Innocence

Lilly Walker woke up with a nasty headache, turning from her side onto her back she groaned and put her hands to her temples, "Aargh, damn Caro and her tequila shots, damn her!" She mutters under her breath. Trying to remember more about the night before, she puts a palm to her forehead, her eyes shoot open at the memory and very quickly she looks to her side. "Thank god, thank god, thank god." She sighs in relief at the empty bed next to her. She's eternally happy that there was in fact no warm body next to her. The memories start flushing in.  Caroline, a new friend she'd met in the neighbourhood, a few weeks ago while attending her first "weekly neighbourhood-watch" meeting had invited her to celebrate at the local pub called the c**k and tail. Caro and her friends were celebrating graduating highschool they had had their official graduation but her group of friends wanted to have one last big hoora to say goodbye as most of them would be leaving the small town for college or other opportunities in big cities. Lilly had just moved to Balthon from a few towns over and thought it was pointless to attend as most of them would be leaving in a few days anyway, but Caro would not give up. The c**k and tail had their monthly cowboy themed night and Caro was overly excited because whenever the c**k and tail had a theme night it was usually packed and people from smaller towns would attend meaning, "fresh meat" as she'd put it. Lilly had driven to her parents and gone through all the boxes of costumes looking for stuff to pull together a cowgirl outfit that according to Caro was a must, "3 free shots to everyone who dresses up, Lil! That means we get to get our buzz on for free, there's no way you're coming wearing one of your sad little jeans and t-shirt outfits!" She had luck, her mother had kept everything, she was a cowgirl in a school play a few years back and altough the outfit was tight it still fit. Her parents did not approve of her plans but this was what they'd get for forcing her into a life she didn't want. She'd go out living and enjoying her youth as much as she could. Caro picked her up at seven sharp and whistled at her outfit saying she should consider moving to Texas and becoming a real cowgirl since she owned this look. She also made Lilly swear to go shopping with her because according Caro, Lilly had been hiding her "hot bod" under her ugly wardrobe. The night had started off with a bang, when they arrived the c**k and tail was already full, only a few seats in booths free. Caro however wanted to sit at the bar next to the jukebox and right across from the mechanical bull that they'd set up. Lilly was nervous, they were underaged and altough Caro had gotten them fake Id's she could not relax. Caro had insisted they drink tequilla as their free shots to give them confidence for the mechanical bull riding later on. Since Lilly was never much of a drinker the night had passed in a blurr. The only vivid memory she has is of the guy she'd met. Recalling the memory gave her goosebumps all over. Towards the end of the night she was sitting on the bar stool back facing the pub listening to Caro talk to two boys in her class about what she thinks will happen to all the "skanky" girls in their year, the boys were laughing at her anticsas she gave a few girls nicknames, "Slutty Suzanne, oh and what about Desprate Debbie?" The boys burst out laughing and they started talking about their teachers, but Lilly found herself trailing off,  thinking about her current situation and impending responsibilities that would go into effect on her 18th birthday, in just 12 days. Just as she'd let out a sigh she felt a tap on her shoulder, she turned around in her drunken state into broad strong shoulders and a very muscled breast, he cleared his throat for her to look up to him. Slowly her eyes moved up to his face as her heart started beating fast. Very serious, beautiful brown eyes were looking back at her, she tensed up and couldn't breathe he was scanning her face for something, as if he was waiting for her to say something... two emotions filled her simultaneously: lust and fear. The encounter felt strange and almost intimate, even though they hadn't said a word.He was attractive, he had a sharp square jaw, smooth tanned skin, big dark chocolate eyes and short dark hair, his chin had stuble on it adding to the tough and dangerous vibe he was sending out. At first she was sure he was a cop it felt like he had some kind of authority. He just stood there looking at her with serious eyes, tapping his foot. She couldn't take the silence any more and finally spoke, "Hello?" She finally managed to breathe out, it was more of a question than a greeting. The unknown man narrowed his eyes, it seems he was not satisfied with what she had said his eyes locked with hers and he took a step toward her leaving very little distance between them. He was tall and towered over her, bending to her ear he had said, "Do you have nothing else to say?" His eyes stayed serious but a small smile started to spread over his mouth as he took her hand in his and his thumb started moving in circles over her hand. Lilly was frozen she could not think, her mind was blank and all she concentrated on was his touch on her hand, it was like he had mesmerized her. She could only shake her head no. Instantly he dropped her hand and a furious look spread over his face, she was so confused, what did he want from her? Suddenly Caro became aware of what was going on next to her and came to Lilly's rescue. She jumped to Lilly's side and started chatting, "Clayton you came? Wow hell must be freezing over, who would have thought that you'd still know how to enjoy yourself." She instantly put her hand over her mouth and turned red. This was strange, in the few weeks that Lilly had spent time with Caro she had never seen her feeling bad for making an insensitve comment, she always said that people needed the grow the hell up and just take a joke already, but this was different maybe this Clayton person was a cop after all. He furrowed his brows and finally broke eye contact with Lilly, looking furiously at Caro now he almost growls at her, "Know your place girl, or there will be consequences!" The packed pub suddenly grew very quiet everyone was staring at them. Caro, never one to be easily intimated turned and just before she left she lingered half looking over her shoulder, but she must have changed her mind because she turned on her heel and ran away crying, leaving a stunned and confused Lilly sitting staring up to the man that she just learned was named "Clayton". He gave her a stern look and finally spoke with a deep and delicious voice, "I think you'll find it's time for you to home, miss...?" Her mind was working over time, the first thing she could think of was that he must be lawenforcement and that he was giving her an out, he must know that they were there drinking with fake ID's. Playing her cards right she just gave him a nod grabbed her bag and slowly headed for the door, no Caro in sight. Once outside the fresh air hit her, she was drunk and stumbling just as she was preparing for her ass to hit the ground strong arms caught her put her back on her feet and spun her around to his chest, he pressed himself against her and asked once again, "Nothing else to say?" This confused her. What did this handsome stranger want her to say? Taking a step back she looked at his dark blue jeans and blue and white checkered shirt hugging his arms tight, suddenly she felt drawn to him, to kiss him,touch him. Caro was right tequilla did give her more confidence because she gave into her very sudden strong urge, taking a quick step back toward his embrace she put her lips to his and to her surprise he had kissed her back, he pressed her mouth open with a groan and in a rage their tongues danced fiercely together, giving her goosebumps all over. Suddenly he pulled away and gave her a stern look, his voice soft and almost pained, "Still nothing?" Lilly was suddenly knocked back into her senses. What the hell was she doing? This is how people get kidnapped or worse! She shook her head and quickly took a step back shrugging her shoulders. She didn't know what this Clayton person person wanted from her, her words were slurred but she managed to get them out, "hmm I dooon't know what you want, handsome stranger." Handsome stranger Clayton had put his face in his hands, taken her by the arm sat her down on the hood of a car and swore under his breath loud enough for her to hear, "for f**k sakes!" He looked around and sighed, "You're drunk." Lilly gave a little nod and said ,"That seems to be true, handsome stranger, it seems that beer and multiple shots of tequilla make me like this," She gestured to her body and circled her hand over her face. He seemed very unsure but asked her anyway, "And you DON'T know who I am?" Lilly, now slouched over her knees and laughed at him without looking up at him, " No sir-ee, should I know you?" What happened after that was all blurry, she knows they drove to her house in different cars, he had called her a taxi since Caro, her ride had vanished. Now she wasn't sure if he'd followed her taxi with his own car. Her phone buzzing on her night stand breaks her thoughts. The number calling is unknown to her but she answers, "Hello?" Her voice shaky and her throat dry, it almost sounded like she had a cold. "Oh thank god! Lilly, are you ok?" Caro's worried voice came through the phone very loudly making Lilly wince, "Why, why are you so loud?" Caro gave a little laugh "are you seriously hungover? Wait not the point, where are you? And what happened after I was forced to leave?" Lilly still feeling fragile sits up slowly, "Are you for real Caro? You fed me over 8 tequilla shots and I don't know how many beers, my head is throbbing, how are you NOT hungover?" Caro gives one more short laugh, poor thing who knew you were so innocent!" Something that Caro said bothers Lilly, she wasn't forced to leave she just turned and bolted as soon as mystery man appeared. "Hey what do you mean you were forced to leave? I'm a little foggy on the the details of last night but you just turned and left,you certainly weren't forced to go." A long silence. Lilly checks if the call was dropped but she's still there, "Well, Caro?" After a few more moments she finally says, "Right, I'm very sorry about that, Lill, I went to the bathroom and when I came back you were gone." Something feels off, Lilly doesn't know Caro well enough to be sure if she's lying or not but she remembers looking for her car last night, and she was 100% sure that Caro had left. Deciding against confrontation in this state she simply answered with ,"Ok." Caro seems to be very curious ,"So where are you and what happened? Tell me everything!" Lilly felt annoyed by this intrusion of questions partly because she wasn't really sure if she should be telling people that she was coming on to a police officer, if he even was one, technically being underaged and all that. She opted for a clean cut version of what happened, "I'm home,  and nothing happened,  that guy, what was his name Clayton something he called me a cab. I just woke up." Caro let's out a sigh, "Thank the stars and the moon," she breahtes. Suddenly sounding more perky she says,"Listen, we need to have a chat about a few things, how about lunch? I'll grab some tacos and swing by yours at about 1ish?" Lilly wasn't in the mood to talk about Caro's boy trouble, which was all she ever talked about lately, "Caro, you're sweet but I'm hanging girl, what about a coffee date tomorrow?" Caro almost sounds shocked but doesn't leave Lilly a choice and almost sings into the phone, "No can do, I've got important things to talk to you about, tomorrow may be too late, see you in a couple of hours." and then she hangs up the phone. ***** After Caro's phone call Lilly very slowly rolled out of bed and made her way to her ensuite bathroom. She loved this bathroom so much, it was big and spacious with a corner bath and a big shower, with one of those flat round showerheads. On the shelf behind the door there's a small radio that she flips on and starts taking off the cowboy outfit that she was still wearing. Showering was the best idea she feels better already, more awake, anyway. The radio plays catchy songs which she sings along to happily. Getting dressed was not an easy task for her today, it was one of those days where you want to wear the most comfortable clothes you own but also have to look kind of presentable because an unwanted guest is coming over. She grabs a pair of white washed denim shorts that are short but hang kind of loose and pairs it with a white V-neck t-shirt that fits tight around her breasts and hangs just a little over her middle and stomach. With wet combed out hair she opens her curtains and makes her way out of her room, stepping into the hallway she gets the fright of her life, "s**t!" She calls and jumps a little at what she sees.  At the far end of the hallway, the man from last night is sitting in the doorway of the guestroom in the black leather armchair that's usually in the corner of her room. She had not even noticd that is was missing. Lilly starts to panick, this is the start of a Criminal minds episode right here. He is sitting back with his foot resting on his knee. He is still dressed in the clothes from last night and he is staring her down with that same serious look. Lilly starts to panic this is NOT good. Her eyes cannot look away from him, the same as last night. She feels drawn to him, she's attracted to him but she fears him even more. Making calculations in her head, between them, right in the middle of them actually is the staircase leading down to the front door, on his side of the staircase there are two more doors, one is the guest bathroom and the other is the study, on her side there's her room and the second door is an empty room, but with a balcony. So her options were to either run toward the stairs or toward the empty room and scream from the balcony for help. She swallows hard and thinks about the third option: Ask him what he wants and then tell him to leave? Ok. Last night was a blurr so maybe that would be the best option. Handsome stranger clears his throat pulling her out of her thoughts. "Good morning," he says smiling now, he does have a million dollar smile. She shakes her head as if to rid herself from the spell she's under. "Uhm, yeah, Morning." Her eyes fall down to her feet she takes a big breath for courage , looks him in the eye again and says,"So, uhm, may I ask what you're doing here, uhm I mean there in the doorway, no wait here in my house,  in general...here?" Great, she thinks, show him how confident you are by rambling! She watches as an almost painful look crosses his face and he sits up a bit, giving her an intense look now. "You don't remember me from last night?" his voice a mixture of anger and pain. She bites the corner of her lip ,"uhm kind of?" His face drops. "Don't take it personally, uhm Clayton? Right? I was pretty drunk last night. I know that we met and... shared a kiss and somewhere in there there was a taxi." He grunts and leans back in the armchair, his voice suddenly tired and irritated, "Right, you asked me to stay," he scratches his ear and continues, "I wanted to make sure you got home, safely, and let's just say you persuaded me," he uses his thumb and points back to the room, "I slept in here." Looking to the roof he asks her the question he asked her a couple of times the night before, "Do you know who I am?" Clearing his throat again he adds, "What I am?" Lilly's face turns red she's pretty sure the answer is psycho killer,the way he was waiting for her was not normal at all. She doesn't know what he wants to hear or why he thinks she should know him. Shaking her head, "No, I'm afraid I don't, but I'm thinking cop?"