Chapter 6.
I wasn't gonna bother finishing this story but thought I would continue after having some more ideas. It's not brilliant but here goes anyway.
As before I don't own Cold Case or any of the characters. Kudos to Meredith for coming up with Lilly Rush and making her the most interesting character to ever be invented.
5 days later.
The day after Vera had interrogated Lilly about Scotty being in such a hurry to go and check on her. She had kept her cool simply telling him that, yes, Scotty had popped by and that she had convinced him she was fine.
Lilly hadn't heard anything from Scotty since he left her house 5 days ago. She wasn't concerned that she hadn't but at the same time she did regularly think about how he was feeling about both saying goodbye to Elisa and the events that had occurred between them.
As Lilly returned to headquarters with a tray of coffee for herself, Vera, Jeffries and Stillman, she walked in to hear Vera on the phone.
"Sounded tough." Vera said into the receiver.
Lilly placed the tray on the edge of Vera's desk.
"Yeah, okay, meet ya at the bar after work…"
"…around 7."
"Yeah, see ya Scotty."
Lilly looked up alarmingly, her mouth dropping open, her eyes wide.
"That was Scotty?" She asked inquisitively.
"Yeah." Vera replied.
"He's back? How long has he been back?"
"Uh, last night he said."
Lilly frowned. Her heart was suddenly pounding. Why hadn't he called her? Did he regret what had happened? Did he not want to see her?
Although they had made no commitments or promises to each other she did feel hurt that after their night together, which had been extremely enjoyable, the wasn't the first person that he'd contacted on her return.
She shook herself mentally, and cursed herself for being so emotional about this. Scotty would call her when he was ready.
The whole day had past and Scotty hadn't contacted Lilly. She had been so wrapped up in work and this case that had been proving to be very difficult that she hadn't been getting herself in a state about it.
As Vera was leaving work and as was grabbing his coat Lilly stood up and cleared her throat.
"Ummm, Vera….. say hi to Scotty for me,' she said nervously.
"Why don't you come along and say hi yourself," he answered.
"Uhh, I think I'll leave you guys to it."
"Hey I'm not inviting you to stay the whole night…" he said laughing.
"…just one drink. Come on."
"No, really, I got files to finish going through here." She said nodding her head.
"Okay, see ya tomorrow." Vera replied looking at Lilly as if she were crazy to be choosing work over a drink at the bar.
As Vera walked out Lilly settled back into her chair and proceeded to work through the pile of files on her desk. This case was beginning to frustrate her and she thought it was about time that she paid Maurice …. A visit.
That would have to wait till morning now though. The time had passed quickly and although she had moments where she lost concentration on her work and wondered why Scotty had not contacted her she had actually ploughed through most of the files.
It was 11pm and as she was finishing up due to be quite tired Lilly thought that she would drive by the bar on the way home to see if Christina needed a ride home.
As she drove to the bar Lilly thought that although she had not forgiven Christina for what she had done to her it was actually quite nice having her around. Lilly had lived on her own for so long and had gotten used to it but it did feel good having someone around.
Lilly parked her car and walked up to the doorway of the bar where she almost bumped into a very tall intoxicated man. Lilly winced on smelling the alcohol on him and rolled her eyes wondering why people would want to get themselves in such a state. Memories of the many times she had to clean up her mother crept into her mind.
She walked quickly through the closing door that the man had just opened and on looking towards the bar she noticed Christina talking to a very familiar person sat on one of the bar stools. It was Scotty and he was slumped in his seat.
Lilly froze, her eyes widened and she drew in a sharp short breath.
Christina noticed Lilly.
"Hey Lil," she said smiling.
Lilly just carried on looking, not moving. Her heart was racing and she pressed her lips together whilst frowning.
Slowly, Scotty turned around. He sat upright and gave Lilly a drunken smile.
"I, umm, came to see if you wanted a ride home?" Lilly asked turning her gaze to Christina, then straight back to Scotty.
"Have a drink with me Lil" Scotty asked.
"Don't you think you've had enough?" She replied disapprovingly.
She walked closer to the bar, keeping her gaze on Scotty. Inside she was shaking and wanted to ask him why he hadn't called, how the funeral had gone and why the hell he had come to this bar where her sister worked. She bit her lip though and retained her composure.
Scotty wasn't thinking clearly. He was surprised to see Lilly and the drunkenness was making him think things he really shouldn't be thinking, especially after their agreement that getting any deeper with each other was totally ill-advised.
Scotty reached out a touched Lilly's arm. He wobbled on his stool as he struggled to maintain his balance. Lilly tensed up to support the weight he was placing on her.
"I think you need to go home," Lilly said as she put both of her hands on his upper arms. She was standing close to him.
"Will you take me?" Scotty replied with a slur.
Lilly looked over to Christina.
"I think he needs a ride home more than me" Christina said with an amused expression on her face.
"Hmmmmm" Lilly said looking back at Scotty.
"Will you take me?" Scotty asked again.
"Can you walk alright?" Lilly responded frowning.
Scotty slid out of the stool. He wobbled again but Lilly tightened her grip on his arms. He steadied himself and slipped his arm around Lilly making her release her grip on him. He held his arm around her waist tightly placing some of his weight on her.
Lilly glanced at Christina and rolled her eyes as they very slowly walked out of the bar.
It was a struggle to get Scotty in the car but she managed.
They didn't talk at all on the journey back to Scotty's place. By the time they had arrived Scotty was asleep with his mouth wide open; head leaning against the window.
As Lilly stopped the car she looked over to him and rolled her eyes again.
"What a state to get in" she mumbled under her breath. To be honest though she understood why he would want to get in that state. His whole life had been turned upside down and Lilly couldn't help but feel partially responsible for the turmoil he was in and the confusion he must have been feeling.
She walked around the side of the car and opened Scotty's door. She crouched down and leaned in close to Scotty's ear.
"Scotty, your home," she whispered softly.
"Hmmm, uh, Lilly," he said opening his eyes and turning his head.
He tried to look deep into her eyes but he struggled to focus on her. What he could see though was beautiful. She didn't look happy but she did look beautiful. He couldn't keep it to himself either.
"You're beautiful," he said trying his hardest to be sincere and look directly into her eyes.
"Scotty, you don't know what you're saying," she responded shaking her head.
"Get outta the car," she added seriously.
Scotty grabbed Lilly on the arm and pulled himself out of the car. He pulled her close to him on standing.
Lilly's eyes flickered as she felt the warmth from his body, but quickly pushed him to a safer distance mainly to protect her from the intoxicating smell of alcohol.
She took Scotty's hand in hers and led him to his front door. Scotty fumbled around in his pocket searching for the keys. As they were revealed Lilly took them and proceeded to unlock the door. Scotty walked in first and began to walk upstairs as Lilly closed and locked the door behind them. She had to place her hand on his back as they climbed the stairs to give him extra momentum.
Lilly again unlocked the door to his apartment. Scotty managed to find the light switch and turn it on revealing his rearranged apartment; all the furniture pushed against the walls. Lilly frowned but brushed it off instantly. She knew it wasn't worth grilling Scotty for any details; about this or about why he hadn't called her. She wouldn't get anything coherent from him in this state.
"Get straight to bed," she ordered, "I'll get you some water and ibuprofen."
She gave Scotty a gentle push in the direction of the bedroom, as she walked towards the kitchen.
This situation was a stark reminder of her past. The years she spent cleaning up her mother and putting her to bed had left her experienced in knowing the effective method of preventing sickness and hangovers. It felt like clockwork.
When Lilly walked into Scotty's bedroom his was sprawled across the bed.
"You can't sleep yet, you gotta have this first."
"Hmmm, what," Scotty said raising just his head.
"Sit up, Scotty," Lilly ordered kneeling on the floor by the bed.
Scotty sat up, and took the glass of water and pills Lilly was holding out for him.
He swallowed them both down without question.
"Thanks, Lil," he said sincerely reaching down and touching her face.
"Get some sleep now. I hear you're back to work tomorrow so you're gonna need it!" she said smiling.
Sorry if that was a bit long winded and boring, there is more to come if you want it. The thing is I'm not quite sure where to take it next. Should Lilly stay with Scotty or should she go home? I know what the 'real' Lilly would do but this is totally kind of non-Lilly anyway. What would you guys like?
Thanks for the reviews so far and keep em' coming, I appreciate all your feedback.