Hey, so I DID finish this in one day!! Yippee!! Hope you like it. And yes, I am the Evil Queen of Cliffhangers. :)


12: Everybody Wants You (Billy Squire)

"One, two, three," counted professor DiBucci, an exasperated tone in his usually patient voice, "One, two— Lillian! The spin isn't until after the dip." He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Take five, everyone. No, you know what— let's stop here today. You're all dismissed."

The students filed obediently out of the room, diverging once they reached the hallway and moving away from the classroom in groups of twos and threes. Lillian followed the white fedora that weaved through the mass of warm bodies, watching him carefully as he turned left at the corner, and stopped at the first available drinking fountain.

Ryan sipped from the water delicately, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand afterward as he straightened. He caught sight of someone from the corner of his eye and turned to look at her. Lillian stood a few feet from him, her hands clasped tightly behind her back. She had a dejected look in her eyes that had nothing to do with being yelled at by their professor, and Ryan found himself wishing things had been different. She had been a great friend to him.

"Hey," he said quietly. She smiled weakly.

"Hi, Ryan."

There was a brief moment of silence before they said, "I'm sorry," in unison. Ryan smiled at the stumble, and Lillian smiled because of his smile.

"Jinx," he said jokingly, his eyes meeting hers. She laughed lightly and unclasped her hands.

"I'm sorry I... threw myself at you," Lillian explained, her arms falling to her sides and she took a step towards him. "I just... can we be friends again?" She sounded sincere, so Ryan smiled and nodded. She seemed to visibly relax, her shoulders dropping ever so slightly.

"Good. Because I really need someone to talk to, and you're the only person at this school who doesn't think I'm a bitch." Ryan chuckled.

"You're not a bitch."

"Tell that to my Ballet class. They've decided I'm the Super Bitch and nothing seems to change their minds." She laughed, though there wasn't any humour in her voice. "You were always so nice to me... I'm sorry I wrecked that." Ryan put a hand on her shoulder.

"I never stopped being your friend, Lily. You just kind of... disappeared." She nodded, and put her hand up to cover the one on her shoulder.

"I should have done things differently, I know that. I just didn't know what to do. I was so embarrassed." She paused, and looked him in the eye. "Forgive me?"

"Of course." They walked in silence out of the building, and Ryan put an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. He didn't see her smirk at this action, and he didn't hear the mental cheers of YES!! replaying over and over in her head. "What did you want to talk about?" Lillian sighed, her cheerfulness suddenly gone.

"I'm leaving Juilliard."

Ryan stopped walking, momentarily stunned by her confession. She stopped too, looking at him with a slightly glazed expression. Her Acting for Dancers class had really paid off— she put on a slightly pained look, her eyes looking into his sadly. She completely pulled it off, the lie slipping easily for her tongue.

"You're leaving? Why? When? For how long?" Ryan stumbled over his questions, suddenly feeling hurt. They had just made up, and now she was dropping this bomb on him. She held out her hand to him.

"Walk with me?"

He nodded lamely, taking her hand and following her into the courtyard outside of the Lecture Hall. They sat down on the edge of the large, circular fountain that decorated the center of the courtyard, their hands still held together loosely.

"Why are you leaving?" Ryan asked. He would miss her terribly, he decided, even if she had been giving him the cold shoulder for the past two weeks. They had become quiet close during the month of their friendship, and she had been a great help to his adjusting and fitting in at Juilliard.

Lillian sighed, playing her role perfectly. "I just can't deal with all the stress, I suppose. I'm failing a bunch of my courses— Acting for Dancers is my worst, but I can't drop out if I want to graduate... so I'm not going to graduate." She looked at him, forcing herself to becoming teary-eyed. "I'm going to go home." She thickened her accent a little for the last sentence, because it made her sound more emotional. Ryan looked at her sympathetically and picked up her hand, holding it with both of his.

"I'm sorry," Ryan said, pulling her hand to his chest and holding it over his heart. "I wish I could do something..." He paused and gave her a sad smile. "I don't suppose I could convince you to stay, huh?"

Lillian shook her head quickly, her dark curls bouncing over her shoulders. "Nope. I've already bought a plane ticket and everything. I fly out tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Ryan choked, shocked by the suddenness of it all. His mind was reeling. Tomorrow? But they'd just made up! That didn't seem fair.

"Yes, tomorrow," she said, her hand still placed on his chest even though his hands had relaxed. "I would have told you sooner, Ry— I was just so embarrassed. I thought you hated me." Her eyes kept darting to the edge of the courtyard, waiting for something, but Ryan didn't notice. His eyes were looking over her shoulder at nothingness, his brain trying to keep up with her words.

"I don't hate you. You're my friend."

"I know that now." She gave him a small smile as her eyes locked on something in the distance. "I have to go and pack, though, so—" She made to stand up, but his grip tightened on her hand and she stopped.

"I'm going to miss you," he told her, his eyes locking onto hers once more. And he would. She had been so nice to him, the first person to talk to him in Modern Dance and to have lunch with him.

"I know," she said quietly, using her free hand to touch his face. He smiled weakly. She bit her lip and look away, her eyes tearing up. "Ryan, could I... could I have a good-bye kiss? I mean, I know you don't like me like that but... just one for the road?" She looked at him hopefully, pretending to be on the verge of tears. Ryan gave her a sympathetic smile and nodded.

"Sure, Lily."

He leaned forward, planning to give her a quick, platonic peck on the lips, the kind of kiss he'd give his mother or Sharpay. Lillian's eyes lit up, however, and she captured his lips in a much more passionate kiss than he'd intended, using her free hand to grasp the back of his neck and hold their mouths together. Ryan's eyes widened and he raised an eyebrow; when she said 'one for the road,' he hadn't known she'd meant this.

He reciprocated for a second before trying to pull away, but her mouth followed his, making it nearly impossible for him to break the kiss. He released her hand from where he had still be holding it to his chest and put his hands on her shoulders, pushing her gently away from him. She broke the kiss, breathless, and looked at him.

"Thanks," she said, grinning. He shook his head and laughed gently.

"That wasn't what I thought you meant, but uh... you're welcome?" Lillian's grin grew even wider when she looked over his shoulder towards the person who stood not ten feet from them, frozen in place. Ryan noticed this change and turned to look behind him, his smile instantly fading.

"Kurt."


(Earlier that day.)

"Hi, Kurt."

Kurt turned toward the voice, looking at the small brunette. He recognised her as Ryan's dancer friend.

"Hello. Lillian, was it?"

Lillian grinned. "Yeah. Listen, Ryan wanted me to tell you to meet him at three outside the lecture hall— he said he wants to tell you something important." Kurt frowned, slinging his leather book bag over his shoulder slowly.

"Something important? Like what?"

Lillian shrugged, holding her hands up in defence. "I don't know. Don't shoot the messenger, alright? How am I supposed to know what goes on in Ryan's head?" She laughed daintily, her smile growing. "He seemed really excited about it, though."

She looked at her watch and grimaced. "Darn, I'm late for class. See you later, okay?" She turned around and left, her grin quickly turning into a malicious smirk as she was out of sight. Kurt raised an eyebrow, but figured that whatever Ryan had to tell him must be good news, if he was so excited about it.

He vaguely wondered why Ryan hadn't just texted him where and when to meet him like he always did, but pushed it to the back of his mind as he slowly walked to class. He was pondering what Ryan's good news might be throughout his lecture, hoping that it had to do with the open-house. Maybe someone had gotten ill and DiBucci had given him a second leading role?

His lecture ended early, and Kurt quickly grabbed an elevator and went down to the first floor. He was ginning by the time the cool air of the outside hit him, hoping that he wasn't too early for their rendezvous. His caught sight of a white fedora the moment he stepped into the large, square courtyard and immediately began to walk toward it.

When he was close enough to distinguish the people sitting on the side of the fountain, he recognised Lillian was sitting beside him. They seemed deep in discussion, and they were... holding hands?

Kurt's heart fluttered nervously. Of course, it had to be just a friendly thing, he reasoned, his feet speeding up just a little. When he was maybe ten feet from them, Ryan leaned in and kissed her. Kurt froze mid-stride, his mouth falling open slightly. It wasn't even as if she had kissed him— he had leaned towards her, and now they were sucking-face in the middle of the courtyard, right where all could see.

Kurt felt his cheeks heat up in an angry blush. He closed his mouth, his teeth clenching together. How could he? Ryan didn't even have the decency to break-up with him before moving on to the next person? Kurt figured he knew what Ryan wanted to tell him— he had seen enough to know.

Ryan and Lillian stopped kissing, and Ryan shook his head with a soft laugh. Kurt's heartbeat thudded in his ears, and his hands clenched into fists. He had been played for a fool, again. The one time he thought he could trust someone with his feelings, and he got dumped for a girl. And not even for a pretty, fashionable girl; a girl who was wearing brown.

Ryan turned to look at him, a frown instantly forming on his face. "Kurt," he said, and the word cut him like a knife. Kurt just shook his head, unwilling to let himself cry in public. "I need to—"

"Explain?" he suggested bitterly, glaring at Ryan viciously. Ryan frowned and stood up, his mouth open to say more. "Save it." Turn turned on his heel and walked away, leaving a stunned Ryan and a satisfied Lillian behind.

It was Ryan's turn to be frozen, his eyes wide in shock as he watched Kurt walk away. After Kurt was gone from sight, he seemed to wake from his stupor, turning to Lillian with a hurt look in his eyes. "You knew he was there, and you...?" He shook his head, his brain not seeming to comprehend that kind little Lillian had schemed against him. "Why would you do that?"

"I can't help if I'm in love with you, Ryan," she said simply. He shook his head and glared at her. "I had to do it."

"Your Ballet class is right," Ryan stated slowly, his eyes locking onto hers for the final time that afternoon, this time filled with anger instead of friendliness. "You really are a bitch." And then, he turned and raced after his boyfriend, hoping to hell Kurt would let him explain.