Comfort Food

Who: Jessie and Lily
When: Sunday 23, afternoon
Where: The James' apartment

Jessie had slept in that morning, checking the clock when she woke up to see that it was noon already. What she expected to see, other than her little kitten Leo curled up beside her on the bed, was her father on the couch out in the living room. Instead, what she found in her father's place a note with a bit of money attached to it, telling her that he was going to be out until late and that she should head to her grandparents' house, that this was money for cab fare. And suddenly, Jessie needed to not be in this apartment alone. If she was here alone, she knew she'd only spent her time thinking, then worrying, then really worrying about where Jesse was. Even though she had no intention of going to her grandparents' house (because then, who would be here to wait for her father's return?), Jessie had something in mind to help her pass the time and focus on something other than where her dad was.

She stood at the phone in their apartment building's lobby with the receiver pressed up to her ear, having instantly dialed Lily's number. Maybe she could convince Lily to come over today and they could bake that cherry pie that they planned to do on Monday? Maybe just talking to Lily on the phone would keep her grounded for a while? Either way, she just hoped Lily was home.

Lily was home, wondering, exactly, why she thought it was a good idea to get two new kittens while she was trying to unpack. That's right. Jenny. So she finished unpacking all her clothes in the new dresser and armoire that had arrived by absolute miracle the day before when she returned from dropping Jessie off.

It took her a few rings to answer the phone, trying to avoid tripping on Dinah and Kit, who were quite happy getting in the way as they bounded like tiny horses around the apartment. "Hello, this is Lily."

"Lily, hey! It's Jessie," She began, but the voice on the end of the phone wasn't as playful or lilting as it had been the previous day. "How's the unpacking coming?" Jessie wrapped the phone chord around her fingers, mentally kicking herself for once again interrupting Lily. Of course, Jessie didn't know if she was unpacking at the moment, but unpacking took a while and it generally didn't help when teenager girls showed up at your apartment or called you during the middle of the day.

Lily was surprised to hear Jessie on the other end of the telephone line and it was clear in her answer that she was startled. "The unpacking is just fine. Sweetie, is everything okay?" While yeah, it was nice to see the teenager and to do things with her, two days in a row had her concerned. Jessie didn't sound too distressed, but she also didn't sound as bubbly as she did the day before.

"Yeah...yeah, I'm ok..." Jessie continued to wind telephone chord around her fingers, a nervous habit. "I was wondering if you'd rather bake a pie today instead of tomorrow? But if you're busy, tomorrow still works." Then, thinking of Leo as another excuse, she tacked on, "Thought it might be nice to get the kittens together again and let them play?"

Something was wrong. Maybe not dire, but Jessie had to be upset. Lily had been around teenagers for a long enough time that she could tell. "I wouldn't mind at all. Did you want to come over here or would you rather me come over there?" Because maybe Jesse wasn't home. That might be the reason she was upset. "I could bring a kitten for Leo if you'd like."

"Do you mind coming here?" She was being selfish, she knew it, but the idea of having their apartment smell like pie was pretty comforting in itself. "If you want to bring a kitten, I'm bet Leo would like that, but wouldn't it be unfair to bring one and not both? But you don't have to or anything. I think we have everything we need for pie but cherries..." Her lips turned up into a small smile, though. "Thanks, Lily, for coming over."

She must be by herself then. "That's not a problem. I'll bring some stuff over. Kit isn't my kitten though. She's Jenny's. I'll be over in a few minutes, okay?"

Nodding even though Lily couldn't see it, Jessie felt a smile settle on her lips. She was still worried, but having Lily there as a distraction would definitely help for a while. "Thanks, Lily. I really appreciate it." Hanging up, she rushed back up to her room to throw on a blue dress as well as a pair of thick, over the knee socks that disappeared under the hem of her dress. She swept her hair over her shoulder and leaned down to pick up Leo when the kitten came stumbling into the living room and tripped straight into her foot. "Leo, you have to be good when Lily gets here, ok?" At least she had Leo as a distraction for now.

Lily herself went to change clothes after she hung, putting on a simple faded red cotton dress and black belt, sliding into a pair of plain black shoes. She was worried and the sense of urgency she felt was growing as she gathered up a bag of some extra cooking ingredients, and a seperate bag of some things she had set aside for Jessie after the previous day. Why hadn't Jessie gone to her grandparents if her father wasn't home? She seemed to have spent a lot of time there. And aunts? Besides Evelyn, Lily recalled Jesse speaking of some other sisters.

Scooping Dinah into her pocket, Lily hailed a taxi and went to the James' apartment. At least the weather was a bit nicer today. It was in no time that Lily was knocking on the apartment door, eying the lights sceptically as she waited for Jessie to answer the door.

It took even less time for Jessie to run to the door and open it, greeting Lily with a relieved smile. The kitten curled up on her shoulder peeked his sleepy head up and meowed at the kitten in Lily's pocket, curiosity already sparking in him. Jessie would have given Lily a hug, but she didn't want to squish Dinah. "Thanks again for coming over, Lily. I figured Dad would really like having a pie here when he comes home." ...From wherever he was.

So Jesse really wasn't there and she had a feeling that Jessie wasn't meant to be staying here by herself. "It's not a problem, sweetie," she told the girl with a smile, coming inside the apartment and reaching out to scratch the top of Leo's head with a finger. "I see your dad doesn't seem to mind the new addition." Dinah meowed while she carefully took off her long coat, peeking her head out of the depths of the pocket before Lily fished her out.

Thankful for the change of subject, Jessie pulled Leo off her shoulder and placed in him the palm of her hands, waiting until Lily had Dinah in her own to put him close to the kitten. Leo, instantly, started to sniff around Dinah, to analyze her. "I think he actually might really like Leo. Bet he'll be happy when it's rainy again and there's a nice, warm kitten curled by his feet." She motioned with her head toward the kitchen before taking steps toward it. "We don't have cherries here but I think we have some apples somewhere. We could make an apple pie instead?"

She couldn't help but smile at the mental image of Jesse with a kitten curled up on his shoulder. It was a funny picture. "We could make both," Lily suggested, holding up the bag she brought. "I grabbed a bag of cherries on my way out." She put the cat on the floor, watching as Dinah pranced off to investigate the couch. "Or apple if you'd like. It doesn't matter to me."

"Oh! You brought cherries? Then definitely a cherry pie!" Following suit, Jessie places Leo on the floor and the curious kitten immediately trailed after Dinah. Jessie headed to the sink and turned on the water, scrubbing her hands with soap to clean them. She left the water on for Lily and moved to the counter, opening her bag of cherries to start pulling the stems off of them. "Sorry if I pulled you away from your unpacking. I really can come over and help you unpack if you want."

"Oh, it's fine. I was pretty much done anyway which reminds me after we're done baking, I have a surprise for you." She gave Jessie a grin before rolling up her sleeves and cleaning her hands. "And here. Do you have a strainer? It's easier to put that in the sink and toss the stems that way we can wash them off." She set the smaller of her two bags on the counter and started pulling out some extra supplies such as some cookie cutters in the shape of stars and a rather nice, decorative pie pan.

A surprise? Well, Jessie certainly did love surprises, especially when the came in the form of Lily bearing gifts and not her father not being there. She was doing her very best not to worry about him but it wasn't working. Instead, she nodded to Lily and pulled out a strainer, settling it in the sink and following Lily's instructions. "Can I have a hint on what my surprise is?" She asked as she looked over at the items Lily was pulling out of the bag. "That's a nice pie pan. Oh, is the surprise cookies?" There were some nice cookie cutters on the counter now.

"It's clothes, actually," Lily confessed with a little smile. "You can go through them and pick the ones you like. They're all pretty much brand new still." Even if it had been a decade since she was able to fit in any of them. Hello, adulthood. Although she wasn't sure if Jessie would want any of them. They were all pretty plain, in darker colors, but if she ever had to go to church or if her family was having a special dinner together, or a party, they might work. "And these cookie cutters is so you we can make a pretty crust over the cherries."

"Clothes?" At this, Jessie perked up even more. Clothes were still clothes, hand-me-downs or not, and Lily's clothes were sure to have a really nice quality. "You're sure? You don't want them anymore?" She turned to look at Lily as she spoke but there was a grin already on her lips. This would be like a big shopping trip but no one had to spend any money and the store had come to her house instead! What a perfect scenario!

She laughed, shaking her head, dark brown curls swinging. "I haven't worn them since I was around your age," she said. "Before I went to donate them, I thought you might want to take a look." It was nice, being able to do things for Jessie, especially since, after what Jesse said, her mom wasn't really there. Not that Lily was trying to play house, but she knew what it was like to grow up without a mom.

Jessie did appreciate Lily's concern, very much. She was doing a million fantastic things for the girl and even though Jessie was often doted on by her family, there was something different about being cared for by someone outside of your family. By a friend. There was something really nice about it because Lily didn't have to do any of this stuff, but she chose to. "That's really nice of you, Lily. Thank you! I can put on a fashion show for you or something?" She suggested, her smile still big as she started rinsing off the cherries.

"Well, if there's anything you like that might be too big or something, I'll go get them tailored for you. Every girl needs something nice and you look like you have an inch or two left to go before you're done growing," she said with a grin. Lily moved to the other side of the kitchen, getting a large mixing bowl and started gathering ingredients for the pie crust. "The pie crust is pretty much your standard recipe. However I use warm -- not hot -- water instead of cold or cool water."

Lily really was so nice to her. Jessie was thankful she was here because it put an ease, if only ever so slightly, to the nervous worryings in her head. "Thanks, Lily!" She watched as Lily moved around the kitchen, thinking it funny that she already knew were most of their cookware was. Just another reason why Lily would make a fantastic girlfriend for her father. She already knew the layout of their kitchen and that was definitely a plus. "What's the warm water do that the cold water wouldn't?"

She paused, frowning. "You know, I'm not sure. Our cook told me to always use warmish water. Most people use cool water... something scientific about molecules, I guess. I was never good at chemistry." She shared a grin with Jessie. "Have you ever made pie crust before?"

"Not really." She admitted with a little shrug. "I tried once, but it turned out lumpy and I ended up making some weird cookies with fruit on top of them." She watched Lily with intrigue in her eyes, though. "You had a cook? How long ago was that? Did you learn to cook everything you know from him? Guess I'm lucky I have you, huh, since we don't have a real cook here!" She tried her best, but she couldn't match up to Lily's cooking.

"Oh, she's still there, at my Gran's house. She taught me everything I know about cooking." Lily smiled in memory, of coming home from school upset and Emma roping her into making the potatoes and pie for dinner and it made everything better. "It's one of those things I do when I'm worried or upset, really. Making something yummy and delicious to drown your sorrows in probably isn't the best thing to do, but I think I've managed to make it through." She patted her flat stomach with a laugh. "Could you get a saucepan, please? We're going to prep the cherries after we make the crust."

"There are worst things you could do at bad times," Jessie said, a darkness in her voice that hadn't been there earlier. There was one person and one only that she thought of when it came to bad influences: her mother. "I'd take pie and cookies any day over the stuff some people do." She was all too happy to get the saucepan and bring it to Lily. She really didn't need to be thinking about her mother and worrying about her father at the same time. "Prep them how?" Jessie asked, hoping to just get her mind back on the baking track and off the worrying track.

The tone of voice just sent the worry in Lily spiraling around even more, but she wasn't really sure what to do. She wanted to give the girl a hug, a kiss on the top of her head, something comforting, but she didn't. Instead she just gave Jessie a warm smile and set the saucepan aside for later. "Okay, first what we're going to do is put one cup of shortening in the mixing bowl, then we're going to put in a quarter cup of the warm water and a tablespoon of milk then we're going to beat it until it's really kind of fluffy. Do you want to pour them together or should I?"

"Will you?" Jessie figured that if she was able to beat the mixture together until it's fluffy, she might be able to get a little of her aggression out on said mixture. She searched for a whisk, found a pretty bent up one, but it was suitable so she brought it over to the bowl again. "I'd like to whisk." Except that the mixture probably wouldn't just be shortening and water and milk, but instead a very distinct image of her mother's face.

Lily nodded, pouring together the shortening and water and milk. "Let me know if you're arm gets tired. I think this is maybe why we use warm water. It helps make whipping up the shortening easier." She shrugged and tilted the bowl to the side slightly. "Here, it'll be easier to do it this way."

She gave a quick thought about why she wouldn't need warm water this time but with the ok from Lily, Jessie dove straight into the mixture set before her. She had a harsh grip on the bowl and a harsher one on the whisk, instantly plunging the whisk into the shortening as if it was an extension of her own arm. Like she was punching at the mixture. She was taking the term 'beat the mixture' very literally. "How's this?" She asked, almost absently, to Lily but her eyes stayed entirely focused and narrowed on the contents of the bowl.

"Not that hard!" Lily said quickly, reaching out and stilling Jessie's hand in alarm. She was splashing up the milk and water out of the bowl and she grimaced. "Quickly but gently." At least she had the hindsight to make sure the shortening was soft enough that it was easier to work with. "Although maybe a fork would be better."

Jessie hadn't even realized that she'd been making a mess. It was like she'd been pulled out of a trance, an angry, angry trance, by Lily. She stared down at her arms, noticing they were splattered with milk, and looked up to Jessie with innocent eyes but a slightly guilty smile. "Sorry." She wouldn't tell Lily she'd been picturing Veronica and that was why she'd lost control. "It's still usable, isn't it?"

Lily pursed her lips, tilting the bowl to look inside. "Yeah, it'll be fine. Just go ahead and grab a fork. It'll be easier to use than the whisk. Or we could just use the pie crust I brought over and try making it from scratch another day." She offered Jessie a little girl to show that she wasn't angry or upset or anything. She was worried about her, and she wasn't entirely sure the kitchen was the best place for the teen.

"I'll get a fork and see if we can fix it. If not, we'll use the pie crust you brought? And if we can, we can make two pies!" Jessie was going to stop brooding. She was going to stop worrying about her father and she was going to stop thinking about Veronica. She was going to spend a fantastic afternoon with her friend, Lily, and she wasn't going to let herself get caught up in those thoughts again. So she grabbed a fork and started beating the mixture again, this time in a much more contained, controlled manner. "I think it's starting to come together now? The fork was a good idea."

"Mhmm..." Lily nodded in agreement, putting together the flour and dash of salt into a sifter and waited until the shortening looked ready. "Okay, I'm going to start putting this in and it's going to get a little more difficult at first but just keep stirring it, okay?" She was still worried about Jessie's mood and wondered if she should ask, but if the girl wanted to talk with her about it, she'd bring it up. After another minute, Lily started carefully sifting the flour into the bowl while Jessie kept stirring. "This is another trick I was taught. This way the shortening is evenly distributed and you don't end up overworking the dough to get it in."

"Huh..You're just full of baking facts, aren't you?" Jessie could notice the mixture changing slowly, doing what Lily said it would, and she was relieved she hadn't actually ruined it. She would have been even more annoyed had she messed up this crust. Lily was doing Jessie a big favor by being here and she wanted her to know that she really was paying attention...even if her attention slipped to other things more often than not. "Do you think it's getting close to being ready?"

Lily gathered up the used dishes and glanced inside. "Almost. It'll be done once it forms a dough ball and isn't as sticky. Is your arm tired?" she asked, taking the sifter and setting it in the sink and rinsing the measuring cups to reuse for the filling. She'd clean the whisk off later.

"No, I'm all right." Jessie wasn't about to give up on this shortening mixture. After a few minutes, she could see it starting to form the dough ball Lily mentioned, so she put the fork in the sink and held the bowl out to Lily. "How's this? Is this right?"

"That's perfect," she smiled. Now what you're going to do is lay some wax paper down on the counter, put the doughball in the middle, then lay another sheet of waxpaper on it and start rolling it out." Lily grabbed a plain wooden rolling pin from her bag and handed it over to Jessie.

With Lily's expert instruction, it didn't take long for the pies to be assembled and placed in the preheated oven. After Jessie had washed her hands clean of all flour and sticky cherry filling, she made her way to the living room to investigate Lily's surprise bag of clothes. What she found first was a pair of curious kittens that had found their way to an old newspaper left in the living room and had bundled themselves up under the mountain of paper. Laughing, Jessie leaned down to peek into the tiny openings in the newspaper, getting two curious sets of eyes staring back at her. "Hey, Lily! Have you seen the kittens? I think they've made their own little castle!"

Lily was going through the kitchen and cleaning up all around, but poked her head out at Jessie's call. "Yeah, Dinah sure likes the newspaper. A really good toy for Leo might be filling up a shoebox or other small box with scraps of paper and rags. To play around in."

"I'll do that but I might have to go buy a new paper if he and Dinah've already claimed this one." She laughed a little before standing back up and heading to the kitchen doorway. "You don't have to clean up, you know? I'll do that later." She was actually itching to get her hands into that bag of clothes Lily had brought over but she couldn't very well do that without Lily being there.

"Oh, I don't mind," Lily said, not noticing that Jessie wanted company. She was working very hard on making sure she was able to get all the shortening off of the measuring cup. There was something to be said for working in the kitchen. "How about you go through the bag and pick out the ones you like and we'll start from there?"

"Really, Lily, you don't have to..." She watched as Lily kept cleaning, though, and sighed slightly. She supposed she might as well just let Lily clean if she wanted so she headed back to the bag and started sorting through it, putting the clothes in organized piles after admiring them: shirts, pants, dresses, sweaters. "This stuff is really nice, Lily!" She spent her time looking at the pants, mostly, knowing she'd been meaning to get a new pair for a while now and there was one calling her name. A real pair of gray trousers with a slightly wide leg, something she could wear with a more colorful shirt when the weather wasn't so wet that it would dampen the fabric. In fact, maybe she'd pair them with that white shirt right there. Not really colorful, but it was bright and she could layer it with other things. She didn't really have clothes like that. She had a party dress that her father had given her and a lot of really casual type clothing, but inbetween formal and casual..she didn't really have much. Smiiling, she picked up the outfit and stood. "I've got one!"

Lily finished up, wiping her hands on a towel and came into the living room. "I forgot about those. I think that might be the only pair of pants in there." She came over to peer in the bag to see if there was anything left. "I wasn't one who wore pants when I was your age. I actually wasn't allowed." She shrugged a little, feeling embarrassed. "So a lot of this probably won't be to your taste, but I figure there might be something."

Wasn't allowed to wear pants? Jessie tried to keep the confused look off her face. Maybe she was missing something but that seemed like a pretty trivial thing to be banned from. Either way, she shook her head at Lily. "No, everything's really nice! I've already seen a lot of shirts and a couple dresses I really like. I just don't really own any trousers. Why don't you pick out something too and I'll try both on?"

"Well, there was one dress I thought you might like..." Lily went to the pile that was made up of the dresses, digging through and pulling out a navy one with a wide lace collar. It didn't stand out, it was actually kind of plain, but it was made of a really nice fabric, and the cut was fluid, like it was just a single piece of fabric to cling to you. "It doesn't look like much but maybe getting this collar off might make it seem a lot trendier. This is the kind of dress that'll last you awhile." One thing that was startingly clear about many of the clothes that despite the occasional shock of pale blue or pink or white fabric, much of it was dark navy colors, black, or grays and browns. Lily felt rather guilty about it, but she couldn't actually help that matter.

That collar was...in desperate need of removal but everything else about the dress was really nice. high quality fabric, the cut was nice. Reaching out, she touched the front of it and smiled as she watched it sway slightly. So she held the bundle of clothes in her hands out to Lily so she could put the dress on top if she wanted. "I'll try it on!" Whether or not the clothes were bright, there were always accessories she could buy to jazz up an outfit and they cost considerably less than a dress of that quality.

It didn't take her long to get the dress on and hurry back to the living room from her bedroom. "You're right, the collar definitely has to go," She said with a laugh, "But it moves so well." She couldn't help swishing to one side then the next to watch the skirt move. It was a bit big for her in the blouse of the dress, but it was nothing a tailor couldn't fix.

"You like it?" she asked hopefully, tilting her head to the side as she examined the way the dress hung on Jessie critically. It would definitely need to be taken in up top but hung on her rather nicely. "We'll get it fixed up and all set for you." She made a mental note that the same would need applied to the other dresses that Jessie might decide to keep.

"Yeah, I like it a lot!" She gave one small twirl in the dress, thankful for a distraction from her thoughts, and glanced down as the skirt swirled around her. "I guess you've got a lot more to fill the dress out with." Jessie glanced at Lily with a small grin, wondering if that would embarrass her too. "But it'll be ok once we get it fixed, right?"

Lily laughed a little bit. "Uh, yeah, I guess I do." She never actually noticed it, and she tugged at the top of her dress a little, as if it needed adjusted. She bit her lower lip, torn, unsure, but, "Is everything alright, Jessie?" Her voice was soft, gentle and curious. She didn't want to make her mad, but, well, Jessie had sounded upset earlier and Lily was worried.

And just when she thought she could get away from those thoughts for a few minutes. Jessie's face fell slightly, the traces of happiness lost in a frown as she moved to the couch, pushed aside the piles of clothes, and plopped down on the cushion. "...So... basically, Dad left me a note saying that I should go to my grandparents' house because he won't be getting home until late... but he didn't say why and I don't know what to think about it. I mean..He got shot. What if he comes home with another..." She stopped herself, looking down at her hands as she felt her throat dry up. Not gonna cry, no way. "...I don't like not knowing where he is."

Jesse had been shot before? She had noticed that sometimes there was a slight 'off-ness' to his walk, but she never truly paid it any mind. Lily raised her hand, hesitant, but wrapped her arm carefully around Jessie's shoulder. She'd let the younger girl initiate any more contact. "Why didn't you go to your grandparents' house, sweetheart?" The endearment wasn't a concious choice, but it seemed appropriate.

Jessie continued to stare at her hands. Crap. Crap crap crap. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything about her father getting shot to Lily? She trusted Lily and all, but she didn't tend to just blurt that sort of thing out. It was a touchy subject, but she was filled with thoughts about touchy subjects and one was bound to just make its way out of her mouth if she sat and thought about them enough. When she turned to Lily, her eyes were very serious. "Promise you won't tell him I told you? I don't think he really wants people to know. So...if you have to ask him about it...can you just say you noticed it or something? I've been watching him lately and I think it gets a little worse when the weather is so bad. Who knows why..."

She was rambling, she knew she was, but her dad meant everything to her and blabbing about his wound certainly wasn't part of the 'family above everything else' mantra that the James' lived by. As she continued to think about it, she wondered why she'd actually let it slip out. Maybe it was just...time to talk to someone about it. Someone friend-like. Someone she could rely on outside of the James family name. Someone unbiased. "But...yeah...it happened...and ever since then, I freak out whenever he doesn't tell me where he is. And..I didn't go to my grandparents' because I need to know that he is coming home tonight. I need to see him walk through the door." Her voice wavered and she hated the fact that these stupid tears were so hard to stop, because one came rolling over her cheek even though she didn't want it to. "I can't do that if I'm not here."

"Jessie James, listen to me," Lily said softly, touching Jessie's cheek so the girl would look at her. "First off, I won't tell him you told me. I won't even ask him about it. It's not my business, okay?" She reached up and stroked her hair out of her face in comfort. Her heart positively ached at the broken voice Jessie spoke in and she wanted to do whatever she could to make it better. "It's okay. It's going to be okay, sweetheart. And it's okay to cry."

She told herself she was going to stop. crying. when she looked at Lily, but the way Lily was talking to her and her hand on Jessie's cheek were both making it increasingly hard for Jessie to will her tears to stop. At least she knew Lily wouldn't say anything. She could trust Lily not to bring it up. This way, she could devise the perfect time to actually let her father know she'd let the cat out of the bag, so to speak. So slowly, she turned to look up at Lily and lost it. There was something about the way Lily was looking at her, the way she talked to her, that made it near impossible for Jessie to not cry. She really hadn't wanted to cry at all, but she found herself with her face buried in Lily's neck and her arms wrapped around Lily's middle in a tight hug, sobbing. Now, Jessie James didn't take crying lightly, but it wasn't like she was in a crowd full of people or anything. And this was about her dad. And her dad getting hurt. So she just kept herself there and cried until she couldn't cry anymore...and even a few minutes after. She pried herself back just a bit from Lily when the tears stopped, swallowing hard to try and get some moisture back in her throat, and sniffled. "...sorry."

Lily shook her head with a gentle smile, and pulled a handkerchief from the pocket in her dress and handed it to Jessie. "There's nothing to be sorry about. You have every right to be upset and cry. Do you feel better?"

Taking the handkerchief, Jessie rubbed the remnants of tears from her eyes and sniffled once more. The funny thing was that she did feel better, much better, so she nodded to Lily but hesitated when she tried to hand her handkerchief back. "I feel a lot better, actually. Do you want me to wash this first?" It wasn't like crying about it changed the fact that her father had been shot or that he was out somewhere that she didn't know right about now, possibly getting himself back into that same situation, but being able to cry did help.

"You can keep it. I've got plenty." Lily continued to smile gently at the girl, stroking her long hair gently. "Do you want me to stay with you here until your dad comes home? Or do you want to come to my place?" Because at this point, there was no way that Lily, not only as a responsible adult, but as someone who cared deeply about Jessie. She had that way of worming her way into your heart and Lily was glad that she was able to provide some help to her.

Jessie held the handkerchief carefully, the smallest of smiles playing at her lips. "If you really don't mind staying here, would you?" Jessie wasn't going anywhere. If she had decided to leave, she would have gone to her grandparents' like Jesse asked, but she was far too worried to leave the house and not know what happened when Jesse came home. Because he was coming home. Definitely coming home. "I want to stay here for when he comes back."

Lily nodded, still smiling gently. "Yeah, I'll stay. I'll stay as long as you need me to."