Chapter 16
Frank's fall to the floor not only attracted the attention of Lily, but everyone else on the bus. Introductions were made, and Lily had to admit, she wasn't as intimidated as she thought she would be. There was always a fear that she would be judged, but that idea flew right out the window when Bob gave her a friendly smile and shook her hand. Gerard, Mikey, and Ray greeted her in a similar fashion.
There did seem to be some tension between Ray and Frank, each exchanging a glare once they were in range of each other, but it wasn't Lily's place to say anything. Instead, she accepted Bob's offer to watch a movie, and followed him into the back room.
She must have fallen asleep, because the next thing she knew Frank had her in his arms carrying her into the hotel. She woke up with a start, staring at Frank curiously. "Why didnt you just wake me up? I'm very capable of walking." She jerked in his arms, trying to get him to set her down.
"Bob said the moment you hit the couch you were asleep. I tried to wake you, but you werent budging. So, I thought this would be faster." Frank shrugged, not making a move to let her out of his arms.
"Where is everyone else?"
"They're already inside. You sleep like a fucking rock."
The two made their way through the lobby, Frank stopping at the elevators nodding towards the button. Lily got the hint, and pushed it, the doors opening with a bing.
"You can let me down now." Lily pointed out, once they were inside the elevator, and the doors closed. She was uncomfortable in his arms, and fond of walking on her own. The stares they received from the hotel staff as they walked in were not helping either.
Frank smirked. "Are you going to beat me up if I don't?"
"I couldn't beat you up if I tried," Lily rolled her eyes, and wiggled in his arms again. "Just let me down."
Frank did as he was told, allowing Lily to slip from his arms and to her feet. He watched her as she pulled the hair from her face, catching site of the dark bruise on her neck. Her t-shirt covered most of it, but a good portion of it was visible. If Lily hadn't pulled her hair back, Frank wouldnt have seen the bruise at all.
The smirk didn't drop from Frank's face. "Is that a parting gift from Peter? It looks like you two may have had a little too much fun."
Lily looked at Frank curiously for a moment before she realized he was staring at her neck. As quickly as she could, Lily covered her neck with a hand, and allowed her hair to fall back over her shoulders.
She completely forgot about that stupid hickey, and in all honesty she thought it would be gone by now. Guess not.
"Just a mark," Lily shrugged, hoping Frank would drop it. She could feel her face grow an even darker shade of red the more Frank stared at her.
Much to Lily's relief, they reached their floor and the doors to the elevator opened. She stepped out into the hallway, but paused, causing Frank to walk into her back. He opened his mouth, most likely to ask why she had stopped walking, but she cut him off.
"Where am I going? I don't have a room to stay in. Why did you even bring me up here?" Lily rambled on until Frank placed a hand over her mouth. Her first instinct was to shove him away from her, but she looked up at him curiously.
"I got a room by myself so, if you like, you can stay with me." Frank offered, waving the key to the hotel room in her face before removing his hand. "If not, then I don't know what to tell you."
"Or I can just go back to the bus and stay there." Lily shrugged making up her own mind and pushing the button to the elevator. With more speed than she expected Frank grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her away from the elevator just as the doors opened.
For a second, Lily thought of the night Pete dragged her through the hallway and into the elevator. How they ended up on the bus. She drank as he watched and for a brief moment in her life she wasn't scared. The moment wasn't about want or need it was about taking control and being in control. It made her feel good, not so childish and unsure.
Suddenly, Frank stopped. He glanced down at Lily the key to his room in hand. "You can't stay on the bus. The drivers lock up and get a room just like everyone else."
Lily raised an eyebrow in question. "Really, last stop I-I--the busses weren't locked." She cleared her throat and finished quickly catching herself before she said too much.
"Well, you're welcome to go back downstairs and check. I'll be right here." Frank pointed to the hotel room behind him before swiping his card and opening the door. Lily smiled weakly at him before the door closed and the numbers 1201 stared her in the face.
After a moment of compilation, Lily found herself outside near the busses. Frank was right. The bus was locked, the driver nowhere in site. And it was too late in the evening to even think of bothering the driver. She would know where to even start looking anyway.
However, Fallout Boy's bus wasn't locked much to Lily's relieve, and surprise. At least she would be able to grab a change of clothes.
The bus was completely dark, and Lily fumbled around trying to find any type of light source. She vaguely remembered Patrick giving her a tour of the bus, and showing her where the light switch was, but her memory was horrible. To turn the lights on the bus probably had to be running anyway.
Finally, after stumbling around and tripping over various things left on the floor she found Pete's laptop. It wasn't much light, but it was enough to see where she was going. Her bunk was easy to find, it was the only one still covered in clothes. Everything dirty and clean was shoved in a duffle bag. Nothing was left behind.
With all her belongings off the bunk, even in the littlest light, Lily noticed her notebook was gone. The notebook she wrote anything and everything in. For a moment, she thought it might have been pushed under the sheets or, perhaps, her pillow but after ripping everything off the bunk, and just leaving the mattress Lily became frantic. The notebook was nowhere in site. She even went as far as searching the ground hoping it just fell out of her bed.
"Goddamit, where the hell is it?"
"Your notebook?"
The voice was like a bomb going off in the quiet bus, and all too familiar. Lily closed her eyes wishing Pete away, but there was no chance she would be that lucky. Pete spoke again, his voice closer this time.
"You left it in your bunk. I thought I would keep it safe for you."
Nothing would have given Lily more satisfaction then to give Pete a black eye. Mark him just like he marked her. She could only imagine it. The scene was playing like a movie in her head. But that's all it was, a scene in her head. In reality, she simply turned and looked at Pete. No words were said. She didn't know what to say.
Pete held out the notebook, "Here. Take it. I didn't read it."
Liar. His eyes were lying to her. He was looking at her differently. Like he knew something. She didn't like, she didn't like it at all. The anger was building inside her the more she looked in his eyes. Even in the dark, she could tell he was lying.
Lily snatched the notebook from Pete's outstretched hand. "You read it."
"I just told you I didn't."
"You're lying."
Pete seemed taken back by Lily's blunt accusation. He took a step closer, stumbling. He loomed over Lily as she sat on her bunk. "I write myself. I know how important it"
"Then why did you read it? I know all of you think I'm nave and stupid, but I can see it in your eyes. You're lying."
Pete scoffed. "So, now you can tell when people are lying? Thats rich Lily, it really it." He paused, and leaned on the bunk above Lily's trapping her in. A small laugh escaped his lips before he spoke. "How about Frank? Can you tell he's lying to you?"
Pete's voice was low and condescending. Almost a growl. He was so close Lily could feel every breath he took against her face. He was angry. His breathing was quick and erratic.
"He's using you. For a bet. Did you know that? Did you see that in his eyes?"
Their noses touched and Lily's breathing matched Pete's. She wanted to look away, put some distance between them. They were extremely too close, and his eyes were boring into hers. She tried to move back into the bunk, but Pete was too quick. He grabbed her arms pinning them to her side. She wasn't going anywhere.
It seemed like an eternity before Lily found her voice, but after clearing her throat once, twice, she spoke. "Frank said the same thing about you." Her voice was the complete opposite of Pete's. Soft, and calm. She was surprised she was able to keep her composure even with Pete's strong grip on her arms. "You're hurting me."
Pete didn't release or loosen his grip. He tightened it. "Frank is a lying bastard that will do and say anything to get what he wants."
"And what about you? You used Janie, started some dumb bet." Lily struggled against Pete, but he was much stronger then her. She was trapped. "Frank has done nothing to make me not trust him. You lost you chance. I don't trust you at all, Pete. And there is nothing you can do to change that."
Those words seemed to push Pete over the edge. The way she spit them out fueled the bottled up anger inside him. And the beers he consumed earlier weren't helping to calm him. Faster than Lily could comprehend, Pete slammed her back into the bed, and climbed on top of her pinning her arms at her side. The move left Lily stunned, and instinctively she began to struggle.
"Did you fuck him?"
It was a simple question, but Lily found it difficult to answer. Her eyes were locked on Pete's lips, which hovered inches above her own. Every breath, every word he spoke, she could feel it against her lips. She must have been stupid not to notice it before. The faint smell of liquor on Pete's breath. He was drunk, or on the way of getting there before he found her. She swallowed trying to get rid of the tightness in her throat. "You've been drinking."
Pete didn't seem to hear or he just chose to ignore her. "Do you want to fuck him?"
"You're drunk, and obviously not thinking straight"
"I asked you a question." Pete tightened his grip on Lily's wrist. She could feel his fingers digging into her skin cutting off the circulation and most likely leaving bruises. "Do you want to fuck him?"
A throbbing pain surged through Lily's wrists, and she gritted her teeth to keep from crying out. Adding to her frustrations, Pete began to kiss her neck biting the skin softly, then a bit harder. Initially, her plan was to stay calm, and hopefully, Pete would react to that and calm down himself. But, everyone had a breaking point and Lily reached hers a long time ago. It was just a matter of provocation.
"Yes, Pete. I want to fuck Frank. I want to fuck him. I want to fuck you, and Patrick and all the other guys I meet." Lily growled and bucked her hips, feeling stifled by Pete's closeness. She needed air, she needed space, and she needed not to feel Pete's erection against her leg. "Please, get off of me."
"You're always so polite." Pete mumbled against Lily's neck in a mocking way biting down from a moment. "Why don't you stop being so polite, huh? Make me get off of you."
Lily shifted, trying to avoid Pete's lips and his biting. "I am not going to fight you so you can get some sick pleasure from it."
"I'm not doing this for pleasure." Pete bite down on Lily's neck making her jump and let out a yelp. "I'm doing this to get some answers."
"And you got your answer." Lily was becoming sick of this game, and struggled and flailed against Pete, but she got nowhere. She was left breathless. "Let me go."
"Work for it, baby."
She sighed. He was not going to let this go, but she wasn't either. Mentally, she was making a note to herself to hurt Pete in the most painful way possible as soon as she could. But, she had to get some kind of leverage in the situation first. Leverage...
Lily relaxed into the mattress. "What do you want from me?" She lowered her voice hoping it sounded somewhat seductive. Pete stopped biting her neck so she must have done something right. Pushing it farther, Lily slipped her legs around his waist. "Because, I will give you whatever you want."
It was surprising how quickly Pete's demeanor changed. He loosened his grip on her wrists, and she could feel him smile against her neck. Janie was right about one thing. Men were weak when it came to women and sex. Throw that at them and they didnt stand a chance.
"You shouldn't make such a big statement unless you're ready to play with the big boys."
Apparently, Pete needed a bit more persuasion. Doing the only thing that came to mind, Lily pushed aside her apprehensions and crushed her lips to his in an awkward kiss. She didn't know what she was doing and just allowed herself to go with the flow of things, following Pete's lead until she gained more confidence, then took control herself.
It was different kissing Pete without any alcohol in her system. She was aware of everything around her. Every breath, every touch, every move Pete made. His hands were now tangled in her hair leaving her hands free to roam and more importantly to heal. They pulsed as the circulation came back to her fingers.
The kiss was broken, and both of them were left panting. Lily decided to make her move. It was easy to shift one of her legs between Pete's once her hands were free and he was distracted. In one quick movement Lily brought her knee up to Pete's crotch, and shoved him off of her. He cried out, but she didn't stick around to hear more than a few curses leave his mouth. Bag in hand, she ran off the bus not looking back.
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