17 Chapter 15: The Truth

Dahlia stares at Kyle, a little confused, then remembering who he is.

"Oh! You're my brother's roommate, right? I forget your name.."she chuckles lightly.

Kyle blushes slightly. 'She's so pretty...she looks like a girl version of Oliver...'

"It's Kyle."he smiles.

"Right!"she clasps her hands together.

"Dahlia..."Oliver's voice sounds from the back of Kyle.

Her expression changes and her eyes grow a little...sad?

"Ollie..."she says.

Oliver winces at the name.

"Sorry! Um..."she turns back to Kyle. "Can I talk to him alone..?"

Kyle nods quickly. "I was just about to go shower any way."

She smiles as Kyle walks past him. Kyle closes the door behind him.

"How are you?"she asks walking over to her little brother.

"Fine."he responds plainly.

"Hmm.."

"How are..you?"he asks sitting down.

She laughs lightly and looks down. "Hmm..surviving. Work is hard. I've gotten about four hours of sleep this entire week."

Oliver laughs, too, feeling bad for his sister. "You always sucked at sleeping."

"That's because you snored so loud I thought there was a helicopter outside!"

"Liar!"

They both laugh and stop, both knowing what they have to talk about.

"I'm sorry I didn't go with you to Mom's grave..."he says, feeling bad.

"That's okay. I didn't get to go either because of work."she replies.

"Oh.."

"You don't wanna talk about him..do you?"

"No. Why would I?"he responds harshly.

"I know...He's..not getting better, Oliver."she says, looking down at her white painted nails.

Oliver sits up, looking at the ground. "He's gonna have to take a break from swimming, isn't he?"

She nods and sets her purse down on Oliver's bed. "He might even have to retire..."

Oliver runs his hands through his hair. He covers his face, tears forming. "We're gonna lose him like Mom...aren't we?"

Dahlia feels her heart break at the words. She knew that could very much be a possibility, but hearing her brother say them is...different.

"N-no."she swallows. "We're not gonna lose him."

"You don't know that..."

"And you don't know if we are gonna lose him."she argues back. "We can't think like that, Oliver."

"You always have to be prepared for the worse outcome, Dahlia. Dad told us that."he says, tears falling as he tries to stop them.

Dahlia stands up and pushes her hair back. "No! We have to have hope...I'm not gonna lose our only parent left."

"Dahlia.."

"No!"she yells this time.

Oliver stares at her in surprise and Dahlia falls back.

"I-I'm sorry."she says.

"No..it's okay. I understand. You were always stronger and more stubborn than me."Oliver laughs.

"You didn't bathe for a week one time because we ran out of bubbles. What do you mean I'm more stubborn?"she laughs too.

"I was a kid! Kids do things like that ya know."Oliver fights back.

"Well you were a stubborn ass kid."

"Hm."Oliver chuckles.

"So how are things going with Kyle?"she asks, smiling.

"What do you mean?"Oliver asks confused and taken aback by the question.

"Oliver please. I could sense the tension from the other side of the damn door."she scoffs. "Any person can spot it. From a mile away."

"Shut up! There is no tension."he replies, laying down in bed.

"Hm. Liar."she throws a pillow at him from the other side of his bed. "He's pretty cute."

Oliver turns his head so quickly to his sister, that Dahlia doesn't know how it didn't snap.

"You think so?"he says, obvious jealousy in his voice.

"Woah, calm down, brother. I only said he was cute."she smirks.

"R-Right."

"Did you just stutter?? Since when do you stutter?"Dahlia asks, actually baffled. "Wow Kyle must have some kind of magic."

"Agh! Shut it, Dahlia!"he pouts, throwing a pillow at her again.

She catches it and laughs. "How do you really feel about him?"

Even though she was laughing, Oliver can tell the question was serious.

"I...don't know. I want to know. But I don't."he says, feeling a little relieved after finally telling someone.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"she asks.

"Yeah and no. It's embarrassing. I can't even figure my own damn feelings."he laughs lightly at himself.

"Hey it's okay. Feelings are hard. And I don't care who you love Oliver. I will always love you. No matter what, okay?"she says genuinely.

Oliver smiles and hugs his sister, feeling thankful for her. "Thanks, Dahlia."

She smiles and nods, rubbing his back. "Alright now talk. Before he gets back."

Oliver nods and thinks about it for a while. How does he feel around Kyle?

"Well...I feel happy when I'm around him. He makes me happy. And I forget about my problems..."he says.

Dahlia nods, signaling him to keep going.

"I love his smile. So much. It warms inside and makes me feel good. He's so nice. But he can be awkward."he smiles. "It's adorable though."

"Awww!"Dahlia says, a hand on her heart. "My baby brother is growing up!"

"Dahlia!"he blushes.

"Awww you're blushing!"

"AGH!"he says annoyed and looks away. "Never mind..."

'No no I'm sorry! Keep going. I want to help you figure out your feelings."she says.

Oliver nods and starts again. "He's so bright and optimistic. Always looks on the bright side of things. He's the polar opposite of me. Maybe it's why I'm so attracted to him."

"Hm.."Dahlia smiles as her brother's eyes glow.

'They haven't glowed like that in years...'

"Keep going."she says, eager.

"I don't..really know what to say..anymore. I care about him..a lot."he says slowly, as if he himself is just now realizing how he really feels. "And I don't want to be just friends. But..I don't know how he feels. I don't want to ruin what we have now, though."

"That is tough, kid."She says, trying to figure out what to say next. "But you can't let fear hold you back, Oliver. If you do, you'll never accomplish anything."

Oliver nods, knowing that what his sister is saying is true. It's not that simple, though.

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Kyle stand on the other side of the door, stunned at what he just heard.

'Oliver...likes me??'