Author's Notes: Wow, chapter 10 already, eh? Even though I'm pretty lacking in the readers area, but I have a couple that keep me writing. Thanks. I'm forever in your debt.

Music I listened to while writing this chapter:

Listen To Your Heart - DHT

White Houses - Vanessa Carlton

Starry Eyed Surprise - Paul Oakenfold

The entire Advent Children OST

Voulez-vous Danser - Ace of Bass

Duvet - BoA

Love You Down - INOJ

I do believe that's about all. Enough stalling, time to write this sucker.

Chapter 10

Brendan stepped out of the shower feeling much more refreshed, most thoughts of Lily pushed back or scared away by the cold water. He grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist, securing it tightly and sighing softly, looking into the mirror. He had slight bags under his eyes from his recent lack of sleep, but he'd be able to catch up on that soon enough. After he didn't have a certain someone in his house.

Quickly, he ran a comb through his hair and set it down, turning to the door. Pulling out the shirt that was keeping it closed, he let the door drift open and was surprised to find Lily standing in front of him. Her eyes widened a bit when they fell upon his bare chest, following up over it slowly before meeting his gaze. She blushed when she realized she had been staring and he'd caught her doing so, looking away quickly.

"I need a brush or something. For my hair." She muttered, holding out her open hand. Brendan smiled softly and reached over for it, dropping it in her outstretched palm. Giving a slid nod, she turned on her heel and walked down the hall, into the living room. He turned off the bathroom light and slipped into his room, shutting the door behind him.

Drying off, he slipped into his clothes quickly, shaking his head a bit to dry his hair a little faster, or at least get any excess water out. After putting on socks, he moved into the living room, finding Lily sitting on his couch, still combing her hair.

"Sorry I don't have an actual brush. I know how much you hate combs," He sat down across from her, pulling on his shoes.

"I don't hate combs, I just have too much hair for one," She sighed, giving up and setting the comb down on his coffee table. She'd gotten most of her hair done. "Are we going to Thomas's now?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess so. Are you ready?" Brendan stood up, looking around for his car keys. He spotted them on his counter and nodded, looking back to Lily.

"Um... Where are my shoes?" She asked tentatively, looking down on the floor. "I kinda remember you taking them off before I fell asleep..."

"Ah. I think they're around here..." He dropped down, glancing under the couch. "Here ya go." He pulled them out, handing them over to her. She obliged, taking them out of his hands and putting them on her feet quickly. Standing up next to him, she nodded to him and went to wait by the door as he grabbed his keys and turned off the lights in his apartment.

Opening the door, she stepped out first, followed by him and he locked the door. Lily shivered as the cool air hit her exposed skin, forgetting why exactly she'd brought a jacket to the party. These clothes weren't exactly for comfort. Thomas didn't seem to mind and she didn't like him for it.

They headed down to his truck and he unlocked it, even opened the door for her before going over to his own. She climbed into his car and put on her seat belt, wrapping her arms around each other, trying to get a little warmer. Brendan started the car and immediately turned the heat on for her, even though it wasn't warm yet. Looking out the window, Lily thought about what she'd do when she got home. Most likely change into warm pajamas and crawl into her nice, warm bed... Without him there. Making it warmer.

And suddenly she remembered. She remembered the night before completely. She hadn't even thought about what had happened before then. She remembered drinking... Too much. Everything got blurry. Then Brendan was there, he took her to his car. They were going to his car, talking. She asked him to kiss her again, make her feel loved. He'd said no...

He took her to his apartment, set her up on the couch, covered her up with a blanket, removed her shoes... But later, she woke up freezing, so cold she couldn't stand it. Especially after dreaming about Wayne... She crawled into his bed, fell asleep there.

She woke up in his arms. He was holding her and she didn't feel queasy or anything... She only felt nice, being held by him. She wasn't afraid that he was going to hurt her. He was just warm. Warm and comfortable.

Lily stared out the window. How could that have all happened and she not have remembered until now? After the way she acted... How did he feel about last night? She glanced over at him. He was staring ahead, concentrating on the road.

She looked away quickly before he could catch her staring again. Lily didn't understand what she was feeling. She should be mad at him for making her come back to his apartment, drunk or not. She should be mad at him for being as close as he was the night before, her own bad dreams or not.

But she wasn't. Instad, she just felt a dull ache in her chest. The way her treated her, caring for her, helping her, not at all like the way Wayne was with her. He only stared lewdly and did whatever he pleased, to her or anyone else. With Brendan, it was like he still cared...

But he didn't. If he had ever cared, he wouldn't have broken up with her for such a dumb reason. He was just being a nice ex-boyfriend. She glanced back to him, wondering why. This time he turned and caught her looking. He just smiled and she found herself blushing. She was doing that waaay too much around him.

"We're here." Hee said, turning off the engine and undoing his seat belt. He even reached across and unhooked hers before sliding out. Lily nodded and and got out of the truck, following him up to the door. She looked around the neighborhood, amazed by just how many cars there had been the night before and just how much better the street looked without them.

Brendan knocked on the door, waiting intently. Lily shivered, wrapping her arms around herself again and moved a bit closer to him, her arm brushing against his sleeve. There was a crash inside, followed by a loud obscenity. Caleb opened the door, smiling at them both and letting them inside.

"Hey, come on in. Thomas was gonna get the door, but he tripped over the coffee table in his living room because he doesn't watch where he's going and he's down half his sight. Sort of." Caleb grinned, guiding them to Thomas, who was furiously picking up things off the floor he'd undoubtably knocked off. He did in fact have a patch over one eye, like Caleb had said.

"Hey, pirate. Having fun?" Brendan grinned, walking over and giving him a light slap on the back. The 'guy hug' as Lily liked to call it. Thomas just glared at him as best he could while Brendan tried not to laugh.

"Think it's funny? Xbox controllers are fucking bitches..." Thomas muttered, stalking over to the couch and taking a seat. Brendan sat on the other couch and patted the spot next to him. Lily sat there, looking around the house. She hadn't really payed attention to it the night before, but it was very nice, decorated with lots of pretty things that must've cost quite a bit to attain.

"Your house is very nice." Lily commented softly, focusing on a particular painting on the wall that insterested her. It depicted a field full of beautiful flowers, all different colors.

"Yeah, Thomas is rich." Brendan shrugged.

"I am not! We're middle class." Thomas huffed, turning away.

"Whatever, 'middle class' can't afford to buy two PSPs "in case the other one runs out of battery and I'm not near a charger."" Brendan mocked, using air quotes.

Lily stared at him, then Thomas, "Why didn't you just buy a second battery?"

"They didn't have one." Thomas muttered.

"So you bought a SECOND PSP?" Lily laughed.

Thomas glared as best he could with one eye, which wasn't very well, "Get your coats."

Brendan shrugged and stood up, heading to the spare room where all the jackets had been tossed the night before. Lily sat alone in the living room with Thomas. Caleb was making lunch.

"Are you and he back together now?" Thomas asked in a bored tone.

"Oh... No. He's just... Helping me out." Lily said quietly, looking down at her hands in her lap.

"Yeah, sure. It's okay, about time Brendan got you back. He was becoming cranky from never getting any. Even when he got flirted with at the mall, he never did anything in return. Guess he really missed you. No idea why they'd hit on him, I mean, really, when they've got ME in comparison. No offense, Lils, but I don't see TOO much competition."

Lily looked up, shocked, "Brendan didn't date anyone else?"

"Tch, no. He didn't even flirt. s'what I just said." Thomas replied.

Just then, Brendan came back in, holding both of their jackets. He tossed hers to Lily and she caught it, standing up and putting it on.

"Well, Tommy boy. We better go so you can be a whiny bitch about your eye in peace and Caleb can make fun of you while playin the nurse game and making you food because you're pathetic." Brendan grinned, patting Thomas on the head.

"I wish, Caleb has to leave in like, an hour. Has to go back home to his college, which apparently doesn't believe in a two week Christmas break." Thomas said bitterly, swatting Brendan's hand away. "He's making food to take on the plane since he hates the crap they serve."

Caleb's head appeared in the doorway of the kitchen, "Sorry we didn't get to hang out some more, Brendan. Thomas makes fun of you a lot. My college decided that having New Year's off encouraged underage drinking." Caleb rolled his eyes and reached out a hand to shake Brendan's. "It was nice meeting you too, miss." He offered his hand to Lily, who took it and nodded, smiling softly.

Another twinge of jealousy shot up Brendan's spine. He placed his hand on Lily's shoulder, "See you later, Caleb."

Caleb released her hand and smiled before disappearing back into the kitchen. He waved goodbye to Thomas before exiting the house, Lily following behind. They got into his truck and Brendan began driving to Lily's.

She pulled out her cell phone from her jacket pocket, wondering if her mom or dad had called. Flipping it open, she found she had 12 missed calls. One from her house and 11 from Wayne's cell phone. Only one voicemail, though. She listened.

"Hello Lily," It was her mother, "I hope you're having fun at your party or wherever. When you get home, don't freaked out because no one's there. Your aunt called and your father and I are going to visit her for a baby shower. Apparently she's pregnant again... Anyway, we'll be gone for a little while. Until Friday or so. You can stay with a friend or home by yourself, and if you need me, call my cell phone or your father's. Bye bye, sweetie."

Lily erased the message and sighed, putting her phone back in her pocket.

"Who called?" Brendan asked, looking over at her.

"My mom. She and my dad are gonna be gone until Friday. Another baby shower for my aunt." She shrugged, looking out the window.

"You gonna be okay by yourself for 6 days?"

"I'll be fine, it's not my first time to be in a house alone."

Suddenly he reached over, placing his hand over hers. She jumped a bit and looked over at him. He was still concentrating on the road, but glancing over at her often. "Lily, if you need anything, I want you to call me. If anything happenes, if you hear anything in the middle of the night, don't investigate it. Just call me. I'd much rather come over there at 2 in the morning and find nothing than you go out in your pajamas and get hurt."

"I'll be fine-"

"Promise me. Promise me you'll call if something happens."

"Ok, ok, I promise. If it'll make you shut up." She smiled and he smiled back softly. Removing his hand from hers, he turned onto her street. He pulled into the driveway of her house and stopped. There was awkward silence.

"Thank you, I guess... For helping me last night. I shouldn't have had that much to drink. Any guy could've taken advantage of me. So, I guess I'm not mad at you or anything..." Lily shrugged, opening the door. "Just, thanks." She slid out and shut it behind her, walking up to her front door.

She opened the glass door and dug her keys out of her pocket, looking back as Brendan pulled out of her driveway. She unlocked her door and went inside.