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ALEXANDER DIAZ was extremely protective over his little sister. Not the type of protective where he would control who she hung out with or control what she did everyday; he was just scared.
When their parents died, all the responsibility was put on him; a 14 year old boy who was just a freshman in high school. They would jump from house to house, living with random strangers for weeks to months at a time; and Alex hated it.
Leilani was too young to understand what she had done and was facing the consequences of her actions at seven years old. Alex had made it his main goal to protect his little sister until the day he died.
When they moved here to East Highland, Alex started paying close attention to Leilani. He wouldn't control her, but he would make sure she told him exactly where she was going, keep her phone on and tell him exactly what time she would be home.
I understood his point of view. If my mom had died, and I was left to raise Gia, I know I would've done the exact same thing. I felt bad for Leilani and Alex, because they were so young and had to raise themselves; but they did a damn fine job.
"Have you ever been in love?" Leilani turns to her brother, her feet swinging over the edge of the roof they are sat on top of. Alex hums in surprise at her question, taking the blunt from her reach.
"Uh, I think I was at one point, yeah. But I don't know what love is supposed to look like." He replies, placing the blunt in between his lips and taking a sharp inhale. Leilani nods, placing her hands on her lap and fidgeting with the ring on her pinky.
"Do you think that if they never died, our lives would be different? Like I wouldn't be so fucked up?" Leilani sniffs, looking at her brothers side profile as he drops his head, looking at his lap and sighing.
"I don't think you're fucked up. But I think that maybe if they never died, we wouldn't be here. I wouldn't have met Fez and all them, you wouldn't have met Ash and Alo. We'd still be living in that small house on the corner." Alex sighs, looking out at the sunset in front of them, his feet dangling over the edge of the metal roof.
"I like to think that they don't blame me for what happened, if heavens really a thing, they're looking down at us proudly." Leilani tells her brother, tears prickling at her eyes but refusing to fall. Alex sighs, reaching out and swinging his arm over her shoulder.
"They wouldn't blame you. It wasn't your fault, you were a child. You were young, you had no idea what you were doing." He smiles at her, pulling her closer to his body as she cuddles into his side, hugging his body.
"I think I have survivors guilt. Like it should of been me, instead of them. We could have been a happy family, doing that stupid cliche shit like family vacations." Leilani chuckles humorlessly, her eyes trained on the orange and pink hues casted out in front of them.
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