My day was a mix of racing between meetings and drive-by conversations with coworkers I bumped into as I sprinted between conference rooms. It was nice connecting with people I didn't regularly meet with while working remotely, but moving between floors was exhausting. My mind continuously wandering to Billy, Jackson, and others added to the fatigue. The sun was falling in the late afternoon sky when I had a moment to settle my mind on Luke meeting Billy. A level of concern coursed through me at the idea of their meeting. I had told Luke most things about our relationship but left out one piece... his profession. The haunting memories of Sam meeting Billy flooded back to me. I pushed them aside. Luke couldn't break up with me, but I remember Tim announcing we were over even as the idea crossed my mind.

"Hello, hello," Luke said as he plopped down in the chair facing my desk. If you had walked by first thing this morning and again at the end of the day, it would've looked like Luke hadn't moved all day. "So, after a day here in paradise, you realized the error of your ways and have decided not to move."

"I'm not leaving the company; I'm just going to be working remotely more."

"But who will I get lunch with, and coffee, and drinks? Don't make me become friends with Jim in sales."

"First, Jim in sales is not that bad, and second, you'll be fine. You're so dramatic." As I spoke, Billy texted that he was in the elevator on his way up. "He's here." My voice cracked with a mix of excitement and fear. "Remember, be cool."

"Why do you keep saying that? I'm cool. I'll meet you back here; I have to grab my phone in case Kath texts."

As we parted ways, I gave him a nod. Billy was meandering out of the elevator when I reached the floor door.

"There she is. This place is great, right downtown." He smiled as his hand landed on my hips, pulling me in for a kiss.

"Yeah, lots of lunch options," I agreed as I led him to my office.

"Holy shit, you have a nice office," Billy said as he tapped at my telepresence unit, causing it to blink alive. It was unexpected to him as he flinched at the sudden change in the screen. He shook it off and returned his attention to me. "So, how was your first day back?"

"It's not like I haven't been working," I reminded him with a bit of a whine. "My friend Luke is hanging around to meet you. He just went to get his bag. Real quick, he knows about you, but doesn't know that you are..." I paused, looking for the right word.

"Insanely good-looking?" Billy finished.

"No, that's not it."

"Wildly charismatic?"

"No. It's just that... well, I never told him you work with Tim Denning, so he may fan out over Timmy."

"Right, over Tim. I get that a lot," Billy teased as he pulled me back in for a kiss.

There was a knock on my open door as Luke cleared his throat.

"Oh, hey!" I said as I pulled away from Billy. "So, Billy, this is Luke, and Luke, this is Billy."

"Hey man, nice to meet you," Billy extended a hand to him.

"Yeah, yeah; nice to meet you too." Luke looked Billy up and down before adding, "Lil, could I have a moment with you?"

"Sure thing, buddy." I gave Billy an exaggerated wince as I passed him, causing a laugh to spill from his lips.

"Lily, is your ex-boyfriend Billy Collins?" Luke pressed as soon as we were out of my office.

"Um, yes, and he's also my current..." My words dropped as one of my fingers twisted at the engagement ring.

"And your old friend Tim is Tim Denning," Luke continued.

"Yes, I call him Timmy... sometime Tim-Tim-Aroo." My diffusing tactics were impervious to Luke's spiral.

"And you didn't think you should share that with me before I met with one of the best guitar players ever to live?"

"How am I supposed to know when you're going to come face to face with Jimmy Page, and why would me dating Billy affect that?"

Luke responded with a silent opening and closing of his mouth.

"I warned you," I argued. "Remember, I told you to be cool."

"Not funny, Lil! I don't know how to be cool. He's like the coolest."

"Okay, first, he's just a guy like any other guy."

"Except he's won like a million awards and has worked with a who's who of musicians. Yeah, just a regular old guy. How could you not tell me this?" Luke's eyes grew wide with a mix of shock and awe.

"It just didn't seem like something that needed to be shared," I shot back.

Billy must have heard our escalating conversation. He poked his head out of my office and added, "everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah," Luke casually shot back.

"Luke thinks you're the coolest guy who has ever lived and is completely fanboying out here," I added, causing Billy to drop his face with a blush and Luke to sputter a series of incoherent syllables. "Can we move on now? Billy is a musician, and Luke is... wait, what is it you do here again?"

"I'm a Network Engineer," Luke groaned. "And you're the worst," Luke added with a whine.

"I only kid because I love," I teased back.

"No, I don't think that's true." Luke jabbed a finger into my ribs, causing a laugh to escape my lips. "Ow, your boney ribcage hurt my finger."

"You hurt your finger poking me, and you want me to be sorry?" I scolded.

"These are my engineering fingers. I might have to file a claim," Luke continued as he dramatically held his finger.

"Oh, you do that; I know you love paperwork." I shoved him before heading back to my office for my coat.

"So, you're Lily's Billy?" Luke said as he turned his attention to Billy.

"Proudly." Billy smiled. "So, you've mentioned me," he added to me with an annoying tease in his voice.

"Oh, she's mentioned you," Luke began, and I could sense a babble was about to start. "I could never figure out why her standards were so high, but now... I mean... obviously..."

"Obviously," Billy agreed before a chuckle rolled from his chest. "I'm glad you've mentioned me," he murmured close to my ear as I tucked back into his side. Both the sentiment and the tickle of his hair pulled a smile to my face.

"Plus, I mean..." Luke absently said as he drew our attention away from each other.

"You mean what?" I giggled.

"It's not like anyone is going to take a run at Billy Collins' girl," Luke blabbed away. I could tell his mouth was running far away from his mind.

"Take a run at... what?" Billy spat.

"You know, because people always talk about your temper. I'm sure it's all false," Luke stammered. "It's because you're big... not like fat... you know, like you could take me out with a flick of your arm. That and the whole Texas thing..."

Billy's gaze curdled to a glare at Luke.

"Texas?" I asked.

"Oh, come on, Lil; the bar fight?"

"Bar fight?" I reiterated in shock.

"There was an incident a few years back. This guy was disrespectful in a bar, and I was in a bad mood," Billy sheepishly murmured.

"A bad mood," Luke laughed. "The dude looked like Sloth from The Goonies when you were done with him."

"What?" I demanded.

"Can we talk about this later?" Billy didn't lift his eyes to mine.

"Wait, Lil, how did you not know this? It was legit all over the news." Luke shook his head in shock.

"I don't watch celebrity news because the last time..." The crash of Billy's car accident flooded my brain, sending the same sense of panic through me as it had at the moment all those years ago.

Billy wrapped an arm around me and pulled me deeper to his side. "It's all good, Lil. I'm still fine."

"What did I miss?" Luke pressed.

"Billy was in a car accident years ago, and I found out from the news. Well, Sam, but then the news. It was the worst day of my life not being able to get in touch with anyone, not know if..." I swallowed the lump, trying to choke my throat.

"Oh, I remember that," Luke said as he instinctively reached out and grasped my hand. "That was before I started working with you," he added as he squeezed my hand.

"It was terrible, so I avoid celebrity news. If something happens, I want to hear from Tim, Tess, or Mary, not some random gossip blogger." I let out a heavy sigh. "Luckily, I'll be near you always now." I smiled up at Billy.

"And you won't have to pretend you're my sister, either." A breath of a laugh from Billy washed over my face.

"That's true," I agreed as my eyes instinctively flickered to the ring.

"Woah," Luke said as he stared at the rock on my hand. "That's not costume jewelry, is it?"

"It's a promise ring," Billy quickly said.

"That's one big fucking promise," Luke said as he dropped my hand.

"Okay, fun topics," I demanded, trying to shake off the heavy thoughts echoing in my head.

Luke's phone buzzed before he could respond. "Oh, actually, I gotta go. The wife needs milk. Billy, it was incredibly cool meeting you," Luke added as he extended a hand to Billy.

"Yeah, man, the next time we're in town, we should all get drinks or something. You can bring the wife." Billy nodded, but I could tell it wasn't his casual voice. He was trying too hard to keep his tone even, and, as a result, it fell deep like his stage voice.

"Sounds good." Luke nodded to Billy before turning to me with a broad grin and added, "get drinks with Billy fucking Collins."

Once Luke was gone, I looked up at Billy and added, "so, that was Luke."

"Yes, Luke," he evenly said. "You two seem close."

"Oh yeah, he's my best friend around here." I nodded. "We're lunch and coffee buddies."

Billy mechanically nodded. "Did you two ever..."

"No." I let out a laugh. "Luke and his wife have been together for like twenty years and have the two kids to show for it."

Billy continued to nod to himself as he held the door from my office floor for me.

"You want to drive?" I offered as I flashed him the keys.

"Yeah, sure." His words were still distracted.

We drove the few blocks to the condo in thick silence.

"Hey, are you upset I didn't tell Luke that you are the Billy Collins?"

"Hm, what?"

"Are you upset I didn't tell Luke who you are?" I pressed again.

"No, of course not. I understand why you don't lead with that." He gave me a tight smile as he spoke while his hands stayed locked on the steering wheel. "So, Luke is your go-to at work?"

"The one, the only." I smiled, hoping to crack the tension.

"Really? No other work friends?"

"No, not really. I like everyone I work with, but Luke is the only one I hang out with outside of work."

"Mmhmm," Billy nodded to himself.

As we walked inside, I clung to his hand and leaned into the warmth of his body in the crisp late December air. He didn't pull away, but there was a rigidity to him.

"Billy," my voice came shyly, "tell me you love me."

Billy stopped dead in his tracks, pulling me to a stop as well. He turned as his eyes poured over my face. I looked up at him, wanting to see him see me, needing him to see how much I loved him. Instead, his hands lifted to either side of my face as his shoulders melted to their casual rounded demeanor. "Thank you," he whispered before his lips crashed into mine. Then, when he pulled away, he added, "of course I love you."

A soft smile from deep within me warmed my face as I added, "I love you too."

His forehead fell softly to mine. "Thank you for pulling me back."

"Thank you for coming back," I smiled.

He let his hands drop from my face and eagerly grasped at my hand, tugging me into his side. I knew something had bothered him about Luke, and we needed to talk about it. But more than anything, I knew he loved me.