Guest: Thank you. I've always written Connie and Lily scenes, but Elle and Alicia is fairly new to me. I'm really glad that you're enjoying it so far. Thank you for your review.
Pixie96: I'm so glad, thank you so much. I've always liked Alicia but it's only recently that I've really started to like her. I hope to write a few more stories about her as well. It varies depending on how busy I am and how many ideas I get, but I aim to update at least once a day. Like yesterday, I was busy all day so couldn't update anything at all. Thank you for your review.
Citylightsonthew: She is. I really like Elle, and she needs some more storylines. Me too, Lily's abuse was years ago but she still needs the help as well. There will be more of Ethan to come. Thank you for your review.
Chapter Thirteen
"Are you okay?" Lily asked, wrapping a comforting arm around Alicia's shoulder.
She felt Alicia's body tense up, as she gave a small shake of the head. Connie and Elle were stood opposite them, the door shut to stop anyone from walking in on the private meeting.
"Have you got anyone to stay with tonight, Alicia?" Connie whispered.
"I've been staying with her," Lily mentioned. "We'll be alright."
"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Connie said, knowing that Lily had broke down into tears just minutes earlier.
"Well, Iain can always stay with us," Lily said with a smile. "I can ask him, but I'm sure he won't mind."
Elle and Connie nodded in unison, and exchanged glances with each other. Turning their attention back to the two young doctors, Elle was the first one to say something.
"I'm going to take you down to the police station first thing tomorrow morning, Alicia," she said.
"What?" Alicia's tear-filled eyes widened and she quickly began to shake her head. "But I told Lily that I don't want to report it."
"Reporting it will be for the best," Elle whispered, trying to stop herself from crying. "Look. We'll go anyway and if you're still sure on that by the time we get there, we can leave."
"Is that really such a good idea?" Connie hissed. "The police need to know about it."
"Just...I know," Elle said and gave Connie a firm nod. "Trust me. I know what I'm doing."
"Can Lily come as well?" Alicia asked anxiously. "Please. I'll feel loads better if she's there with me."
"Um..." Connie shifted uncomfortably on the spot. "Lily is actually going to be spending the day with me tomorrow."
"Doing what?" Lily questioned.
That was the first time she'd heard of it. Truthfully, she'd been expecting to go down to the police station with Alicia as well.
"You'll see," Connie said. "Just come into the ED for your usual start time."
"Connie, aren't you supposed to be at home right now?" Elle told her. "Resting. You haven't been well, don't forget."
"I'm okay, Doctor Gardner," Connie said. "Right now, these two are more important."
Iain walked bare foot into the kitchen to grab a glass of water. It was two o'clock in the morning, dark and quite cold in the flat. In one room, he could hear the soft sound of Gem's snoring but in one room, he could hear the blaring sound of the TV. He downed his drink, chucked it into the sink, and made his way into the living room.
"Alicia?" He asked.
She looked up from the sofa, the remote clasped in her hands, and forced a small smile.
"What are you doing up?" He asked.
"I could ask you the same thing," Alicia said.
"I just came to get a drink," he yawned and sat down beside her. "Is there anything good on?"
"Not really," she replied. "I couldn't sleep, I...I guess I'm worrying about the police, but I've just been flicking through the channels."
"You need to try and get some sleep," he said. "But you could always put one of my DVD's on. I don't mind you using them whilst you're here."
Alicia nodded thankfully and whispered, "How's Lily?"
"Yeah, she's doing alright," Iain told her. "She's sound asleep." There was a pause, as Alicia continued to flick through the television channels. "Do you know what helps when you're feeling down?" He asked.
"What?" She asked and slowly turned her head towards him.
"Ice-Cream," he said. "What do you say? I know it's early, but do you fancy any?"
"Sure," Alicia giggled, her smile turning real for the first time in a while. "You know Iain, Lily is really lucky to have you. You're so kind and lovely, you're really supportive, and you're always there for anyone who needs help. I wish I had someone like that."
"Hey." Iain leaned across and gave Alicia's shoulder a comforting rub. "Ethan was always there for you. He still is."
"I don't think so," Alicia said. "He may act like he cares now, but I don't think he does. I ruined things between us. It was my idea to write that stupid blog, if only I'd told him the truth in the first place. Things might have been different."
"You need to stop beating yourself up," Iain told her. "Because it isn't your fault. Everyone's made mistakes in the past, Alicia. We're all human after all."
"Thank you," Alicia whispered. "That means a lot, Iain."
Iain gave her shoulder another comforting rub and said, "I'm going to go and get us that Ice-Cream, alright?"
"Wait!" Alicia grabbed hold of his arm before he could even attempt to make a move. "I don't want to be on my own right now. I mean, I...I'm scared."
"What do you mean?" Iain frowned at her. "You seemed okay earlier."
"I know, but..." Alicia gulped and a single tear rolled down the left hand side of her face. "Now that you're here."
Iain sighed deeply and nodded, knowing that Alicia was upset and scared right now. She needed all of the help that she could possibly get, she needed the company, and he was happy to be there. They sat in silence for a few minutes, but Iain could feel Alicia's body slowly moving closer to him. He wasn't sure if he was paranoid, or what was going on, but it made him feel uncomfortable.
He needed to get out of there.
"I'm feeling tired," he said, making an excuse to leave. "I might have to head back to bed."
Before he could leave, Alicia leaned in and pressed her lips against his. Immediately, Iain pushed her and scrambled to his feet in a hurry. He wiped his hand along his lips and stood in the middle of his living room, staring in shock at Alicia who stood before him. What on earth had she just done? She was Lily's friend, she knew that Lily was his girlfriend, and yet she had just kissed him.
"I...I thought you wanted this," Alicia whispered, a small sob escaping her mouth.
"You know I don't," he spat aggressively. "Alicia, this isn't right. Come on, you're upset and you're scared, and you just want someone to comfort you and tell you that everything will be okay. That's alright, but you can't kiss me like that."
"What?" A voice bellowed from the doorway.
At first, Iain was terrified that Lily had walked in on them but when he saw that it was just Gem, he felt relieved.
"You two kissed?" Gem asked, as she stood there in her pyjamas with her messy hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. "Iain, what the hell were you thinking?"
"Keep your voice down, Gemma," Iain scolded, remembering that Lily was asleep next door.
"It's Gem!" She shouted and turned to face Alicia. "And I think you need to leave."
"You can't chuck her out," Iain said, spinning his attention round to his little sister. "We promised Connie and Elle that we'd look after her. She shouldn't have kissed me, I know, but she can't leave."
"She can't stay here," Gem said.
"She can," Iain sighed. "We just need to keep quiet about it. It's important that Lily never finds out."
He pivoted his body and turned his attention back to Alicia. She was crying hysterically now, the strands of her hair sticking to her wet, tear-stained cheeks.
"I'm going back to bed," he said. "You need to sort yourself out before Lily wakes up and realises that something is wrong."
"Iain," she cried. "I'm really sorry."
"What did I say earlier?" He sighed, even though he still sounded angry. "We're all human, aren't we? We make mistakes."
He forced a smile and Alicia wiped away the remains of her tears, as she faintly nodded her head.
"Come on, Gem," Iain said and wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulder. "Back to bed. We have an early start tomorrow."
Gem said nothing, but just gave a shocked and angry glance over her shoulder. Alicia was still stood there, silently crying to herself, with her arms folded protectively across her stomach.
Iain was right. They couldn't tell Lily about the kiss, no matter how hard she wanted to.
A bit of a twist there, that some people might not actually like. Still, let me know what you think. I'll try and update as soon as I can, but this week is looking pretty busy for me at the moment x