After (Wolves of Mercy Falls Fan Fic)

Chapter 26

Left: Alice
Middle: Honour
Right: Lila (Emily)
-Mae

Koby

-Age 17-

Lila lit up like a Christmas tree when I asked her to go to the dance with me. It was kind of cute. We made the arrangement to meet up Friday blah blah blah, but I hadn't seen her since. The anxiety was almost overflowing by the time Friday finally came along. And even then, I still had to wait until 9 pm to see her. I think I was just afraid of those months without her.

9 o'clock rolled up. I waited outside the doors in nice pants and a tucked in white shirt (it wasn't prom or anything). Minutes ticked by and still nothing. I glanced at my watch: 9:10 pm. I sighed. That's when Rose pulled up, Lila was fiddling with her hair in the viser mirror. I laughed when I saw this, all the anxiety floated away.

Lila saw me and a wide, sweet smile spread over her face. She hugged Rose goodbye and stepped out of the car to walk to me. I waved to Rose as she drove off. "About time. I was starting to worry," I said teasingly. She laughed and I took her hand in mine. We walked in the doors. It was crowded, but we found a place to sit.

Lila looked..... Beautiful doesn't even cover it. The weird thing is, she wore a dress she would have worn any other day just because she wanted to. It was black with black lace covering her collarbone and arms down to just above her wrists. It came down her just above her knees. If any scars were showing, the lace was complicated enough to trick the eye that they weren't there (I still saw them because one, I knew where to look and two, I had better eyesight than anyone else). She wore heals, but the heal was small so she could walk in them easily.

Lila's eyes fluttered around the room, nervous. I remembered the last time she'd been at the school. I took her wrist in my hand and kissed it to bring her attention back to me. I leaned over to talk in her ear, "Nobody knows you here other than Marcus, Alice, Honour, Erick and I. You're safe. Nobody's going to pick on you. And if they did, they'd have to go through all of us."

As if on cue, they all appeared. Alice smirked, "What little nothings are you whispering in her ear, Koby?" she sat across from us, Erick sat beside Lila. I almost glared at Erick. Almost.

I wanted to reply, 'exactly that, nothing' but instead I said, "Lila's nervous. Last time she was at a school, she was bullied so I told her that they'd have to get through us."

"Yeah they will! They'd have to get through Marcus first, isn't that right, Marcus?" Honour spoke up. Marcus nodded and smiled at Lila. I didn't feel jealous with Marcus. He was like everyone's big brother. Lila smiled back at him.

I smiled thankfully at them all and looked back at Lila. "See? Nothing to be afraid of," I told her, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Lila smiled and blushed, looking down at her lap. Alice jumped up suddenly, scaring all of us.

"This is my song!" She screamed. She pulled the girls to the dance floor and they all starting twirling together. Lila broke out of her shell by the second song. We all laughed and had the best time.

When a slow song came on, I grabbed Lila's hand and pulled her close. She still had a giddy smile on her face from all the dancing. She put her arms around my neck, and my arms were around her waist. "Having fun?" I asked. She nodded and I put my lips next to her ear to whisper, "You look amazing tonight. I didn't get the chance to tell you that." I felt her smile and her cheek go warm. She rested her cheek against my shoulder.

That's how the night went; we laughed and joked and when a slow song came on, I would dance with Lila. It was all very silly, but Lila enjoyed herself. We both had a good laugh when Gentle Giant Marcus slow danced with Feisty Midgit Alice. That was a sight to see. Erick stole Lila away a few times, but she always came back.

By the end of the night, Lila looked like she was going to pass out. She leaned against me on the way out. "Lila, is Rose coming to pick you up or are you coming with me?" I asked. She poked my arm. "Does Rose know?" Lila nodded. "Do you want me to take you to your house?" She shook her head and hugged my arm, yawning. I nodded and started walking to my car.

Erick stopped me. "Where are you two going? I thought we were all going to get something to eat."

I shrugged. "Lila's about to fall asleep where she stands. We were just going to head home. Maybe some other time."

"Oh, okay. Well, it was nice seeing you again, Lila," he said. Lila looked up and smiled at him kindly. "See you Monday, Koby." With that, he turned the other way and started walking towards everyone else.

"See you," I called back and walked Lila to the car. Erick got on my nerves around Lila. I really wish he didn't.