Charade

Benji

When Vic finally came back out, it had been almost an hour.

I looked at his face, red and puffy with bloodshot eyes, and felt surprise tingle in my veins. Vic never cried. He was the one who pushed his emotions down, who ignored them, pretended like they weren't there. He wasn't supposed to do this.

"She wants to see you," he said, voice low.

I nodded and got out of the chair, passing Vic on the way in. When I walked into the room, Lily looked the same way Vic did.

"You alright?" I asked.

"Fine," she said. "Or as fine as I can be."

I nodded, a small relieved smile playing on my lips.

"So you wanted to see me?" I asked, burying my hands in my pockets.

"Yeah, I just... I just wanted to thank you. For saving me."

My grin only grew, but then I felt the scab on my split lip tear open and begin pissing out claret again. I licked the blood off my lips.

"Well... you're welcome, I guess. Guys like that are assholes. You don't deserve that."

"But I do," she said quietly, head hanging low. "After how I've treated you. Why did you even save me? Why didn't you just let them go?"

I frowned, confused.

"I... I don't know. You needed some help, and so I helped. Nothing else, really."

"But why?" She prodded. "There's got to be a reason."

"There's no reason, Lily. You just needed help. And like I said, that guy was an asshole. I wasn't just going to let him beat you up."

Lily looked at me, now more confused than I was.

"Nobody does anything unless they want something," she said.

"Well, I don't want anything from you. I mean, maybe stop stealing my morning coffees but apart from that."

Lily smiled.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

"So you should be. That was a damn fine looking coffee."

For the first time, I heard her laugh, and it was glorious.

"I don't want anything, Lily. Really, I don't."

Lily, smiling, looked at me with such awe, like a child who had found a pearl inside a clam. And in all honesty, I still don't know why I saved her that day. My instincts had taken over before I could figure it out. But I think it was because I saw a lot of myself in Lily. I knew what it was like to be scared and helpless, to not have anyone in your corner. Before Ashley, I was nothing. A drunken train wreck, trying to escape from reality. Maybe I could help Lily find her way, just as my sister helped me.

I turned to leave, ready to tell Vic to come back in, when I stopped at the door.

"Lily," I said, facing her again. "I heard what he said – that guy who shoved you."

Lily's eyes were hooded, torment inside them.

"Don't listen to him," I told her. "You're beautiful. With or without your hair."

And with that, I left, and told Vic she was all his.

© A.G. Travers 2015