He tried to pull away. She held tight.
“Please.”
He stopped.
Furious. Exhausted.
And maybe a little scared.
Daisy looked up at him with a face so full of shame he almost didn’t recognize it. “I wasn’t just mean to Ali because I was a bitchy little sister.”
“Don’t,” he warned, voice hard.
She ignored it. “I was half in love with her.”
He froze.
“I didn’t realize it at first. Not fully. I just knew that she made me feel… seen. And safe. And warm in a way no one ever had.I wanted to be around her all the time. I wanted her to pick me first. But then she didn’t.”
Her voice cracked, trembling.
“She picked you.”
Dylan didn’t breathe.
“She picked you,” Daisy repeated. “My fucking brother. Everyone picked you! Ali was mine! She was my best friend. She was supposed to be mine! And god, I hated her for it. I hated that she was happy with you. I hated that she smiled at you differently. I hated that she never looked at me that way.”
“She didn't choose me to spite you Daisy.”
“I know,” she said. “But it still hurt like hell. And we lived in freaking South Georgia, Dyl. What was I supposed to do? Admit to the whole damn world that I might like girls— when I hadn’t even admitted it to myself?”
Silence.
“I wasn’t ready,” she whispered. “So I turned it into hate. And jealousy. And sarcasm. I was spiteful and cruel, and I didn’t know how to stop. And by the time I realized how far I’d gone, it was already too late.”
He didn’t look at her.
“But you know what kills me?” she said. “It wasn’t even real love. Not like what I have with Laila. That’s real. That’s forever. What I had for Ali was just a crush. A stupid, painful, first-love kind of crush. And I let it destroy everything.”
Still, Dylan didn’t move.
“I just wanted you to know the truth. Finally.”
He stayed frozen a beat longer, then muttered, “You don’t get points for honesty now.”
“I’m not trying to earn points, Dylan.”
“Well, congratulations,” he said, voice sharp. “You already did the damage. You got what you wanted.”
“No, I didn’t,” she snapped. “You think I wanted to lose her too?”
“You never had her.”
“I know that!” she yelled. “And then you didn't. Because of me!”
He flinched like she’d slapped him.
“I ruined it,” Daisy said, breathing hard. “I know that. I live with that. Every day.”
