Jacob felt like he could relate to Lily. Losing a parent wasn’t an easy thing to deal with. From the first time he saw her, that day when existing seems senseless to Lily, he knew he couldn’t just let her be. After that day, he made it his priority to visit Mr. Fullins’s house. Could I even call it that? He began to wonder what life would have been like had he not met this girl. Jacob found himself driving up the hill to the house to make sure Lily didn’t miss a day of eating.

As he sat in the van, he stared up at the mundane house. It seemed as desolate as the empty barn behind it. Jacob sank into his seat and closed his eyes, thinking about the conversation he had with his sister:

“You go up there every day.” She stated bluntly, leaning her body on the door as she watched him march down the stairs.

He stopped what he was doing and swallowed before saying. “Yeah, I do. I want to make sure she’s okay.”

“I know that, Jake.” She sighed before saying. “But you shouldn’t let your expectations get in the way.”

“What… what do you mean?” He lifted his brow. What expectations could he possibly have?

“Don’t expect her to give you her love because you’ve given yours.”

There was silence in the room, a silence that could only mean one thing… Was Jacob in love with Lily? His eyes seemed to have dropped to the floor in thought then his lips folded in almost as if to bite them. Jacob nodded and made his way to the old rocking chair by the front door, just beside Tammy. He rolled up his socks and began putting them on.

“You’re ridiculous, my sister… and delusional.” He shook away her suspicions with a chuckle.

“Ridiculous, maybe… Delusional? Not quite.” She folded her arms. “ I know you. And these days you’ve been acting quite strange recently.”

He let out a loud “Ha!” and then fastened his shoes. “I’m acting strange, that must mean I like her… No, it must mean I love her.” He burst out in laughter. He quickly got up and headed to the door, leaving a kiss for his sister and a few more words. “You are delusional, Tammy. You’ll see. I’ll prove it to you.”

Tammy smiled and waved goodbye as he drove off.

“I don’t know how I deal with my sister when she comes to her… conclusions.” The whole conversation was a bit uncanny; it could have been the fact that Jacob was afraid to admit this himself. But what was ‘this’? It came back to the question: Was Jacob in love with Lily? He asked himself this and in return, he nodded his head and ticked his teeth.

“I’m not. Tammy’s just getting to my head.” He muttered, opening the door. He grabbed the bag of baked goods and set up himself for the greeting with Lily. He found himself fixing his hair, clearing his throat as he repeated her name. “Hello, Lily,” He said in a deep voice then “Hey, Lily. I’m back” in a softer tone.

“Oh no. What has she done to me?” He’d never done this before. This was unusual for Jake to prepare before he saw this girl. Was Tammy speaking the truth? He sighed and marched up to the front porch before opening the door.

The television was on but it was cloudy and Jacob could hear sizzling from the kitchen. He lowered the bag from off his shoulder and looked into the living room to see if Lily was there with her eyes glued onto the screen; she wasn’t. He went into the kitchen, he got to the pot where the water had been boiling. He turned it off before heading upstairs to where Mr. Fullin’s and Lily’s rooms were. He entered Mr. Fullin’s room and gazed around, it was a mess but a clean mess. There were small pieces of paper lying around and a bed without bed sheets and a window without blinds and a closet without clothes.

Jacob then headed for Lily's room down the hall and that was dim, it was only lit from the window at the end of it and the two rooms’ windows. He called out. “Lily?”

“Lily, where are you?” He was about to open her door when he heard a loud thump from above. That was all he needed to hair, Jacob ran downstairs and out of the house to see if he was right in his conclusions.

“Lily! What are you doing?” He called out, smiling at her, waving his hands.

She saw him but she didn’t smile, she just looked at him and then back at the long pole in her hands. Lily fidgeted with it and somehow got lost in the wind as it begged to take her with it. She closed her eyes and took a deep long breath, trying to fight its terrible plea.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Jacob held a hand at his waist and the other over his eyes to block the dying sun from them, he felt happy that she finally got up from her father’s chair and that she’d put tea on, and that she’d managed to make it up to the top of the house. He then spotted a ladder at the left side of the house and began to wait. He waited for her to come down and she did but slowly. Her body was surely weak, she’d been taking one meal a day. She would only eat when Jacob was around to force her.

When she got down and her feet touched the ground, he held his hand out. She hesitated before keeping her hands to herself. He felt defeated but wouldn’t let that get in the way of what he came to do.

“I brought cakes… as usual.” He grinned.

She walked into the house as if Jacob was nonexistent. He was used to this so it didn’t bother him, she’d always keep to herself… most of the time. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, watching as she took a seat in the red armchair. He left her alone and went into the kitchen. He felt like ripping the locks from his head at that moment. It was normal for her to ignore him because she’d been depressed and she was still in mourning but why did he feel so hurt now? Why?

He went back out with things to drink and eat but they were all in a bag, packed away. He took a seat beside her and looked straight at her, he stared and stared until she turned to him.

“Let’s go for a walk.” Lily said.

To a walk, they went. They took the back door towards her father’s pasture, a big field. It was used to keep horses, sheep, cows, and goats. Lily made Jacob sell them when he came to see her the day after he dropped her home. She gazed at the barn, the doors wide opened and emptied. She rubbed her arms and stopped herself from staring at the building.

Lily’s lid seemed to have blocked her sight as they were sleeping on half of her pupils, tired from the days of tears they managed to let out. Lily herself looked as if she was tired, in the red dress she insisted on changing into. When she thought about that dress, she realized she had never worn it before. Her father had bought it for her 20th birthday and it was the most beautiful thing she ever laid eyes on.

The waist of the dress was laced in ribbons; it was a corset fit, the arms were big and round and poofy, and the bottom of the dress frilled out with satin. Lily thought it would be best to never wear it so she kept it hidden away with all the other presents that were prized possessions of hers. She had brushed her hair back into a bun and wrapped it until the golden colors looked like round baked bread.

Jacob his hands sweating, he didn’t know why. He didn’t know why she’d dressed in such extravagant clothing and he didn’t understand why she felt the need to bring a sack with all of her other “prized possessions but he happily fetched it for her anyway.

They found the perfect spot to watch the sunset, it was a little hill just at the end of the field, and the grass was perfectly soft to nest in. The animals hadn’t gotten the chance to take a nibble of the sweet-smelling grass. It was also perfect because they both had a big tree for shade and to lay their head. So they sat down and took out everything.

Jacob glanced up at Lily who’d been leaning on one of her hands, the outline of her body was heightened by the horizon and the red dress made her look even more beautiful; this was something Jacob could not deny. He gave a slight smile, something made his eyes brighten. Was it the fact that he was beginning to come to terms with himself and the truth or was it just the sun reflecting in his eyes?

“Here.” He pushed a plate down beside her, she glanced down at it.

“Puffs.” She tried to chuckle and then smiled up at him.

He smiled back, it was the first he’d seen her smile but she wasn’t smiling for long. She quickly rubbed the tears that fell from her now-red face.

“What? What is it?” He dropped his mouth and held her arms, he was confused.

She sniffed and nodded. “It’s just, it’s just that…” She sighed, sat up, and wiped another tear away.

“It’s okay.” He hugged her but soon felt his shirt soiled, her grip on his chest seemed to tighten so much that he could feel what she felt, just a piece, just a hint of her pain. The wind blew around them while they stayed in each other’s arms for a while. Jacob glanced up for just a bit, he rubbed his hands through her hair and looked at the orange star that was about to sleep. It seemed so close yet so far just like her… She was with him but she wasn’t.

She tried to catch her breath, leaning away as she looked up at him. The first thing she noticed as always was his smile, so reassuring. She felt like she could pour her heart out, say how she felt right there, and then… and she did.

“I was clearing things out of his room and I, I found a letter.” She turned herself back to the sun and gazed at it. “It was like he knew what was going to happen. Like, like he’d been expecting it.” She closed her eyes and held her close to her chest. “He said I shouldn’t get into this… that I shouldn’t try to find who did this. I should leave it all behind.” She made her face into a scowl. “How can I do that? I can’t just forget that killed my father.”

Jacob had sat in a way where his arms rested on his knees. He’d been fiddling with a straw, listening to every Lily had said. They both knew there was something more to his death, everyone knew but no one spoke or gossiped about it. Mr. Fullin’s tragic accident was no accident and everybody knew it but no one dared to come forward with a lead to the police or to Lily.

She turned back to him. “But I have to move on, I have to because he told me to… Because I need to.”