Liliana XXVII
Summary: It's finally Liliana and Hadrian's first date! Amber is still having a breakdown over the election. Mara preps for her trial resulting in a little bit of Peddie jealousy. Alfie knocks some sense into his best friend resulting in a long awaited talk.
Author Note: Anything in bold and italics is a text message.
Warning: Minor torture in the nightmare sequence at the end of the chapter.
She was going on a date. Her… Liliana Beth Wells was going on a date with someone other than Jerome Clarke. Looking in the mirror Lili tried really hard to get excited. But as hard as she tried, she couldn't help but feel like she was doing something wrong. That was silly of course, since she had given Jerome plenty of time to speak up… yet he hadn't told her what she was hoping to hear.
Lili had honestly felt that they had built something special together over the years. They hadn't ever really talked about it, but she had honestly expected them to end up together. When Hadrian had originally sent the text, she had frozen not knowing what she should do. Her kneejerk reaction was to run downstairs and talk to Jerome, but she obviously couldn't do that. Speaking to Alfie was also out of the question since his views on her love life were obvious and he would want her to talk to Roe. With her two best friends out of the question Lili was left with only one other person she could talk to, Amber.
Liliana had quickly grown fond of the blond girl and counted her as a close friend, she wouldn't be as biased as Alfie or Jerome so Lili had turned to her for help. After cackling at Lili's distress for a few minutes, the blond pulled herself together and helped Lili sort out her thoughts on the subject. Amber did think that Lili should talk to Jerome and Alfie but wouldn't force the issue after Lili shot down the suggestion. That didn't stop her from constantly recommending it though.
For Liliana the weekend had never gone by so slowly. The text from Hadrian sat unanswered on her phone as she dodged all of Jerome's attempts to speak to her. Lili's luck finally ran out Tuesday night when she found Jerome waiting for her outside of Amber and Nina's room. With nowhere else to run she grabbed her coat and joined Jerome outside. The walk was awkward and awful and everything she had never associated spending time with Jerome being and it was all the dumb text's fault.
Jerome, always one to never let something bothering her go, continued to press Lili on the subject until she cracked and told him. In the back of her mind a tiny part of her considered that this could actually be a good thing in a roundabout way. She had, apparently wrongly, assumed that Hadrian asking her out would spur Jerome into action. Liliana knew that things would change after he found out, but for better or worse was still to be determined. While his words had told her to go on the date, his eyes and actions betrayed his distaste for the idea.
She knew it was wrong but as she wrote Hadrian back all she could think of was Jerome. Unfortunately for her, Jerome wasn't interested in a deeper relationship and well… Hadrian was. So as she pressed send Tuesday night, she had promised herself that she would give this date a fair shot and reassess her feelings at a later time. Brushing her skirt down one more time Lili reminded herself of this promise and grabbed her purse heading downstairs to meet Hadrian.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Coffee with Hadrian was… nice. Like it was fun and all, but Lili didn't feel any real connection or spark forming with the boy. She couldn't help but silently compare the boy to Jerome. And yes, she did realize how bad that was, but she couldn't help it. So when the date wrapped up, Liliana made it clear that while she had enjoyed their meet up, she wouldn't be interested in a romantic relationship. To be fair, Hadrian took it really well, and seemed interested in some of the Anubis/Isis/Osiris house events she had started to plan with Amber for the future.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
When she returned to Anubis house, Liliana first checked to see if Jerome was back from hanging out with Poppy. Unfortunately, Alfie and Jerome's room was still empty, meaning that the boys were still out at therapy or hanging with Poppy respectively. Shooting them both a text she asked them to let her know when they got back so that they could catch up. Lili then ran upstairs hoping to catch Amber and debrief the girl about the date before dinner. "Knock, knock Ambs" called Lili as she opened the door to her friend's room only to be greeted with what looked like a crime scene.
"Liliana!" grinned a half-mad Amber from her place next to a murder board which would have made the best detectives proud. "I think that I am finally getting to the bottom of this. So far, I've tracked that Mara told Joy, who told Fabian, who let slip to Eddie who told Philip who payed James to blackmail Mary into rigging the election through her girlfriend Lucy's cousin Zach. I mean it couldn't be any clearer!"
"Uhhh Ambs… how long have you been working on this?" hedged Lili.
"Don't know and don't care! Justice never sleeps and neither do I".
"Ok…So we have graduated past the beating stuff up phase and have moved firmly into conspiracy theories"
"It's not a conspiracy if I'm right!" snapped Amber.
"Yeah! You need a break" decided Lili. "Why don't we go hang in my room and I can tell you all about my failed date".
"Okay" muttered Amber dragging the murder board with her.
Grabbing the other end of the board, Lili pushed it back in place. "How about we leave the murder board here huh…"
"But my research!" protested Amber
"It will be here when you get back sweetie" consoled Liliana as she pulled the other blond into her room.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
It was nice to have female friends again thought Liliana as she headed downstairs for dinner that evening. She had had a great time tearing apart her date and analyzing it with Amber. The hang out session had helped her relax and had obviously done a world of good for Amber who was noticeably less stressed about her loss. This was probably also due to the fact that Mara had left off bragging about her win in light of tomorrow's trial.
"Are you ready for the hearing tomorrow Mara?" asked a concerned Fabian.
"She is definitely ready Fabes. All she's done since Monday is prep" answered Joy.
"I've mainly been focusing on organizing my notes and cleaning up the case. Eddie and I wouldn't have posted the article if we hadn't been sure".
"What! Eddie? You were working with Mara on this?" asked an incredulous Patricia.
"Chill Yacker," smirked the American boy who had clearly picked up on her jealousy. "I was just there when she posted it. She had been complaining about how boring the school site was and said this article was going to be a big deal. I suggested that she post it and so we did".
"What do you mean the site is boring?" asked an upset Joy. "My piece on emotional support animals now being allowed on campus was awesome! Trix and doofus here crushed the election coverage, Liliana wrote about being a small business owner and full-time student, and that's just the articles from Anubis the other staff writers did awesome too!".
"Well… I… this article is clearly necessary and definitely livened up the site" stuttered Mara. "So yes, of course your articles were good but mine is the cherry on top". And yet after hearing Mara speak Liliana didn't buy it, but anything that she said would just start a fight, so Lili let it go. The rest of dinner went by without an issue and Lili headed up to her room to get a bit of work done before Alfie and Roe returned.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Her music cut off signaling a new text, Lili picked it up to see a message from Alfie.
AmazingAlfredo: I'm back and in my room if you want to talk about how it went.
Lilyflower: Sounds good, I'll be down in a sec.
Making sure that her sewing machine was turned off she headed downstairs to the boy's room. "Hey Alfie!" the boy was working on his laptop at his desk.
"Sup Lil. Let me finish and submit this really quick."
"Sure" agreed Lili flopping down on his bed thinking about what she was going to tell the boy about her date.
"So how was it?" asked Alfie a few minutes later, spinning his chair so that he could see her better.
"Oh, it was fine"
Alfie arched an eyebrow, "Just fine? Do I need to go teach him a lesson?"
"Do I ever need you to teach someone a lesson for me?" she scoffed. "And no. It was good and all, but we didn't really connect, I feel like…"
"Could that be the reason you didn't vibe?" interrupted Alfie gesturing to Jerome's half of the room.
Fixing him with an unamused look Lili continued, "You are very pushy today, but I am potentially saying yes". It was one thing to tell Amber about her unrequited love for Roe, but a whole other to tell their mutual best friend.
"Huh" smirked Alfie
"Don't you 'huh' me Alfred J. Lewis!"
"Let's be real here for a moment Liliana. What is it going to take for you two to actually talk about a relationship"?
"I gave him a chance already Alfie"
"Really…" deadpanned her best friend.
"Yes. When we talked about me going on this date tonight, I asked if he would be okay with it, and he said yes".
"You're honestly telling me that you think you asked Jerome to ask you out?"
"Yes. If he hadn't wanted me to go out with Hadrian, he had the perfect opening to make his feelings known. All I am left with is the sense that he doesn't like Hadrian but doesn't like me enough to stop me from dating Hadrian".
"Well that is quite possibly the most foolish thing I have heard in a while!" snapped Alfie.
"Why? If he wants a relationship with me, he will have to man up and ask. I'm still single and would like to date him".
"Does he even know that you like him?"
"Of course not! I'm not going to tell him unless I know he feels the same way. Can you imagine how awkward it would be for all of us if he knew about my feelings? He would feel trapped and upset and I don't want that for him. I want him to be happy but I'm not at the point where I'd be ok with his S.O. not being me".
Alfie collapsed on the bed next to her and blindly reached for her hand, his other arm thrown over his eyes. "Lils you have to see this from his perspective to. If you don't want to tell him till you know his feelings, then he almost 100% feels the same way. He probably feels like he missed his chance since you agreed to go out with Hadrian".
"Well clearly he hasn't" whined Liliana
"I know that, and you know that, but Roe doesn't. What you both hold as the most important thing is that the other is happy. But what you two dummies don't realize is that what will make you happy is each other" argued Alfie sitting up and making Lili really look at him.
"But what if…" protested Lili weakly
"What if I'm wrong?" he questioned softly, "Lil's I'm 99.9% sure that I am right. And if by some cosmic event where his reaction falls in the .01%, then at least you both have been honest with each other and can stop tiptoeing around the issue".
"Deep down I know that you're right. It's just scary having to actually talk about my feelings".
"Of course it's scary Liliana, but it truly is important. The reason why Amber and I actually work is because we talk about our issues and feelings".
The ding of their phones signaled a new text:
RoeRoe: Just dropped Poppy off and I'll be home in 5.
"Got to make up your mind cause your time is rapidly running out. I'm going to go see Ambs, good luck!" declared Alfie as he dashed out the door leaving Liliana alone with her thoughts.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Five minutes later found Liliana still sitting on Alfie's bed full of nervous energy as she anticipated the upcoming conversation. Try as she might to ignore it, Alfie was right, her time had finally run out. It was time to stop running and take a stand to fight for what she wanted.
"Hey Alfie, I… Oh Lili" greeted a startled Jerome.
"Hey Jerome, we need to talk" Lili returned patting the space next to her invitingly.
"Yeah! Yeah, I was about to come find you" agreed Jerome as he moved to sit beside her on the bed nervously.
"Well here I am" she giggled.
"Yup, here you are. O gods, why is this so hard" he groaned dropping his head in his hands.
"How about I go first?" asked Lili having spent the last five minutes revising her speech. "So, I went on a date with Hadrian tonight, and while it was perfectly nice, we didn't click. I think a lot of the reasons why we didn't click was because of you and me. I know that have resolved to just never talk about what we have…" Lili rushed, "but that isn't feasible in the long run".
Jerome face filled with hope and he went to speak, "Lili I…"
"Nope!" declared Lili grabbing his hands stop him. "It's my turn to speak since I don't think I'll be able to say it if I don't say it now. Now where was I… Oh right us! This week was awful for both of us since neither one of us wanted me to go on that date. Yet, when I gave you the option to speak up you just said that you wanted me to be happy". Again Jerome tried to speak but Lili just cut him off, "I appreciate that, and I want you to know that your happiness is of the upmost importance to me as well! And well what I'm going to say will definitely change our current dynamic whether or not you feel the same way, but I care about you too much to keep quiet". Pausing, Lili collected all of her moxie and said the four words she had always known but had never had the nerve to say, "Jerome I love you".
Look up from their joint hands nervously saw that the boy was in a clear state of shock. "Uh, Roe if you could process out loud that would really help my nerves…"
Liliana could feel his hands tighten around hers as she tried to pull away having judged that she had clearly been wrong about his feelings. "Liliana Beth Wells I love you too. I think I always have, but I was too worried of accidentally wrecking what we had. I have been informed by both Alfie and Poppy that I was being ridiculous, but I didn't want to lose you".
He loved her too! Lili felt like she would burst from happiness. "You are never going to lose me Roe" she reassured squeezing their joined hands.
"I know that, but I just couldn't be here to see you go with him this evening. I still hadn't quite made sense of the depth my feelings for you. I love you Lils. Will you go out with me?".
Finally! "Yes! Yes I will go out with you!" she exclaimed happily hugging him.
The sound of cheers and celebration from the hallway had the pair fondly rolling their eyes. Lili watched as three bodies crashed onto the floor after Jerome had yanked the door open without warning, "Hey guys, what's up?".
"Lili! We totally weren't listening to you two finally realize what we all knew or anything" tried Poppy as she got to her feet.
"Nice try Pops but we aren't buying it" laughed Jerome messing up her hair.
"We are just so happy for you two." squealed Amber "Now we can go on double dates! I've got make you a Lilrome scrapbook!"
"What's Lilrome?" asked an adorably confused Jerome.
"It's your couple name. Lilrome was so much better than Jerana or Jeliana" explained Amber.
"She had the whole house vote on it a couple weeks ago" added Aflie.
"What? How did we miss this?" questioned Lili.
"It was during the time you guys were fighting so you were kind of busy" explained Poppy.
"Well now that we are all on the same page, Penelope should be getting back to Hathor, it's late" decided Jerome directing everyone out of the room. Given that they were rapidly approaching pin-drop Amber said her goodnights and dashed upstairs. Alfie walked with the others as far as the door before saying good night to Poppy and the new couple. Lili gave Poppy a quick hug and promised to have lunch with her the next day before turning to Jerome.
As their eyes caught Lili felt the electricity that had always been between them flare. She found herself at a loss as she drowned in the love shining back at her. Poppy's playful protests for them to "knock it off" broke the moment and Lili simply hugged him goodnight before ushering the siblings out the door. With any luck Jerome would be back before Victor's speech and wouldn't have to avoid the grouchy caretaker. Heading upstairs Liliana was sure that nothing could disrupt her newfound happiness.
*Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold – Tears of Gold*
Hours later Liliana was forcibly remined of how wrong she was. Her body tossed and turned in the bed as her mind remained trapped in what had quickly become a nightmare.
The dream had started off well enough. She saw herself standing in a beautiful dress hand in hand with a well-dressed Jerome outside of a opera house. The pair had entered the treater and were ushered to box seats. Liliana looked around the opera house in awe, but as the orchestra started to play, she felt an awful chill surround her. Turning to ask Jerome if he noticed the strangely evil chill she screamed, as where her date should have been stood Senkhara. At least Liliana assumed it was Senkhara based off of the other Sibuna's descriptions.
Amber's advice had been to run, so Lili gathered her skirts and took off. The spirit screamed and Lili was sure that the she was following her. Lili raced down the twisting hallways of the opera house looking for a way out, while chanting 'wake up, wake up, wake up' underneath her breath. All of the doors she tried were locked, finally she found an open set and burst through only to find herself at the top of a towering staircase. There was no way that she could make it down those.
Turning around she saw Senkhara approaching "Give me your hand child".
Seeing no other options, Lili ran down the stairs. While she would normally love the beautiful high heels that her dream-self had picked out, they were not great when paired with a full-length gown and running from a murderous spirit.
Lili knew she was screwed as she felt one of her heels snap, twisting her ankle and leading her to tumble down the steep staircase. She landed with a sickening thump, her body aching, and ankle definitely broken. Even as she tried to get back on her feet, she knew it was too late as she was once more surrounded by the freezing chill of her enemy.
"You foolish girl! Did you seriously believe that you could escape me?" cursed the murderous queen. Liliana screamed as the spirit grabbed her broken ankle causing shocks of pain shoot through her. "I am your mistress now girl. Let this be a warning to you, DO NOT FAIL ME". Releasing her Senkhara disappeared leaving Liliana to collapse against the floor with tears falling. "Bring me the mask" echoed the ghost's voice through her dream space.
Then Liliana awoke shooting up in her bed, the phantom pain of Senkhara's brand burned sharply. Throwing back the covers she saw the brand of Anubis glowing on her ankle, demanding her attention and painfully reminding her that Senkhara now had control over the lives of both herself and all her friends. Laying back down Lili knew that sleep would not come easy for her that night.
The "True Love" duet by Dove Cameron and Jordan Fisher from Liv and Maddie is the vibe I imagine for Lilrome in this chapter.
Next Update: Mara is still on trial, Patricia is struggling to deal with her feelings, Nina is not thrilled with Sibuna's new members.
I love hearing from y'all! Let me know what you think of the chapter and the story so far in the comments or my Tumblr: House-of-Secrets! Xo Evie