She'd been there for quite some time before it happened. Just lying there, languishing, rather. She should have been working, but her mind felt mushy with fatigue.

She heard Connie before she saw her, high heels making an awful sound against the flooring outside. She held her breath.

'You okay? Busy shift?' Connie managed a smile. Lily was taken aback.

'Uh, I suppose.' She told her.

'Good to see you're feeling a little better from earlier.' Something was definitely amiss, something was just different. The warmness in her voice, although welcome, was unnerving too.

'Was it you?' Lily whispered.

The clinical lead just furrowed her brow in response, confused.

'You?' Lily asked again, delicately gesturing to her skirt. Connie cleared her throat.

'Everyone else has gone home. You should too.'

'Thought I'd get in a few more hours.' Lily just whispered.

'You're exhausted. You looked as if you were about to nod off when I walked in.'

'Just having two minutes, that is all.' Lily replied.

'Go home, Lily.' Connie turned around slowly, reaching for the door handle. 'Your home, may I suggest.'

-x-

One ring, two rings, three. Lily chewed a nail, anxious. Four. Then a crackle of the speaker.

'What's wrong?'

She felt her chest sink. Why was it always assumed that something was wrong? She wished, more than anything, she could just ring for a chat. It was almost as if he was keeping her at arms length on purpose - that was exactly what he was doing.

'Lily? What's wrong?' The first thing she noticed was how shocked he sounded to hear from her. Odd, she thought.

'It was Connie.'

'What was?'

'The clothes.'

'Oh, uh. Right. Are you sure?' He asked, though she could tell he didn't care to find out.

'Yeah, that was the implication. Oh, what do I do now?' She gulped, audibly worried.

'I, I don't know.' He gabbled. 'I don't know. Look, um. We'll, well... we'll talk about it tomorrow. Might not have even been her.'

'It was, she came to-'

'Right, Lily? Lily. I need to go. Speak soon. Don't worry.'

The dialling tone cut off and it was silent. His mind had clearly been elsewhere. She could hear the rushed tone, the nature and length of the call. He didn't want to know, obviously, and he didn't care. Or perhaps he did care, but not enough to even afford her the decency of a phone call. His parting advice was 'don't worry.' Ironic, since that had now given her more things to worry about with it being so brief.

She'd only wanted two minutes. Friends could stay on the phone for two minutes. Friends could stay on the phone for an hour. It stung. Without much thought, she picked up the phone and dialled it again, punching in different numbers this time.

'Lily? What's wrong?' A word for word repeat of the sentence Iain had uttered not twenty minutes previous. She felt miffed. There was no way that Alicia would've known. Why was it that everyone immediately thought she wouldn't talk to them without a serious reason?

'You know all about guys, don't you?' Lily asked.

'Um...' Alicia said, whilst Lily began to realise she had come across wrong.

'Sorry. I mean, you're good at dating. And I'm not. And I need your help.' Lily said, voice now a faint whisper down the phone.

'Have you been drinking?' Alicia asked, dubious.

'No, honestly, I swear. I've just done too many nights in the past two weeks, I can't really think straight. And I have a problem...' She sounded teary.

'Why are you ringing me? We don't even talk at work, not really...'

'Because you could help.'

'Don't know whether to be pleased or offended...' She said, obviously still cautious.

'Alicia...'

'You're clearly upset. I'll come over. Can I bring Ethan? You can say no.'

'Can it just be you?'

'Yeah, sure. I'll have to just leave the child his drink and his dinner in the fridge then first.' She said.

'Okay.' Lily managed to giggle, despite being upset.

-x-

'I brought... wine.' Alicia pulled a bottle from her bag. Although not a big drinker, Lily could tell it was expensive. 'And chocolate. You're going to tell me exactly what's happened.' She almost jumped on the sofa, landing and crossing her legs. Lily winced at the enthusiasm shown. Too much energy, too late in the day. However, she knew it was her one (and probably only) chance of advice, so she had to tolerate it.

'So. What is it? Show me a picture. Bet he's not even cute.' She said, popping the cork on the wine with a tug.

'I can't, that's the thing.' Lily knitted her fingers together, anguished.

'Why?' Alicia looked puzzled.

'Because... we aren't together, and you know him.'

Alicia's eyes lit up. 'You have to tell now. Go on, you only fancy them. I won't say anything.'

'Is it... Iain?' She asked.

Lily just shook her head once, though her heart rate had quickened.

'Max? Jez?' Alicia questioned, to which Lily shook her head again.

'Dylan?' Alicia asked, and then saw a hesitation from Lily. 'Oh my God, it is, isn't it? It's Dylan!'

'No, Alicia-'

'Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. Do you just fancy him then?'

'Pretend we never had that conversation, and answer me something objectively. I don't know much about relationships. Can friends with benefits work well?'

'Well, that all depends, doesn't it? Yeah, they can. It depends on the people. It depends if there's feelings beforehand. Never sleep with a friend you want to keep.' She nodded.

'I'd say you're wise, but maybe that's the wrong word.' Lily smiled.

'Experienced.' Alicia corrected. 'You just have to make sure you don't get too attached, and vice versa. I had something like that in uni, and he got attached, I just knew. I could feel that I would go the same way if we didn't end things. So, that was that. It's a good idea, in my view. You get the sex without the hassle. You wouldn't find it too hard keeping your distance.'

Lily just nodded, thoughtfully. She didn't agree with everything Alicia said, but she did make some good points.

'So, tell me.' Lily started, desperate to change the subject off herself. 'How's Ethan?'

'Ah. He's coping, sort of, anyway. He's still getting out of bed. He made me dinner the other day for no reason. Think he feels guilty, bless him.' Alicia sipped her wine, eyes unmoving from the red liquid. Lily understood, all at once, that she had her own demons too.

'And you?'

'Yeah. Obviously it's, uh, it's sad. It gets better, though. Grief.' She nodded.

'It definitely does, I can attest to that.'

The pair just laid on the sofa, talking about anything and everything. Somehow, despite the fact they had nothing much in common, they managed to fill an entire evening with conversation after conversation and most importantly, laughter.

-x-

Lily stumbled into her bedroom, practically tumbling onto the bed. She rolled on something hard, so reached and pulled out and unfinished book from the morning. She opened the page, then stopped when a searing pain ripped through her head. So much wine. Too much wine. Alicia was a bad influence. She begun to read, flicking a page carelessly. Her eyes couldn't focus and she couldn't make sense of the words. She "finished" the chapter, and came to the start of the next one. A poem introduced it. Droplets spattered on the page as she read, and even in her semi-drunken state, she managed to make sense of it all too well.

~Wait for me at the end of time,

When the stars collide and the

Planets weep.

Wait for me at the end of time,

When the clocks smile at the

Long held jest, and cease.

Wait for me at the end of time,

When the desert is the sea and the

Sand is us.

Wait for me at the end of time,

Because it will be the beginning of us,

With nothing of those little days

And false concerns

To drive us apart, away from

Each other and ourselves~

(- storydj)