Family History

Chapters 11 and 12

Though no one directly asked, I guess I should explain. That whole school report thing last chapter was, essentially, John's revenge. I mean, it's not super vengeful or anything, but it felt a little perfect to me. What better way to get back by saying, "This is why I'm right, and why you should apologize to me." (Getting your grade up with it is a bonus.) Let's assume that he was supposed to write a report about someone and was supposed to start it a month ago, but he has a terrible case of procrastination, but it's alright because he suddenly found information about someone both awesome and real. And let's assume that most of the people that were really ticking him off happened to be in the same class as him for the presentation and not skipping school.

Also, wanna make it clear that Ryan is a girl that was born with a boy's name (although I guess it's now considered more like a unisex name, not just boy's) that, while it seemed to fit her personality, it confused people every once in a while, including the readers of this story (but she wouldn't know that part since my characters don't break the 4th wall; only the almighty author is allowed that privilege).

On with the story!

-_-_-_

Lily immediately jumped up on her feet as she watched the brothers walk into the lunchroom. They didn't even sit yet before she started asking questions. "Did you see her? Is she okay? Is she awake?"

"Sit down already," Ed grumbled in her direction. She complied, but did it slowly.

"Yeah, we saw her. She's not awake yet. Surprisingly, nothing happened to her head." Al reluctantly started eating his sandwich.

Lily paused, having expected more. "...What about everything else?" she asked quietly. They both gave her a look that said everything. She dropped her elbows on the table and started running her fingers through the hair on the crown of her head anxiously.

"She would probably be fine if the airbag actually did its job!..." Ed muttered darkly.

The others glanced over to his face. He was looking down at his lunch like it was a vile archenemy. They knew that people like the Eds preferred to be angry, since it was often easier to deal with than fear, so they let him be.

A solemn silence fell on the three, apparently not affecting anyone else around them. After a minute of being hunched over still, Lily drew a shaky breath and sat up enough to start eating too. She somehow got about halfway through her sandwich a few minutes before lunch was over. None of them felt as hungry as usual. Her face contorted until she couldn't take it and had to tell them what she was thinking.

"I know this is stupid and isn't my fault at all, but... I just barely met her days before she ended up... there... and I feel slightly responsible..." she choked out the last word. She whispered with a humorless smile, "...Now I kinda know what they felt when Hughes..."

Al looked at her with sympathy. It also flashed in Ed's, but just a flash. "You idiot. Just meeting her doesn't mean you are responsible for anything else that happens to her. It's just a bit of a cruel coincidence."

"What about Dr. Marcoh?" she retorted. "Nothing would have happened to him if they didn't meet him, but they led Lust to him on accident."

"I doubt anyone's after you or Ryan." He rolled his eyes.

"I know, but I can't stop thinking about it!" she complained.

He leaned over the table with a frustrated huff. "It's not your fault, it's not mine, it's not Al's. We need to stop blaming ourselves and just be ready to help her however we can. It's all we can do."