A Library Romance

Chapter 17: Changes

When I awoke the next morning, I expected Lily to be awake, but even after I showered, got myself ready for the day and went to the kitchen, she wasn't there. "Is Lily not awake yet?" I ask my mother.

"I was about to ask you the same thing. She must still be sleeping," she says.

"She drank a little too much last night. I warned her that the punch was strong, but she thought she could handle it," I say. My father laughs.

"Usually it's you getting hammered, but glad to see you were looking out for her," he says.

"I always do," I say. "I'll go get her." I go over to her room and knock on her door, but there's no answer. Cracking the door open, I peek inside, and she's still in bed. I go in and sit at the end of the bed. Lily stirs and her eyes open. When she sees me, she smiles.

"Good morning," she says.

"Hey. You feeling alright? Everyone's wondering why you aren't up," I say.

"Yeah, I feel okay. I woke up in the middle of the night and my head was killing me, so I took the Advil and went back to sleep. I guess my body just needed extra time to sleep it off," she says.

"That's good, you deserve it," I say. She's silent for a while as she twiddles her thumbs.

"I remember everything from last night," she whispers.

"It doesn't change anything between us, does it?" I ask. She shakes her head.

"No, of course not. I'm embarrassed, but that's okay. What matters is that you did the right thing," she says.

"I enjoyed the moment, but I couldn't let it go any further. I would have felt too guilty," I say.

"Thank you for that. Connor would have taken advantage of me. I'm glad that you're different," she says.

"Me too. It's like I told you at the beginning of last night; I'd never do anything without your consent, and you were way too drunk to give that," I say. Lily laughs and hugs me.

"I should have listened to you about the drinks, but I couldn't help myself. It was amazing punch," she says. I stay silent for a moment. There's something on my mind, but I'm not sure if I should ask or not. She notices my silence and pokes my cheek. "Milo? What's wrong?"

"When you're... um, ready for more, you'll tell me, right? I don't know if that's something you would want planned or not," I say. She sighs.

"I'm not sure. You haven't done it before, right?" she asks. I cringe with embarrassment.

"You have, right?" I ask, even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer. If I remember right, she said that Connor took her firsts.

"Um... yeah, sort of," she says. Sort of? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Lily senses my confusion. "I have, I just, I didn't really want to," she says.

"I thought you said he took your firsts with integrity?" I ask.

"I meant other firsts, I said it like that on purpose. I didn't want to bring up that part of it..."

"Oh," I say, my heart sinking. She places her hand on mine.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm okay, and when I'm ready, I'll let you know," she says.

"Yeah, okay. Sorry to bring it up, but five more minutes and had you been sober, it might have happened, so I just want to be sure, if that ever happens again," I say.

"Don't be sorry. And it will happen, but I don't know when. I wouldn't mind making out in the back of your car though. That was fun," Lily says, giggling. I smirk and push her down onto the bed.