Dancingwithmyshadow6: Thank you for pointing that out to me. Enjoy the update :-)

Guest: Thanks so much. I like my share of Connie and Lily friendship so there will be plenty of that in this story, as well as tonnes of Lily and Iain scenes too.

Ltfl: She does need to stop, enjoy the chapter.

Chapter Ten

It was the end of their shift. Lily was standing by the reception desk, signing out, when she heard Alicia call her name.

"Lily, can I have a word?" Alicia called. She hurried over to Lily, hardly giving her a chance to reply.

"Max and Jez are going to the pub," Alicia told her. "Do you fancy coming over? We could have a girls night in, order pizza, do...other girly stuff."

"I'm not sure," Lily said, sighing deeply. "I'm rather tired."

"Oh come on," Alicia said. "We've put the past behind us, haven't we?"

"It isn't that..." Lily trailed off. "I consider you as a friend, Doctor Munroe. I'm just tired. It's been a busy day, sorry."

"You don't have to stay long," Alicia said. "Honestly."

Lily caught the look on her face and felt an immediate rush of guilt. She'd already upset so many people; Archie, Connie, Iain, and she knew that she couldn't upset Alicia as well. Why did she do that to people? Why did she always hurt them?

"Okay," Lily soon gave in. "I um...I guess I could come for a couple of hours."

"Come where?" Iain asked, overhearing the conversation and strolling over to the two women. "Are you two not coming to the pub?"

"Nope," Alicia said, wrapping an arm around Lily's shoulder. Lily felt quite uncomfortable and subtly nudged Alicia's arm away. "Lily and I are going to have a girly evening together. No boys allowed."

"Great." Iain smiled across at Lily, still concerned over her earlier behaviour. "It might do you good, Chuckles. You two have fun, yeah?"

"Oh, we will," Alicia said. "Come on, Lily."

"What pizza do you fancy anyway?" Alicia asked as she flopped down on the bed, her laptop open on her lap. Lily was just sat up against the pillows with her knees held to her chest, her arms wrapped protectively around her leg. "I usually go for ham and pineapple. You're not vegetarian, are you?"

"No," Lily whispered, shaking her head. "I um...I'm not."

Lily felt physically sick. How was she supposed to tell Alicia that the thought of eating made her feel on the verge of a panic attack? She stayed silent and allowed Alicia to pick whatever she wanted; ham and pineapple, and a pepperoni.

"So what do you want to do whilst we wait for the pizza?" Alicia said, after she'd ordered the food online. "We could go on the dance mat. It's so easy, you just step on the lights."

"I know how a dance mat works, thank you very much," Lily muttered, rolling her eyes. "Aren't dance mats for little kids anyway?"

"Nonsense," Alicia giggled. "If not, I have karaoke." she spotted the look on Lily's face though and realised that wasn't going to work either. "Okay, well how about a movie?"

"Could do." Lily shrugged her shoulders.

"Lily," Alicia sighed, moving to sit next to her. "Tell me to mind my own business and everything but..."

"Mind your own business," Lily interrupted, smirking proudly to herself.

"I just think that you should talk to someone," Alicia said. "You're...You're worrying me. You keep withdrawing yourself from everyone, what's wrong? You can tell me."

"I did tell you that I was tired," Lily said. "And you didn't listen."

"Well." Alicia gave a small shrug. "You didn't have to come tonight. If you really didn't want to, then you should have just said no." A pause. "I'm a big girl, Lily," Alicia continued. "I would have been fine, or I could have just gone to the pub with the others."

Lily's phone vibrated from her pocket and her stomach tightened as she went to check it. Of course, there was a message from Archie.

I won't be there when you get home. Can I even trust you to be in the flat by yourself? I bloody well hope so or there will be trouble!

She gulped anxiously, as another text came through.

Do not see anybody tonight without my permission!

Well, that did it then. Archie was bound to find out about her evening with Alicia, and when he did then she'd be in so much trouble. She knew that she had to get out of there and fast. She really didn't want to see those messages again so she scrolled to the top and deleted the entire conversation.

"I...I have to go," Lily stammered, running a hand through her hair. "I...I can't be here."

"Lily, wait," Alicia said, grabbing hold of her arm to stop her from leaving.

"Stop it!" Lily shouted at her, hissing in pain as she touched one of her fairly new cuts. "Just... get off."

"Are you okay?" Alicia asked, noticing Lily's scrunched up face. "Have you hurt yourself? Can I see?"

"No," Lily whispered in embarrassment and shook her head. "It's okay. I um...I told Mrs Beauchamp earlier and she...She examined me." The lies just kept pouring out of her mouth, one after the other, there was no stopping her. "It doesn't matter, Alicia. I just need to get home. Archie's prepared dinner."

"Can't you tell him that you have other plans?" Alicia asked and Lily shook her head at her. "You're a grown woman, Lily. Surely you're allowed a night out with your friends. Is everything okay with you two?"

"Yeah." Lily's voice suddenly went all high pitched. "Things are fine."

The doorbell went and Alicia glanced at her watch, guessing that it was the pizza delivery guy. She sighed, rubbed Lily's shoulder, and told her that she would be right back before heading downstairs. Lily took a deep breath and began to panic. She ran a hand through her hair and held a hand to her chest to try to keep her breathing steady. The smell wafted up the stairs and the dreaded sickness returned to her stomach.

"Okay," Alicia said, walking back into the room with two large pizza boxes and a big bottle of coke tucked under one arm. "Why don't you stay and have a few slices of pizza? Then you can head home if you still want to, yeah?"

"I can't, Alicia," Lily refused. "Archie's got dinner."

"Okay," Alicia sighed, tucking straight into a slice of pizza. Lily felt sick. "Another time though, maybe?"

"Can I use your bathroom before I go?" Lily asked, and Alicia nodded at her.

Immediately, the registrar clambered off of the bed and fled the room. Alicia sighed and leant back against her fluffy unicorn pillow, a slice of ham and pineapple pizza in her hand. She couldn't help but worry over Lily. There was a vibration and Alicia looked down at the bed to see that Lily had left her phone. It was a message from Archie. Alicia knew that she shouldn't but she picked it up and read the new message that had come through.

I'm going to be back late so I'll see you tomorrow. Be good!

Alicia frowned in confusion and read the message over once more. Why had Lily said that Archie had prepared dinner? He was clearly out this evening. And what was with the 'be good?' She guessed that it was a little joke that he and Lily played together, as boyfriend and girlfriend.

No matter how many times she read the message, she just couldn't get her head around it.

It made Alicia wonder what other lies Lily had told.