�Shoot I�m gonna be late!� He got up from his seat and started to run out the door.
� Wait Adam!� she ran after him, � You forgot your briefcase!�
� Oh ya!� he took it from her and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. � Thanks Lily. Happy Birthday, I�ll see you when I get back tonight right?�
� Right, now get out of here before you�re late!�
Adam ran and drove away in his car. Lily went back into the house and switched on the news while she got her breakfast ready.
After she ate she changed and started cleaning because her parents where coming over that night, plus her best friend would be coming to stay a couple of days while he was working in NY.
�Ow!� She yelled as she rubbed her head where it got hit, � I hate my birthday, everything always goes wrong! And unfortunately it looks like it starting!�
Five minutes later while cleaning up her living room something on the T.V. caught her eyes. She spoke softly to herself �oh my god!� as she stared with wide eyes at the TV. The World Trade Centers where in flames. �Dear god please let Adam not be there yet. Please let him have taken one of his short cuts� She pleaded.
Next she heard how they got that way, planes. Two more people on her list of worries, her fianc�e and her best friend.
Ring
Ring
Ring
�Please dear God let that be one of them!� she thought to herself as she answered the phone.
�Hello?�
� Hey Tigger, you watching the news?�
Only one person called her that, one weight was lifted.
�Thank God it�s you!�
�Ya, I�uh� missed my flight, and I�m so happy I did.� His sounds of happiness soon changed, �Is Adam ok? Have you heard from him yet?�
A single tear fell, �No, not yet.�
�Shit. You�ll call me when he does. Got it?�
� Ya, I�m going to try and call him on his cell. Bye.�
�Bye�
Click
�Please let him pick up.�
Ring
Ring
Ring
Ring
Ring
Ring
�Damn it! Where are you!?� She threw down the phone and sat and watch the TV and all of it horror.
Not to long after, both buildings fell, and she did the same. She curled up on the floor unable to move her eyes away from the screen, unable to shed a tear.
She watched everything happen from begin to end. The phone never rang once. Until late that night.
�Hello?�
� Is this Miss Tiger Lily Ivy?�
�Yes, this is she. Who is this?�
� This is John Callas from Bellevue Hospital.�
�Yes?�
�Your name was listed on a Mr. Adam Wiley�s emergency card. Do you know him?�
Fear and hope both engulfed her. �Yes I do know him, he�s my fianc�e. Why do you ask?�
� I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we need you to come down as soon as possible to identify a body that could possible be his.�
All of her hope left her as tears began to fall. �You mean he�s� he�s dead?�
�We believe so. Currently you will not be able to get into the area, but we believe you will be able to soon. I have a number you can call if you need any help with anything.� He proceeded to give her a number then hung up with her.
Lily bursted into tears, then she remembered her parents where going there early in the morning for a day trip to the WTC with a friend of theirs.
She quickly called the number she was given for the families. She told them about her parents and their names. She was told they had no record of them being found, but as soon as they knew they would call. She thanked them as well as she could and hung up.
Why me? Was all she could ask herself. She called up the only person she could possible talk to.
�Hello?�
� Josh� was all she was able to squeak out.
� Lily? What happened? Is he alright?�
His answer was muffled cries.
� Lily you gotta talk to me.�
�Their� their� dead!� She finally got out as another burst of tears arose.
Fear devoured him, and became almost paralyzing. � What you mean by their dead Lil?�
She yelled in frustration, � Adam, my parents, Stacie and Greg. Their all dead!�
� O god.� Where the only words that came out of his mouth.
Besides the cries of Lily there was a horrible silence that surrounded them. The kind no one would ever want to even come close to them.
It seemed like an eternity before either one spoke again.
� You still there Lil?�
�sniff Ya, sniff I�m still here.�
� Good, stay at your place I�m going to get there some how. Ok?�
�sniff ok sniff�
� Good, I�ll be there as soon as I can.� With that he hung up the phone and started his task of finding how to get from Boston to High Point New Jersey.
~*~*~*~
After some persuasion towards his boss he was able to get there in three days later.
When he did finally get there, he was greeted by a wreaked and weary Lily. She had not changed her cloths since it happened, so they looked like a mess along with her hair. Tear stains covered he face accompanied by the red and puffy eyes they tend to travel with. Plus she could barely stand when she opened the door.
The first thing he did was drop his bag and just pull her to a hug, just to prove to himself that she was really there.
She felt so safe there in his arms, she wished that she could just freeze time right then so that no more harm could come near.
He felt the same as all of the tension he carried lifted away.
No words where said because everything they felt, words could just not describe.
Only did they move from the doorway when Lily�s legs finally gave out on her, but for the rest of the day the stayed warped in each other�s warm embrace until they fell asleep; Lily�s first sleep in days, and Josh�s with out worry.
~*~*~*~
They never really spoke the whole time he was there, even at the funeral for Adam, week later, they never really spoke to anyone. For they couldn�t speak anything they felt, their sorrow, their pain; their anger, their hatred; their new and confusing emotions they held for each other.
~*~
The day after the funeral he was to go back home to go back to work, so after a long talk with himself he decided to face his fears.
~*~
While they where at the graveyard, for the final farewells for Adam, Lily stayed close to Josh never leaving his side. He realized this so he held her close to try and clam her more, and also to help build his own strength.
When they came back to the house they both went to their own rooms to change.
Lily quickly changed and then went into her kitchen to find something to eat, it was late at night and she hadn�t eaten all day.
While she was doing that Josh was watching her from the kitchen doorway deciding when to make his move.
She pulled out some sugar to have with the strawberries she had grabbed. She sat down in her little nook and stared out the window, her mind swept into a universe of thoughts.
He watched her sitting there staring, staring into the abyss, and decided to make his move. He walked up slowly behind her and wrapped his arms around her; she just leaned in to him laying her head on his arm and closed her eyes as her mind separated from her body.
He leaned down and began placing light kisses on her shoulder heading towards her lips.
She just sat there feeling better then she had ever felt before.
When he finally came to her lips he placed a light kiss upon them before moving and opening his eyes to see her reaction. When he saw no signs of discontent he leaned closer for a deeper long kiss, which she accepted with ease.
When she did kiss back her mind came back and told her to stop, that it wasn�t right, she just buried her fianc�e, the love of her life, the one she said she would die for and now she was with another guy. She went to go open her mouth in protest with her mind; he took that opportunity to deepen the kiss even more. After that her mind left again and never came back even as they headed towards his bedroom.
~*~*~*~
Ring
Ring
Ring
�Hello?�
�Is JC there?�
She turned over and hid her head under the blanket. �Call the other phone in his room.�
�But this is the guest room number.�
� No it�s not it�s the house number.�
�Listen it�s the other number! Now is he there or not?�
� Call the other line!�
She hung up on man and sat up in bed as she opened her eyes. Then it struck her like a blot of lighting, she wasn�t in her own room, she wasn�t in what she was wearing before; hell she wasn�t even dressed and, she wasn�t alone.
She quickly jumped out of the bed clinging a blanket tightly around her.
� GET UP!� she kicked him in hope to wake him up and find out what happened.
It took a bit to get him up, but in that short time every thing came crumbling down on her. Everything that happened all ganged up on her at once. She quickly fled the room in tears.
Confusion fell down heavily on him. As fast as he could he tossed on clothing and ran to find Lily.
When he did find her she was not a pretty sight.
On the far side of her room she laid curled up in a tight ball entwined in the thin sheet she had covering herself before. She shook violently, as if she was ready to explode if anyone came near.
Slowly he entered the room and kneeled down next to her. Carefully moving her long dark hair away from her eyes, he whispered softly in to her ear.
�I�m sorry if I crossed the line last night but I had to tell you how I felt somehow. I love you Lily. I always have, and I always will. I just had to tell you this but I didn�t know how. I know I can�t make you love me back, but please don�t hate me for what I�ve done or said. Just-�
Lily, who now held a cold stare away from him, cut him off �Get out.�
�What?�
�Get out of here.� Her voice was strong, steady, and sure letting no emotion show.
�Lily please-�
�Get out of here now Josh, or you might not leave here alive.�
He placed a light kiss on her forehead before he slowly got up and left the room.
Minutes later she heard the front door close and a car drive away. The house laid in silence as she slowly pulled herself off the floor. Standing on wobble legs she tossed on her robe and headed towards the living room.
When she finally got there she collapsed on the couch, laying stretch out on her back she picked up her phone. She needed some one to talk to badly.
�Hello?� a groggy voice answered the phone.
� Hey Becky, it�s me, Lily.�
� Hey Lily, what�s wrong? It�s like six am, what�s up?�
�I think I�m falling.�