Ariana gave her full attention to Sheila as those words left her mouth.
Across the room, Sheila leaned forward slightly, her elbows resting on her knees now as she stared down at the floor between her feet.
For a while she said nothing more, letting the silence stretched again, though this ti it felt different. Less like a wall, and more like the slow gathering of thoughts that had been tangled together for too long.
Finally, Sheila spoke again.
"...It’s strange." She said in a softer tone. "I spent so long thinking I understood him."
She let out a faint breath.
"I thought I knew exactly why he did everything he did."
Her fingers tightened together slightly.
"I thought I had already figured it all out."
She paused again, then she shook her head faintly.
"But yesterday..." Her voice faltered for a mont. "...he told things I wasn’t ready to hear."
Ariana stayed quiet.
She could see the tension building slowly in Sheila’s shoulders, the way her fingers were starting to curl slightly into the fabric of the bed beneath her.
"I don’t even know what I’m supposed to feel anymore," Sheila continued quietly, her voice carrying a tired confusion more than anything else. "I thought I was angry at him. I thought I hated the way he treated ."
She lifted one hand slightly before letting it fall back into her lap as she paused again.
"But then he starts telling all these things... and suddenly nothing makes sense anymore." Her brow creased faintly. "It’s like soone took every answer I thought I had and just... scattered them everywhere."
Ariana watched her carefully, then she finally spoke.
"What kind of things did he tell you?"
Her voice remained calm and gentle, the question asked without pushing too hard.
Sheila didn’t answer imdiately. Instead, she leaned back slightly, her gaze drifting toward the dim light coming through the window.
For a mont she simply stared at it.
"...He told the truth," she said finally, the words ca out almost bitter. "About everything."
Sheila let out a quiet laugh then, though there was no real humor in it.
"You know what the worst part is?" She turned her head slightly toward Ariana again. "I think he was being honest."
Her fingers curled slightly against her knee.
"And that sohow makes it worse."
Ariana didn’t move. She didn’t offer comfort yet. She simply remained there, letting Sheila continue at her own pace.
Sheila stared at the floor again.
"I kept waiting for him to say sothing that would make it easy to hate him," she admitted quietly. "Sothing selfish. Sothing cruel."
Her lips pressed together slightly.
"But he didn’t."
Another long breath left her.
"And now I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that."
The room grew quiet again, but this ti, the silence didn’t feel heavy. It felt like the slow unraveling of sothing that had been knotted too tightly for too long.
After a mont, Ariana spoke again.
"You ran away."
The words were not accusatory, just an observation.
Sheila didn’t react imdiately, but after a few seconds, she nodded faintly.
"...Yeah."
Her voice was almost a whisper now.
"I did."
She rubbed her face with one hand, dragging it down slowly before letting it fall back into her lap.
"I didn’t know what else to do."
Ariana leaned back slightly in her chair.
"That’s okay."
Sheila looked up again, her expression was uncertain.
"...Is it?"
Ariana nodded softly.
"Sotis the first thing people do when sothing hurts that much... is step away from it." She paused. "That doesn’t an you’re weak."
Sheila stared at her quietly. The uncertainty in her eyes didn’t disappear, but sothing in them softened slightly.
For the first ti since Ariana had arrived, Sheila seed to breathe a little easier. Not because the pain had disappeared, but because she wasn’t carrying it alone in silence anymore.
For a while, neither of them spoke again.
The quiet in the room returned, though it no longer carried the sa weight as before. Sothing had shifted. The silence now felt more like a pause between breaths.
Ariana remained seated in the chair, her hands resting loosely on her knees as she watched Sheila carefully.
Across from her, Sheila sat on the edge of the bed with her elbows resting on her thighs, her fingers loosely interlocked. Her gaze remained fixed sowhere near the floor, as though the wooden boards there were easier to look at than Ariana.
For several seconds, the only sound in the room was the faint rustle of fabric as Sheila shifted slightly.
Then Ariana spoke again, her voice quiet but steady.
"It sounds like your head is still really full."
Sheila let out a faint breath through her nose.
"That’s one way to put it."
A small pause followed before she added more quietly,
"It’s like... every thought I had about him just got turned upside down."
Her fingers tightened together slightly.
"I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that."
Ariana nodded slowly.
"That makes sense."
Sheila glanced up at her briefly, as though surprised by the lack of judgnt in Ariana’s response.
"You’re not telling I’m being unreasonable?" she asked faintly.
Ariana shook her head gently.
"No."
She leaned forward slightly in her chair.
"Sotis when people feel a lot of things at once... anger, hurt, understanding... it gets ssy." Her eyes softened. "That doesn’t an any of those feelings are wrong."
Sheila stared at her for a mont.
Then she looked down again.
"That’s exactly the problem," she murmured. Her voice quieter now. "I hate him for what he did."
Her fingers tightened again.
"But at the sa ti..."
She stopped as the words refused to co easily.
Ariana didn’t rush her. She simply waited.
Eventually Sheila continued.
"...I understand why he did it."
Her brow creased slightly as though even admitting that felt like a betrayal of her own anger.
"And that just makes everything worse," she said, then shook her head faintly. "Because now I don’t even know if I’m allowed to be angry anymore."
Ariana listened carefully, then she asked sothing simple.
"What did you want from him before yesterday?"
Sheila blinked slightly. The question clearly caught her off guard.
"What do you an?"
Ariana tilted her head a little.
"Before he explained everything," she said softly. "Before all of this. What did you want from him?"
Sheila didn’t answer right away.
Instead she rubbed her shoulder slightly as her eyes drifted toward the dim light coming through the window.
Her mind seed to wander sowhere far away.
"...I don’t know," she murmured at first.
But even as she said it, the words sounded uncertain.
A few seconds passed, then she sighed quietly.
"That’s not true."
Her fingers began rubbing faintly against the edge of the mattress again.
"I do know."
Her voice softened further.
"I just didn’t want to admit it."
Ariana stayed quiet. She could see the tension in Sheila’s shoulders building again.
After another long pause, Sheila spoke.
"I just wanted my brother back."
The words ca out quietly, almost like a confession she had been avoiding.
She stared at the floor as she said them.
"Not the version of him that everyone else sees." Her fingers tightened against the fabric of the bed. "Not the one who always acts like he’s carrying the whole world on his shoulders."
Her voice wavered slightly.
"I just wanted the brother I grew up with."
Her breathing slowed as the words continued to co.
"The one who used to tease ."
Her lips trembled faintly.
"The one who used to ruffle my hair and tell I was still his little sister."
Her voice cracked slightly on the last word.
For a mont, Sheila tried to laugh quietly, as though embarrassed by how childish the confession sounded.
But the laugh didn’t last, instead she lifted one hand and rubbed her eyes quickly.
"I hate that I still want that," she whispered as shoulders shook faintly. "I hate that after everything he told ... after everything he did..."
Her voice grew weaker.
"...part of still just wants him to treat like his little sister again."
The tears finally began then.
Not dramatic sobbing.
Just quiet tears slipping down her face faster than she could wipe them away.
She tried to hide them at first, turning her face slightly away and brushing her sleeve across her eyes. But the more she tried to stop them, the more they ca.
"I ran away because I didn’t know what to do," she admitted through uneven breaths. "I was scared that if I stayed there..."
She stopped as her voice broke completely.
"...I was scared that if I stayed... I might forgive him too quickly."
Her shoulders trembled slightly as she lowered her head into her hands.
"I didn’t want to feel weak," she whispered.
Ariana slowly rose from her chair. She unhurriedly walked the few steps across the room and sat beside Sheila on the bed.
For a mont she didn’t say anything.
Instead she gently placed a hand on Sheila’s back.
The contact was light, but steady.
"Like I said before," Ariana said softly. "You’re not weak. "
Sheila’s breathing hitched slightly.
"You’re just soone who still loves her brother."
The words were simple, but they landed heavily.
Sheila’s shoulders shook again as she finally stopped trying to hide the tears.
She leaned forward slightly, her hands still covering part of her face as the quiet crying continued.
Ariana stayed beside her. She allowed her friend to cry her eyes out without stopping her. Her hand remained gently rested against Sheila’s back as the storm slowly passed.
After a while, the crying softened and Sheila’s breathing gradually steadied again. Her eyes looked exhausted when she finally lowered her hands.
"...I really do miss him," she admitted quietly.
Ariana nodded.
"I know."
Sheila rubbed her face tiredly as her energy seed completely drained now.
For a mont she just sat there in silence.
Then she shifted slightly, leaning sideways until her shoulder brushed against Ariana’s arm.
Neither of them comnted on it.
A few seconds later Sheila leaned a little more. Eventually her head rested against Ariana’s shoulder.
Ariana adjusted slightly so she could lean back on the bed more comfortably.
Without thinking much about it, Sheila slowly turned and lowered herself further, until she was lying down with her head resting across Ariana’s lap.
The movent was slow and tired, like soone whose body had finally run out of strength after holding itself together for too long.
"...Sorry," Sheila murmured faintly.
Ariana gently brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face.
"You don’t have to apologize."
Sheila didn’t respond.
Her eyes were already growing heavy.
Within minutes, the quiet rhythm of her breathing deepened. And slowly, after a long night of carrying too many thoughts and emotions alone...
She finally fell asleep.
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