Parallels | Dylan O'Brien

33 - Consequences

New York
-Dylan O'Brien-

It's been a week since we changed them back. One week without her kisses, and touches. One week and I'm back to being a nobody. I went to check up on Lydia every now and then, but she never wanted to see me. But Holland told me she was okay. She found it remotely strange how Lydia just went from being super nice and kind, and almost like her best friend, to not even noticing when she walked into a room to clean it. It's hard to explain how someone could change so quickly. How someone could just make a 360 turnaround in their demeanor. I tried telling her there was something going on in the family, but Holland never believed me. She needed to know. At some point, I will have to tell her that this isn't the Lydia she saw a week ago. That this isn't the Lydia that cared for her, that became her best friend. I really do miss my Lydia, and I'm certain Holland does too. I bet even Posey misses her. I wonder if this Lydia misses the other universe. I would ask her if she'd let me, but I don't think that's going to happen soon.
"She's been cooped up in her room since this morning. I brought her breakfast, but I don't think she's touched it," Holland explains as she leads me into the kitchen of the enormous house she works at. I wonder how she gets everything clean all the time. Maybe that's why she works every hour of every day. I sigh and sit down on one of the stools at the breakfast island.
"I don't think she's going to eat any time soon," I mumble, rubbing my face with my hands.
"I just don't get what's changed. You guys didn't fight again, did you?" I open my mouth to say something, but my mind goes blank. I don't even know what to tell her anymore.
"No," I then manage to say, "No, otherwise I wouldn't be sitting here, would I?" she chuckles slightly and rests her chin on her hand, her elbow resting on the counter.
"Then what's going on?" she wonders out loud. I have to tell her. Everything. From the universes to them switching and going back. I don't know how she'll take it, but it's worth a shot.
"This is a different version of the Lydia that lived here last month. This is the Lydia you actually worked for. They somehow switched universes last month, and the parallel version of this Lydia lived here for a month. She's the one you befriended. She was caring, selfless and so, so amazing," I explain to her, and I hope I'm doing a good job of it. She raises an eyebrow at me.
"What? Do you think I'm stupid, or something?" she asks, completely feeling like she's being made fun of or something. I shake my head and sigh.
"No, Holland. I'm telling you the truth. I know it sounds crazy, but that the reason why she's acting so strange. It's not the same Lydia as last week. This is the Lydia I've had a crush on since kindergarten, but not the Lydia I completely fell in love with," I try again, but I don't think it's working.
"Can you please come back when you're not trying to make fun of me, please?" she states and walks out of the kitchen, probably hoping I'd follow her towards the front door. But the soft sounds of a piano fill the whole house. I didn't even know they had a piano. For a second, I thought I was dreaming, but when Holland halts in the hallway, I'm certain it's real. She glances at me, then attentively moves towards the sound. I follow her, and we halt one room further than the living room. A room where I've never been before, but it holds shelves and shelves of books, lining the walls, and one giant piano in the middle of the room. At the piano sits a vulnerable Lydia, stroking the keys carefully. A beautiful melody sounds through the room and reach my ears touchingly. The hairs on my arms actually stand up.
"Dirty tissues, trust issues
Glasses on the sink, they didn't fix you
Lonely pillows in a stranger's bed

Secret keeping, stop the bleeding
Lost a little weight because I wasn't eating
All the souls that I can't listen to, to tell the truth"
I had never seen Lydia this fragile and broken. I don't even think she'd want me to see this.
"Loving you was young, and wild, and free
Loving you was cool, and hot, and sweet
"
She touched the keys so delicately, you barely heard anything coming from the piano. Her eyes were shut, and her words powerful. I think she might've actually loved Dylan from the other universe. Or someone else she met there, maybe. Whoever it was, she missed him right now. We shouldn't have brought her back. It just completely broke her, even more than she already was. It broke me.
"Loving you was dumb, dark, and cheap
Loving you will still take shots at me
Loving was sunshine but then it poured
And I lost so much more than my senses
Because loving you had consequences,"
Her voice goes right through the core. I think there are even tears pouring down her face, but she's too far away for me to see. I can hear it in her voice though, the sadness, the utter void in her soul travelling back here left. She misses the other universe. That's why she's being so distant from me, that's why she's back to being selfish bitch Lydia. Her fingers delicately play the very last notes of the song before putting her elbows on the keys and grabbing her face with her hands. A loud bang sound throughout the whole room and it kind of makes me jump a little. I exchange glances with Holland, and I can tell she's thinking the same thing as me; we shouldn't be here. We should leave her alone for a while until we come up with a plan to get her back.
"I didn't even know she played the piano," Holland whispers when we walk back in the kitchen. "I thought that was misses Moon's piano," I take a deep breath, trying to process what I just witnessed.
"We have to get her back," I mumble, not even caring if Holland believes me or not. It's silent for a couple moments as I think about how to get her back. This isn't fun. Not for her, not for me. I want my Lydia back and I think this Lydia wants to go back to whoever she's crying about at this moment.
"I don't know how any of this universe stuff works, Dylan..." Holland starts, making me look up at her. She has worry written all over her face and a tear rolling down her cheek, "But we need to do whatever it takes to get that girl back to the love she's lost. This isn't healthy. The not eating, the sad-songs-singing. It's all bad for her mental health and I can't have that. I can't watch her break herself down because she's not in the right place, literally," her first sentence keeps running through my head. I don't know how any of this universe stuff works. It kind of echoes in my head until I come up with something. I don't know anything either, and even though the internet helped me through the first day, there is someone who helped us through other things. Who knew more about this stuff than any of us. She might be able to help. She might know how to get Lydia back. She might know the solution.
"I know who can help us," I then finally say. Holland looks up. The worry on her face made room for surprise and even a little hope. "Julia," her name rolls off my lips. Holland slowly nods, not exactly knowing how my sister would know anything about this stuff, but she trusts me, I guess.