page46 (1/2)

“Dahlia,” Der my attention fro “I didn’t know”

I nodded

“She’s…” His gaze darted to the door “I’ve never seen her like that … She’s … she’s not … that’s fucked up”

My brother looked crushed Alone, sad, and totally crushed

Without thinking about it, I crossed the room and drew him into my arms

Dermot didn’t hesitate He buried his head in my neck and held on for dear life

Before he had to leave for work, Der from my side of the story When I was done, he’d looked at me in weary defeat “I still think you should have coet it nohy you didn’t”

I’d hesitated over my own question “She never … In all these years, she never talked about how she blamed me for Dillon’s death? How she felt about it?”

Dermot had shaken his head “She never talked about you at all When we tried, she would walk out of the rooht it was because you left and would only tell Dad where you were I didn’t realize it was because she’d poisoned her own fuckin’ ainst you”

“Maybe if I had cootten this bad She would have had to deal with her grief rather than letting it fester like this”

“Maybe” He’d agreed impatiently as he stood up to leave “You don’t actually blame yourself for Dillon’s death, do you?”

“I changed the course of her future, Der around that fact”

“Jesus fuck,” he’d sneered “One’s crazy, and the other’s a ht now I’ve got work”

He’d taken off without saying goodbye, and it left me unsure of where I stood with him

For a while, I’d sat in silence going over the last hour in my head Every part of me seemed to ache “Well, this trip home has been super fun,” I muttered