Tension was building in the school as the investigation carried on. The police were still convinced that Clay had something to do with the murder but after not finding any other evidence, they had to let him go which was why he was able to be in school. They had other possible killers to look into but nothing could shake Mrs Walker's belief that Clay had done it, she was convinced that he was the person behind it all and that the CCTV footage was the only evidence they needed to take him down.
Lily was sat in one of her classes that morning with Tyler, they spent a lot of time together since becoming friends and found out that they had more classes together than they had realised. They still had their pact of helping each other; Lily helped with essays as long as Tyler helped her with more creative projects and they were still enjoying each other's company. People stared at them sometimes, wondering how they had become friends but no one needed to know that they had more in common than even they knew.
"I saw Zach today; he didn't look good." Tyler whispered as they read from their textbooks.
"It's not my fault he's ignoring me, he won't answer any of my texts. I don't know what I've done wrong."
He shook his head. "I don't think you've done anything wrong; I don't know what you see in him anyway, he's a dick."
"He wasn't a dick to me." She replied, checking to make sure that their teacher wasn't watching them. "But I'm not trying anymore, if he has anything that he wants to say to me then he'll have to say it to my face."
Tyler was about to say something in the hope of cheering her up but they were interrupted by Clay and Tony, moving their seats so that they were all around the same table. Clay seemed out of breath, as if he had just run to class and Tony seemed worried which meant that whatever they were going to talk about wasn't going to be good news.
"Look, I'm telling you, it was Porter with the Sheriff." Clay told them worriedly, his forehead damp with sweat as he was obviously freaking out about this.
"Why would he come back here?" Lily asked, not understanding the connection.
Tony sighed, pressing his hands to his temple. "It's got to be about Bryce, right?"
Tyler fiddled with his fingers anxiously. "What if he knows about me somehow?"
"How could he? It has to be about Bryce."
"Miss Adams?" A teacher said, stepping into the classroom. "Tyler Down is needed in the Principal's office."
The small group of friends glanced at each other, knowing that whatever was about to happen wasn't going to be good and they were all worried about what the Principal would need to talk about with Tyler. Clay was even more worried at the fact that Mr Porter was spotted with the police as well and wondered if they were going to talk about the Bryce situation or if someone had told the cops about what had really happened at the Spring Fling.
Tyler stood up, taking his bag off the floor as Lily stopped him, holding his hand and squeezing it to try and calm him down. "You'll be fine, everything's fine."
He gave his friends one last nod and then followed the teacher out of the room; the three friends left behind stayed silent for a moment as they tried to comprehend what was happening. They were all worried that something bad was about to happen and that they had no control over it. Everyone had worked so hard to help Tyler and he seemed to be improving but now they were worried that all of their hard work was about to come crashing down, that none of it would matter after his discussion with the police.
"If this is about you and they're starting with him-"
"We're all fucked." Tony interrupted, the boys glaring at each other.
Lily shook her head, trusting her friend. "Have some faith in him, I believe in him."
"All due respect, Lily, you don't know the whole story."
"Then tell me the whole story?" She said angrily, staring back and forth at the two boys. "I know you think that I'm fragile and I'll break if you tell me the truth, but I'm stronger than everyone gives me credit for. I want to help, so, let me help."
++
Lily's mood hadn't been the best ever since she found out that her brother was dead, that he had been murdered but the situation wasn't helped when Clay and Tony refused to tell her the whole story, after they had reprehended her for not knowing the whole story. The rest of the school day had gone by slowly, Tyler had returned to class but hadn't told her what the meeting was about and throughout the day the rest of her friends were called to talk to the Sheriff but again, none of them told her what was happening.
She knew that they didn't trust her, even though she had proved her loyalty to her friends more than anyone else; they didn't trust her because of who her brother was. Because this entire mess was happening because her brother had died and she knew that it was hard for them to open up to her but she didn't want to be left in the dark anymore. So, once she knew that they weren't going to give her the answers that she wanted, she ignored all of them for the rest of the day. Hoping that her anger would subside, which it eventually did and all that was left was confusion rather than anger.
Zach made his decision that he needed to talk to his girlfriend properly, he couldn't hide anymore and even if it meant that the conversation ended in a massive argument, he knew that they couldn't avoid it anymore. So, he drove to her house and knocked on the front door. If Justin hadn't said all of those things to him in the boy's locker room then maybe he wouldn't have come so soon but it made him realise that he needed to stop being a coward and own up to his mistakes. One of his biggest mistakes recently concerned his girlfriend and so it was time to face the music.
The door opened to reveal Nora Walker, her eyes widened when she realised who was on the other side of the door. "Zachary, what can I do for you?"
"Is Lily here?"
"I don't think she wants visitors right now, maybe you should talk to her in school?" She replied, knowing how her daughter was feeling and began shutting the door but Zach pushed against it.
"Please?" He asked, his eyes pleading with her as he tried to keep the door open. "I need to talk to her now, it's urgent."
"Fine, come on in."
Nora begrudgingly opened the door wider and allowed him into the house; she wasn't the biggest fan of him but knew that her daughter cared for him and she was trying to be more open-minded when it came to her children. Zach hovered in the hallway because he wasn't sure where she was, he didn't know whether he had to go looking for her or whether her Mom was going to explain where she was.
"She's through there."
He nodded, pushing open the door that she had pointed to and walking through some of the larger rooms in the house before hearing the sound of music coming from behind the final door. He pushed it open to reveal a small room with a grand piano that overlooked the back garden. The music came from it and the person playing the music was a familiar one, she looked beautiful with the naturalistic background and her eyes completely focused on the sheet music in front of her, her fingers dancing across the keys as it was obvious she wasn't a novice at playing the instrument.
"I didn't know you could play the piano?"
Lily didn't even flinch when he spoke, hearing him open the door but refusing to give him the pleasure of her attention. He had been ignoring her ever since the funeral and she was sick of it; they were supposed to be almost adults and yet they were both acting like children with their relationship. All she wanted was for things to go back to the way that they were before the Homecoming game but things would never be the same. She continued to press the keys, not taking her eyes off the sheet music as she answered him.
"My parents paid for lessons when I was little. How did you get in?"
"Your Mom let me in. We need to talk."
"About what? Because if you say about Bryce then we've talked about him already."
Zach stepped closer into the room, frustrated that this was going to cause an argument. "Listen, I know that it was hard for you, your brother died. But getting involved with this investigation that Clay is organising, it's not good for you."
"How would you know what's good for me?" She questioned, finishing the song abruptly and finally taking her eyes off the sheet music, allowing him to see how much emotion was conveyed in them.
"I know you better than you think."
"You don't." She scoffed as he moved to sit on the piano stool next to her. "You don't know me at all."
Zach rolled his eyes, smirking at her. "Lily, we lived together for over a year, I know you."
"Really? Who's my favourite singer?"
"Easy." He answered, eyes flickering around the room.
"Is it?"
He crossed his arms over his chest, shrugging at her. "Easiest question ever."
"Why aren't you answering then?" She smirked, poking his arm.
"Because it's so easy, I don't have to rush."
Lily rolled her eyes, trying to hide the smile that was threatening to break out on her face. "Don't know?"
"Not a clue." He huffed, looking into her eyes pleadingly. "Give me a hint."
"British, biggest costumes you've ever seen, Rocketman?"
"You like Elton John?"
"Don't say it like it's a bad thing." She replied, moving the sheet music around and refusing to look at him, recalling a fond memory. "Growing up, we had this nanny and the only artist she liked was Elton John; I knew every one of his songs by the age of six."
"What's your favourite song?"
"Tiny dancer." Lily answered without even thinking about it, smiling when she thought of the memories that came with it. "Bryce and I would dance to it around the house, it was one of the happier memories of my brother. Can you play?"
"A little bit."
He reached across and ran his hands over the keys, before winking at her and then pressing his fingers to several different keys and playing a beautiful melody without even trying. Lily was good at playing the piano but she wasn't as good as that, she was frustrated that he had never shared this talent with her before. It was just another thing that she would like about him, just another secret that he had originally kept from her.
"That's not a little bit. Zachary Dempsey, did you have piano lessons?"
"For seven years." He scrunched up his face, embarrassed at the confession as he stopped playing. "But I have never played an Elton John song before."
"Maybe if you learn one, then I'll forgive you." Lily offered, grinning at him as she realised how close their faces had moved towards each other.
Zach nodded, agreeing that he would take that deal and knowing that with his piano abilities, he would be able to learn that song easily overnight and would force her into forgiving him within twenty-four hours. They both inched closer to each other, breaking the distance between them by pressing their lips together. Lily's hands wrapped around his neck, playing with his dark hair as his hands moved to hold her close to him; one on her waist and the other on her cheek.
They eventually pulled away, both of them panting to get their breath back, he tucked a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear and looked into her eyes, that were now sparkling with love. "I love you, you know that, right?"
"I love you too." She grinned, biting her lip just thinking about the moment that they were in, the moment that it felt like they would be able to work through this and that they would get through whatever the world threw at them. She didn't want him to ruin the moment with a stupid joke so she leaned forward and attached her lips to his again, allowing herself to be caught in the moment because neither of them knew when this would happen again.
a/n: the news about naya rivera is so scary, prayers go out to her & her family today 🥺 i hope she is found safely 🙏🏻 -lizzie ⭐️
date published: 09/07/20