2
Lily walked with Owen over to the bar, where he greeted Hannah and Neville, who had run from behind the counter to hug the closest thing they had to a son. Lily watched Hannah fret over Owen, saying things like "When did you decide an earring would be a good addition?" and "Are you using enough sunblock while working, young man?"
Lily was smiling as she took in the pleasant scene before her, and a pinch on the bum took her by surprise. She let out a yelp and turned around, a glare already set on her face, when she saw Tad, suggestively wiggling his eyebrows.
"Ready to head to your place, Lily-Billy?" he asked, swinging an arm around her hips.
Lily shook her head. "Owen's home."
Tad's gaze darkened. "Great," he said sarcastically. "Look, Lily, just grab me my firewhiskey and come back to the table."
Lily felt Owen's eyes on her, so she turned away from him, looking straight at Tad. "I think you've had plenty to drink tonight, Tad."
Tad rolled his eyes. "I'm not even drunk. C'mon, Lily-Billy, just one more. Then we can get outta here and have our own fun." He gave her a little squeeze.
"You're being kind of crude," Lily pointed out in a hushed voice. "You've had plenty to drink."
Tad was looking more and more annoyed. "Fine, then let's just go back to your place."
Just as Lily was about to respond, she heard heavy footsteps approach them and looked up to see Owen standing beside her.
"Hey, Tad," Owen said, nodding his head in greeting. "Lily, are you going to stay for a bit?"
Lily didn't miss the (probably) involuntary squeeze of Tad's hand on her side. "Actually, I think I'm going to take him home, let him sleep off his firewhiskeys."
"I'm not drunk," Tad stated firmly.
Owen grinned at Lily and turned to Tad. "Me either, mate."
"See, Lily-Billy? No one is drunk!"
Owen's face wrinkled in distaste. Lily knew he thought Tad's pet name for her was ridiculous. Owen himself had always called her "Lils," and he tended to think any other nickname was stupid in comparison. She ignored Owen's facial expression and turned to her boyfriend.
"Time to get you home," she said, putting an arm around him and propelling him toward the back door. She looked at Owen. "Will you be here tomorrow? I'm off work, and we can have brunch and catch up."
Her friend nodded. "Yeah, see you then, Lils."
Back at her flat, which was a one-bedroom apartment above a small café in Diagon Alley, only a moments' walk from Eeylop's, Lily forced Tad to sit down on the couch.
"I'll go get you a hangover solution," she offered. He didn't protest as she went into the kitchen to grab the blue vial. She poured a sizable amount into a small glass and stepped back into the living room.
Tad was gone, but his clothing was scattered across the couch and floor—a cloak across the cushions, a shirt on the floor, pants half in and half out of her bedroom. Even now as she approached the bedroom doorway, a pair of boxers came flying out and landed on her forehead.
She peeled the cloth from her face and tossed them on the ground.
Tad was lying completely starkers on top of the comforter, wiggling his… gentleman parts at her and winking repeatedly.
"Come and get it," he said, grinning widely.
Lily rolled her eyes. "Drink this, please," she said, handing him the glass of hangover solution. He looked skeptically at it, and Lily shoved it at him again. "It'll help prevent the hangover tomorrow."
He drank it in one gulp and smacked the glass down on Lily's beside table.
"I chugged that bitch," he said proudly. Then he belched.
"Yes," she sighed, defeated, "yes, you did."
"Now come here so we can fuck," he said boldly.
Lily sighed again. "Not tonight, Tad."
"But I want to," he whined.
"I'm going to put on pyjamas. You might as well try to get some sleep," she said, pulling a nightgown out of her dresser and heading to the bathroom to change.
When she re-emerged from the bathroom, Tad was sitting up, waiting for her.
"Are you ready now?" he asked, sounding irritated.
Lily shook her head. "We're not having sex tonight." She pulled the comforter and sheets back and slipped inside, turning away from Tad and trying to settle in for bed. She felt Tad slip into the blankets as well and was just beginning to feel relieved that he'd finally gotten the message through his half-drunken stupor when he quickly raised her nightgown up and pressed his length against her bottom.
She gasped and flipped around, yanking her nightgown back down. "That's it, Tad. If you can't keep to yourself and just go to sleep, you'll be on the couch."
"Sensitive tonight, aren't you?" Tad said irritably, but rolled over anyway.
Lily woke to a familiar voice, whispering in her ear.
"Lily-Billy," Tad whispered, "its morning, Lily-Billy."
Lily's eyelids fluttered open. "Good morning," she said, looking into her boyfriend's dark eyes. She watched as his eyes closed, and she followed suit to meet his lips with a kiss. He deepened the kiss almost immediately, and Lily allowed him, relishing in him this morning.
He pulled away for a moment and whispered, "I'm sorry about last night, love. Won't you let me make it up to you?"
She nodded. "Yes."
He kissed her again, and as he plunged his tongue into her mouth in the way that she had begun to associate only with him, his hands went to the hem of her nightgown and began to lift it up. They broke their kiss as Tad pulled the nightdress over her head, and she watched his delighted grin as he saw that she was wearing no undergarments.
And then he'd dragged himself on top of her quickly, readying himself. Lily breathed quickly in anticipation and her breath hitched as he entered her, still as surprising as the first time. He kissed her again as he began to rock her body, and she was suddenly and completely lost in Tad.
It was only a little while later, when Lily was kissing down Tad's thin but fit body, watching his hands grasp the mattress in heat and anticipation and absolute lust, that there was a hard pounding on the front door.
Lily got up, much to Tad's disappointment (which he verbalized with a "Fucking really?"), and wrapped herself in the comforter, which rested, forgotten, on the carpeted floor. She nearly tripped over the blanket as she stumbled to the door. Tad was still swearing loudly in the bedroom, and she was laughing when she swung the door open.
"Lils?"
She froze as she saw her best friend in the doorway.
Owen's jaw dropped. Lily stared at him, suddenly very aware that she was dressed in a comforter, her hair probably looking like a bird's nest. She felt herself going quite red in the face.
Owen was the first to speak. He rubbed his hand across the back of his neck awkwardly. "Am I interrupting something?"
Lily opened her mouth to reply, but nothing came out. Just as she was about to try to speak again, she heard footsteps coming from the bedroom.
"Lily-Billy? Are you coming back to remedy this rather large situation for me or what?"
"Dammit," she cursed quietly, closing her eyes and wishing that none of this was happening.
"Oh, hey, Owen," Tad said casually, although Lily was certain she could hear the smirk in his voice; Tad had always distrusted Lily's friendship with Owen and was not particularly fond of her oldest and best friend.
Owen coughed.
Lily opened her eyes and threw her friend an apologetic glance before looking back at her boyfriend, who was covering his privates with a pillow. She let out an embarrassed sigh as she turned to Owen once more.
"I, er, I wanted to make sure you were okay," he said lamely. "You missed brunch."
Lily glanced at the clock above the stove. Twelve thirty-seven. How long had she slept in, and, good gracious, how long had she and Tad been fooling around?
"I am so sorry, Owen," she said, even more embarrassed as she remembered—again—that she was wrapped in her blanket. "Wait just a minute—I'll just go grab some clothes, and we can go eat. I'm so sorry!"
She turned to dash back into the bedroom but tripped over the comforter and fell backwards onto the floor. The blanket slipped a bit and revealed her left breast.
Owen turned bright pink. "I'll meet you at the café downstairs," he said, dashing away.
Lily burst into tears. "That was so embarrassing!"
Tad shrugged and tossed the pillow down on the sofa, standing naked before her.
"Want to finish what we started?"
Lily cried even harder.
