"You are hollow. And you're heartless."
The regret shot through Iain's body faster than the words had come out. As he watched Lily walk away, a piece of paper dropped out of Lily's jacket pocket. He went to call out after her, but her name caught in his throat, and she disappeared out of his sight. Slowly, he bent down, picking up the paper. It was old; at least a few years, and the creases and edges were worn. It had obviously been folded and unfolded regularly.
Gingerly, he opened the sheet, and looked down at her handwriting; uncharacteristically neat for a doctor's:
My Five Year Plan.
Iain glanced over it. He'd heard her talk about this plan several times since he'd met her. He knew all about her plans; career-focused and otherwise. However, at the bottom of this carefully thought out document, was an amendment. Whereas the rest of the plan was written in cursive, blue ink, this late addition was written in black ink, in carefully printed lettering.
Keep Iain in my life.
Tears welled up in Iain's eyes. This wasn't something written in pencil that could be easily erased. Instead, it was in ink. A permanent addition. Immediately, Iain folded up the paper, placed it in the pocket of his paramedic jacket, and sent a quick text asking Lily to meet him. Ten minutes later, he set off to a local park.
He found her by the duck pond. She was sat on a bench, jacket wrapped tightly around her, watching four ducklings swimming around the reeds and plants. Quietly, Iain sat down next to her.
"I'm sorry, Lily. I was out of line. I don't believe those things I said. I was angry."
Lily nodded.
"I'm sorry, too," she said quietly. "I'm not very good at being empathetic. It's the one area of medicine that I have to really learn. Maybe that's why I'm not very good at it. Empathy is something that you feel, rather than learn."
Iain didn't respond, instead reaching into his pocket and pulling out Lily's five year plan. As soon as she recognised it, Lily took it off him; her features hardening.
"Where did you get this from? This is private."
"You dropped it in the ambulance station," Iain replied quietly. He took the paper out of Lily's hands and opened it, pointing at the addition to the bottom of the page.
"Do you mean that?" he asked.
Lily took the paper back, put it in her pocket, and stood up.
"It doesn't matter now."
"Of course it does!" Iain exclaimed, quickly standing up and taking her hand.
"No," Lily snapped, "It doesn't. I said to you that I didn't know what this was between us, but I wanted to find out. I told you that people come into our lives and it changes things. You said that you don't open up; well I don't either. That was me opening up, and you just threw it back in my face."
Iain looked down, holding her hand tighter in his.
"I didn't realise. If I did…"
"What?" Lily asked tearfully. "If you did, what would you have done? Humoured me? Let me down gently? Strung me along until I was fully invested and then just kicked me to the kerb? I suppose it's not any more than I deserve."
Iain was lost for words. Yes, Lily may have hurt him, but he had almost reduced the strongest woman he knew to tears. Without thinking he wrapped his arm around her waist, pulled her close and kissed her hard on the lips. Lily responded for a second before pushing his away from her.
"Stop, Iain. This is not fair. I know that you're angry with me; I know I hurt you, and I am so, so, sorry about that, but I was always honest. I want to be with you, and I think that piece of paper you found proves it. Please don't lie to me about how you feel. Please don't play with my feelings like that."
Iain looked her in the eyes, hating himself for being the cause of the tears that were resting on her lower eyelids.
"I want to be with you too. I was expecting you to change, and that isn't fair. My feelings for you grew because of the woman you are, and the morals you possess. We are different, and I shouldn't want to change that. You aren't hollow, and you aren't heartless. I never thought that about you, and I should never have said anything to make you think otherwise. Please, Lily, can we give this another go, without any false expectations?"
Slowly, Lily nodded, biting her lip. "I think so. I'm trying to be more empathetic, and more kind. I might just need your help with it. I have played by the rules all my life, and whereas other people have been taught that rules are there to be broken, or at least bent, my parents always told me that rules were there to be followed. No exceptions. It is something that I am trying to unlearn. But I am trying."
"I know you are," Iain agreed.
As they both smiled at each other, Iain stepped forward, placing a hand on the back of Lily's neck, and pulled her into a tender kiss. Immediately, Lily responded, wrapping her arms around his back.
As their kiss deepened, Lily felt a bubble of joy within her, as she realised that maybe her five year plan could still be achieved, after all.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this! I'm currently working on a Lily/Iain multi chapter fic, but I want to get a few chapters written first as I am terrible at updating!