Chapter 13

"Congratulations!" Lily beamed as she threw her arms around her brother's friend. She'd been waiting for the team to finish celebrating their final championship win on the field before making her way over to him. Of course, she'd been dragged with her parents to celebrate with Liam first and although she wanted to congratulate her brother, she hadn't seen Andrew in over two weeks. He'd been in Florida with his parents over winter break and somehow she hadn't seen him in the four days he'd been back home.

A toothy grin sprouted upon Andrew's lips when he met Lily's big, brown eyes. Andrew wrapped his arms around the small of her back, cherishing the feeling of her body against his. She seemed to fit perfectly in his arms. The coconutty smell of her shiny locks assaulted his nostrils and it made his stomach warm. More than two weeks away from this girl had been too long for Andrew. "It's good to see you."

"How was Florida?" She took a step back, suddenly missing the feeling of his arms around her.

"Nice. Although I prefer spending the holidays at home. It was nice to see my Grandma." Andrew said. "I stopped by your house yesterday with Liam, but you weren't there."

Lily tucked her hair behind her ear. "I was at therapy and then went shopping with Katie."

"How are you doing?" He studied her eyes for a moment.

"Good." She nodded with a smile. "I'm getting there."

"You look good." His eyes remained locked with her for a few moments, watching a slight blush creep upon her cheeks. His eyes flitted down to her legs. "No more knee or ankle brace?"

"Nope. Got the all-clear right before Christmas." Lily held up her wrist covered with a brace. "Down to one."

"That's great." Andrew ran the towel in his hand over his hair, wet with the Gatorade his teammates drenched him in. "So, we have a pie date or what?"

Butterflies danced in Lily's stomach. The word date repeated on a loop in her mind. She knew very well that he didn't really mean anything by it and was just referring to their usual outings post-game. But for some reason, her mind couldn't seem to peel itself away from that word. For some reason, this boy that she's known since she was five years old, the boy she used to bicker and banter with growing up was creating this new feeling in her. This feeling that made her feel alive, that had her stomach flipping, her heart racing giddily.

"Andrew, you guys just won the championship. I'm not going to let you miss the party."

"Sure, you're just trying to get out of hanging out with me." He teased with a wink, earning a giggle from the brunette. The sound of her laugh made his heart flutter.

"Yeah, two weeks definitely wasn't enough time away from you." She chuckled. "But in all seriousness, you're going to that party. This is the last time to celebrate with the team. We'll get pie after or tomorrow."

"I'm holding you to that, Hudson." His eyes locked with hers again and he swore his heart skipped a beat. "You need a ride to the party?"

"Actually I was going to ride with Katie."

Andrew nodded, trying to hide the disappointment from his face. "Okay, I'll see you there then."

Liam moved to stand beside his friend, following his gaze to the petite brunette across the room who was listening intently to the boy blatantly flirting with her. "You know, you should just tell her how you feel."

Andrew's head snapped towards Liam, his eyebrow furrowing. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh come on, it's pretty obvious. I'm pretty sure everyone can see it except for Lily and that's because of her insecurities." Liam chuckled when the feigned confusion had yet to falter from Andrew's eyes. "If looks could kill, the guy flirting with my sister would be dead right now."

"I'm just...worried about her."

"Yeah, I worry about her too, but I'm not staring at them in jealousy like you are," Liam said. "I could tell you've liked her since before she started dating Joey. I'm not mad if that's what you're worried about. In fact, I'd give you my blessing."

Andrew's head whipped towards his friend again. "You would?"

"Of course." Liam nodded. "It may be a little weird and I certainly do not want to hear any details about certain things, but I'd be happy if she was dating you because I know you would treat her well. Because otherwise, I would kill you."

A small smile danced upon Andrew's lips at Liam's last comment. There had been a lot of thoughts whirling in his mind lately about Lily. In fact, she seemed to occupy his mind most of the time. It was nearly impossible to rid her of his thoughts. He wasn't actually sure when these romantic feelings developed for her. He's known her since she was five and at that time he was too young to be interested in girls. He always knew she was pretty but it was probably around the time she started high school that he realized how pretty she really was. It was around this time that the bickering and bantering they were so accustomed to actually began to turn into a close friendship. That year though, he began dating someone in his grade that ended shortly before summer vacation. It was that summer that he grew even closer to Lily and spent much of the summer hanging out with her and Liam. During his junior year and her sophomore year, they shared a few classes since Lily was in mostly advanced classes, she shared many classes with upperclassmen. It was sometime during his junior year that Andrew realized his developing feelings for Lily, but he tried to push them away. He wasn't sure how Liam would feel. Then when he felt like he couldn't take it anymore, Joey had swooped in and asked Lily on a date.

A sigh left Andrew's lips as he ran a hand over his hair. "I wish I would have brought this up sooner. Maybe I could have prevented all of this."

"It's impossible to predict what would have happened. Just like it was impossible to predict that Joey was going to do what he did. I can think of a thousand things I could have done to maybe prevent all of it, but the bottom line is it did happen, and it shouldn't have. No matter what anyone else did or could have done, Joey had no right to lay a hand on her. He's the only one to blame."

"I just wish she understood that," Andrew whispered sadly, his eyes returning to the brunette who was now giggling. A knot formed in Andrew's stomach. He was the one who produced that sound from her the most and it disgusted him that someone else was experiencing her laugh.

"I know." Liam frowned. "You know she likes you too."

Andrew's eyes moved to the red cup in his hand occupied by fizzing soda. "It looks like she likes that guy."

Liam rolled his eyes at his friend. "She does not. She's just talking to him. And there's not a chance in hell she'd pursue anything with someone she doesn't know right now. But you? That's a different story."

"Yeah but she has a lot going on. I don't want to bombard her with anything or make her feel uncomfortable."

"Drew, I'm pretty sure you're the only male that's not related to her that she's one hundred percent comfortable around," Liam said. "I think you should just be honest. Just tell her how you feel and see what she wants to do. I mean it's not like these feelings are going away. You've had them for over a year."

"Nope." Andrew popped his mouth as he shook his head. "I think they just keep getting stronger."

"So talk to her."

"Okay, that guy is looking too drunk for my liking. I'm intervening." Andrew ignored his friend's comment and kept his eyes glued to Lily as he started towards the brunette

A smirk sprouted upon Liam's lips as he let out a small chuckle. Although he was concerned about the guy hitting on his sister's intentions, he knew Andrew had an additional motive for intervening.

"Hey." Andrew flashed Lily a warm smile before narrowing his eyes at the guy beside her.

"Hey." Lily's eyes lit up at the sight of her friend. She waved her hand towards the blonde on the other side. "This is Josh. Josh, this is my friend Andrew. Josh used to play football at Rye but tore his shoulder. He knows a bunch of your teammates from football camp."

"Congrats, man." Josh grinned with a nod. "You were the star out there."

Lily nodded with a wide smile. "He's an amazing athlete. He's been scouted by so many different schools. He's just as good at baseball too."

"Is he your boyfriend?" Josh questioned casually, earning an eye roll from Andrew, which went unnoticed by Josh and Lily.

Lily blushed, tearing her eyes away from the blonde as she shook her head. "Uh no...a good friend."

"There must be a boyfriend in the picture. I mean a girl as pretty as you."

Andrew held back his scoff as nausea erupted in his stomach at the comment. Of course, this guy would use such a cheesy pickup line. The longer Andrew watched him interact with Lily, the stronger the urge became to punch him.

Lily let out a nervous laugh as she shifted on her feet. "Actually I am single."

The smile on Josh's face widened as he leaned closer to the brunette. "Well then, can I get your number?"

Lily winced slightly as she hesitated. "Uh...I'm sorry. I'm not really dating right now."

"I'd make it worth your while." His eyebrows rose suggestively and Lily nibbled on her lower lip as she shook her head.

"Look, she said no." Andrew spat as he took a small step in front of Lily. "Respect her answer and move on."

Josh's eyes widened as he held his hands up in defensive. He took a slow step back. "Relax, man. It was nice talking to you, Lily."

Lily raised an eyebrow at Andrew as he spun to face her following Josh's disappearance into the crowd. "I could have handled that myself, you know."

"I know. I just…" Andrew's voice trailed off. "Do you want to get out of here? Maybe get that pie now?"

Lily smirked at Andrew's subject change. "Sure."

The corner of Andrew's lips curved up and the mix of anger and annoyance in his eyes that had been triggered by Josh suddenly dissipated. He led her through the crowded room towards the door and to his car.

"So did I blow things with pretty boy for you?" Andrew asked as he pulled onto the road.

"Pretty boy?" Lily arched an eyebrow as a smirk found her lips. She shook her head. "No. I wasn't planning on letting it go any further than his lame attempt at flirting."

Andrew glanced at the brunette before his eyes returned to the road. "Really? It seemed like you liked him."

"Josh? Not really my type." Lily wrinkled her nose as she shook her head, shrugging slightly. "It just felt nice to be flirted with, to interact with someone who didn't know what's going on in my life, and I figured I'd be nice."

"And what is your type, Hudson?"

"Well for one I'd prefer a guy with a brain in his head and believe me when I say that Josh's head was filled with mostly air," Lily said, earning a chuckle and nod of agreement from Andrew. "I like a guy who is sweet, funny, secretly dorky, and of course a Mets fan."

Another laugh left Andrew's lips as his stomach flipped. He was completely and totally infatuated with the beautiful girl sitting in the passenger side of his car.

"And I know you're probably thinking Joey does not fall into that category."

The thought had crossed Andrew's mind. Joey was none of the things Lily just described. "No, I…"

"He's not," Lily interjected. "He really never was my type. And as much as I hate to admit this, I was one of those girls who fell for that fake charm and felt special that someone so idolized and popular was choosing me out of all the girls in the school."

Andrew frowned because he knew that undertone; she was blaming herself again. "That's what people like him do though. They know how to hide their true colors. You had no reason to believe otherwise."

Lily turned her head to look at him with furrowed eyebrows. "Really? Because there were signs I ignored and you and Liam and Katie all warned me."

"Lily…" Andrew sighed, running a hand over his chin, slightly coarse with a shade of facial hair. "I saw the way he interacted with you in the beginning and you had no reason to think he was anything but sweet. I didn't like him because I thought he was an ass and I saw him becoming controlling over you but I never thought he was hurting you. Because believe me if I did I would have intervened a long time ago."

Lily was silent for a moment as she looked out the window. Then she shrugged again and a half-smile crept upon her lips. "He was a Yankees fan anyway, that should have been the dealbreaker from the start."

A deep laugh emitted from Andrew as he pulled into the diner parking lot. The urge to park the car, pull her into his arms, and kiss her was so tempting. "That should definitely be a dealbreaker."

The two teenagers hopped out of the car and were warmly greeted by the hostess in the diner who came to recognize them after their weekly visits. She sat them at their usual table and their usual waitress was already working on getting their usual slice of pie and drinks.

"So is it true what you said to him? Or were you just rejecting him nicely?" Andrew asked as he stabbed the slice of pie in the middle of the table with his fork.

Lily waited for him to move his fork before she dug hers in. "Both."

"Oh." Andrew nodded, trying to hide the disappointment in his voice.

"You know unless the right guy comes along." She added and as soon as the words slipped her mouth she wondered if she was being too forward. And then she wondered when she became nervous about the words she uttered in front of this boy.

"Lily, there's something I've been wanting to talk to you about." Andrew began, trying to hide the anxiety in his voice. But when her big, brown eyes met his, the words he planned for a year suddenly escaped him. "I...um...the dance. Who are you going with?"

"No one."

"Well, you can't go to your own dance alone," Andrew said quickly, trying to shake off his nerves. "I'll take you."

"Andrew, haven't you done enough to help me." Lily laughed. "Aren't there girls lining up for you?"

Andrew shrugged before a grin found his lips. "Maybe but if I take you, I'd have the prettiest girl with me."

A rosy hue tinted Lily's cheeks and she couldn't help the smile that sprouted upon her lips. "I'm not sure about that but I'd be glad to go with you."

"Then it's decided."

"It's still a few weeks away so don't feel like you have to stick to your word. You know if someone…"

"Lily," Andrew interjected the brunette's rambling. If only he could convey to her that he felt like a five-year-old waking up on Christmas morning because he was taking her to the dance; that there wasn't a single other girl on this planet that he would rather take than the one sitting across from him. "I'm taking you."

"Well okay but I'll have to ditch you if Josh asks me." Lily teased, making Andrew laugh for the umpteenth time that night.

Rachel let out a heavy breath as she plopped down on the couch beside Finn. "As much as I love watching Liam play, I'm thankful we don't have to sit on those bleachers anymore."

Finn laughed as he patted his lap as an invitation to put her feet up. "Until baseball season anyway."

Rachel groaned as she scooted to the end of the couch and swung her legs up so her feet rested on Finn's lap. "You'll have to facetime me for those because I'll either be too pregnant or have a newborn."

"Yeah, I think you'll have a good enough excuse." Finn grinned as he gently kneaded his wife's swollen feet.

"I forgot how exhausting it is to grow a human." Rachel sighed, earning a chuckle from her husband. Rachel beamed as she reached for Finn's hand and placed it on her stomach. "She's kicking."

A wide grin spread across Finn's lips as his eyes met his wife's. "I almost forgot how amazing that is."

"I know." Rachel nodded. "It feels like forever ago that we were doing this when I was pregnant with Lily."

Finn's eyebrows rose as he nodded. It somehow felt like another lifetime while also feeling like it was yesterday. "You know, with everything going on we haven't really discussed any plans. I know your dads are planning on moving before you're due, but are you staying home? Should we be looking at daycares or seeing if our parents can babysit?"

"I think I'm going to stay home." Rachel said as she gently rubbed her stomach. "I was called for a new play, but I turned it down. I don't know what's going to happen with this pregnancy and I don't want to risk anything. And then once she's born I want to enjoy my time with her since I didn't have that luxury with Liam and Lily."

"How long?"

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know to be honest. The first couple of years? Maybe more?"

"I mean that's great. You know I'll support you either way. Although I am relieved to hear you're taking it easy during the pregnancy." Finn said. "Broadway will certainly miss you."

"I'll miss it too, but I've had many years of it and now it's time to focus on this baby." Rachel said. "It'll be there when I'm ready to go back. And maybe I'll write some songs or something while I'm home."

"I'm thinking about taking some time myself," Finn said, earning a head tilt from his wife. "If all goes well with this pregnancy and you make it to May, I was considering taking a six-week paternity leave which would take us to the end of the school year and I wouldn't do any additional summer work so I can be home the first few months."

"I would love to have you home, but don't feel like you can't even do your summer lessons." Rachel said. As a music teacher, Finn usually filled in some of his free summers with private music lessons. Although they were overly financially secure from Rachel's Broadway success, Finn loved teaching music.

"I figured I'd see how everything went. Maybe just do a little less." Finn offered his wife a lopsided grin. "I definitely want to enjoy the newborn stages too."

"I worry that we're having a girl," Rachel admitted and Finn cocked an eyebrow at her. "I'm terrified of what her future holds. We raised Lily so strong, so independent. I thought I was doing everything in my power to prevent anything from happening to her and look at what happened. Because no matter how strong we raise her, it doesn't mean anything if this world doesn't change. There is no preventing it nor should there be. The prevention needs to come from the people who are hurting."

Finn let out a breath as he gently stroked Rachel's arm. "I know. I mean I worry about Liam and Lily all the time, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't worry about Lily more because of the world we live in."

"What are we going to do?" Rachel whispered. "If he doesn't go to jail, what are we going to do?"

"We'll hire a private investigator to keep an eye on him or hire security or something. We will make sure she is safe." Finn attempted to reassure his wife who had anxiety swimming in her eyes. "Let's see what the lawyer says tomorrow. Maybe she's found something."

Rachel let out a breath. "I hope. I just want her to get her justice and be safe. I want her to just put this all behind her so she can just focus on moving forward."

"I know." Finn frowned and he held his arms open. "Come here."

Rachel shifted on the couch and snuggled into Finn's arms. A small sigh released from her lips when she felt his comforting arms wrap around her. Nearly eighteen years later and Finn's arms never failed at making her feel safe and loved.

I know, it's been super long since I last posted. I have not forgotten about this story, but being a teacher to remote 4th graders has kept me extremely busy. Anyway, here's a new chapter finally. Only a few weeks left of the school year so I'm hoping to post a little more regularly. Hope you enjoyed!