Chapter 7: Hurricane Robbie

"I know it's not hurricane season, Robbie," Lily said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "And that's what makes this so hard."

Travis was walking back from the Friendly's down the hall with a large chocolate sundae in his hands. He sat down in his spot on the bench and handed the sundae to Lily. She smiled. "Is that where you've been for the past twenty minutes? Getting me an ice cream sundae?"

Travis smiled. "Yeah, I thought it might help cheer you up," he told Lily as she took a spoonful from the side.

She took a deep breath, enjoying the sweet chocolate flavor. "Thank you, Travis. But I need to make a confession." Travis stared at her wide-eyed. "You mean you don't like chocolate? Darn!"

Lily laughed. "No, I love chocolate. I mean, I have to confess about what happened..." Her voice trailed off at the end of the sentence. She wiped her eyes, and began her story. "The most we ever get of hurricanes here are the scattered rains, if they even reach us. However, in Florida, they get the whole thing. Its dangerous being down there, even if its not hurricane season. The people down there know how to handle this kind of weather, at least most of the time." Lily sniffled, and continued, "As soon as we got down to my aunt's house, they told us a hurricane was on the way. All the flights had been cancelled, so we had to stay.Hurricane Roberto hit on Friday. It was the scariest thing I'd ever seen. And then Louie... oh, God, poor Louie." Tears rushed from Lily's eyes. She buried her face in Travis's sleeve and started sobbing.

"Who is Louie?" Travis asked Robbie, who was patting Lily's back. Robbie sighed, "Her little cousin, only four years old."

Travis looked at Robbie for a few seconds, then turned his gaze to his sobbing friend. He wrapped his arms around Lily, her face still buried in his sleeve. Travis rested his head on hers, "Louie died, didn't he?"

Lily took a few deep breaths and wiped her eyes. Still with a small sob in her voice every once in a while, she whispered, "Yes, Travis. Louie died. They let us know today," She grasped his arm and laid her head on his shoulder. "But that's not the half of it. Hurricane Roberto headed out to sea, towards Cape Cod. That gave us time to fly across the mid-western states, back up to Toronto this morning. But its going to hit us today, sometime soon. Its still a category five."

"Hurricane Robbie..." Robbie thought out loud. "God awful name for a hurricane. Who thinks these up? I don't want my name responsible for taking the life of a little kid. And many other people, I'm sure."

Throughout all of this, Ray had been watching from the next bench over, behind the cola machine. He scowled when he saw Lily snuggling up to Travis, but he couldn't get too mad, since she needed someone to cry on, and he was sitting closer to her than Robbie was. Much closer, in fact.

The sound of her ringing cell phone woke Lily from her slumber. She hadn't even known she'd fallen asleep. She lifted her head from Travis's shoulder, trying not to wake him or Robbie. She quietly slipped away, and picked up her phone. "Hello?"

"Lily, darling, thank goodness!"

"Mom, is that you?"

"Yes. Hurricane Robbie has hit. The power is out in most of the airport. The guards are holding us here, in the waiting area. No one is being allowed on the planes or into the garages. Everyone has to stay where they are. I'm afraid we won't be seeing each other for a while, Lil."

"Oh, mom, I..."

"It's okay. You'll be fine."

"Mom... I'm not alone. I'm with Travis and Robbie. Mom... Mom, you're breaking up... Mom? Mom!"

The phone line went dead. Soon after, the lights went out. Horrified screams came from little children, grasping their parent's arms. This woke Robbie.

"Lily, Travis?" He said groggily. He reached over and shook Travis's shoulder. He looked up. "Robbie? Why are all the lights out?" Travis asked unsteadily.

"That hurricane must have hit. Where is Lily?"

They both shot up and looked around. "I can't see a damn thing," said Robbie.

Ray looked over. "Glad you're up. Where's the Lily?"

"We don't know." Robbie said, looking over. "Do you see her Travis? ...Travis?"

Yes, Travis saw her, but he was no longer standing beside Robbie. He was wandering around, desperately searching. Finally, Travis spotted her. Lily was sitting on the conveyor belt, as she was earlier that day. Travis's jacket was still around her shoulders, her blonde hair pulled back in a messy bun. She looked up and saw Travis. He hurried over.

"I can't take this anymore, Travis," she said, embracing him, "Today is turning out so horrible."

Travis hugged her back, "I know, Lily. I know." He took her hand and sat her down on the conveyor belt. Sitting down next to her, Travis took both of her hands in his. "Lily, it's all going to be okay. Robbie and Ray are there for you when you fall. Your family is there when you need help. I'm here for you no matter what happens. Everyone who loves you is there for you, too."

Lily took a deep breath, "I know, Travis. Thank you, I really needed to hear that."

Travis smiled, "I'm glad I helped. We all love you. You know that, right? Ray loves you. Robbie loves you." He paused, and looked down at their hands. "And I love you." He looked back up at Lily.

Lily smiled. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "I... I, uh..." she took her gaze off his deep gray eyes. "I love you, too."

Travis lifted her head with his finger. Lily looked back at his face. There was absolutely no expression there; his eyes told the whole story. There was love, and worry. It was then that Lily realized; Travis really did love her.

The chaos around them didn't make any difference. They leaned closer to each other. Just as their lips were going to meet once more, something occurred to Travis.

"No, no," he said, gently pushing Lily away. "I can't do this, Lily. It's... its just wrong."

Slightly hurt, Lily asked, "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

"I just feel like I'm taking advantage of the situation."

Lily hung her head. After a few uncomfortable seconds, she said, "Travis, why do you have to be so caring? Why must you be so sweet?"

Travis shook his head. "I don't get what you're saying."

"What I'm saying is..." Lily looked up during the pause in her sentence. "Why do you have to be so perfect?"