“I’m just protective of him, I guess. I always have been, the same way he is with me. I was being selfish, scared that if things went bad, he’d run away like before and I’d lose my brother all over again.”
“I would never hurt him intentionally. Dwight is... special. When I met him, I was in kind of a bad place, and he somehow made it better.”
She laughs softly. “That sounds like my brother. He's always making other people's problems his own. He's always the first one to help when someone needs it. It's always been his way.” She smiles as she talks about her brother.
“I lost my parents last year and Dwight told me about Grace, not much, just the basics. But it’s nice to be able to talk to someone who understands. We tried to fight what was happening between us, but... it was hurting us both more being apart than being together.”
“You care about him don’t you?” I nod. “I saw the way you were looking at him earlier.” She leans back with her arms extended behind her and tips back her head to look up at the ceiling, blowing out a breath. “God, I miss that feeling… being in love…”
“Oh… no… I-”
“Quinn,” she cuts me off. “I’m twenty-four years old and have been in love more times than most people have in an entire lifetime. I think I know what it looks like.”
In love?
Is that what this is?
Tori sits up and places a hand over mine. “I just want to see my brother happy, God knows he deserves it, and if he’s found that with you, then that’s good enough for me. You won’t have any more problems from me, I swear.”
“Okay.”
“Friends?” she asks, holding out her hand.
“Friends,” I agree, taking her hand.
She smiles and tugs me forward, wrapping me up in a hug. “It’s gonna be nice having a sister again.”
We head back into the living room, our arms looped.
“Is everything okay?” Dwight’s mom asks.
Tori glances at me and smiles. “Absolutely perfect. Seems like Lissy wasn’t the only one who made a new friend today.”
My eyes find Dwight, worry knitted across his expression, but I give him a reassuring smile, and I see the worry drift away.
Chapter 33
Dwight
The rest of the day passes smoothly, and after we’ve eaten, we retire to the living room, where Lissy enrols us all in a game of charades, and I soon figure out why she chosethatgame to play. She’s a master at it. How the hell is one five year-old clever enough to beat a room full of adults?
Throughout the whole game, I don’t really pay attention, I just sit back and watch as Quinn settles in and slowly becomes more comfortable surrounded by my family. To see her laughing at some silly action Lissy is acting out, or her chattering on about something to my sister. It’s the best feeling. To know that she’s been accepted into my family is the only thing that matters right now. She’s been alone for too long, but now she has me and my family around her.
“Quinn, do you wanna play with my dolls with me?” Lissy asks.
Quinn’s face lights up with a wide smile. “I would love to,” she replies sweetly.
“Yay! Come on, they’re in my room!”
Quinn gives me a quick glance and a smile over her shoulder, and she allows Lissy to pull her out of the room, the sound of their hurried footsteps slowly disappearing up the stairs.
“You picked a good one there, Dwight,” my dad says, nodding with his approval.
“I see a little of Grace in her,” my mom comments, “but are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
“We’re being careful not to be seen together, but like I said, if it came down to it, I’d choose her.”
“Do you love her?”
