Billy spotted her the moment he’d entered the room, and how could he not, when she stood out like a Stargazer Lily in room full of garden variety daisies. In a sea of black, white and pastels, the magenta Grecian style gown she wore, was like a beacon for the eyes. Lily’s dress was bold and daring. Her hair swept up, exposing her graceful neck that just begged to be kissed. In the midst of the columns, lights, and vines that decorated the hall, Lily looked like a goddess who’d come down form Mt. Olympus to grace earth with her beauty. It was there, in the way she held herself; back straight, shoulders up, head held high, with a blinding smile on her lips. She had to know that she was the most beautiful woman in the room. And if she didn’t, her husband did.

Husband. He didn’t like it. In fact, he would go so far as to say that he hated it. Stopping a waiter with a tray of champagne, Billy tossed back one glass, and then held the waiter up, so that he could down two more, before telling the man to bring him back a real drink. He needed something strong for this. Nick, why did she marry Nick? Why did she marry him, of all the men in the world? Why did she have to marry Victor’s spawn? He still couldn’t believe that she married him, especially knowing their history. To say that he and Nick didn’t get along would be an understatement. They didn’t like each other, and although Nick was two years older, he and Billy had been in competition since the day he was born. It would have been a surprise if they hadn’t been. Nick was a Newman, and he was an Abbott. The two families did not get along, and that was the way it should be. It made sense. Abbott’s and Newman’s could coexist, but trying to do more was just asking for trouble. Which was why he couldn’t understand how Lily could marry Nick, when she knew better than anyone else, just how deep their rivalry went.

“Sir, will this do?” The waiter asked offering Billy a glass of scotch.

Billy nodded, removed the glass, thanked the waiter and turned back to view his prey, as he sipped his drink. He watched Nick smile down at her, and she returned the smile. Nick’s arm resting possessively around her waist, made Billy want nothing more than to break it. The thought made him smile. Nick wouldn’t be happy that he was back in town, and Billy couldn’t have cared less. He was going to enjoy it, seeing Nicks face, when he made his appearance.

“Uncle Billy! What…Why…Where…Oh God.”

Billy was slightly amused at his niece, who looked like a fish that tried to blink and fail.

“It’s good see your too CC.”

She glowered at him, “What are you doing here?”

“I live here.”

“No, you don’t, you live across the Atlantic, in London.”

“I’m here on business.”

“Fine,” she ground out, “But why are you here, at Kate and Kevin’s engagement party?” He shrugged, which Colleen found to both maddening, and typical of him. “You were not invited.”

“Oh, but I was. You see, I arrived in town yesterday, and stopped by the mansion to see Jack. I saw this invitation for the Abbott family on the coffee table, and since it didn’t specify a particular Abbott family member, well, I concluded that it was for the entire family and…I just couldn’t pass it up. I wouldn’t want to hurt Kate’s feelings.”

Colleen watched as her uncle's eyes drifted to his right. She followed his line of sight to see where he’d stopped, and groaned. Lily, of course this was about Lily. Ten years later, and everything was still about Lily. Too bad that it hadn’t been about her the day he ran off to “find himself”.

“Billy you need to leave,” she said grabbing his hand and pulling him behind a column. She had to get him out of here, and now. If Lily saw him, if Nick, Neil, or even Devon saw him, all hell would break loose.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, letting her pull him along. “Why are we behind this column?” he frowned at the enormous thing blocking his view of Lily. “If you wanted me the leave, there is a door behind me.”

He’d come in the back entrance in order to avoid being announced. He wanted to announce himself to her, and not give her the opportunity to leave before he did. He couldn’t wait to see her up close, up…very close. He wanted to trace the strap of her dress from her left shoulder, across her collarbone, where it ended above her right breast. He wanted to dip his finger beneath the material, tugging the offending strap, and watching as the chiffon overlay rumpled, as it moved down her body, and ended in a puddle on the floor.

“Uncle Billy, are you listening to me?” Colleen said in annoyance, as she watched Billy bore holes into the column she’d drug him behind.

“Not especially.”

She folded her arms under her breast, causing the pale blue material to bunch up at her cleavage. “You need to leave…now.”

“Why? I’m not doing anything. I’m just standing behind this column, talking to my favorite niece,” he grinned.

“Uncle Billy, please don’t make a scene.”

Colleen was exasperated. She’d been talking to herself for three minutes, while her uncle seduced a column with his gaze. If the heat in his eyes was any indication of the reason he was here, in a ballroom, at an event that he’d more than likely avoid if a certain person weren’t here, then she knew that they were in trouble. And Lily, oh goodness, Lily was in big trouble.

“CC relax, I’m not going to embarrass anyone.”

“And why don’t I believe you?”

“Have a little faith,” He said motioning to JT, who came over and distracted his wife Colleen, so that he could make his escape.
***

“Lily.”

Billy watched Colleen looking down on Lily who must have finally awoken. He wanted to rush over to see how she was feeling, but held his peace in the back of the room, content… for now to let CC and Kate tend to her.

Lily blinked several times before fully opening her eyes, to see Kate, and Colleen staring down at her with matching expressions of concern on their face.

“Thank goodness,” Colleen said, “You gave us a bit of a scare.”

“A bit, do you have any idea what would have happened if you’d hit your head on floor?” Kate asked. “You could have died, or gone into a coma.”

Lily watched as Kate continued to lecture her on all the things that could have happened by her fainting. This was so unlike Kate, who acted as if she’d done it on purpose, which was beyond ridiculous. But why had she fainted? She didn’t even remember. Well, only vaguely. She was talking to the girls, all except CC, who’d been across the room talking to Traci. They were hiding something from her. She frowned. Yes, they’d been hiding something, and were about to tell her, when she’d heard… No, she couldn’t have. It couldn’t have.

“Is she okay?” Amber asked from the door of the sitting room.

Lily blinked again, trying to process her thoughts, as well as what was going on around her. She heard Amber, but she couldn’t see her. “Where’s Jana?” she asked.

“Making sure the party runs smoothly, and stopping Nikki from calling 911.”

“Nikki was going to call 911?” she coughed, her voice sounded harsh. How long had she been out?

“You know how she is about you,” CC said.

“I had to steal her phone, or she would have called Nick, who would have come in on his white steed, which is the last thing we need,” Kate said.

She was right. Her husband would’ve returned and insisted that he take her to the hospital. He would have taken her, with hopes that the doctor would tell them that she was expecting. It was a good thing that he wasn’t returning. She didn’t want to get his hopes up, which would have happened, and she’d have to see that look in eyes. That disappointing look he got, whenever her period came. She didn’t know why he was always so disappointed, when he knew that she took her pill everyday.

“Good…that’s good.” It was good, at least now. She would figure something out later, after she discovered exactly what had happened to cause her to faint.

“That’s what I told Colleen, who frowned, when I told her that I threw Nikki’s phone in the toilet.”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Colleen said, shaking her head at Kate, who always had to go that one extra mile. It was to her credit that Restless Style had turned around after her dad and Lily’s mom, who co-founded the magazine, passed away in plane crash.

“I needed a guarantee.”

“Well it’s not like she couldn’t have used someone else’s phone.”

Lily watched somewhat amused by their bickering. She should get up, she needed to get up, but it just didn’t happen. She couldn’t seem to bring her body to move. She sighed, which caused the girls to stop and stare down at her.

“Do you need anything?” Colleen asked a frown creasing her brows.

“Yes, perhaps I could send for a bottle of Pellegrino?"

“That would be good. How…how long have I been out of it?”

Colleen and Kate exchanged glances and then said in unison, “Twenty minutes.”

“Twenty minutes!” Lily bolted up right in her seat, causing CC and Kate to back away. “Who does that?” Lily exclaimed, “Who faints for twenty minutes, and why don’t I have a headache?”

“Your head never touched the ground,” Amber volunteered from the door and received a withering glare from Kate, and exasperated one from Colleen. “Sorry.”

Lily was still confused. She didn’t understand why Kate looked as if she could slap Amber, while Colleen looked as if she wanted to pray for her. “Why did I faint? It wasn’t hot, and what does Amber mean by, my head never touched the ground?” Lily stared at her business partners and friends, who looked at each other, as if hoping one of them would throw the other a life line. “Did you catch me?”

“Not…Exactly,” said Colleen, who was looking at a spot over Lily’s shoulder.

“Well of course you didn’t, you were talking to your mom. Unless you have some Marvel super hero powers I don’t know about,” Lily laughed, and then froze when she heard, what she was sure was a distinctly male laughter.

“Oh great, she’s up,” Jana said coming to stand next to Amber in the door. “God, I was so worried that you hadn’t woken up yet. I was sure that I would have heard a bit more noise, when you saw that…”

“Jana,” Amber, Colleen and Kate screeched in unison.

“What?” Jana asked confused. Lily had to know that Billy was here. How could she not know, when the man was standing behind her, in the same spot he’d been in since, he’d carried her in here almost thirty minutes ago?

“Jana, perhaps I should explain,” Billy said from his corner of the room.

Lily froze, no… it couldn’t be, and yet that voice, answered every question that ran through her head. She listened as he continued to talk as if he were explaining the facts to a child.

“You see, Kate, and my darling niece, have yet to tell Lily that I am in the room. It’s been quite amusing to watch them flounder like fish on dry land,” He chuckled, and began to move slowly around the couch each step bringing him closer to object of his affection. “Lily on the other hand doesn’t, well, didn’t, seem to remember why she fainted, or why her head never touched the ground. Which I could have answered, but I was afraid that one of the little people, would jump over the couch and tackle me to the floor. I have an aversion to physically harming females…well, unless they ask me to.” He winked at Jana, whose mouth formed a tiny “O.”

Colleen rolled her eyes, “Really, Uncle Billy? Really?”

Billy grinned at his niece, and ignored Kate's complaint, when he slightly bumped her out of the way, in order to kneel down in front of Lily. His eyes ate her up. She was even more beautiful up close. The picture in the New Times society pages he’d seen in London, that brought him to this moment, couldn’t capture the exotic beauty that was Lily Winters. Her eyes were wide, the light in the room capturing the golden flakes that sparkled within them. Her rich golden skin, which was the softest he’d ever felt, was a tad pale, but that only gave her a hint on an ethereal glow. Billy was never a sap, but when it came to the woman before him, he could recite sonnets with the best of them.

“How are you?” he asked, his fingers itching to touch her again. It took all of his strength not to reach out and run his finger along the curve of her jaw.

Lily stared, not sure what he was asking her. She wasn’t even sure if he was real. She wanted to touch him, but she was afraid that he was real, and even more so that he wasn’t.

“Why,” she cleared her throat, “Why are you here?”

Throughout the seven years that they’d been apart, Billy had on occasion imagined what it would be like when he first saw Lily. But never in all of his imaginings, were those the first words she’d said to him. In his far fetched daydreams, he’d actually imagined her falling in to his arms, just not quite the way she had tonight, his very appearance causing her enough distress that she was unconscious for twenty minutes.

“I wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

She scrunched up her face, “No…not here, why…?"

“I couldn’t let you fall,” he said deflecting her words. He wasn’t ready for her to push him away yet. The time would come soon enough.

“You…caught me?”

“Yes,” he said remembering how her eyes glazed over, right before her knees gave away and his arms instinctively reached out to grab her.

He’d picked her up in his arms, ignoring Kate’s protest that he should put her down. Yeah, like he would have left her to lay on the white marble floor. So he carried her out of the room, away from the gawking crowd that was beginning to form, and to a side room, where the waiter from earlier pointed him to. It felt so natural, holding her in his arms. It was as if the past seven years had never happened, as if he hadn’t been a selfish cad, who destroyed their relationship for his own selfish reasons. He sighed, it was best that he avoid that train of thought.

“You would have had nasty fall, if I hadn’t been there to catch you.”

“She wouldn’t have fallen, if you hadn’t been here,” Kate said from behind him.

Lily listened, but she couldn’t really process anything. She saw Billy’s lips move, and even heard the words he’d spoken, but none of it made sense. She stared at his lips, and watched them move. She remembered that they were soft, and incredibly moist, even in the driest weather. His thick lashes that matched his hair, were slightly lowered as he looked at her with eyes the color of the Pacific. His eyes were the only beautiful things about him. Billy was purely male, all hard lines, and refined bone structure. He was so unlike her husbands, whose features were male, but depending on his hair cut, could appear slightly effeminate. There was nothing feminine about Billy Abbott, who was one hundred and ten percent male. And he was here, in front of her, talking about saving her. Saving her from what? A fall on the floor? It might have been better, if she’d fallen. Perhaps the pain would have taken away from her, the sudden ache that started to spread from her mind down to her heart. She swallowed. Why was he here?

“Is she alright?” She heard someone ask. Jana, Amber, she wasn’t sure, which was ridiculous because neither sounded alike.

Colleen sat down next her on the couch, and said, “I think she’s in shock.” She took her hand and asked, “Lily are you alright?”

“Of course not, so stopping asking her that,” Kate said, who physically pushed Billy out the way so that she could sit on Lily’s other side. “If she was alright, she would be talking and not sitting here like a deer in the headlights.”

“I’m not deaf,” Lily said feeling disgruntled.

Why was he here? Why? Why now? Why ever? Why? The pain was coming, she could feel growing and spreading like a virus through her veins. She needed to get out of here and fast, because behind the pain, lay a thousand emotions, and ninety percent of them should be invalid when it came to Billy Abbott.

“I need to go home,” she said, turning away from Billy’s gaze.

She couldn’t handle the way he was looking at her. He didn’t have the right. No…he didn’t have the right to have that look in his eyes, the utter tenderness, that slipped into the bottom of her core, stirring the myriad of emotions that threatened to overtake her. She was going to cry soon, if she didn’t leave. She would embarrass herself and cry. She couldn’t do that, not here, not know, not ever again.

“I need to leave,” she reaffirmed and stood.

“Lily…Talk to me,” Billy said, watching as each emotion ran across her face, before she shut them down one by one.

“Billy, back off,” Kate said.

“Uncle Billy, please?”

“Lily,” Billy said ignoring them both, “Say something.” He wanted her to talk to him, to say anything other than ask him, why he was there. He’d be happy if she’d even say his name, actually acknowledge his presence.

“Move,” she said avoiding his gaze.

Billy stared down at her. He was upsetting her, he knew by the set of her chin and the sound of her voice. He was upsetting her and yet, he wasn’t ready for her to leave.

“Lily,” he started, but halted, when her hand made contact with his face with such force, that it snapped his head to the side.

Billy was shocked, and by the look on her face so was she, and the other occupants of the room who gave a collective gasp of surprise by her act of violence. Billy couldn’t believe that she’d slapped him. Lily, his Lily was an extremely nonviolent person. She hadn’t even slapped him, while he stood there breaking her heart.

“Billy,” she said, and if a single word could cause a man’s heart to bleed, the way she said his name nearly broke him in two.

He’d wanted to hear it, had been waiting for her to say it, to recognize him, but not like this, without a single drop of emotion. He did as she asked, and moved out of her path. She side-stepped him, making sure she never came into contact with him, putting enough space between them, so that not even her gown would accidentally touch him. He wanted to grab her, stop her, but he didn’t. There would be time enough for that. Tonight was just their reintroduction, and as he watched her disappear through the door, he knew that it could have gone better. He only hoped that it didn’t get any worse. Although, as he sat down on the couch in the very spot she’d vacated, just to feel the warmth from her body that still lingered on the seat, he knew that it would. He breathed her in. Her smell was there, soft and sweet, like a natural aphrodisiac. He didn’t know how he’d stayed away, and he knew that he couldn’t stay forever, but when he left, she was coming with him.
***

Yes, Billy thought, his eyes drifting close, as sleep finally came to claim him. Things were indeed going to get a hell of a lot worse. And god help Genoa City, because he was going to tear it apart, brick by brick, if he had to, because came hell or high water, husband or no, he was going after Lily with the ruthlessness of the titan he was, and taking down anyone who got in his way.