Lily and Rufus: With all of my heart

Chapter 5 - A day to remember

Lily's pov:

"You were my strength when I was weak

You were my voice when I couldn't speak" 

I was singing to myself. I was alone in the apartment. William was still not around, but I knew that. He was properly sleeping with some young girl and for once I didn't mind. He could be a real monster, if he wanted to. And I couldn't stop thinking about Rufus and his song. It went right to my heart. I knew it was about our time together. And it made me so sentimental. I was in my own thoughts, when suddenly someone called my name. 

"Lily, there you are." William came walking towards me. "Where have you been?" He looked mad. 

I looked into the ground and said: "I was in Boston." 

"Yeah, tell me about it. I saw Peoples Magazine this morning. What the hell do you you're doing?" He grabbed my arm hardly. "I told you from the beginning that I wanted you to stay away from him. But you couldn't even last a year. You are so hypothetic, Lily." He tightened his grip and it ran cold down my back. When William was angry, he could be very violent. 

"William, it's not what you think, honestly. I attended Scott's funeral and of course, he was there as well," I said and pulled my arm to myself. Surprised he looked at me with mad eyes. 

"You know. We had a deal, Lily. You stay away from Rufus or our little agreement will stop. And I'm sure, you don't want that, right?" He took one step closer and I got really scared. "Everyone you hold so dear, will be gone, remember? And just like your mother, they will die." He snorted. I gasped and he walked away. William had everything under control and there was nothing I could do about it. If I said anything to anyone, he would go through with his threats. I know he would. I sat down and started crying. I then heard footsteps and he came running back, while yelling: "If you cry again, I will slap you even harder!" And then he swung his arm as much as he could, so it hit me right in the face. I fell backwards and hit my head towards the ground and then suddenly everything turned black. 

Rufus pov:

Vanya was opening the door for me, but didn't look happy at all. He pulled me towards the disk and placed me underneath it. I looked curious at him, but he shushed me and went back to the door. 

"If you see him, Vanya, I want you to call me." It was William's voice. "I'm going out of town for a while to cool of. Lily has betrayed me and I want a little time for myself without her on my shoulders. I called Angela and she will meet me in the cabin. If Lily asks, I'm on a business trip." He sounded mad and I heard the door go and close again. Vanya came over and waved. I stood up and looked confused at him. 

"Mr. Van der Woodsen is often out of town, if you know what I mean. He thinks I don't tell Lily anything, but she knows. And it breaks my heart. I dont understand, why Lily doesn't leave that nasty piece of shit." Vanya said. I told him to calm down and went upstairs. All I wanted was to get my note papir with the lyrics to my song, because I couldn't find them at home and concluded that Lily must've gotten them with her. I was still confused when I stepped into the apartment but nonetheless I walked in their. 

"Lily? Are you home?" I called but there was no response. I looked around and everything seemed awfully quiet. Too quiet. 

"Lily?" I tried again and this time I heard someone mumble something and on the floor, Lily was laying with one hand over covering her face. I panicked and shook her while saying her name. She opened her eyes and looked at me. My pulse slowly went back to normal. Lily then opened her eyes fully and when she did, she turned white. 

"Rufus, what are you doing here? Please go now!" She begged and cried at the same time. She stood up, but was standing trying to find balance, so I put my arms around her to secure her. "No, go away. Please! Do it now. William is here! You have to leave." She tried pushing me away. 

"Lily. Lily. Lily, please. I just saw him leave. Don't worry." I let go of her and took a step back. She calmed down and took a deep breath. I looked at her and realized a big mark on her face. She was very red. I touched her cheek and looked wonderingly at her, indicating that something was wrong. Then a light when on inside my head and I was about to explode. 

"He hit you?!" I almost screamed. She looked into the floor. "Lily, what is going on here? What is this mess." Still no response. "I find you on the floor unconscious with marks on your face. I hear you husband is going out of town with some skank and you do nothing about it?" I felt so sorry for Lily and my anger for William became bigger and bigger. Lily still didn't look at me. I didn't know what to do, so I did what I thought was best. I put my arms around her and pulled her into one of my big hugs. She was surprised at first, but after a while she swung her arms around me and tightened her grip around me. I heard her sob silently and for a moment, I didn't say anything. I wanted her to speak, when she was ready. We were standing there in silence until Lily whispered in my ear: "I can't do it anymore, Rufus. I want to get out, but I can't." She let go and turned around. I had figured eventhing out and suddenly I realized what I had to do. I grabbed Lily from the behind and lifted her up and carried her to the elevator. She screamed and yelled at me, but I placed her in the elevator and sat her down. 

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" She pushed me away. 

"I'm saving a damsel in distress," I said with a little smile. I knew it wasn't funny at all but being with Lily again made me kind of happy. The elevator door opened and I walked out. Lily was standing still. 

"Come on, Mrs. Van der Woodsen. Lets go!" I held my hand out. She looked thinkingly at me but decided to put her hand in mine. I pulled her towards the door and gave Vanya a smile. He smiled back like a total idiot and I couldn't help but laugh. 

"Where are we going?" Lily asked. 

"I have a concert in about 15 minutes. You want to come?" I said and blinked. She smiled towards the ground and blushed a bit. She didn't say anything against it, so I hailed a cap and we went in. 

Lily's pov: 

I must've looked like a total mess. I didn't know what I felt inside. We went out of the cap and ran into the stage, where Rufus quickly put his guitar on and turned on the microphone. I sat down on the front row, looking around. The room was filled up, which surprised me a little. They were still popular. The band started playing and I sat back and listened to Rufus' wonderful voice. All the songs made me so nostalgic. But when he came to the new once, I got a lump in the throat. The song was much slower and a total other kind of music. 

Rufus looked at me now, while smiling and started singing: "You were my strength when I was weak. You were my voice when I couldn't speak. You were my eyes when I couldn't see. You saw the best there was in me..." And I smiled back. For a long time I didn't care about anything. I listened to my heart. And it was beating in step with Rufus' singing. I relaxed and I felt the tears streaming down my face. Rufus kept on looking at me the entire song and when he was finished everybody clammed and screamed. I clapped as well and suddenly the crowd pushed me in the back. 

"Go up their. He dedicated that one for you" they said smiling and clapping. My pulse went faster, but I didn't move. I just shook my head back and forth. I was not going up their. Rufus then put his guitar down and walked towards me with the crowd screaming even louder. I could feel my heart pump faster and faster. He came all close and whispered: "Because you loved me" and then he kissed me. The audience was hooting and screaming and clapping. I didn't know why, but I kissed him back. All the noises behind us disappeared and I fell into a world just with him and me.