Gosh, this was crazy, to think I was having a dinner in one of my favorite childhood restaurants with a gigantic girl like Lillian -- well, I guess at this point all the girls in the city would be "gigantic" but still. Hopefully I hadn't made too much of a dork of myself while ... wait a minute, what was I saying? I had so many other things to be focused on. How would I ever be returned to normal? Would I become a fugitive like Lil, running away from the people and hoping to be rescued? At this point, I'd just settle for figuring out how to eat a damn slice of pizza. I awkwardly tore at the mile wide slice of cheese and sauce, feeling it pull apart in my hands as I tugged at it. I yanked with a mighty grunt and ended up falling on my back, trying to laugh it off as the giant Lillian did the same, letting out a stifled giggle in between her bites.

"We really didn't think this through, did we?" she asked, wiping her mouth with a nearby napkin as she watched me struggle.

"Heh, what do you mean?" I asked, standing still and gazing up at her again.

"How are you going to eat a pizza like that, Jake?" Lillian asked, her eyebrow slanted down with curiosity as she watched me as if I were a puppy at the local pet show. "I mean, it's kinda cute watching you try but..."

"I can figure it out" I said defiantly, getting down on my knees again and gently scooping the unyieldy slice of dough in my cupped hands. I took a small bite and smiled, portraying some sort of false confidence while I looked into the eyes of my giant date, who rolled her eyes before taking another bite of her own slice of pizza. She looked so much more graceful while doing so. I was like a caveman trying to light a fire and she was a sophisticate with a working lightbulb.

After a few more moments of awkward silence, Lillian spoke.

"So, have you always been this small?" she joked, casting a couple of her fingers down on me. From my vantage point I could see small sparkles of where colored nail polish may have been.

"Funny" I smirked. "Have you always been this ... uh... fast of an eater?"

Not my best comeback.

"You trying to say I eat too much?" Lillian gasped with a mock sense of offense, "I should just leave you right now!"

Lillian briefly extended herself from the rickety steel chair, standing straight up towering miles above me before settling back down into the seat and continuing her low tone of laughter.

"I'm just messing, of course." Lillian laughed, "I can't leave you now, how would feed you, then?"

"Feed me? I don't need to be fed" I scoffed.

"Oh? You're not doing so great on your own, there. Here, let me at least cut it" she said, grabbing the adjacent fork and knife and lowering her mighty hands down before me to make a few incisions into the pizza pie. With a few quick motions left and right she had conquered the beast and divided it into manageable sizes. I picked up one of the smaller pieces and nodded.

"Much obliged, miss" I said, in possibly my worst wild west accent. She giggled.

"I don't wanna be here all night watching you eat that same slice of pizza" she laughed. "But seriously, thank you for everything"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Thanks for saving me from the museum, and thanks for my date" she said with a wink.

"Not much of a date" I frowned, "I still owe you for the meal by the way"

"Oh yeah, certainly, I'll be tacking on interest" Lillian replied, "No silly, you don't owe me, trust me, you've done more than enough. Seriously"

"Lil, cmon isn't it embarassing enough that I'm small enough to fit on your tray and you just had to cut my meal for me? At least let me do SOMETHING on this date" I chuckled, but I was feeling truly embarassed. I wasn't sure if she could tell but I was pretty certain I was blushing.

"Hmmm...okay..." Lillian said, suddenly being tenative about her actions as she gently lifted the fork from the table and guided it towards me, "if you'd like, you can help me out, I've got some of this lovely pizza sauce on my face"

I didn't say a word as her fork snaked its way under my leg and propped me up off of the ground. I felt a bit nervous, I'll admit when the fork began making its way upwards at an angle towards her giant mouth. Now I knew what the last thing pizza saw was before it was eaten.

With her other hand, Lillian tore up a little napkin square for me and placed it at the base of the fork close to me. I picked it up and gently wiped the surface of her soft skin as soon as I was close enough. She giggled briefly which caused the fork to wobble a bit. I was instantly startled but she steadied her hand quickly.

"Aren't you a gentleman?" she said softly as she held me close to her mouth. I watched as her lips widened into a smile before she gently pressed them closer for a kiss. The whole time I kept my balance on the fork ensuring that I was always gripping some part of the surface before she had lowered me safely back onto the table.

It's a good thing Henry's Original Pizza was usually deserted this time of day. In fact, they didn't really do much of a business in the area which is why it had been so remarkable that they had even stayed in business. I'm glad they had, because once I spotted the place again, I knew this is where I wanted to take Lillian on our date. I used to come here a ton with my dad as a kid. When I got older, I actually had my first ever date here with my first girlfriend, Alex but that was many years ago and I just figured Henry's had closed due to lack of interest. Apparently not.

So now, here we were. Me dollsized, and her... well, not, having a not so formal get together at my childhood restaurant.

Almost as if she were reading my mind, Lillian nodded her head for a moment before saying "This is a pretty cool place, Jake, thanks for taking me here"

"I didn't take you here" I chuckled, "You kinda ... carried me here"

"I guess I'll have to have you 'to go' then" Lillian shrugged. "My point is... thanks again"

"Sure thing" I smiled, "You hadn't been here before, right?"

"If I have, it's been forever" Lil answered, "I may have but I don't really remember, honestly."

"So, if you don't mind... tell me more about yourself" I said.

"Well, let's see, my name's Lillian, I enjoy long walks on the beach and um... eating little men" she laughed, leaning in close.

"Wait, what?" I chuckled.

"Um... nothing, wanna go to the beach?" Lillian chuckled.

"Actually that'd be nice... wait, you were joking..." I replied.

"Yes and no, I do like the beach but you're not really my type... too gamy... I like a man with a bit more... um... meat on him" Lillian laughed, "I also like when they scream, and you seem... hmm, a bit too laidback for my tastes..."

"You're still joking, right?" I chuckled.

"Yes..." Lillian said, shaking her head in disbelief. "You didn't really think I'd eat you, right?"

"No, no, of course" I sighed, "but seriously..."

"Seriously, I'm a girl named Lillian." she sighed, "I live up in a 'do nothing' town, I don't do much, I used to work as a waitress and..."

"Waitress? Where at?" I asked attentively.

"Um... O'Reilly's diner... it was this little place up by..." she started.

"Oh? Never been there. But I'll have to check it out sometime" I said, "Oop, sorry if I interuppted"

"No, y-you're fine" she chuckled. "But I mean, really Jake, there's not much like... yknow, remarkable about me. I mean... geez, back when I was little I could at least say that was something about myself that was different in some way but then you had to and take THAT from me... psh"

"Hey hey, you're quite awesome, Lil..." I said, "I mean, I just don't know much about you and I was just..."

"I know, I know and I went off on a tangent, I'm sorry" she said, "I'll try to be more... I don't know the word... but I'll try to be that. Let's see, I like to read, I was actually just finishing 'Command Authority' it was the last book by Tom Clancy... I'll be honest, I kinda haven't finished it because I'm sad about him dying... I feel like if I just leave the last few pages alone, it'll be like he still has more to write, yknow?"

I nodded. I wasn't too much of a reader, to be honest, but I definitely respected the medium.

"Well, what about you, Jake?" Lillian said after a few moments, "what's uh... good in the world of Jake? Where did you go to high school?"

"I went to Valleydale actually" I replied, "It was weird because I was in the middle of this big move and stuff, I had been going to East Valleydale and normally I would've had to finish my school year there since that's where my parents lived but because of the circumstances, the board of education let me transfer midway through, so I went to Valleydale High for my sophomore through senior year, I prefer to think of it that way because honestly, I hated East Valleydale High"

"That's where I went to high school" Lillian frowned.

"And... you didn't let me finish" I laughed, "I hated that school because the girls there were so damn attractive! It made it hard to think, yknow? I couldn't get anything done... I think there was this one girl, you may know her... uh... dark hair, about 'yea' high... think her name was Lillith... Lillian?"

She shook her head again, a half smile on her face.

"I was kidding. I mean I did go there but I know what you mean, EVH wasn't... eh, it wasn't the greatest school but I can't complain, I made some friends there... in fact..." Lillian said, stopping briefly, "Hmmm..."

"What?" I asked.

"Well, I mean... I don't know why I just thought of this but my friend Jess used to live in this area, I don't know if she still does" Lillian said. "Jess and I were actually best friends..."

"Why do you talk about it like you're not anymore?" I asked. "I mean we don't know how long you had gone missing and people don't just ... forget people"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry" Lillian said, gently reaching her hand down near me. "Jess and I... heh we go way back... I can still remember... the park by her house when she lived in Valleydale and... heh, it's silly but anyway... she may still live in this area... in fact... yeah... 3012 Northwood Drive... DUH!"

I smiled as I watched Lillian's memories seem to repopulate her mind quickly. She had definitely taken a turn for the better in the past couple of hours. Other than my size being reduced, everything seemed to be getting better for both of us. I thought this would end up being another boring night back home. While I still worried about how I would get home, I preferred getting lost in the moment to thinking of a darker reality.

"I'm sorry, Jake, I kinda cut you off there" Lillian said, softening her voice a bit as she had gotten louder momentarily. "Why did you move, again? From East Valleydale?"

"My parents got divorced" I sighed.

"I'm sorry, Jake" Lillian frowned. "I know that can be tough"

"Yeah... I mean, it was... it was what it was, yknow? I still see my mom sometimes, but things are tense, between all of us" I explained.

"Did they remarry?" she asked.

I nodded.

"Yeah, I actually prefer my stepmom to be honest but I'd never say that out loud obviously" I said.

"You just told me" Lillian said.

"Yeah but... I don't know, I feel like I can trust you...plus..." I sighed.

"What?" Lillian asked, a sudden tone of concern.

"Nothing, it's stupid" I said, trying my hardest not to lose the smile on my face but I could feel it inevitably slipping away in the gaze of her beautiful face.

"What, Jake? What's wrong?" she asked. Now I almost had to speak up.

"It's nothing... well actually" I sighed, "Lil, I've always been an easy going guy, I got along with guys at school, I got decent grades and..."

"And this is a problem?" Lillian chuckled.

"No, not that just... it's fake" I sighed.

"What?"

"It's fake, it's all fake. I'm not easy going, I have worries about stuff... part of me is still angry about the divorce and some other stuff... and... it's like... now that ... this has happened to me" I sighed, "I'm letting all of it go because..."

I paused, trying not to cry.

"...because... I don't know how much longer I'm going to be alive" I sighed.

"What? Oh gosh, please Jake, don't cry" Lillian sighed, wrapping her nearby hand around me gently. I looked up at her and nodded, burying my face in the flesh of her open palm. "You're going to be fine, really and truly, okay?"

I smiled and nodded.

"I know, I know... but in case I'm not... I just want to tell someone... everything, yknow?" I sighed, "is that weird?"

"No. No, Jake not at all... and even though I know we just met and you may feel weird telling me stuff... I'd like you to know that... of course you can tell me... anything you need to" Lillian smiled. I didn't stop crying immediately but I felt pretty relaxed by her statement. I took a long, deep breath as she slowly released her grip on me.

"Thanks. Thanks Lil" I sighed, "I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to..."

"Think nothing of it, Jake" Lillian smiled, having all but abandoned her plate of food, as had I. "Should we get going?"

I nodded.

"Sure, Lil" I replied. "Did you wanna maybe check out that address you mentioned? See if your friend Jess is still in the area?"

"I mean, we don't have to" she said, appearing at least curious by the prospect. "If she was home though, maybe I could find out some things, yknow? See how long I've been gone, see... about... things..."

She appeared nervous as she spoke. I couldn't blame her. But I wanted her to feel just as comfortable as she had been making me feel. In order to do that, I had to be 100% supportive no matter what happened, and I had a feeling I might be hurt in the process but I was willing to take that chance.

"Of course Lillian" I replied, putting on the biggest possible smile I could, "I'm down for anything, so if you want to stop by there, of course we can!"

Lillian got up from her chair, taking the tray (and me) with her. She smirked as she said, "I didn't realize I had to ask your permission, little Jake"

I blushed.

"... but thank you again" she smiled, pulling me up from the tray just before she dumped it. "This has been fun."

She brushed her hair aside and carefully rebalanced me on her shoulder. I held onto her neck as she walked out of the restaurant and back into the waiting city.