Okay guys, bear with me on this one. I needed to get this outta my system before the drama that's about to happen. Please don't judge!

Special note for pananahthefirst: You don't have to read this part. It doesn't really have anything to do with the main plot, and I don't want you to feel hurt by this part in particular, because if you read it, you will hate me. You have been warned.

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"So," Timothy said, a slight chuckle in his voice that sounded more like it came from nerves than amusement, "you don't want to kill me?"

Lillian felt her face heat up as she laughed slightly and said, "Of course not. I never really wanted to kill you." She stopped to think for a moment. "Well, maybe once."

At this, he cracked up, and she joined him. They weren't laughing because what she'd said was that funny—it definitely wasn't—but it felt good to be rid of the nerves Lilly guessed they'd both been dealing with.

Lillian had decided she needed to follow her heart, even though her heart was NOT wise, and tell Timothy how she was basically dying on the inside not being with him. So far, it'd gone far better than she'd dared to hope. But the evening was still very young, so there was plenty of time for things to go terribly wrong.

So far, they'd picked back up on the conversation that began the last time they'd gotten together like this. Again, they sat perched side-by-side on Lilly's bed, talking about the same self-pitying love note Lillian had slipped into his pocket when they hugged on their new friendship. She giggled at the irony now.

"What's so funny?" Timothy asked with a confused smile that made her look away so he wouldn't see her blush.

"Nothing," she mumbled to the floor. "Just a thought."

"A thought, hm? Care to share?" he asked, a smirk slowly forming across his lips. She couldn't focus when he did that, so she just laughed and rolled her eyes at him.

"No way," Lilly replied, a smile now playing across her lips. "It's way funner to leave you guessing."

Normally, he would've made a comment on the grammatical inaccuracy of the word "funner," but now, he didn't seem to notice. Just looked at her with a look of sweet adoration. Lillian wasn't sure if that was making her face so warm, or the gorgeous sunlight streaming through the window. Honestly, she didn't particularly care in that moment. Especially when he looked into her eyes, leaned in gently, and kissed her.
(Me: *cues fireworks*
Everyone else: HOW COULD YOU JUNE WE HATE YOU *throws rotten tomatoes*)

It was a brief kiss—Lilly guessed it had something to do with her damp lips that she'd been licking nervously earlier—but no less enjoyable. Lilly knew she'd later refer to it as a perfect kiss.

They both pulled back, Timothy's eyes slightly widened, as she was sure hers were. Then her face broke out into a wide grin, her finger caressing her lips gently, not daring to believe what had just happened. Perhaps she'd imagined it. Or- or...

"You kissed me," Lillian murmured, stating the obvious. Instantly, she wished she could take it back. She didn't want to sound stupid.

He laughed lightly, looking out the window, then facing her. "Yeah. It felt..." He seemed to wrack his brain for the perfect word to describe the moment. "It felt amazing. Perfect," he decided.

Lillian felt the heat in her face increase as she looked anywhere but at Timothy's face and asked the question dancing through her mind. The question that wouldn't let her get a full night's sleep. The question that needed an answer.

"So... does this mean what I think it means?" she asked softly, not wanting to say it too directly for fear of extreme embarrassment.

"Huh?" Timothy questioned, adorably confused as always to the topic staring him right in the face, forcing Lillian to explain herself. And boy did she HATE explaining herself descriptively. It was always so embarrassing.

"I meant to say..." She trailed off and collapsed, burying her face into her favorite pillow portraying two characters from a series called Keeper of the Lost Cities, sitting under a very special tree. Dakota had gotten her the pillow for Christmas.

"Why is this so hard?!" Lilly demanded, her voice muffled by the pillow, though her irritation with herself rang out loud and clear.

Timothy just laughed and said, "You can do it. But while I wait for you to decide to tell me or not, I'll just borrow your copy of The Ruins of Gorlan."

Rolling her eyes but unable to hide her grin, Lilly swatted him back down with her hand when he tried to get up. "Fine! I'll just go for it."

Several silence-filled minutes later with plenty of quizzical-smirk-with-an-eyebrow-raised combos from Timothy, Lilly finally blurted, "Does this mean you want to be together? For real? I mean..." She trailed off, blushing.

Timothy thought for a moment—how the heck was he so cute when he made that face?—and said, "Lilly, for the time we were apart, it felt like my left arm had been chopped off. It was so hard seeing you, but not... seeing you. So I'm inclined to say... yes. Bit I don't want to hurt you again, Lill. And it's not out of the realm of possibility that I won't."

Lillian's fluttery heart suddenly came to an abrupt halt. She couldn't breathe. No matter how much she hated to admit it—even to herself—she needed him like she needed food and water. For a split second, it'd felt like he might feel the same. But by denying the possibility of being her boyfriend, he was hurting her just as badly as if he were breaking up with her all over again. She got it—he was just trying to protect her—but it didn't feel that way.

A treacherous voice in the back of her mind whispered, If he really loves you so much, why doesn't he want to be with you? Is he trying to spare you, or him?

As she immediately shut down the thought, she said softly, "I'm willing to take that risk. I love you."

The look on his face was an odd, almost unreadable mix of confusion, tender adoration, thoughtfulness, and much more.

While he thought for that moment, a face flashed through Lillian's mind— the stricken, heartbroken, betrayed face of Grace. This face had haunted her since she realized there was a chance she may get back with Timmy. It was the thing that prevented her from sleep altogether—prevented her from enjoying almost everything—every day now. She knew how unstable her friend's emotions were right now after giving up Timothy herself for Lilly, the fear of getting her dear Olivia taken away, and much more— in other words, she knew if she got back with Timmy, she may as well be killing her friend from the inside. She didn't want that. At all. It killed her to even catch herself thinking about Timothy romantically now, never mind how she felt now about kissing him. But all he had to do was smile or crinkle a brow and she was under his spell. She just couldn't say no to the message her heart was giving her, but she HATED how freaking selfish it was. All she ever did was act selfishly—

"Earth to Lilly," Timothy said with a bit of laughter in his voice. It brought her all too quickly back to the present.

But...

"Gracie will hate me forever if we do this," she said, burying her face in her hands.

Timothy snorted. "Hate you? If she'll be hating anyone, it'll be me, not you. Not that she doesn't hate me as it is."

It took Lilly a second before she said, "So... that's a yes?"

After a second of concentrating, she'd put together what he'd said while she was zoned out about Grace: "I love you too. I absolutely do. And, if you're really willing to give me a second chance that I definitely don't deserve..."

Now, all he did was nod. It was such a simple gesture, but it carried so much. Overwhelmed by shock and ecstasy, she threw her arms around his neck and held him close.

She couldn't believe she was thinking of such details in that perfectly magical moment, but she couldn't help but notice how she and Timothy fit as perfectly as puzzle pieces. Whichever way she adjusted herself against his chest, face, and neck, she fit perfectly. It was as if he'd been made for her to hold.

Before she could convince herself to back down, she planted a soft kiss on his neck. His skin was as smooth and soft as his lips, and her cheeks burned with the pleasure of the feeling.

When she felt his dimpled grin make an almost instant appearance against her hair and—better yet—he returned the favor and kissed her there, she had no lingering doubts that she'd made the wrong choice.

At least, not yet.