No One Killed Venus Wilson

XXVI. VINGT-SIX

     "—Lily?" His voice kissed her ears and she was once again faced with eyes that contained the secrets she dared to ask about.

     Lily stared at him, the man he'd become.

     No longer was he the captain of the hockey team, no longer was he the man she loved.

     "Tyler," she replied, his name so foreign on her lips.

     "Y-you came?" Hesitance was thick in his voice, identical to the way his arms lifted then dropped, almost afraid that if he made the wrong movement she'd disappear like a figment of his imagination. "You hadn't answered my calls, it's been two weeks. You look...better."

     Had it already been almost a month since she'd uttered those words, said goodbye, and embraced the cold? Lily had gotten used to the emptiness that lurked within her soul months ago, perhaps this futile attempt to feel the agony of losing a lover was nothing compared to that night that swallowed her emotions.

     "You look nice as well." Lily found herself lying, as she looked at Tyler, taking in the cheekbones that protruded under his thin, pasty skin.

     He was still afraid of being alone, with the way his eyes still held the same amount of love for her. She wished to be in a world where she could be ignorant enough to love him back, to be a beautiful fool that lived to love. But time had changed her for the worst, and as she stood there across him, she knew that loving him again was something she couldn't do.

     The only thing that filled the space between them was the awkwardness that she'd created between them when she'd uttered the three words they thought would never be exchanged. Instead, she walked past him into the room that smelled of old pizza, and unwashed clothes. Her fingers lifted to subtly rub her nose, as she found a place across the bed she'd shared her first kiss with him.

His footsteps followed once he shut the door behind him, and instead of sprawling across the bed like he usually did, he opted to sit on the small coffee table, looking down at her. Lily couldn't find the strength to look him in the eyes and resist melting into his embrace. Despite his room in her heart being locked, she still missed being loved by another.

     "Were you serious about what you'd said that day?" She murmured, entranced by the patterns of the rug that hugged the ground.

     "Oh." He let out, "you're not here because of my texts."

     Lily was glad her head was bent because she couldn't handle taking in the expression of pain that was painted on his face. She couldn't look him in the eyes and tell him that the moment she'd received those texts she'd deleted them, instead, waiting for the person she'd been texting to reply. It was funny how the person she didn't want to talk to was the only one that gave her what she needed, yet the one she hadn't talked to in a month hadn't given her even a response that he was alive.

Even as she sat across him, she couldn't help but think of Trevor.

Their relationship had truly run its course.

     "I'm sorry, Tyler, but what I'd said that day," she breathed out her emotions so as to not let a tear slip in front of him, "—we've changed." Lily struggled to find the right words.

     "You said you'd give me another chance if I told you everything you wanted to know," Tyler sounded desperate, his hands fidgeting in his lap. "Was that a lie?"

     "No," she lied, "it was the truth."

     "Do you still love me?" A sense of hope was laced in each word that escaped his lips, Lily's eyes still refusing to meet his.