So, for the really long wait I wrote an extra long chapter. And I hope you like it!

oh and the song I used was Josh Ritter's Lillian Egypt and it's not mine (but it's still a brilliant song!)

Enjoy and please review :)

Chapter 3: New Haven

The entire week she'd been doubting whether she should go or not. Mentally she'd made several pro/con lists. Every single one had turned out with more cons than pro's, but she'd gone either way. Giving Bart the excuse that her mother needed her she'd left the city behind, again. This time, for a dark bar somewhere in New Haven. She was glad she'd taken a cab this time, she never would've found it on her own.

But outside, she thought she recognized the outside of the bar.

" 'O Malleys. Not a place for a classy lady like you, if I may say so."

She threw the cab driver a glare and handed him some money. Quickly she left the car, glad to be rid of her nosy cabdriver. On her way back, she'd make sure that she had a different kind of transportation.

The old fashioned bell tinkled as she closed the door behind her. It was already pretty crowded in the bar, and she was glad that she'd once again decided to shot up a little late. That way there was a smaller chance of running into familiar people. Her first stop inside was the bar itself.

"Hi, can I get a drink?"

"Sure, let me guess, Scotch wasn't it?" The man smiled knowingly and reached for a bottle on his right. Lily looked at him in astonishment, how did he know that she was planning to order that very drink? It's not exactly something women usually drink. His voice and the hand placing the drink in front of her snapped her out of her thoughts.

" I see you left your camera at home, so you're not taking pictures this time?"

Then it all finally clicked. She had been here before. This was the same bar she'd taken that picture in. The picture everyone saw as the iconic picture of Lincoln Hawk. She gave the man behind the bar a smile.

" No, not this time."

"Tiger Lily is that you?

She turned around to tell whoever it was to stop calling her by that name. But when she saw the redhead behind her she hugged the other woman close. So much for not running into familiar faces.

"Anna-belle! How have you been?"

"Good, good. And how about you, last time I checked you married some big shot billionaire. What are you doing here?"

"Following the music." Lily winked at her friend. So much time had passed since they'd last seen each other, but it still felt like yeserday. Remember the feeling when you saw someone for the first time in ages and so much has happened that you don't even know what to tell them, and you'd end up in some kind of uncomfortable silence? Well, they were one of the few people who never had that problem.

"So I think I owe you an 'I told you so'." Lily grinned at her friend who looked confused for a moment, not knowing what Lily was talking about. Then her face lit up and she nodded, the old sparkle back in her eyes.

"Don't remind me."

"How long did it take the two of you to get your stubborn heads together and get things right?"

"Actually it was about a month after you..left." Anna saw the look on her friends face, apparently it was still a sore subject to her, even after all these years.

"And why didn't I get a wedding invitation?"

"We sort of eloped about five years after that." Then she changed the subject. "Come on, you said you were following the music again, let's go!" Anna pulled her friend through the crowd, right to a spot in front of the stage. Then danced just like they did all those years ago. It might've looked a little strange, two forty-year olds dancing and having fun like teenagers but they didn't care. It didn't take too long for the band to notice them, their biggest -and oldest- fans. Simon smiled down at his wife. He knew she'd missed her friend a lot. Somehow they'd never found the time to keep in touch. But now, they were together again and it felt like twenty something years ago. He looked to his left, Rufus had noticed the two too. And it surprised him that he still knew what to sing. His gaze seemed to be locked on the woman in front of the stage, fixed on her blond hair, dancing around with her friend.

Simon finally nudged him and the two shared a knowing look. He shifted his gaze to the other band members, they nodded at him. It was time.

When the band started their new song Lilly and Anna grinned at each other and turned to the stage. They were playing their song. The one Rufus, Simon, Jake and Sam had written for them, their self proclaimed 'biggest fans'.

Next to her, Anna was singing along from the top of her lungs, Lily silently sang along with her, she looked at the stage again, where her former lover was singing. His eyes caught hers, and just this once she didn't look away. He continued to sing the song, his gaze frimly locked with hers. Just like it used to.

I remember back in Illinois I found her

The lily of the valley the lily of the West was a rose

The daughter of the biggest big town banker

He kept her like a princess I stole her like the Fort Knox gold

With the last series of la da da's the set ended, and the band left the stage. One of the rainy nights on tour the song had been created from the crazy stories Lily and Anna used to make up during those nights. The stories they told about their backgrounds, their very own fairy tales.

"Do you want to go backstage? Say hi?"

"No." Lily's answer was firm. "I'll talk to Simon and the others later."

"And Rufus?"

Lily hesitated. "I don't want to talk to him."

"Okay." Anna knew better than to question her friends decision. She knew she'd tell her sooner or later.

"So how are Serena and Eric?'

"Growing up, very fast."

"And I heard Serena is turning out to be a chip off the old block."

Lily didn't stop the smile from forming on her face, proud of her daughter, even after all the mistakes she'd made in the past.

"Yes, well, unfortunately that goes for the good and the bad."

"I just hope her boyfriend isn't in a band."

"Simon didn't tell you I take it. Her boyfriend is Rufus' son Dan."

"Well that makes everything much easier."

A few feet away from them, Lily spotted a familiar mop of dark hair. She ducked behind her friend, who gave her a very strange look.

"Quick, hide me." Anna pushed Lily back into the crowd and turned around, trying to find the person who got her to act this way.

Rufus, she should've known. She put her brightest smile on and hugged him excitedly.

"You guys were great! I can't even remember the last time I heard you sing Lillian Egypt!"

"It seemed like the perfect song at the moment." Rufus smiled but quickly averted his gaze, trying to find Lily in the mass of people. When he couldn't see her, decided to ask Anna instead.

"So, where's Lily?"

Anna stood on her toes, pretending to search through the crowd. "I'm not sure, she's supposed to be getting us drinks, so you might find her at the bar. That's where I found her the last time."

Rufus nodded gratefully and turned to crawl his way to the bar. Anna watched him until she felt two arms curl around her waist.

"So you got rid of one of your admirers I see?"

"You might not want to do that, my husband will find me any second now."

"Really, sounds like a smart man. Not leaving his wife alone for long."

Anna shrugged. " I just keep him for his looks."

She got turned around in the mans arms.

"Glad to know I'm useful for something" Simon replied in mock hurt as he put a sad puppy dog face on.

"Aww, poor baby, you want me to kiss it better?"

He nodded and pointed toward his lips, she happily obliged and kissed her husband.

"God the two of you are so sweet together, I almost wish I never told you how great you'd be together." Lily smiled at her two friends.

"I just wanted to tell you that I'm heading back, Bart just called, his last meeting was cancelled and he asked if I could come home too. So.."

Anna released herself from her husband's arms and hugged her friend.

"I'm coming over for a visit soon."

"You better." And with a last wave goodbye, Lily stepped outside. There, in front of the bar, with his back turned to her was Rufus, the one person she'd successfully avoided the entire night. Lily hid awat in the shadows but couldn't help to catch a few sentences from his phone conversation.

"I'll be back tomorrow. Why don't we have dinner together."

"No, Dan and Jenny won't be there."

"I'll see you at seven"

"I miss you too."

"Bye."

The conversation immediately sobered Lily up. Rufus was dating again? Who? What? When? It probably wasn't something that she should concern herself with but she couldn't help to think about it the entire way home. And in the back of the cab she groaned.

"I knew this was a bad idea. Why didn't I just stay at home."