Jack trudged down the stairs, it was 8am and Bobby was still snoring. Jack would normally still be asleep too, if his chest hadn't woken him up in pain. He'd popped a couple painkillers and decided he was up for the day.
Jack huffed as he took the last step. He didn't like stairs; they were just another reminder that he wasn't back to 100 yet.
"Morning," He said surprised, leaning heavily on the doorframe.
Sarah smiled, joylessly. She took another spoonful of corn pops into her mouth. She was sitting on the kitchen counter, with a small bowl in her hands.
"Those are Bobby's you know." Jack said, smirking.
Sarah shrugged. She was wearing a plain black long sleeve and dark denims. Swinging her legs back and forth lightly she stared glumly at the wall.
Jack watched her, studying her, for a moment. He thought he smelled a faint vanilla scent and smiled. His mom always wore vanilla, but a stronger, warmer version.
"How long have you been up?" He asked, noticing a purple tone under her eyes.
Sarah shrugged again, "I didn't really sleep."
He frowned. He skin seemed whiter then last night. Her short brown hair, no longer tied up in a ponytail, hung slightly passed her shoulders. He didn't like how pale she looked; she needed sleep.
Sarah noticed Jack watching her and blushed lightly, shifting on the counter before she decided to hop off. She put her half eaten bowl of cereal in the sink and moving to the other room.
"You guys went through my bag?" She asked, taking a seat at the dining room table.
Jack joined her.
"Yea, sorry about that." Jack said, sounding earnestly apologetic.
"Find anything interesting?" She asked, eyes focusing unwaveringly on Jack. She stared him down, hoping she hid the nervous feeling that was forming in her stomach.
He shifted, uncomfortable; her eyes were very big and very green. His mouth opened, but before any sound came out the front door swung open and someone bellowed.
"Hey! Anybody home?" the voice shouted loudly into the depths of the house.
Jack smirked; Bobby was awake now.
"Jerry!" Sarah shouted, a warm smile spread across her lips, lighting up her face.
Jack raised his eyebrows; she was really pretty when she smiled, for a sixteen year old that was. He got up and followed her into the living room.
Sarah could feel her heart skip a beat the moment she heard his voice; Jerry was her favorite. Not that she'd ever met the other brothers. But Jerry always knew how to cheer her up. She wrapped her arms around him in the biggest hug she could muster.
"Sarah?" He sounded surprised, totally taken aback, but not upset.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, looking to Jack as Sarah peeled herself away.
Jack answered, slouched on the couch, a hand to his numbed side. "Climbing through laundry room windows late at night."
Sarah glared slightly, letting her mouth form a straight line, "Was that really necessary?" She groaned.
"Seriously?" Jerry asked, trying hard not to laugh at her soured expression.
Sarah relaxed, Jerry didn't sound too upset.
Jack threw his arms up in surrender. Effectively leaving the conversation.
"What happened to just using the hide-a-key?" Jerry asked, teasing.
Sarah waved her hand dismissively in the air, "Someone got rid of it."
"Seriously?" Jerry turned his attention back to Jack, who was watching the exchange.
"Bobby." Jack answered simply. Flicking on the TV and turning it to a random hockey game.
Sarah sat casually next to Jack, neither of them really paying much attention to the screen.
Jerry striped off his heavy denim jacket, hanging it on his unmarked, designated peg in the hall; he came back to the living room, slouching in the fading green chair across from the couch.
"So," he started, and Sarah inwardly flinched, she knew what was coming.
"Sarah what are you doing here?" He asked, an unmistakable seriousness lacing his voice.
"Oh," She said, trying to keep a casual tone in her voice, "It's a story."
"That you're gonna tell us." Bobby said harshly.
Sarah tensed. Jack eyed her for a moment, than turned his eyes back to the TV screen, paying less attention then before.
"You went through my bag!" The accusation came out of Sarah's mouth before she could stop it.
Bobby turned his full gaze to her, and she shrank slightly, blushing. Attention wasn't really her forte.
"Seriously?" Jerry interrupted, sounding exasperated. Bobby turned his attention to his younger brother.
"You want a serisouly Jeryy? Seriously…what the fuck are you doing shouting in my house this early? It's 830 in the mornin'. Would I come into your house shouting at 830 in the mornin'?" He wasn't in a good mood.
Sarah smirked, hoping she'd been forgotten. Bobby had a temper, and Jerry had strong opinions. Miss Evie had told her quite a few stories about the two, and some of their best arguments.
"It ain't my fault you left the bar late." Jerry said.
Sarah smiled inwardly, relaxing a little. She noticed a small smile spread to Jack's face too. The battle had begun. And the two on the couch had been forgotten.
"It was a celebration Jerry, damn." Bobby put his hands to the side of his throbbing head. "Damn it, my head's killing me, Princess where're your pain killers?"
"My room," Jack answered casually, sighing and flicking the channel. Another hockey game came up on the screen.
Bobby grunted and turned to the stairs.
"Damn it Bobby, you can't take his pills!" Jerry got to his feet, following Bobby upstairs. "He only gets a certain amount of those!"
"I got a guy," Bobby said, waving him off, to no great success, "He can get more if he wants."
"That ain't legal Bobby." Jerry nagged.
Bobby scoffed, walking upstairs with Jerry in-tow.
"They always like this?" Sarah asked, reaching over and taking the remote from an uninterested Jack.
He smirked, "You have no idea."
She smiled, flicking the screen to MTV.
"So why are you on pain killers?" She asked after a couple of minutes.
"I got shot." He said simply. She gaped, and then recovered her facial expressions.
First Miss Evie was…she stopped thinking about that, concentrating on the latest bit of violent news. "How?" She asked, somewhat breathlessly.
"After Ma…" Jack faltered, turning his head back to the TV, "Well we did some digging, and some people didn't appreciate it."
Sarah flicked the channel back to sports.
"You know, I was legally dead." He said, laughing lightly, it sounded so surreal to say.
"It took 'em a whole two days to get a hold of anyone to tell 'em I was brought back in the ambulance. They finally got through to Jerry. They had had a funeral and everything. Some ME had switched the id tags and the grave had to be dug up, it was a mess."
"Who…" Sarah asked quietly. She stared, eyes glassing over, at the TV screen, unsure if Jack would know what she was trying to ask.
"We got'em." He answered quietly.
He understood. She smiled, wiping the damp from her eyes. She flicked the screen back to MTV; My Super Sweet Sixteen came on.
"You know," she said, the casual dullness returning in her voice, "I always wanted one…a big 16th party. Miss Evie helped me plan it actually but then I…" She let it drop. And Jack didn't prod her for more.
He had the urge to wrap his arm around her; he didn't. After a few more minutes of sad silence Sarah spoke up.
"You know, I haven't heard Bobby or Jerry yelling?" She looked confused.
Jack looked to the empty stairs, he couldn't hear anything, which meant they were probably upstairs talking about her, so he shrugged and snatched the remote back, attempting to distract her.
"Hey!" She exclaimed.
Jack held the remote high above his head. He was really tall, Sarah thought, or at least has really long arms. She finally gave up on reaching for the remote.
"It's too early for whining rich girls to be on my TV." He said, teasing, and flicked the channel back to sports.
Sarah huffed, lightly smiling, and leaned back into the couch. She didn't mind sports, they didn't remind her of things she'd never get to do and a person she'd never get to see again.
"You know her?" Bobby asked in a hushed tone. Shutting the door to Jack's room quietly.
Bobby hadn't been after the painkillers; he'd been trying to get Jerry alone.
Jerry sighed, "Yea," catching on to Bobby's plan. He sat on Jack's bed ready to start a story.
Bobby crossed his arms expectantly.
"She lived with Ma for a few months. Jack was in New York, Angel was out in L.A., and you were…somewhere." Jerry shrugged, "She used to baby sit for the girls, they loved her, Camille loved her. You know, I really thought she'd stay with Ma. But then some rich family came in and adopted her. The whole thing was pretty sudden. They were from down south I think."
Bobby nodded, "Florida, we found her papers."
"How did you…" Jerry started and then frowned, "O'man tell me you didn't go through all her stuff? She's only been here a few hours!"
"A night Jerry." Bobby corrected, "And she knows we went through her bag." He spoke louder than he intended to.
"It hasn't even been 24 hours man," Jerry shook his head, "And is she finds out you went through everything, she gonna be pissed."
"Jerry, some random girl comes into my home and you don't expect me to look around a bit?" He flailed his arm in the air to make his point.
"She's not a stranger man, she's like family, she was almost…"Jerry stopped himself, taking a deep breath. Bobby always had the habit of upsetting him, getting him worked up. He didn't like getting worked up.
"Almost our what Jerry?" Bobby asked; He still wasn't in a good mood.
"She was almost our sister man, Ma had the papers drawn up and everything." Jerry sighed, getting up from the bed. His story over, he was ready to relax in front of the TV and watch some hockey.
"Huh," Was Bobby only response. "Then why was she adopted by some family from Florida?"
Jerry snorted. "I have no idea…are we done?"
There was a load pounding sound.
"Jack!" Bobby bellowed; he and Jerry were standing at the top of the stairs.
"It's not us." Jack shouted.
Sarah winced, "Right in my ear, thanks." She teased, snatching back the remote. She flicked MTV back on.
Jack groaned, but smiled lightly.
The pounding came again. It was the front door.
"What now!?" Bobby shouted, walking down the stairs loudly, frustrated, his head was pounding; he definitely wasn't in a good mood.