Finding Lily

45- Alex

"How're you doing?" Jane asked once we were a mile from the airport. I wiped my eyes, clearing any evidence of my feelings before turning to face her.

"Fine." My voice was too chirpy. She saw right through it.

"You're gonna fill me in later, right?"

"Yeah. Of course."

First, we had to suffer through a reunion with Regina. She'd been the one who sent the car to Cori's airport. I couldn't imagine how appalled she was that we landed there instead of the airstrip at Heatherwood. She would have offered to pay, of course, but I wanted as little to do with that town as possible.

Luke was the one who called her using the police credentials he used to have. He told Regina we had both been kidnapped but held in different facilities for the past year. He didn't mention Ray's name or the island, just kept it simple, vague.

The drive through Cori was long, made even longer by the anticipation of going back to the neighborhood where everything started. Apparently, Regina had moved after the incident, but only a couple of houses down.

When we pulled onto Henderson St, I took in all of the cookie cutter houses and the manicured lawns in front of them. Everything still looked the same. Life went on during the year that we were gone. The only thing that changed was us.

The driver finally pulled up in front of a two story house. Another mansion, just as big, just as expensive, except it was yellow instead of light green. The awning over the front door was a slightly different shape, and there were four bushes out front instead of two. Besides these minor details, it was still essentially the same house.

I hopped out of the towncar and followed Jane as she walked up to the house. Before she stepped foot on the path, the front door suddenly swung open.

"Jane!" Regina burst through it suddenly, running towards us with tears already streaming down her face. She opened her arms and wrapped them tightly around Jane, sobs rocking her body as relief sagged in her shoulders.

I stood back as a man stepped through the door, husband number six, the one she married after Dan. Mark shot me a smile as he continued to stand in the doorway, awkwardly watching the emotional reunion that was occurring on the front lawn. He looked just as unsure of how to act as I was. Having not spent much time with either of us, he was still mostly a stranger.

A moment later, Regina finally got herself together enough to look over Jane's shoulder at me with bloodshot eyes. She held out a hand, gesturing for me to come over.

"Lily-" She could only choke out that one word before sobbing again into Jane's chest. I smiled slightly and walked over to them. Almost immediately, Regina enveloped me into the embrace and the three of us stood pressed together, reunited.

I wasn't sure how much time passed before I could finally escape from that hug. I hadn't cried, but had tear stains on my blue t-shirt from one of the Hall girls, I wasn't sure which. The husband had finally come down and joined us with a box of tissues and passed it to Regina. She quickly wiped off her face before looking at us again with a sad smile.

"I'm so sorry. Both of you. I-" Regina's eyes were full of regret. "I was never around and I should have been there that night and I'm so sorry." Her words were flying frantically out of her mouth like an auctioneer rambling off numbers.

"Mom, just be happy. We're here now." It was Jane who tried to stop the rambling. She put a reassuring hand on her mother's arm, smiling warmly.

"Right." She said, pulling herself together. "Of course."

My dad's face popped into my mind for a brief second. I couldn't remember the last time I hugged him. I couldn't remember the last time we had any kind of family bonding moment. And now, I didn't have the chance to ever get another one.

With a heavy sigh, I grabbed my backpack and walked into the house.

Mark showed me to the room I would be sharing with Jane, who was still on the lawn chatting with Regina. I threw my bag on the bed and thanked him before he turned to walk out.

"If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask." Mark had paused in the doorway, still looking awkward about the whole thing. He wasn't the only one.

I thanked him, and with that, he left me alone in the bedroom. As soon as the door closed, I took it all in. There were two full size beds, two dressers, two desks, and a TV with a couch. All of that furniture in a normal size room would make it impossible to move around, but this was no ordinary room. It took up half of the entire second floor, the master bedroom being the other half. We even had our own bathroom, and that was big too.

It was exactly like our old room, except painted a different color. Grey this time, not white.

After picking a side, I flopped on the blue comforter and stared at the ceiling, trying to wipe my mind.

"I can't tell you how much I've missed this place." A couple minutes later, Jane had burst into the room, mouth hanging open as she took it all in. "This is huge. And so bright"

"Were you living in that cave the whole time?"

"He let me out occasionally but most of my time was inside."

"That sounds miserable. What did you even do there?"

"Not much." Jane shrugged. I didn't miss the flash of pain in her eyes before she changed the subject. "So when are you gonna tell me about your year?"

I sighed. "I don't even know where to begin."

Jane sat on my bed, crossing her legs and looking at me with concern. "I still can't believe what happened with your dad."

"Me neither."

"Do you miss him?"

"Not as much as I should." The guilt had been following me around since we left the island. I should be crying more. I should be devastated. Not kissing boys and gossiping with Jane.

"You guys did have a shitty relationship."

"More like nonexistent."

"Still. It must be hard."

It was. Frankly, I didn't know how to feel about it. Instead of trying to decide, I took a shower. When I got out, I found that for some reason, Regina had kept every item I had left behind. My shirts and pants were still tucked neatly in my dresser and my dresses and coats still hung in the closet. I slipped on a pair of sweatpants and an over-sized sweatshirt. I was about to crawl into bed when I saw Jane holding up a bottle of vodka that she pulled out of her bedside table.

I raised my eyebrows. "Regina stashed some for you?"

"I guess she was paying more attention than I thought." Jane grinned. "What do you say? Liquid courage to help us spill the truth?"

I hadn't had a drink of anything alcoholic since the night Felix attacked us. My tolerance would be way down while my emotions were still on a roller coaster ride. Adding a depressant to the mix could only mean things would go down hill.

But this was Jane we were talking about. I had never been afraid to show her my emotions. There was a time we didn't have any secrets between us, acting like true sisters. If I was going to open up to anyone in this world, it should be her.

I plopped down on the bed next to her and took a sip of the burning liquid. "So, where shall we begin?"

Only one more chapter! Thanks for reading ❤️