July turned to August.
James was homesick for England. While California was very beautiful and James was grateful to have his job, being without Annie and Minerva was hard. Annie had been James' best friend since he'd gotten free of the hospital. He'd been informally adopted into Minerva McGonagall's life after all his battle scars had been patched up by her kind words. He wished he could invite them to visit California, but he had a job to do.
The job in question was currently down on the beach. James watched her as she played at the edge of the water, alone. It was a private beach associated with the homes in the area, so it stayed relatively quiet. He didn't worry too much as he survey's the dunes while he confirmed the schedule with Frank on the phone.
"How is she doing?" Frank asked.
"Same as she was," James tried not to sound too concerned.
"Okay," Frank sighed.
Over the last three weeks James, Alice and Frank had all been watching her closely. They were waiting for the inevitable snap from the pop star, considering her kitchen was piled high with empty alcohol bottles. She'd go out to dinner with friends and order wine. If she had meetings that lasted well into the night, with Peter Pettigrew planning every little move, she'd have drinks in hand. She'd go work and be nursing a headache from her previous nightly escapades.
James hung up his phone and looked out across the ocean waves. They were rougher than usual, and had likely soaked Lily to the bone already. The setting sun made Lily's form turn as dark as her moods, a silhouette against a spotlight. She was making her way back up from the ocean, likely to prepare for her next agenda. It seemed like she never had time to breathe, let alone eat a decent meal or go for a decent hike.
James opened the gate for her as she made it to the top of the long staircase that swept her off the dunes. She avoided his stare, content with their unobtrusive relationship.
She ignored him.
He ignored her.
Beyond any points of his job to protect her, James acted nothing but professional. Sometimes when she was cooking, he couldn't help but smirk at her pitiful attempts to even toast bread, but he'd look away quickly whenever she glanced his way. He liked her, especially now, as he watched the sunset colors dance across her red skin. Before she could catch him staring, James looked across the ocean once more.
"The sunset is pretty."
Lily half turned, her bare feet scattering sand across her balcony. James pointedly stared at the remaining beam of lighted sky where it met the sea. He knew if he looked at Lily, his pounding heart would give his good intentions away. Still, not even the setting sun could control his gaze long enough to avoid glancing at her.
She was staring at him with a half opened mouth. She seemed startled by his attempts at a conversation. He felt bad, wondering if he'd been ignoring her too much lately.
"I'm partial to the sunsets in Scotland's hills," James added, "but these are the real million-dollar views."
Now he felt bad that he'd never spoken to her so directly, so casually. Normally the only words that were exchanged between them, were business terms with a thick lining of wariness. Perhaps she preferred it that way, since she was gaping at him like a fish out of water. Suddenly, he backtracked, red flushing his face.
"I'll go ahead and make sure the limo driver has been checked for tonight."
And he fell back into business, brushing past her with a sort of hurried rush that made their shoulders barely brush. The air conditioning in the house hit him like a wall, creating goosebumps on his arms. He heard her close the door behind him, but he didn't care to look back. He didn't want to overstep any more than he already had.
Alice let Lily's friend and make-up artist, Marlene, into the house just minutes after James walked in the back door. Alice and Marlene were busy exchanging polite pleasantries that echoed through the house. James waved as Marlene entered the house with an air of importance. Marlene carried a dress in one arm, and a makeup bag was wrapped around her other arm. Marlene's smile was lighting up her whole face as she winked at James before she passed him to go find Lily.
James fell into the chair next to Alice in the camera office. The whole room was lined with security cameras of the beach, the front and back entrances, the pool area, and even the front gates. Other monitors were used to keep watched over the windows and doors of the house. No one could open an external facing window or door without setting off a warning system on the computers.
Despite all this extra protection, James knew that Lily hardly ever felt safe. Alice agreed that she didn't think Lily slept well at all. They'd all come across Lily sitting in her pajamas all over the house more than once. She'd done the same in Scotland as well. James was about to ask Alice if she wanted to run to grab them dinner when there was a frantic shout from upstairs.
"Can one of her guards get up here?!"
Marlene's shriek was shrill. James jumped up before Alice could even flinch, stumbling on a carpet as he raced for the base of the stairs. He bounded up the levels, two steps at a time.
"What's wrong?" James huffed outside her room.
Marlene's voice called from farther in the room, "I need aloe!"
"Pardon?"
He moved past Lily's doorway and into the middle of her bedroom. Marlene was standing in the way of the bathroom door, irritation plain on her pretty face. James didn't know what he'd just gotten himself into.
"Allowed to do what?"
"Not allowed, aloe!"
"Spell it for me?"
James heard Lily giggle from behind Marlene, who'd grabbed one of Lily's hand towels and chucked it angrily at James. James ducked out of its way easily, one eyebrow raised. Marlene certainly seemed annoyed by something that Lily found amusing. James liked Lily's giggle a lot, it was happy, and so unlike anything he'd ever heard from her before
"It's for sunburns." Marlene motioned behind her at Lily in the shower, something James couldn't (thankfully) see. "She needs aloe vera for her skin."
James stepped back a few steps and leaned against the bedroom door. He had never had to worry about sunburns ever in his life. He supposed she'd looked a little red when she'd come up from the beach, but James didn't think she'd gotten burned.
"Relax." Lily's voice echoed from the bathroom. "I'm only slightly pink."
Marlene turned to face Lily, only for a, "well fuck," to erupt from her mouth.
Lily stepped out past Marlene. He dropped his eyes when she walked out, but then realized she was wearing a bright blue towel like a toga. His eyes lifted back up as she stepped in front of her floor length mirror. Lily's arms were red up to her shoulder and the slight V from her shirt was bright red. Not even just red, she was lobster-status-red. James didn't know if he imagined the trail of freckles along her collarbone but he swore there were more now.
She was red from top to bottom. Red hair, red skin, and even her toenails were painted a faint red color. James thought it suited her, even if the sunburn wasn't the best on her fair skin. It was better than the pale ghost that usually roamed her halls.
"Well," Lily said through clenched teeth, "this might be a little worse than pink."
"You think?" Marlene said from her spot in the bathroom, clearly exasperated.
"Red." James just offered, amused to his very core by the outcome.
"She looks terrible." Marlene had raced from the bathroom and began poking Lily's red neck with one finger. "Shit. This ruins all my plans!"
"I was only outside for an hour or two." Lily whipped around to look at James, pouting when she saw him. "Why aren't you burned?"
James quirked an eyebrow at her before he raised one of his dark arms, "we are two completely different skin tones, Red."
Lily didn't look too happy at that nickname, but he didn't care. It fit her so well, and she didn't even realize it. Red was normally a color that was a passionate end of the color spectrum, and he was positive she was the most passionate person that he knew. He had never met someone who was both fiery and kind to her very core.
Lily whipped around to look at herself in the mirror again. "Peter's gonna kill me."
There she was again, worried about what Pettigrew would say negatively about a silly mistake.
Marlene yanked her phone out of her pocket, not giving up on Lily. "I need to call in a favour to Lola."
"Am I not needed anymore then?" James asked, prepared to excuse himself.
Marlene pulled the phone down to stop James before he could escape, "I need you to run to the drug store and get her some aloe vera."
James decided it would be easier to pacify the beauty expert, than argue that he wasn't supposed to leave the house without permission from Frank. He glanced back at Lily as he left, his eyes tracing the freckles that disappeared below the line of the towel.
He wondered if she wore makeup that covered them up usually. Or, maybe, he just hadn't allowed himself to spend too long staring. He liked her, and not in a way that was remotely professional, but in a way that would've normally had him asking her out.
James hadn't dated anyone since the accident. He would bet that he'd lost his special charm that used to work on all the girls. There was nothing charismatic about him anymore, not a washed up and lonely old veteran of war. Lily was way far out of his league, now and forever.
He found aloe at the closest drugstore, but there were at least ten different kinds. Knowing he was racing against time because she had to be at an awards show, James grabbed all of them and shoved them into his basket. At the counter, the young woman ringing him up kept looking at him weirdly. Probably because he didn't look like he needed aloe.
Marlene was curling a strand of Lily's red hair when James finally returned, the bag weighed down by his selections of aloe.
"Thank goodness you're back," Marlene looked up at Lily's ceiling in thanks when James walked through the bedroom door and dropped a paper bag on Lily's bed. "Did you find aloe?"
"I've never had a sunburn in my life," James admitted, "so I bought all the kinds they had. I didn't know which was best."
"Any of 'em will work on her fried skin."
James started taking the plastic off one of the bottles, eager to help since Lily did look miserable. He's never burned, but she looked like a boiled chicken, and he knew it couldn't be too pleasant. When he got the packaging off, he turned to face the girls and that's when his eyes met Lily's gaze in the mirror. He stopped mid turn, realizing that she'd been staring at him.
His stomach erupted into butterflies.
Me. He thought. She's looking at me.
"Thank you," she mouthed.
James gave a jerky sort of head nod before he kneeled at Lily's chair. He held out the bottle to Lily, but Marlene interrupted his attempt to pass off the aloe.
"She just got her nails painted; you'll have to do it for her."
Touch her. Marlene wanted James to touch her skin. He felt like his insides were knitting up at the thought of it. James had a crush on the woman, he couldn't just touch her. His hands were shaking as he squeezed some of the thick and gooey aloe gel onto his fingers. He stood up to lean over her. James' face was only a foot from hers as his fingers rubbed the gel into her cheek.
Her expression was soft, welcoming almost. James felt a warmth in his fingers spread to his whole body as he caressed her face. He hadn't touched a woman so intimately in years, but here he was, touching the face of a pop star like he might touch a lover.
"This wasn't in my job description when I signed my contract." He joked softly, not knowing what else to say to break the silence.
"Contracts regularly have loopholes." Her voice was as soft as her expression.
When he finished rubbing the aloe into areas suggested by Marlene, he quickly stood up and away. Even as he went to place the cap back on the bottle, his nose was itching from her perfume. He placed the cap back on the aloe and went into the bathroom to wash the bottle and his hands of the sticky gel. He excused himself right after, claiming to need to check on Frank, but it was just an excuse to get away from Lily so he could breathe and think properly.
Alice caught sight of him coming down the stairs and her eyebrows rose into her hairline, "why are you blushing?"
"I'm not blushing," James said grumpily, ducking his face so that she couldn't see the new flush across his cheeks.
"She's gonna be late if she doesn't come down soon," Frank came out of the security office staring at his watch, "Pettigrew will have a field day on my ass."
Alice sent her fiance a smirk, "that's rich coming from a man who spends more time in the bathroom than I do to get ready for dinner."
James turned a laugh into a cough. Sometimes working with a couple was entertaining. Frank and Alice were filled with banter, but they loved each other a lot. James knew they were excited to get married, settle down, and have a family. In his wildest dreams, James wanted that badly too.
James followed behind as Lily ran barefoot to the car waiting for her outside her property. She tried to slip on her shoes while running, but kept stumbling over herself. James followed close behind, tightening his tie around his neck as he slid into the seat beside Lily. Once the car was driving down the road, Lily started texting, probably because she was nervous.
James had a theory that she suffered from debilitating anxiety. That's why she had bodyguards in the first place, to protect her at concerts and award shows, but James knew that it took more than a few combat savvy people to make someone feel safe and sound.
The limo they were in pulled up to a massive red carpet. James noticed she was fumbling with the edges of her coin purse as she looked out at the crowd of people screaming in the aisles. Her door was opened by a footman and Peter Pettigrew appeared in an ugly purple suit.
Peter grabbed Lily and pulled her from the car rather roughly. James followed behind quickly, scanning the area around them, but also checking on Lily. She kept glancing nervously behind her during every interview she gave on the red carpet. The camera flashes were crazy, blinding James as he protected Lily from behind. As the crowds got larger, and the screams got louder, Lily was slinking closer to James. When she drew back after hands started reaching for her, James' hand lightly touched her wrist before drawing back so no one would notice the contact.
"You ok?" He tried not to make direct eye contact with her.
"Yeah." She was lying.
James didn't know the Lily before the concert bombing. He didn't know how she'd acted, or laughed, or hugged people. All he knew is that she looked super uncomfortable now, and her manager didn't even seem to notice how often she flinched. How could the fans, who claimed to love her beyond all reason, not see she was withering away in a hazy, fame induced dream.
"Potter," Peter Pettigrew interrupted his thoughts as they reached the main doors where Lily was handed a program, "you'll be backstage, you're not needed in the primary hall."
"Right," James cleared his throat as he watched Lily continue on alone, "I'll see you after the show."
James followed directions until he was backstage watching the awards ceremony from monitors. Sometimes it really was cool to see so many famous people gathered in one place. James could see why everyone got so weird, because everyone he met had an air of importance around them. It was almost as if they welcomed people in, only so that they could get praise and love.
The awards had been a requirement for Lily's schedule, per Pettigrew's orders. Lily was up for two awards and James didn't think she wanted to win any of them. Sadly, she was bound to be disappointed.
"And this year's pop artist of the year—Lily Evans!"
When James watched Pettigrew and Lily walk up on stage, he could tell she was about to pass out. Her eyes were darting and looking for every exit from the stage. When someone shoved the award and microphone to her hand, she just stood frozen on the stage. Her large doe-eyes looked larger than usual as she stared out at Hollywood. James swore it was quiet enough he heard crickets.
Pettigrew grabbed the microphone from her and said, "we want to thank everyone for the honor, it's been a hard year for us all, and Lily needed this."
They crossed the stage together after Peter finished speaking for her. Lily was hugging the trophy she'd won and looked close to tears. James couldn't help it, he blocked people from approaching her and she sent him a thankful glance. He resisted the urge to place his hand at the small of her back. Peter had said that she needed the award, but to James it looked like she needed nothing more than to leave awards behind.
Pettigrew was oblivious and he dragged Lily to an after party.
James wished her manager could see her in the way that he did.
She had three shots of tequila at the after-party. She took each of them within minutes of each other. James watched her, as she drowned her misery, wishing he had the balls to tell her to stop. Sirius found them, looking positively dashing in a multi-coloured suit that only made his blue eyes pop.
"James!" Sirius opened his arms wide at James. "Fancy seeing you here!"
"Sirius!" James clapped Sirius on the back, happy to see someone he got along with. "You look great."
"I know, right?" Sirius turned his thoughtfulness to Lily next. "Congrats on the award, Lils!"
Lily smiled at Sirius, "Thanks."
"I'm surprised Lily hasn't tried to escape your sights yet," Sirius joked in James' direction. "Chris Evans is here, and she's got a massive crush on him."
Lily shot Sirius a look, and he only grinned back wickedly. Pettigrew reappeared, and he shoved a glass into Lily's hand as he slapped her on her back. James wondered if he got her sunburn, because Lily winced when he slapped her. James tightened his hold on his thoughts as he considered how stupid her manager really was.
"Drink up!" Pettigrew encouraged Lily when she didn't move to drink, "Dance! Do something!"
"I'm fine without dancing." Lily said softly.
Pettigrew said, "you need to relax. You've been hiding in the corner too long."
"I don't want to dance with strangers."
Pettigrew spotted Sirius. "Sirius, take her dancing, would you?"
Sirius shook his head at Pettigrew, "Oh no, the last time I danced at a party with her I was shaking off paparazzi for a month."
James sent Sirius a look, but Sirius didn't catch it. He was too busy eyeing up some bloke ten feet away. Lily turned to look at James, he caught her out of the corner of his eye, allowing himself ten seconds before he looked at her again.
"Dance with me?" she asked him.
James looked at her like she'd grown three heads. "Pardon?"
Lily grabbed his wrist. "Dance with me."
"I don't dance," James sputtered, already feeling his leg brace tense with the mere mention of moving fluidly. "Bad knees, you know?"
"Come on." Lily begged, and James resisted her tug.
Pettigrew, sensing his plan to make Lily go be social was failing, grabbed Lily's free hand. "Come on Lily, I'll take you dancing if no one else will."
Lily followed Peter's lead into the dance floor, but she was looking back at Sirius and James. James wished he could dance with her, but he hadn't danced on his prosthetic before and he was worried he'd mess up and step on her toes. Annie would probably tell him he was a worrywort, but he didn't care.
"Why won't you really dance with her?" James asked Sirius.
Lily's best friend snorted, "I don't fancy everyone assuming we're dating, again, for the thousandth time."
"You can be friends and dance with someone platonically." James said.
Sirius swirled the contents of his cup, "Hollywood sees what it wants, James, and it's not always with the best intentions."
James crossed his arms over his chest, "she blames herself for the bombing in Manchester."
Sirius' sour look only grew, "I know that."
"You should talk to her," James suggested lightly, "I think she just needs her real friends around her right now."
Sirius sent James a knowing look over his glass, "you could be her friend, you see her more than I do at this point."
"It's not the same." James stuffed his hands into his pockets, "She's forced to be around me, she actually enjoys spending time with you."
Sirius chuckled, "do you honestly think she doesn't like you?"
James didn't speak, because he wasn't sure of the answer. Had he seen her check him out once? Yes. Did that mean she liked to spend time with him? No.
Besides, she was nice to everyone she met. She was surrounded by a sea of people who wanted to know her, touch her, or be her. No one actually took the time to really learn her though, not like her bodyguards seemed too. Even Pettigrew, despite his promise of professional concern, was painfully oblivious to Lily.
The party kept going and going, much later than James would've liked. He spent most of his time keeping tabs on Lily as she danced and drank herself into a stupor. At one point he lost her and walked around the entire banquet hall to find her before someone else did. James found her alone, nursing a sprained ankle by the loo. She looked like an absolute mess with her dress riding up her thighs and her hair in a big poof around her head.
James knelt down and put a hand on her cheek, lifting her face to look at him. She looked at him like he was out of focus, but they were eye-to-eye.
"What's wrong Lily?"
"I twisted my ankle."
He helped her up to a standing position. Lily stumbled on her way down the hall. James took her arm, throwing it around his shoulder. That's when Sirius reappeared, lipstick all over his face. Sirius looked happy but he paused when he saw the pain on Lily's expression.
"Lily needs to go," James told Sirius without hesitation.
Sirius looked at her, actually looked at her, and a line appeared on his forehead. Sirius took Lily's other arm and put it around his waist. James and Sirius worked together to rush her out before the cameras could get a glimpse of her coming out of the back doors. Her head hit against the back seat when they pushed her inside.
Lily grabbed the back of her head and pouted at James as he put her seat belt on.
James glared at Lily as the seat belt clicked, wishing he hadn't left her alone for so long. Someone was bound to have seen her, or taken a picture of her, which was something the tabloids didn't need. James entered the car to take the seat across from her. Sirius stuck his head in like a cat peeking around a corner. His eyes found James, instead of acknowledging Lily.
"Do you want me to go too?" Sirius asked James.
James glanced at her, wondering if it would be handy to have Sirius around. Alice could probably help him when he got back to the house though, and James was certain more people would just overwhelm her. Lily scowled back at him as he considered the options, pulling one of her curls out of her face as she did so.
"They hired me to make her feel safe," James mumbled, reaching to grab the door handle, "so I'll take care of her and make sure she's safe."
"I can help." Sirius promised. "I want to help."
"I'm just going to put her in bed."
Sirius nodded curtly, entrusting James with Lily. "Make sure to leave her light on."
"I know." James exchanged a telling look with Sirius, reminding Sirius that he knew she didn't like the darkness. "I'll text you when she's settled."
Sirius clapped James on the back and then pulled his head out. Lily winced as the car door shut. James fell down in his seat, exhausted. Camera's followed the car, trying to get pictures inside but James pulled off his jacket and held it in front of the window.
James watched her as she started digging through compartments, looking for something. James was going to knock anything out of her hands that wasn't water. When she found a bottle of wine in the pull-down cup holder, James leaned forward in his seat and ripped it out of her hands.
Lily's jaw dropped at the blatant audacity of his actions. "Hey!"
James tucked the bottle into his chest pocket, "I'm cutting you off, Red."
Lily crossed her arms, snarling at him. "I don't remember asking you too."
"You didn't have to ask." James' voice was meaner than usual, but he needed to get through to her somehow. "I'm telling you."
Lily was flabbergasted, "well, that's—I'm— ugh."
James sent her a pointed look. "Forget your words?"
Her chest heaved as she managed, "I am your boss!"
"Wrong." James was far from scared of her reactions to him while drunk. "My boss' name is Moody, and you're just his client."
"I'll get you fired." She leaned across the middle of the car, closing the space between them as she reached for the bottle of wine.
"You're a shit drunk, Lily Evans." James shot back.
"And you're a shit bodyguard, James Potter," Lily lashed out like a child, but James had thick skin from years in bootcamp.
"You won't even remember this after you sleep."
"I bet you wish you'd never gotten assigned to me."
Silence settled between them, but it wasn't comfortable. James had one hand in his hair, and he was glaring at her because he simultaneously wanted to shout at her and also hug her because she looked terrible. James wished that she'd wake up from her nightmare, and see what he was seeing, but she'd clearly need help. He sighed deeply, it looked like he would have to try his best at helping Lily heal from her trauma.
"You need to sleep," he said, placing a soft hand on her knee, "when was the last time you slept through the night?"
Lily tried diligently to move his hand but he held it firm. "I don't want to sleep."
The tears started trailing down her cheeks as the driver turned them onto the highway that led to her home.
"Drink some water," James said, "here."
He reached over his seat and pulled out a filled water bottle that he tossed into her fumbling hands. Lily didn't catch it, the water slipped through her fingers and landed on the ground between them. That only made her cry more and James almost had the nerve to laugh at her dramatics. She was drunk off her ass, that was the only thing James was sure of. She watched through watery eyelashes as James got her the water bottle, opened it quickly and then touched the chilly bottom to her thigh softly.
"Drink." he said sympathetically, "you'll feel better."
Lily swallowed thickly as she took the bottle from his hands into her shaking fingers. She lifted the bottle to her lips and took a few sips with James watching closely.
"I don't by the way." He said bluntly as the highway flashed by.
"Don't what?" she asked, water slipping through her fingers.
"I don't regret getting assigned to you." He smiled in the darkness. "I quite like you, most of the time."
Lily took a deep breath, about to say something back to him, when the water bottle slipped from her shaking fingers. James sighed and she cried out as water soaked the backseat and the dress she was wearing. James searched for napkins as Tom the driver asked if he needed to pull over. James shouted back at the driver as he tried to mop water up with his jacket.
"No just keep going!"
Lily was going to be a mess no matter where she went tonight.
Frank was watching the house for the night and James texted him to meet the limo out front. He was dutifully waiting for them when the car pulled up to the drive. By then, Lily was nodding in and out of sleep. James got out of the car first before offering Lily his hand. Lily refused his help to get up, stubbornly taking each step with her own wobble. James sighed, sending Frank an annoyed glance.
"Is she okay?" Frank asked casually as Lily continued clambering out of the car.
"She's drunk." James told Frank in monotone. "Will you help her driver? She spilled water all over the backseat."
Lily got out of the car, and would have fallen flat on her face, had James not caught her just in time. James lifted her up into his arms like he was cradling a child, only she was rather larger and her legs swung everywhere. He carried her up to her front door, not trusting her ability to walk. He put her back onto her feet only so he could put his fingerprint on the security pad. Cool air hit the couple as soon as James flung her door open. The cold breeze felt so nice that she stumbled into her foyer with little prompting from James.
The closest seat to her, a stuffed red bench against the wall, was where she finally fell. Lily used her toes to peel her stilettos from her feet as her head leaned back against the wall. When the second strap wouldn't come loose on one of her shoes, Lily leaned forward for a closer look and nearly pitched onto the floor headfirst.
James caught her again. "Easy there, Red."
"I'm fine."
He stifled the chuckle that came out of his mouth.
James pulled Lily up and then right into his arms. Her head lolled against his warm arm and her fingers traced the small wine bottle still in his chest pocket. He slowly helped her up the staircase.
"I'm fine." She repeated it over and over. "I'm fine."
"See, you keep telling everyone that," James murmured, "but I don't believe it."
She fell asleep, but it was nowhere near peaceful for her. James, Alice, and Frank all kept checking on their ward. She was crying in her sleep, talking to Steven in her sleep, and even yelling at some points. Alice watched beside James as Lily tossed and turned in her sleep.
"It's funny," Alice whispered, "I used to be jealous of Lily Evans, but now I'm really happy to just be Alice."
"She needs to get out of here," James replied, "or at least talk to someone."
"Yeah," Alice rubbed her arms from the chill in the air, "but someone like her probably has a really hard time letting strangers into her personal life."
James tossed a look at his short friend, "then it's a good thing we're not strangers."
"No," Alice said quickly, pointing a finger at James, "stay out of her business James, you know Moody doesn't like us to form attachments with our clients."
James knew that, but he didn't know how to do his job and not care about someone like Lily.
"I'll go get her some toast and ibuprofen." Alice said when James didn't answer, "watch her to make sure she doesn't puke on herself, again."
Lily woke up, hours later, James saw her move in a way that was more calculated than her nighttime flailing. The curtains on her window danced against the fresh sea breeze and James could hear the waves breaking against the shore. Sunlight filtered into the room through the cracks in her gauzy curtains, casting little yellow stripes across Lily's sheets. James entered through the doorway entirely, his presence causing her to flinch. He knew she was suffering from a headache, and probably slowly remember the night before.
"Good morning."
"James," Lily touched her forehead, "what are you doing?"
He took her soft tone as an invitation to enter her room. "Alice got you some Advil for the headache that you undoubtedly have."
Lily tried to brush her fingers through her hair, but James saw them get stuck in the tangles. "I can take care of myself."
James placed the orange juice and bottle on her bedside table, right next to the bottle of aloe.
"I know you like to take care of yourself," he said, touching the aloe with one finger, remembering their briefest connection, "but sometimes it's okay to accept help."
She replied as she opened the pill bottle, "I'm not used to asking for help."
"Clearly," he waited a second before asking, "so, how's your head?"
"Banging," Lily complained, "how many shots did I do last night?"
"I don't know." James admitted, "I went to the bar with Sirius while you were dancing with your friends. The next thing I knew, you were nursing a sprained ankle by the loo."
"I don't remember any of that."
James deadpanned, "maybe that's for the better."
Lily fell back against her pillows. "Oh."
"What do you want to eat?" he asked, "I noticed you're avoiding the toast."
Lily kicked her covers off and looked down at her purple dress from the party. "How drunk was I?"
"Well…"
"Well?"
James licked his lips before he admitted slowly, "you did start crying about that politician kid while holding your poor cat hostage last night."
Lily's heart dropped to her stomach at the mention of the idiot she'd shagged months before, "you don't mean Steven?"
James lifted a brow. "Yeah, him."
"Great."
"I almost called him for you," James flicked at some car hair on her table, trying not to show off ticked off he was about her screaming Steven's name, "since you clearly wanted to talk to him."
"I don't want to talk to him." Lily said stubbornly.
James stared down at her, doubting her words. Lily stared up at him, stubborn in nature.
"Right." He shrugged. "I'm going to go for a run, Red."
"Don't call me that."
"Why?" He motioned at her, where her skin was still pink. "Have you looked in a mirror?"
"I got sunburned," Lily said pointedly, "you can't make fun of me for getting sunburned!"
"And?"
"That's making fun of me for no reason!"
"It's just a nickname," James said, "and it's better than the alternative Alice suggested this morning, Lobster."
"You guys can't give me a nickname." Lily crossed her arms in her bed.
"Alright, well, once you're done pouting in your throw up covered dress," James said, "Alice is downstairs waiting for you with her hangover cure."
He nodded at her before leaving the room, barely missing her cat coming through the door int he process. James almost warned Juniper to stay out of her mothers room, but he figured the spunky cat could fend for itself. He had the day off since he worked late the night before, so James purposely stayed far away from the house. Lily clearly didn't want James' help, so he decided he'd slink back into the shadows of her life. It was probably better that way anyways, Alice was right, they weren't allowed to form attachments with their clients.
"Why can't you just admit you fancy her?" Annie asked on the phone that night, "Good Lord James, she's a beautiful girl!"
"Beautifully stubborn," James muttered as he drew in his journal, "she refuses help, it's like she'd embarrassed by it!"
"Gee, I wonder who that sounds like." Annie snorted on the other end of the phone.
"I don't know what you're talking about." James muttered.
"Like Hell you don't," Annie actually laughed, "you were just like her when we first met, you wouldn't let me do anything! You were convinced you could fix yourself all on your own. I mean, don't make me get Minerva to back me up."
"Fine, fine." James dropped his pen and messed up his hands with his hand, "I was a little stubborn."
"You know what I think?" Annie asked on her end of the phone.
"I'm sure you'll tell me anyways." James muttered, leaning back to check the clock on his dresser.
"I think you're scared of how similar the two of you really are," Annie said, "I think you're worried you might actually fall for her."
"Fall for her?" James acted as if it was utter blasphemy, "you're mad, Annie."
"I'm just saying," Annie sounded amused, "you've never talked my ear off about a girl this much-until her."
"Goodnight Annie," James said fiercely, but that only made Annie laugh more.
He hung up while she was still laughing.
James glanced down at his journal and noticed the past three entires had been about Lily.
He was so fucked.