Tomorrow's a New Day

No matter how many times Marcus texted Lily, she never replied. He'd sit by his phone and just wait like a thirteen year old girl, but Lily never answered. He was starting to get worried. Lily was pretty good at answering her phone.

But she is a college student...and works at Target...and teaches gymnastics...and works with the Amerks. It's no wonder she hasn't been answering.

At the game Wednesday Marcus tried looking for her but the equipment staff hadn't seen her. Then he checked the office, wondering if she checked in or was running late, "She called in sick." They told him.

"Oh...okay thanks." Walking out of the office, he pulled out his phone. If she won't answer a text message, maybe she'll at least answer a phone call.

"Hello?" Her tired voice made Marcus feel really bad.

"Did I wake you?"

"What? Oh, no...I was just...studying. What's up?"

"I've been texting you all week. I thought you dropped off the earth."

"I feel like I did. I've been swamped with tests and assignments. And I have to get it all done before my break."

"So you're not working tonight?"

"No, I've got a test and a project for tomorrow. But tell the guys good luck for me."

"Um...yeah, I will. Good luck with your tests and stuff."

Lily sounded exhausted on the phone, and Marcus wishes he could help her. She needs a day off, a day to relax. Maybe Marcus would help her with that.

"Hey, where's Lily? She should be here by now." Brayden asked when Marcus came into the locker room. Some of the other guys wondered the same thing, sad from not seeing the bubbly brunette before their game. Marcus explained Lily's situation to the rest of the guys.

"If we lose, I'm blaming her for not being here." Luckily Phil didn't have to blame Lily. The Amerks won 5-2 against the Hershey Bears.

By Friday and Saturday, the boys had won all three games. Lily felt bad not being there to work. By the time the weekend games arrived, she had driven herself into sickness from lack of sleep and food. She did listen to the games on the radio, keeping up to date from the tweets she received. After each game she sent a congrats text to Marcus and Brayden, telling them to spread the message.

"Some of us are going out. You up to it?" Luke asked Marcus after their final game on Saturday.

"You know, I might go see how Lily's doing." Some of the guys laughed.

"Alright, well tell her we said hi."

Marcus slipped his jacket on and headed outside. He stopped to sign a couple autographs outside the BCA and walked to his car, "Hey what are you doing right now?" He asked Lily once she answered her phone.

"I am currently stinking up my room. Why?"

"I was thinking of stopping by, see how you're doing."

"Oh...you don't need to do that. The rooms a mess and I seriously am stinking up the room."

"Then take a shower and I'll stop home to change and be there in like 30 minutes."

"...fine...but bring movies and food or I'm not letting you in." Marcus laughed.

"Deal. See you soon."

Lily dropped her phone beside her, letting out a groan, "Guess I need to shower." She rolled out of bed and grabbed a new change of pajamas and climbed into the shower. She tossed her hair into messy, bun and brushed her teeth, lotioned her legs and picked up her room, spraying some Febreeze to eliminate the stench Lily was polluting the air with.

In all this time, she finished up in time for Marcus to call her, "Let me in. It's cold out here."

Standing outside the secured dorm building door stood a sweatpants clad Marcus, pizza in one hand, and a CD case and a bag in the other, "If hockey doesn't work out, I bet you can get a lot of tips delivering pizza." Lily teased leading Marcus into the dorm and to her room.

"Is your roommate here?" He asked, not thinking about it until Lily opened the door to the small room.

"No she's out with friends."

The one room was split down the middle, showing off the personalities of the two roommates. On the left wall, the room was splattered with a variety of colors; pink, green, blue, purple. Pictures and decorations littered the walls, the desk, and the fridge with a microwave on top. There was life across the room.

And on the other side was Lily's space. Her bed, desk, dresser, and some little plastic drawers. She didn't have any pictures hanging up or brightly colored sheets. Her desk was organized compared to her roommates. Next to the door was Lily's dresser, the TV and DVD player rested on it.

"Wow, you're a big decorator." Marcus pointed out, taking in the plain white walls around Lily's bed. Lily shrugged as she pulled out paper towels and a couple Gatorade's from the fridge.

"Make yourself at home." Lily said as Marcus slipped off his shoes and sat on Lily's bed, opening the pizza box and digging in. "Did you bring any good movies?"

"I brought everything I have, plus some of Nabbers and Zach's." Lily flipped through the different titles in the case trying to find something that sounded interesting.

"How was your game? I was having a slight heart attack as they counted 15 fucking shootouts!"

"Hey...I scored. Blame the other guys."

"Oh I will. Why aren't you with them anyways? Big win. You should be partying it up with your bros, finding some nice young woman who would be willing to celebrate with you." Marcus shrugged, taking a big bite from his pizza.

"I wasn't in the mood. Besides, I wanted to make sure you were alright. I was really nervous something was wrong with you." Lily bit her lip to stop her grin from growing.

Why am I grinning?

"You should celebrate." Lily stood up to put in her chosen movie. Behind her, she heard the rustling of a bag.

"I am, but I wanted to celebrate with you." When she turned around to see Marcus holding a bottle of Vodka and two shot glasses.

"Last time I knew, Marcus Foligno, you're still 20."

"But one of my roommates isn't." He smirked.

"I'm telling Brayden you stole his alcohol." Lily changed the TV to input and started the movie, "I'm gonna need to turn the light off. The light glares on the screen." Lily informed Marcus, flipping the switch. The light from the TV was the only way Lily could watch as Marcus leaned back against the wall, a slice of pizza in his hand.

Lily climbed in next to Marcus on the outside of the bed, picking her own slice and biting into the warm, cheesy meal.

The two sat in silence, chuckling at funny parts and munching away on the rest of the pizza. To Lily, this wasn't exactly what she thought someone would want to do after a big victory but as she leaned against the wall, and slightly on Marcus' shoulder, she was content.

If he hadn't of come over, she would've been sitting alone in the dark like she's done for so many years. She'd been alone for a long time. But even the simple presence beside her couldn't really fill in that whole that made its mark on Lily's heart.

"Let's play a game." Lily looked over at Marcus, eye brow raised at his suggestion.

"What kind of game?" Marcus pushed Lily off the bed, grabbed the vodka and glasses and sat on the floor. Lily joined him slowly, not sure what exactly she was getting into. He filled both glasses, the bottle sitting between them.

"Let's play that two truths and a lie game. If you guess the lie wrong, you drink. If you guess it right, the other person has to drink."

"Trying to find my deepest darkest secrets, Foligno?"

"You know it."

"Alright, I'll start. I'm a gymnast, I eat Lucky Charms every morning, and I use to have blonde hair."

"The blonde hair." Lily shook her head, "You use to have blonde hair? Is there a picture of this?" Lily got up and grabbed her wallet from her purse. Her drivers license showed a 16 year old girl with bleach blonde hair. Marcus looked between the picture and the real girl in front of him.

"Drink up, Foligno." She said with a smirk.

"That's ridiculous. These are two totally different colors. Why'd you change it?" He picked up his shot glass and tossed it back, the burning liquid seeping down his throat.

"Blonde wasn't my color."

"I don't know...you look pretty good as a blonde."

"Got a blonde fetish?" Marcus rolled his eyes.

"Okay, my turn. I'm half American, half Canadian, won a gold medal in the 2011 World Juniors Championship, and my dad played as a Sabre."

"You won a silver medal at Juniors. I hope you like vodka." Lily answered, pouring Marcus another shot.

"How'd you know?" He asked before taking his shot.

"It's called Wikipedia. I thought that if I'm going to work for the Amerks, I should know something about the players."

"That's not fair! You know everything about me!" Lily laughed.

"Wiki didn't have everything about you so you might still have a chance."

And he did. Marcus pulled out information that only family and close friends would know. Of course this worked in his advantage. Lily guessed most of them wrong, taking shot after shot of their liquid poison. And the more shots she took, the more relaxed and open Lily got. At first she'd give simple facts and lies about herself but as the hours passed and the bottle was reaching the bottom, Marcus was finding out secrets he'd know he'd never find out if she was sober.

"Okay, you'll never get this one. At age 7 I broke my wrist, I never went to prom, and my parents are divorced."

"You're parents aren't divorced?" Lily slowly shook her head, her eyes closed. The smile that laughed for hours was wiped away.

"You wanna know why? My mom's a bitch. She drove my father crazy so he packed up and left." She informed him, the alcohol taking over her conscious.

"Why was you're mom a bitch?"

"No...she is a bitch. She's the reason I'm a gymnast. She was my coach for years. She had me at the gym for hours. I thought I was the only kid in the world that liked going to school just so I could be away from my mother."

"So why did your parents divorce?"

"Well, I'm an only child. My mom couldn't have any more kids after me do to a past injury. So of course my parents wanted to have daughter-whoever time. Mother-daughter time was spent at the studio. Father-daughter time was spent going to games, watching movies, getting ice cream. That's one thing they didn't agree on."

"You eating ice cream?" Lily grabbed one of the pillows she was leaning on and hit Marcus in the head with it.

"No! That my dad wasn't as dedicated to me winning championships as my mom. They'd argue almost every night about it. 'She needs to live a normal life too!' my dad would say. 'But she won't win if she's not practicing!' my mom would argue. When I turned 10, my dad left. He called me a few days later apologizing, pretty much crying over the phone. But I told him not to worry about. I couldn't blame him. I wanted to leave too.

"After that, my mother turned into a dictator. I lived in that studio when I wasn't in school. I competed until I graduated. My mom was determined to get me on an Olympic team but that's when I put my foot down. I told her I was going away for college and there was nothing she could do about it.

"So she cut me off. Everything paying for school right now are scholarships and my jobs. That's why I work three of them, that's why I kill myself with school work so I can get good grades for a good job that will pay off these loans."

"Do you still talk to your dad? Is he helping you?"

"The last time I talked to my dad was graduation so that makes it...three years ago? He started his own family and I wouldn't want to bother him with my problems."

"He has a new family?"

"Oh yeah. A nice one too. Beautiful wife, three great kids. The life he always wanted." Marcus watched Lily as she sat there, starring up at the ceiling with a fascination.

He got up and sat beside her, taking her hand in his and giving it a squeeze. Lily's head fell against his shoulder, her fingers playing with his. And they just sat there in the still room. A desk lamp shadowing the walls as it was pointed at the floor over their shot glasses.

Marcus hadn't realized that he and Lily were similar. Both dedicated their lives to their sport, missing out on what everyone else got to do in their young lives. The difference: Marcus could of walked away and would always have the support of his family. For Lily, she had to risk moving on to make a new life like her father, or stay and appease her mom.

He wanted to do something for her; make her laugh, tell her everything's okay. But as he sat there he wasn't quite sure what was the right thing to tell her. She's obviously gotten over this in her years of being in Rochester but the pain will always be there. What do I say?

"So...you never went to prom?" Was the only thing he could think of to change the subject slightly. But no matter how dumb and random the question was...it made Lily laugh.

"No, I've never been to prom. Or any high school dance." Lily said, her laughing subsiding.

"You're missing out."

"You went to prom?"

"I went to numerous proms. I don't wanna toot my own horn but...I'm a good looking guy."

"Oh yeah Marcus. You're a pretty man."

"I didn't say pretty. I'm not pretty. I'm handsome." Lily turned herself around so she was facing Marcus. Her head tilted as she analyzed his face.

"No...you're pretty."

"How am I pretty?"

"Blonde hair, blue eyes...pretty."

"Then I guess I should dye my hair." He teased.

"No, the world needs pretty guys like you. If you dyed your hair, who knows what would happen."

"I don't want to be pretty. What do I have to do to look handsome?" Lily shrugged.

"I'll let you know." Lily reached behind her for her shot glass and the bottle of vodka, pouring as much as she could into the glass, "Maybe with a little more vodka you'll look handsome."

---

The pounding in Lily's head was enough to wake her from her slumber. Her head felt like it had a cement block on it. And when she tried to sit up, her entire body was weighed down.

Without moving her head too much, she was able to see an arm hanging off her waist. and they weren't hers either.

Then something moved behind her. A hard, warm wall pressed against her back and a warm gush of air hit the back of her neck. What the fuck?

She tried to turn her head to look behind her but a voice spoke up, "Stop moving." The sleep filled voice triggered Lily's hazy memory.

Due to amount of alcohol both consumed, Lily had suggested that Marcus stay the night, not risking drunk driving at the late hour.

"Where am I gonna sleep?" Marcus asked, glancing between the two beds in the room. "It would be weird to sleep in your roommates bed."

"Then sleep on the floor." Lily answered, climbing into her own bed, pulling the covers over herself.

"You're going to make your guest sleep on the floor?" Marcus pouted, looking down at Lily as she snuggled into her pillow, a smirk on her face.

Both were still pretty tipsy from the bottle of vodka they drank and Marcus couldn't help but glance at the spot next to Lily. How could a guy give up the chance to lay next to this woman? Short shorts, loose tank top, and besides the smell of vodka, she smelled like a basket of fruit; mango body wash, citrus shampoo, and raspberry lotion. Marcus could only describe her as the perfect tropical vacation.

"I'm not sleeping on the floor." Marcus declared, climbing over Lily to the other side of the bed, and under the covers. Lily's body heat had warmed up the small dorm bed but add Marcus and it got hot.

"This bed isn't big enough for the both of us." Lily said flipping over to face Marcus.

"Then I guess," He grabbed hold of Lily's waist and brought her closer to him, "We'll have to snuggle closer. Don't want you falling out of bed, do we?"

Lily's head was telling her this was wrong. Marcus has a girlfriend, the girl he's suppose to snuggle with, who's suppose to welcome the warmth and the smell and the feel of his body against hers. But she's too drunk to make the right decision.

"Fine...but if you start to snore, I'm kicking you out." Marcus smiled and let Lily curl into his chest like a child. She was very small compared to his size. Lily laid there trying to convince herself that she didn't fit into his side like a puzzle piece but with his arm tightly wrapped around her waist, his thumb casually making circles on her skin...it was hard.

Lily had never found herself in this situation. Not so much the whole sharing a bed with a guy who has a girlfriend, but more sharing a bed with a guy. True they weren't doing anything but just having him here, in her bed...snuggled close wasn't a familiar feeling. Lily didn't have time for boys and dating when she was in high school. Sure, she had a few guy friends at school or the studio but that was all it was.

Every Friday night, Lily was forced to do her homework for Monday so it wouldn't interfere with her competition during the weekend. There was no time to date when there were titles to win, 'Why waste your time with something that will get you off track?' Her mother would say if the thought of hanging with friends or doing what normal kids did ever came up.

This is so wrong.

"You need to get out of my bed." Lily grumbled, squirming from Marcus' grip.

"Make me." She didn't have to turn around to know there was a shit eating grin on his face. The only way out of the bed was on her side. She'd have to crawl over Marcus to attempt to push him over the edge, That's too much work.

"Are you hungry?" She asked.

"Now that you brought it up, yes."

"Then get up. Breakfast is on me."

Lily put on some warmer clothes before she and Marcus walked to the dining hall on her campus. The two got a booth against the window, away from those that were awake enough to be there for brunch.

Marcus was in heaven. The food the school made was better than any home cooked meal he could make. He went up and got seconds and thirds of different breakfast foods. Even when Lily was full, he'd continue to eat, "This place is amazing." He said finishing off his omelet. "I'm coming here every weekend."

"Whoa there. I've only got a certain number of guest passes. After that, you've gotta start paying."

"Deal."

When he finally decided he was full enough, they headed back to the dorm, lounging on the bed again, "Food makes me sleepy." Lily mumbled.

"I think it's time for a nap."

"Don't you have practice?"

"Nope. Day off. Now shush, I'm sleeping." Lily molded into Marcus' arms, perfectly content with the sleep that washed over her.