Sorry for the long delay in updating! I felt compelled to write a chapter like this, even though it didn't turn out quite the way I wanted it to. I hope you guys enjoy it anyways... I seem to flit between angst and fluff. I wonder why. Just so we all remember, we're picking up after Scotty spent a day at work and Lilly, one at home. Separate, ):

Chapter title by The Fray

Disclaimer: You'd think people would've gotten the hint by now, chapter 16 and all, with regards to the ownership issues. I don't own anything, nothing, zilch. Such is life.

Chapter 16: Look After You

Scotty knocked on Lilly's door that evening. He'd made through one day. One day without Lilly sitting across from him, to glance at whenever the paperwork got too tiresome, and drink in that beautiful smile that worked like coffee couldn't. Granted, his day had not been free from the merciless teasing of his colleagues, and the use of his new nickname, 'Casanova', which Scotty had a horrible suspicion he would have to get used to. But he'd made it through the day all the same, itching to see Lilly and praying she was still okay. Only four more days to go, he told himself grimly.

He knocked a bit harder, and heard Lilly's shuffling footsteps, followed by the click of a latch. She opened the door a crack, and leaned against the door frame so that all Scotty could see was her face.

"Lil…" Scotty's voice was barely above a whisper and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of her. She looked terrible, like she hadn't slept in days, and Scotty knew that the tough front she'd put on for the past few days had completely crumbled during his absence. Silently, he cursed himself for allowing this to happen.

"Scotty." Lilly began, closing her eyes for a second. "I'm not feeling very fun, or showered… maybe you could come over another night?"

"Let me take care of you?" Scotty implored.

"You don't have to do that." Lilly said softly.

"I want to." He replied, without missing a beat.

Gingerly, Scotty pried Lilly's fingers away from the door and opened it so that he could enter her house. When she didn't resist, he pushed the door closed with his foot, and guided her shaky steps over to the couch, where she probably spent most of the day, as evidence by the crumpled blanket, and misshapen pillows. He tucked the blanket under her chin, and sat on the edge of the sofa, waiting for her to speak.

"I have a headache." Lilly whispered, "And I think maybe a fever."

Scotty pressed a hand to her forehead, and was shocked by how hot it was. "This is how you're supposed to be feelin'." He said gently, "After what happened to you. You have a concussion." He reminded her.

In a way, Scotty knew that he was reminding himself as well. Lilly was waiting on a hospital visit, a bandage on her wrist, and bruises that were not yet faded. Silently, Scotty cursed himself again for allowing himself to be fooled by Lilly's façade, even taking her word for being 'fine' and spending the day on the chilly streets of the city yesterday.

"I know." She said, a tear slipping out beneath her eyelid, "I just… don't want you see me like this."

Crouching down so that his eyes were level with hers, Scotty said, "You ain't gotta be pretendin' for me, Lil. I wanna take of you. 'Sides, it's what boyfriends are for." He finished with a grin.

"Really?" Lilly asked, part sarcasm, part pure wonder at how sweet he was being.

"Yeah, Lil." He took her hand. "Everything. The good and the bad right?"

If Lilly had a response, it was lost in a soft snore as she fell asleep, clinging to his hand. Scotty stared in wonder at this first hint of how vulnerable Lilly was since the day of the incident. He pressed the back of her hand to his cheek, not releasing her delicate fingers, hoping that somehow, in her unconscious state, she would glean the fact that he was still there. I ain't goin' nowhere. He thought to himself, and when his fingers started turning numb, and his knees ached from his position, crouched in front of the sofa, he didn't let go.

A couple of hours later, Lilly woke up to find Scotty asleep on the floor, their fingers still intertwined. Despite the piercing pain in her head that made every movement and every light magnified, and the growing ache that seemed to have seeped deep into her bones, she smiled slightly.

Scotty awoke as soon as she stirred, getting to his knees to look her in the eyes. "Lil? You okay? Does it hurt?"

Lilly shut her eyes against his loud voice. He meant well, sure, but God, did the man have to talk so loudly? "If by it, you mean my entire body, then… yes."

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, and lifting himself up slowly to his feet, Scotty said, "I'll be right back, okay?"

Scotty walked into Lilly's kitchen. He had enough experience with Lilly's stock of food by now to know not to expect anything useful. Instead of wasting time sifting through her old take out, he immediately picked up the phone.

As he listened to the phone ringing softly in his ear, Scotty scrubbed a hand through his closely cropped hair. He didn't want to leave. He told Lilly he wouldn't leave. That left only one option.

"Miller?" Scotty whispered, holding a hand over his mouth to speak as quietly as possible. God forbid Lilly find out what he was up to.

"Valens? Ain't you supposed to be spendin' some quality couple time with Lil?"

"I need you to run a prescription, and pick up some soup for her."

"Your car suddenly break down or somethin'?"

Scotty sighed, he knew that reaching out to Kat for help meant taking some of her skeptic teasing.

"I can't leave, Kat. She needs me." Even from across the phone, Kat could hear the quiet desperation in his plaintive voice. The use of her first name, which always meant something personal for Scotty, convinced her to agree.

"I'll be at Lil's in 10, dollface."

"Thanks Kat. Oh, and Lil might be sleepin' so don't ring the doorbell, call me or somethin' when you get here, okay?" Scotty snapped his phone shut and made his way back into the living room to find Lilly sitting up in her couch, staring straight ahead. Careful not to disturb the bundle of blankets around her, and the two cats that had settled protectively by her feet, Scotty lowered himself next to her and slid an arm around her shoulders.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Lilly finally spoke.

"When I was little, and bad things would happen," Lilly began in a small voice. "We, me and Chris, we'd just pretend it didn't. 'Cause whatever was happening, it wasn't worth bothering our mom on the other side of the door, with her booze. Just stand up. Brush it off, y'know?"

From the corner of her eye, she could sense Scotty tense, feel his hold on her tighten just a bit, and see the muscle twitching in his jaw as he worked through her sudden admissions.

Scotty, for his part, was shocked. He'd always wanted Lilly to open to him. He'd watched her keep her past and her private life all closed off from the people around her, and inwardly, he'd hoped for years she'd find someone to confide in, hoped that that someone would end up being him. Now that she was though, now that years of pain had been concentrated into one short sentence and laid out before him, Scotty found that he didn't know what to say.

"Sorry you had to stand up on your own." He said hesitantly.

"Yeah." Lilly said, casting her eyes back to the wall across from her and settling deeper into his embrace. "Me too."

Lilly was glad he hadn't said more, that he hadn't tried to deny or explain away her past, the way he had the first time she'd tried to spill her guts to him, that cold night after one of their first cases. They were silent, both lost in their own maelstrom of thoughts, until Lilly spoke again.

"Point was, I'm… not sure how this is supposed to work. This whole, take your hand and you'll pull me up sort of thing."

At this Scotty smiled, this he could handle. This wasn't the cold as ice Lilly, with steel walls ten feet high that collided all too often with his bull in a china shop routine. Nor was this the broken, wounded, child Lilly, who still sometimes had a firm hold on the adult version of her. This was just Lilly. Plain, simple, honest, open Lilly. Everything he loved about her, all rolled into one and out in the open.

"I know." Scotty said, "You just ain't used to leanin' on people who care about you."

"Exactly." Lilly sighed in relief at how well he'd understood her.

"'Cause no one's been there before."

Lilly only nodded again.

Shifting so that he could look into her eyes, affirm for her that what he was about to say was true, and gauge her reaction by her expression, Scotty spoke with a quiet conviction.

"I promise Lil, I'm always gonna be here for you, no matter what. I'll be your someone to lean on, whatever you need, whenever you need it. And, whatever happens, we'll get through it - together." He finished with a smile.

Lilly could feel tears well up in her eyes. His words were cliché, they were childish, they were way too optimistic for a couple like them, and they were… just what she needed to hear, just what she needed to put aside the thoughts that'd been circling her semi-conscious, semi-delusional mind since opening the door to find Scotty standing on her porch earlier that night.

"Ok."

They hadn't talked much after that. Lilly's fever had risen back up and as she flitted between too cold and too hot, Scotty had scrambled about, changing the thermostat, getting more blankets, filling cups with ice… anything to make her feel better. Finally, she fell into a fitful sleep and Scotty allowed himself a moment of rest. Collapsing on the couch, and simultaneously hating himself for dragging her around town yesterday, which had most likely - no definitely - caused her fever in her already susceptible state, Scotty raked a hand through his hair. Rather than go down that familiar road of self loathing, he decided to check his phone.

8 Missed Alerts. What? Wait, what the hell? Scotty scrolled through the 8 text messages sent in the past half hour, all from the same number. The same, vaguely familiar number that sent dread right to the pit of his stomach.

Kat Miller.

Oh shit.

Scotty read the first few messages.

- Scotty, I'm outside Lil's place. -Kat

- You fall asleep or somethin'? I have food and medicine. You better be out here in the next five minutes, it's freakin' freezing.

- VALENS! When I get my hands on you, you're gonna wish your Latin ass was never born.

- BTW, that last message was NOT a joke.

And they only got worse from there. The dread coiling in his stomach tightened into a knot as Scotty leapt from his seat on the couch and threw open the door. Careful as to not slam the door behind him, Scotty shivered in his t-shirt as he bounded down the stairs, just in time to see a furious woman slam the door to her car and stalk aggressively toward him.

"I can explain-" Scotty began, throwing his hand in front of him to, hopefully, hold back some of the anger emanating from none other than Kat Miller.

"Good, 'cause you got five seconds to start before I decide to shove this entire bottle of cold medicine I got down your sorry throat." She interjected, waving a paper bag at him. "I'm sure V would alibi me when they find your corpse."

Scotty was temporarily distracted and looked behind Kat to see a small girl of about 6 or 7 years old, peeking out from the backseat of the car. Instantly, he was sincerely sorry for interrupting a night she could have shared with her daughter. When Kat snapped her fingers in his face however, he decided, survival first, compassion later.

"My phone was on silent, and Lil and I got distracted." He said haltingly, wondering what the best explanation would be.

"Oh, you nasty… I don't even wanna… Do you think I'm interested…" each of Kat's unfinished sentences was punctuated by the swinging of the paper bag in her hand landing sharp blows on Scotty's head.

"No, not that kind of distracted." Scotty quickly explained, wrenching the bag out of her hand so as not to do any more damage to the medicine inside. Or him. "We were just talkin'."

Seeing the sincerity in his eyes, and noting the slight desperation to make her understand, Kat sighed. "The things I do for you people…" She muttered mutinously.

"Hey Uncle Scotty!" The enthusiastic voice of Veronica Miller rang out in the night. She'd obviously seen her mother's anger deflate, and upon deciding that it was safe to come out, didn't want to miss out on the fun.

"Veronica! You're gettin' so big." He replied with a grin, glad to take his attention away from the still seething woman beside him for a few seconds.

"Yeah. I'm 6 you know." Scotty laughed at her irritated reply, paired with the 'Grown Up Are So Stupid' look that she could pull off like nobody's business. When Veronica leaned a hand against her hip and tilted her six year old head at Scotty, he knew, she was indeed Miller's daughter. "Anyways, mom says Aunt Lilly is sick," Veronica continued, obviously demanding a explanation for why she was here, and not at home.

"Huh? Oh, yeah she is." Scotty replied, unable to stop himself from picturing the adorable, dear-in-the-headlights look Lilly would be sure to get upon hearing herself loving christened 'Aunt Lilly'.

"Well, I hope she feels better." Veronica said sweetly, handing Scotty a take out bag she'd hidden behind her back, presumably containing the soup he'd asked for, now that she'd decided he was worthy of it. Taking her mother's hand and beginning to lead her back to car, Veronica called back to a bemused Scotty, "We have to go, 'Arthur' is starting soon, but mommy hopes Aunt Lilly will feel better too, she just doesn't show it." She finished wisely.

Before allowing herself to be led away, Kat turned and shot Scotty one last lethal glare, letting him know in no uncertain terms that he owed her, big time, probably in the form of one of those 500 calorie coffee concoctions that she ate with a spoon.

"Uh, bye." Scotty called, a huge grin plastered on his face. Shaking his head with amusement, Scotty turned and made his way back into Lilly's house.

"Where did you go?" Lilly demanded, as soon as Scotty shut the door behind him. Upon waking a few minutes ago, without Scotty next to her, she'd stood up, taking the comforter with her and was now standing in the doorway.

"I…" Scotty was temporarily shocked into silence by the plaintive neediness in her voice that she'd never used before. Helplessly, he held up the bag containing her soup. "Thought you could use some real food."

He reached out and touched her forehead, and to his amazement, found it no more heated than his own. "You're…" talking coherently, standing up, beautiful. "… fever's gone." He finished.

Lilly's smile softened immediately, and she leaned forward to snake both her arms around his waist, the blanket dropping to the floor around their feet. "I thought you left…" She trailed off.

Scotty reached around her to put down the food and medicine still clutched in his hand before returning her embrace. "I promised I'd take care of you remember? Least I can do, seein' as it is my fault."

At this Lilly's eyes opened, even in her current state, she was aware of Scotty's self-incriminating tendencies, and she was determined to prevent him from going down that road, "What's your fault?" She asked sharply.

"I just meant that traipsin' all 'round town yesterday probably wasn't the best of ideas." He said, smiling sheepishly as he pulled back a little to look at her.

"Hey, that was the most fun I had in a long time." She informed him happily.

"The most fun, huh?" Scotty asked devilishly, planting a kiss on the corner of her mouth, and continuing to blaze a trail of heat down her neck, across her collar bone… trying to remind of her of some other fun things they'd done recently.

"Okay, so not the most fun." Lilly admitted breathlessly.

Point made, Scotty stopped his gentle assault her senses. "Oh, and sleepin' on my kitchen floor last night probably didn't help matters either." He continued.

Lilly was confused. "I woke up in your bed."

"Yeah, after I carried you there. We spent the night on the floor." He confirmed with a slight grin.

Lilly collapsed back on the couch and groaned, "No wonder my back was killin' me."

Scotty chuckled ruefully. "Let me make it up to you?" He said, as he swept some blond hair back from Lilly's forehead.

"Okay."

:D, Scotty can be so cute when he wants to be, am I right? And Kat can be so funny. I'm not sure how old Veronica is, but I'm sure that by the end of the series she was at least a teenager. Let's pretend, for the sake of the story, that's she's six though, 'cause I don't think I could've pulled off that conversation if V was a 13 year old.

As always, thanks for reading, and please leave me a little review if you get a second. It's not hard, really. :)