5 Reveal

She saw the man again.

Lily walked to one of the tables in the back after pacing her order of a large double cheeseburger with a double chocolate chip shake at the counter. The Greasy Palace--yes, that's what it was actually called. It was a local burger joint in their town. Maybe that was why it was still open--only catered to certain people. Students who didn't want to (or really, never did) go home or world weary travelers. It was not home to familiar handsome strangers who winked at you as soon as you made eye contact with them again.

Lily flushed, quickly glancing down at her table to averted her gaze.

The jerk was teasing her.

It didn't take long for her meal to be brought out. Eager to fill her empty belly, Lily dug into her burger with vigor and slurped her shake like her life depended on it. Nobody gave her a side glance--well, maybe one or two of the wild children were watching her in morbid fascination--as most of the patrons kept to themselves. In minutes, Lily had finished her plate. She let out a small burp, patting her stomach in satisfaction. She didn't know why she turned her back on food. It was the only thing that could bring comfort when life made no sense.

She heard a chuckle above her head. Leaning back in her seat, she peered up at the handsome stranger. He looked down at her fondly. Shocked at his sudden appearance, Lily began to choke in surprise. The man pounded her gently on the back.

"What--thump!--are--thump!--you--"

"Hold on," the guy interrupted her. She was then subjected to him wiping her mouth with a napkin. Or what she at first thought was a napkin. It was softer than any napkin she had ever felt in her life.

"Ah," the guy groaned. "I have to hand wash this now."

Lily felt her thoughts pause.

Is it...my fault? Is he saying it's my fault? She was incredulous at his audacity.

"Oh, well," he shrugged it off stuffing it in his pocket. "I don't mind."

And with that, Lily decided it was time for her to go.

"I'm just going to..." she tried to slide away from him, planning to go around her table before bolting towards the door. The older man's eyes widen in alarm and he lifted his hands up in a placating manner.

"Wait, hold on. I just want to talk."

It couldn't be to someone your own age? Lily stared at him suspiciously. Seeing her doubtful stare, the man tried to make himself look more innocent by widening his eyes. Lily didn't know why, but she settled back in her seat. Despite the weirdness of the whole situation, something told her that the man meant her no harm. So she decided to hear him out. She heard him breath a sigh a relief before he came around to sit in front of her.

"You don't know how great it is to see you again, Lils," the man told her as he plopped down. His familiarity with her nickname threw her for a loop.

"How did you--"

"Oh!" He realized that he may have shown too much of his hand, but he didn't back down. Instead, he looked at her with a determined gaze.

"Well," his tone was confident; assured. "We DO know each other."

Again, Lily could not keep up with his thought process.

"What do you mean, I know you?" Lily could not comprehend how that was possible. She couldn't even comprehend how he knew her name. But he did call her Lily, there was no mistaking it.

He let out an bemused chuckle. "You've always been stupidly cute."

Lily tilted her head in amused offense. "Oh really?" She let out a sarcastic laugh. "Well I'm happy to entertain you."

The guy let out another laugh. He approached her, drawing close by leaning across the table. Lily leaned back until she was pressed against her chair. She stared back at him.

She didn't know why she wasn't scared. She felt more annoyance with the strange man than she did intimidation. She instead observed him, trying to figure why he continued to pique her interest. She studied his mischievous eyes, the dark brown twinkling with mirth. His face was angular, not too pronounce but still impressive. He had a long nose that was upturn crookedly at the end. His brows were arched in thin arcs. His lips were fuller at the bottom than the top. They gave one the image of nibbling at them.

This thought made the girl flush.

"Done staring, dearest Lily?"He grinned down at her. His eyes were twinkling.

"Yep," She was proud that her voice did not tremble. Still, she scooted her chair back. She didn't want him to see how much he affected her. Slowly she crossed her leg, interlocking her hands on her perched knee. The man watched all of this at first still entertained, but as she went through the process of acting confidant, his mouth went slack. Lily felt proud knowing she shook him at least a bit.

But he was still a grown man. She needed to nip this in the bud before it escalated.

"Listen here jackass," she figured if she came off rude, it would deter his interest in her. Then he did something unexpected.

He started to cry.

It wasn't a loud display of emotion. His eyes had immediately became wet, tears slipping silently down his face. His lips trembled, forcing him to press them together to keep the whimper he made from climbing in volume. The man let out a wet giggle, almost pitched in hysterical mirth.

"Well, you've always preferred to call me by that nickname," He looked at her alarmed expression. It made him laugh harder. "I'm sorry, I was trying not to botch this but I'm already doing a crappy job."

Lily stared at him a he struggled to pull himself together.

"Who...who are you?" She questioned the man. It was not normal for anyone to be this emotional with someone they just met. She rifled through her memories to see if she had ever ran into this man before, but she came up empty. Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted from the back of her head to her temples. It felt like sharp, hot knives slicing at her brain matter.

"Ugh!" She groaned as she clutched at her head.

"Lily!" The man rushed out of his seat to her side. He pulled her to him, squeezing her close to his body as he took her seat and placed her on his lap. If she had her senses, she would have pushed him off and ran for the door. But she didn't resist him as he pressed her face against his chest, blocking her eyes from the light of the restaurant. It did give a minimum amount of reprieve, but the blinding pain still assaulted her. The man ran his finger through her hair, murmuring to her and rocking her back and forth.

After a century of minutes, the pain subsided, fading from the front to the back, like it was unzipping itself from existence. Lily breathed a deep breath of relief. Then she remembered she was in a strange man's lap. Jerking away from him, trying to free herself from his grip.

He tightened his hold.

"Wait," he tried to reassure her. "Lily, just wait!"

"Let go of me!" She pushed against him even harder. "I don't even know you!"

He raised a brow at this. "Well, that's surprising."

Momentarily, stupidly really, she stopped fighting him. "Why is that surprising?"

"Aw, sweetheart, don't you recognize me?"

Lily wanted to make a sarcastic retort. Or at least hit him so that she could gain here freedom. Instead, she shook her head.

He smiled at her. She could not fathom why he was so happy to see her, but even never stopped grinding at her.

"It's me," he told her. "Jackson Priestly."