They Say Love is the Key

(Sorry this took so long to reply to. D: My brain's been dead lately.)

"I know you wouldn't, Addy," Zach said honestly, his voice quiet at the mention of it. He knew Addy wasn't like that, he knew she was pure and innocent. But, that didn't mean that Eric would accept it. "I just don't trust him. I don't want you to get hurt. That's how I'm different, don't you know? You know I would do anything to avoid letting you get hurt and that's what I'm trying to do."

Lily frowned at his words, rolling her eyes. She didn't understand why he was saying all of this. It wasn't like he was going to man up any time soon, anyways. "First of all, I'm not a whore like those girls that you go to parties with. I won't fuck whoever gives me any sort of attention," she growled, glaring at him, "And I'm not going to just sit around and wait for the person I have feelings for to return them. I've done enough of that."

(It's fine!!)

Addy felt a tear slip out of her eye and she clenched her eyes shut, shaking her head in an effort to make it stop. He was oblivious - and she wanted to hate him for it... She wanted to just be able to love him and she wanted him to love her back. "Well you're the one hurting me here..." She said, looking up at him with her teary eyes. "I'm not going to just sit around and wait until the person I love realizes it too..."

Josh was in disbelief of her words. He didn't want to be hearing this. He had been trying to protect her from all of this and now he didn't know. "I never said you were a whore, Lil!" He said softly and shook his head. "I just know guys and I know he will pressure you and pressure you until you finally give in... I don't want that for you. You deserve better!"

Zach frowned at her words, not understanding. "How am I hurting you, Addy?" he questioned quietly, confused more than he thought he could be. It didn't make sense to him; how was he causing her any sort of harm when he was only trying to protect her? Despite not understanding why he felt this overprotectiveness of her, he only passed it off as him being the best friend that he was. "What did I do that's hurting you so much?"

"Who's better, Josh?!" Lily nearly yelled, clenching her fists at her sides as she tried to avoid letting her emotions get to her. "The only person that's better for me doesn't even realize it! He doesn't even want to realize it! So, if I have to settle for dating some guy who only wants to fuck me, despite that he knows he won't be able to, then fine!"

Addy still wanted to cry and shook her head, turning into Eric and wanting some relief from this need to cry. "Because you don't even get it, and all you're doing is going to hurt me!" She frowned and wrapped her arms around herself. "The only person I love doesn't even want to love, and I don't know why you're fighting me. If I just have to settle, just let me settle now rather than later!" She frowned.

Josh frowned at her and didn't even know what she was going on about. He had need known that she was in love with someone - but this was what he meant... Love wasn't good for anyone - it was hurting her. "And who is this guy?" He asked softly. "Should I knock some sense into him?" He didn't like this. He didn't understand it.

Zach blinked to her words, trying to absorb them as best as he could but his mind was focused on the fact that she mentioned that she loved somebody. Who did she love and why was it causing her so much pain? "Who do you love, Addy?" he asked quietly, "I swear, I'll do whatever I can to fix whatever's wrong." He almost hated it, though, knowing that he would lose her to somebody.

Lily shook her head furiously, angry tears pricking at her eyes. "Why would you want to knock some sense into him?" she asked with annoyance, "You don't even believe in love. Wouldn't it be me that would need sense knocked into them? Besides, you couldn't knock sense into this guy because there's no point in it. There's no point in me loving him when all he loves are parties and whores."

Addy shook her head as she heard his words. She felt it ironic - he didn't believe in love, and he wanted to knock some sense into the guy that she loved. Too bad it was him. "It doesn't matter - he wouldn't believe that my love for him even exists... It's stupid of me to love him... I know he would never love me back, but I don't want to let him go - even if it kills me when I find out about the next party and the next whore."

Josh was becoming more and more confused by this. He didn't like it. He didn't like to see her in pain - and he was struggling. There was a part of him that knew he should help her to help her be happy - and another that didn't want to lose him to some new guy. "Who the hell is he?" He asked at her cryptic words. "I can help you - just tell me who it is!"

Zach shook his head, trying to understand what she was talking about. Though he did understand it, he just didn't understand how anybody could have the guts to put Addy through so much pain. Yet, he wasn't sure if offering his help was even the right thing, considering there was the possibility of losing her completely, more so than he already had. "Who, Addy?" he asked with a frown, "Who is it? Tell me and I swear I'll do what I can to fix it."

Lily frowned at his words, her nails digging into the palms of her hands as her fists clenched tightly - which was saying something, considering how her nails weren't all that long anyways. She wasn't sure which she wanted to do: cry or scream at him. "How can you not know who it is when everybody else does!?" she yelled, obviously going for the latter. Everybody else saw it; they all saw how much she loved him. Why couldn't he see it?

Addy was annoyed. How could he be like this? He pretended he had her best interests in mind - but he didn't! She loved him and he was all too blind to see it. She had tried to express it for so long, but she knew he didn't want any part of it. "How?" She asked in disbelief as he asked her about it. "How are you so blind to it? Everyone else knows! Why don't you?!" She had stopped forex and was pounding on his chest.

Josh was so confused. Where was all of his coming from? Why was she mad at him of all people? I was just trying to help. He wanted her happy. He didn't know how anyone would be able to deny her - whether he believed in love or not, that was how he felt. "What are you talking about?!" He asked in annoyance. "I've never known about any guy..." Then he sighed, trying to calm himself down. "Why don't you just tell me who it is? I want to help you... I want to talk to them!"

Zach frowned, trying to understand what she was saying. It didn't make any sense. How was he supposed to know anything if she didn't tell him? How the hell would everybody else possibly know, yet he didn't know? It was frustrating him. "I don't know why I don't know it! Especially when everybody else apparently does!" he said, wishing that things were less complicated, "Just tell me who it is, Addy. Please. I want to help."

Lily groaned in annoyance, honestly wanting to pull her own hair out. What was it going to take to get him to figure it out? Did he seriously not know it? "Ask somebody else!" she grumbled with annoyance, "Ask anybody else! Anybody can tell you who it is!"

Addy shook her head and covered her mouth as she sobbed. It hurt so bad. How was he so oblivious? She had always expected that somehow in the back of his mind he would know, but that just crushed her heart right now. "I...can't... Anyone can tell you! Why can't you figure it out? How can you not know?!"

Josh frowned at her words and he ran a hand through her hair. "Why can't you tell me?!" He asked softly. "Why are you getting annoyed by me?! I just want to help you... You're my best friend, and it hurts me to see you in such pain! Just tell me so that I can help!"

Zach frowned after hearing her words and shook his head, growing frustrated. "Just tell me, Addy," he whispered, wanting to reach out and wipe her tears away, but knowing that he didn't have much of a right to when he had been acting like such an ass lately. "I don't want anybody else to tell me who you like. What if they lie to me and I try to knock sense into the wrong guy?"

Lily buried her face in her hands, taking a few deep breaths as she tried to calm herself, frowning deeply. "Dammit, Josh!" she yelled, dropping her hands to her side, nearly shaking from either anger or turmoil - she wasn't sure which. "Why can't you just see? Do you need a mirror in your face or something for you to just understand?!"

Addy wanted to cry even more as he nearly begged her to tell him. And he sounded so desperate and sad and she hated it. What was it? It wasn't like he would even understand... He didn't want to love her besides! It wasn't right. "It's going to be pretty hard to beat him up. What do you need - mirror? Can't you put it together? The only guy that I've ever cared about?"

Josh sighed a little as she yelled at him, stepping back. They had gotten quite a crowd and he hated it. He didn't want her to be humiliated or anything... When she spoke he opened his mouth and then frowned. "I don't understand why I would need a -" and then actually figured that something clicked. He shook his head and frowned. "What do you mean? Lily... No more encrypted riddles... Do you mean that?"

Zach furrowed his brows in confusion, trying to understand. Put it together? What was it? Some kind of puzzle? Though, as he replayed her words in his head, he froze. "Addy, you need to be really clear right now," he told her quietly. He didn't know why her words were affecting him so much, but he had to know if his mind was right with his new assumption. "Are you talking about me?"

"Of course I mean that," Lily said, her voice growing much softer as she cast her eyes down to the floor. She was embarrass over what she had said. She was going to lose her best friend all because she loved him. "And I hate it. I hate that I care so much about you, that I feel these things for you, despite knowing that you don't believe in it."

(Double post. Sorry!)

Addy frowned a little. More clear? How could she be any more clear without shouting it out. They had quite a crowd now - but who cared? They all knew better than him anyway. When he spoke, she cried even harder and looked up to him. "I wish it wasn't that way - because I know...I know you don't believe in it... You think it's fake. It's not!" She said softly.

Josh frowned as he looked down at her. At this point, he did step forward and he wiped away her tears, shaking his head. He didn't believe it - but he didn't have to. "Lily... Why would you love me? I've been nothing but unfair to you! How could you possibly feel anything for me besides hatred?" He asked her softly.

Zach frowned deeply at her words, though it was more so because she was crying so much. Moving closer to her, he gently wiped the tears from her face before wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to himself. "Addy," he whispered her name with such gentleness, wanting to calm her down. "Why would you ever love me? I only ever hurt you anymore - you're even crying right now because of me. How can you love me when I hurt you so much?"

Lily blinked through her tears, shaking her head quickly. "Because I've always loved you," she said quietly, "Even before you stopped believing in it, I loved you... Besides, I could never hate you, not when you've always been there for me." She hated saying all of this, letting herself feel so vulnerable. But it was out there now and she figured it was for the best. If she lost him or not, at last he knew now.

(Ignore)

Addy hated him - or wanted to hate him even more - for his actions. She clung to him tightly and shook her head, nuzzling into him and feeling his warmth - enjoying it. "I've always loved you!" She started to argue in a voice that was full of tears, so soft that she could barely be heard except against his skin. "Before you stopped believing it, I loved you... And I love you now because I can't stop - because you've always been there for me. You're the one who my heart wants, and it kills me... All the time."

Josh held her close to him. He felt like an idiot - he felt like an ass for hurting her. Why was she holding on to a love for him? She knew he couldn't return it... Why didn't she just hate him? It killed him to see her in this pain - especially in this pain that was simply all his fault. She could do so much better! "Lily! You'd be dumb to love me! All I've done for you is hurt you... Even back then, I'm sure I've done nothing good for you!" He said, running a hand through her hair.

Zach hated knowing that he was causing her all this pain. How long had she been hurting, all because of him? Tightening his hold on her, he shook his head. "You shouldn't love me, you know that," he told her quietly, "If I've caused you all this pain, you should have just stopped loving me! I'm not worth you hurting like this!"

Lily quickly moved to push him away from her. "Stop it!" she yelled at him, "Stop being nice to me! It only makes me hurt more!" It gave her false hope and she wanted to hate him, but she couldn't... She loved him too much. Shaking her head, she looked down. "I'm going home." Brushing past him, she quickly made her way to the exit. She couldn't deal with this anymore.

Addy felt herself crying even further as she heard his words. She didn't want to deal with this. This was terrible. It would be better to just love him - and not have him know. She phoned him away then and shook her head. "Just... I just can't right now..." She said in a cracking voice. She pushed him away from her and stumbled away. She needed to get away. She wanted to hate him - but why couldn't she? Why couldn't she realize he was bad for her?

Josh's face turned into one of sadness and he frowned. He shook his head and ran his hand through his hair. "No - Lily!" He called, following after her. They needed to talk about this... He couldn't keep hurting her like this - it just wasn't good for her... He needed her to move on - it was better for her. "Lily - I'm sorry!"