Sorry it's been a long time since I updated, it's just I've been debating whether to delete this story because I was worried no one is gonna like it.
"So, what do you think of the girl?" Was the question he was asked by Fuller and his co-workers after he got back to the chapel after a long day at school.
He disliked her at first because she was rude to him. However, he could see the whole situation was affecting her and felt it was his duty as a cop to protect her. It didn't take him long to feel frustrated by the fact there was no laws against paparazzi's from invading famous people's privacy and taking pictures. He believed the paparazzi should be charged for stalking rather than letting him off with a warning.
"She's alright," he answered coolly. "Obviously affected by the situation but still has a bad attitude at times like most famous people."
"Did she say anything about her father?" Judy asked earnestly.
"Nothing actually," he replied.
To say Judy looked disappointed was an understatement. She rallied quickly however. "Hopefully she will at some point!"
He knew what Judy was like because she crushed over Jeremy Woods and once went out and delivered phone messages to him just so she could meet the actor. There was a reason why Captain Fuller refused to involve her in the Woods case!
On the next day on the assignment, he kept his eyes peeled while taking Lily's attitude all morning.
"Why don't you try modelling instead of being a cop?" she asked at lunchtime. To make a point, she opened her locker to reveal two posters of a-ha and Michael J fox taped on the back. "I mean you are even hotter than these guys!"
He was about to argue that being a cop was more important than modelling but instead he reminded her to be quiet in case anybody in the halls overheard.
"Careful what you say because I'm undercover remember!" he whispered in her ear.
She rolled her eyes. "Relax! No one even heard me."
A frown swept across his face and he could feel his blood beginning to boil. He thought it was best to remove himself from the situation so he turned his heel and walked away.
"I'm going to lunch."
She caught up with him in a heartbeat.
"You're supposed to look out for me," she huffed. "It's what you are being paid for, remember?"
She was right unfortunately - but he was still irked with her.
She picked that up when he gave her the silent treatment whilst they ate alone at one table in the cafeteria. "What's with you?" she frowned.
He pushed away his empty plate which were once chips. "You are the one with the attitude," he accused.
She looked hurt. "Look, I'm sorry I have an attitude," she apologized. "And I know it's no excuse but I built it up to protect myself and just got used to it," she explained. "I built it up because I find it hard to trust people because they would befriend me just to get to my father."
He could understand her frustration because it personally struck a cord in him. He could relate to her because he felt like he was in the shadow of his own father. He used to be a respected cop and loved by many. He felt shattered when he died when he was sixteen and didn't want anything more than to honor him by becoming a cop himself. However, people expected him to be perfect like he was. Before Jump Street, everyone at headquarters personally knew his dad and would goad and degrade him whenever he messed up. Sometimes he could still hear their insults at the back of his head... even to this day.
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I only seen two of your dad's movies and I didn't care for them."
"You are the first person to ever say such thing," she said. "And I'm quite surprised to find that it actually kind of hurts," she laughed.
"Didn't you star in a movie yourself?"
"Just one," she replied. "Some teen chick flick which I've done a few months ago."
"Are you wanting to be an actress then?"
"Maybe when I leave school because it affected my studies," she replied sheepishly.
He nodded then glanced at the window to catch anything unusual. "But once you'll keep doing movies, the paparazzi's will bother you even more," he said, without tearing his eyes away.
"I know," she replied quietly. "But I happen to like acting and I'm interested in movie making in general."
He barely heard her as he focused hard for their guy. He could hear taunts at the back of his head telling him that he's not trying hard enough, that he'll fail as a cop if he doesn't get him.
"Do you see him yet?" she asked.
"Not yet."
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It greatly bothered him by the fact he hadn't caught the guy yet. When he was first told of the assignment, he thought it was going to be too easy and imagined getting his hands on the paparazzi on the first day at least.
When the last school bell went off, he followed Lily and her group of friends until they got out of the school building. He looked around with eyes like a hawk while Lily her friends chatted and messed about on the sidewalk.
"Hey Tom, would you like to go out shopping with me my friends?" Lily asked out of the blue.
He tore his eyes away from his surroundings and looked at her in surprise.
"Shopping?"
He didn't plan on seeing Lily outside of the assignment and thought it would be weird to shop with a load of teenage girls by his side.
"Come on, it'll be fun!" she begged.
He quickly thought about it and decided, why the hell not. He was still protective of Lily and he also wanted to know what life was like for her outside of school hours, whether there would be a large number of fans and paparazzi's bothering her.
"I just have to give my captain a quick phone call to let him know okay?" he whispered in her ear.
He was supposed to report his daily activities as soon as the day was over at Jump Street. He also had to make sure to call in to let his captain know the reason of his absence - otherwise he would be worried, wondering if anything bad happened.
"Great!" she beamed.
The nearest payphone was two yards away but he didn't too feel happy leaving her in case she got snapped behind his back.
"Are you going to be okay?"
"I'll be fine!" she reasurred him and still beaming.
He was watchful the whole time he got to the payphone and called Fuller. Lily seemed to be fine in the distance. She was still with her friends and she was throwing her head back with joyous laughter.
His captain found it amusing when he told him why he was going to report late.
"Have fun, Hanson!" And he didn't hesitate to let out a chuckle before he hung up.
There was no sign of the paparazzi during the time he went away and made the phone call. Or after that. He was beginning to think that the paparazzi didn't bother her as much than she claimed. But he'll soon know when the pictures come out at the end of the week.
Lily brought her friends Avery, Ruby, Becca and another girl called Sophie into the back of her SUV. They all wedged in and there was just about room for him but Avery was practically sitting on his lap which made him feel uncomfortable.
"Oh jesus christ," he whispered under his breath.
He noticed Lenz smirked at him in the rear-view mirror because they both knew he was far too old for this.
"Where's Jack?" Lenz asked.
"He's gone to visit his friends house and said he won't be back till late," Lily replied.
It didn't take long for them to arrive at their destination which was a shopping centre. Lily explained that it wasn't always safe to walk along the streets for very long because paparazzi's and fans would start bothering her so it was better for Lenz to drive them around most of the time. He also came with them to protect her as well.
He only been to the shopping centre once when he and his team had to go out and buy something to wear at a school prom in one case. It was the biggest, and the only shopping centre in the city so it was always full of energy.
While the girls chatted and giggled, he slowed down to walk beside Lenz.
"How long have you been Lily's bodyguard?" he asked.
"About three years," he replied. "After I quit baseball, I was hired by her dad who I must say, is a really nice guy."
He rose an eyebrow. "He's nice? I thought he would be rude like the majority of film stars."
"No, he's really down to earth and genuine. He has a really good sense of humor too," Lenz replied. "So how long have you been a cop?"
"About five years, including two years undercover."
"That's impressive," he remarked. "Do you like it?"
"Being a cop? Yeah, very much."
"I mean hanging out with teen girls and going shopping after school?" Lenz joked.
"Let's say it pays the bills," he sighed.
To add to his dismay to his current feelings, Lily went and called him. "Hey Tom! Catch up will you?"
He let out a groan then dragged himself over to join the group of girls.
"We decided to give you a makeover," Lily said as soon as he merged with the group. They all giggled.
"I honestly don't need one."
He felt he really didn't because he already had a makeover when he first started at Jump Street and was happy with his clothes.
"But you wore that same old jacket yesterday," Lily chuckled, referring to his brown tattered leather jacket.
"Hey, I happen to like this jacket," he said defensively.
"But you need new clothes."
She took his hand and led him into the nearest clothes store. The store had a mix of men's and women's clothes of all ages and it didn't take long for him to realize it was a high end store.
Lily handed him a pair of jeans which had a price tag of $65 dollars which shocked him. He didn't want to blow his hard earned money for something so small.
He pushed the jeans away. "No way, it's too expensive."
"It's on me."
"You really don't have to."
"Yeah I do. If you're going to be in my school you have to at least dress like everyone else."
She probably had a point but he expected to wrap up the assignment in less than a week. At least he hoped.
"Here, try these on." She tossed him a faded navy sweatshirt and black jeans much to his displeasure.
"No thanks."
But he had no choice as she took his arm and pulled him to the changing rooms herself.
He quickly tried the sweatshirt on and couldn't help but notice another price tag which stated $48. He felt like having a meltdown and had to ask his reflection on the changing room mirror why he was even here.
"You look great!" Ruby commented when he came out of the changing room.
"Hot!" Avery giggled.
He shook his head in disbelief and went back in to change. He was thankful he didn't have to write a detailed report about the horrors of clothes shopping with a bunch of teenage girls. And was sure his captain and his co-workers would be rolling around in laughter if they saw him right now.
Once they finished, Lily paid for about ten items with her credit card. It nearly gave him a heart attack when he saw the total.
"I can't believe you spent all that much on me!"
"It's no big deal," she shrugged.
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In less than two hours of shopping, Lily was stared at and gawped at. She was also stopped sign autographs as well as pose for photographs for a couple of pepple. But it didn't seem like she minded and was in good spirits, which surprised him because he couldn't imagine being in her place without losing it.
Eventually, Lily's friends excused they had to make it home for dinner 'before their parents freak'. But Lily decided to stay longer and they ended up eating together with Lenz at an expensive fast food restaurant in the same shopping centre.
They happily ate a burger meal and fries until a two men dressed in black started hovering outside the window taking pictures.
Lily quickly sheltered one side of her face with her hand. "You better hide too before they'll make a headline out of you!"
While they hid their faces, Lenz went out of the resturant to tell the paparazzis to leave them alone. It worked because the two paparazzis had gone in a flash.
"How did you do that?" he asked Lenz when he came back to the table.
"I threatened to call the cops," Lenz replied with a chuckle. "It works like magic!"
Lily laughed at then looked at him carefully. "Why did you become a cop?"
"My dad," he replied simply. He didn't want to mention the fact his father was dead and open his heart out because it hurt to talk about.
"Are you close?"
"Yeah, we're close," he replied quietly.
"I used to be really close with my dad," she said. "But now he spends a lot of time with Ambitch Turd."
"You what?"
"Amber Heard!" Lenz laughed.
"Yeah, I just call her Ambitch Turd because I hate her," Lily explained. "So does my brother."
"I thought your parents were together?"
"No, they broke up years ago."
"Sorry, I didn't know. My captain didn't mention that to me," he apologized. It wasn't noted in the file of the assignment either. He probably would have known about it if he read gossip magazines. "Is there a reason why you hate her?
"Yeah, it's because she's bossy and she treats my dad like crap."
He felt sad for her because she was obviously unhappy. He knew how she felt because last year, his mom found herself a boyfriend called Bob. They lived together for a while and even talked about marriage. He felt upset and bitter about the whole thing because even if his father passed, he expected her to love no other. Worst yet, Bob was nothing like his father, he was just pudgy old car salesman with a bad haircut. Both of them knew he was unhappy with their relationship so tried to get him to bond with him over a game of bowling. It didn't work and he ended up interrogating him with questions about his character and his intentions. In the end, his mother broke up with him because she discovered 'he was bad in bed'...
"It'll work out one day," he reassured her.
"I'd like to believe that," she said. "But they already got married a few months ago. And... I can't shake off this bad feeling like something bad is going to happen."
"What do you mean?"
"I think Amber is trouble," she answered. "And I'm not the only one who feels the same way."
Her saw Lenz nod slightly in agreement which was enough to throw him over with curiosity. He wanted to know more but they ended up changing the subject.
Thanks for reading :)
