Darkness's Flower: Pulling It Together

Chapter 33: My Small Confession

~Lilly~

"No worries. It's fine," I said.

The lady and the kid went back to their food. Sadie came with our food and winked at Nico. His hand slid up and down my thigh, from the end of my shorts to my knee. I grasped his wrist.

"I have a salad," she said, handing it to Nick. "Soup." She gave me a slight evil look as she set the bowl down in front of me. "And a burger for you!" She smiled and reached over me, leaning just a little bit too far over, putting Nico's plate in front of him. "I'll be back to check on you!"

She stood up straight, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder. She honestly isn't very pretty. Way too much makeup and not the right colors anyways. Then she just tried to show off what she doesn't really have. I know, considering I am a girl, that's not attractive at all.

I glared at Sadie as she walked away, trying to sway her hips, something else she doesn't have much of. I looked down at my food, Nico looking at me.

"Lills-"

"No! Don't Lills me, Nico di Angelo! You know I'm upset so leave me alone." I stared down at the plate. "Just don't talk to me."

He tried to put his arm around the middle of my back, but I stopped him. "Come on, Lills!"

"I said don't talk to me!" I grumbled.

We ate in silence. Every time Sadie would come back, she would giggle towards Nico and give me evil looks like I'm the one doing something I'm not supposed to. We finished and I payed. I stormed out of the restaurant and to my car, unlocking it. I had my jaw clenched tightly as I gripped the steering wheel. Nick slid into the back seat and Nico plopped into the front seat. We headed home.

"Lilly," Nico tried.

"Nick, tell Nico I'm not speaking to him until we get home," I said.

"I didn't do anything! Sadie was the one staring at me and giggling like a complete idiot! Lills, she isn't even pretty!"

I grit my teeth and we continued home. Nico put his hand on my leg, but I grabbed his wrist and threw his arm back over on his side.

"Feisty! I like it," Nick said.

"Shut up, Nicolas!" I replied.

"Okay."

We got home and I put the car in the garage, after dropping Nick off at his house. Nico, from my snow, went up to my room and I went inside, putting on a fake smile.

"Thank you, Daddy!" I said.

"Yeah, well. How was it?" he asked.

"Really good."

I ran up the stairs and slowly opened my door. As soon as I slammed it shut, Nico pinned me against the door, hands placed on my stomach and his thumbs curled around the hem of my shirt. His head moved closer to mine, but stayed away just enough to look in my eyes.

"I love you," he whispered.

Before I could say or do anything, his lips forced their way into mine. My eyes were open wide with slight shock. My face felt super hot, almost like I could explode any moment. I gave in and let my eyes flutter shut as I started kissing Nico back. I placed my hands on his chest and, after a moment, pushed him back.

"What the Hades?" I asked.

"I had to, Lilly! You wouldn't say one freaking word to me once we got our food! I know she kept doing all that crap, but I appreciated it just as much as you did. Come on, babe," Nico said.

I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. "Whatever."

"Lillian."

"What, Nico?"

"Don't get sassy with me. I know you can get protective of me and I'm alright with that. I'm the exact same way with you."

I turned back around, facing Nico. "I'm protective of you because you're all I have!"

I sat down on my bed and let my head fall. Nico knelt down in front of me and brought my eye contact back to him. He gave me a half smile, like always.

"You have a lot, Lilly," he said.

"My dad is going behind my back, trying to get me with Nick. My mom probably will too. Then my actual mom, I never even see her! Katie and Michael are both dead. Sure, I have Ash and everyone at camp. Ash has pulled away from me ever since she met Zach. I hang out with the other girls, but I'm not super close to any of them, maybe Gabby, but I hardly see her. I know the guys too, but I'm not super close to any of them either. The only one of my friends that really seems like an awesome friend would be Percy, but even he can't be there for me every time."

"Lilly-"

"All I have is you, Nico. I can depend on you no matter what. You've never let me down! Yeah, we get into arguments, but we always get it figured out. You're amazing. You're always there for me, whether I want you to he or not. Even if I don't want you there, I end up wanting you more than anything." My voice softened and a tear rolled down my cheek. "You are all I have and I can't lose you."

"Oh, Lilly." He wiped the tear away. "You're all I have too."

He opened his arms and I slid off my bed onto the floor and into his body. His arms closed around me tightly. He rubbed my back as I put my arms around his neck and shoulders. I nuzzled my face into his neck and tried to keep myself from crying.

"I love you so much, Nico di Angelo. Please don't forget that," I whispered.

"Lillian, I love you way too much to forget. I'm always thinking about you and how much I love you. There's honestly no possible way for me to express how much I love you," he whispered back.

I managed a smile. "I'm alright."

He continued holding me tight and rubbing my back. "I'm not letting you go. I will sit here for hours."

"Yeah, you might, but my butt hurts sitting like this."

He let out a small laugh and let go of me. We both stood and I wiped my face off. He smiled at me.

"What can we do the rest of the afternoon?" Nico asked me.

"No clue. Tonight, I just want to curl up in your arms and just let you hold me. Then I'll be able to sleep and you can too. Plus, it gets cold up in my room no matter what season it is. And you're always warm. That gives me another excuse to snuggle with you."

He smiled and kissed me on the forehead. "I'll do whatever you want to do."

"Then let's do something, go somewhere, have fun!"

"And where are we gonna go?"

"I-I don't know."

"I don't care as long as we can take the Mazda."

I giggled and pushed him slightly. "It's a flipping car, Nico."

"I honestly don't care because it's awesome. And having a super hot chick like you in a nice car, that's a huge dream of almost every guy! Plus I've already had the super hot chick for a while." He poked my stomach, making me giggle. "And the super hot chick happens to be the most amazing girl I have ever met."

I blushed bright pink. "Don't poke me. You know I hate it."

He stepped closer to me and placed his hands on my sides, on my ribs. "If I didn't have to sneak into your house, I would've done it again. But I'm not even supposed to be here, so I'm not going to just so we don't get caught."

I placed my hands on his chest and let them slide down to his ribs. "Then let's go somewhere so we don't have to be so secretive."

He smiled. "I'm up for that. But first..."

He came towards me, smiling. He kissed me on the cheek lightly. Tingles went through my body and the butterflies made their way into my stomach. But I placed my hands on both sides of his jawline and pulled his lips into mine.