A Storm Is Brewing

Questioning

Leah POV

Every part of me wanted to rip Rhys' head off. I thought of all the things I wished I could say to him; I thought of all the times I had overlooked his behaviour rather than pushing Sophie closer to the truth months ago, but I knew that no matter how angry she was, I had to be mindful of the fact that he was still her brother.

Hannah, on the other hand, was someone who didn't deserve the reaction she was so obviously craving. She wanted to break Sophie, and when she couldn't do that by coming between us, she went a step further by coming between Sophie and the person she had always found safety in. Sophie was careful, not wanting to say anything that could insinuate that she was upset over her, but I understood that she was upset at the principle rather than the person.

We spent the next day together in the house, despite her insisting that I go on to work. She tried with everything she had to act like she wasn't bothered, like she had miraculously been cured of hurt overnight, but anyone who knew her could see that she was truly broken. That they had broken her.

It was that evening before Rhys reached out. Maybe he had tried to reach out to Sophie before then, but if he had, she hadn't told me about it. I wanted to scream when his name came up on my phone, unable to see anything other than his selfishness when I pictured him in my head. This couldn't be about me, though. As much as I wanted to tell him to stay away for good, Sophie needed answers, and knowing how and why this happened was the only way she could ever begin to heal from it.

"What?" I scoffed as I answered the phone.
"Is she okay?"

Rhys sounded broken too, but I didn't care about him. Despite the fact that he was her brother, and no matter how much he had meant to her, there wasn't a bone in my body that had any concern over the cracks in his voice that were clear.

"What do you think?"
"I bet you're loving this, aren't you?"
"Loving it? She's broken, Rhys. You've broken her. And for what?"
"I want to know if my sister is okay."
"Well, no, she obviously isn't."
"Do you think she'll forgive me?"
"I think you should think about something other than yourself for once."
"What does that mean?"
"You want forgiveness, but what about what she wants? What about the answers that she needs?"
"I can't give her answers! She won't speak to me!"
"Do you know how many times she's refused to speak to me? Effort, Rhys, effort goes a long way."

I knew what I wanted him to do. I wanted him to show up here and show Sophie that he was serious about his dedication to repairing this. Even if I wasn't sure I would ever look at him in the same way again, I knew that Sophie wouldn't last forever without him. Liv was another huge worry for me; if Rhys wanted a bargaining tool to make Sophie speak to him again, he had the perfect opportunity with Liv, and the last thing I wanted was her stuck in the middle of it. I refused to give him the idea, though. If he arrived here simply because I told him he should, what would that mean to her? Nothing.

Another 24 hours passed before there was a knock on the front door. Sophie had fallen asleep beside me on the sofa, and her hours of crying had exhausted her so much that even the loudest of knocks wouldn't have woken her. I gently moved her head from my lap, slipping a pillow underneath it before quietly heading for the door.

"Where is she?" He began his sentence before I even had the door open enough to see him.
"She's sleeping."
"Can I come in?"
"Stay there. I'll ask her."

He nodded, knowing that I wasn't going to bring him inside before I had checked with Sophie that she wanted him here. I felt my heart break a little as I walked towards her fragile body curled into a ball on the sofa, running my fingers through her hair to wake her.

"Soph, Rhys is at the door." I whispered, pressing a kiss on her forehead.
"What? Why?" She croaked.
"He wants to talk to you. Should I let him in?"
"Do you think I should talk to him?"