Forgiven ✔

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The rest of the evening goes pleasantly. Brayden fills her sister in on his updates in the past eight years. He still works in his garage. The money isn't great, but he loves what he's doing. He also met someone. Unfortunately, his girlfriend has to be at her parent's home for Christmas. He hopes Blair stays long enough so that he can introduce Rita to her.

While Brayden tells his life story, Blair can't help smiling now and then, genuinely happy with how life has been treating him. She can't remember the last time she saw her brother this content. Probably before their mother started the torture. Maybe never. Their childhood was full of roller coaster rides under a schizophrenic mother's care. Even though Blair was the one who became the receiving end of their mother's wrath during her episodes, Brayden's smile was taken away at a young age.

Brayden clears his throat, looking suddenly nervous. "I don't know if I will have a chance to tell you this in the future," he says, taking Blair's cold hand in his. "Blair, I've been living in guilt for far too long. I should've stepped up and helped you every time Mother was at it. Instead, I just stood there and watched until she was done with you."

Blair stares at their joint hands. No matter how prepared she was for this talk, Brayden's line still caught her off guard.

"I don't know what I was thinking," he says. "I don't deserve to be called your brother." Tears roll down his cheeks as he begins to sob.

"We were both surviving the situation," Brayden. Blair squeezes her brother's hands. Her heart aches to see him cry. "You will always be my brother. I know I tried to cut ties with you. Because it was just hard for me to see you without associating it with Mother and everything she did to me."

"I helped her hurt you by doing nothing." He shakes his head frantically. "I'm a monster."

"You were just a child, Brayden. Remember that. Your conscience was taken away from you. You didn't know what was right or wrong. All we believed was everything that Mother said."

"And you didn't kill Father, Blair."

"I know," she says. "Father was in an accident because he was speeding to the hospital during my delivery. It wasn't my fault." Blair's vision is becoming blurry from the tears she's been holding back. "It took me years of counseling to come to terms with it. I wasn't the cause of Father's death. Mother was wrong."

Brayden wipes the tears from his face with his shirt sleeve. "I'm glad you finally found peace within yourself, he says."

"I'm not there yet, Brayden, but soon I will be. This is the very reason why I came home this Christmas. Because I want to start making peace with you. I want us to fix what we can fix, while we still have time."

Brayden smiles weakly at his little sister. "I know you've probably forgiven me, but I need to hear it, Blair. Can you forgive me for not being there with you? And for not being able to protect you? Forgive me for letting Mother do those unspeakable things to you. Forgive me for everything."

Blair's lips quiver when she says, "I forgive you, Brayden Rothchild."

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Blair wakes up to the sound of frantic rain hitting the window. When her brain registers the unfamiliarity of the place, she jerks up and quickly crawls out of bed. But once the memory of last night's talk with Brayden floods back in, she lets out a breath of relief. She's in Brayden's room. Her brother must have moved to their mother's bedroom after she fell asleep during their catching up.

The temperature must have dropped by several degrees since last night. She grabs her khaki coat from the chair and makes her way out of the bedroom, in need of warm tea. When she closes the door behind her, her gaze is immediately drawn to the green door at the end of the hall. It makes her feel weak all of a sudden, forcing her to lean back and close her eyes.