Licking Old Wounds [Lilith]

[Lilith Prescott]

Feeling her heart stop, Lilith felt a blush creep up as he rubbed his cheek against hers. She turned to smile up at him, and then he plucked her phone from her hand. "Hey! You can't just..." She barely had sat up to grab her phone back when suddenly he was back next to her, his fingers brushing the hair by her face. They were warm, and her other protests died on her lips as he asked her if she had to go. 

Lilith took her hand, holding his hand to her face. She closed her eyes for a moment, looking up at him. Was he asking her to stay? Did he want her to go? She didn't think he wanted her to go. But she didn't really know what he was thinking most of the time. She bit her bottom lip, taking his hand and resting it on her lap. She gave him a smile. "I don't have to go...the phone call was just my boss telling me to turn the photos in tomorrow. Remember...I was carrying them when I saw you and had forgotten all about them..." Lilith smiled.

She stood up, letting go of his hand, and collected the file that was next to her purse, bringing it back over to the bed to show him. "They are the pictures of the cathedral." Lilith laid them out, the pictures she had gotten from her near death experience at the top of the steeple, the setting sun bathing the chapel through the stained glass window, and more of the outside of the cathedral. There were multiples of each, the angle a bit different on each one. She preferred to give her contractors options.

Lilith looked up at Drew. "Do you want me to stay, Drew?" Lilith truly preferred the blunt approach over anything tactful. She was closer to him than when she had first sat down, her hand resting on the outside of his thigh. No matter where she had touched him, he had been warm and hard with muscle. She looked up at him, her eyes bright. It was late, she knew it, but she wasn't tired. Her mind was racing through everything that had happened that night and she didn't quite know how to tell Drew she wanted to stay with him. She felt so comfortable and so at home with him that leaving was something she had been dreading since they really started talking. 

[Drew Schultz]

He looked down at the photographs, his eyebrows raising for a moment. He wasn't exactly an expert on photography, but even his untrained eye could tell that these were good. Had these been what she had risked her neck to get? He couldn't say that it had been worth it, considering that in the end, they were just pictures, and her neck was a bit more important to him, but he supposed he could begrudgingly admit to himself that she did know what she was doing. Not that it would keep him from trying to discourage her from doing something so crazy again. How a serially clumsy person would ever think that climbing that high was a good idea... he would probably never know.

His dark eyes lifted to look at her eyes, filled with expectation and anticipation. Strange as it might seem to him, considering what he thought of himself, she really wanted to stay. She had heard the worst of his story, and while she might have flinched a couple of times, she hadn't turned and run. No, perhaps he was the real coward of the two of them, since he was the one who had run away. She had stayed, and her soft fingers continued to trace his skin, sometimes over his clothes and sometimes not. She really didn't think badly of him for what he had told her. Incredible.

"I want you to stay," he said, leaning forward as he was suddenly emboldened by the thought.

The intensity of the moment was spoiled when his stomach suddenly rumbled, and he remembered why he had been out on the street when she had seen him. The two hotdogs he'd eaten hadn't been nearly enough, and his body was growsing about the lack of a meal. He grinned apologetically, his hand lifting to his stomach, which he could feel roiling beneath the skin. He didn't really have any groceries, so he would have to go out and get something. Maybe she would come with him?

"You, uhhh... interrupted my meal this afternoon," he admitted, blushing at the back of his cheeks. "Would you care to come with me to get something to eat?"

[Lilith Prescott]

Hearing him say that he wanted her to stay caused Lilith to blush as he leaned forward. So many thoughts were running through her head. Everything that had been revealed to her tonight, what the future would look like. It was a tentative happiness, though how tentative, Lilith didn't know. She wanted Drew to be happy and all she hoped for right in this moment was to be that cause.

Lilith prepared herself for what she thought was coming, a kiss, an embrace, not what actually came. The loud rumble filled her ears as Drew placed his hand on his stomach. She blinked fast a couple times then fell over on the bed, cracking up with laughter. She held her stomach, just laughing away. The situation had been so serious and so intense that Drews stomach telling him he needed to eat was the thing that cleared the air. She sat up, her hair coming undone from it's pony tail as she wiped her eyes, nodding. She felt giggles still rack her body as she got up from the bed, grinning at Drew. "Food sounds amazing right now!"

Moving to the door, Lilith grabbed her heels and her purse which she had dumped after pulling her cell phone from it earlier, and moved back to the bed as Drew was pulling his shirt back on. She quickly strapped her heels back on, standing up again and stretching. Drew was so unique, and she didn't think she would ever get used to his height as he stood up and towered over her. She smiled, leading the way out the door so Drew could lock it.

The cool night air brushed against her skin, causing goosebumps and cooling her skin. She looked up at the man who caused her heart to stop and her stomach to flutter with butterflies. "Where to? I'm good with anything." She smiled. One thing Lilith did not expect when she left her house earlier was for her to be here, with Drew, getting dinner and staying the night. The thought made her feel warm inside and she let out a satisfied breath as Drew led the way.

[Drew Schultz]

Standing as Lilith bounded away, he stretched his back and sighed softly as the cartilage cracked a couple of times, releasing some of the tension. He would have been content to simply watch her moving around his apartment, seeming to liven up the sparse environment, but if they were going to go out, he needed to get dressed again. It took him a second to find his shirt and slide it back over his head, and he smoothed out the wrinkles with a quick pat down, before running his hand over his hair to make sure it wasn't sticking up in a random direction. Everything seemed to be in order, since he hadn't quite gotten around to taking his shoes off or putting his wallet up.

His stomach ached like a punch in the gut, and he thought about the restaurants within walking distance as the pair of them went to the door and walked out. Locking the door behind them, he headed down the stairs, still considering her question. The air was cold, and he hesitated as he realized that he'd not brought any kind of jacket, and the smell of rain was heavy on the mild breeze.

"Give me a second," he told her, taking the stairs back up two at a time.

Unlocking the door again, he stepped back into his apartment and glanced around for his umbrella and jacket, which were piled carelessly in the corner of his closet. Sliding his arms into the sleeves of the blue canvas of his jacket, he grabbed the umbrella around the fabric clasp that kept it contained and headed back outside to where Lilith was waiting. He almost didn't bother locking the door, since he knew that no one in his neighborhood would dare enter, but he locked it anyway. His guitar was the only valuable thing there, but he'd saved up a lot of money to get it, and he didn't want to have to go looking through all of the pawn shops in town for it, if someone stole it.

He bounded back down the steps, umbrella in hand as his nose twitched. Rain was never a welcome obstacle, but at least the umbrella would allow him to make it home, if it started raining while they were still out.

"How do you feel about Mongolian?" he asked her, leading the way down through the parking lot and onto the sidewalk. "There's a great place a few blocks down. Their steak is great."

[Lilith Prescott]

Waiting patiently, Lilith leaned up against the wall, humming to herself. It was a tuneless hum, just to pass the time. She pulled out her cell phone, turning it back on to see 3 new voice-mails. She blinked. Three? She heard the door close and quickly put her cell phone away, giving Drew a smile as he came back out in a jacket with an umbrella in his hand. Umbrella? "Is it supposed to rain?" She asked, following him through the parking lot. Mongolian sounded absolutely perfect to her. Lilith hadn't realized how hungry she was as well.

"Mongolian's good." Lilith nodded as they walked down the street. Readjusting her purse to her other shoulder she heard her phone start to ring. What the heck does this guy want... In a way, Lilith was really starting to feel creeped out by this guy. They had gone on one date, it wasn't even a great date. They had dinner, the food tasted horrible. He had brought her to a really fancy place that served minuscule portions and it wasn't even that good. The wine was fine though, she had had plenty that night. But the guy was boring. She barely remembered his name..Randy, maybe?

Lilith pulled out her cell phone, turning it off again. She was gonna have to get her number changed if this was how things were gonna keep going. She put it back. "Sorry about that." She didn't really want to tell Drew about the guy or the date. She just wanted to forget about it and remember the feelings she had been having with Drew all up until she started feeling uneasy with the phone calls from whatever-his-name was.

And then there was the part that didn't know how the massive, handsome man beside her would take this. Would he freak out? Comfort her? Would he try to hunt the guy down? What if he just didn't like it and decided she wasn't worth it? This guy was going to mess everything up. Way to go, idiot. You really picked a winner there when you said 'Sure'. It wasn't like her and the guy had met anywhere special, just at one of the usual magazines she worked at. He was in accounting and she had picked up her commission check from him more than a couple times.

Which is why she was seriously considering dropping that particular magazine from her usual list of clients. They didn't pay the best, but it was still pretty good. She folded her arms, a frown forming on her face. She had trailed back a little thinking about all this and hadn't realized Drew had stopped until she ran into him. "Wha-! Ah! I'm sorry!" Lilith moved her fingers through her hair. "Must have zoned out." She laughed, hiding the uneasy thoughts that were plaguing her mind and followed Drew inside when she realized they were at the restaurant. They were seated quickly and drinks were on the way. Lilith looked at Drew. She had sat on the opposite side of the table from him, but right now all she wanted was to sit next to him and bask in his warmth and his touch.

[Drew Schultz]

Drew kept a wary eye on the sky as they walked, fighting the urge to pick up the pace. They would certainly get to the restaurant before it began to rain, but it would take a miracle to get them back to his apartment without getting wet. Intent as he was on their surroundings, he jumped when her phone rang again, and he had to resist the urge to glare at it. That phone of hers was going to give him a heart attack, if it kept randomly going off. He kept his own on vibrate, just to avoid that eventuality, but even if he had a ring tone set, he didn't get calls nearly often enough for there to be much danger. Only his boss even knew the number.

As they finally approached the restaurant, the smell of meat on the air made his stomach rumble eagerly, and he paused to look at her. He blinked in surprise as she walked into him, but her slight weight wasn't enough to do much more than nudge him, and he caught her soft arms with gentle fingers to keep her from falling. She seemed distracted all of a sudden, but that was probably his own fault. After all, he'd not exactly been talking on the way over, and he'd given her a lot to think about. It was no wonder that she had retreated into her thoughts.

Leading her inside, the hisses and sizzles of the grill drew his attention to the large circular cooking table, where the grill master was making the meals. His mouth was already watering from the steak and juices he could smell coming from it, but he managed to sit across from Lilith without much incident.

"Shall we?" he asked, looking at her with a small smile.

The food was arrayed in a buffet style table, with a bowl at the end. Taking a pair of bowls for himself, he handed her one and began piling meat into his, mostly steak. The noodles were more of an accessory for him than a main course, and he only added a small portion of them to soak up the juices of his steak. Both bowls were mostly filled with red steak as he handed it off to the grill master.

"How do you want your steak?" the man asked, raising his eyebrows at the odd proportion of meat to noodles.

"Rare," Drew answered, disguising his eagerness by lowering his volume and looking away.

Lord knew Lilith didn't need to see him make any more of a freak show of himself than he already was, whatever his dietary preferences were. He sat down in one of the chairs to watch the cook as he waited for Lilith to finish getting whatever she wanted for her bowl. His dark eyes never left his food, as if he was afraid that it would disappear if he lost eye contact with it.

[Lilith Prescott]

Feeling his warm hands steady her, Lilith smiled up at Drew. She was glad he didn't intrude in her thoughts as they stood up from the table, going to stand in line. He handed her a bowl and she picked through the ingredients. She put some steak, pork, chicken, pineapple, onions, some chili powder and other seasonings. She grabbed a smaller bowl for her sauces, mixing spicy bbq with a little soy sauce. Lilith truly enjoyed these places, she loved all the food that she had gathered and had ordered rice for herself at the table. She finally glanced over to see what Drew had gotten and laughed as she saw it was piled with mostly stake. She grinned, sitting next to him at the bar as he watched the food.

"Hey Drew. Earth to Drew?" She poked him in the arm. "I promise you the guy isn't going to eat your food. I'm sorry I interrupted you eating earlier and that your so hungry." She smiled at the person who grabbed up her bowl and sauce, starting to grill her portion of food "I'll take my steak well done, please."Taking a deep breath in, Lilith felt herself relaxing again. The call earlier had put her on edge so bad and it was nice to just sit next to Drew and chill.

Soon they were back at their table, food in hand, rice in between them and their drinks waiting. Lilith smiled, as she put some rice on her plate, mixing all the food together. This was how she liked it and the food smelled amazing. She started eating, the silence stretching between her and Drew. "So, I see you like steak." Lilith blinked and laughed. "Oh that was stupid. I just didn't know what to say and silence bugs me!" She smiled, popping another bite of food in her mouth.[/font]

[Drew Schultz]

Once Drew got his food back, he tried to smile back at her, but he didn't know how to explain to her that it wasn't that he was worried about getting the food back, but he had been conditioned early in life to expect people to tamper with it. He said nothing of his thoughts, following her back to the table and sitting down. The coffee he'd ordered was steaming at his seat already, and he frowned at it as he sat down. Typically, he liked to prepare his own drink, if he couldn't see the person making it, but at least coffee was a drink that was easy to tell if someone had done something to it. It's temperature, in combination with its consistent flavor, made it ideal for someone of his sensibilities.

His thoughts were sidetracked immediately as he breathed in, and the scent of the steak assailed his senses. It took him a moment of hesitation to remind himself to use a fork, and he began digging into his bowl as slowly as he could force himself to eat. It wasn't until she said something that he realized that time had passed, and he'd been too engrossed in eating from his two bowls to register. Leaning back in his chair, he took a deep breath to banish the wolf from his eyes, his stomach somewhat less frantic now that he'd managed to eat something.

"Yes, I do," he answered her quietly, blushing a bit at the back of his cheeks. "Sorry, I... sometimes forget myself when there is food involved."

Even if it hadn't been a wolf that he'd been implanted with, he'd spent too many years with food being withheld, just to see the effect it had on his system. Any experiment got a little aggressive around food because of that. Still, as was typical of him, he said nothing of his thoughts, but tried to think of a safer place to steer the conversation. Somewhere that didn't draw direct attention to how mentally sub-normal he really was.

"Why don't you tell me about yourself?" he suggested, looking up and taking a sip of his coffee.

[Lilith Prescott]

Giving Drew a smile, she picked around her food, taking a bite. "Oh no, your fine. I mean..you know." She continued to eat and looked up as Drew leaned back, looking at her. She finished her bite, pondering over his question. It was weird. People usually didn't care to know about her, she really didn't have much to tell as it were anyways. She chewed on her lip, thinking about her response. It was a harder question for her. Drew had lived here all his life and Lilith looked down at her food.

"I mean..there isn't much to tell, ya know. I'm a freelance photographer, it was something that really..ya know...like I really enjoy taking photos. Its like capturing other points of view." Lilith's eyes lit up when she talked about her photography. "I mean...there is something amazing about being able to show people these other perspectives. Like it could change lives." Lilith smiled, looking down. She thought back to the two years she had been here in New Orlando. "I have lived here..for two years and before that....nothing."

This was a slightly harder part for Lilith. At Drew's questioning look, she looked at her food, picking around it. "I just appeared in New Orlando two years ago. I don't know how or where I was from or anything." Lilith felt a frown take over her face and she looked up, blinking away any tears that started to form. "This place is impeccable ya know! I love it. I have never been here before but mongolian like, speaks to me." Lilith took a couple more bites of her food, feeling the conversation lull again. It was a bit harder for her to try and think about her past. If she ignored it, her head wouldn't start hurting. She got up. "I'm just going to use the bathroom real quick."

Doing a 180 to head to the bathroom, Lilith ran right into a waiter, who happened to be carrying a tray of drinks. With a loud crash, Lilith and the waiter were on teh floor, broken glass everywhere and Lilith had taken the brunt from the drinks, her shirt being soaked through. Her shoulders sagged. "I am so sorry!" She told the waiter, who was busy trying to get all the broken glass together. Lilith thought it best not to move right now, she did not feel like cutting herself on something. 

[Drew Schultz]

Drew tilted his head at her words. She didn't remember anything past two years ago? How was that possible? He knew that there was technology that was capable of forcing memory loss, but how could she be here if she'd been subjected to that sort of technology? She would remember what happened right afterward, wouldn't she? Perhaps there was something else that was capable of the same sort of thing? He didn't know enough about the world to know if there was another possibility. What he did know was that his question had caused her to tear up, and he hated himself for it. Resolving to himself not to push the matter, he took another bite of his steak as she jabbered about to change the subject.

When she stood suddenly, he tensed, but nodded as she said something about the bathroom. Turning his attention back to his food, he was caught completely off guard when there was a sudden ruckus, and he knocked his chair over in his haste to stand, the knife turned underhand as he raised his arms to defend himself. When he looked down and realized what had happened, he looked down and was surprised to see the knife there, but he put it down to help Lilith. Lifting her carefully to keep her from touching the glass, he set her on her feet a few yards away, sniffing to make sure that he couldn't smell any cuts on her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking her over before meeting her eyes.

His heartbeat was racing, the wolf golden in his eyes, but his face was relatively calm as he turned away and knelt to help the waiter clean up the glass. Without a brush of his own, he used his napkin to protect his fingers from the shards, pushing the glass into a pile near the waiter's pile.

"I got it," the waiter said patiently, but the scent of his distress told Drew otherwise.

Still, he wouldn't be able to help much more without getting himself wet, and he wasn't about to do that. Not when the rain was coming.

Speak of the devil... His shoulders tensed as he heard the downpour begin outside, and he stood slowly to look out the window as the fog of moisture rose upon its surface. It wasn't a minor shower, like he'd been hoping. No, this was a deluge, and he would be walking home in it. Umbrella or no umbrella, this was going to be extremely unpleasant, and the wolf in him growled in displeasure. Although the sound was fairly quiet, the waiter looked up from where he knelt on the floor, then looked around as if searching for the dog who'd made the sound.

[Lilith Prescott]

Lilith pulled her shirt away from her body, groaning at it. She looked at Drew nodding. "Yeah I'm fine." She sighed, asking for some to-go boxes. She loaded up their food in them, angry that she was clumsy, and as she turned to Drew again, she saw him tense up and blinked. "Drew...are you ok? You look tense, is something wrong? I'm sorry for ruining dinner, I am just-" Lilith shrugged, paying for the food with her card. Once getting her card back, she started heading for the door. Lilith turned as she opened the door, seeing Drew hesitate as the moved underneath the awning, looking at the down pour. She was already soaked from the incident with the waiter, so she didn't really care much at this point, but it seemed like something was wrong with Drew.

She took the umbrella from Drew's hand, opening it. "Shall we?" She gave him a wry smile. No use in being down forever, and she took a deep breath. The smell of the fresh rain really relaxed her and she took Drews hand. Then realized, she couldn't hold the umbrella because she was short and Drew was a giant and she couldn't hold it high enough. So Lilith handed it back to Drew, grabbing onto his arm and pressing her body closer to him to make her way underneath the umbrella. 

Taking off, she held Drews hand as they dashed through the rain back to his apartment. The umbrella really didn't help and by the time they had made it to his front door, Lilith felt herself panting a bit and started laughing, leaning against the wall. She looked at Drew, her eyes alight with mirth. She was more soaked than when she left the diner, her hair plastering against her back. It was much more tame now, making her look slightly more petite. Once Drew was finished unlocking the door, she followed him inside. She laughed, putting her purse by the door. "You're soaked." She smiled at Drew, taking off her shoes. 

Lilith felt better than she had at the restaurant. The stress from before was gone, and she felt nothing but happiness right now. She looked down at her clothes, and looked up at Drew, blushing a bit as they clung to her body. The rain had been a bit cold and it didn't take long till Drew handed her a towel. She patted herself down. "So...do you have...like a shirt that I can use?" Lilith blushed. She felt a pleasant feeling pass through her at the thought of wearing something of Drews. It was weird but she enjoyed it as she wrapped the towel around her arms.

[Drew Schultz]

Drew stared up at the sky for a long moment, glaring at it with the wolf in his eyes. This was going to be excruciatingly painful, but he had no choice but to do it. Gritting his teeth, he allowed her to take the umbrella from his hand. It just took him a couple of tries to convince himself that he was really going out there. Stepping out into the rain, he almost stopped breathing at the shock of cold as it impacted his skin, his eyes widening as if he'd been punched. Lilith didn't seem to notice, and kept up her pace, and he forced himself to move, even as each rain drop hit his skin like a thick needle. He grunted quietly, but loped alongside Lilith, with each of his massive steps equal to two of hers. It was an effort to keep himself moving that slowly.

His hands were shaking by the time that he reached the overhang in front of his apartment, and it took him a couple of tries to get the key into the lock. Turning it, he had to remind himself not to break it as he pushed the door open and took the key back. The umbrella had done next to nothing to keep him dry, and his whole body was shaking as if he was being electrocuted, his heart racing at the pain of the icy lines of moisture that coated his body. His shirt was soaked, and he pulled it off of himself as he kicked his shoes off, and stood against the wall, his fist against the flat surface as he bent over, almost at the waist.

Every muscle ached, as if he'd been beaten, and he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this weary. The wolf of his mind was restless, knowing how much pain he was in, and knowing that there was someone else present. The thought kept him still as he stood there, trying to calm himself down. With a whispered word, he heated his skin, and the moisture began to bubble, soon hissing off of his skin as he forced himself to remain still. The heat was like a warm blanket all over, and it started to leech away the soreness that came from getting soaked to the skin, but his hair was still dripping, and he flinched as each drop touched flesh, even as it hissed away instantly.

He didn't have the presence of mind to say anything, but stood there as the heat worked its way through his system, the room suddenly misty and humid. The violent shaking began to slow, but still he remained there at the door, oblivious to anything but the cold of his body. His breath came in ragged gasps, but as the water slowly evaporated, that too began to slow.

[Lilith Prescott]

Lilith felt the mirth drain out of her eyes as she watched Drew lean against the wall, his breath coming ragged. What was wrong? She frowned, stepping closer to him and then stopping as her hand reached out to touch him. She hesitated. She had no idea why he was in pain, or anything. She pulled her hand back, watching him. "Drew?" His name came out softly from her lips. She had no idea what to do and she chewed her lip. "Drew...whats wrong?" She watched as the water evaporated off his body and stepped back. Was it the water? She clasped her hands together, looking around.

She felt kind of useless, not being able to really do anything for Drew. She let out a breath, watching as Drew's body and breath calmed down. She wanted to comfort him but had no idea how. And if it was the water she was still dripping wet and didn't want to make it worse for him. She looked around, the room was humid now, no doubt from the water evaporated off of Drew. She looked at his bent over figure.

Seeing him like this was something Lilith had never expected. She wanted to know what had happened, she wanted to help. But Lilith was slightly aware of how she was and knew she would probably make things worse. She wrung her hands, a small puddle forming under her at the door, for she hadn't moved since they came back. She crossed her arms, locating his bathroom and grabbing a couple towels. She placed one down to mop up the puddle that had formed and she looked at Drew. His hair was still dripping and she dried her exposed body parts off quickly, just her arms and her legs. Lilith's hair dripped down her back.

Drew was much taller than her so him being leaned against the wall did not make much of a difference in their heights. Lilith stepped up next to him, touching his shoulder gently, immediately pulling her hand back. She hadn't expected his skin to be that hot, like a fire and took a step back, chewing on her lip. "Drew?" She wanted to say more but felt her voice freeze. She was obviously not very good at this. She was standing their holding the towel, wishing she could do something more, and not knowing what that was. Here was this big, strong, scary at times guy who was bent over, in pain, at least he was. As he had dried a bit and he was looking better now. "Is there anything I can do?" Lilith still had zero clue what was going on but she needed to know. It was weird to her. For once she wasn't the one in pain or hurting or freaking out. She wanted to help, regardless that she hadn't taken care of herself in her own soaked clothes and dripping hair.

[Drew Schultz]

As he regained control of himself, he whispered another word and the spell faded, the heat bleeding off into the air gradually until his skin was safe for her to touch again. He slowed his breathing with the ease of long practice, and relaxed his muscles to ease them out of their shivering. Still, he rolled his head back and forth to release some of the tension that had built. Standing up to his full height again, he breathed a long sigh and couldn't look at her, ashamed of how he had lost control of his reaction. Most kinds of pain, he could shake off with a certain degree of ease, but cold water was the worst, and he remembered how he had been punished as a child, with cold water or ice. It left no marks, but it hurt worse than the injuries that had.

Moving slowly so as not to spook her, he gently took the towels from her hand and ran it over his scalp to eliminate most of the dripping. The wolf was still visible in his eyes, glowing golden in contrast to their usual dark brown. Whether his human part was calming down or not, his mind was never whole, or in one accord. The wolf was still nervous, searching for the aggressor that had put him in the position of weakness. It was taking a powerful effort for him not to frighten her, since his wolf was looking to take out his pain on someone. Even knowing that it wasn't her fault, he was still struggling.

"I'm sorry," he said tightly, his voice a low growl of a rasp. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Excuse me."

His canines had lengthened somewhat, and he avoided her eye as he walked around her, heading to bedroom and closing the door behind him. He stripped his pants and boxers, piling them in the corner before he wiped down his legs and feet. It took him a minute to dig out a new pair of pants and another pair of boxers, and he pulled them on slowly and deliberately, distracting himself from the mental struggle. He still felt unsettled, his stomach feeling as if it wanted to reject what he had eaten, but he breathed deeply through his nose, trying to settle it. Once he was fully clothed again, he opened the door a crack and peered out at her for a sparse moment, but he could still feel the wolf's anger, and he let go of the handle.

Backing away from the door, he sat on the far edge of his bed and picked up his guitar by its neck. He didn't really know why, but music was the one thing that could consistently calm his inner wolf. Closing his eyes as he tuned it, he began to pluck at the strings in an old, but familiar Spanish song that never failed to put the wolf more to rest. He still wasn't the most technically skilled guitarist yet, but the song was simple enough that it didn't matter.

[Lilith Prescott]

As Drew spoke, Lilith just watched him move around her carefully, avoiding eye contact with her. He walked into the bedroom and she raised her hand as the door closed. Looking down, she leaned against the wall, sliding down and sitting on the floor. She felt tears prick at her eyes as she looked down at the tattoo on her forearm. She ran her hand along it, the petals seeming to close as she ran her fingers over it. She was totally useless. He had gone into his room and shut her out. She knew she didn't quite understand everything, and as she drew circles of light on her arm, she pondered the evening.

First he was convulsing and she just stood there, and then he went and closed himself off. Before he wanted her to stay but maybe not so much anymore. She stopped, her hand shaking. She was cold from the rain and still being in her soaked clothes. It didn't help that she hadn't realized she would be staying the night somewhere tonight. She chewed her bottom lip, clasping her hands together. She stood, grabbing her purse. Maybe she should just leave. Her hand paused on the handle as she heard music drift from the bedroom. She turned, noticing the door was cracked open a little bit. She blinked, listening to the simple song. 

Taking her hand off the handle, she quietly placed her purse down, stepping over to the door. She leaned against it, listening to the music. Her eyes closed. She didn't understand. If she wanted to be with Drew like she thought she did. She had to understand. She tapped on the door quietly, opening it and leaning against the door frame. Her wet clothes didn't matter to her anymore as she watched Drew play his guitar. He was good, not the best, but right now, it didn't matter to her. She watched him, her arms folded over each other.

When the song came to a close, Lilith moved further into the room, leaning against his wall. "Can you tell me what happened, Drew? You were in pain...what happened?" She stayed against the wall. Maybe she would have tried to go to his side, but she was a little freaked out and didn't know how he would take her coming up to him. She was nervous, something she was not used to as she wrung her hands together. She looked down at them, not knowing what to do.

In her head, Lilith was getting mad at herself, being nervous and useless was not her. She wasn't very useful but usually her confidence exuded and she didn't care. Usually she didn't look away, not even climbing to the top of a steeple could scare her. She took a deep breath, looking up at Drew. "I can't help you if you don't talk to me." Lilith took a step forward. She wanted to help him. She wanted to be there. But could she be what he wanted, or needed? She wanted to be...but did he want her to be there? She reached up, touching his hair gently. "I would like to stay..if that's ok?" She wanted to understand the man in front of her, understand why things happened the way they did. She waited, preparing herself for the rejection she was sure was coming.