It hadn't taken long to finish the plans, what took the longest was saying goodbye to everyone. The girls all hugged Lily cheerfully with promises to call all the time and visit soon, Lilly hugged them all back wondering if she would ever really see them again.
Josh was going to wait at the mansion for their parents and then fly to some unknown location; he was still trying to heal from what he had done to Ash's sisters. Lily kept telling him that he had to forgive himself, it wasn't his fault, but she could tell he was still having problems accepting that. So Lily hugged him goodbye fiercely and tried to leave him with a sense of well being, it was all she could do.
Mark and Adain smirked and punched her on the shoulder before giving her a brief hug, and she realized again just how close she had grown to them all in the last few months, she was going to miss them so much.
Lily sat in the limo next to Thierry, holding Kenny's hand in a vice like grip as they drove down her street. She was finally home after months of being away. She knew that it wouldn't take long to get things back in order and then she would have to start school again. She grimaced at that thought, but Thierry had been adamant on that, she would go to school and she would pass every class, he was worse than her parents, at least they had believed in benign neglect when it came to her school work. But to her astonishment Kenny had agreed wholeheartedly with Thierry, school came first.
As they approached her house she was slightly surprised to find that she had missed it, and her old life along with it, she began to look forward to starting school in a week and getting things, if not back to normal, than at least somewhat more normal than they had been.
She glanced up and noticed, not for the first time, Damon staring at her with a strange feral look in his eyes and turned away quickly, ignoring him as much as was possible in the enclosed space of the limo. Ash hadn't been much company on the way, having been totally enthralled with Mary the entire time.
"We're here," Thierry said as the limo pulled to a stop in front of her house.
Lily jumped out, pulling Kenny with her, and headed to the door at a run. The door was locked but she pulled out her key and opened it, waving Kenny through as if it were a palace.
"Nice place," he murmured stepping in before her.
"Thanks," she mumbled as she flipped on the lights for him. Nothing had changed in the time she'd been away; everything looked just as it had the day she left three months ago.
"So where's my room?" A voice asked from behind her, breaking into her happiness for a moment.
"Wherever you want," she grumbled as she climbed the stairs to her room. She felt the air move around her as Damon ran up past her and followed at a slower pace still leading Kenny.
"This can be your room," she said as she pushed open a door next to her own room and pushed him inside.
"Thanks, I'll just start unpacking and let you have the first shower," Kenny said shooing her away.
Lily laughed and left him to it, he knew how much she hated traveling. She pushed into her own room to gather up some clothes, she would not be caught naked again, and found to her growing horror that someone was there before her.
"Get out of my room," she growled at Damon who was lying on her bed as if he owned the place.
"But you said I could have whatever room I wanted, and I want this room," he said with a smirk, making her want to hit him.
"Any room but mine now get out," she yelled walking towards the bed to pull him off. As she reached it Damon grabbed her by the wrists and pulled her on top of him.
"You can share it with me if you'd like," he murmured, holding her wrists in a grip like iron.
"Only if I'm sharing it with your corpse," Lily said as she extricated herself from his grip and proceeded to pick him up and toss him out her door, he hit the wall with a thump that she was sure would leave a rather large whole in the wall. She just smiled and threw his suitcase out after him, hitting him in the stomach.
"Stay out unless you want to end up in pieces," she growled, slamming the door on his smirk.
Things quickly settled into a routine, during the day she would go out with Kenny and show him the town, take walks, or just sit and watch TV, and at night she would wander with her vampire friends, and in Damon's case enemy, and feed, search for information on what the Night World was doing, and meet new and interesting people.
Everyone from circle daybreak fled to Lily's house once the news was out that Thierry was there. They would stop by to chat, give news, and even just to pay their respects to the oldest living vampire in the world. Most of them annoyed Lily to no end, as they also stopped by to see her, mostly just to see what could be so special, but sometimes to check if she were real, it began to infuriate her quite a bit, which made Damon laugh and wear the stupid smirk she hated.
Soon enough though it was time to start school, Lily cringed at the thought of her old world colliding with her new world, and she hadn't even spoken to Adam since she had left for Vegas. She knew he would be angry with her possibly not even want to speak to her again, and suddenly that thought was torturous, she wanted to be friends with Adam, she just didn't know where to fit him in her new world.
The best part about school though was that Kenny would be with her. Kenny, after realizing that her going to school would mean he would have more time on his hands had endeavored to find a job, which Thierry had agreed with and even helped him get a job at her school. He would be working in the cafeteria but at least she could spend her breaks with him.
Elena, she found, would also be attending school with her, even though she was eighteen she had never finished high school and both Thierry and Stephen had agreed she should attend, Stephen would also go with her, and to Lily's horror Damon had decided, apparently on a whim, to attend as well to keep an eye on everyone as he put it. Mary was going to a community college and Ash decided he wanted to try out the college life for a while and had enrolled right along with her.
She had come to both admire and respect Stephen and Elena quite a bit and could see them becoming friends quickly; she knew that no matter what, her last year of school would be enjoyable, even if she had to actually go to class.
"We can't go to school in a limo," Lily whined as Thierry continued to push it on her. "Everyone will think we're weird or something, just let me take one of my parents' cars, or maybe my brothers, at least then we can blend in a little."
"If that's what you want then I suppose so," Thierry finally gave in with little grace.
It was the first morning of school and if they didn't leave soon they would be late.
"I agree with Lily, having just come out of school, if anyone was dropped off in a limo then there would be no end of the gossip," Elena agreed, making Lily smile in triumph.
"Can you all fit in one care though?" Thierry asked.
"Damon could go on by himself," Lily murmured resentfully. Thierry glared at her for a moment before she gave in. "Yes we can all fit in the stupid SUV," she grumbled. Thierry nodded once and turned away as we gathered are things to go.
Grabbing the keys off the wall Elena, Stephen, and Damon piled into the SUV, Kenny had already gone to work an hour ago. Lily grumbled more when she found Damon sitting next to her in shotgun and Elena and Stephen in the back, maybe the school year wouldn't be as good as she thought.
It didn't take long to drive to school and as Lily circled the parking lot she noticed a familiar group of people standing at the corner, where she once would have been herself, ditching classes and smoking and drinking as the day went on. There was someone there she needed to speak with though.
"I'll catch you guys in class," she murmured as she hopped out of the car and started running over to Adam. He looked up as she arrived and ran to meet her, grabbing her in a bear hug.
"Where have you been," he asked as he held her tight, not willing to let go for even a second. "I've been going crazy with worry, calling your house all the time, even going over there all summer."
Lily sighed and just held him back, "it's a long story I'll tell you about it later. I just got back a couple days ago and everything has been crazy or I would have called."
Adam sighed and pulled away, looking behind her just as she realized someone had followed her. Lily pulled away to glare at Damon as he stood there taking in Adam, she could tell he wasn't impressed. It was then the world intruded upon our homecoming. She noticed the girls at the corner and how they responded to Damon, fluffing their hair, checking their makeup, but mostly just staring at him, it was then that she remembered he was actually good looking.
"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" Damon asked, his voice honey sweet as the stupid smirk reappeared.
"I'd really rather he didn't have to meet you," Lily said, still glaring.
"That isn't very nice, what would your mother say?" Damon said laughing.
"Probably to stab you with something sharp," Lily muttered. "Adam this is Damon, an irritation that has been inflicted upon me for the foreseeable future, irritation this is my friend Adam."
Adam laughed as he reached out a hand to shake Damon's, "Lily be nice."
"At least someone has some manners around here," Damon said as he shook Adams hand.
"Lily," a voice called making her look up, that voice was welcome, especially at the moment with Damon and Adam making jokes about her rudeness. Adam looked up at the same time to see Kenny running down the path towards them, a smile lighting his face.
He met them soon after that, grabbing Lily into a hug and kissing her cheek. Adam just stared open mouthed as Lily snuggled into his embrace.
"I thought you were working," Lily said.
"Just on break, Stephen said you were here so I thought I'd come say hi before I had to get back," he murmured as he looked from Adam to Damon.
Adam cleared his throat, reminding me I had forgotten introductions again.
"Sorry, Adam this is my boyfriend Kenny, who is also staying with me for the foreseeable future, Kenny this is my best friend Adam."
Adam just looked back and forth between us for a moment before reaching out to shake Kenny's hand.
"Nice to meet you," Adam said, before turning back to me, "you do have a lot to tell me."
Kenny smiled and held me tighter as Damon looked on, glowering at us from behind Adam, while all the girls stared on in shock. Lily knew what they were thinking without her powers, it was bad enough that one gorgeous guy was staying with her, but suddenly two were, they were incredulous and waiting for more gossip.
Lily smirked and gave them more to chew on, "Damon's brother Stephen and his girlfriend Elena, along with a friend of the families Thierry is staying with me for a while, as well as Ash, I'm sure you remember him, and his girlfriend Mary."
Adam's eyes flew open at that, and Lily wondered what he would think to find out Elena and Stephen were married.
"With you?" He asked, having caught my inflection.
"My parents are out of town for a while with my brothers, and Noah is staying with some friends," she smirked.
"Lily," Adam muttered looking more interested, "what is going on?"
"Talk later," Kenny interrupted as he looked at his watch, "it's time for class and I have to get going."
"No fair," Lily muttered as Kenny began to lead her up the walk towards the school.
"You don't want Thierry to give you that look," Kenny murmured as he leaned down to kiss her hair.
With a sigh Lily agreed, she hadn't done much wrong since she'd been back, but the one time she had gone out without anyone he had glared at her so fiercely she had decided never to do it again.
"What's your first class?" Adam asked as he kept pace beside them, trying not to be overcome with annoyance at being left out of the conversation.
"History with Mr. Donner," she groaned as she handed him a copy of her schedule.
"That's my first class too, looks like we only have this one and English together though," he said as he looked over her schedule.
"Great," she grumbled.
"What do you know Lily, looks like all our classes are together," Damon announced from beside Adam as he glanced at her schedule too.
"Wow, who would have guessed?" She asked as Kenny glared at him. Damon started laughing as he walked away from them to meet her at their shared class.
"What's with you two?" Adam asked, glancing from Damon to Lily.
"I told you, he's an irritation that has been inflicted upon me, just one more irritation I don't need."
"It's not all that bad," Kenny laughed as they entered the building, "at least Stephen and Elena are nice."
"Not that either of them really like him either," Lily murmured as they walked towards her class.
"Your story had better be damn good," Adam grumbled.
"Adam you will never believe my story," Lily said as they came to a stop in front of her homeroom. "See you at lunch?" Lily asked as she leaned up to kiss Kenny lightly on the lips.
"Of course," he murmured as he kissed her back.
Adam made a gagging sound and entered the class, not bothering to wait.
"Get to work," Lily jokingly pushed him off, "don't wanna be late back on your first day."
"And you head to class, don't wanna be late on your first day either," Kenny said as he headed off, making her laugh.
As she walked in she noticed in horror that she was late and because of it the only seat left open to her was next to Adam and Damon, with a sigh she went to sit and hoped the year would be better than that first class as Damon stared at her throughout, she didn't think he took his eyes off of her for even a moment.
School flew by in a blur, mostly taken up by gossip and unhealthy conversations about who was staying with Lily. Stephen and Elena took everything quite well, and Elena explained during a brief moment alone that she had been through much worse at her old school and so was rather immune to what these people whom she had never even met might say about her and her husband. Lily didn't care overmuch either, as long as she got to spend her breaks with Kenny nothing much mattered.
The day flew by so quickly that she was surprised when her last class let out and it was time to meet Kenny, Stephen and Elena, Damon had his last class with Lily so she didn't have to meet up with him, to go home.
"Lily," Adam called to her as she was leaving class, she shared her last class, English, with him as well.
"What's up?" She asked, pausing for him to catch up to her.
"Where are you going now?" He asked casually, eyeing her carefully as Damon came up behind her and threw his arm around her shoulder.
"How about a little alone time for us?" Damon asked with his stupid smirk.
Lily growled and pulled away from him, "what did I tell you last time you pulled that?" She asked, angry now. "If you want to keep your arm don't touch me." Grabbing Adam by the arm she dragged him out into the hallway and as far from Damon as possible, Adam almost had to run to keep up with her.
"So?" Adam asked, a smile playing at the corner of his lips.
"Right now I'm headed home with everyone, why did you want to get together?" She asked as she scanned the crowd.
"I was thinking about it since we haven't seen each other in months," he pouted.
"You can come over if you want, though I can't guarantee there won't be any bloodshed," Lily said, eyeing Damon distastefully.
Adam just laughed and nodded, "sounds good."
"Do you need a lift or do you finally have a car?" She asked
"If you don't mind I could use a lift," he said just as Stephen and Elena reached them.
"Alright let's go," she said as they started for the parking lot.
"What about your boyfriend?" Adam asked as they wormed their way through the crowds.
"He has his own car, he'll meet us there."
After a few minutes of pushing and squirming their way through the crowds they were finally at the car. "Adam get up front," Lily murmured as she unlocked the passenger door for him and almost pushed him in, Damon just found this even more funny as he piled into the back between Elena and Stephen, Lily noticed the dirty look Elena gave him from the rearview mirror.
It didn't take long to get home and once there they all piled into the house where Thierry was waiting.
Adam walked in right behind everyone else and stopped to stare at him.
"Did you make it to all your classes Lily?" He asked folding his arms across his chest.
"Yes," Lily groaned, rolling her eyes. "Sheesh Thierry you're worse than my parents."
"Obviously not since they just called to make sure the same thing," he said with a smile, raising an eyebrow at Adam. "And this must be Adam; they said he would probably stop by."
Lily groaned again but dutifully performed the introductions. Adam just continued to stare, nodding politely when she said his name.
"Can I go now please? I've been a good girl, I swear," Lily said laughing.
Thierry sighed, "and where are you planning on going?"
"I don't know, anywhere but here?" Lily smiled.
"I'd really rather you stayed around here I'm expecting some… company," Thierry said, pausing to let Lily know what kind of company he expected.
"I see," she murmured thoughtfully, "wouldn't it be better if he weren't seen then?"
Thierry shrugged slightly, "I don't see why it would matter, what with Kenny, Mary, and Elena around they're probably not going to notice much, especially considering that I'm here."
"True, I suppose we'll be in my room then," Lily said as she pulled Adam up the stairs behind her and into her room, closing the door behind them.
"Lil what the hell is going on?" Adam shouted after she had settled herself on her bed.
"You don't have to get all upset," Lily grumbled.
"How could I not be upset? Who are these people? What did he mean company? And why would it be better if I weren't seen? Why did you leave for the summer, not call me once, and then come back with a houseful of strangers?" He finished, breathing hard.
"Why all the yelling?" A low voice drawled as her door was pushed open. Ash stood there, a smile on his face.
"Hey Ash, come on in," Lily said.
"Thanks Lil, so what's up?" He asked, stepping in and shutting the door behind him.
Adam's eyes were shooting sparks as he watched their exchange.
"Not much, just thinking about explaining everything to Adam," she answered with a smile.
"Thinking?" Adam shouted, looking between the two of them.
Ash crossed the room and leaned lightly against her bed, looking thoughtfully at Lily. "That is, of course, your choice," he started, jumping up on the bed next to her as lightly as a cat, "but I would advise you to look at all the options before hand, it's not just about your safety, it's about his too," he finished seriously.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Adam yelled furiously.
"Seems like he has quite the temper," Ash smirked. Adam just glared at him.
"I've been thinking about it since we headed back," Lily said, still ignoring Adam as she fought to decide. "It seems like the best course of action if I want to continue having him in my life, and of course I could always make him forget."
Ash laughed loudly at that thought, "that is very true little dreamer," he smirked, "in that case go ahead and tell him, but can I watch again? It's a lot of fun watching you explain the Night World," Ash laughed, making Lily grumble.
"You can only stay if you plan to help," she finally decided then turned her attention back to Adam who was staring at her in shocked confusion. Ash just laughed and nodded.
"You see," she murmured trying to decide where to start, "it's like this, the world you know isn't the real world."
"So," Adam said after an hour or two of explanations, presentations, and down right coercion, "you're not human."
"Right," Lily said as she bared her fangs again.
"And neither is he," Adam continued, pointing at Ash.
Ash nodded and smiled, his eyes, which Lily was sure, must be an innocent looking blue, looking anything but human.
"And he is human but he's had past lives, most of them with you Lily, and he is not just your boyfriend but your soulmate, the other half of your soul?" Adam finished lamely pointing at Kenny who had come in about halfway through their discussion.
"Close enough," Lily said with a laugh.
"And you just found out at the beginning of the summer and in order to protect me you couldn't tell me any of this?" Adam said; he was clearly upset.
"Yes," Ash said nodding. Throughout the conversation he had actually been a big help in explaining and showing Adam everything about themselves.
"I see," he murmured as he stood to pace the room. All in all he had taken the idea of the Night World fairly well and had taken to the idea that his best friend was not only human but also someone destined to save the world better than well, it was actually surprising.
"Well I should get going," Ash said as he stood and stretched, "Mary will be home soon and I want to have eaten before she gets here, I'll see you later Lily, Adam it was very nice to see you again." Ash smiled around the room and walked out.
Adam just watched him leave, barely registering what he was saying. "So why are you telling me now if you were trying to protect me before?" He asked warily.
"Because I wanted it to be your choice," Lily said, standing from the bed and coming to kneel before him. Lily looked up into his eyes and took his hand in hers, "I want to continue being your friend no matter what, the problem is that in order for us to be friends you need to understand the danger that puts you in and you need to decide.
"If you decide that you don't want any of this then I'll take this memory and replace it with a fight we had and you will never have to see me again, but it's up to you," Lily finished lamely. "So which is it?"
Adam stared down at her thoughtfully, and she could see he was taking her words at face value. "I want to stay friends," he said finally, a smile on his face for the first time all day.
"I was hoping you'd say that," Lily smiled as she stood and pulled him into a hug.
Kenny stood from the bed then and checked his watch, "Thierry's guests will be arriving soon, he said he wanted you there."
"Why me?" She grumbled as she walked towards the door. "It's up to you whether you stay or go, but if you stay you have to be upstairs," Lily said, turning back to Adam.
"Maybe I'll stay and think things through," Adam said after a moment, she could see he was still processing everything.
"That's fine, Kenny will be around if you have any questions." Lily kissed Kenny quickly, and then waved at Adam as she walked out her door and down the stairs. And there he was, standing in the doorway looking around like a King visiting a weaker nation he would soon acquire.
He looked up and smiled at her as she stopped on the stairs, staring at him.
"Hello Lily," Azheda said, his deep voice almost purring.
Lily shivered slightly and continued down the stairs, at least now she understood why Thierry wanted her here.
"Hello Azheda," she murmured and for the first time took her eyes from him to appraise the others with him. There were two more vampires, a witch, and a girl she thought was a shapeshifter. They were all staring at her thoughtfully as she walked to join Thierry, Stephen, and to her astonishment Damon, she was surprised to find herself delighted with his presence. His eyes, for once, weren't on her, they were staring down Azheda, his dark eyes smoldering with some unnamed emotion, she thought it might be hate.
"Shall we?" Thierry asked, motioning for everyone to follow him.
Azheda made his way to Lily's side and took her arm as if he were escorting her to some royal ball, not her family's shabby living room. Lily allowed herself to be led, she didn't think she could have pulled away from his touch if the house was on fire and he was holding her inside.
Damon's eyes never left Azheda as they sat around the living room; Azheda pulled her down next to him on a love seat and placed his arm around her shoulders.
"So now that we're all here, the top houses from the Night World and the most powerful of Circle Daybreak, I suppose we should get down to business," Azheda said, tightening his hold on her as he spoke.
"Why did you ask for this meeting?" Thierry asked, trying to ignore his arm around Lily's shoulders.
"Mostly I just wanted to see Lily," Azheda said, his smile flashing as he turned to look into her eyes. "But Tersha had mentioned something about discussing terms of surrender so I thought why not?"
Thierry's eyes flashed to the dark haired witch as Azheda spoke. "So you're planning on surrendering?" Thierry asked calmly, "I thought you would fight to the death."
"Silly little boy, not out surrender, yours," the dark haired witch hissed.
"And why would we surrender?" Lily asked, turning to stare at the girl.
She mumbled something unintelligible, though Lily thought she heard a curse, and then looked quickly away.
"Careful who you curse, witch, it might come back upon you three fold," Lily growled, angrily.
Azheda's arm tightened around Lily as if to hold her back from attacking the girl. "She's just upset that you hold more power than she does my love," Azheda said, glaring at the witch, "ignore her."
Damon's eyes widened at his words, and he continued to stare at his arm around her shoulder with a dark look in his eyes.
Thierry stood and glared down at Azheda as well. "If all you wanted was time alone with Lily then you should have called her to see if she would accommodate you instead of wasting all our time," Thierry growled. "We will never surrender, why should we, when we are the ones likely to win?"
Thierry reached down and pulled Lily from the love seat, and from Azheda's arms, his sudden loss was almost painful as Thierry pulled her behind him. She found herself being pulled again as Damon sat her on his couch and stood in front of her in a defensive position. This boggled her mind until she saw Azheda leap to his feet growling, readying himself to attack.
"Lily already made her preference clear to you once, Azheda," Thierry growled back, standing in a defensive stance much as Damon was, "or wait, I'm sorry, twice, the first time when she was hurt quite extensively instead of staying with you."
Azheda growled louder, she saw his legs bunch to leap at Thierry and made her decision. Standing she pushed first Damon, then Thierry out of the way in seconds to stand before Azheda, relaxed and calm, it worked, he stopped his leap in mid-air and came to land in front of her.
"It's time for you to leave," she said. "You know how I feel when you threaten those I care about."
Azheda sighed softly and took her hand, kissing the back of it, "if that is how you feel then we will take our leave, my love."
Lily nodded, trying to ignore the little flashes she was feeling and his sense of sadness at having to leave her.
"Goodbye," she murmured as she turned away from him.
"Let's go," she heard Azheda growl and felt the air stir around her as they left her house.
After a few moments she felt someone take her by the shoulders and shake her softly, it was then that she realized she was crying.
"What the hell was that?" A rough voice asked.
"I need to go," she murmured as she pulled from Damon's grasp and ran from the house. She heard Thierry shout from behind her but paid it no attention, if she stayed she would have to look into Kenny's eyes, she would have to let him see how much it hurt her to let Azheda go, and she didn't want him to see that.
She ran as fast and as far as she could before she collapsed. When she finally did stop she saw that night had fallen and she was in a park, she searched for a secluded spot before she finally fell to the ground and began to sob.
She wished he would stay away, everything was so much easier when she didn't have to see him, didn't have to think about him, didn't have to feel how much she loved him, because it was entirely obvious to her, and she was sure everyone else, that she did love him.
"Need some help?" She heard someone asked. She looked up, through her veil of misery, to see three men standing over her, their thoughts were easy to read, and if they hadn't been human she would have asked them to stop projecting so loudly, they were looking for some fun.
"She's fine boys," another voice said, this one she was surprised to find she knew. Damon was standing behind them, a predatory look in his eyes as he stared down the humans.
"Just checking," one of them mumbled as they turned and headed off.
"What are you doing here?" Lily whispered, turning away from him so he couldn't see her tears.
"Thierry sent me after you, he thought you might need some looking after," Damon said, sitting down beside here on the grass.
"Hardly," she mumbled.
"Those Night World freaks are still in the area, he didn't want them to nab you again, at least that's what he was thinking when he asked me to come after you."
"That hardly matters since they know where I live," she growled, she just wanted to be left alone.
"Still," he murmured as he lay down on, looking up into the trees above him, "I would feel better if you weren't alone."
She couldn't come up with anything to say to that, so she just lay back on the grass beside him.
They were both silent for a while, lost in their own thoughts as the stars began to appear one by one in the sky above them.
"So," Damon began finally, his eyes still searching the sky for something, "want to talk about it?"
Lily laughed, her voice coming out slightly hysterical, "talk about what? How I have two soulmates? Or maybe we should talk about how I can't live without either of them and yet can't live with both of them? Or maybe, maybe we should talk about how I have to go through every day feeling like I'm a traitor to both of them because there's no way I can choose between them."
Damon finally turned and stared at her, his eyes wide with astonishment at her outburst, and she realized that this was the first time they had ever actually talked, no threats, without him hitting on her, just talking like friends, it was interesting.
After a moment Damon calmed his expression and smirked at her, "we could talk about that if you wanted, I was just wondering if you wanted to talk about your first day of school."
Lily stared at him a moment incredulously, then finally began to laugh. "Sounds good," she said as she launched into her day and how it felt to be back after so long away.