The Break-In

Chapter 9- The Sweater

***(Sara's POV)***

It's been less than thirty seconds since Cory left to get food and I can see this mischievous look on Lily's face.

"Brooke, mommy is about to have a conversation with Sara here, and I want you to remember what we said about adult conversations." She has the parenting look on her face that most have when they're trying to teach their kid a lesson.

"Don't listen and don't repeat. And if I do listen, keep it in my head." Brooke smiles confidently with that answer.

"Correct. Keep building." She smiles towards me, proud of her parenting skills, and I laugh a little. She seems like a fun mom. "So who are you really?"

"A girl on the run who broke the wrong person's window." Lily looks at me, unsure if I'm being serious or not, and when I don't laugh or say anything to the contrary, she just laughs.

"Well that explains a lot." I can see after that statement her shoulders relax a little.

"Your brother- Cory's a really nice person. I still can't believe he didn't call the cops on me, let alone the fact that he's letting me crash here." I'm hoping I don't make Lily scared at all with the mention of the police, considering I'm sitting next to her child.

"Trust me, I know my brother. Sometimes he's a little too nice, which can lead to awful people taking advantage of that." She makes sure that I'm making eye contact before she continues with her next statement. "You better not be taking advantage of him, or you will have to put up with the wrath of me and this little girl who loves that man more than anyone else in this world. Except for me of course."

I'm unsure if this is too serious of a conversation to make a joke, Lily is just as hard to read as her brother. "I have no intentions of hurting Cory." I can see that Lily isn't satisfied with that answer so I may as well just be honest. "I tried to save him the trouble but he wouldn't let me leave. So I can't take all the blame if anything happens, because he's the one who made me stay. If it were up to me I would've taken first-aid after the window incident and then started my journey to the next bus stop." I can't contain the small giggle that emerges thinking about the first time we met.

"What on Earth happened to the window? Both of you have mentioned it and I still don't think you have given a clear answer." Even though her tone is serious, I can see that she has a light-hearted look on her face.

"As I mentioned before, I am a bit more of a nomad than most people. For reasons I don't need to explain, I was a little short on cash and ran out of options. I was walking through the neighborhood and I kinda just chose his house because it seemed like no one was home. I ended up trying to punch open his window but I guess I didn't really think it through because my arm got stuck. After ten minutes or so of struggling to not bleed out on his lawn, he appeared. Instead of doing the normal thing and calling the police, Cory helped me out, cleaned my arm, and gave me a place to stay for a few days."

I wait to see how she'll react to this information. The room is silent except for Brooke and her legos. It stays like this for a few minutes but Lily must have finally come up with more questions to ask. "I can't believe he did that. I'm gonna hit him when he comes back for being a huge idiot." She tilts her head down toward her lap and starts laughing. "I guess it's a good thing he made sure you didn't bleed out but it definitely was a risky choice on his part."

"Trust me, I tried to point that out but he just kept making sarcastic comments." She laughs.

"Of course he did." Suddenly her face becomes more serious. "How long do you plan to stay? Because I don't care what he says, he does not have the financial stability to support two adults in crisis."

"I'm assuming he's the other adult having a crisis in this situation, but either way I don't know the answer to that question. I wish I did but I haven't lived a steady life in years." I see her eyebrows shoot up so I give her reassurance. "I don't plan on taking him down with me, I promise. And in terms of finances, before you got here we were looking at job applications."

"Good." I can almost see the gears turning in her head before she says her next statement. "I know you will do anything to make sure you don't take him down with you but, don't push him away either. I don't know you that well to even determine if you're the type of person who would even do that, but I know Cory, and I know the type of people he's drawn to." She catches herself before she reveals anything he might not want me to know.

Before I can ask about that last part, she gets saved by a text from Cory asking what we want from a cafe in town. After we situate our orders, I decide to go get more water so I'm not just sitting there awkwardly. I stand at the sink filling my cup and I see Lily stand up in my peripheral.

"One more question." She's standing at my side like Cory was just before she got here, except she isn't standing as close. I look at her and nod, signaling she can ask. "Where'd you sleep the last few nights?" One of her eyebrows perks up.

"The couch." I try to give her a straight answer to avoid any more questions, hoping that if I sound boring enough she'll believe me. She gives one laugh before she gives me that inquisitive look again. She's way too much like Cory. "Seriously, I slept on the couch. Cory put away the bed sheets that were on the couch this morning while he was tidying up."

Lily rolls her eyes. "Just because a statement is true doesn't mean it's the whole story."

Where Lily is standing is the perfect spot to be in my direct escape path out of the kitchen. "The first night, I slept on the couch and he decided to sleep on the floor next to the couch. Last night he fell asleep in his bed and I slept out here for a few hours but must have gotten restless in the middle of the night because I woke up this morning in his bed." I can feel my cheeks heating up so I take a sip of water.

"I knew it. You are just his type." She starts walking away while laughing.

"What does that mean?" I start following behind her back towards the couch.

"All I meant by that is I know my brother's type in women, and it just so happens that you fit it perfectly." She sits back down on the couch and goes to pick up her phone.

"That is not what's happening here. How do you know he's even my type?" I'm hoping I don't sound too defensive so I'm at least a little believable.

"Because I've been here less than an hour and I've seen the way you look at him." She has the same know-it-all look that Cory gets on her face.

"A look of annoyance and frustration?" I trust that after being related to Cory she is able to handle some sarcasm.

"Exactly that look." She laughs and I think that topic is over with but I am sorely mistaken. "So you like him, huh?"

"You don't know me like that. This isn't like making friends with the girl who sits next to you in class by sharing gossip." I realize that may have been a little harsh but I really hate these types of conversations.

"Trust me, that girl in class was never me. But I won't let you evade the question. He's my brother, basically the only family I have left, so I have a right to know anything that pertains to him and his happiness." Her face hasn't shifted for a whole minute.

"How do you know this has anything to do with his happiness? For all you know I could be the biggest burden on him right now." I go to look away because this eye contact has lasted far too long but something about her face is forcing me to keep it going.

"I haven't seen him wear that sweater in a long time. He used to wear it when he was feeling really proud of something he did or if something amazing just happened to him." It takes me a second to realize that Cory has been wearing the sweater I saw him wearing this morning all day. It's a deep brown color with buttons. "I can't confirm that you are the reason he put that on this morning but I can be pretty damn confident that it might be." With that, she breaks eye contact.

She doesn't press for a response, so I let the silence hang in the air for a minute debating if I should say anything else. I could either dig myself a deeper hole or just wait for Cory to get back. "This is the first day I've had in years that I have felt anything other than sadness first thing in the morning." Lily looks up at me, expecting me to say more, so I just kind of blurt whatever I can. "I like this feeling. I don't know what it is or how long it will even last but I know I like it."