Welcome to the Masquerade

"Yesterday" by The Beatles

AN: This is unbeata'd since I really wanted to publish before I turn in. Happy Independence Day to any Yanks pout there! (Note: Yanks, not Yankees. One is acceptable, the other is fightin' words.) Standard disclaimer! I only own Lory. Everything else is the property of C.L.Stone. Constructive criticism is welcome and even requested, but flames will be used to make s'mores. I love votes and views. Please let me know your favorite lines and moments. Happy Reading.

It had been an emotional weekend. Yesterday she found out her father was alive, had an emotional meltdown, met one of Sang's hot brothers...and holy hell that man was hawt, had the first conversation ever with her father then had one with her Aunt and Uncles about moving into her dad's house with him and her brothers. It was a lot for one day.

Today, Lory sat on the bed of her attic bedroom in the Anderson house. It was filled with boxes of things she was taking with her. She wasn't entirely certain how she felt right that second. She was leaving the Anderson house. As of tomorrow, she wasn't an Anderson anymore. She was a Taylor. She wasn't putting on a temporary Identity. She was completely changing her life. She didn't want to compartmentalize this. She wanted to feel it. This was something she had only felt as Lory. Something all hers.

It was strange to almost feel like the experiences she had weren't hers, but she did. Ever since coming home she's had so many experiences as Lory. It feels so familiar though. Picking up and moving, Changing her name, address. Getting the paperwork correct, but ...This is still her, still LORY.

A herd of wounded elephants came crashing up the stairs for another load of boxes causing a ghostly smile to cross her face. North, Luke, and Silas entered taking up all the available space. Gabe stuck his head out of the closet and shoved another suitcase into Luke's waiting hands. North and Silas had picked up boxes and were thundering back down the stairs with Luke dragging her luggage.

"Shit!" Gabe mumbled as he sorted the much emptier closet. "How the fuck did you manage to pack all this shit in this tiny little room?"

"Practice. I have an unbeatable high score at Tetris."

"You always did love that game," came her Uncle Henry's voice came from where he leaned against the door. His face had a soft, sad look as he watched her look around. He had to take a deep breath and remind himself this was coming anyway. The day she'd move out had been on the back of his mind since she moved in. It had not been a happy thought. He not so secretly loved that she was living here and not just staying here.

He had hoped this day was farther away. He'd wanted longer. He had hoped to parlay this into her staying home for college. He'd gotten six weeks. He wasn't ready. Of course, he admitted to himself, he didn't think he'd ever be ready. But Marcus deserved his chance.

He hadn't realized he'd done it, but somewhere in the back of his mind he'd had the fleeting thought of giving Lory away at her wedding. Now his visions of her future, the ones he'd never consciously acknowledged, were totally different. He wasn't in it like he had been. He and his brothers and Lily weren't in the middle anymore. They were still there. But they were on the sidelines. Marcus took the place he'd once occupied. It made him sad despite acknowledging the rightness of it. And it was right he admitted to himself.

Even if something happened to Marcus now, Henry still wouldn't be the one giving her away anymore. Her brothers would. He quietly admitted how conflicted he was about how much he was relieved. She had more people loving and supporting her that realised how amazing she was. She would never be as neglected and alone as Lucy had allowed her to become. Hopefully Marcus and his boys could make up for Lucy's abuses.

"I still love Tetris."

"Good to know." The silence was awkward and Henry gave Lory a sad lopsided smile. She burst into tears and launched herself off the bed and into her Uncle's arms.