How Does Your Story Go? (Dinah/You)

Epilogue

~ Nine years later ~

"Are you sure about this?" Sighing at the question that was repeated to me many times. "I don't think it's what she wants. If anything, you're going to regret this."

"But it's not about what she wants, she needs closure and I know it." I rebuttal as I was not about to be convinced out of my decision.

"Alright but if you come sulking to me, I'm going to say I told you so." Rolling my eyes, I take Dinah's left hand and begin to fumble with her golden ring before knocking onto Alice's door.

With my sister being eighteen, I'm aware that she was able to make her own decisions but there was some things we had to discuss before leaving off to college.

"Hey, what's up?" Alice sat up at the head of her bed as she locked her phone screen.

"Just wanted to know if there was anything you needed help on packing?" I smiled as Dinah and I sat on the edge of her bed.

"Nope, I've got most of it covered since Yvonne and Michael came over yesterday when you were both out."

Humming at her answer, I drag on time to prolong the question I wanted to ask for a while.

"Ali there's something I want to discuss with you." My younger sister giving me the look to continue on, "Why don't you want to come visit mum and dad's grave? It's nearly been nine years since they've passed."

As if it flipped a switch in her, anger surged to the surface and I was prepared for her to yell, "You want me to go share my respects to the two people who abandoned us when they finally realised they weren't made for each other?! Don't you remember the years of pain and suffering we had to endure because of all their fights?! I cannot and will not ever forgive them!"

Alice's ecstatic breathing was all we heard in the room after expressing her feelings and who I am to judge when I too felt that at her age.

"Sorry for yelling at you." Alice softly apologized as I rubbed her back in comfort. "As much as you'd like me to visit their graves, I can't go knowing what they had done to the three of us."

"I know I can't force you but can I tell you something that you or Jace don't know?" With hesitance, Alice nodded.

"You remember when I told you that I got a call that mum was in the hospital and that she needed a kidney transplant? I told the two of you that they asked me to donate my kidney to her but they knew that Jace was a match for mum."

In silence, Alice allowed that new piece of information to sink in before asking me a follow-up question, "Why didn't you tell us?"

"I didn't mean to hide it from you or Jace. Our parents didn't want me to tell you both and I wanted to respect that. In full honesty, they didn't even think about going through with the surgery. The two wanted to tie their loose ends before spending their last days together."

Inevitably I knew Alice had a mixture of emotions but I willingly gave her time to process everything.

For many years she had only remembered when I told her that our parents didn't want us and with that alone brought on the years of hatred and spite for them. Which I still do to an extent but things are better to be forgiven.

If anything in life had taught me was that there was no point holding hatred in my heart when those around you fill up that void.

"Look, just because I've told you this doesn't mean you have to forgive them. I just wanted to give you the chance to think about it because I know how much it feels when you've only felt one emotion for the longest time." Rubbing her back before standing up with Dinah's hands in mine.

After minutes of silence, Alice looks up at me and physically braces herself, "Can you tell me everything from the beginning?"

Moving towards back to Alice, Dinah and I hugged her as I gave Dinah the I-told-you-so look as she rolled her eyes in response. Bottom lip jutting out in response, Dinah softly pushes me to share the story of how it all began.

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I'm sorry that the ending felt out of place but no matter how many times I wrote the ending, this felt right.

Just to give some context why Alice has a hard time dealing with coming to terms with what she remembers of her parents:

Because Alice was so young, her memories were blurred from the very beginning where their parents wanted nothing to do with them to where Y/N told her that their parents weren't coming back for them. At that point, Alice never wrapped her mind around the fact that their parents wanted nothing to do with them. All she wanted was to meet them again and have them take the 3 of them back as a family but in a result of their death, all she felt was betrayal and hatred.

With Jace being a few years older than her, he understood a lot more of the situation than Alice and learnt about their parents trying to reconcile with Y/N, hoping that they would take care of himself and Alice.

So hopefully with that little bit of information helped to make it a bit clearer as to why it ended this way. Sorry again if the ending wasn't what you expected (>.<)

- Joy