Ghost Bird Fanfiction: Sang's Lyric, The Story of Sang Sorenson's Mother

New Routines

The boys spent the rest of the evening with me. At times, one or other would leave, but someone was always with me, always holding onto me. It didn't give me time to think, to flashback to Tim, I only had the boys to think about.

Eventually my eyes started to close and I struggled to keep them open. I heard a deep chuckle and saw Kell turning off the bedside lamp.

"Thank you, Kell," I said in a sleepy voice.

"Don't thank me for wanting you safe, Priya," he said quietly and I felt him move closer to the bed.

I reached up in the direction I thought his face would be and found his stubbled cheek. I reached up my other hand and pulled his face down to mine, kissing him gently on the lips. His stubble tickled my face, but his lips were soft. I felt his body jerk in surprise and I pursed my lips one more time, giving him a second kiss before letting go.

"Goodnight, Kell," I whispered.

"Goodnight Lyric," he answered on a sigh before he stood and left. 

I turned over. I was safe. It was night and I was safe, in a comfortable bed. The boys wouldn't let anything get me. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

**************************************

My bed bounced and my eyes snapped open.

"Crash." It was Taylor, bouncing next to me on the bed. "Wake up and play," he whined.

I giggled and brought the blanket up to my mouth. "Go away," I joked, pretending to whine.

He continued to bounce up and down, making me laugh. "Okay, okay," I giggled. "I'm getting up."

"Good," he said, stopping immediately. He pointed at a door in the room I hadn't noticed before. "Bathroom's through there. I put some clothes on the vanity."

I looked over at the vanity and saw a pile of folded clothes. I looked at him confused. "James' sister," he explained. "She's away at school, but she won't mind."

I pushed my lip against my teeth with my finger and stared at the clothes nervously. "Crash," Taylor said seriously and I flickered my gaze over to him. "Trust me."

I nodded, and threw back the covers. I was still in my jeans and sweatshirt. I stood up and stretched before looking down at Taylor, who had his head propped on his hand, watching me, while he lounged on the bed.

"I like having you here," he said seriously.

I lowered my hand to his head, and pushing his hair out of his face. His eyes closed and I leaned down, pressing my lips to his head and breathing him in.

"Me too," I answered.

His eyes open and the smile he gave me was blinding. "We're going to be late, Crash," he said in a soft voice. "If you keep looking at me like that."

My finger hovered near my lip. How was I looking at him? 

Taylor jumped up. "Shower. I'll meet you downstairs."

I nodded, still trying to figure out what I'd done that may have made him uncomfortable. He came close to me, and leaned down, kissing my forehead, before leaving.

I stood there for a moment, staring at the door before throwing myself down onto the bed and burying my face into the pillow and squealing.

Keep it together, Lyric, I thought. Dial back the dork. But then I squealed again, before jumping up and running into the bathroom to take an uninterrupted shower.

I could smell breakfast as soon as I opened the door from my room. I followed the scent to the kitchen where Kell was drinking tea, Taylor was scarfing something, and James was wrapping food in aluminum foil.

"We don't have time to eat here," James said to me, smiling. "But here's a breakfast sandwich for the road." 

I smiled and reached out. I pulled back the aluminum foil and saw an egg with sausage and melted cheese on an English muffin. I sniffed it and groaned. "It smells so good," I complimented.

Kell laughed, "You're driving with James today," he said. "I've got to make a stop before school and Taylor's truck is full of junk."

"It's not full of junk," Taylor argued through a mouthful of food. "It's full of supplies."

"Sorry," Kell corrected. "It's full of supplies and there isn't room for you."

"If I had known she'd be staying here," Taylor argued, "I would have made sure there was room for her. There'll be room for you tomorrow, Crash," he assured me.

I nodded, smiling. I really liked this new routine. Kell put his teacup in the sink and handed me my bag."Ready, Priya?"

I nodded, my backpack felt heavier and I weighed it experimentally. Kell noticed and told me, "It has lunch and a bottle of water inside."

My finger moved to my lip, pushing it up to my teeth and I bit down. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Kell said quietly, pulling my hand away from my mouth and bringing my fingers to his mouth and giving them a light kiss. "It's my pleasure."

I had to get used to the boys' affection. They had given me more caring gestures than I had in a decade. I noticed that James was looking at me a little sadly, but gave me a smile when our eyes met. He was always such a gentleman, holding open doors, making sure I was settled, fed, safe. When I got in the car, I waited for him to start driving before turning my body to face him.

"James?" I started.

He glanced at me briefly. "Yes?"

I reached out and touched his arm. One of his hands released the steering wheel and gripped mine. I held it tightly with both of mine. Without thinking, I brought it up to my lips and ran his knuckles back and forth against my lips. "Thank you for saving me last night."

James tore his eyes away from the road to look at me. "I wish I had known about you sooner," he said quietly, as if he was apologizing, and squeezed my hand before lowering it to the armrest between us.

"I wasn't even here until this year," I answered him.

"I know," James replied, "but you've been here almost three months. Three months you've been living with that..." His hand gripped me tighter, almost involuntarily.

"Not anymore, though," I said quickly. "You're taking care of me," I said, and pulling my hand away from his started, unwrapping my sandwich. "You're even feeding me."

James gave a small smile, but it didn't touch his eyes. "No more, Lyric," he started, like he was making a promise to himself as well as to me. "You're going to have plenty of food, and you're going to be safe. We're going to take care of you from now on."

I chewed and swallowed. "Only if you let me take care of you, too," I replied.

He looked over at me surprised and I tapped my finger on my chin, thinking about what I could do. "I'll figure something out."

James laughed. "I have no doubt," he answered. "But I like this new routine. Making you breakfast. Driving you to school."

I rested my head against the back of the seat and looked over at him. "Me too," I answered.