IT'S DONE! I know it's been a long while, but I hope you'll find it was worth the wait. I was in a slump and just couldn't think of anything.

Also, someone contacted me recently and told me he or she had written a continuation of my story. That's a compliment, I guess, but please, ask my permission before doing something like that. I know it's fanfiction and stuff, but come on, this is the furthest from fanfiction I've ever written. Everything's mine, except for DDR and a few other things. So seriously, ask me before you do something like that.

Chapter 15

Thomas was nearly taken back, "Help them? How?"

"Well, you know... Force them in awkward situations until they realize how much they still like each other," She grinned, watching Brendan and Lily play across the arcade from the 'Snack Centre' where they currently were.

"I'm sure they'll figure it out on their own. Brendan would kill me if he ever even thought that I was trying to do something like that." Thomas shook his head, looking down at the table.

"Hey, Alexis. Let's go." Adriel commanded, now standing next to her and grabbing her arm. Alexis jerked away.

"No, Adriel. I'm not done here, I'm talking to my friend that I haven't seen in a long time." Alexis replied without even looking up.

"Fine. Get your own ride home, then. And don't be late home." Adriel growled.

"Um, I can't be late, I don't have a curfew. I'll just call to let mom know I'll be home later than usual." She said coolly, waving her brother off.

Adriel frowned at both of them before stomping off hotly, his fists clenched. Alexis giggled when he was gone, "I love pissing him off."

"So I guess I'm giving you a ride home?" Thomas grinned.

Lily stepped off the pad after a round of doubles, finding Brendan there, holding out a bottle of water for her. She took it from him, thanked him and proceeded to gulp down about half of it immediately.

"You've gotten a lot better at doubles. You don't panic nearly as often as when you were first starting." Brendan said, smiling at her.

Lily stuck her tongue out at him and noticed Thomas and Alexis approaching.

"Hey guys." She said as they neared, smiling softly.

"Yo. The arcade's gonna close pretty soon and we were just wondering what we were gonna do afterwards..." Thomas said, Alexis nodding.

"Um... I don't know..." Lily replied, turning to Brendan, who shrugged. Just then, Brendan's cell phone rang and he pulled it out of his pocket, turning away from them and answering quickly. They all waited until he was done and turned back around.

"Well, I can't go anywhere, just got a call saying they need me for a photo shoot ASAP. So, Thomas, your car is at my place and we'll head there. Alexis, are you coming with?" Brendan turned to the girl he was question, pulling his keys out of his pocket. Alexis nodded and they headed in direction of the door.

As soon as they stepped outside, Lily noticed a light sleeting rain had started and sighed, wrapping her arms around herself. Brendan watched her and moved closer, slipping an arm around her shoulders, keeping her close to his body heat. She obliged, blushing slightly to herself. Alexis grinned at the two of them, poking Thomas, who just rolled his eyes.

They piled into Brendan's truck with Lily in the middle and Alexis in Thomas's lap, somewhat awkward, but they laughed it off after a bit. When they arrived at Brendan's apartment complex, Thomas and Alexis decided they would head off so they could catch up with each other and Brendan and Lily waved them goodbye. Lily then followed Brendan upstairs to his apartment, watching him run around gathering up stuff he'd need.

"Ok, it shouldn't be more than a few hours. I'll have my cell phone on me, but I can't promise I'll be able to answer. Uh... There are movies and stuff here for you to watch. You can always drag out my Cobalt Flux if you get really bored..." Brendan half smiled, setting his things on the table, "I'm really sorry I just got called in like this. Usually I have a few days notice, or even a couple hours... I'll make it up to you."

"Why would you have to make it up to me?" Lily asked, confused.

"Well, we were gonna hang out with them and have some fun tonight, but now I have to leave you here alone..." Brendan set his stuff down near the door, looking back at her.

"Oh, don't worry about it. We'll have time to hang out while I'm staying here. I mean, you kind of need to make money, so I'm not mad or anything." Lily replied, sitting down on the edge of the couch and shrugging.

"I wanna make it up to you, though. How about dinner tomorrow night?" Brendan asked as Lily's face went almost blank, surprised.

"Well... Um, sure, I guess." She finally managed, trying very hard not to blush. Brendan gave her a big smile.

"Great, I'll see you when I get back." He replied, stepping outside and shutting the door quickly behind him.

"See you..." Lily whispered, mostly to herself. The same thought kept running back through her mind. He was asking her out on a date. Sort of. Or so she hoped. What if he didn't mean it that way, though? What if he just saw it as a way to make up for missing out on tonight...?

She probably shouldn't be thinking about this.

Tonight's model was too skinny, as usual. Of course it was because the camera adds ten pounds. Not really. Something was wrong tonight. Everything was going smoothly, it wasn't like he was messing up... It just seemed like he was on auto-pilot. His brain was automatically taking the pictures, moving the camera to all the right angles, but he wasn't thinking about this at all.

He was thinking about her. What was she doing right now? It was nearly midnight, was she asleep yet? In his bed? He tried not to envision that in his mind's eye, but as the clock neared the time he was to finish up and go home, he couldn't help but imagine her there, waiting for him. What was he going to do if she was in his bed?

Better yet, what was he going to do tomorrow night? A date with her sounded fine and dandy in his mind, another chance to get back with her, but now that he was actually taking her out, he was getting more and more irked at the idea. A tap on the shoulder broke him out of his slight trance and he jumped a bit, turning around to see this night's manager standing there, holding out her hand.

"Your film, please?" She said, sounding almost irritated. She must've been standing there for a while.

"Oh yeah, sorry..." Brendan muttered, taking the used film from his camera and dropping it into her hand.

"You also have a young lady waiting for you. I told her she could stay in the hall until we were done." The woman said, looking through the film he'd just handed her.

"W-what? How long has she been there?" Brendan asked, looking around and spotting the doors to the hallway. It had to be Lily. How did she get here?

"It's been about an hour. I didn't want to tell you until the shoot was done. Thanks for doing such a great job. We'll deposit the money into your account tonight and you should have it by 10 AM." She said, turning and walking away.

Brendan quickly gathered up his things and nearly jogged over to where the suspected Lily was, pushing through the doors. He found her there, curled up on the floor with her head resting on a balled up jacket, eyes closed. Setting his things near, he knelt down beside her, brushing some hair away from her face.

Her eyes fluttered open and she gasped, sitting up quickly, "Oh my gosh, I didn't mean to fall asleep. I was just resting my eyes until you came out..."

"Why are you here, Lily? How did you get here?" Brendan replied, smiling softly at her.

"Thomas gave me a ride... I couldn't sleep and the apartment was too quiet by myself... I just wanted to come and watch you work or something..." Lily said softly, a blush creeping up her cheeks. "Sounds kinda dumb, huh? I can't even stay home alone anymore."

"No, not at all. I'm just mad at my manager for not telling me you were here. I would've let you do something other than just sit in here." He said, helping her to her feet, "I'm sorry you got scared at the apartment, though... I'll try not to leave you alone when I go working while you're staying at my place."

"It's okay. Thomas was really nice about it. I think I interrupted something between he and Alexis, though, he sounded kind of distracted." Lily smiled softly, "He really likes her, I guess."

"Yeah, he wouldn't shut up about her when he first met her in Art. When I told him he was gushing, he'd just say that I did the same about you, though..." Brendan trailed off, looking away from her. She glanced down at the floor, sighing softly to herself.

"Let's get home." He murmured after a minute, picking up his camera. She nodded, following after him. They walked silently to his truck, he opened her door for her and asked her to hold his things until they got to his apartment. The drive was quiet, except for the radio playing.

"Brendan..." Lily said quietly, almost a whisper. "I have to tell you something..."

"What is it?" Brendan asked, looking over at her. They were stopped at a light, even though no one else was coming any other way. Traffic lights were weird late at night.

She was staring down at her lap, hands twisting, "Over the last couple days, I've realized something and I really didn't actually you know, realize it until tonight. I found that box with the pictures of us you saved when I was cleaning your room... And tonight, when I was looking through it..."

She fell silent, closing her eyes tightly. Brendan didn't know what she was going to say. Whether she was creeped out and she never wanted to see him again or what...

Finally, Lily managed to whisper something, "I realized I'm still in love with you."