The Second Layer

Chapter 18: Lily

Chapter 18: Lily

Lily sat on her couch, waiting, too nervous even to turn her TV on. After she'd gotten home, she'd changed clothes, searching for just the right outfit to look as attractive as possible while still at least appearing casual. She'd even spent fifteen minutes combing her hair before adding just the faintest touches of make-up to her face and then coming out to the living room to wait. He hadn't actually given her an exact time for his arrival, just that it would be tonight, but she could think of nothing else. She'd been waiting for a couple hours now and still she felt just as on edge as she had when she'd sat down. If there was any chance whatsoever of her managing to get into a relationship with Talen, then tonight was perhaps the only opportunity she'd ever have to seize that chance. If she screwed it up, she might not get another.

One second her living room was empty, and the next he was there. It was honestly as if he appeared out of thin air. Talen just smiled at her before moving to take a seat in a chair opposite the couch. "I'm sorry I'm late, Lily."

"You're not late. I mean, it's not like you said a specific time or anything, so... I'm just glad you're here," Lily said, smiling in return.

"So, you wanted to talk to me about something, didn't you?" Talen asked, his eyes fixed on her.

"Yes, I... I..." Lily stuttered, trying to say the words that she'd spent the last two hours picking out and finding that her tongue didn't want to cooperate.

"It's alright to admit that you like me, Lily. You don't have to get so nervous about it," Talen told her, still smiling.

Lily felt herself blush so hotly she was sure her cheeks were the reddest they'd been in her entire life. "You know?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I've known for a long time, Lily. But even if I wasn't a True Mind, I still would've been able to guess just from the way you always act around me," Talen replied.

"But... You never said anything," Lily murmured.

"I figured when you were ready for me to know, you'd tell me. But you kept seeming to have trouble finding the words, so, I decided your desire to tell me today was enough," Talen said.

Lily just gave a short nod, trying to work up her courage for what she knew she had to ask. "And do you, uhm... Well... How do you feel about me?"

"I like you Lily, I really do. You're a really sweet girl," Talen told her, causing her to blush even harder, which she hadn't thought was possible. He wasn't done yet, though. "But there's something you should know about me, about True Minds in general. I'm incapable of love, Lily, and of hate, and of any emotion of that strength. I don't do what I do because of emotion, I do it simply because it's what I am. You're a really nice girl, Lily. And I do like you. But I would never be able to love you. Even if we were in a relationship of some kind. It wouldn't matter how long it lasted, it wouldn't matter what you did. I would still never be able to feel love towards you."

"There's no chance? At all?" Lily asked, and she could hear the plaintive note in her own voice.

"I'm sorry, Lily. It's the same for all True Minds. We don't experience those emotions," Talen answered.

"But... What if I don't need love? What if I could be happy even without it? Just to be with you. Just to have you care about me. Even if you'll never love me?" Lily pressed. She sounded desperate, and she knew it, and she hated herself for it, but she didn't want to let him go.

"Could you really be happy with that Lily? To be with someone who would never love you? Could you be satisfied with just being liked for the rest of your life? Perhaps it wouldn't bother you at first, but can you really say that a year down the road, or two, or five, or even ten, it wouldn't eat at you inside that the person you cared for and had spent so long with didn't love you?" Talen questioned.