For another year, their friendship continued similarly to this. They spent more and more time together outside of Dungeons and Dragons. Even while he had failed senior year and was forced to repeat, she never dismissed him. She had convinced herself he wasn't stupid. He just had other interests, all of which he was open to share with her. She broadened her cooking skills, and he would come by to put them to the test, almost always with a new tape in his possession to add to her musical collection. Every couple of weeks, he'd come over, all depending on the absence of Mr. Ross. It was usually at night, as Lillian had started working a part-time job at the local craft store. Where Eddie was not really progressing anywhere in life, and still just attending high school and DD, she was moving up in the world. She even had her own vehicle by then, a cherry-red Ford Escort that she her father bought for her as a graduation present.

Then, the following summer was when things started to change. Lillian was not usually one to rebel, but when her father was away, she was prone to call Eddie to tell him when she was home alone. In her subconscious, she was admitted she was longing for something more. She was far too timid to make the first move, and she started to wonder if maybe he felt the same way. He came over almost every time she called him. That had to mean something, right?

Screw it. She was going to make a move tonight.

She watered the garden as she waited, starting at the back of the house. The yard had plenty of room to grow all kinds of things: Lillian had made it a point to start a sunflower garden so the bees would be attracted to pollinate everything else: flowers, vegetables, and even the willow tree.

After about ten minutes, she migrated to the front, switching to the water hose closest to the front porch to start watering the flowerbeds. The summertime had the morning glories on the arbor blooming, and the red hibiscuses and asiatic lilies gave color to the front yard, even at night. Lillian, however, wasn't paying much mind to the plants, as she was watching for Eddie Munson to come walking up the sidewalk. It didn't take much longer for him to appear, his hands stuffed in his pockets. Lillian inhaled. She was a nervous wreck. Why? They had been spending time with each other almost regularly. She summed it up to typical hormones.

She breathed deeply into the warm, night air, deciding she would take it slow. "Don't plan ahead, just...let it happen. And if it doesn't...so what?" she muttered to herself.

He came up the driveway, and Lillian smiled, shutting off the water hose. "The figs are ripe. You want some?"

"Don't mind if I do," Eddie grinned ear-to-ear.

She went over to the garage, opening the door and flipping on the light. "Grab the ladder, and I'll get a bucket."

Eddie obliged, and he would hold the blue bucket for her as she picked the ripe figs. The ones that were just turning purple were the best ones to pick. If they were too dark and soft, they were no good. She picked a few, and then would drop them into the bucket. She had to be careful, as wasps and bees liked to hide out in the fig tree, especially at night.

As she glanced down at him, Eddie was already snacking on a fig. "You brat!" she teased him. "Can't you wait?"

"How can I? It's like the apple in the Garden of Eden. Prohibited, but seductive."

Why did he have to use the word seductive?

"You know, if you stick them in the fridge for a bit, they're even better."

"They won't make it to the fridge, Lady Lillian."

She smirked, pulling off a few more before she would climb down to put them in the container he held for her. "Don't worry. I'll make sure you have extra to take home. There's plenty up there."

"Be careful, now. You're spoiling me."

She would move the ladder a few feet to the left, then climb back up again. From the fourth step, she located a few more to harvest. There had to be at least two dozen in the bucket by the time she thought there was enough. As she collected the last of them, however, something came darting out from behind the large leaves, buzzing and highly pissed off. With a shriek, Lillian leaned back - too far back. The ladder gave beneath her from the accidental kick of her feet, falling forward as she tried to grab onto the branch near her. The bucket fell to the ground, and Eddie grabbed her by the legs before the branch could surrender from her hanging weight.

"I got you."

Breathing heavily, she let go, allowing him to carefully lower her. To keep him from falling, she would grab a lower branch, and then lower she went again. It wasn't the most graceful thing in the world, but luckily, he kept her from getting severely hurt.

Her feet finally touched the ground, but she somehow still felt like she was falling.

"Good save..." she breathed.

"You okay?"

Lillian didn't realize until just then that her hands were resting on his shoulders. His hands settled on her sides, almost as if they were getting ready to slow dance. She was a little shaky, and at this stage, it wasn't because of the fall.

"Um... yeah. Damn wasps just startled me."

She thought about it, then. She could just kiss him right now. Their faces were just a few, mere inches apart. All she had to do was lean in...

But she couldn't.

Her hands fell to her sides, and she looked to the ground, trying to play it off as nothing. She just wasn't confident enough to express herself.

"You dropped your figs." She hoped to sound casual.

Lillian looked at his face, but he was quick to start picking them up, and she helped. It was a good thing she was still wearing her blue jeans and red tank top - something she was fine with getting a little messy.

"I'll take these inside and wash them. Do you mind putting the ladder back up?"

"Sure thing."

Again, Eddie did what she asked of him. She went into the kitchen with the refilled bucket, confident they had picked up most of the ones that they harvested. She mentally kicked herself. Why had she pushed him away like that? Damn coward...

She started rinsing the figs carefully with cold water, setting them on a paper towel to air-dry after they were washed under the faucet. The entire time, she could only scold herself for backing down the way she did. She supposed she was just afraid of him rejecting her. They had always been pretty good friends, especially recently, but maybe it was possible that that was all Eddie wanted.

She turned around, suddenly alarmed when she saw she couldn't go anywhere. Eddie was standing in front of her, practically boxing her against the counter. Her heart leapt up to her throat. Almost as soon as she realized how close they were standing to each other, his hand reached up to her cheek. With butterflies in her stomach, she leaned in, and he met her halfway.

Finally, she could taste him, as well as the figs he had sampled from earlier. There was no tongue, or at least, very little of it. It was just a sample - a timid, but longing kiss. She understood then that much like her, he had been wanting this for nearly a year now, and she didn't even realize it.

"Lily...?" he murmured against her quivering mouth, his breath tickling her face.

He had never called her that before. Yet, she quickly came to the conclusion that she hoped to hear him say it more often. There was a certain endearing tone to it.

"Mhmm?" She was biting her lip now. She was terrified, but at the same time, this felt completely right. She had never been with anyone before. Sure, she might have had a boyfriend earlier in high school, but this was a whole different feeling. She was reaching womanhood, and her hormones were raging just as any other eighteen-year-old girl's would.

"We can go slow if you want. I don't want to ruin what we have. But I got to admit..." His hand traced down to her arm, and his other hand gently took her waist. "I have been wanting this for a while." Eddie gave that sort of smile that gleamed with goodness, like a child that heard the ice cream truck and was just handed some cash to go get something. While he wasn't a perfect angel, he never had ill will against anyone that didn't have it against him. Whatever this was, he wasn't going to just throw her aside like Billy likely would have. If she learned anything about him aside from his taste in music, it was that he was honest.

"Me too," she said. She smiled against another kiss, and she felt the small of her back press against the counter's edge.

It didn't escalate too much more that night, as they ultimately decided to take it steady.

In fact, their relationship stayed pretty subtle for another few months.

It got to be difficult to concentrate during some of the campaigns. She wasn't sure what it was, but something about the energy in the room when Eddie was playing as dungeon master had her leaving weak in the knees.

On one night, at Eddie's trailer, the last campaign of the season that would conclude this series, the stakes were high. They needed to defeat the elder dragon in order to win. The last roll, which just so happened to be Lady Lillian's roll, was it. The dragon was at fifteen health. If she didn't roll at least that, she was bound to lose. Everyone in the room held their breaths, and as the twenty-sided die landed and tumbled across the table, a deafening silence resided.

Then, it stopped.

"Holy shit. Eighteen."

Eddie broke the silence, and everyone cheered. Lillian almost forgot to exhale as she realized she had brought everyone victory. Eddie gave her a gleaming grin. As always, it was hard to keep their relationship under wraps.

"Oh, my god!" Dustin, one of the high-schooler kids in the club, shoved his fists into the table. "Will you two just kiss already?"

"What?" Both Eddie and Lillian spoke almost in unison. It was almost comical how both of them resorted to denial.

"What do you mean what?" Dustin demanded. "Are you guys telling me that you don't realize how obvious it is? You two have been making lovey-dovey eyes at each other, like, all night!"

"Henderson, shut up. I will end you."

"Eddie, Dustin's right." Mike butted in, and he seemed to be amused by rubbing it in that they were figuring it out. Meanwhile, Lillian was trying to hide her blushing face behind Eddie's makeshift pamphlet with the campaign schedule. Thankfully, by now, everyone else had already filed out of the room before this conversation escalated. Otherwise, it would have been ten times worse. "But seriously, it's not a big deal. It's not like you guys aren't allowed to date or whatever."

"Are we sure about that, though?" Dustin responded, looking at Mike. "I mean, it's not a conflict of interest or something?" Something in his voice suggested that he was just teasing.

"Goddamn it, okay. Yeah, cat's out of the bag. So what?" Suddenly, she felt Eddie's hands on her shoulders. He was standing behind her, and she only felt her face grow hotter. "She is the Princess Leia to my Han Solo, and there's nothing you girls can do about it."

Wow. That was kind of cool, how proud he sounded.

Dustin looked more accomplished than anything, his smile gaping wide. "I knew it!" he whispered loudly.

After a brief exchange of congratulations amongst the remaining group, the room was eventually left to Eddie and Lillian, as was the trailer. There was no Uncle Wayne to bother them. He was running an errand that required him to leave the city for a couple of days.

"Well, Lady Lillian, what will you do now that you have basked in the glory of defeating the dragon?" Eddie helped himself to the last of the six-pack of beer. He already knew that she wasn't a beer drinker, not just because she couldn't legally drink yet, but as she had tried it before, they both knew she just hated the taste of it.

In the background, a W.A.S.P. song was playing from the cassette player. She watched the last member, Mike, leave on his bike. Everyone was gone now, hoping to beat the upcoming storm home. They wouldn't win the race, because she could already see the lightning in the distance.

"Well, to start... the dragon may be of some use to me." While he was still sitting in his chair, she placed herself on his lap, taking the beer bottle from his hand and placing it on the table behind her. "I will ride him and tame him, so that Lady Lillian will become Lillian, Queen of the Dragons."

Eddie swallowed, watching her with an intense stare. "Is that a simile?"

Lillian smiled, biting her lip. "Sure. Something like that." She felt his hands caress her waist, thumbs grazing just under the hem of her Motley Crue shirt. Then, her hips moved forward, eliciting a groan from him. He was hard, and how could she not do something about it, with as long as they had been together?

They had never gone past necking, but this was the perfect opportunity if they ever had one. She was feeling confident, and they were alone. She was ready now, and she was sure he had been waiting patiently.

She kissed him fervently. Fingers entwined with his dark, curly hair, and again, she shifted her body against his. Through his denim and hers, she could feel him, hard as a rock, and generously sized. She might have only been a little intimidated by how it might feel when he would finally put it inside of her.

"I'm a wild child, come and love me

I want you

My heart's in exile

I need you to touch me

'Cause I want what you do

I want you."

Beneath the music came a low thunder from outside. At this point, Lillian had no intention of leaving. There was no point in getting soaking wet out there.

Eddie pulled her up onto the table, walking through the gate that she had opened. He started peeling off her shirt, his hands taking the time to explore her body. His hands unhooked her bra, struggling with the clasp for a moment, but it was a well-played attempt, as it only built up the tension. Their lips parted and collided again, and finally, Lillian was able to get to his torso. Why did he wear so many layers? He had a rocking body underneath.

Her body was on fire, feeling the need for him consume her entirely. She should have felt shy, having never been naked in front of him before, but the way he ravished her body with kisses and nips really left her with no need to be self-conscious.

Beneath the dim lighting of the game room, they stopped in the heat of the moment, and his eyes met hers. There was a silent exchange, one that started with him silently asking her if she was sure. Then, she would nod. Once he was given that gesture, there was no going back. He kissed her again, and the last of her clothes were removed to give way for him.

Her legs wrapped around him, and then, he pushed inside. Eddie was trying to be careful not to hurt her, she could tell. Once he pushed far enough, there came the stinging pain that elicited a not-so-pleasurable gasp. It was only for a moment. Through the pause, his hands brushed along her bare back, comforting her through the first push, and even the second. Then, she melted against him.

"You okay?" she heard him inquire.

"Yeah..." she said softly, loosening her grip on his shoulders. The discomfort didn't take long to subside. Beneath the sound of thunder and Blackie Lawless's promiscuous vocals, their gasps and moans laced together.

His thrusts quickened, even hardened once her erotic sounds gave him the reassurance. Her hips would even shift back against him, matching his movements in an almost perfect rhythm. She had to admit, it was convenient that the table was just the right height for this to work.

She was getting close. She knew what it was like to have an orgasm, albeit not quite like this. She had taken to masturbating a number of times, though this was a whole different level of pleasure. Her body writhed against his, back flexing and legs tightening around his waist.

The dim lightbulb dangling over them flickered, as did the light in the next room. Far too wrapped up in the climax she shared with him, Lillian cried out in delight through the last wave. Then, with a quivering moan, laid her forehead against his shoulder.

She didn't really want to believe it before, but now, she had no choice.

She was utterly in love with this dork of a guy.