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Chapter Five

It was another sleepless night for Lily.

She'd gone to bed late anyway after yet another argument with Archie. What he had said was true, though she really did not understand how she'd managed to leave the tap running. The carpets were ruined but it could have been a lot worse, Archie had arrived at her flat just in time and thank God that he did as well. He'd also offered to pay for the damage, although he wasn't happy about it, and Lily had just been left feeling guilty about the whole situation.

Whilst Archie slept, after inviting himself to stay the night, Lily crept into the living room to watch TV. It was two thirty in the morning and she knew that she wasn't close to getting any sleep within the next couple of hours.

She yawned and curled up on the sofa, whilst an old episode of Friends played in the background. It was surprising how little there was on TV in the early hours of the morning. Surely there'd be other people in the world who couldn't sleep, right?

She glanced down at the mark on her arm and began to pick at the skin. She winced in pain, picking at a particularly lose part and causing it to bleed slightly again. Shaking it off, she blinked back her tears and folded her bare arms across her chest. She gulped and sighed to herself, turning her attention back to Friends.

All that could be heard was the faint sound of the TV.

"Where were you this morning then?" Archie asked the next day, as he stood in Lily's kitchen and made himself his regular cup of morning coffee. "I woke up and you weren't there."

"Oh," Lily shook her head, as she grabbed the box of cereal out of the cupboard. "I woke up early. Would you like some?"

"You're not seriously going to eat that, are you?" he asked, and Lily's eyes went wide. What did he mean by that? "I just care about you, Lily. All I'm saying is that you could do with losing a little bit of weight, nothing big, just enough."

"And how much is 'enough', exactly?" Lily asked, slowly and subtly putting the box of cereal back into the cupboard.

"Well, I don't know," he said and had another sip. "A few pounds. Why don't you have some fruit for breakfast instead?" He picked an apple out of the fruit bowl and tossed it to her. Luckily for Lily, she managed to catch it. "I'm off for the day," he said, placing his empty mug into the washing up bowl. "Try not to ruin anything this time, yeah?"

"I really am sorry for that, Archie," Lily apologised quietly. "I...I really did think that I turned the tap off."

"Whatever," he scoffed and rolled his eyes, before leaving her flat.

Lily looked down at the shiny, red apple in her hands. She sighed out in frustration, slammed it back down in the fruit bowl and held her hands to her head. Archie wanted this perfect woman, and she couldn't give him that. She looked down at the clothes that she was wearing, at the arm that she'd caused to bleed yesterday, at the black ankle boots that she was wearing on her feet. All she wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep, but she had to tell herself off for even thinking about skipping work. Her stomach grumbled and she realised that she probably should have just eaten the apple.

She didn't though. Archie's words were playing on her mind.

Instead, she just grabbed her bag and headed off for work.

When she arrived in the car park, Iain and Jez were playing a very messy game of basketball. Lily couldn't help but watch them as she parked her bike. They always looked so happy and carefree and she couldn't help but feel jealous.

"Lily! Catch!" Iain shouted, chucking the basketball to her. Lily turned a bit too late and the ball bounced one and just ended up rolling straight past her. "Or not," Iain chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

"I'll get it, mate!" Jez offered and hurried to catch up with the ball before it rolled into an upcoming car. He bounded after it, hurriedly apologizing to the driver with a grin on his face.

"How are you anyway, chuckles?" Iain asked, making his way over to Lily.

"I'm fine," she replied. An obvious lie, but she hoped that Iain wouldn't notice.

"Great," Iain said, giving her a small nod. "Fancy a pint in the pub after work today? I still owe you that drink, don't I? Unless... unless you have a date."

"I don't think Archie and I actually have any plans for tonight," Lily said.

She thought that a drink might be a good distraction, a better one anyway. On second thoughts, Archie might have planned something for the two of them as a surprise for her. She sighed wordlessly, wondering what he'd think if she found out that she'd made plans with Iain instead.

"Actually, I forgot..." She said, lifting her head to lock eyes with Iain. "Sorry. I...I think I might be seeing Archie."

"Oh." A hint of disappointment flashed across Iain's face. "Well, that's okay. Here's an idea, how about the two of us meet for lunch instead then? I just think that I should owe you something, after helping me out with my injury. You noticed that there was something wrong and I should thank you for that."

Lily forced a smile and nodded in agreement. How could she say no to that? He'd think that there was something wrong.

"That sounds good," she answered with a smile.

"So, does twelve o'clock sound okay?" Iain asked. "We could go to the café across the street. They have good food and it isn't far."

Lily nodded again, the thought of Archie finding out causing her to feel sick.

"Well, I better let you get on," Iain said, gently squeezing her arm. Lily winced at the pain but Iain didn't even notice. "I'll meet you by the café at twelve," he said, and was soon on his way back to the ambulance station.

Lily was nervous for lunch but there was also a small spark of excitement there as well. When the clock struck twelve, she announced to Connie that she was going on her break, grabbed her bag and headed out the ED. Iain was already standing outside the café.

"You're two minutes late," he teased.

"Let's just go inside," she said, smiling for the first time in ages.

"So what do you fancy?" Iain asked. "I might have a burger. The burgers here are amazing."

The two of them sat down at a table by the window and ordered a lemonade each. One of the waitresses handed them a couple of menus before making her way back to the counter. Lily took a nervous breath as she slid her coat off of her arms. She felt warm in the black jacket that she was wearing, but her arm was still sore and bloody. She didn't want Iain to see the damage that she'd done to herself.

Every single item on the menu made her stomach churn. Maybe she was just hungry. Maybe it was the heat. She plumped for the same burger as Iain and the two sat in silence for a while, sipping at their drinks whilst waiting for their food.

"So how's it going with Archie anyway?" Iain asked her. "You and him seem to be hitting it off."

"Yeah." Lily managed a deep breath and had an anxious sip of her lemonade. "Um... good, thanks for asking. Archie's great, he... he's really great."

"I knew you'd meet someone one of these days," he said. "You're a beautiful woman."

Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat and the waitress soon came back with their burgers. Lily panicked at how fast that had been, she'd been hoping to prepare herself first. There was hardly anyone in the café though so it wasn't like they were busy or anything. Iain tucked into his straight away but Lily just sat staring at the disgusting meat and bread on her plate.

"Are you not going to eat anything?" Iain asked.

"Sorry," she apologised and anxiously picked up the burger with shaking hands.

She had a nervous bite and set the food back down on her plate. What if Archie had been right before? What if she really did need to lose weight? A burger wasn't going to do that, was it? Maybe if she'd done as she was told and eaten that apple, it would have been fine, but she hadn't. She blinked back her tears and swallowed before having another small bite.

"Are you okay?" Iain asked. "You seem quiet."

"I'm fine," she lied. "It's just been a busy day, that's all. I'm tired."

"Tell me about it," he chuckled with a mouthful of burger.

"I'm just going to head to the bathroom quickly," she said, wiping around her mouth with a napkin. "I'll be right back."

Iain nodded and Lily stood up to go to the bathroom. She hid herself into the furthest cubicle and locked the door, praying that no one would come in.

She felt sick; she'd gone and disappointed Archie already, and she wasn't even halfway through the day yet. She should've said no to that burger, Lily thought miserably.

She lifted the seat to the toilet and bent over, trying to get rid of everything that she'd just taken in. It was the only way she could lose the weight he wanted.

"Come on," she whined, prodding her fingers to the back of her throat to try and help her.

Soon, she felt a rush of sickness and she gagged violently into the toilet. Emptying the entire contents of her stomach had never felt so good before. When she was sure that she had nothing left, she flushed the toilet and collapsed back against the cubicle door. She felt weak and she was sweating more than she was before, but she knew that Iain's suspicions would slowly be growing. Holding a hand to her stomach, she left and cleaned her mouth with a tissue. Examining herself in the mirror, she left the bathroom and went to take her seat back at the table.

"Everything okay?" Iain asked her.

"Fine," she said, quickly downing the rest of her lemonade. "Sorry. There was a queue."

"Ah, alright." Iain nodded. "Dessert?"

I hope you enjoyed the chapter :-) x