Title: Love Runs Deeper: Chapter Seven, Lilies
Rating: PG-13 [mild language, drugs]

Summary: Lindsey tries to figure out how to keep improving things for Lily. And learns more about her too.






Though she had practically ordered off the children’s menu, Lindsey was pleased Lily ate most everything on her plate and shared a piece of cake with him. They opted to not go to a movie and headed back to the hotel instead. Stopped by the front desk, Lindsey smiled when informed all of Lily’s new clothing had been laundered and returned to the suite as requested. Within moments, she lounged in a bubble bath, while he sat on the couch smoking another joint.

Stepping out of the bathroom, her long hair braided back from her face, Lily’s eyes darted to the joint between his fingers. She bit her bottom lip and moved towards the bed, pulling back the blanket. Lindsey watched her movements, waiting for her to say something to him. However, she continued to make the bed ready, shifting the pillows around and completely ignoring him. Inhaling deeply, he pushed the smoke out the right side of his mouth before getting up and approaching her.

Turning her eyes met his, her gaze settled on his joint, “Oh.”

He held it out to her, “Want?”

Her eyes widened, “Uh what?”

“It’ll help you relax,” he stated.

“Uh no,” she pushed his hand away. “I don’t need to relax. Do remember you’re the one who complained that I sleep too deeply.”

Lindsey sucked on the joint, “You don’t like the smoking.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she turned away, quickly moving to the other side of the bed to prepare it as well.

“Yes, it does,” he followed her. “Tell me why it bothers you.”

“I don’t like the way it smells,” she quickly declared.

His eyes dropped to the joint and he hurried to the other side of the room to put it out, “That’s it?”

“Sure,” she tossed an extraneous pillow to the nearest chair.

Opening the nearby window to air out the room, he glanced back in her direction, “That’s not it.”

“Sure it is.”

Approaching her, Lindsey grasped her hand softly after she pulled back the blanket, “Lily, please tell me what’s going on in your head.”

She sighed, “I don’t like drugs, Lindsey. At all. I know that is part of your world; you told me all about it. But I don’t… I would never ask you to stop or whatever because of me. But I don’t like drugs, okay?”

“Why?” he muttered.

“It’s not important,” she looked away.

He reached to turn her face back to his, “Yes, it is. Why are you so anti-drugs, Lily?”

She closed her eyes, “Please, Lindsey…”

“Baby,” he released her hand so both hands could cup her face, “please let me in.”

Leaning forward, she pressed her forehead to his shoulder, “Please, Lindsey… no…”

His hands left her face so that he could embrace her properly, “It’s okay, Lily. You can tell me anything.”

She shook her head, “Please no.”

He kissed the top of her head, “It’s okay. You don’t have to tell me anything, Lily. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed. I’m sorry.”

“My mother,” she sighed, “is why.”

“She doesn’t like drugs?”

“She liked drugs much too much,” Lily declared.

“I don’t… you don’t need to say anymore, Lily. Really. It’s fine. I don’t need to know any more,” he claimed.

Pulling away from him, she sat on the bed and sighed, “You might as well know. I mean, you did pay for her care so on some level you ought to know why I have better conversations with four-year-old children than my own mother. And it might… it might make some more sense in light of everything too.”

“You don’t need to…”

“Yes, I do,” her eyes went to his, watching him sit beside her. “I do.”

He reached for her hand, squeezing it gently, “It you think so, Lily…”

“The reason my mother is… the way she is… well… my mom liked to drink and drug and party. She was only sixteen when I was born,” Lily began. “And I don’t have a clue who my father could be. I’ll probably never know. Anyways, when I was eleven, she went out partying like normal and… never came back. We were living in a dumpy little place, though it was nicer than the place you saw. The neighbors took care me for a few days, making sure I got to school and all that. Eventually… eventually my grandparents showed up, told me to pack my things, and took me to their house…”

“Lily…”

“I was there for about two weeks before I was finally told what happened to my mother and not in a way you would think I would be told. Basically, my… grandfather told me I had to get some sort of a job, me who was not even twelve yet, because I needed to pay for my mother’s care. All he would say was that my mother’s hospital bills were very expensive and that he and my grandmother would not be responsible for them. And since… since I was the result of my mother’s ways, it was my duty to pay for everything,” she continued, pausing to take a deep breath. “So I started babysitting everywhere I could and running a paper route. After a couple weeks of that, I was taken to the hospital, given instructions where to take my money, and told he would return for me in an hour.”

He squeezed her hand again, “Lily, you don’t…”

“I found the accounting department and explained that I was there to pay my mother’s bill. I handed them something like fifty dollars in cash and coins,” she explained. “I think they only took the money because her bill hadn’t been touched at all. A nurse then escorted me up to where she was…”

Lindsey really wanted to stop her story, to not allow her to relive what was likely a painful memory. However, he did not believe she would stop even if he asked. The pain dancing across her face was killing him.

Lily looked down at their joined hands briefly, “She was in a coma at that point. Completely unresponsive. It is not as if I had a great relationship with her, but I started to cry. A nurse came in and tried to calm me down. I asked what had happened, why she was like that. She was… out partying, high on who knows what, I think probably a combination of drugs, and in a car… going to the next party… from what the nurse had been told, the car she was in… ran a red light and was completely smashed by a drunken driver careening through the intersection at the same time. My mother… was the only one in the car to survive, if you can call what she became surviving.”

“Lily…”

“She came out of the coma and was moved into the nursing home about a week later. I’ve worked every day since then to pay her bills, working a fulltime job while still in high school and then taking another fulltime job once graduated,” she stated. “And… I have hated drugs and alcohol since. I didn’t really have an ideal life before it happened, since she only worked enough to keep us in our apartment and her partying going on, but… after… my life since age eleven has revolved around paying for my mother’s mistakes.”

“Lily, I understand your aversion to drugs now, but… sweetheart, you don’t have to live your life for someone else. You need to look out for yours–”

“If I don’t look out for my mother, no one will,” she interrupted.

“Why won’t your grandparents? She’s their daughter,” Lindsey pointed out.

Lily instantly recoiled, her eyes darkening, and pulled her hand from his, wrapping her arms around her legs, “I won’t talk about them.”

“…okay,” he replied. “Well in any event, you don’t have to worry about your mother any more. I have taken care of that, Lily. And you are out of that shithole you called an apartment. All of this bad stuff is behind you, sweetheart. I promise.”

“You say that now, but you don’t know everything, Linds.”

“Well as long as you haven’t committed murder or something along that line, I’m pretty sure I have nothing to worry about.”

She remained silent.

“You haven’t, right?”

Lily refused to look at him.

“Lil?”

“I haven’t, but as far as I know, I could very well have caused other people’s deaths.”

“What do you mean?”

She shook her head, “I can’t… right now, Linds.”

He shifted over on the bed and wrapped his arms around her, “You’re safe now, Lily. I am never going to let anyone harm you ever again. I promise.”

“Lindsey… I… I have to get a job tomorrow. Too many people… too many people…”

He kissed her temple, “Don’t think about that now, sweetheart. We’ll work on it tomorrow.”

“Lindsey, I don’t want to be a burden on you. I’ll find a job tomorrow and–”

“Hot cocoa. We need hot cocoa,” he declared and pulled away from her quickly.

Before she could object, he snatched up the phone and requested a large mug of cocoa to be brought to the room immediately. He moved back over to the bed, kneeling in front of her. Slowly guiding her to unwrap from about her legs, he kissed the palms of her hands. Her eyes looked down at him, clearly attempting to get her emotions in check. Hearing a knock at the door, he stood, kissed her once, and went to accept their cocoa.

After sharing the mug and turning out the lights, Lindsey lay beside Lily, his arms holding her close as she molded against him. Held in the darkness, he pondered what he recently learned about his new girlfriend. Her aversion to drugs and he presumed drinking, though she had sipped beer with him, would be… problematic when touring with the band. However, he was not willing to leave her behind. Why was he even thinking about touring? They had an album to record first. And… he wanted her there too. If she was working, she would not be completely accessible to him. He wanted her around like she had been all that day. Which meant she could not go out and find any random job, not that he thought she needed one at all; he would gladly pay off any of her debts. Perhaps her pride would not allow such, though. He would… employ her somehow then. They clearly did not need a waitress for the band nor really a receptionist. Maybe… maybe he could convince her to be his personal assistant. That had to be a job anyone could do, without even having any training. He would ask in the morning – providing she woke up.



Waking mid-morning, Lindsey stretched carefully, not wanting to disturb Lily. However as he moved slightly in the bed, he realized he was alone. Sitting abruptly up, his wide blue eyes looked around. A dim light filtered through the already opened curtains. On the table, room service platters covered with silver domes waited. Yet, nowhere did he see Lily. Surprised to not wake with her sleeping deeply next to him, he was instantly worried to not even see her. Had her confessions dredged up too much that she did not think she could stay with him? Maybe if he hurried he could catch her in the lobby or somewhere before she totally left.

Tossing the blanket aside, he quickly scrambled out of the bed and looked around for his pants. As Lindsey pulled them up and fastened the top button, the bathroom door opened and out stepped Lily, wrapped in a towel. He froze, his eyes on her. She froze, smiling slightly, a soft flush creeping into her cheeks.

“I, um, forgot to bring in some clean clothes. And good morning.”

He sighed in relief, “I thought… I thought you left.”

“Why would I do something like that?” she responded, heading over to the closet.

“I… don’t know,” he finished fastening his pants. “Maybe last night…”

Lily glanced over her shoulder at him, a glance that made his heart stop. She smiled at him, shaking her head slightly as if she thought that a silly idea. Though he could tell she was about to say something, he hurried over to her and kissed her smile. She squealed and pulled away, turning to face him fully. His arms wrapped around her, his lips meeting hers once more. Lily leaned back slightly, causing the towel wrapped around her long hair to fall to the carpet. Keeping one hand on her back, his other hand buried in her wet locks, holding her in the kiss as he pushed to deepen it. Honestly surprised when her lips parted for his kiss, Lindsey hesitated for a moment, before dipping in to taste her sweetness.

As he pulled out of the kiss, her glittering golden eyes went to his, “I’m not walking away from you, Lindsey. Not because I have nowhere else to go, but because I have nowhere else I want to be.”

He smiled and kissed her quickly, “You are… so beautiful.”

Her eyes widened and a flush filled her cheeks, “I… I am not.”

Lindsey kissed her again, “You most certainly are.”

She glanced down, “I should… I should get dressed.”

While he wanted to tell her that certainly was not necessary, he nodded and released her after stealing another quick kiss. Not wanting to push her, Lindsey trotted to the bathroom, closing the door a bit louder than necessary so that she knew she could safely dress without him watching. When he stepped out a few moments later, the white hotel towel no longer clung to her slight curves, but rather a sweater and jeans. Unable to help himself, Lindsey once more wrapped his arms around her, this time from behind, reveling in how the soft sweater felt against his bare chest. She leaned back slightly, glancing over her shoulder at him again. He kissed her lips briefly before releasing her and heading towards their breakfast.

“What did you order?”

“I just told them to replicate whatever you ordered yesterday,” she responded, following him over to the table. “And add pancakes.”

He lifted the silver domes off the platters, “Looks perfect. Come eat with me.”

Before she had the chance to slip into the other chair, Lindsey pulled her into his lap. She giggled but did not attempt to leave. Instead, she shifted in his lap once his arms let up and reached for silverware. Handing the fork to him, she giggled as he reached around her and sliced a bite of pancake. He swirled it around in the syrup for a brief moment before offering it to Lily. She grinned before opening her mouth for the sticky bite. While breakfast took twice as long to eat that way, neither complained. Turning slightly in his lap, Lily kissed Lindsey quickly after his last bite before skipping out of his lap and into the bathroom. Hearing the rattle of her pills, he smiled slightly and gathered up their dishes, depositing them outside the room just as she stepped out of the bathroom.

Her arms quickly circled his neck and she kissed him softly, “I have never… felt like I could conquer the world quite like I do right now.”

He pushed stray hair from her face, “I know the feeling exactly.”

“I haven’t felt this good… probably ever. So thank you. I’m certain I’ll be able to get a job today with how I feel,” she grinned.

Lindsey did not let her out of his arms, “About that…”

“What?”

“I have a… proposition for you.”

Her eyes darkened some, “I’m not going to sleep with you for money, Lindsey.”

“No no no,” he shook his head. “Not an indecent proposition.”

Lily eyed him suspiciously, “What do you mean then, Lindsey?”

He pulled away and led her over to the couch, sitting and pulling her down as well, “I know you think you need a job and I’m not denying that. But… I am going into the studio in two days and… I really want you around. But I know that would be boring to you and it would seem unfair to just pay you to hang around the studio…”

“Um… okay. So what’s your proposition?”

“I want to hire you. I know it’s a bit awkward with you as my girlfriend,” he paused, smiling at the word, “but I can’t think of anyone who would be better…”

“Hire me to do what?”

“Be my personal assistant.”

Lily looked at him silently for a few moments, “And what would this entail?”

“Well… things like making travel arrangements, organizing engagements, running errands, managing my calendar, making reservations, shopping, answering and returning calls, and many other little things like that,” he rattled off.

She considered it for a moment, “And how much are you thinking of paying me?”

“Five thousand a month,” he declared. “As well as a wardrobe allowance.”

Lily stared blankly at him.

“No? Is seven thousand better?”

Still she said nothing.

“All right, ten thousand. And I will of course handle any medical bills,” Lindsey offered.

“I can’t… I can’t accept that,” she muttered softly.

“What? Why not?”

“I haven’t made that much money in the course of a year, Linds, much less a month.”

“So? You’re worth every penny.”

“But I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Lindsey considered it for a moment, “All right how about this: two thousand a month, wardrobe allowance, and medical expenses included. If in six months, I find your performance exemplary, which I’m sure I will, we will discuss a raise.”

Lily took a deep breath, “I… I’m not sure, Lindsey. I’m your girlfriend. Wouldn’t people think it odd?”

“No. And I don’t give a fuck what they think. You see, as my girlfriend, you will be keenly aware of my habits, likes, and dislikes. And you probably should know what’s going on in my life anyways. So why not have you take care of all those things for me? This way you are actually doing something and I can help you pay off your debts,” he explained.

“Can I… Can I think on it?”

“Of course, Lily. Take as much time as you need,” Lindsey smiled.

“Thank you,” her eyes went to the carpet again.

“The day is young. How about we go to a museum today?”

Her eyes went back to his, “I’d like that.”

“I’ll just shower and we’ll be on our way,” he quickly kissed her before getting up. “Oh and Lily? You’re worth it to me.”



Standing in front of a painting, Lily tilted her head slightly to the right. A couple of hours into wandering the museum, she did not feel like she belonged there any more than she had since they first stepped into the building. Art had never been her thing in school and she certainly had nothing to do with it outside of school. Lindsey seemed to be enjoying himself, but she felt out of place and confused.

Arms slipped around her from behind, Lindsey kissed her ear, “It’s amazing, isn’t it?”

“Um…”

He pulled slightly away, turning her to face him, “You’re not enjoying this, are you?”

“I… no… it’s not that,” she quickly responded.

His lips touched her briefly, “It’s okay if you don’t like this, Lily. Really. Why don’t we… go get something to eat?”

“All right,” Lily said softly.

Kissing her again, Lindsey turned and headed towards the staircase. He held the glass door open for her, smiling at the fact the sun had peeked through the foggy clouds. Rather than lead her directly to the car, he held her hand and wandered through the museum’s gardens. This brought a smile to her face and she strayed to sniff flowers and touch soft petals. He instantly knew the path to her heart was filled with flowers, not art. They slowly strolled through the garden, allowing Lily to enjoy those that bloomed during the early months of the year. Lindsey instantly wanted to sweep her away on a tour of all the gardens in the world. That time would come, he hoped.

They made their way to his car and quickly found a nice restaurant for a late lunch. Strolling the street afterwards, Lindsey stopped at a flower cart and quickly purchased a small bouquet of fragrant lilies for his girlfriend. Making certain to snap off the stamens, he turned and handed the bundle to Lily. Her eyes lit up and she grinned as she accepted the lilies, instantly holding the flowers to her nose.

“Oh, Linds,” she lowered the flowers and quickly threw her arms around his neck, kissing him quickly. “No one has given me flowers before!”

“That is going to change,” he muttered before kissing her again. “Shall we keep walking and see what we can find?”

“No,” Lily stated. “Let’s go back to the hotel.”

His eyebrows went up, but he said nothing.

“I want you to play your guitar for me.”