Be Rude but Love Me | ✔

CHAPTER 29

"You're sure you're doing much better today?" I ask Lucy as I tuck her in bed the next evening.

My little sister pulls the covers up to her chin and plays quietly with the end of her single braid. "Much better. Don't worry, Sissy. I'm fine," and she smiles a bright smile my way to prove her point.

I still sit next to her and brush her hair with my hand. When I'd come home yesterday from the lake with Yann, I'd found Lucy silently sitting on the couch, watching some cartoon on TV. Ellie had told me she hadn't said much throughout the day and I'd been sick worried about her. She had gone to bed sometime later after my arrival and hadn't woken up once during the night. (I know this because I couldn't sleep last night.) However, this morning when I woke up, she was already gone to Matt's. I hadn't wanted to disturb her and simply waited until she came back from her day with Matt. I was surprised to find her giddy and garrulous as usual. She was happily blooming again. I was happy. Still worried, but happy.

"If you need anything, just –"

"Call you," she cuts off. "I know."

I smile at her and kiss her forehead. "You want me to stay until you fall asleep?"

She rolls her eyes at me. "I'm ten, Tracy. Not five."

"Still my little sister," I say with a final kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight, then."

"Night, Sissy," she says and sprawls all over the bed.

Quietly, I make my way down the stairs and go join Ellie who's sitting on the couch, flipping through the channels in search of something interesting to watch. As I enter the living room, her head snaps us.

"She's asleep?"

I take a seat next to her and fold my legs underneath my body. "She didn't want me to stay until she's asleep. She said she wasn't five anymore."

Ellie laughs. "That, my friend," she says, "is how you know she's doing much better."

I smile. "I guess," then I sigh. "I can't believe she's already ten. I remember her being this tiny little thing in my arms," I muse with nostalgia.

"Careful," Ellie teases, "you almost sound like you love her."

I bump my best friend's shoulder forcefully and she only laughs harder. "By the way," I say as I remember something, "Did you figure out that thing with Will about Yann?" I ask.

Ellie blows out a long sigh and her shoulders sag a little. "I was able to calm Will down but let's say, I'm still waiting for the storm and I know it's going to happen in the weeks to come."

"Calm Will?" I asked surprise, "I thought you'd be calming Yann." I've seen Will worried, but angry? Never.

"Sometimes, I honestly get sick of it all," Ellie confesses. "Of trying to pacify them."

"Sounds like being between the hammer and the anvil," I mutter as I turn my face to the TV screen.

Next to me, Ellie sighs again. "You have no idea."

As she flips through the channels, something catches my attention. "Go back," I tell her. She does as asked and once I've found what I was looking for, I tell her, "There. Stop."

It's another Badred interview. The old couple is still looking for their son, still moving mountains after four years. My heart squeezes in my chest for them. "Really, no matter how much watching them hurts me, I keep thinking their son must have had a good reason."

"I'm sure he did," she says and I turn around at the bitterness in her voice. "What? You heard what they keep saying. That they pushed him too far. I think there's only so much someone can take before they break."