DOUBLE CELEBRATION [LILY]

[NEIL TORRES]

It had been four months. Four months since Neil had moved him and his sister out of that dreaded house. Regan thought that it was a step out of the mob, but it only had him traveling deeper into the depths of despair. The only way Connor had allowed him to move away, only if he stole a priceless painting from the museum and wore an ankle bracelet for a couple of weeks. That ankle bracelet had been hidden from view by the length of his suit pants, and the painting was currently hanging in the hallway at the mansion. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Neil looked at the ceiling for a moment before rolling over and his feet hitting the padded carpet. He stumbled out of the bedroom and into his own personal bathroom, studying his reflection for a moment before yawning. His brown hair flopped over his eyes and the remainder of sleep was etched into his face. The apartment seemed empty without the pitter patter of his sister's feet, reminding him that she had spent the night out or had left the apartment before he had woken up. Both of those options seemed plausible, and he would be getting coffee with her soon.

Coffee. His body was aching for coffee right now, and he took a shower as quick as possible before getting his hair perfect. Regan and Lily made fun of him and his hair obsession, but he couldn't help it. Girls wore make up and he did his hair, there really was no difference. Quickly, he slipped on a pair of jeans and a white beater shirt before placing his usual sneakers on and making his way out the door. Usually, he and his sister made plans on Sunday to get coffee, and this was no exception. It was something they always did, and Neil wouldn't change it for the world. Lily was his favorite and he loved spending time with her. Sure, they argued about his job, Anne, his father, meatloaf, a dog, and everything in between, but when Lily was sleeping over a friend's house, the apartment almost seemed empty. They were as close as they could possibly be when referring to a sibling relationship. After all, she was all he really had that wasn't directly in the Irish Mob, or he hadn't lied to about whom he really was.

Sitting down at their usual seat in their usual coffee cafe, Neil glanced over the menu before ordering a coffee and pulling out his book. A book that he had stolen. It was his talent, and more often then not, Neil relied on it. Sure, he had money, but he knew his banking accounts were being watched by Connor's men. The minute he started spending money on random things, the minute Connor stopped giving him money. And while Neil was a charmer, he couldn't survive on not getting paid by Connor. A shadow drifted over him and he grinned up from the book, smiling at his sister. "Nice to see you here, sis" he teased.

[LILY TORRES]

Lily had told her brother that she’d be studying with some friends then staying at a friend’s dorm at the college for the night. She never actually had intentions of studying, but the rest was true. She wound up going to the carnival with friends instead, and while she had gotten there early, her friends weren’t there, so she went into this haunted house slash house of mirrors and well, ran into someone she had much rather not. Right after that she had met up with her friends and stayed pretty much as close to them as she could. Trying to enjoy the fun of the carnival as most she could while keeping a look out to make sure she couldn’t see him anywhere. Still she had managed to win a giant stuffed teddy bear from one of the games, so she still at least had somewhat of a good time. After that however, she had to drive her friend back to the college because she had gotten wasted while Lily wasn’t going to take the risk of drinking since she knew she may not be a hundred percent safe.

She wound up being the first one awake in the morning as well, looking at her friend and her roommate, passed out she had just chuckled and gotten changed, pulling on a pair of jeans and a blue top that she would just borrow seeing as she couldn’t find the shirt she had brought with her. Lily jumped and yelped when her phone sounded off an alarm, quickly scrambling to look at it; it was a reminder that she would have to be at the café in fifteen minutes to meet up with her brother. Grabbing her shoes, her teddy bear and her bag, she threw the bag on her shoulder and put the bear in a head lock, bolting out of the room, she jumped and hopped as she got her shoes on, one struggling foot after the other. Finally she got her shoes on and continued her sprint out to the quad, looking around she saw someone’s skateboard. “I promise I’m just borrowing this!” She grabbed it, stepping on she pushed herself off but once one of the wheels went over a crack in the sidewalk she squeaked, and jumped off, and starting to run again as the owner ran to grab his board. “Okay, not to self, heels and skateboards and a giant teddy bear, do not mix!” Shaking her head, she pushed herself to run faster as a bus she normally saw stopping just a couple blocks away from the café pulled up. “Wait! Hold the doors, please!! She forced herself to try and run faster, and leaped onto the first step of the bus just as the driver was reaching to close the doors. She sighed and paid her way then went and took a seat toward the middle of the bus, trying to re-catch her breath.

Standing up when she came to her stop, she checked her phone; she was already five minutes late. Shaking her head she fought her way past others trying to get to the door with the massive white and red teddy bear tucked under her arm still. Finally she got out and started running again, this time not running as hard or fast as she was before, she was already late; hurting herself in these heels weren’t going to make him forgive her or anything. Finally she got there and smiled as she saw her brother reading, probably oblivious to the fact she was late. She rolled her eyes and sat down across from him, than glanced at the teddy bear, instantly she found herself thinking of a story to explain it seeing as he didn’t know she had gone to the carnival. “Nice to see you too, and look what my friends got me!” She pulled the bear close to her chest and grinned. “They got it for me as a good luck present for midterms.” She smiled, and put the bear down next to her, though it was still at about her waist. She smiled and looked up at the waitress as she came over, and before she could even reach the table Lily just smiled, “The usual for me.” Glancing around she stopped and focused on her brother, “It’s weird being here and not working… I need to get a new job so that it’s less weird having coffee with my brother.” She wasn’t sure if it was all the running she had just done, or hopes that Neil didn’t suspect anything with the bear and where she really was last night but she was talking a lot and finally she stopped and rested an elbow on the table, resting her chin on it and sighing contently, or least as contently as she could manage.

[NEIL TORRES]

Neil's eyebrows rose slightly, taking in the stuffed bear his little sister was holding. He knew that she was lying, just by the way she was smiling. It didn't take a genius for him to realize that she had gone to the carnival. It didn't truly matter, considering she was nineteen years old and had a life. Neil trusted Lily. She had been through just as much as he had gone through, if not more. Living in a house with criminals, even for a couple of days scarred a person, and he had wished that the two had never been forced to spend time in that nasty house. Connor had been all over his little sister, and while he knew Connor was technically his boss, it bothered him. Lily was nineteen years old, almost ten years younger then Connor, and way too nice to be with such an asshole. That was why Neil had done everything in his power to leave such an awful place and move into a moderately nice apartment that had everything the two needed and more. It was even close to the university, something which helped with Lily's commute.

"That's very nice of them. From the carnival?" he asked, a teasing smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He took a sip of his drink, before ordering his usual as well and watching Lily. "A good luck stuffed bear. I wish my friends had been that kind to me," he teased. Neil marked the page where he had left off and placed it at the edge of the table. Reaching into his wallet, he pulled out a twenty and tossed it over to Lily. "For food later. I know you probably have to keep studying for midterms with those friends of yours," he said shrugging, before sticking his wallet back into his pocket. He wanted her to take the money, even if she spent it on another stuffed bear. It was a way to make sure that she knew he cared about her. Money wasn't too important when it came down to everything, but it was something they needed in order to survive in the world. Besides, as Lily mentioned, she didn't have a job.

Taking another sip of his drink, Neil shrugged once more. "I could always give you money. Get a job after midterms or something. Your job is school and my job is to get you through school," he responded "Live a little. Da had a hard time dealing with me and my drunk antics when I was your age, now its your turn to make me go insane" God, he was sounding like his father. Neil hated sounding like his father, but part of the reason Lily was allowed to come was for him to act like her father. And that alone was difficult. Neil could barely take care of himself most of the time, let alone another human being that looked up to him. That was why it was easier being charming and handsome; usually people didn't want to get to know you for a long time. Girls wanted him for one night, and one night only.

[LILY TORRES]

Lily knew she hasn’t gotten away with her lie, of course she hadn’t, and if anyone could call her bluff it’d be Neil. Not that it mattered, she wouldn’t have lied to him about any of it, if Connor hadn’t been at the carnival and trapped her the way he did, otherwise she would tell Neil about every single moment of it, even if he didn’t really feel like listening. But when he asked if they had gotten it from the carnival, she grinned and nodded “Yeah, when we got done with studying we went there and we all played this game and since there were a lot of us we got to have a big prize and they let me keep it.” Well it was part of the truth, she had won instead of one of her other friends winning and letting her have it. But then again it was something she had learned from him, every lie had a little bit of truth in it. She shrugged, and sighed, “Yeah well they know I’ve been having a little bit of issues in some of my classes and they felt bad cause of how hard I’ve been working to try and just pass these classes, they figured I could use something to have with me when I pass out two in the morning after studying.” She rolled her eyes and laughed a little, that was the truth, she was struggling in English mostly but there were times that her math class kept her up as well.

She glanced at the twenty he tossed at her then back at him. Lily really didn’t need the money, she had been working at the café to help herself out, she knew he’d give her money if she needed it but that wasn’t the point, she wanted to be able to have her own money instead of keep having to turn to her brother for money. But she knew that if she said she didn’t need it he was going to make her take it so she just grabbed it and tucked it into her back pocket, “Thanks but really Neil, I’m fine. And I’m working here actually, it’s not too bad, it’s just weird being here and not having to work.” She shrugged but when he continued on the subject she rolled her eyes and groaned “I don’t want you to keep giving me money! I want to have my own money. I don’t care about working through midterms it gives me something to do to keep me out of trouble.” She blinked when he started to sound like their dad, Lily knew how different the two were and how Neil did his best to not be their dad, but she also knew the only reason why she was allowed to go to America with him was because Neil was supposed to act like her father, but honestly part of her was baffled that he was encouraging her to get drunk and live a little. She was definitely a goody-two shoes but mostly because she was trying to keep herself out of being around Connor and the rest of his crew, the more of a goody-goody she was the more she felt like she was proving she wasn’t her mother and that her families involvement with the Irish Mob wasn’t about stop her from not getting into it. But she chuckled, “I’m just being good because of mid-terms. Don’t worry as soon as their over I’ll be lying to you about where I’m going, partying, and coming home drunk without you noticing again, or just sleeping it off at friend’s houses and dorms.” She smiled and covered her mouth, laughing a little “Whoops. Did I just say that out loud?” It was pure sarcasm and was meant for him to take as it was but she looked down at his book for a moment, “Besides, I’d rather just keep my head down for now.” She meant it because of what happened last night and she had a good enough head on her shoulders… Keeping low and just not getting into trouble or any situation that could get her into trouble would be for the better.

Biting the inside of her cheek she looked up at Neil again, she wanted to tell him but she didn’t, however she weighed the options, he could get pissed for a day or two or she could let it eat her until she spilt it out anyway. “Neil, Connor was at the carnival last night. I- I went into this haunted house thing while they went on some other ride and I got stuck in the house of mirrors, he pulled a knife on me, he wanted me to remind you of your oath to him, I tried not to be scared, and after he cut my bracelet off… he took his focus off me for a moment and I bolted. He grabbed me outside and handed it back to me, I was panicking and trying to get away but, after a minute he walked away he said he’d be seeing me. It creeped me out.” She cringed for a minute and looked down at the bear, picking it up and squeezing it again, and sighing. “So really, I’d rather just lay low and not live a little for right now.” She refused to look up at him, knowing that this was definitely the calm before the storm.

[NEIL TORRES]

NEIL KNEW THERE WAS TRUTH IN HER WORDS. SHE DID GO TO THE CARNIVAL, WHICH WAS COMPLETELY FINE WITH HIM, BUT SHE WAS GROWING UP. THAT ALONE MADE HIM NERVOUS. HE WASN’T STUPID. LILY WAS GOING TO HAVE BOYFRIENDS (HE WAS SURE SHE HAD SOME IN THE PAST AND MAY NOT HAVE TOLD HIM) AND WOULD DO STUPID THINGS. IT MADE HIM FEEL OLD, THOUGH. HE USED TO BE THE ONE GETTING DRUNK AND HAVING WILD NIGHTS, AND NOW HE WAS FORCED INTO A JOB HE COULDN’T STAND. LILY HAD HER WHOLE LIFE TO DO WHATEVER SHE WANTED, AND NEIL JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT IT STAYED LIKE THAT. HE DIDN’T WANT HER TO GET CAUGHT UP IN THE MAFIA LIKE HE HAD AND WANTED HER TO SUCCEED IN THE CAREER OF HER DREAMS. ”IT’S KIND OF CUTE. WHAT DID YA NAME HIM? OR HER?” HE ASKED OUT OF CURIOUSITY BEFORE FINISHING HIS WATER. HE RAN HIS FINGERS THROUGH HIS HAIR BEFORE GIVING HER A SMALL SMILE. ”IT’S GOOD TO HAVE FUN. I’LL BE THE FIRST TO ADMIT THAT. AS LONG AS YOU KEEP UP WITH YOUR CLASSES, EVERYTHING WILLWORK OUT FINE.” HE LIKED MOST OF LILY’S FRIENDS. MOST OF THEM WERE GOOD INFLUENCES ON HER, WHETHER IT BE GETTING HER SOCIAL OR GETTING HER TO FOCUS ON HER GRADES. THEY WERE HARMLESS, AS LONG AS THEY DIDN’T DESTROY HIS APARTMENT. IF THEY DESTROYED HIS APARTMENT, NEIL WOULD FREAK OUT. HE WAS A NEAT FREAK, AND SOMETIMES LILY MESSED WITH THAT.

SHE ROLLED HER EYES AND HE COULD TELL SHE WAS GETTING ANNOYED. NEIL HAD MONEY AND HE WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT LILY WASN’T STRUGGLING. SHE WASN’T ONE TO COME AND ASK FOR MONEY, AND HE KNEW THAT. YES, SHE WAS WORKING AND YES SHE WAS A BIG GIRL, BUT NEIL WANTED TO FEEL LIKE HE WAS THERE FOR HER. SHE DIDN’T HAVE TO PAY HER BACK, HE JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE THAT SHE KNEW HE WAS THERE TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING WAS OK AND HE COULD FIX ALMOST ANYTHING. IF HE COULDN’T FIX SOMETHING, WELL, HE COULD FIND SOMEONE THAT COULD HELP HIM OUT. MOST PEOPLE OWED HIM FAVORS. ”FINE, LIL. YOU CAN PAY FOR LUNCH THEN. I’LL JUST ADD A TON OF MORE FOOD TO THE ORDER,” HE TEASED, TRYING TO GET THE MOOD LIGHT. HE CHANGED HIS MOOD ALL THE TIME. ONE MOMENT, HE SOUNDED LIKE THEIR FATHER AND WOULD SCOLD HER AND MAKE HER TAKE MONEY, AND THE NEXT MOMENT HE WAS TELLING HER TO GET DRUNK. IT WAS HARD, BEING BOTH THE COOL OLDER BROTHER AND THE PROTECTIVE OLDER BROTHER. NEIL WASN’T USED TO HAVING SO MUCH RESPONSIBILITY. MOST OF THE TIME HE COULD BARELY TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF, LET ALONE HIS YOUNGER SISTER. BUT HE WAS LEARNING AND MAYBE THIS WOULD BE THE LEARNING BLOCKS TO BECOMING A GOOD FATHER IN THE VERY DISTANT FUTURE. REGAN AND HE WERE STILL IN THAT AWKWARD ‘WE’RE FRIENDS BUT WE HAVE FEELINGS’ PART OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP. YES, ONE DAY HE WOULD WANT KIDS, BUT THAT WAS VERY FAR AWAY. HOPEFULLY THAT WOULD BE WHEN HE WAS OUT OF THE MOB AND SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY FROM IRELAND AND SAPPHIRE BAY. SURE, HE WOULD KEEP IN CONTACT WITH HIS FAMILY, BUT THE ONLY WAY TO SAVE HIMSELF AND EVERYONE ELSE WOULD BE TO JUST RELOCATE. AFTER ALL, CONNOR HAD FOLLOWED HIM HERE AND WOULD TRY AND FOLLOW HIM EVERYWHERE ELSE. GOD, HIS LIFE WAS SO SCREWED UP. HE FELT LIKE A TEENAGE GIRL WHINING ALL THE TIME. NEIL CHUCKLED. ”FAIR ENOUGH. I’M JUST TRYING TO BE THAT SUPER BAD INFLUENCE ON YOU.”

HE FELT HIS FACE SUDDENLY GROW FLUSHED WITH ANGER. HE BIT THE INSIDE OF HIS CHEEK HARSHLY AND IMMEDIATELY DROPPED THE SUBJECT OF HER PARTYING. CONNOR WAS TRYING TO SCARE HER TO SCARE HIM FOR SOME REASON, AND NEIL WAS GOING TO GO AND KICK HIS ASS. THIS WAS NOT PART OF ANY ARANGEMENT; NEIL HAD MADE THIS CLEAR EARLIER. ”THAT BASTARD,” HE MUMBLED, SURE THAT LILY AND THE PEOPLE AROUND HIM COULD HEAR. HE WAS ABOUT TO SAY SOMETHING, BUT THE FOOD SUDDENLY APPEARED. AS THE WAITRESS PASSED OUT THE FOOD, NEIL FORCED HIMSELF TO CALM DOWN, EVEN JUST A LITTLE. LILY WAS NOT HURT AND HE WOULD HAVE TO TALK TO CONNOR SOONER RATHER THAN LATER, SOMETHING HE HATED. ”I’LL TALK TO HIM. ACTUALLY, I’LL KICK HIS ASS. YOU WERE NOT PART OF THE ARRANGEMENT WE HAD COME UP WITH. IF YOU WANT, YOU CAN EITHER STAY WITH ME AT THE APARTMENT OR KAYLEE OR ONE OF YOUR FRIENDS AT COLLEGE. WHICHEVER IS EASIER? I WILL TAKE CARE OF THIS” NEIL SAID, HIS VOICE LOW WITH ANGER AS HE TOOK A BITE OF HIS FOOD.

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[LILY TORRES]

She grinned when her brother even called the bear cute, giggling a little under her breathe, she looked at the bear. “I haven’t named it actually… I don’t even know if it’s a boy or girl- wait what am I saying. Neil! I’m almost twenty I don’t name my stuffed animals anymore!” Now she was joking, the color rising in her face hinted to her ability to hold back her laughter. She sighed it away though, when he started lecturing her again. She wasn’t sure she really liked him trying to be the protective older brother, she was growing up, she’d been raised well enough, despite her exposure to the mafia, Lily tried to not really let any of that effect her too much, though thinking back on it, it was what fueled a lot of her drive to get out and do whatever she wanted, it’s what kept her devoted to wanting to study her ass off until she passed out, that and trying to make it up to her family, to be different from her mother and make her father and Neil proud. Ultimately, she wanted to be herself, she didn’t want to have to be mother’s daughter, or her brother’s sister. She wanted to be Lily Torres. Someone that wasn’t compared to anyone else, and her growing up and not being like either of them was a good example that she was making it up to her family while doing just that. 

She knew Neil was trying to lighten the mood now and she laughed a little, “Haha, if you do that I’ll just skip the bill. I can get out through the kitchen; there isn’t anything you can do about it.” She stuck her tongue out at him and laughed. She wasn’t one that could ever be considered extremely serious, even in her dance and singing she was a goofball, but it’s how she functioned. Instead of taking everything to heart or taking it at face value, she learned to laugh at anything she could, finding it better to laugh then anything else. But when he admitted to trying to be a bad influence on her, she just chuckled. “You just be protective older brother, I have friends to be bad influences on me. And if they aren’t enough I’m sure I could find trouble myself somehow. And besides, even my friends are used to you just being the total neat freak protective older brother.” Most of her friends were used to Lil sneaking around behind his back and though he knew, and they knew he knew, it was her version of being a fun rebellious young-adult, and she was just fine with it. The way she saw it, she had fun, didn’t go doing drugs, she wasn’t a whore; she never got into any real trouble, so she was still on the good side of things. She never got into anything serious and that was fine with her, she liked being the little goody-goody that she was, it made her someone others could trust and get along with, come to for advice, and she liked that, she liked being that sweet innocent and lovely little girl that no one could speak a bad word about, in fact, it made her damned proud.

She heard what he mumbled and looked up at him then glanced around the room, a couple of people around them glanced at him as well, but just as she expected the rage storm to hit, the waitress showed up with their food and she sighed in relief. Though Lily could see it in his face how much work was being put towards Neil restraining himself. She sighed and confessed, "Neil. It's not worth it. I tried to get out of it, even dared him to try and hurt me knowing that if he did you wouldn't care what happened to you. That you'd kill him.." she sighed as his exact words played through her mind. Connor's voice burned into her brain and making her sick to her stomach. "He said 'killing me would be far more entertaining, but then he wouldn't have me to dangle over your head.'" As much as she didn't want to she met her brother's eyes, she locked her eyes with his "The more you try to keep me out of this the worse it will be Neil. So let's face it, you overstep any line it will be me he comes after." Taking a slow sip of her coffee she had a rather un-lily like idea that would no doubt surprise anyone if they found out it came from her mind. Leaning forward a little bit she lowered her voice more, trying to keep their conversation as private as she could "The best thing to do, is to go about like you don't even know, I'll stay at the apartment and be super cautious about everything I do but not so that if he has someone watching me it will be obvious. If he doesn't know that you know, and if I don't go running off then it's better because he still thinks I'm a little girl afraid of my own shadow, and to tell you the truth, and he thinks he has the ability to hit you unexpectedly with if he attempts to use me to get to you. The best thing is to just let him think he has won for now, you go crossing the line he has you to hang over my head and me to hang over yours. Quite frankly I hate hanging anywhere so I'd rather just stay hidden and grounded for now." she looked at him then down at her food, taking a bite of the chicken caesar  salad she kept her eyes averted for a moment. Waiting for his response to her random display of knowing. It was something she had picked up on, as innocent and good as she was, she learned enough over the years to see behavioral and thought patterns in her enemies and she spent her entire life pretending to ignore the existence of the mafia and it's effects while really she sat around listening to every conversation like the curious cat she was playing that thin wire of life and death and she was still trying to work her way to the side of life.