ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴅ | ɪ.ɢ

014

[FOURTEEN]

* . °•★𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴𝓲𝓮☆•° . * 

ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇxᴛ ᴍᴏʀɴɪɴɢ, ɪ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴜᴘ ᴇᴀʀʟʏ.

Why? Because I had a lot to do. I was running the Thanksgiving food drive with Erin (not very fun), and I needed to make sure that everyone got a warm meal on Thanksgiving. 

Everyone except for me, that is. 

I had always known that this Thanksgiving was going to be hard, but I was never prepared for the ocean of feelings that would hit me when I woke up. It hurt really bad, knowing that I would never have Thanksgiving with Lucy and my parents again, knowing that it was all gone. 

And so, I didn't intend to spend Thanksgiving here. 

When I got to the downstairs area of the house, I was surprised to see Danny, George, Katherine, and Saylor all in the kitchen, busying around with food and pots and pans.

"What's going on?" I asked, tying my hair up into a ponytail. Saylor turned and smiled at me. 

And my stomach dropped slightly. 

Because I recognized that look. That exact expression was the one plastered on her face for those hard six months after the accident. The one that said she was doing her absolute best to avoid thinking about what happened. The one that showed she was distracting herself to the point she would probably get hurt. 

"Katherine said everyone contributes food for Thanksgiving dinner so I'm making mashed potatoes." My sister said cheerily. I looked closer at her and saw bags under her eyes—she looked like she didn't sleep at all last night.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly, so just she could hear. She nodded, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear as she started peeling the potatoes from a bowl in front of her. 

"Yeah. I'm fine." 

"How much did you sleep last night?" 

She sighed as she set down the potato peeler and placed her hands on the counter, looking at me. 

"I appreciate your concern, sis, but really, I'm fine. It honestly doesn't matter." 

"Okay." I said, not convinced. On my way towards the door, I tapped Katherine on the shoulder and gestured for her to follow me. Once we were out of sight of Saylor, I turned to her.

"What's up?" She asked, drying her hands on a cloth. I took a deep breath.

"Look. I know Saylor says she's fine, but she's not. She has this...this look that always means bad news. Uncle Richard told you about...her—"

"—Her coping methods in New York?" Katherine suggested. I nodded before continuing. 

"She used to get that expression on her face when she was really really struggling. And usually it ended with her going off to do something risky or dangerous. This...this is the first time I've seen that look on her face since we got here, Katherine. Just...be careful. Take care of my sister, okay?" 

"I promise." Katherine gave me a sympathetic smile. "I've got a lot of stuff for her to do today if she needs distractions. Plus..." She trailed off and glanced over her shoulder before saying in a quiet voice, "Well, this was supposed to be as secret, but your Uncle Richard's actually coming down for Thanksgiving dinner!" 

My eyes widened. "Really?!? Then I guess I'll try to be fast then!" 

As I pulled open the door, I felt her hand on my shoulder and I glanced backwards. "Yes?"