DRAWN TO DESTRUCTION (NEIL)

[fiona]

lugging her textbooks up the stairs, she followed as closely behind lily as she could manage with an armload of stuff. as her arms burned until they felt like they were about to fall off, they finally made it to lily's room, and willow dropped the pile of books on the floor in a clump.

"wow, that's a climb," she noted, smiling and walking over to the window to peer out at the brick wall of the building next door. the apartment was just big enough for lily and her brother (according to her friend), and although it wasn't sizable, it suited them. accustomed to the expansive house she alone had shared with her father back in ireland, willow found the apartment minute to say the least, but she didn't look down at lily for her living arrangements. on the contrary, the tight space fascinated and thrilled her as something foreign and exciting.

as the other girl plopped down on her bed, willow lowered herself to the floor, folding her legs beneath her and pulling down her skirt so she wouldn't flash lily's brother if he happened to walk by. after meeting a few weeks before, the girls had become fast friends and study buddies, and willow was thankful for the companionship. leaning back against lily's bed, she opened the first book and began reading. soft music began playing as lily turned on her ipod, and willow tapped her foot to the beat as she flipped through the pages.

downstairs, she heard the door open and slam as - she assumed - lily's older brother was home. the girl obviously adored her brother although she didn't talk about him in great detail. they'd been friends for three weeks, and willow had yet to hear his first name. movement in the hallway caught her attention, but she didn't look up immediately. she heard lily call out happily to her brother, "neil, wait! come meet my friend willow." her eyebrows raised at the sound of her name, and her head followed soon thereafter as she looked up and toward the door, a tentative smile on her face as she prepared to meet her friend's older sibling and caregiver.

when he came into view, her heart plummeted in her chest, and her jaw fell open slightly before she caught herself. "um... hi...neil," she responded awkwardly. she recognized him as the guy she'd met by chance at boston harbor. what were the odds they would wind up here, her as his little sister's closest college friend? the irritation she'd felt when she'd first met him worked its way up within her, and she set her jaw as she rose from the floor, dropping her book.

"excuse me," she muttered toward lily, pushing past neil in a desperate attempt to escape the room at least for a moment. she needed some air.

BOOOO SORRY IT'S SO SHORT. I HAVE A HEADACHE XD

[neil patrick torres]

it's the kiss of life,

Yawning, Neil began the tall climb up to his small apartment. Well, it wasn’t small, but it was small enough for him and Lily to be calling distance from the front door to either of the three bedrooms. Lily’s was the biggest, then his, and then the guest room. Both were happy (or at least he thought) with their current living arrangements and that was all that mattered. He was trying to change their lives, by putting Lily though college and working at a publishing job that he hated more than anything. His cell phone buzzed for a moment and he stopped in his tracks, a couple floors away from his apartment. Rolling his eyes, he continued his trudge up the stairs a little more slowly. While he loved his sister, he could barely stand the friends she brought over because they made such a noise and made such a mess. He was pretty much the most anal person when it came to things being in the right place, and he couldn’t stand people at their apartment. But he would smile and be happy, because at least Lily had friends while he had no one.

Finally reaching the top step, he was pleased with himself. While Neil hated the stairs, once he looked at the view, everything would be alright. He had pretty much picked the apartment more for the view than anything else. It wasn’t Ireland, but it was something nice…it was almost like home. Quickly, he unlocked the door and entered the room, expecting loud music and nonsense, but was greeted by giggles from the other room and that was pretty much it. Already he liked this new friend more than all the others.

Lily’s voice echoed through the air, and Neil followed it, making his way towards the room. He tucked his hands into his pocket and placed a smile on his lips. His smile almost faded when he saw who the new friend was. It was that gorgeous red head that passed judgment on him. He wanted to yell at her to get out of the house, move far away and make sure that Lily never saw her again. But he didn’t because Neil was a good brother, a good man and wanted his sister to be completely and totally happy.

”Hi Willow,” he said, giving her a small wave from the door corner. She pushed past him moments later, and he knew why. Lily rolled her eyes at him. ”Already scaring my friends?” he shrugged in response and Lily left to meet with her friend. He made his way into his room and started changing out of his clothes and jumped in the shower. Distantly, he heard the door close from the other room and he let out a sigh of relief. Thank god, it seemed as though the red head had left and it would be just him and Lily. Finishing his shower, he quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and exited the bathroom, rubbing his face into the towel.

The second the towel left his face, his eyes fell on the red head that was looking on him. Oh shit. He bet Lily went to get some food that she had ordered for the study session she was having, thinking there was nothing wrong with leaving her best friend and her brother. This meant that everything was going to be significantly more awkward now that they were alone. ”Do you want some nachos? I was going to make nachos and I know that most people like nachos.” his accent seemed thick before he cleared his throat and shuffled awkwardly on his feet.

[style=width: 400px; font-family: georgia; font-size: 9px; text-align: center; color: 000;]for royal and willow with 610 words. hope it is alright.

[fiona]

standing alone halfway down the staircase, willow held her face in her hands and forced herself to take deep breaths. lily's brother was neil, and neil was the unfortunately-attractive young man she'd run into -literally- in the rain only a few days prior. she'd been caustic and hateful to him, instantly disliking him because she knew he was associated with connor selwyn. but he was lily's brother, and she already loved lily like a best friend. if they were related, then he couldn't really be as bad as she's imagined him, could he?

confusion settled over her, and she was only brought back to the present by lily's chiming voice as she skipped down the staircase. "i'm heading out to get some ice cream since every good study session needs some ice cream," she chirped with a brilliant smile. "the closest grocery store is about thirty minutes from here. i'm just about done with my homework, but you can hang around until i get back if you want?" willow managed a nod and a small smile as lily moved past her, waving as she rounded the door and closed it behind her.

while she wanted to wait for her friend, she was suddenly aware of how alone she was in this apartment with neil. she heard the shower running, and she knew she didn't have to confront him again right away, so she sighed audibly with relief. she was torn between waiting for lily and worrying that her older brother would finish his shower before the girl could return home and provide her with a protective barrier against the brother willow found herself so inexplicably drawn toward.

she should hate him. her father had raised her to hate the selwyns and everyone in their mob, and she'd obeyed him since childhood. she'd had a raging dislike for the selwyns long before she understood who they were, simply because her father told her so. for the first time in her life, she was doubting his lessons, and the guilt that engulfed her was so powerful it made her throat constrict as she made herself climb the stairs toward lily's bedroom. she had left all of her belongings in the girl's room, and she felt the sudden urge to clear them out before neil finished his shower. she couldn't be around him; the pull was too strong, and she couldn't explain or deny it. she hated herself for it, thinking she should still hate him, but her affection for her friend made her doubt her brother could honestly be a demon. that doubt, in turn, made her stomach curdle as her father's words ran through her mind in endless streams of advice and correction.

the selwyns are evil. everyone who consorts with them is evil. they destroyed our family, and they will destroy us too. you must stay as far from them as possible, my dear willow.

as with any training a child learns from toddlerhood, the lessons of her father were so engrained into her mind she couldn't escape them. her attraction to neil only exacerbated her guilt, and she knew she had to escape. gathering her books, she dropped a few and cursed inwardly as she scrambled to pile them up. she was so consumed in her thoughts and her efforts to get away, she didn't hear the shower turn off in the bathroom. growling irritably when she couldn't find her writing pens she'd brought to make notes with, she crawled under lily's bed until she found them, throwing them into her purse and bolting for the door. reaching the doorway, she suddenly came face-to-face with the very person she didn't want to see, and her heart stopped in her chest.

he wore nothing but jeans, his chiseled upper body bare and available for her hungry eyes. she sucked in a breath and froze, her books falling from her arms just as he asked her if she wanted some nachos.

"damn!" she exclaimed, mostly to herself, falling to her knees to gather them and trying to avoid making any eye contact at neil at all. "i... um... no, i have... to go. i have to go," she repeated herself as she grabbed the last book and rose hastily, only looking into his blue eyes and ignoring the palpitating of her heart.

what was her problem? he was gorgeous, but he was mixed up with connor selwyn. he was the enemy, as her father would say. but as she stood there staring at him hopelessly, she knew she didn't see him that way. she should, but she didn't. she should hate him, but she didn't hate him. it wasn't just his looks, although that had initially caught her attention as it would any healthy heterosexual young woman. the way he'd parried her arguments when they'd first met, the way he felt the need to explain himself to a complete stranger: he intrigued and interested her. he gave her a reason to open her sheltered mind.

"i should be going," she reiterated, turning away and moving down the staircase as quickly as she could manage without dropping her books and falling head-first down the stairs. if she didn't get far away from him now, she didn't know what would happen to her cloistered mind and heart.

WHOOOOOOOOOOT I HOPE IT'S OKAY