[[[all of your flaws]]] [[[part i]]]

20.

The gentleman part of me probably should've let her win. But it would've been a pity win and that would get her no where. Also, I couldn't lose to a girl. I had a reputation to uphold. It had been a fun few hours and I saw another side to her. She wasn't this timid damsel in distress. She had this fire inside her that was not afraid to call me out when I was clearly cheating. I couldn't remember the last time I'd had such a laugh.

'Jenga?' I picked up the box and began setting it up. She had me on this one. Her hands were far steadier than mine. I tried to put her off by blowing in her ear but she had determination. Block after block was taken out and placed gently on the top until I couldn't make another safe move.

'Oooooo.' She teased as I pulled a centre block out. It all came tumbling down with a satisfying clatter and we both laughed.

'Dan?' Mark had arrived at the door. That was my cue that I was needed once more. This time Lily sat and read her book, her feet tucked comfortably underneath her on the sofa. I hoped she wasn't too bored.

It ended up being a longer day than expected and we hit the rush hour traffic on the way home.

'Do you fancy walking? It's not too long back.'

'Sure.' She was probably relieved she didn't have to be squashed into me again. The July sun was against our backs but it wasn't overly hot. It was actually nice to have some fresh air after being stuck inside all day. I'd walked this a few times but it was always nicer with company.

'Theres a pizza place round here somewhere, shall we get one and go sit in a park?'

'Well that sounds romantic.' She smirked. I nudged her shoulder with mine playfully, but was secretly mortified that she'd said that. I hoped she'd didn't think I was purposely being romantic. Because I wasn't. I didn't have a clue when it came to romantic things. Probably why Laura had been glad to see the back of me.

We ordered a large pepperoni and even bought a few cans of cider from the local shop. The park was packed with the many London folk who didn't have gardens such as myself. When the weather was nice, people flocked to the few open spaces in the city. There was football games going on, children throwing frisbees, some mini barbecues and a lot of people simply laying in the fading sun. We found a spot and sat down on the warm grass.

'Oh shit, we forgot to go shopping.' I suddenly said. 'I'm off tomorrow. We'll go then.' She didn't reply. I knew she probably felt crap for having to rely on me to buy her things. But I honestly didn't mind. It wasn't as though I was poor and I had a feeling she would pay me back when she could.

Once the pizza was all finished, Lily leaving her crusts, we sat back on our elbows and basked in the sun, not really speaking much. Just enjoying a few sips of cider and commenting on how nice it was. We both laughed out loud when a drunk footballer tripped over someone's legs and landed in a picnic. I liked that she found other peoples accidents funny. We were quite similar people. Maybe that's why we'd got on so well. I'd taken a gamble when allowing her into my home. And I was glad it had payed off.

We got home around eight, both fairly tired from the days antics and sunshine. I let her know she could use the shower again if she needed to and to help herself to clothes from my wardrobe. She said goodnight and disappeared upstairs. I put on the tv and continued watching the Twin Peaks DVD, despite seeing it a million times already. Half an hour later, she appeared again, wordlessly sitting next to me, wrapping the blanket around us both and resting her head against my shoulder. I looked down at her, nestled so sweetly with the light of the tv in her eyes, and smiled to myself.