* please review and let me know what you think!*
Jillian was making breakfast when the boys came down the stairs. Murphy had waited until she went into the bathroom to shower before he got up and left the room. He went into his room and got ready for the day. He was surprised that he was a little nervous to see her. Connor slipped into the bar stool by the counter and smiled at her.
" Hey." She said as Murphy came into the kitchen.
" Hey." They said at the same time.
" You feeling okay?" Connor asked.
" Yeah, thanks." Jillian said.
" Good. Well, I have to meet Ariel for breakfast so I will see you two later." Connor said as he stood up. He grinned and winked at Jillian before he walked out. Murphy walked around the counter and sat down where Connor had been sitting. Neither of them sure of what to say.
" I made pancakes." she said with a smile as she handed him a plate. Murphy smiled at her.
" Jilly, you are going to spoil me. No one ever cooks for me like this." he said. Jillian's smile faded as he took a hold of the plate. He looked at her face when she didn't let go of it. She had the faraway look in her eyes and he knew she was remembering something. " What is it?"
" I have a brother, he always calls me Jilly." She said. Her eyes focused again and she look at him sadly. " What if I never find my family, if I never remember anything?" Murphy sighed as she let go of the plate. He set it down then looked at her again.
" I don't know what to tell you expect, you can take all the time you need here. We are in no rush for you to leave." he said.
" The doctor said the marks on my wrists meant I was tied up for a while. When Doc Nichols called me today, he said I might never remember anything, that because of the trauma I went through my mind might not let me remember." Murphy frowned.
" Do you talk to the doctor a lot?" He asked as she started cleaning up a little bit.
" He calls me everyday." She said. Murphy felt a stab of jealousy go through him.
" He does? I didn't know that." he said. She picked up her plate and joined him at the counter.
" He wants to see if I'm remembering anything and see how things are going here with you guys."
" I bet he does." Murphy said under his breath as he started to cut his pancake.
" What did you say?" She asked him. Murphy looked at her quickly then back at his plate. He laughed.
" Nothing." He said as he shook his head. He was a little embarrassed for being upset that she was talking to the doctor.
Jillian walked across the backyard and into the barn the next day. Murphy and Connor had to go into work and she was alone for the day. The day before Murphy had showed her the barn. They had found a small art studio in the barn and it had a few art supplies in it. Murphy told her she could use whatever was in there and since then, Jillian had been excited.
When Murphy, Ariel, and Connor came home, Murphy searched the house for her, calling her name. When he didn't find her, he went out to the studio and was stunned by what he found. All over the floor where drawings done in charcoal. He carefully walked around the drawings to the center of the room where Jillian was on her hands and knees, drawing quickly.
" Jilly? What is all this?" He asked. She jumped at the sound of his voice and looked up. She had charcoal smudges on one of her cheeks and her fingers. She smiled at him and stood up.
" Come over here!" she said excitedly as she held out her hand to him. Murphy smiled and took her hand. Jillian pulled him across the room.
" I have been doing this all day. Once I started I just couldn't stop." She pulled him over to a group of pictures, then dropped his hand and picked a picture up. It was of a young guy with short hair standing next to another young guy in front of a small house. They looked like twins. " I think these are my brothers but I can't remember their names." She dropped the picture and showed him a few more of the guys. He wondered around the studio, looking at different drawings as she looked through other pictures for ones to show him. " All these this just started coming up as I started drawing."
" Who's this?" Murphy asked as he picked another picture up. It was of another guy, only this guy had longer hair, to his shoulders. He had a tattoo under his left eye and a goatee. He was frowning. Jillian walked over to him and looked at it.
" I don't know but I don't like him." She said.
" Why would you draw a picture of someone you don't like?" He asked with a slight laugh as he looked at her. His smile fell when he saw her pale face. " This is who you were running from, isn't it?"
" I think so. When I started to draw him I got really uncomfortable and when it was done, I,ah.." she paused and looked away. She started walking to around. " I had to throw up." She said as she picked another one up.
" We should give this to the police, maybe they could get some information on it." he said as he set the picture down. He walked over to where she was. " What's this one?" he asked. She was holding onto a picture of a house.
" I think it's where I grew up." She said. Murphy could tell she was still tense and upset. He wanted to touch her, to hold her close but he didn't move. As if reading his mind, she dropped the picture to face him suddenly. She wrapped her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly. Murphy put one hand into her hair and the other around her waist. " What if my family finds me and they are who I was running from? Where will I go?"
" You wouldn't go with them. You will stay with us, with me. You can live here as long as you want." He said. She pulled away to look at him.
" Are you sure?" she asked.
" Yeah." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. " We're not going to let anything bad happen to you."
" But you guys don't even know me." She said. He smiled.
" That you know of. I could be your dad for all you know, Connor could be your brother." She laughed and pulled away from him.
" Don't make fun of me just because I cant remember anything." She said as she playfully hit him in the arm. Murphy laughed.
" What I know of you, I like. You're sweet, caring, wickedly talented with art. You're an awesome cook, you make us laugh and you put Connor in his place. You aren't letting this get you down when most people would have fallen apart, you're strong." Murphy said. Jillian smile again.
" Ah, I bet you say that to all the girls that wonder into your yard." She said, making him laugh again.
" What if this doesn't work?" Jillian whispered to Connor. They had turned over her drawings to the police who had decided to put her on TV. They hoped someone would see her and contact them. Jillian was waiting inside the police station until it was her turn to come on camera. She was sitting in between Connor and Murphy.
" Then we start making a new life for you here." He said. Jillian rested her head on his shoulder. Connor slipped his arm across her shoulders and squeezed them. " Don't worry, Jilly, Murph and I like having you around. We're gonna take care of you."
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" Don't start the movie yet!" Jillian called out to Murphy before she picked up the phone that night.
After the police station, they had went to lunch with Ariel, then they want swimming in the lake on their land. They had spend the day swimming and relaxing. Connor and Ariel went back to her place for the night while Jillian and Murphy decided to watch a movie together. She had just made popcorn when the phone had rang.
" Hello?" She asked into the phone.
" Jillian, we have been contacted by someone claiming to be your boyfriend." Duffy's voice came over the phone line. Jillian sank down into the chair behind her. " He said you were kidnapped five months ago and that you live two states away. He's flying in tomorrow and I will bring him to the house as soon as he gets here"
" Jillian? Come on!" Murphy called as he walked out of the living room to find her. He found her in the kitchen, looking pale. " Are you okay, Lass?" he asked.
" Jillian, did you hear me? You have a boyfriend and your going home tomorrow." Duffy said.
" Yeah, that's great. I will see you tomorrow." Then she quickly hung up the phone.
" What's going on?" Murphy asked. Jillian looked at him and realized she didn't want to leave him. She didn't want him to know she had a boyfriend. The past month she had spend with him were amazing. She cleared her throat.
" Someone called Duffy, someone who says he knows me." She said. Murphy put his hands in his pocket and forced a smile.
" That's great. Who is it?" She meant his eyes.
" My boyfriend." Murphy stood up straight.
" Oh."
" He said I was kidnapped five months ago. He's flying in tomorrow and Duffy is bring him here." she said. Murphy nodded.
" Well, I guess that's a good thing." he said.