...Chapter 4...

The next morning, John and Lilly sat down at their table at the diner and stared at the menu, then John cleared his throat. "Natalie's meeting us here."

Lilly glanced up. "Oh, yeah... I forgot about her. Dad told me a few months ago, that she's pregnant."

"Yeah, she is." John nodded, proudly.

"Well, congrats."

"Thank you... I mean, we're both excited for this baby."

"I bet." Lilly smiled. "And I'm happy for you. I know you'll be a good father."

"Thanks, Lil."

"Hey, John."

He stood up and smiled. "Natalie." he gave her a hug, then she sat down, followed by John. "This is my niece Lilly."

"Hello." she held out her hand. "I'm Natalie."

Lilly shook it and let go. "Nice to meet you."

"I'm sorry about Paul, he was a good guy."

"Yeah." Lilly nodded, then went back to looking at the menu.

"So." Natalie started, breaking the awkward silence. "Who else are we meeting for breakfast?"

"My mom, step-dad, and step-bitchy-sister." Lilly said, turning the page. "And when you meet her, you'll see why she's bitchy." suddenly, all three of them walked up and Lilly looked up. "Hello, Fam." she scooted over in her seat. "This is Uncle John's girlfriend Natalie... Natalie, this is my mom Katey, step-dad Vince, and the spoiled brat permanently attached to her cell phone is the step-sister Chloe."

"It's nice to meet all of you." Natalie smiled.

Chloe glared at Lilly for a few seconds, before Katey nudged her to sit down, so her and Vince could sit down. "So." Katey started. "When's Paul's funeral?"

"Friday sounds good to me." Lilly nodded. "In 2 days."

"Yeah." John agreed. "Friday's good, but we'll go over the details tomorrow, because right now, we eat."

...

A little bit later, it was just Katey, John, and Lilly at the table. Natalie left to her mothers, and Vince took Chloe back to the hotel, because all she was doing was complaining the whole time. "Katey." John cleared his throat. "There's something Lilly and I need to talk to you about."

"Okay." she took a sip of her coffee. "What is it?"

"One of the things in Paul's will, that he left for Lilly was his apartment, and..."

"I want to move in."

Katey looked at Lilly, surprised. "You want to move here? In Llanview?

"Yeah, I mean, I can transfer my credits over, and go to college here." Lilly sighed. "Mom, I just want to start off fresh and I already have a place to stay, plus I'll be safe since Uncle John lives in the same building."

Katey gave her a look. "What about..."

"It'll be fine." Lilly quickly cut her off.

"Okay, what about rent? You don't even have a job right now."

"I can get one, but Dad's apartment is paid for."

"Is that true, John?"

"Yeah... the rent, utilities, water." he nodded. "Everything."

Katey took a deep breath. "If it's really what you want to do, then it's fine with me."

"Thanks, Mom." Lilly took a sip of her Pepsi. "But I'm gonna have to go back home to pack my stuff, before Chloe gets a hold of my things."

"Don't worry about it." Katey waved her hand. "I'll call up Vince's brothers to pack it all up and move it here for you."

"That works for me, Mom... thanks."

"You're welcome, Honey." Katey smiled. "So, everything with Paul's funeral is good to go, right?"

"Yeah." John nodded. "But Lil and I will head to the funeral parlor to pick out the rest of it."

"Can we do it after I change my clothes?" Lilly asked, eating a grape. "I'll need an hour. Just pick me up at the hotel."

"That's fine." John nodded. "I need to head over to the station anyway, just call me when you're finished."

"That works." then suddenly, Lilly saw something out of the corner of her eye. She looked over, smiled a little, and froze.

"Hello there, John."

"James." he nodded. "What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing... just came to get some coffee."

Katey noticed Lilly and James staring at each other, then held out her hand, snapping them out of their daze. "Hello, I'm Katey... Lilly's mother."

"I'm James." he shook her hand, then let go. "It's nice to meet you." his eyes darted to Lilly. "You gonna be busy later?"

"I'm not sure... me and Uncle John have to go to the funeral place."

"Oh, okay." James nodded. "I guess I'll see you some other time." then he winked at her before he walked away to the coffee machine.

John noticed the look on Lilly's face and before he could say anything, Katey beat him to it. "He sure is a cutie."

"Uh-huh." Lilly nodded, then saw the annoyed look on John's face. "What?"

"The answer is no."

Lilly smiled a little, thinking it was cute that he was protecting her from the boys, then she nodded. "Okay, Uncle John... sure."

Katey chuckled, then stood up. "Let's get going, Lilly."

"Yep." she stood up too. "Okay, Uncle John, see you in a hour."

"Alright, Kiddo." he nodded. "See ya." then Lilly and Katey left the restaurant and went to the hotel.


After being at the funeral parlor for two hours, John helped Lilly take all of her luggage to Paul's apartment, plus they picked up some necessities and whatever else she needed for her as well. While John went back to the station, Lilly stayed, playing on her laptop, and watching TV.

A little while later, there was a knock on the door. Lilly got up and looked through the peep hole, and opened the door with a frown. "What the hell do you want, Chloe? More importantly, how did you know where I was?"

Chloe chuckled, pushing right passed her, walking inside. "Your Uncle John told me." she turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. "We need to talk."

Lilly barely shut the door and groaned. "What now?"

"Well, since you're not gonna live in North Carolina anymore, and you'll be living here in this hell hole, there's something you should know."

Lilly put her hands on her hips. "Yeah, what?"

...

James just got out of the shower and put on a pair of boxers and jeans, when his phone rang. He picked it up and pressed the talk button. "Hello?"

"Hey, is everything okay? You were quiet in class."

"Yeah, I'm fine, Starr... I'm just." he paused, as he heard yelling coming from across the hall. "Hey, let me call you back." he said, looking through his drawers for a t-shirt.

"Are we still meeting in the library?"

"Uh.." the yelling got louder and suddenly it stopped. "I'll see you later, Starr." he quickly hung up his phone, tossing it on his bed. He put on the shirt as he headed out the door. James realized that the yelling was coming from Paul's apartment, because he saw the door slightly open, and slowly went inside. "Hello?" he was taken aback. "Lilly? What's wrong?" he shut the door. "Who was yelling?"

"That would be me and my whore of a step-sister."

"What?"

Lilly stood up and leaned against the back of the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. "Yeah, before she had her mom pick her up, to take her back to North Carolina, the little bitch had to let me know about what was going on between her and my ex." Lilly took a deep breath. "Before he cheated on me with one of my best friends, he was messing around with Chloe, more than once, and honestly, I'm not surprised."

James got closer to Lilly and reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "I'm sorry, Lilly, is there anything you want me to do?"

"Yeah, beat the shit out of my ex."

"I can do that." James chuckled, then grabbed her hand, pulling her onto the couch. "So, what are you doing in Paul's apartment?"

"It's mine now... Uncle John told me that Dad left it to me in his will and it works out perfectly, because I do not want to go back to North Carolina, so I'm moving in."

James raised his eyebrow. "Really? For good?"

"Yeah, plus I need a change of scenery."

"Awesome." James smiled. "That means, you'll be living right across the hall from Bobby and me."

"That's cool. It's nice to know someone, especially if I needed some help."

"Yeah, just hollar or call me and I'll be right there for you."

Lilly smiled. "Thank you, James."

"No problem." he smiled back, then leaned in closer to her. "How 'bout I take you to get some ice cream? It'll make you feel better."

"Sure." she nodded, then James stood up and grabbed Lilly's hand, pulling her to her feet. She reached over and grabbed her other purse with her free hand. "I'm ready."

"Well, then... our ice cream awaits." then both of them walked out of the apartment.


"Langston, he said that he'd meet me at the library... but that was an hour ago."

"Starr, just calm down. Maybe, I don't know... something came up that he had to take care of."

"Like what?"

"I don't know, maybe, John needed him for some more questioning about Eddie, because John was talking to Ford last night."

Starr sighed. "Maybe you're right."

"Go surprise him at home or something."

"Okay, what will you be doing?"

"Ugh." Langston groaned. "Dorian wants to have a mother-daughter lunch."

"Oh, fun." Starr chuckled. "Well, I have to check on Hope, then I'll visit James... okay, bye."

"Bye, Starr." Langston told her, then Starr hung up her phone, and sighed.