The Sweetest Thing (Book 1) ✓

14 - Story time

Dax

The last thing I thought I would be doing this morning was telling Lily about my family's problems. But my amazing sister, who somehow managed to pass by my alarm system, and I needed to check how she did it, makmde the decision for me.

"This whole thing started way back in time. I was still in school, I was 18, and Caitie was 15 years old. The people around me loved to party, so – like the good friend I was, I was at every party they went. And don't get this like I'm just a very good friend. I really enjoyed myself at these parties. There was alcohol and pretty girls with barely called clothes on them, nice music – you know, the heaven for the hormonal douchebags that we were at that time. The only thing that I skipped were the drugs. They were my limit, and no one was able to make me even try them. But my friends had no problem with them, they loved to experiments – all kinds of pills, powders, mushrooms – if you suggest it, they'll try it. I honestly didn't have a big problem with that. They got a little bit more excited and energized, some of them horny, you know, but nothing too much. At least, that's what I thought. Until one of my friends got interested in my sister. She was this ray of sunshine, always smiling, always ready to help anyone. Very good student, doing anything by the law. And you know – the good girl is always attracted to the bad boy – the worse he is, the better. And Travis was one of the worst. I didn't see that he was until it was too late, and I'll always hate myself for that."

I was so caught up in my memories that it took me some time to understand, to feel that someone was touching me. I looked at my hands, that I was holding into fists, and saw smaller ones covering mine. This little but very comforting touch meant the world to me at the moment. The silent gesture of support, and understanding that this story wasn't with a happy ending...These soft hands wrapped around my wrists and made me walk towards my living room, where they put me to sit on my couch. Lily tried to walk away from me, but I just quickly pulled her, and she ended up sitting on my lap. I wrapped my hands around her waist to keep her in place and hugged her closer to me. She resigned herself and relaxed into me, putting her head on my shoulder. Then she put her hand on my jaw and started lazily to stroke my beard. The feeling of her fingers on my face was enough to make me relax a little bit.

"What happened between Travis and Caitlin?" Oh, yeah. I was telling her a story. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Long story short, she felt for him. I wasn't very happy with that, you know, all I ever wanted was the best of the best for my little sister, but I knew him, so it wasn't so bad. He was a decent friend. The thing I didn't know was that he was using way too many pills. I don't really know how I didn't see it, that he was always high and not caring for anything, or too stressed and irritated from the withdrawals. The worst is – I didn't see it when he made Caitie try ecstasy, and I didn't see the development of her addiction. They were always hiding from me, and I thought that it was because I was her big brother and his friend, and I didn't want to see them making out in front of me. Which was true, so I never questioned them where they went, what they did. And most of the time, I was really tipsy to think what was happening with her, I thought that she'll be safe with my friend by her side, someone to watch over her. But I was so wrong.

She was 17 when she overdosed, and I wasn't even close to her – I was in bootcamp and couldn't even get home and see with my eyes how she was. Nor I was able to beat the shit out of Travis. The moment when my mom called and told me what happened with Caitie, was one of the worst in my life - the feeling of helplessness, that I was stuck in there, not able to do anything. The disappointment that I didn't manage to protect her...it was bad. I got myself in so many fights with the other recruits, they were on the verge of releasing me from the camp, but somehow, I managed to find my control and stay there, finished my training. She started rehab, and I was sent on the other end of the world, but I thought she was safe and out parents will watch her more strictly and won't let her slide down that path again."