You Are Not Alone

Lily's POV

Lily sighed contentedly as she began to wake the next morning. Before opening her eyes, she noticed how warm and safe she felt. It was then that she realized someone was holding her and she had her face buried in someone's chest. Someone's very warm and well-built chest. Someone's naked chest! Opening her eyes, Lily looked up slowly. Her eyes widened when she saw Michael's face, inches from her own. Lily groaned softly when she remembered what happened last night. She had made a complete fool of herself!

Michael was sleeping soundly. His soft breathing causing his chest to slowly rise and fall. Lily couldn't ignore the way her heart fluttered as she looked at his beautiful face. He looked like an angel. Smiling, she softly smoothed a curl behind his ear, which had been in his face, laying across his nose. Lily knew that even though she could never tell Michael how she felt, she knew she couldn't lie to herself anymore. She was falling madly and hopelessly in love with him.

Even though Lily knew she shouldn't entertain her feelings whatsoever, she couldn't resist the pull she was feeling right now. Softly and tenderly, she placed a chaste kiss on the tip of Michael's nose. She blushed when he smiled in his sleep. Deciding it would be best to extract herself from this situation, she went to sit up. However, at her slightest movement, Michael's arms tightened around her. Praying Michael wouldn't be horrified by their position when he woke up, Lily fell back to sleep.

Michael's POV

When Michael was sure that Lily had fallen back to sleep, he opened his eyes. To be honest, he had already been awake when Lily began to stir. Deciding he couldn't bear to end the moment, Michael simply pretended to still be asleep. He was touched at how she tenderly touched his face as she moved his hair out of his face. It took all the self-control he possessed not to grab her and claim her lips when she kissed his nose. Michael wasn't able to stop the small smile that formed on his lips. Luckily, she must have thought he had done it in his sleep. Even with his eyes closed, Michael could tell that Lily was worried about him "waking up" in this predicament. When he felt her begin to try to move, he wasn't having none of that. Tightening his grip on her, he smiled as she gave in and buried her face in his shoulder once more.

After sleeping lightly for another hour, Michael woke again. Looking down at the woman still sleeping in his arms, he kissed her forehead. Slowly removing his arms, he made sure she was comfortable and pulled the blanket over her body. Looking her over one last time, Michael quietly padded across the floor and slipped back into his room. After taking a shower and getting dressed, Michael made his way to the kitchen. Since Michael's chef wasn't usually there during breakfast, he decided that he would make breakfast for Lily. About a half an hour later, Michael was feeling quite proud of himself.

Right as Michael was putting the last of the food on the table, Lily walked into the room. He chuckled at how cute she looked, still wearing her pajamas. Her wavy hair was in slight disarray, but Michael thought it looked sexy. He was also glad she had yet to put on any makeup. He truly loved how naturally beautiful she was. Her eyes barely open, Lily staggered over to a chair.

"Did you do all this, Michael?" Lily asked in amazement.

"Yup! You don't have to sound so shocked, ya know", Michael answered, giving her a cheeky smile. She giggled.

"Nah, I just figured your chef always cooked for you", Lily said.

"She comes in later. I usually make my own breakfast", Michael shrugged. "Well, let's dig in!"

With that, the two of them tucked into their pancake breakfast. While they ate, Michael and Lily carried on a conversation. Neither one of them had yet to bring up the events of the night before. Fifteen minutes later, their hunger was satisfied. Preparing to stand up, Lily offered to wash the dishes. Nervously, Michael grabbed Lily's hand, asking her to sit back down. He could tell she knew what he was about to say, as a look of apprehension came over her features.

"Lily, are you ready to tell me what you were dreaming about last night?" Michael asked, hoping she wouldn't be upset with him.

"M-Mason, his name is Mason. He's my ex-boyfriend," Lily answered quietly. Looking down, she began picking at her nails. Michael reached a finger under her chin, making her look him in the eye.

"Did he hurt you?" Michael asked, even though he already knew the answer.

"Y-yes, he did. It was a long time ago though. I'm okay, Michael, really", Lily was trying to avoid the subject. Michael wasn't letting it go.

"What. Did. He. Do?" asked Michael, sternly but softly. Knowing she wasn't going to get out of this, she sighed.

"It wasn't just one thing in particular. Mason was abusive in many different ways", Lily said sadly. Michael clenched his fist in an attempt to calm his rage at the thought of that "man" touching her.

"Can you tell me what he did? You can trust me, Lily. I just want to help you in any way I can", Michael said earnestly. Lily brought her hand up to stroke his cheek. He couldn't resist turning his face to place a small kiss into her palm.

"I do trust you, Michael", Lily smiled at him. He could still see the fear in her eyes.

"Don't worry, I'm right here with you", Michael said, squeezing her hand. Taking a deep breath, Lily delved into the sad story of her relationship with Mason.

"Mason was a perfect gentleman in the beginning. That didn't last though. It started off small, with him giving me seemingly helpful suggestions. Telling me that maybe I should go on a diet or exercise a bit more. He couldn't be seen with a fat girlfriend, after all", Lily said, smiling. However, it held no humor.

"Things continued like that for a while. I was still happy though, because I believed he was just trying to take care of me. Then, one night, I was at his house. It was our anniversary, and we were going to spend some time together. While he was out of the room, some girl called and texted him. I didn't look at the text or answer the call. Hell, I didn't even ask him about it, because I trusted that she was just a friend." Michael didn't like where this was going at all.

"When he started acting distant and avoiding my questions when he would leave the room to answer a call, I'd had enough. I confronted him and asked him if he was cheating. He denied it, but when the girl's name slipped out, he knew I had looked at his phone. That was a big mistake. That day was the first time he ever hit me", a sob escaped her throat.

"Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. You deserve so much better than that", Michael said, pulling her into a tight hug. He rocked her as she cried into his chest. He felt a tear making it's way down his cheek.

Considering who his father was, Michael was really sensitive to the subject of cheating. However, as much as his father had hit him and his brothers, Joseph never put his hands on his mother. The thought of a man putting his angry hands on Lily made him livid. After several minutes, Lily finally settled down.

"I'm sorry, Michael. I didn't mean to cry all over you", Lily said, wiping her eyes. Michael put his hands on the sides of her face, searching her eyes.

"Don't apologize, sweetheart. You obviously needed to get that out. I was the one who asked you to tell me. Don't ever be afraid to talk to me. About anything", Michael reassured her.

"Thank you, Michael. You're so good to me", Lily smiled and hugged him. Michael's heart flipped at her words.

"I always will be, Lily. Always", Michael promised, hugging her back tightly. Pulling back, Michael pecked her lips sweetly. Grabbing her hand, Michael stood, pulling her with him. "Come on. I need to cheer you up", Michael said, grinning mischieviously.