"It felt like I'm taking you away from her. "
"No."
"She loves you. "
"No, Zeb. She didn't. "
Bran slipped a black intricate envelope.
"She said I should give this to you today. She said, she needed one year. And I respected that. "
I flipped it opened.
One dried sunflower petal fell from the pale peach paper. Neat navy blue scribbles ---- Alice's.
ZEBIANA,
Thank you...
For sticking with me. For always choosing me over you. I was toxic. I knew that.
But still.
You never failed to remind me that I mattered even when I often insisted that I didn't.
You showed me what it's like not to be judged.
You listened to me when the world covered their ears to the things I say.
You laughed with me, cried with me, those were the gifts I'd like to bring to the afterlife.
Each day I was suffocated.
Brit was always a bitch, but I earned it.
I stole her happiness like how my mother stole her mother's happiness.
Tell Brit I'm sorry.
Zeb, Thank you for coming with me to my therapist every Tuesdays. For keeping it from everyone, I'll always be grateful.
I know you love Bran. How happy and frolic you are when he's around.
I envied you.
Not because of Bran.
I can't write it here.
I love you, Always.
---Alice
You showed me the purest form of love.
Forever, forever I'm thankful.
