Oh man. I really, really hate the next couple chapters...

"So, Lillian," His mother began rather sweetly from across the table. "I trust Bluebell has been treating you right these past few months?"

Somewhere in the back room a clock chimed. One hour. It had only been one hour since Lillian had appeared on the other side of his door and greeted him with a rather frosty hello, only to be ushered in and fussed over by his mother. He had never had such a short amount of time pass by so slowly, nor had it ever been filed with so many pregnant pauses.

She had hardly bothered to look at him the whole time she was there; rather, she had spent most of the meal thus far with her eyes glued to her plate, clearly trying to be cheerful as his mother grilled her with questions and Cheryl pouted. Between a mouthful of stew, she tried to smile. "Oh, yes. The people here actually remind me of the people back home. Very down to earth, kind people."

"And where are you from again?"

"Mineral Town."

Jessica gave an approving nod. "I'll take that as a compliment. I have cousins who live near there; hard working people, they are." Another awkward silence fell as his mother surveyed Lillian over her glass of water. "Speaking of hard working, Ash told me you've really turned that farm around."

He felt Lillian's gaze on the side of his face, but she looked away before he had a chance to meet her eye. "I guess I have. The place was such a wreck when I bought it, I imagine any improvement really shows."

"On the contrary, Ash was very complimentary, I can tell he thinks highly of you." He could see Lillian's cheeks flush, an act that only encourage his mother to continue. "You two have been spending quite a bit of time together, haven't you?"

There was a slightly awkward silence in which they both began to turn red, something that did not improve when Cheryl sniffed beside them, her spoon scraping against her plate. "I'll say they have."

"Hush, Cheryl." His mother scolded, her eyes swivelling between them both. "See Ash? Wasn't I right? She certainly is pretty."

"I don't know about pretty..."

"Cheryl!"

There was a horrifying moment of silence and he began to pile the remaining food on his plate into his mouth in a combination of desperation to be excused and to have an valid reason not to speak. His mother muttered an embarrassed apology, standing to refill each of their glasses with water. "Really, Cheryl, you know better... Anyway. I know you two didn't take to each other at first, but now it's a rare sight to see once of you without the other. You two really are the best of friends, aren't you?"

He could feel himself going hot around the collar under Jessica's gaze. He could tell she at least had her suspicions of their happenings, but it was clear she had no idea the extent of what was going on between them, or that just a few days previously he had lost his virginity to her... He swallowed his mouthful of food rather painfully and decided to spare Lillian the anguish of answering, all the while willing his cheeks to return to their usual shade. "Yeah. She's good friends with both Cam and Me. And Georgia too, right?"

His mother's eyes flashed. "But not Laney."

It wasn't a question. He felt his stomach drop and risked a glance to his left. Lillian looked exactly how he felt; her cheeks were flaming red, her mouth dropped into a comical "o" shape.

Cheryl looked up from her dinner. "Why not Laney?"

"That's what I want to know." Jessica said rather sweetly, her eyes drifting from her daughter to fix rather steadily on Lillian. "It's probably just talk dear. But you know, I can't help but wonder... They are such old family friends."

"Mom." His voice came out rather strained.

Lillian seemed to have come back to her senses slightly; her cheeks had faded and she had managed to jerk her eyes off her leftover spinach. "It's alright, Ash. Uh, it's actually nothing really... I mean, some people just click and others don't. It's as simple as that, I guess."

His mother got to her feet and took their plates from them, carrying them across the room to the sink as she spoke. "Really? Because I've heard from quite a few people -reliable sources, let's say- that you and her are in a bit of a fight over my son."

He had never seen Lillian turn so crimson, so fast; every bit of exposed flesh her could see was suddenly a shade of maroon, her mouth stretched thin, no doubt to resist yelling. "Mom, that's enough." He wasn't aware of having gotten to his feet, his voice booming in the silence that followed.

Jessica began running the water to clean up, watching them in the reflection of the window above the sink. "Calm down, Ash. I'm not saying anything by it. Did Ash tell you- him and Laney used to be best friends when they were little. Now there's two peas in a pod if I ever saw them. Never one without the other. It was like chasing bandits, trying to get the two to be five minutes without the other. Most days I was half convinced she was my own daughter."

"No." Lillian's voice was rather weak as she spoke. "I didn't know that."

"And they were really good about including Cheryl too; Laney never made anyone feel like they were competing for his affections. Too sweet, they were. But you know how it is. Kids get older, make other friends. But those two... Well, they've been down to get married since they were babies, the whole village was sure of it."

His hands were balled at his sides and he was surprised by how his voice shook with anger as he spoke. "Mom, that's enough. I'm taking Lillian home."

He grabbed Lillian a little rougher than he meant to, jerking her out of her chair and steering her towards the exit in the same rushed manner she had done to him only a day previously. Vaguely, and in a rather stunned manner, he heard Lillian call out over her shoulder. "Thank you for dinner. The food was lovely."

He pushed her out the door and was about to follow her himself, but Cheryl was already on her feet, her little hand grabbing his shirt. "Can I come? I've never been to Lillian's ranch. And then after we can go play down by the river-"

He paused, trying his best to keep his voice even despite his rage with his mother. "Cheryl, I need to talk with Lillian alone right now. It won't take long though, how about when I get back-"

He had known it was coming before it started; Cheryl let out a rather loud groan, tears welling in her eyes. "You see Lillian every day! You can't stand 5 minutes without her? You're... You're a bad brother!"

He felt her pig tail whip him rather hard across the chest as she pushed past them and into the autumn night. He could see his mother's smug expression reflected in the window, her hands still scrubbing at their leftover dinner plates.

"I know you're mad now, dear. But a girl like that... Well she's nice enough. But she has no idea... The history, tradition... She's just not right for you."

He was so furious he could barely speak, and resolved to slam the door loudly behind him.

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