"Why don't you ask your precious brother?" Brandy spat, her face flushed with rage and hurt. "He'll be happy to tell you how much fun he has with everyone except me."
Leo said absolutely nothing, which only made my anxiety spike higher. This wasn't like him. He was usually quick to defend himself, to explain, to try to fix things. This silent acceptance felt wrong.
"I think we should all calm down," I said, reaching for Brandy's arm. "Come with me, let's talk about this privately."
She jerked away from my touch. "He's the one you should be talking to. I'm tired of not being enough for him, but don't worry, I'm done with both of your lives for good. I have no business being here anymore."
She grabbed her scattered belongings, straightened her clothes as best she could, and stormed off down the hallway. I watched her go, then turned back to my brother, who was still leaning against the lockers, staring after her with an expression I couldn't read. The fact that he wasn't chasing after her, wasn't trying to fix whatever had gone wrong, terrified me more than the public scene had.
"I think we need to talk."
"I don't think so," he replied, his voice completely flat and emotionless.
"I'm not asking you." I grabbed his arm and pulled him toward an empty classroom, shutting the door behind us. My hands were shaking as I turned to face him.
"Explain to me what's going on, and I don't want you to lie to me or hide things from me, because this could be much worse than you think."
"Everything's fine," he replied, looking everywhere but at me.
"So what was all that drama out there?"
"It's none of your business."
The dismissive way he said it stung, but I pushed forward. "Of course it's my business. It's more my business than you realize."
"Why do you think you have the right to interfere in my life lately?"
Because I've lived through the aftermath of secrets and lies. Because I can't bear to watch you make the same mistakes that destroyed our family the first time.
"Because I care about you, Leo. And I don't want to see you doing something that will affect all of us later," I said instead. I could feel how frustrated he was; something was extremely wrong, and I was here, pressuring him to trust me.
"And what exactly do you think I could do that would be so terrible?"
I remained silent, the truth lodged in my throat like a stone. How could I tell him that I knew about Jeremy? How could I explain that I'd already lived through the consequences of these choices? He'd think I was completely insane.
"I don't know, Leo," I finally managed. "I'm just worried about you, that's all. I don't want you to suffer, and if it's within my power to help you, I want to try."
His expression softened slightly, and for a moment, he looked like the little brother I remembered, vulnerable and uncertain beneath all his teenage bravado.
"Lily," he said, his tone more compassionate now, "sometimes the best help you can give someone is to let them make their own mistakes without interfering. I know you're the older sister, and you think you can protect me, but you can't fight my battles for me."
Those words hurt more than I'd expected.Because this was exactly my problem, I was someone who thought I could fix everyone else's issues, who believed that if I just tried hard enough, controlled enough variables, and planned enough contingencies, I could prevent the people I loved from getting hurt.
But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't control everything.
CHAPTER 39
Lily
We spend so muchof our lives mourning things that were never ours to fix.
We regret not noticing the signs sooner. Not saying the right words at the right time. Not being loud enough, present enough, or strong enough to stop someone from making the wrong choice.
We convince ourselves that if we had just beenmore, maybe things would have turned out differently.
But that’s not how life works.
People make their own choices. They carry their own shadows. And sometimes, no matter how much you love them, you cannot step in and rewrite their ending.
