The Wallflower Ch. 09

"OK, dude. Just have your head clear by then." Sal responded. Nicholas nodded while he lit his blunt and took in a drag. "Also, I'll see you later than, little lady. Hopefully, next time I see you, you won't be here drowning in your sorrows." Sal gave Lily a wink and a smile before turning back to his work. Lily gave him a small smile back.

As they turned around, Lily felt her sorrows and frustration return. Standing there like a statue was Anna Belle. And by the look of arctic blue eyes and thinned out lips, Anna Belle had reached her breaking point. This woman was there to do damage.

Lily took a side glance at Nicholas and found that he looked straight through her as if he was bored.

"Where are we going Nicholas?" Anna Belle said with no emotion. "You promised me that we would go out to eat."

"Something came up," Nicholas said expelling the smoke through his nose.

"Oh really?" Anna Belle's voice became sugary sweet and deadly.

"Look, Anna Belle. I don't got time for this." Nicholas tugged on Lily's hand as he tried to walk around her. Anna Belle side stepped right in front of him. He tried once more to move around her, but she stepped back into his path. "Move."

"Oh no, honey. I'm not going anywhere." Anna Belle said, crossing her arms in front of her, getting comfortable in her spot. "If you have time to drop everything just to hang out with your tramp, then you got time to hear what I got to say." Nicholas's hand tightened around Lily's as he stood there dragging on his blunt. Lily looked up at Nicholas to see the return of the flecks of lightening returning to his eyes.

"I'm on my goddamn lunch break, woman. Whatever you have to say, you can tell me when I get back." He tried once more to go around her, but Anna Belle got in his way again and shoved Lily in the chest, sending her backwards. Nicholas quickly tugged her upwards to steady her.

"No! I'm gonna say this now so she can get this through her fucking head!" Anna Belle yelled louder. Her cold blue eyes shifted down on Lily as she changed her course of fire. "I told your bitch ass if you EVER came in here strutting as if Nick belongs to you, I'd knock your ass on the floor, but you think this is all just a fucking game, don't you?" Anna Belle stepped towards Lily to the point that she looked down on top of her. The sight was similar to David and Goliath. Lily' heart began to pound hard in her chest as she looked up at Anna Belle. He had never been in a fight in her life. What was about to happen could surely put her in the hospital.

Lily tried to tugged her hand out of Nicholas's, but he held it in an iron tight grip. Anna Belle's eyes shot down to where Nicholas's hand intertwined with Lily's. Anna Belle's face looked like it was about to split open in rage from the sight. "You can take your goddamn hands off him because he's not going to keep me beating your ass!" Anna Belle grabbed Lily's arm with such a force that Lily winced and nearly cried out from the pain. Lilt saw Anna Belle ball her fist and aimed towards her. Lily closed her eyes tightly and twisted her body to protect herself from the blow to her face that was surely about to come. Shrieks and yelling could be heard from outside the blackness of her eyelids. It was coming.

But nothing came.

Lily opened her eyes and saw what nearly made her scream. With his hand still intertwined with Lily's and a blunt still in his mouth, Nicholas held Anna Belle up by her throat and looked to be slowly constricting his hand around her throat. Anna Belle clawed at his hands to get him to put her down, but the struggle seemed to only cause him to further squeeze. The room was at a stand still as everyone stared at the scene unfolding. "You listen to me," Nicholas said in an even, low voice. "Keep your dirty cum crusted over hands off her, and I might just let you live."

He lowered her a little, but not enough for her feet to touch the floor. "I don't believe in putting my hands on a lady, but I have no problem with putting them on a hoe who's overstepped her boundaries and forgot who the fuck she was." Nicholas let out an exhale of smoke that caused Anna Belle's eyes to water. "And I'm here to remind you that you are nothing to me. And that you are pathetic. All you have to offer is a wet hole to fuck, because if there was anything between your ears maybe you would have had a chance. But as of now, I am done with you. And if you ever put your hands on my friend again, I will make sure that is the last mistake you will ever make. Take that as my promise to you."

With that, he dropped her on the floor to ball up on the floor and let out broken sobs in the middle of the tattoo parlor where everyone could see. Nicholas tugged on Lily's hand and stepped around her. "I'll be back in an hour, Sal," Nicholas called behind his back as he continued to smoke from his blunt and hold Lily's hand.

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All the way to the townhouse, Nicholas stayed quiet as the air around him was dark and stifling. He seemed calm, silent, and at ease. But that ease was betrayed by the dark gray smoke clouding his eyes as the rage in his heart grew with the help of the smoke in his lungs. The interruption of his smoke had turned the peaceful herb into a dynamite fuse slowly burning...waiting to go off.

Lily peeked at him from her peripheral vision, hoping that maybe he could go back to being the playful Nicholas he usually was. She only saw a emotionless face with emotion filled eyes. His mood started to become so stifling that she tried to tug her hand out of his. Nicholas abruptly stopped and looked towards her. When Lily looked into his eyes, she nearly let out a scream. What she saw was what she thought belonged only in hell.

His eyes...looked like a battle scene of spirits trying to take control of his body. She saw the cool gray of Nicholas's soul fighting and struggling with the ethereal red of the Spirit's. There were flecks of white that would flash like lightning that acted as a barrier between the two souls at war. But it would never stay long before one would break through and try to over power the other.

Lily shut her eyes to the violent war between the two spirits. To whichever one that was listening, she said, "I just want to go home." Lily hoped and prayed that her little request didn't set something off. She opened one eye to see what ...he was going to do. He had shifted his hair over his eyes and turned to look straight ahead. He squeezed her hand tighter as they continued to walk home.

When they got home, Nicholas staggered slowly over to an arm chair, dragging Lily along with him. With each step he took, Lily's heart pounded against her rib cage as if it was trying to break free of her body.

'What is going on?' she thought to herself. This whole situation was just odd. He hadn't said a word since they left the parlor. Everything about him started to change. He looked straight ahead unblinking. His walking was robotic and slow. Even smoking seemed to be mechanic. It looked like he just simply inhaled the smoke and only exhaled if he had to. And the hold on her hand. It only got tighter and tighter to the point that it was almost excruciating, but Lily didn't dare pull away.

When Nicholas finally reached the chair, he plopped down on it with his entire weight. Then his whole body seemed to be in a war of relaxation and tension. His head was lolled back, revealing the war in his eyes. His mouth hung open with his smoke hanging on his lips. The rest of his body seemed to be relaxed, but the hand holding Lily's grew with pressure.

"Nicholas," she called out to him.

No answer.

"Nicholas?" she tried again, trying to shake him.

No answer.

She called his name once more, but he didn't answer.

He wasn't there.

Lily's eyes grew to the size of saucers. He wasn't being possessed. He was having a seizure! She immediately reached for the still burning blunt and put it out. Lily grabbed his head and moved it so that his head tilted downwards just in case there was any danger of him biting his tongue. She tried her best to release her hand from his, but whatever was still present of him still had a death grip on her wrist.

'What else can I do?' Lily thought hard, but she had done all that she could do. She made sure he didn't present a danger to himself. She was there to make sure nothing happened. She couldn't move to get any help. The only thing she could do was wait for him to come out of it.

Minutes went by as she waited for Nicholas to regain consciousness. Lily's feet were beginning to ache so she decided to sit down. Lily looked up at his face to find that his eyes had stopped changing colors and settled back to its natural gray. She breathed a sigh of relief, thanking God that it was beginning to pass.

Over time she felt the tension in her hand lessen until his hand withdrew from hers all together. Lily looked up into his face to find his face lying in his palm with his eyes closed.

"Nicholas-"

He held up a hand to silence her. "Give me a minute," he whispered.

They sat in an uncomfortable silence. As the silence drew on, the questions in Lily's head grew.

'Funny how I'm getting more questions than answers these days,' Lily smirked to herself.

The flicking of Nicholas's lighter brought her out of her reverie as he tried to get another blunt going. "Nicholas?" Lily tried again.

"I don't want to talk about it Lily," Nicholas mumbled in a deep voice, agitation growing as he still continued to get the fire going. "I've already wasted three fucking perfectly good blunts just for my vibe to be ruined by that bitch. I just want to forget, if you don't mind."

Lily surged to her feet and plucked the rolled up paper from his lips just as he finally got the flame started. Nicholas dark glare focused on hers as she looked back at him with determination. Lily knew the easiest way to get hurt was to take a pothead's blunt –especially when he was in a bad mood. But that risk would've ran higher if she waited till he was already smoking just to remind him of the bullshit he was trying to forget.

"Lily, I don't got time for this," Nicholas gritted out.

"I'll give it back to you once you answer me...or else I'll ruin this one for you too," Lily countered without batting an eye. Nicholas continued to glare at her, but he didn't say anything else.

Lily let out a sigh before saying, "Why did you go off on her back there?"

"She pissed me off. Now give me my blunt." Nicholas lunged for the paper in her hand, but she put it behind her ear quickly. Nicholas's glare worsened into a glower as he sat back in his seat.

"But I've never seen you react so violently towards someone. Anna Belle was one of the last people I thought you'd do that to, since you were with her for so long."

Nicholas pushed back his hair out of his eyes as he seemed to struggle with looking for the right words to say.

'What's with him today? He's acting so fidgety today? Even on Mondays he's not this bad.'

"I was never 'with' her and you know that. As I said, she was nothing but a wet hole that I'd fuck when I'm drunk." He reached behind his ear, but shot his hand back down when he remembered where his smoke was. He shot another glare at her before he continued. "And I know what you're thinking. If I can't stand bullshit then why do I fuck fake ass girls?" Nicholas pushed another frustrated hand through his hair. "Hell, Lily, I'm twenty-one! I'm not looking for a wife and two and a half kids! I'm living my life. And that includes fucking fake faceless females."

Nicholas looked into her eyes as he let out another sigh. "And Lily, I can detect fake a mile away. And the fake ones come up to me all the time, telling me that they want a real relationship, but the only thing real they want are a real man, a real fucking, and the real money that comes along with it. They expect you to give them what they want, but the only thing I guarantee is a real man to fuck and that's it. I told Anna Belle the same thing. I let her continue her pathetic antics of warding off one night stands away from me because it was convenient."

Nicholas let out another blow of air, which Lily realized that he was mimicking the way he would exhale smoke. "But Lily, if I ever found a real woman...I would make sure I'd find a way to be apart of her life in one way or another," he finished quietly, staring straight at her.

Lily's face grew warm as Nicholas continued to stare at her with eyes unwavering. She broke the stare by darting her eyes across the room. When she would glance back at him, she found that he would still be staring at her. Lily cleared her throat before saying, "Nicholas, you didn't answer my question. I asked you why did you lash out against Anna Belle?"

Still staring at her, Nicholas's cheeks turned a shocking shade of pink against his pale skin. The glower was fully gone from his face and the dark aura had dissipated into the air. "Because she tried to put her hand on one of the few real women I know."

A pause sat between them as the heat in the room began to become stifling.

"As your friend," he whispered, "I'm tired of people putting their hands on you. You come back to me with bruises all over your skin." He reached out to examine the skin on her forearms. He touched her wrist lightly as he ran his finger up her arms, marveling the even skin that used to be covered in purple bruises. "You just got done with healing from someone who couldn't keep his hands to himself. I'd be damned to be standing right next to you, holding your hand, letting some girl put their hands on you, just because she can't deal that you mean more to me... and you didn't even have to spread your legs." He gave her playful smile but it went back to being serious. "And then everything went black."

He sat back in his chair in deep thought, letting the hair fall back into his eyes. For a long moment he sat in his chair while Lily looked back at him, too speechless for words. Her eyes sprung wide open as she saw Nicholas reach his hand out towards her as if to caress her cheek. Lily's heart sped up the closer he got, waiting for his warm touch. She even closed her eyes, waiting to feel his skin against hers.

All she felt was him pulling the top of ear downwards to retrieve the blunt she had long forgotten she was holding hostage. Lily fought the urge to pout.

'Remember Lily, you told him that you were only friends? Told him and others on more than one occasion that nothing is going on and never will?' Lily reminded herself while rolling her eyes.

"Don't you have to go back to work in a few minutes?" Lily said, looking at the clock.

"I could ask you the same thing," he countered, putting the blunt behind his ear and getting up from his seat.

"I thought you were going to smoke?"

"I don't need to," he called from behind him as he went to the kitchen to have a quick lunch before going back to work.

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'I can't believe it's been a month since I've left home.'

Lily looked over at the people, dressed in red, white and blue, crowding around the kitchen playing cards or talking about music, work, and other stuff. Mrs. Yates was especially enjoying herself as she slammed down her set of cards while everyone else groaned. Little kids were running in and out of the house, either chasing each other or racing to get in the kiddie pool. Lily looked down at the little girl sitting in her lap. He was cute with her curly pigtails, tank top, and shorts. The way the toddler looked up at Lily was so precious that she couldn't help but smile back at her.

The little girl, along with the other children, was a child or grand child of Mrs. Yates's gardening friends. Lily didn't mind them since she loved kids, and apparently, they all loved her back. The same went for Nicholas's co-workers who were piled up outside, soaking in the pool. Everyone gave her friendly smile when they arrived. Sal, in particular, gave her a big bear hug that lifted her off the ground and swung her around before putting her back down on her feet.

"Hey, Mrs. Yates," Sal had called, lumbering into the kitchen. "Where's the meat?"

Mrs. Yates had arched her eyebrow when looking up from her cards. "What makes you think I bought the meat? I don't have enough money to feed everybody and the Incredible Hulk." She gave Sal a pointed look when mentioning the superhuman green giant.

Sal dropped the bags of charcoal on the floor with a thud. He leaned over on the table and said, "Look old woman, we had a deal. You buy the meat every Fourth of the July, and I slave over a hot grill all day and on top of that I have to deal with your asshole of a son 365 days of the year."

An intense glare down sparked between the two as one tried to will the other into submission. Lily had never seen either one of them this way and felt compelled to break them up. But the burst of laughter that erupted from both their mouths told Lily that this is just what these two did on the regular.

"You know where the freezer is, hon," Mrs. Yates said getting back to their game.

Lily laughed to herself and shook her head, thinking of the memory. She got up to go check on her macaroni and cheese, sweet potatoes, black eyed peas, and collard greens. Lily tried to put the little girl down, but the toddler immediately knew her intentions and began to fuss.

"C'mon, hon. Don't do that." Lily reached into the cupboard and got a box of crackers while the child was propped up on her hip. Lily put the child down on the floor, and immediately gave her five crackers that she happily nibbled on.

'I won't be having kids anytime soon,' Lily thought to herself as she checked on her food.

"Something smells good, but I think I smell something that smells even better."

"Sal, you really need to come up with better pickup lines," Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Ouch. That really stung, Lily." In her peripheral vision, she saw Louis pout his full lips at her while he crossed his arms over his bare chest.

'God! Why is this guy so good looking?! Is this some crappy vampire movie and Louis is Jacob?' Lily thought as she looked at Jac- Louis! He was wearing only his swimming trunks, riding low on his hips with sunglasses perched on his gelled back hair. 'I am NOT going to stare at him.'

Lily receded back into her thoughts to escape the man candy that was standing right beside her. How come of late every sexy guy she met ended up just being her friend in the end. Louis was an awesome guy, but Lily didn't want him to have to suffer the spiritual baggage that came with dating her. So, she called him up one day and told him that they should just stay friends. He tried to talk her out of it, but in the end he accepted the fact that he had been friend zoned.

Like everyone else, Lily invited people over to the Fourth of July party. That was only Louis and Vanessa. Louis showed up, but Vanessa...Lily might as well have been dead to Vanessa.

Lily had gone up to Vanessa and asked if she wanted to come to their party. Vanessa only looked at her with an emotionless expression, but Lily wasn't fooled. An anger, disgust, and hate was bubbling underneath her reddening skin. Lily inwardly sighed. Hate was a sickness that people loved to spread.

"Sure, as long as my boyfriend can come," Vanessa had answered while putting books back on the wall.

Lily had closed her eyes and let out a breath. She didn't really need to ask but for conversation's sake she did. "Who is your boyfriend?" Lily asked.

"You already know him," Vanessa had said cutting her eyes back at him. "The one you were on the verge of cussing out because he apologized to you."

Lily fought the urge to roll her eyes as she remembered the incident. At that moment, she didn't feel like fighting with her. "Then, no, 'Nessa. He can't come." Lily walked away from her, not turning back to hear what Vanessa had to say. She...she just wasn't in the mood for this.