Pg. 246 Quince trying to get Lily to understand

As soon as Lily was paired with Benson, he could feel her obsessive, affectionate emotions. It was crazy just how much the bond magnified what Lily was feeling; there was no guessing or reading body language, he could sense how happy she was to be close to Bennett. The happiness that he still gave her, after his rejection and the way he'd treated her, it pissed him off. He was so jealous, and he was able to acknowledge it to himself, but this was supposed to be his week. His week to show Lily that they were a good match, to try and convince her that they shouldn't sever the bond. That their connection was worth keeping.

Instead, she was across the room playfully chatting him up. Quince couldn't focus on his own partner or the problems in front of him, at all.

Once the class bell rang, and the competition was out of sight, Quince went up to Lily.

"You and your partner get your work done?" he snapped, teeth clenched, jealousy surging throughout him. How could she still see so much in him? She still believed that he had her best interests at heart, that he cared for her?

"Yes," she answered simply, gathering her things before turning to face him directly. Quince planted his feet on the tile floors, unmoving. She reached her palms onto his chest, "Move," Lily said, attempting to make him do so.

Quince was entirely unaffected, "What?" he said, his envy getting the best of him. God, she was so delusional. In what world was Brody going to treat her with the respect she deserved? To see the treasure she was, the amazing woman that she was? "Problem in paradise?"

He knew that she was stubborn, predicting her answer before it even came.

"No. Everything is just perfect," she insisted, reaching her hands to shove him out of the way again. This time, he stepped to the side, onto to quickly enter the doorway once again, preventing Lily from exiting. Less than one week to convince her that Brody wasn't the guy for her. She scowled at him, staring directly into his eyes.

"You're a fool, you know," Quince said, his muscles tensing as he spoke. "You're not his type."

"Oh, yeah?" Lily fired right back at him. "Then how come he called me last night? Why is he paying attention to me and flirting with me?"

Quince let out a thin breath of air, almost a chuckle, before he leaned forward, his face close to Lily's. He invaded her personal space until she had to step back. "Because, he's a little boy who doesn't like other people playing with his toys."

Lily gasped at him, "His toys? How dare you? I'm not his toy!"

He snorted in disbelief, one hand on each door frame on either side. His pride and determination bubbled up, that one-week deadline rolling around in his head. Such little time to show Lily what a terrible match that Benson would be. "You might as well have been. And now that I'm on the playing field, he has to up his participation in the game so he doesn't lose you to me."

"Lose me to-" Lily repeated, his fists clenching at her sides. "You think this is about you? I never knew you were so self-centered. You're just jealous."

Quince didn't reply immediately. Her words rang true for him; he knew that he was saying all of this because he was jealous. He was jealous of Brody and had been, ever since that first day at Seaview High where Lily fell for him. When he jumped in as the white knight to reassure her in the cafeteria, before Quince ever could. Maybe all of this stemmed from his jealousy, being self centered.

Still, there was one thing he knew. "He'll never accept you. Not after you tell him the truth."

"You're wrong," Lily answered immediately. "He will. When he learns that I belong in the water just like he does."

Finally, Quince couldn't take it anymore, removing his palms from the door frame. He threw his arms up in the air, shaking his head and dragging his hand over his face. "God! You are so delusional! He's a shallow, small-minded, popularity-obsessed jackass who will see you as a freak rather than a treasure."

"You're wrong," Lily argued. "He has depths you could never imagine. As soon as I tell him, we'll-"

Quince was still aghast, interrupting. "Why haven't you?"

"What?"

Thump. Her little blink, her curiosity, made Quince want to hold her. Even when he was pissed at how her short-sighted infatuation was making her. "Why haven't you told him already?" he asked, much more quiet, calmer. He stepped back and pinned his shoulders back, dipping his hands into the back pockets of those biker jeans. His question was an honest one, or at least one that he wanted her to think about. "If you've loved him so goddamn much for the last three years, why haven't you told him?"

There. She had to be feeling those insecurities, that uncertainty. He hoped bringing it out into the air would make her confirm it.

"Because I-"

"Because you know the truth. You haven't told him-about yourself or your feelings-because deep in your soul you know that it will mean the end of your fantasy," Quince took a long, good look at her face. He took in the sight of those deep green eyes of hers, the freckles dancing across her cheeks, then turned to walk away from her.

"You'll see! I'm going to tell him and he'll fall head over heels and we'll be bonded before Daddy can finish the last line of the separation ritual!"

Quince scoffed to himself, waving his arm over his shoulder to dismiss her. His frustration was insurmountable. "I'll believe it when I see it."