I'd Lie (Jacob Thrombey, Knives Out)

Chapter Three-Careless

That same night, Marta and Jennifer went to the reception at the Thrombeys' house. There were about twenty or thirty people, so the sisters had almost immediately escaped from the main body of it. Later, Jennifer had braved the kitchen to get them a soda each, but Marta just seemed completely numb with the loss of Harlan. The writer followed her gaze to Harlan's portrait, where he was smiling down at them. She smiled softly and placed a slim hand on her shoulder.

"I miss him too," she whispered sadly. Marta seemed to come out of her daze and focused on Jennifer's hand on her shoulder.

"What happened to your hands?" she asked in a low voice. Suddenly, the writer looked a lot older than sixteen, a lot wiser and far more cunning.

"I broke a glass at the party," she responded casually. "That's all."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jen shrugged a shoulder and took a sip of her soda.

"Nothing to tell." Marta sighed; sometimes she wished her sister would talk to her, though she'd come to terms with her silence a long time ago. Jennifer was, and always would be, a dark horse when it came to emotions or grievances. "But Blanc seems to believe every word you say," the writer changed the subject so that they could continue talking, as if she had read Marta's mind. "Perhaps he can help us clear your name, discover that there is more to this. Harlan's death can't have been an accident." Hope dared to bloom in the nurse's heart at her words, at the same time a stab of sharp pain shot through her; heartbreak.

"Don't say that. It will only hurt more if he catches us out." Jennifer finished her soda and glanced over at her with a wry smile.

"Good thing that at least one of us hasn't lost their faith in humanity then." Soon after, Fran cornered them in floods of tears.

"I don't think he killed himself. I don't. I don't. There's this Hallmark movie Deadly By Surprise where Danica McKellar plays a wife who gets poisoned by her husband but bit by bit so she thinks she's going crazy and she ends up killing herself, and my cousin who's the receptionist at the medical examiners office says that kind of thing can totally happen, she says it's not even like 3% as crazy as stuff she's seen come through the-" Jennifer saw Marta zone out half way through, and knew she was most likely thinking of the party. So she took on the burden of making sure that Fran didn't notice but tightly entwined her hand with Marta, squeezing it so that she'd know she was there for her. About a few seconds later, though it felt like hours, Jen heard her sister suck in a sudden breath and saw her sway. She was there to catch her when she fell. "Oh my god, Marta, what?" Fran exclaimed in worry.

"It's okay," Jen replied calmly. "She just needs to be somewhere quiet." Meg then ran over, having seen what was going on, and adopted a look of concern. Jen wasn't fooled by her act, but kept quiet. At least she'd be by Marta's side, in case they tried anything.

"Whoa hey, c'mere, hey. What do you, you want water? Breathe. Hey. Fran have you still got your stash?" The four of them left the room, Jennifer supporting her older sister while Fran lead the way to her cigarette stash. They passed through the living room, and Jacob, sensing Jen's presence, glanced up from his phone and met her eye. She inclined her head slightly, silently indicating that she'd come and talk to him later. He nodded briefly, and the two went back to what they were doing as if nothing had happened between them.

"Take em whenever you need em. They're just drying out since you gave me that Juul." Fran informed Marta, handing her a cigarette. She smiled softly.

"Thanks Fran." Fran nodded to Jennifer, before leaving them alone. Then Meg approached them.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry."