding me," she whispered.

Oliver shook his head. "Nope."

"Damn it," she yelled, biting her nails furiously. "Damn it. I just confessed that for nothing? Now you probably think I'm some kind of freak and, oh God, what is wrong with m-"

Lilly was cut off when Oliver's lips pressed firmly onto hers. She was startled for a moment, but soon her arms found their way around his neck and she found herself kissing him back. When they pulled away, Oliver smirked at her. "Now see," he said, "If you weren't such a freak and hadn't confessed all that for nothing, then I never would have had the courage to do that."

Lilly grinned. "I guess I'll just have to be a freak more often."

I've been asleep for awhile now

you tuck me in just like a child now

'cause every time you hold me in your arms

I'm comfortable enough to feel your warmth

twenty-years-old

Oliver sat awake, watching Lilly sleep soundly. Pressing a soft kiss to her bare shoulder, he watched as her eyes fluttered open. She blinked and smiled. "Hello," she said softly, taking his hand into her own and kissing the back of it.

He smirked. "Hello," he replied, tracing an absentminded pattern on her arm.

She rubbed her eyes tiredly and rolled over so that she was facing him. "What's wrong?" she asked, reaching up to brush the hair from his eyes.

He sighed and gave her a tired smile. "Just thinking," he replied.

"About how beautiful I am?" Lilly grinned.

"Actually," he said, twisting so that he was balancing on his forearms over her, "Yes." He leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "Lilly," he said quietly, "I wasn't planning on doing this now… I'm not ready at all. I had this whole romantic thing planned out, it was going to be perfect." He paused and she smiled at him, silently begging him to continue. "Anyway," he sighed, "I have this overwhelming urge to do this now, so… I'm going to." He kissed her once more. "Lilly," he said shakily, "Lilly, will you marry me?"

Lilly gasped, bringing her hand to cover her mouth.

"I'm sorry if it's not perfect, I probably should have waited." Oliver rolled off of her and sat up. "Jesus, I'm sorry. I had it all planned out and it was going to be this perfect, romantic moment and-"

"Oliver," Lilly said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "This is perfect."

He turned around and met her eye, a trace of worry still visible. "Really?"

She smiled. "Yes." Her smile turned into a smirk. "Now, if you'd shut up for a couple of seconds, maybe I could say yes!"

His eyes grew wide. "Seriously?" he asked, as if he thought her answer was going to be different.

She nodded and he wrapped her into a tight hug. "Lilly," he whispered, "I love you so much."

She smiled, burying her face in his neck. "I love you, too."

it starts in my soul

and I lose all control

"I do."

"I do."

when you kiss my nose

the feeling shows

"You may now kiss the bride."

'cause you make me smile

baby, just take your time now

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to present to you for the first time: Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Oscar Oken!"

wherever you go

A/N: I'm back! And here's a one-shot to hold you over until I'm able to update Teardrops on My Guitar. It's a little cheesy, but I hope you liked it! Please review, it'd make me feel good. The song in this one-shot is called "Bubbly" and it's by Colbie Caillat. You should check it out, it's really good!