Lilly hadn't glanced at her phone since before the incident that morning and upon pulling it out, saw forty-five unread messages. Thirty of which came from Dani and the remaining fifteen from Alex, both worried sick about her. Lilly was thankful that neither had shared that class with her and were absent for the attack. Dani was in the second Alchemy class which Lilly had been disappointed about, but now couldn't be happier. She sent them both a quick text that she was alright and would meet them back at the dorms. She took her time on the way back, not quite ready to face her friends. Those who hadn't been present during the attack would be all over her with concern and all she wanted was to be alone.

She'd almost been expelled for the summoning, and Quentin no doubt would be. Lilly wished she could've stayed to wait for him to get out of his meeting, but Sunderland had banished her from the building. She really thought that the professor would've bought her lie and let them all go, but Penny had to ruin the whole thing and pin it on Q. Though she was angry with Penny, she couldn't help but be thankful he hadn't turned her in as well. When she arrived at the dorm she could hear aggravated voices coming from her room.

"Get out! I have to finish my essay and I can't do that with you fidgeting over there!" Someone growled- definitely Ava.

"I'm sorry," Dani's voice drifted into the hall, dripping with sarcasm, "I didn't realize that your essay was more important than our friend's safety!" Lilly decided that now would be a good time to make an appearance, seeing as things were getting heated. She pushed the door open to find Ava sitting at her desk and Dani halfway across the room being restrained by Alex. All three physically relaxed when they saw her.

"Where were you?" Dani asked, rushing up to hug her, looking her over for any visible wounds. Lilly silently thanked the heavens that Margo had covered up those bruises, otherwise, she would have to deal with Dani fussing over her all night, "I've been worried sick all day!" Alex somehow managed to weasel his way between them and wrap her in his own embrace. Lilly leaned into the safety of his arms and silent support.

"Sorry, Margo scooped me up right after it happened and I've been with her all afternoon."

"What happened?" Lilly honestly couldn't handle reliving the whole thing again, but she knew she had to tell her friend the truth. So, she did just that, recounting her horror-filled morning to them all. Ava did her best to act disinterested, but Lilly took notice that she paused in her work. Lilly was sandwiched between her friends on the bed, her head rested on Alex's shoulder while Dani stroked her hair soothingly. She was on the verge of tears by the time she was done.

"Who in their right mind would summon something that terrible?" Dani mused making Lilly's guilt rise. She'd conveniently left out the details of her involvement, not wanting to go through the process of explaining the complicated circumstances. "I'm just glad you're okay," Dani sighed, "that was way too close for comfort," they moved to Dani's room to leave Ava alone. Luckily, Alice wasn't home. They talked for about an hour, while Lilly rested on Dani's bed, plagued with exhaustion. It wasn't so much physical but mental. The stress from the day had worn her out and all she wanted to do was sleep. She got what she wanted, but was haunted by the same nightmare that kept her up as a child. The Beast had disappeared through the mirror that morning, but it hadn't truly left. When she woke, she'd been looking forward to having an uneventful day to herself. Fate, however, had other plans, and her phone buzzed with a text from Eliot.

Q got expelled, they're sending in a specialist to wipe him - E

"Shit, they can't be serious!" She ran out of the door almost as soon as she read it and texted Eliot for more information.

Where is he? - L

Infirmary. He tried to hit Penny with a spell. - E

"Would somebody please sign him out of here?" Lilly heard Quentin's voice call from the end of the row of hospital beds followed by Penny's deep sardonic laugh.

"Quentin Coldwater! What the hell were you thinking?" Lilly scolded as she entered the infirmary to find him and Penny in hospital beds with matching scowls.

"Hey," he sighed in defeat and stared up at the ceiling, not even turning to glance at her. Penny watched as she stood before Quentin's bed. Lilly did not take kindly to Quentin's tone and quickly continued her lecture.

"You do realize that if there was any chance of them changing their minds, it's sure as hell gone now?" Quentin didn't respond, only giving her a look that said, 'whatever you have to say, I've already said it to myself'. Lilly was still irritated with him, but she gave up her chastising. She understood that he just needed a friend. She sat beside him and pulled him into a comforting hug. He simply laid limp on her shoulder, obviously worn out from the emotions of the day. "I'm sorry, Q," she was, it wasn't fair that he went down for something they'd all done. If anyone should've gotten expelled, it was Alice. After all, it was her brother they were trying to summon. "I know, he's a giant dick, but you shouldn't have tried to attack him," Penny rolled his eyes with a scoff.

"I know," Quentin looked up at her, "can you please just get me out of here before I do it again?"

"I'd like to see you try," Penny laughed and held up a chunk of crystal on a chain, dangling it in front of Quentin tauntingly. Lilly thought it looked somewhat familiar.

"What is that?" Penny placed it safely in his pocket.

"None of your business," Lilly shook her head, not in the mood to listen to his sass. Instead, she stood, grabbed Quentin's hand, and helped him up.

"Come on, I signed you out already," Quentin gave her a thankful look, and she led him out of the building and over to a secluded spot on the student quad where they could talk without being disturbed.

"I have an appointment with the specialist at three, so we might as well say our goodbyes now," Quentin mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

"Oh, Q, I wish I could help," she placed a delicate hand on his back and began to rub soothing circles. "I'll find you," she declared, "I'll tell you magic is real and I can teach you!" Her eyes were hopeful, but he was broken. Lilly wondered if he would even make it out there on his own. She knew his struggles with mental illness, and something like this could crush him.

"I can't go back, Lil, I just can't," she'd seen a change in him since they first met. He opened up and seemed happier, that's what magic did to him, it gave him a purpose. "I don't know how to live without magic."

"I know exactly what you mean, for the first time in my life I feel like I have somewhere to belong, somewhere I can be myself. I can't even imagine going back to my old life now that I've seen all this," she could see tears well up in his eyes.

"Do you think I'll remember you?" He whispered, "we met the day we came here," Lilly didn't know if he would, but somehow, she doubted it. Her heart ached for him, and she couldn't imagine what Brakebills would be like without him. She'd be losing her best friend, and he'd be losing his world.

"I don't know, Q, but I promise I'll find you and meet you again if you don't."

"Now I know how Julia felt. I was so horrible to her when I found out she remembered. I told her that she mustn't have been good enough, and she begged me to tell them that they made a mistake. I just ignored her. What kind of shitty friend does that? She needed help and I just ignored her. Now I'm gonna be just like her!" Lilly didn't know what to say. She didn't know if she could say anything, so the two friends spent their last hour together in silence. They lay in the shade watching people go about their days, oblivious to how lucky they were. They'd all taken their magic for granted and now that Quentin was about to lose it all, Lilly felt guilty.

"I have to go," he announced, bursting the serene bubble they'd encapsulated themselves in. He stood slowly, and she followed, brushing off the grass from her pants. Quentin hesitated, staring off into the distance as if he could see his fate laid out before him. He turned and pulled her into a tight hug, "goodbye, Lilly." She couldn't bring herself to say goodbye to the young man who'd become one of her best friends in such a short time. Instead, she watched in silence as he followed the path to a life without magic

She waited until he was out of sight before grabbing her bag and heading in the other direction. It started to drizzle as she walked, perfectly matching her mood. She found herself in front of the Physical Cottage with slightly damp hair and clothes. She knocked twice and hoped someone could hear her over the pounding music.

"Oh, hey, Thumper!" Eliot greeted pulling her into the house and slamming the door behind them. She'd been expecting a full-blown party when she got inside but was surprised to see it was almost empty save for a few people passed out in various places. Eliot wasn't fazed as he crossed through the sitting room, not bothering to step over the few passed out bodies on the floor, instead, walking right on top of them. Lilly carefully picked her way around them and followed Eliot into the backyard. Margo waited for them by a lit grill, sipping a martini and holding a clear umbrella to keep the light rain off her. She waved when she saw Lilly joining them and offered her a beer.

"Thanks, I really need it," she felt a lump form in her throat now that Quentin wasn't with them and never would be again.

"So," Margo began in a soft voice, "did you say goodbye to our little Q?" Lilly nodded solemnly, sitting beside Margo on the brick wall of the patio. Eliot began flipping burgers on the grill as they waited for her to respond.

"Yeah, I did, poor guy, he's so broken. I wish I could've done something to keep him here."

"Me too," Eliot expressed, "now I won't get to look at that piece of arm candy every day." He pouted and Lilly managed to crack a smile through her devastation, "but let's not wallow in misery when there's a whole bar full of alcohol at our disposal!"

"Yeah!" Margo shouted and Lilly laughed at her animated response. The rain had let up until it was barely noticeable and after her fourth drink, she couldn't care less about the weather. Eliot began casting spells to make the fire on the grill turn colors and blaze up until it was the size of a bonfire. Margo unsurprisingly found this infinitely entertaining and could hardly contain her laughter. Lilly giggled uncontrollably, nursing the Bloody Mary that Margo made her.

"Let's keep this BBQ poppin' my loves," Eliot flipped yet another burger. Margo had eaten two already and Lilly concluded that she was a hungry drunk because she asked Eliot for another. He waved his hand and another blast of fire shaped itself into a miniature elephant that stampeded across the lawn and caught one of the passed-out visitor's pants on fire. He was too far gone to wake up and Margo ran over to extinguish it, throwing her martini onto the flames. She realized her mistake a bit too late when the flames shot up and continued to burn through his clothing.

"Oops!" Margo giggled, too drunk to fully comprehend what was going on. Lilly rushed over, folding her hands together and casting a spell to extinguish the flames. They settled down before completely disappearing, leaving a charred patch on the guy's shorts. Margo looked around to make sure no one saw before giggling and stumbling her way back to Eliot, "I did him a favor, those shorts were horrible!" Lilly laughed at her friend, and they continued to make tricks with the flame, most of them resulting in Lilly extinguishing them after they caught something else on fire. Eliot was in the middle of conjuring up a dragon that would supposedly fly around their heads when he caught sight of something across the lawn.

"Quentin!" Lilly was suddenly at attention and turned to find her friend standing there, memories still intact, a fond smile on his face as he watched them, "get over here!"

"Quentin!" Lilly hurried over to him. She swayed a bit but managed to reach him without any accidents, "what are you doing here?" She pulled him into a hug, not caring why he was there, but just that he was.

"They let me off the hook," she could tell that there was a huge weight off his shoulders as he made his way over to their friends. Her melancholy alleviated, replaced by excitement that her friend would be staying with her.

"Come, join us!" She invited, running back over to where Margo and Eliot stood, Q trailed after her at a leisurely pace.

"Come on!" Margo and Eliot yelled in unison, "join the party you sad sack, hurry up!" Eliot continued as Margo sipped her drink, "Oh my God! It's not like we have all day!"

"We're so drunk!" Margo confessed through a fit of giggles.

"Okay, we have all day," this made everyone laugh and Quentin finally joined them, earning his own drink. Lilly called Dani and Alex, who gladly joined, and they stayed out on the patio sipping their drinks in celebration of Quentin's return well after the sun went down. It was something they all needed after the events of the day and Lilly allowed herself to kick back and let loose with friends. She prayed that nothing would come of The Beast's attack, but she knew it was wishful thinking. For now, she savored the moment of calm before the storm.