Disclaimer: I don't own or claim to own Cold Case or any of the characters.
Ray first saw her when he was seven years old. He saw her walking by his home, her small hand being held in an older male's; probably her father, Ray had assumed. He saw her walking past his house every weekday morning before he went to school. He also began noticing her at his school. It always looked like the girl could use someone to talk to, but Ray never had the guts to approach her. He decided, instead, to watch her from a distance.
He saw her less after the school year ended, but every once in a while she'd run by his house and into the park. Ray was able to watch her from his bedroom. It's not like he waited for her to walk by so that he could watch her, he just couldn't manage to take his eyes off her when he did see her. He usually saw her go to the park by herself, her long blond hair flowing behind her as she ran by. Every once in a while he saw her go with her father. A few times he noticed her father had a baby girl in his arms, and once he even saw her mother join them. Once he was actually in the park when she went to play. He spent the entire time she was there hiding behind a tall tree. His heart raced and it felt like he had been waiting for hours before he finally heard the sound of her small feet getting further away as she ran down the pavement.
After the summer ended and the new school year started, Ray noticed that she started walking to school alone. Ray followed her to school, staying far enough behind her so she wouldn't notice him. Most of the time she went by really early, but he didn't mind. Then there were days that he had to leave, even though he hadn't seen her pass. Most of the time he would see her at school later in the day, but there were many days of school that she missed completely. Ray found himself worrying about the young girl who he had never said a word to regularly. He worried about the fact that she didn't have a warm jacket to wear in the winter, her shoes, completely worn, couldn't protect her feet from the cold snow that she trudged through daily. He worried about the bags under her eyes and the bruises he occasionally noticed on her wrists.
It was March, and the snow had started melting when Ray finally approached her. He had faked illness so that he could stay home from school that day. Not because he wanted to talk to her, just because he really didn't feel like going to school that day. He had been relaxing on the steps that led up to the entrance of his home when he saw her walking down the street, on her way home from school. At first, he panicked and ran to the sole tree in his small front yard, hiding behind it's small trunk. He knew she hadn't seen him because she was staring down at her feet, trying to avoid the larger puddles that filled the street. It wasn't until after she passed that he talked himself into saying something.
"Hi," he said loudly, realizing she was already a few feet ahead of him. He had stepped out from behind the tree so that she could see him. He was surprised when he heard a small scream escape her lips, her body froze and she slowly turned her head back to look at the person who had spoken to her. "Hi," he said again, a friendly smile on his lips. "I'm Ray," he added.
"I'm Lilly," the small girl stuttered, fear in her eyes. Ray continued to smile at her as he took a few steps closer to her.
"Want to come over?" he asked, shrugging in the direction of his home and the park. Lilly shook her head quickly and Ray frowned. "Why?" he asked.
"I gotta be home," she said before turning around and running down the street. Ray ran to the entrance of the building he saw her enter and watched her as she disappeared into the second room on the left. Even from outside the building he could hear the shouts from one of the rooms closest to the entrance and music blaring from down the hall.
A/N: Alright, so this is my first fanfic, and I really have no clue what I'm doing. Reviews would be a great way to let me know if you like it or not, and what I could do to improve!
Thanks for reading, and I'll try to update as soon as I can!