and I ALMOST had you [Lilah]

[sterling gael burandt]

You kept me guessing and now I'm destined
to spend my time missing you
I almost wish you would've loved me too

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Here I go thinking about all the things I could've done
I'm gonna need a forklift cause all the baggage weighs a ton
I know we had our problems--but I can't remember one

Sterling had a break. Was this even possible? Detective Hendrickson didn’t need him in the office because he was on a day vacation and told Sterling to stay at home and study some cases that he had just closed. He decided that Vincent needed some serious Andy time without Sterling making stupid Sterling comments. He tried his hardest to just make the two laugh and it worked with Andy but Sterling could probably count on one hand how many times Vincent has just stared; which was usually the clue to just shut up and leave. He treated Vincent just like he would Cayden but something was very different and he didn’t have a clue what or how to fix it. Sometimes he would just do the best thing and that was to give Vincent some space. But what to do now? He picked up his backpack, the various case files and his ethics textbook before walking out the front door. He slugged the pack into the passenger side of the jeep before grabbing the top rim and pulling himself into the drivers spot. He could go to the park and chill and do an ethics assignment. Sterling slid the jeep into gear as he pulled out of the driveway when his thoughts drifted to bringing Rach with him he secretly hated being alone. When he was alone his thoughts often drifted to back home and nothing good came of thinking of home.

He knew she was working but there was another person that worked at Starbucks that was just as good as Rach maybe even better. It wasn’t a secret that he found one of his best friends through Starbucks and Rach. Delialh was always there and he attempted to be there for her also. He had gotten so close on a lot of different occasions to actually asking her out but every time he got close Serena’s words dripped in the back of his mind. “If you don’t even have enough time for yourself why would you dare bring another person into it?” So—he never did. And after a year of friendship and nothing else he was for sure positive he had already been friendzoned. Friendzones were the worst a person could get into when they actually felt something towards the other person. He kicked himself every day for it but kept it to himself. Serena was right, he had a lot of stuff with his family, work, internship, school, homework, he barely had enough time to do laundry what was he thinking of dragging Lilah into that. Sterling pulled infront of the park pulling his phone from his pocket shooting a quick text to her. ‘Not sure if you are working or not, but if you aren’t or getting off soon, I’m doing homework in the park if you want to join,’ Sterling slid the phone back into his pocket as he pulled himself out of the keep grabbing for the backpack. He found the tree they usually sat at before dumping the ethics book on the grass flopping down next to it. He knew he was just asking not to get any homework done if Lilah ended up coming but part of him just didn’t care anymore.

I almost forgot to say something else
And if I cant fit it in I'll keep it all to myself
I almost wrote a song about you today
But I tore it all up and then I threw it away
And I almost had you
But I guess that doesn't cut it
Almost had you
And I didn't even know it

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This was made by NAT, please do not steal. Song lyrics belong to Bowling for Soup Batman is always watching...always.

[delilah paige fairchild]

hear my heart burst again

Lila wiped her hands on her green apron and stared out at the dwindling crowd in the store. It had been a fairly relaxed morning; steady, but no rush. Those were the days she didn't mind working as much, as the customers were actually polite. Other days she wanted to crawl in a hole and die after dealing with numerous impatient, rude customers who didn't understand that she was a person and could not make a frappuccino in thirty seconds. She had worked a shorter shift today; Delilah hadn't asked why simply because she was tired of working. Once she was sure her coworker would be able to handle working alone for a while, Lila poured herself a strawberry smoothie and headed into the back to gather her things. Putting her apron away, Lila threw on her denim jacket over the white button-up she'd worn to work. Delilah fixed the bun in her hair in the bathroom quickly before leaving the coffee shop, waving as she left.

She'd barely gotten a foot out of the store when her phone vibrated. Digging in her tote bag, she pulled out her iPhone - a high school graduation gift from her parents - and glanced at the screen. Smiling at the name of the sender, Lila was quick to reply. "Lucky for you, I just got off! See you soon. :)" She had actually brought some schoolwork to Starbucks to work on when it got slow, so she'd actually have something to work on if they actually got around to it. Lila couldn't imagine she'd get much done with Sterling around, but maybe he only wanted company as he did his own work.

Thankfully the park wasn't too far away from her work. It was still a good twenty minutes of walking, but Lila had gotten used to walking distances in Chicago. She could drive, but it was much more convenient to walk. She also absolutely hated parking in busy cities, but that was beside the point. Lila put her phone back into the pocket of her bag and began walking in the direction of the park. Like she had predicted, it took just about twenty minutes. She assumed he was in their usual spot, in the shade of a specific tree.

In the distance, she saw Sterling sitting in the grass. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of him; she'd never quite gotten over that crush she developed when she had first met him. He was a great guy, but he didn't seem interested in her - they were obviously more suited to be friends. Honestly, Lila was alright being just friends, but she couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if their relationship had taken a different direction.

Delilah pushed her bangs out of her eyes as she approached him, her shoes loud against the sidewalk cement. Dropping her bag to the ground, Delilah sat in the grass beside Sterling. "Hey, Sterling." She greeted him with a smile. "What homework have you got?"

notes: sorry this took so long!