"It's not everyday you get to see this proud brother of mine pushed around like that!" Those words replayed in Lillian's mind over and over again as she felt herself sinking in her chair, wishing she could erase the previous night.
After having stared down at her water standing still on the table for what felt like the longest two seconds she'd ever experienced, she bravely raised her eyes up to meet Andrew's cold hard stare only to chicken out and shift to meet Anna's. The mischievous smile in her eyes, however, only worked to embarrass Lillian till her ears turned red. The polar opposites Geldan duo were going to give her a heart attack first thing in the morning. And her head was still pounding like crazy.
Unable to bear it any longer, she abruptly pushed her chair back and stood up from her seat, taking a moment for the sudden dizziness of her hangover to go away. Having taken a deep breathe, she made up an excuse to flee from their presence. "I'm, uh, not feeling so well. I think it'd be better if I go back to my room to get some rest. I apologize for inconveniencing you," a nervous laugh quietly escaped her lips.
She took a quick step, hoping to get away fast, but her dizziness sunk in again and she felt herself begin to trip. Her arms flailed out to both sides in an attempt to catch her balance.
*Catch*
Concerned over how pale her face was, Andrew watched her carefully as she got up from the table, though still annoyed by the events of the previous night. Even if he had to deal with a drunk-now hungover girl, more than anything he wanted for her to be alright. As soon as her balance started to waver, he shot up from his chair and leaned across the table to catch Lillian's flailing arm.
The firm grip helped stable her as she managed to not fall over by throwing out her other foot and landing on it strong. She winced in pain as the shock went up her heel from sticking her landing on the hard marble floor.
"Lillian, are you alright?" Anna asked in concern, but before she could hear an answer, she witnessed the unbelievable sight before her.
Without letting go of her arm, Andrew moved around the table in one smooth motion and lifted her off her feet and into his arms.
"Hey, let me down. I can walk by myself," Lillian weakly protested as another throbbing headache pounded inside her head. She used her one free hand to massage her temples as the other one was currently wrapped around Andrew's neck.
Internally, Andrew chuckled, but externally he maintained his cool poker face, not wanting to give his sister more of a show. "No, I'll bring you upstairs. I don't need you tripping on the stairs, only to require a trip to the ER."
Ugh, my poor little pride. All that's left of you is now gone. Lillian mourned the last of her pride as Andrew carried her upstairs. She could feel the warmth of his body as he held her close to his chest. By now, she wasn't sure what was worse, the throbbing headache or the embarrassment of him carrying her upstairs after revealing all of her drunken antics.
After what felt like another eternity, they finally made it to her room and Andrew gently put her down on top of her bed. "Wait here, and don't move," he gave her a stern glare to make sure she'd understood his instructions before leaving the room.
A couple of minutes later, he came back in. This time he was holding a glass of water and a small pill bottle. He set the glass and small bottle on the table next to the bed and looked at Lillian. "You can take 1 or 2 pills for your headache, it should begin to feel better in 30 minutes. Make sure to drink some water too." Lillian noticed he let out a deep sigh. For a moment his eyes felt really gentle as his gaze briefly landed on her forehead. She figured it must have been a hallucination for not a second later, he was back to his regular stone stare.
"Thank You!" She managed to express her gratitude as he was leaving the room. He turned his head to face her slightly and responded in a calm, deep voice, "Of course," then walked away.
The rest of the morning until the early afternoon, Lillian spent her time in bed, recovering from her first hangover since her senior year of university. At one point, Anna came to check in on her and say goodbye, dropping off a piece of toast for her before heading out.
She'd wondered what Andrew had been up to since putting her to bed. Part of her was worried that he was going to find a way to annul their contract and throw her out on the streets after her behavior last night. Meanwhile, another part of her wondered if he was cooped up in his office, working on the weekend like some kind of hyper efficient robot CEO.
No robot could have a chest as nice as that though... Her mind drifted off to when he had carried her up the stairs, only for her conscious to snap her back to reality and wave away those thoughts from her mind. "No, Lillian. It's not appropriate to think of your roommate in that way." She lectured to herself and pinched her cheek in punishment.
Feeling mostly better, she made her way downstairs to the kitchen to get another glass of water, but nothing could have prepared her for the unholy scene in front of her.
"S-sparkles?" Lillian muttered to herself in astonishment, raising one hand up to spare her eyes from the blinding light, as the light from the refrigerator reflected off the wet beads of water falling from Andrew's hair and onto his bare chest. He took a drink from out of the fridge door, closing it behind him as he turned around to find Lillian standing by the foot of the stairs.
Distracted by the impressive shape of his muscular chest and abs, she did not notice as he got nearer. Now just a few steps in front of her, she noticed that he was wearing swim shorts. The outline of his thighs looked incredibly sculpted as well.
"You're looking better." Andrew's voice snapped her right back to reality. Somehow she managed to get a nod out in reply, forcing herself to look up at his face and not let her eyes wander anywhere else. "Good. I'm going to go wash up. Let's go out after that."