I Remember You

Chapter 25

When she took her seat, she noted the sudden silence at the table and looked around, but no one would meet her eyes, not even Henry, and if that wasn't a sure sign that they were all talking bad about her, she didn't know what would be.

"Don't worry," she said to the table at large. "I'll finish dinner then go home and stop cramping your style," she said with a self-effacing smile, and she noted Henry's face turn red, proving that they had been talking about her.

They were all served their food, and it appeared to lighten the mood as the ate and drank, but she wasn't aware of any of it because she kept sneaking glances at Finn, whose smile had faded.

About halfway through her slice, Lily started to feel a little funny, and she thought it was sad that Finn's smile had faded so she jumped up, about to tell him what she thought, but then she got dizzy, and she fell back into her seat. She looked around at the table and noted that everyone's face was swimming and floating around her.

"Henry," she leaned towards him, "I don't feel right," she licked her lips and noted that they felt numb.

"It's alright Lily, maybe it's just the heat," Henry said, but she noticed that he wouldn't meet her eyes.

She tried to stand once more. "I need to go home." But once again she fell back into her chair, her legs felt weak, and now the entire room was spinning.

"Henry?" she asked, looking at him to tell her what was going on, but he only shook his head.

"You're fine Lily," he assured her.

"No, I'm not," she shook her head and started to wobble before she became transfixed by the way her hair curled where it had fallen in front of her face. A sudden moment of clarity fought through her drug-induced stupor and realized that she was really frightened.

"Henry?" she said, her voice breaking with the fear she felt, but once again he didn't respond, he only looked at his feet as his new friends around him started to chuckle.

Unsure what to do because Henry wasn't going to help her and she couldn't walk, she turned to look for Finn. He was watching her through the window, and when her scared eyes met his, he said something to the woman across from him, threw some money on the table, and disappeared. Lily felt her heart drop, and she closed her eyes. He was leaving, she started to slide out of her seat, but she felt a hand on her arm catching her.

She immediately knew that it was Finn.

"Finn?' she asked, her voice small.

"Hey, you're that guy on that television show!" one of the girls who was in their group said.

Finn ignored her as he attempted to help Lily up from her seat. "Can you walk?" he asked.

"Maybe," she whispered. Her legs wobbled, and she felt Finn's arms tighten around her waist.

"This is a fine bunch of friends you have here Lily," Finn said as he looked around at the amused group. One of them had pulled out a camera and started to film them as soon as they had seen Finn. Lily knew she had to do her best to get out of the situation as calmly as possible.

"Finn, this is my brother, Henry, and these are his friends." Lily introduced softly, feeling Finn take all of her weight.

Finn looked at Henry. "You're Lee's son?" he asked, his voice and eyes hard enough to chip ice.

"Yes," Henry choked.

Finn looked at him for a moment before reaching down and grabbing Lily's purse. "Come on, I'll take you home," whispered in her ear.

Lily was too drugged to do more than focus on putting one foot in front of the other until they had reached Finn's truck, which was on the other side of the square outside the restaurant.

As soon as he had her strapped into her seat, she started to laugh uncontrollably, and she laughed all the way to her apartment.

Finn helped her back out of the truck and up the stairs to her apartment, and she waggled her fingers at Ms. Epstein as they passed.

"Finn, Finn, Finn, Finn," she said over and over again because she liked the way his name sounded. He was digging through her purse, looking for her door key as she leaned against the wall. Every once and a while, she would slide forward, and he would automatically reach out a hand and push her back.

"Your girlfriend was pretty!" she shouted.

"I'm right her Lily; I can hear you fine." He found her key and opened the door.

"I bet you kiss her!" she muttered as she pushed past him and then tripped on the rug in front of her. "You looked like you kiss her a lot!"

Finn turned on her lights and set her purse and key on the kitchen counter.

Lily kicked off her shoes and threw herself down on her couch, moaning as the world spun around her. "What's wrong with me!"

"My guess is you're drunk," Finn closed the door behind him.

"I didn't drink," she shook her head, her curls catching her attention again. "I had ginger ale."

Finn cocked his head, trying to figure it out. He walked towards her and grabbed her face between his hands. This was it! He was going to kiss her!" Lily closed her eyes and pursed her lips and waited, and waited.

Eventually, after nothing happened, Lily opened her eyes to find Finn staring at her. "You don't smell like alcohol," he said. She swatted his hands away from her face and fell backward.

"I told you I wasn't drinking; I don't drink."

He crossed his arms and looked down at her. "Then you were probably drugged, did you leave your drink?" he asked.

"I went to the bathroom, but Henry was there," she insisted.

"Then I would talk to Henry if I were you. When you sober up that is," he turned to leave, headed towards the door.

"Are you going back to your girlfriend?" she asked in a nasty voice.

"Yes, I am, I told her I would meet her at the hotel," he confirmed as he kept walking towards the door.

"I knew it! You're in love with her. You're going to kiss her!" Lily wailed, then as quickly as she started, she stopped. "I want to make you laugh like she makes you laugh!"

"Good night, Lily," he said as he closed the door behind him.

Lily buried her face in the pillow, alternating between laughing and crying. Why wouldn't he just kiss her already? Why did she care so much? Why had Henry not saved her? These and a million other questions rattled around in her head. At one point, she even tried to solve the problem of world peace before she fell into a fitful sleep and dreamed of Finn.