AN: A few things, I totally just finished writing this, like 30 seconds before I posted it! Another, Long Live is one of my favourite songs.
Also, thanks for all of the great reviews from last chapter! Thanks Nichole, Angel and Ali-cat (I continue to thank you here because I can't PM you!)
Chapter 35 – Long Live
Long live all the walls we crashed through, all the kingdom lights shined just for me and you
"So, senior prom," Duncan said awkwardly. "Big night."
Duncan was sitting on the couch, he actually looked quite uncomfortable for someone who was sitting in his own home.
Liam was sitting on the next couch over, and he also looked mildly uncomfortable, compared to his usual stance of confidence.
Duncan and Liam usually got along fairly well when they spent time together, Lily tended to be close by when that happened though. Liam respected his girlfriend's father, and Duncan like his daughter's boyfriend well enough. As much as any father can like his only daughter's boyfriend.
The difference about the current situation was that it was prom night, and Duncan had been having particularly strong memories as to what prom night tended to entail. After all, he'd been a teenager once too.
"I guess so," Liam agreed. "I mean, it's really just another dance, but it's the last one too. We go to the dance, go to the after party, then go home."
"Yeah," Duncan said lamely. "See that you do."
Liam read the meaning in Duncan's words loud and clear.
He cleared his throat and said, "Yes, sir."
"Well, I guess Lily should be down soon. I'm sorry she's so late tonight, she's normally on time," Duncan said.
"I know, she's good like that. Waiting one time shouldn't kill me," Liam replied as cheerfully as he could. He had a slight inkling that Duncan might have had thoughts about wanting him dead and gone.
"So, Lily mentioned you guys are having a good baseball season. I didn't know were good at baseball as well as football," Duncan remarked.
"Yeah, we're looking good to win the championship at the moment," Liam replied. "I play baseball for fun, but football is my priority."
Both Duncan and Liam then shot longing looks upstairs, both wishing fervently that Lily would come downstairs and soon.
"I wonder what is taking them so long," Duncan muttered.
Duncan actually had an idea of what was taking so long. Veronica, Evelyn and Lily were all upstairs in Lily's room, helping her get ready. Seeing it was senior prom, Lily's last school dance, they'd become all sentimental and had been crying on and off. Duncan had been up there briefly, before Liam had arrived, and the tears, giggles and make-up had been overwhelming.
Back upstairs Lily was standing in front of her floor length mirror and Eva and Veronica were standing on either side of her.
"Sweetie, you look beautiful," Veronica-the-marshmallow said tearily.
"It's not like I'm getting married or anything," Lily replied, choking back her own tears.
"You really do look lovely," Eva agreed.
"I remember my senior prom, 'alterna-prom'," Veronica said, thinking back on that momentous occasion. "What a night."
"How so?" Lily asked, taking a careful seat on her desk chair.
Veronica and Eva resumed their seats on Lily's bed and Veronica replied, "I haven't told you about it? I thought I would have by now."
"Nope, so why was it called alterna-prom and why was it so great?" Lily asked.
Though Lily was ready, none of the women were conscious of the time, and the fact that Liam was waiting downstairs, so Veronica began her story.
"Well, our prom was cancelled, so Logan arranged to have his own, in his suite at the Grand, and he called it, 'alterna-prom'. It was supposed to be for the 09ers, but he invited me, we were trying to be friends again I suppose. Then I invited everyone else, and there you go, that was our prom. So everyone was there, the girls in pretty dresses, the boys in suits, there was alcohol everywhere. I wasn't exactly thrilled to be there, then Logan came over and started talking to me. He had a bottle of something in his hand and it was obvious he was already pretty smashed. But then he started saying something, about us being epic. Something to do with ruined lives and bloodshed, spanning across years. Then he tried to kiss me, so naturally I ran, fled actually. Then when I came back the next morning, ready to deal with what he'd said, another woman was in the hotel room. So I ran again. Obviously we did fix things after that, but that was my senior prom," Veronica recounted.
Eva and Lily had sat silently, listening to Veronica's condensed tale.
"Wow. I think I'll stick to a few slow dances and maybe a new crown for my senior prom," Lily finally said. "That's some story though. But I do think Uncle Logan was right, you two are epic."
"Yeah, I guess we are," Veronica agreed softly.
"Well my senior prom involved my date trying to feel me up, and my feet being sore at the end of the night," Eva added. "So somehow I think your night should top that Lily."
"Oh, right, my night!" Lily exclaimed. She glanced at the clock and gasped. "Oh my God. I am so late, Liam's been waiting for almost half an hour. Poor Liam, poor Daddy."
Lily got up as quickly as possible, mindful of her long dress.
"Where's my clutch?" Lily asked, a little frantically.
"Right here," Veronica replied, holding it up and smiling.
Lily took the large, silver clutch and checked herself one last time in the mirror.
"Right, I think I'm ready," she breathed.
"We'll go down ahead of you," Eva said, and she and Veronica walked out of the room.
Half way down the stairs they met a harassed looking Duncan.
"What the hell have you all been doing?" Duncan hissed.
"Oh, just getting ready," Eva vaguely replied.
"And talking," Veronica cheekily supplied.
"And she's coming down now, so scoot back to the living room," Eva ordered, gently prodding Duncan to make him descend the stairs.
The three adults quickly went into the living room, where Liam was still waiting.
"She just coming now. Sorry we took so long," Eva said kindly.
Lily was still upstairs though, looking at a picture of her mother. It was actually a picture of her mother and father, at a school dance together. She smiled fondly at it, then walked confidently out of her room.
Long live all the mountains we moved, I had the time of my life, fighting dragons with you
"Well, I'm finally ready!" Lily announced as she breezed into the room where the others were waiting.
Duncan and Liam both looked at Lily in awe. Duncan only saw his baby girl, who was now a beautiful young lady. Liam saw his girlfriend, looking more amazing than he'd ever seen.
Eva and Veronica just stood by, smiling fondly at Lily.
Duncan gathered his wits before Liam did.
"Sweetheart, you look beautiful. You look just like your mother. She would've loved to have been here tonight," Duncan said gently.
Lily smiled softly and said, "Thank you Daddy."
"Lily, I, you, um, you look amazing," Liam stuttered, once Duncan had finished talking to Lily.
Lily gave a light, tinkling laugh and said, "Thanks. You look pretty nice yourself."
"Oh! I brought you flowers. You said no corsage, so I brought flowers," Liam explained, turning around quickly to grab the flowers from where he'd set them down.
"Lilies, they're gorgeous, thank you," Lily said, taking the flowers, then giving Liam a light kiss.
Eva held out her hands and said, "I'll go find a vase and put them in water."
Lily handed the bunch of white lilies to Eva, and she disappeared off towards the kitchen.
"So, we're marvellously late already, shall we go?" Lily asked, holding out her hand to Liam.
"Sure, the limos waiting out the front," Liam replied.
"Wait!" Veronica exclaimed. "I need at least one photo!"
"Of course," Lily allowed. "We'll pose for a maximum of five minutes."
Lily and Liam stood over in front of the drapes, they worked as a nice, cream backdrop.
Liam was wearing nicely cut black suit, with a white shirt and a smoky blue tie. The could have been seen as an odd choice, but it was that colour so that it would match Lily's dress.
Lily's dress was a Dolce and Gabanna creation of smoky blue lace and satin. It had a darker, satin underlining with a sheer lace overlay. The lace overlay had short sleeves that stopped a little above Lily's elbows. The neckline had a modest V neckline, which Lily's 'L' necklace rested in the middle of. The dress just grazed the floor, so that when she walked a pair of nude pumps were visible. The diamond bracelet Liam had given to her for Valentine's Day was on her wrist, and she wore a simple pair of drop pendant diamonds. These were easily noticeable due to the updo Lily was sporting. Her hair was teased up high from her forehead on the top of her head, then the rest of her hair was pinned up at the back, styled into a mass of curls.
Lily and Liam stood in a variety of poses, Liam with his arm around her waist, the two of them hugging, a brief kiss, and then they were off.
Their ride to the school was brief and they made their way inside fairly quickly, seeing as they were on the late side.
Inside, they found their friends sitting around two large tables, all talking. Other people were also at tables, while some were dancing.
"Where were you two? Did you get detained in the limo?" Mia asked with a giggle.
"Nope, I just took forever to get ready," Lily replied. "I'm never late, so I figured I should be for at least one dance."
"Nice theory, Lil, but we've all been waiting for you two for forty-five minutes," Keira replied.
"Sorry, we got all nostalgic, tears, memories and such," Lily explained. "Besides, you didn't need to wait for us, you could've gone danced or something."
"Yeah, but we thought we'd wait for you anyway. And someone would always be like, 'Let's just wait another five minutes', so we did. Besides, we all just talked," Mia said cheerfully.
"Well, I'm going to dance now, so I suggest you find your boyfriends and do the same," Lily announced.
Lily walked over to Liam and said, "Dance with me?"
"At senior prom? Of course," Liam replied, taking her hand and leading her out to join the couples who were dancing on the floor.
Some time later on the floor they shared as they shared a low dance together, they found a moment to talk.
"You know, I don't know if I've actually told you how perfectly beautiful you look tonight," Liam said in a husky voice. "I mean, you always look great, but you just take my breath away tonight."
"You might've mentioned something about it before, but thank you again," Lily said, a light blush colouring her cheeks prettily.
"Is that why you took so long upstairs? Getting ready? You were up there for simply ages," Liam remarked.
"No, mostly we were telling stories, remembering things, then crying, so we'd have to keep redoing parts of my make-up. Then there would be some giggling, then some more stories and crying," Lily summarised.
"You put your dad and me through half an hour of awkwardness, for girl time?" Liam asked incredulously, though he was amused.
"Yes, you poor baby. I'm glad to see you survived though," Lily said impishly.
"And what would you do if I hadn't survived?" Liam asked.
Suddenly serious, Lily answered, "I don't know what I'd do if you were gone. Really. Sometimes it shocks me how much I love you. I'd never imagined that my senior year would've turned out the way it has, but I now, I wouldn't have had it any other way."
Liam smiled down at her lovingly. "Well don't worry, I'm not planning on going anywhere. But you know, this is exactly how I imagined my senior year turning out. Getting you to love me, I always planned on that, and slow dancing with you now, was definitely in my plans," Liam told her with a grin.
"You've always been awfully sure of yourself, haven't you?" Lily asked, grinning indulgently.
Liam suppressed a smirk and said, "Yes, always. Apparently I was born like this. And I mean, why change perfection?"
"You're absolutely irrepressible," Lily said, amused. Then she snuggled further into his arms and rested her head on his shoulder, as they continued to sway slowly.
We were the kings and the queens, and they read off our names, the night we danced like you knew our lives would never be the same
Later in the evening, Lily, Sophie and Mia were sitting at their table. Their feet were tired, so they were sitting and talking while the boys got them new drinks.
"Hey, look, I think it's about that time," Sophie remarked.
"What time?" Lily asked.
Mia, noticing the mild commotion near the stage where the band was playing said, "Time to crown prom king and queen."
Mr Clemmons took his place on the stage as the band stopped playing.
"Students, would you please gather in front of the stage. It's time to announce prom king and queen," Clemmons announced.
"Quick, let me check your hair and make-up," Sophie said, touching Lily's arm lightly to stop her in her tracks.
"Guys, it's not actually certain I'll get it," Lily protested.
"Yeah, it kind of is," Mia replied. "Pretty much everyone I spoke to voted for you."
"Me too," Sophie agreed. "I mean, I voted for you, and so did everyone else."
"Oh, okay. Well then. At least I've had plenty of practice at this," Lily replied. "Do you know who people voted for, for king?"
"There was quite a mix actually," Mia answered. "I've heard Liam, Scott, Ethan and Harry actually."
"But Liam seems to be ahead," Sophie added.
The girls moved in with the rest of the crowd on the dance floor and Lily found Liam and slipped her hand into his.
"Show time," he whispered.
She smiled back at him.
"This year's prom king, by one vote, is Liam Armistead," Principal Clemmons announced.
Liam looked mildly shocked that he'd almost not been crowned king, but walked up onto the stage, oozing confidence.
Clemmons handed Liam his crown then turned back to the microphone.
"And your queen is, Lily Kane," Clemmons said, in almost a bored tone. It never failed to astound him. Year after year, the study body chose their favourite pretty, and generally wealthy girl, to be the prom queen. They tended to pick the same boy every year too. The behaviour of his students often gave Clemmons cause for concern, this however he didn't dwell over.
Amidst the clapping and cheering Lily was given her crown and she smiled down at the rest of the students.
"And now there will be the usual dance," Clemmons instructed, before leaving the stage.
Lily and Liam followed him off the stage, holding hands.
"Wow, we're actually going to have one of these dances where you don't hate me," Liam said gleefully.
"Well, I can't believe I almost missed out on having this dance with you," Lily said dryly. "One vote Liam."
"Oh well, I guess they almost succeeded in staging an upset and being original," Liam replied, unperturbed. "But really, they love me. And they all love you, but not as much as I do."
Take My Breath Away by Berlin started playing and Liam took Lily in his arms and they started to slow dance. It wasn't a formal waltz, not like they were both capable of, but it was a little more than the typical swaying, shuffling slow dancing most teens did.
"It's the perfect song," Liam said. "I said it before, but you really do take my breath away."
Lily smiled wanly then said, "Everything's going to be different after this, isn't it?"
"Well, I guess so. I mean there's still finals, and graduation and the baseball championship, but yeah, we're going to college next fall babe," Liam replied.
"My life was always full of change, moving around, different governesses, I couldn't go to real school. And then I came here, to Neptune, and everything's been wonderful. The dream high school career, and now it's all going to change," Lily said forlornly.
"Hey! Don't get all sad on me now. It's not a sad time, it's a happy time," Liam informed her. "And the most important things won't change, I still love you, we'll still be together, and you'll still see your family and everyone else often. Plus, before all that, we've got summer. So cheer up."
Lily nodded, and concentrated on the way she felt, being held in Liam's strong arms, the way he skilfully danced with her. The happiness that his infectious grin gave her.
It was right about that moment that a piercing shriek was heard.
People stopped dancing, Lily and Liam stopped dancing.
"That was Melanie. Look, they're all over there. Something's wrong," Lily said in concern.
The music had now stopped and there was the buzzing and murmuring of people wondering what was going on.
Lily and Liam raced up the back of the room to where Melanie was still screaming and half-sobbing.
Keira was on her mobile, Mia had her head buried in Jim's arms and Sophie was on the ground, shaking and convulsing.
Chris, Ethan and Scott were all watching on in shock. Michael was looking around frantically, unsure of how to comfort his girlfriend.
"Dude, what happened?" Liam asked Chris urgently.
"She just collapsed, and started doing that," Chris answered shakily, pointing at his girlfriend.
Meanwhile Lily yelled to Michael, "Do something with Mellie! She can't keep that up!"
Then she dropped to the ground in her evening gown and tried to see if she could determine anything about what was happening to Sophie. She'd once or twice seen her dad have fits due to his epilepsy, and thought Sophie looked like she was having an epileptic fit.
At this point Principal Clemmons reached them, and Keira got off the phone.
"I just spoke to 911, they're on their way," she informed Clemmons.
He nodded then said to the other students who had gathered close, watching on with interest, "Everyone, get back! Go to your own tables, and if they're too close by, congregate down by the stage. I'll give you more instructions as soon as I can."
Only a few minutes later wailing sirens could be heard and the paramedics rushed into the room.
Sophie friends stood back as she was attended to. They checked her over, stabilised her, then strapped her onto a stretcher.
"Is there anyone to go with her?" one of them asked to the group in general.
"Go with her, she'll want you there," Lily instructed Chris.
He nodded shakily, then looking very pale, he followed the paramedics outside to the ambulance.
"Well, I think tonight might be over," Jim remarked, looking around at their stunned group.
Lily gave him a withering look.
"I think prom's over for us, but the night is far from over. I don't know about you, but I'll be heading to the hospital now," Lily said.
With that she took Liam's hand, collected her things and they quickly left the room, followed by the rest of their friends.
AN: Well, there you have it! Two chapters left now!
Please review :)