She was watching him once again; it had become a regular occurrence for her to watch him. Oh, how the tables had turned.
His eyes were clouded, something she had come to grow accustomed to. A bottle held tightly in his hand, almost as if he were fearful to let it go, it was half empty. She did not want him around her, and yet she wouldn't leave him, not now, not like this.
"Hey," His voice, once so cheerful, teasing, was now little more then a slur of incomprehensible words. How the brilliant fall.
"It's time you go," Her words were soft, hiding the fear, anger and desperation behind them; she could not give in now, she would not give up.
He looked at her, and his clouded eyes showed his confusion at her words.
"The party just started!" She looked around the room, people had begun leaving hours ago, the only ones beside them that remained was the few who had passed out already, his friends had lost hope, giving pitiful excuses and leaving him to it, they had long given up on getting their friend back, but she could not.
"No, it finished, a long time ago," The early hours were tiring her; she wished to be any where but here, that she wasn't in a position to have to be here.
"Nah!" he was insistent, and seemed so sure of his words, and yet his face showed some sense entering his brain.
"I'm going James, please, we'll go together," She held her hand out to him, and his took it, sliding his larger, stronger hand into her delicate grasp. "Come on James," She said softly, leading him towards the door. "That's it."
He was stumbling slightly, and seemed dazed, but she had known him to get into worse situations, while he was in this state at the very least.
It took them an hour, stumbling, and tripping through dark, cold corridors of the castle to get to the portrait of a silver unicorn, which looked at them with a knowing expression, one that had, like his clouded eyes, become all too familiar with her.
She mumbled the password, and dragged James through the portrait opening, and heaving him up the few stairs that led to his room.
"Almost there," She told him, before shoving her way through his room. When they had first moved in to the Dorms their rooms had been immaculate, but since then his room seemed… Well, it was a mess.
His floor was covered in discarded items of clothing, beer bottles, and various other things. She managed to get through all the crap and to his bed, before practically throwing him onto it, in his drunken state, he was able to do little else then lay there as she removed his shoes.
"There you go," She said, pushing his feet onto the bed, as he looked at her through heavy eyes. She smiled softly at him, leaning forward, and pushing his hair back, and placing a gentle kiss on his forehead.
"S'not so bad," James slurred, looking up at her, Lily furrowed her brows at him, and not sure if it was because of her expression or just because, he explained. "I'm happy all the time now."
"No James, you're not… You're just too drunk to remember you're sad," She whispered, he looked at her, as if he understood what she was saying, but she doubted it.
"I'm happy enough, Lily," She smiled down at him, but it was not a happy smile, it was a smile that was a mixture of pity and sorrow.
"I'm sure you are James."
He reached up and grabbed her wrist, his hold was not tight, and yet she knew she would be unable to pull away from him. He tugged slightly until she sat down on the bed beside him, here eyes never failing to look into his, and every so often she thought she could see the old bright park that used to be there.
No words were exchanged as he simply lay there looking up at the girl beside him, he said nothing as he eventually sat up so that his face was not even a centimetre from hers, and then his lips were against hers.
She could taste the fire whiskey on his lips, burning her lips slightly, but behind that taste was something so familiar and yet so strange to her… it was James, before he was broken, she could feel it for the shortest of seconds before he pulled away.
"I'm broken Lily."