Just give me a reason // Derik & Lily

[Trigger Warning: Verbal abuse, cursing.]

Even from a distance she was easy to pick out of a crowd. It was the soft bubble-gum pink dress she wore standing out from the crowd. The dress had long sleeves and lace over the bodice all the way up around her slender neck while the skirt was perhaps a touch shorter than it ought to have been on a girl her age. Though for a brief moment from the back it was impossible to tell how old she was. Until she turned around, her brown curls in their pigtails bound up with more pink ribbon and the smile lit across her features. Then she went from a twenty-something to a barely eighteen.

So much older than the last time they’d seen one another in person but…

She jumped to her feet at the sight of him, recognizing him instantly even as he stood a bit dumbly recognizing her clothes before his daughter. Her pink pumps clacked across the concrete in front of the tea shop as she ran toward him and threw herself bodily into his arms. Only realizing a few seconds too late that he wasn’t as strong as her memory told her he was and forcing her to correct both of their balance and blush.

“Sorry daddy.” The words came out in a rush as she looked up at him, her amber-brown eyes bright with the pure joy of seeing him again. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Derik adjusted himself. His clothes seemed ill fitting, and not nearly as fancy as he was used to. “Just caught me a little off guard.” Outstretching his arms, he leaned forward to give Lily a hug, this time without knocking anyone off balance. After they pulled apart, Derik led Lily to a nearby table.

The open air seating left much to be desired, but served its purpose well. The wooden benches were cracked and splintering, forcing the pair to sit down carefully or risk being impaled by the tiny wooden daggers. The air was thick with humidity, with the sun baring down on the concrete, still wet from the rain just hours ago.

Lily was quick to sit down, but graceful, tucking her skirt down under her thighs and smiling still at her father. “I… I honestly didn’t think I’d see you up and about again.” Her eyes were tight a moment but then it was like the sun was shining just for her. “But here you are! I can’t wait to show you my apartment!”

“To be honest, I started doubting it myself, but here I am!” Derik’s voice was enthusiastic as though he were encouraging a small child. He quickly began reading Lily’s face, worried that his action without thought hadn’t upset her, but tried to continue without bringing attention to it.

“So how’ve you been Lily-leaf?” He set his chin on his fist, watching the pink figure as he waited for her response.

Immediately her light dimmed again, and her amber eyes skittered away from the prying gaze of her father. “It’s been alright.” She tried a smile, clearly hiding something. “Really. I don’t want you to worry daddy.”

Derik chuckled. “Lily-leaf, that’s quite literally my job. If I didn’t worry about you, I would be remiss in my duties as your father.” Reaching out, he placed his hand on Lily’s. “Come on, you can tell me.”

Laughing a little she shook her head. “You need to worry about yourself. You look like you haven’t eaten in forever!” She hurriedly lifted her free hand to wave over the waitress and ordered a little dessert and a sweet tea for herself.

“You mentioned you had an apartment, how far are you from here?” Derik’s small talk was a bit brusque, but he was clearly making an effort.


“It’s right up there!” Excitedly Lily leaned forward, pointing upwards at an apartment complex across the street to an unidentifiable window. She let out an amused noise. “You can’t really see it from down here, but you can see this shop from my balcony!”

Lily's father nodded, but then fell into silence. It was easy to let Lily drone on about everything and anything she could think to talk about and make polite noises as she described her friends, her apartment, how eager she was to show the latter off. She relaxed as time went on, but one thing she never discussed was her mother or her mother’s boyfriend. Deftly she weaved around those two things, finally falling quiet once the tea and the dessert were long since finished.

“Do you have time to stop by my place or do you have to run off and do whatever dad’s do when their adult daughters aren’t hanging around?”

There was a pause, followed by laughter as Derik thought about it.  “I think I can set aside some time from my busy schedule,” he said, his voice full of humor.  “I don’t see any reason why not,” his voice had returned to regular, as he stole a small piece of Lily’s fruity desert.

“Excellent!” Happily she hopped to her feet, pulling out some money before her father could complain and paying for the bill with a hefty tip for their waitress. That done she grabbed Derik by the sleeve and all but pulled him across the street to the apartment complex. It didn’t take long to take the ride up the elevator and walk down the hall to her place. She pulled out a key and unlocked the door before leading him inside.

The whole place was painted white, but aside from the splash of eggshell on the wall it looked vaguely like a girls baby shower had thrown up in the room. The couch was covered in a pink comforter and then by a pink lace duvet. There were a few pictures of pink daisies on the wall along with one print of a gorgeous red maple tree that was shining as the light hit it so that it reflected a few pinker tones. Even some of the appliances were pink, and she delightedly showed him every room one at a time before urging him to take a rest on her couch.

“My friend from school said she’ll move in here and keep me company in a couple of weeks.” She looked around a little happily and bounced into her seat.

Derik smiled at the bouncing girl next to him. “Looks like you’ve already got this all figured out.” He looked around the room, giving a more and more approving nod as he did. While he was distracted looking around, her phone buzzed, and she quickly checked it in the manner of someone performing a habitual act. Her ready smile faded in an instant and she quickly stuffed her phone back into the small purse that was tucked close to her side.

Looking back to Lily, Derik’s smile reached the same level as hers.  “What’s up Lily-leaf?”

Smiling weakly the young woman shook her head determinedly. “Nothing!”

Mimicking her smile, Derik put a hand on her shoulder. “You know, even after all this time, I still know how to tell when you’re lying.“

Lily scrunched up her nose and gave him wide amber eyes. “Daddy. Really. It’s fine. Nothing you need to worry about.”

“Again, if I’m not worrying about you, I’m remiss in my duties as your father. Come on, you can tell me.”

“It’s just… someone I wish would stop texting me.” She glanced down and away from her father, and consequently toward her hidden phone. “I’d block them but…” She sighed heavily and shrugged.

“Is it some boyfriend I need to beat?” Derik jokingly punched his palm with a smile.

Paling slightly she hid her purse with her hands and gave him a shocked look. “Dear gods no!”

“You know I’m only joking, I just want to be more involved with you. I haven’t really been all that commutative in a fair while.”

“I know daddy but… I don’t want you to go all… postal on someone over something that’s really nothing.” She gave him another watery smile. “I can handle it. I’ve been for a while now.”

“Did the definition of ‘handling it’ change while I was away?  I don’t think that ignoring someone who makes you upset is ‘handling it’.” He reached over to put a hand on her shoulder, attempting to reassure her.

“At least nobody is getting hurt my way.” She arched an eyebrow at her father and then shook her head. “No daddy. I’m putting my foot down. I’m a big girl. Now. Do you want something for the road? I can make you a sandwich or something?”

“Sure, why not?” Derik lifted his hand to pat Lily on the shoulder a few times, before sinking further into the couch. Grinning widely she hopped to her feet and nodded, scooting off to the kitchen to make him his promised sandwich.

While she was away from her purse, he quickly tipped it over, picking up her phone casually and noticing that it had a simple swipe lock that was easily done away with. It immediately brought up the message and…

You stupid whore. You’re utterly useless you know that. You’re lucky your pretty like your mom or you wouldn’t be good for anything at all.

Putting the phone back to sleep, he returned the purse to its original position, as to avoid her noticing. He stood up from the couch, and made his way over to the kitchen.  Standing in the doorway, he sat watching Lily put together a sandwich, thoughts racing as he did.

Eventually she noticed him and offered him a smile before quickly finishing. The sandwich went into a bag and then she handed it to him with an extra hug. “Okay. I’ve gotta meet up with everyone, but you take care and text me lots okay? I’ve always got my phone so… and I’ll see you on Savior on Wednesday like always right?”

Derik winced. “On Wednesday?  Me and Kol are going to be doing a dungeon Wednesday, I thought it was next week.” He gave Lily a look of contemplation, trying to find a way to prolong it. “Tell you what, SCCO said that they were announcing something big on Wednesday, so it’ll be super crowded, and it’ll be difficult to go much of anywhere. How about we do it on Friday? That should be enough time to wait for the crowd to settle.”

“That sounds great daddy!” She flashed him a broad smile. “I’m so glad you have a friend to play with! You’ll have to introduce us sometime soon okay?”

“Maybe someday.” Opening the door, he stepped through. “Take care Lily-leaf...” He began closing the door, but paused. “I love you!” he shouted before closing the door leaving Lily by her lonesome.

“I love you too.” It was too late for him to hear it, and the words echoed in the small apartment around her as if mocking.

-fin