28 Clover Lane

Chapter 4

8:46pm. I knock on the door of twenty-eight Clover Lane and soon after Lily pulls it open. I look at her; her tired, worried eyes, her tussled hair from when her hands have been running through it, and I feel like scooping her up and carrying her to safety. She gives me a weak smile.

"Hey," she says. Her voice is quiet, almost hoarse, as if she has a sore throat. I have to physically stop myself from reaching out and pulling her close.

"Hey," I reply. She steps aside in the hallway to let me in and waits patiently while I take my Nikes off. I close the door and follow her upstairs.

I've always loved Lily's room. The walls are painted pale cream except one, which is a rich chocolate brown. Lily's got style, which is one of the things I love about her.

She sits on the bottom of her bed now and looks at the floor.

"I should have known," she says softly. "I should have seen it coming. Why didn't I see it coming? Then I could have stopped her."

Her eyes are glassing over and I know she's about to cry. I sit next to her, wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her close. She doesn't pull away - she collapses against my chest and starts sobbing. I stroke her soft blonde hair, trying to soothe her.

"I'm sorry," she mumbles eventually. "I'm getting your t-shirt all wet."

"Don't worry about that," I laugh. She sits up, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. "Do you want a tissue?"

She shakes her head and sighs.

"I'm sorry," she says again. "I say you can come round and I use you as a shoulder to cry on."

"Lily, you could use me as a flipping springboard if you wanted to, I wouldn't care," I joke and she laughs, that gorgeous tinkly laugh of hers, and I feel a sudden rush of love for her.

She lifts her legs onto the bed and pushes her back against the headboard.

"Sit next to me," she whispers. I do the same, sitting myself in a very comfortable position close to her, and replace my arm on her shoulder.

"Let's just stay here for a bit," she says, resting her head on my chest. I stroke her hair again, letting it slide through my fingers like golden sand. Her head moves up and down as I breathe.

"I can hear you breathing," she says, and I smile. She suddenly lifts her head so she's facing me and I have the strong urge to reach out and touch her again.

"I'm so glad you're here for me," she whispers. "I feel better already."

Now I really can't stop myself. My hand touches her cheek, her hair, her neck, and as she leans into me I kiss her softly on her ear, then leave a line of kisses from her cheek to her neck. She feels so warm, so soft. My arms wrap around her waist and I move my face to look at hers. We lean in at the same time and our lips brush together, softly at first, then gradually growing more urgent, more passionate. We stay there, our lips moving in synch, for what seems like hours but when we pull away only minutes have passed. Lily doesn't speak, she just replaces her head back on my chest and I resume to stroking her hair.