Yours to Hold

6 - Andrew

"Andrew... Andrew, get the hell out of bed! It's time for school!" I could hear Lillith's voice ring in my sensitive eardrums, causing me to groan and pull the covers over my head.

It was my first day at the Cain household. I was exhausted from last night, having my ass kicked like a pathetic sissy. That chick was very persistant though... After last night, when she was cleaning up my face, she actually seemed worried about me. I found it rather odd though. Why did she care so much...? She hardly even knew me. Hell, I hardly know anything about her. Maybe it was her way of getting off to a better start with me. Heh... At least she was trying to make an effort to get along with me, when really I wanted nothing to do with her.

But I supposed that I would deal with it for now. I felt a hard slam of a pillow hit my face, causing me to sit up frantically and glare daggers at the girl before me. She returned the glare, hands on her hips.

"Don't look at me like that. We have to go. Now." She demanded, turning her back to me to head out of the guest room.

"Jeez.. Any way to treat a guest?" I interrogated, a smirk creasing my lips.

She turned to glare at me again. "Like I said last night, it's my house." she stated simply, walking out and slamming the door.

I groaned and buried my face into the pillow, before deciding to get up and get dressed a moment later. Damn, that girl was annoying. After managing to get out of the guest room that Officer Cain let me stay in for now, I walked into the restroom to brush my hair and teeth, only to see Lillith putting on her make up.

She looked at me like a deer in headlights, but scooted away from me as if giving me some room to get ready. Raising an eyebrow, I walked in, surprised that she didn't make a comment. We spent the last 10 minutes getting ready, and the rest of the time seemed to fly by once we reached the high school. I saw other students stare at us both as we walked side by side.

"Don't get used to doing this everyday, Andrew. After the school year is done, you're on your own." Lillith told me, the first thing she said once we left the house.

I snorted with a smirk. "Fine by me." I replied.

-----------------

"Talk, Lillith Cross." I heard a girl snap during free time in class, causing me to turn my gaze towards Lillith, who was being ganged up on by three other girls. Uh oh, I thought.

"What do you want?" I heard her reply.

"Don't give us that, bitch!" Another girl said. "We heard that Andrew moved in with you. Why? We had dibs on him first! Just because you offered him a place to stay doesn't mean you can make a move on him!"

I winced. Damn... They were really pissed. But what really irked me was how they found out I moved in with her. Gossip, I assumed.

"Look, it's nothing like that. He had no where else to go, so my dad offered him a place to stay." Lillith stated, and I was surprised at how calm and collected she was. She wasn't even fazed by how the group of girls were harrassing her.

"Your dad? Last time, I checked, your dad bailed on you. And your momma just left you at Officer Cain's place. You were adopted by him then. He's not really your dad. He just took you in because he felt sorry for you." The girl said, and I saw Lillith flinch at the words.

I felt a sense of fury flow through my veins. Okay, now they were going too far. I saw Lillith stand up and tried to shout something, but I beat her to it.

"Back off!" I shouted, catching the girls by surprise and see them turn to me with surprise.

"Stay out of this!" One of the three spoke.

"Like hell, I will!" I snapped, walking towards them. "That was uncalled for, and you know it."

"But-"

"How could you just judge a person like that? You don't know her! Hell, neither do I! But what I do know is that girls like you are a bunch of pathetic cowards!" I interrupted, and I could see how surprised Lillith was by me defending her.

The girls seemed shocked and speechless, then glared at me and walked out once the bell rang. I sighed deeply and cracked my neck, placing a hand through my hair.

"I shouldn't have butted in. But hell, those girls were so annoying. The way they were talking was giving me such a headache." I tried to deny my concern, turning to leave the classroom before I felt her grab my arm. I turned to her, and for the first time I saw her smile. But this wasn't the fake smile I saw the first day I met her. This was a true, genuine smile. And a part of me assumed that she had never smiled like this in a long time.

"Thank you..." She said, and let go of my arm as she walked past me.

I was surprised. Before she left... I thought she looked like she was about to cry.