Life's lie || Umbrella academy

Chapter 3: Extra Ordinary

She didn't know when her mother had left, but she woke up the next day laying on the couch with a thin, pink blanket wrapped around her. She checked her watch and saw that it was already 9.30 am.
"Shit." She said while standing up. She almost fell to the ground, but knew to regain her balance just in time. She ran to her room and put on her red dress with long sleeves and some white shoes. She brushed her hair and grabbed her wallet before storming out of the room when the bell rang.
"I'm looking for Zariah. We planned to have breakfast together." She already heard Jake's voice.
"I think I already hear her." She heard her mother tell the man.
"I'm here!" She called as she came running down the stairs.
"You look... great." He looked wide eyed at her. She gave a shy smile in return.
"Behave." Her mother told her after giving her a small kiss on the cheek.
"Mom!" Zariah exclaimed while Jake chuckled.
"I'll keep her save, ma'am. Don't worry." Zariah chuckled at his gentle man like behavior.
"Please, call me Grace. Ma'am makes me feel so old." She answered with a smile. "Now get going, before I will kick you out myself."
"Bye, mom. Love you." Zariah called out before the door closed behind her.
"So, pancakes?" Jake said with a small grin on his face.
"Yes! I still don't believe that there are better pancakes than my mom's, but if you swear by it." Jake wrapped his arm around Zariah's hip and leaded her down the street. The rest of the walk was in a comfortable silence. Neither of them knew what to say, but they liked it.

"One with bacon and one plain, please." Jake ordered as a waiter came to their table. "What do you want to drink?"
"Tea."
"One tea for the lady and a cappuccino for me." The waiter nodded and walked away.
"You remembered?"
"How can I not remember when someone as pretty as you wants bacon on her pancakes." Zariah blushed. "Did I just make you blush?" Jake grinned at her.
"I- I don't know how you do it. I haven't blushed in a long time before I met you."
"It's because you like me." Jake grinned as he teased.
"Well, I'm beginning to reconsider that now." She joked back. It felt weird having a genuine smile on her face. They talked about many things after that. From their past to which movies they liked. Zariah told about her time as number 8 and Jake told her about how he grew up with his mother and where he lived now.
"We should be going. I got a freelance gig in an hour." Jake said while looking at his watch.
"Yeah, mom is probably worried that you kidnapped me or something." Zariah chuckled. She watched as he stood up and held out his hand for her to take. He payed for their breakfast, although she protested.

They walked hand to hand back to the house, again in comfortable silence.
"We should do this again." Jake said while facing Zariah.
"We definitely should." She confirmed.
"Can I-" He rubbed the back of his neck. "Kiss you?" He finished with a shy smile. Instead of answering she leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. He stood there with wide eyes while she grinned. She took out a small paper she had tucked away in her wallet.
"This is our phone number." She explained.
"You know where I live. Feel free to come by when you're in the neighborhood." He kissed her one more time before walking away. She looked after him until he was gone in the crowd. She was about to turn around and open the door when she heard someone call her name.
"Zariah! I've been looking all over for you!" She turned around to see Allison and Vanya standing in front of her. Vanya had the same confused look on her face as she had.
"Why?"
"It's about mom."
"What's wrong with mom?" Zariah started to panic.
"I'll show you when the rest is here." She reassured while walking through the door and taking her two sisters with her.
"Where is she?" Zariah questioned as she headed up the stairs while Allison tried to get them into the living room.
"I don't know. Probably cleaning our rooms." Allison gave up on getting Zariah with her and just took Vanya. Zariah took a sprint to the bedrooms and saw her mother walking from Klaus' to Ben's room.
"Mom!" Zariah got her mother's attention. A bright smile was send her way.
"How was breakfast, love? Has he been nice to you?"
"He was amazing, but how are you? Allison said something was wrong." Zariah hurried over and took her mother's hands and inspected every bit of her body.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm doing great." She placed one of her hands on Zariah's cheek and looked her straight in the eyes. "There is nothing to worry about. Now, have you taken your medicine? You seem a little on edge." Zariah held up one hand, knowing that her mother always carried a bottle of her pills. A small pill landed on her hand and she put it in her mouth. The feelings she felt from that morning were already leaving her and the worry in her eyes seemed to dim, but there was something different. This one seemed to have a stronger effect on her than it normally had.
"Thanks." She mumbled.
"Now, go to your siblings. I think they have a meeting in the living room and I got to clean Ben's room." Her mother shooed her away. Zariah glanced into the empty room, she could still see him sitting on the bed, reading a book, in her mind. It was because of him that she had started reading as much as she did. She walked away after a few seconds, leaving her mother behind. Something felt really wrong though. She zoned out after a few steps and she didn't know how she ended up in the living room, but she didn't care. All of her siblings were already there and something was playing on the screen in front of them. She couldn't focus, everything seemed hazy. She somehow managed to sit down on the couch.
"You really think mom would hurt dad?" She heard Vanya say, but it sounded for in the distance or like she was under water.
"You haven't been home in a long time, Vanya." Came the response. "Maybe you don't know Grace anymore."
"If he was poisoned, it would have shown in the coroner's report." Diego defended. Zariah didn't really know what they were talking about. She closed her eyes, at least she thought, and just tried to focus on what she could hear, since watching didn't get her anywhere.
"Well, I don't need a report to tell me what I can see with my own eyes." Luther sounded like he was getting more aggressive.
"Maybe all that low gravity in space messed with your vision." Diego shot back. "Look closer. Dad has his monocle. Mom stands up. Monocle's gone."
"Oh, yeah!" She heard Klaus chuckle. A monocle. It sounded so familiar. She had one in her hands once.
"She wasn't poisoning him. She was..."
"Wait." Luther cut him off. "What's that?" Luther pointed at the screen. They had apparently never played it any further than his actual death, so Luther pressed play.