Chapter 17 - Happy For You

Now standing off to the side of the building, a soft darkness surrounding us as the sun began to set, Lyn picked at her probably freshly done nails and bit her lip.

"I'm sorry." She blurted, causing my eyes to widen.

"What?"

"Alek, I know I left you behind when I went off to college and basically cut contact with you, but—as selfish as it was—I felt awful about leaving you behind with our parents when I knew they always treated me better for something you had no control over. I wanted to reach out, but every time I thought about it, I just felt so guilty for leaving you behind and figured you probably wanted nothing to do with me." Lyn rambled, pulling her hair around in front of her as she fiddled with it. 

I didn't know what to say, but luckily Lyn continued before I had to figure it out.

"Then I met William. Alek, he's so wonderful! He wants to meet you. I've told him all about you, and he got after me a little bit when he realized the distance between us is all my fault. I knew he was right but I had no idea how to remedy this. I didn't have your phone number and neither did our parents, and it took me ages to find out where to send the invitation, but I figured it was my only shot. I knew if you came, I could say all of this to you in person rather than in a silly Facebook message. 

"Now you're here and I'm so worried I'm gonna mess this up again, but I have to try. You deserved so much better, Alek. You were just a kid, and yeah, maybe I was, too, but you had no one. I left you with parents that never acted like they wanted you and I'm so sorry." Pushing hair out of her face, Lyn's eyes were shiny as she poured her heart out to me. I was trying to hold in the tears, myself, completely shocked at what I was hearing.

"So, if you'll let me, I'd love to get to know my little brother again?" She finished off, looking at me with hopeful eyes.

She was right, we were both kids. While she was older and off to college at the time of her departure, she also had to practically raise her little brother because our parents refused to for the majority of her childhood before that. I hadn't quite thought of it that way before. It hurt more than anything when she left without a trace, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to try and mend the relationship we once had. Especially now that I had a different perspective in mind.

"Um, I need some time, if that's okay? Just to process everything. I mean, I thought you hated me, Lyn." I whispered, looking anywhere but at her. I hated telling people how I felt, but I knew if I didn't I could miss out on the chance to get my sister back. 

"Of course. Do you wanna swap phone numbers? I won't reach out until you're ready to talk, does that sound okay?" Lyn asked hesitantly, biting her lip nervously.

My head was spinning. All of this felt as if it came out of nowhere. I wanted to trust her words, but a part of me just refused. 

Her blue eyes were red around the edges and wet from tears she refused to let fall. I nodded meekly and handed over my phone. 

I knew that in the long run, even if I did end up getting hurt again, I would've still regretted not taking hold of the olive branch Lyn was extending. It hit me all of the sudden how much I truly missed her. I knew it would take time for us to reform our bond, and even after we did it may not ever be the same, but the thought of potentially having someone I could finally confide in about everything going on in my life at that moment was too good to pass up. 

Lyn's hands shook as she typed her number into my phone, looking back up at me with soft eyes after she finished. 

"My number is in here, now. Just text me whenever you feel ready to talk, okay?" My sister bit her lip again and looked down toward the ground, kicked a pebble slightly to the right, and then returned her gaze to me. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it again.

"I will. I promise." I whispered, knowing I would keep my word. It terrified me to be the one to have to reach out first, but the thought of having a random text come to my phone from Lyn when I wasn't ready to talk was much more terrifying. 

"Thank you." Lyn smiled. It was a small thing, but her eyes lit up and that proved it was genuine. 

Before Lyn could walk back inside, I spoke up. 

"Hey. . .for what's it worth, I'm so incredibly happy for you, Lyn." Quickly wiping her face of tears, Lyn nodded as she responded shakily, "It's worth more than you know."

Then she was gone.

A/N~ Hey there, Reading Mice! Sorry for the late update, had some doctor appointments yesterday that wiped me out, but we're back in business! You can read chapter 18 on Ream and Patreon now for paid members! Also, if y'all wanna support me in more free ways, you can just head on over to Patreon and Ream and give my pages a follow and some love, that'd help a ton! Link in bio to all my links! Thank you all for reading! 

Sneak peak: In chapter 18 Alek and Rowan get awfully close;)

QOTD: What's your least favorite part about going to the doctor?