A/N: This chapter contains sexual content. 

+ + +

"I-I don't know about this." Lily told me as she scanned her eyes around the crowded swimming pool. Summer was finally here, much to her dismay, and I had convinced her to come outside her bedroom of isolation for a day. 

I walked down the slippery platform while her small hand squeezed around mine. Almost everyone at school had turned up at the pool today and I didn't realize how edgy it would make her. She wore a white Shaw around her body, hiding her little bikini underneath. I nodded to some of the guys that were sun-bathing on loungers, returning their greetings.

Lily suddenly yanked my hand backward, making me meet her eyes. "Are you listening to me?"

"When do I ever not listen to you?" I smiled. 

"I'm serious, okay?" she said as she removed her hand and tugged down on her Shaw, rolling her shoulders back as she adjusted her body language. "This is your world, not mine," she looked at my body for a moment and raised an eyebrow. "It's all right for you, with the body and the tan. But girls like me, we don't. . ." she glanced around sighing, shaking her body up and down. "We don't fit in here."

"Bla, bla, bla," I laughed. "Come on."

She let out a groan as I took her hand again and pulled her gently onward to where Travis and the others were sitting at the edge of the pool, smoking cigarettes and eyeing up the girls that were splashing each other below their bodies. 

Travis already knew we were dating, but for everyone else, it was just a rumor. A rumor that for once in their lives, they didn't want to believe. When asked if it was true, I didn't deny it. And it was such a shock that they didn't even repeat it. 

High school was the bane of life. 

"Hey Jay," Travis greeted with a wave of his hand. "And. . . Lily."

"Hi." Lily said back. 

Suddenly, all eyes were on us. The girls wearing their skimpy, tight bikinis glared down at ours hands from inside the pool. The looks they gave were easily compatible to that of vicious animals. It should have made me feel awkward or possibly fearful, but it had the opposite effect. It made me hold her hand tighter, it made me look at her with only one dizzy and classy word to describe it: pride. I beamed with it. 

One of the girls that hung with us, Sophie, climbed out of the pool and rinsed her dark hair over her shoulder for a few seconds. She approached Lily and I watched as Lily flinched for a second, she didn't know what to expect. But Sophie was nice. She was probably the only girl in our grade that I could stand.

Sophie stood just in front of us, wearing a dashing smile. "I'm glad you made it," she said to Lily. "I've been bugging him for weeks about when I can finally get the chance to meet you."

Lily became tongue-tied during her reply. "I. . . uh. . . I. . . like your swimming costume."

"Thanks," Sophie grinned, glancing down to observe her black bathing suit that basically left little to the imagination. "Are you coming for a swim?"

Lily looked up to me in fear, her eyes were so big that it took my breath away. 

"Maybe later." I told her. 

She nodded. "I think I've had enough for a while anyway. If I have to spend one more second listening to Chloe babble on about the pathetic problems in her life then there might just be a dead, blonde body floating at the end of the day," she turned her attention to Lily. "I'm going to get a drink. Do you want to join me?"

Lily wasn't paying much attention, she was glancing around at all the people, with her eyes bobbling like bouncy balls. When she realized I hadn't replied, she looked back to Sophie. "Me?" she gasped.

"Yeah," she laughed. "Come on, I won't bite."

She took Lily's wrist and began pulling her against her will, I started to follow but then Sophie gave me a sharp scowl. "Girl talk," she said. 

"Right," I laughed. 

Lily widened her eyes at me over her shoulder, but there wasn't much I could do about it. She was in good hands with Sophie, she might even make a friend. 

I joined the guys, taking a seat at the edge of the pool. Their witty chats died down to harmonic whispering, and before I could say a word, a girl was swimming toward me. She kept her eyes on me, seductively luring me in with her blank, timid expression. 

"Wishing you were still single?" Travis muttered into my ear.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Hardly."

"How are things?"

"They're good. Extremely good, actually."

"That's it?" he groaned. "That's all you can master up? I want details!"

My eyes found Lily and Sophie without even trying. They were standing at the bar, shoulder-to-shoulder and it looked as though they were laughing. I smiled as Lily smiled, I couldn't hide it. She was turning me into a love-sick robot. 

"Do you remember when you were a kid and your Mum would spray perfume into the air and walk through it?" 

"Yeah. . ." he mumbled.

"She's like that," I said. "Even after she's gone, you still feel her on your skin."

"Oh God, you're going soft on me. Do you love her or something?"

"No," I laughed. "It's not like that. It's only been a few months. I just like being with her, man. I like how easy it is being with her. I don't even have to try."

"I'm happy if you're happy, bro. You know that," he said. "But, just don't forget that you still have your brothers, okay? I've hardly seen you."

I bashed my shoulder into his. "I still think about you."

He pouted his lips. "Good because you broke my heart."

I laughed. "Idiot."

"Heads up!" he screamed, and before I had time to react, he was throwing himself into the water with my arm tucked against his hand. I was yanked into the deep end of the pool, but my feet could just touch the floor, I ducked under and flapped my arms to the surface, wiping my eyes and hair as I lifted my head above it. 

The water came to my neckline and I swung my arms to ignite a powerful splash at Travis, he squealed in shock, splashing me in retaliation. The girls screamed, most of them ducked down under the water for safety as our splashes created giant, repelling waves that reached out in all directions.

The guys jumped into the water, joining in on the splashing fight, prompting most of the girls to swim toward the steps angrily. I could see Travis through my sore eyes and I charged at him, he sent little splashes as he turned to try and run away. I swam underneath the water and I grabbed his legs, picking him up above my shoulders and I dunked us both backward. Our bodies hit the water, and we almost squashed a girl in the process, but she managed to escape at last minute.

Travis rolled away underneath the water, both of us kicked to the surface at the same time, turning to glare at each other competitively.

"I'll get you for that!" he warned.

"Come on then." I grinned. 

His mouth twitched as he weighed up the chances of being able to pull it off. "Later," he scowled with a deadly point. 

I laughed, floating myself on my back. I closed my eyes for a moment, letting the sun warm my face - it had been a while since I had come to the pool, I remembered how much I missed it. When I jolted my body back to stand, I saw Sophie and Lily sat on the steps, both of them engaged in a deep conversation. 

I swallowed as I realized Lily had ditched her Shaw. Her body was in full view. I should have known better than to assume she'd be wearing a bikini, she wasn't a bikini type. She wore a red swim suit with white flowers and they showed her breasts, which was unusual. She looked so pale next to Sophie, but Sophie was a sun-bed addict. I didn't want to be one of those pervert jerks that stared too long at a girl's body, but I couldn't take my eyes away. Lily's body was slim, toned - her skin looked radiant and soft. Her long, skinny legs glowed underneath the sunlight like they were smothered in oil. 

She met my eyes for a moment and gave me a purifying smile. I smiled back, snapping out of my trance and I swam toward them.

"Hi." I said, climbing the steps to sit beside her.

"Hi," she said back. "You look like you're having fun."

Sophie placed her glass onto the platform. "Right, I'm going in." 

She jumped from the bottom of the steps, swimming across the water to the guys. Lily stared after her, taking deep breaths.

"She's nice," Lily said quietly. "I like her."

"She is," I agreed. "What did you talk about?"

"Stuff," she said. "A bit of everything. Why? Worried?"

I met her eyes. "No? Should I be worried?"

"Maybe," she smiled. "If you was a worrying person, you'd be worried."

"Is that supposed to make sense?"

"Yes," she laughed. "For once."

"Look at that, the one thing that's supposed to make sense, doesn't."

"Yeah. Like you understand everything else."

I turned my head. "True. True."

She hoisted herself to her feet, wiping her legs. "Come on then, Tucker. Let's do this."

"Lily Anderson," I gasped sarcastically. "Going in the pool? Never. And here I was thinking you just decided to wear a swimsuit for a fashion statement."

She scowled at me through her smile, taking one confident step at a time into the water, but as she reached inside and began swimming, she looked as though she was scared of a shark appearing. I crawled down the steps, lunging myself into the water and I swam directly to her panicked body, wrapping my arms around her chest and swirling her around.

She squealed with a 'having fun' laugh which sent my heart racing. Our hands entwined and we spun in circles, slightly dancing but with a little less gravity. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders, placing her legs astride my waist and I held her higher as she kissed me. We were at the deep end, and she couldn't touch the floor, so I was her life jacket. She swamped me with kisses, with laughter, with joy. 

She drowned me.

 + + +

That night was the night.  After swimming I drove her to my house, with no intentions of anything but to probably have dinner and chat about aliens all evening. It was just a convenience that my mother was working late and my father was away for a friend's bachelor party. But even though I hadn't planned for anything to happen, the moment we arrived at my empty house, she pretty much jumped me.

She kissed me differently. It was a kiss that spoke a few words, but those words were in bold, black writing across the air. She wore her blue-overalls over her swimsuit and I found myself tugging on the straps before I was even aware of anything. I took her hand and I pulled her seductively across the small lounge toward the staircase, she followed like a lost sheep, but the biggest smile remained consistent on her face. 

I climbed the steps, becoming closer and closer to the bedroom she had never been inside. She had been to my house before, many times. But we were usually in the TV lounge or having a cup of hot chocolate outside on the patio in a blanket while she explained nature to me, and I pretended to listen. 

This was different territory, this was something I was not expecting. 

She pushed me against the wall on the landing, her tongue lingering inside my mouth while she cupped my shoulder.

I pulled away, giving her a look that made her narrow her eyes.

"What?" she whispered.

"Uh. . . give me two minutes."

She understood what I meant. "Seriously?"

"Yep. Two minutes. Wait here."

I yanked on my door handle and slipped inside the small gap, closing it shut so she couldn't see inside my room. I began running around like a lunatic, throwing dirty clothes and empty cans of whatever into anywhere that couldn't be seen by the naked eye. It was interesting how much stuff I actually found while I was frantically tidying. Underneath a pile of socks was my yo-yo that I'd been looking for for over a year. Inside a bottle of cola, was my house key that I had to get replaced. God knows how that ended up in there. 

"Ten seconds!" she shouted from the other side of the door.

"Uh. . ." I turned around, grabbing everything I could still see in a giant pile and I shoved it under my bed carelessly. "My lucky socks!" I beamed.

"Three!"

"Shit."

"Two!"

I suddenly saw my old porn magazines hanging over the edge of my desk, I dived across the room like a dolphin, I managed to push them at the back of the desk and I kept on pushing until I heard them drop, they dropped just as Lily bust the door wide open. I acted casual, leaning to the side with a hand on my hip.

"One," she mumbled, with a sexy grin. 

She kicked the door closed with her foot and ran at me. I caught her as she jumped, my arms tightened around her waist. I lifted her up so her legs could wrap around me and I brought my lips to hers fiercely as I laid her down on the bed. 

"Now," she started to say through our kiss. "I know you're experienced in this kind of thing, so," she took a breath. "I might need some guidance."

I leaned back, staring into her blue eyes. "Guidance?" I whispered, raising an eyebrow, I dropped my lips to her throat. "I can give you more than that. But only. . . if you're sure you want to do this."

I took my lips from her throat to receive her confirmation, she bit on her lip, sending me into a frenzy of lust. "I'm sure. I mean, I know it's going to hurt. I know it's going to be uncomfortable and painful, but, you'll go easy on me, won't you?"

I ran some fingers through her almost-dry hair. "Yes, Lily. I'll go easy."

"You must really be loving this dirty talk," she laughed. "I'll do better," she coughed. "Touch me, baby."

I rolled my eyes. "Weirdo."

She kissed me again, and the talk was over. For once, she didn't say a word. I began to unbuckle the straps of her outfit, until I was pulling it from her body completely. She shuffled slightly, unsure of what to expect. I wasn't wearing any clothes for her to undress, apart from my swimming trunks which I casually wore to and from the pool. But she wasn't ready to be confident with touching me or undressing that area yet, and that was fine. 

I played with the thin straps of her swimsuit, slowly lingering them down her shoulders and I pushed my head down to her chest, kissing her throat and subtly making my way down to her breasts. She gasped out, I felt her heart racing like it had caught fire. 

I kept on pulling her swimsuit downward, kissing my way down her body as I did it, until she wriggled her legs and I yanked it from underneath her. She bounced underneath me, naked and laughing. But when my head reached in between her legs, she became still.

"Just relax." I whispered. 

"That tickles!" she snickered, kneeing me in the side of the face. "Oh God, I'm sorry. I had a spasm."

"Mhm." I mumbled, cupping my jaw. 

I continued, but then she kneed me again. With both of them. 

"Will you please stop kneeing me in the face?" I screeched out. "Dang you've got bony knees."

"I can't help it," she giggled, rolling her head back with a small moan. "It's my natural reaction."

"Your natural reaction is to hit me? That answers a lot of questions about girls."

"Lame."

"You're lame."

"You're lamer."

"Shut up," I told her. "I'm concentrating."

"With wha-"

She let out a mighty moan of pleasure, it formed into a tiny squeal that bled my ears dry. I laughed, I didn't want to, but it was pretty funny. 

And we hadn't even gotten to the good part yet.

+ + +

Lily laid beside me in the bed, looping her fingers across my chest in giant circles, like she was counting how many she could do before I stopped her. But, I wasn't going to stop her anytime soon. Her out-of-breath panting died out around five minutes earlier, she was calm, reflective. 

"The pain wasn't as bad as I thought," she said. "It hurt like hell, but the way people talk about it made it sound like there'd be a screwdriver going down there."

"There was a screw driver down there." I told her.

She hit me playfully. "Idiot. When do you think. . . it'll become. . ."

"Less painful?" I said.

She nodded.

"I don't have a vagina so I can't really comment on that," I grinned. "But, I'd estimate at around three times."

"Not too bad. How's your face?"

"It's-"

"Oh, I completely forgot!" she screeched out, thumping my chest suddenly, I let out a wail of a gurgle, struggling to breathe. "Do you want to come over for dinner Tuesday?"

"Fine." I pushed out through my lips, finishing my reply to her first question.

 My body froze, my face turned into steel, my heart began beating quicker, like it was going to burst out of my chest. 

Dinner? 

With her family?

I started to say no in some inhuman way, but she sensed that and chimed her way in.

"I know you haven't met my parents yet," she continued. "And the idea of it freaks you out. But, they're not bad people, I mean, they made me, right? They really want to meet you."

"I, uh, what is, uh. . ."

"Yay!" she wrapped her arm around my stomach, squeezing my intestines until I almost felt them come up my throat. "Be there for seven."

So, I agreed to that. Somehow. In Lily's strange language. Part of me wanted to break up with her there and then just to avoid it. 

"I think I'm ill that night." I whispered.

She laughed, thinking I was joking. "Funny. Seven. Don't be late."

"Don't really have a choice do I?"

"Only if you're dead," she smiled. "I might let you off for that reason and that reason only. Or if you're abducted by a future version of yourself. Because that'd be totally cool and I wouldn't even have to worry about you."

"That could work," I nodded. "The first option, obviously."

She rolled over sideways, resting her chin onto my shoulder. "So. . . three times?"

"Oh God," I gasped. "You're going to be a wild one, aren't you?"

She bit on her lip and nodded. Without another second of hesitation I dropped down the bed and kissed her. She always had the same taste on her lips, coconut. It was the only flavored lip-gloss she wore. Even after it had been wiped off she still tasted of it. However, she didn't just taste of coconut, she tasted of something better, something more defining, something I took for granted--she tasted of life.