Legacy | Ryan Blaney | Book 6

12 | you should be sad

S U M M E R L Y N
B L A N E Y

After Phoenix and my Cup debut, my schedule was jammed packed with media appearances. I was traveling across NC to radio stations, Race Hub, NASCAR headquarters, etc. It finally felt like I was being noticed for being my own person. I didn't feel like I was just Ryan Blaney's daughter or Noah Blaney's sister anymore, I was my own self, I was Summerlyn Blaney.

"There she is." My mom smiles as I walked through the front door. "How was media?" She asked, pausing the movie everybody was watching.

"It was fine just really repetitive."

"That's reporters for you." Dad rolled his eyes. "Can't come up with any new questions."

"There are some leftovers in the fridge and come join us once you're ready." Mom smiles, unpausing the movie. I piled on the leftovers onto my plate and heated it up before joining my family in the main room.

Nobody really noticed as I took my usual seat on the couch, but I could ever so slightly feel someone staring. I briefly get a glance at Noah, hardcore, staring me down. He slightly shook his head before trying to redirect this attention back to the movie. Moments passed, and Noah would still occasionally look my direction. Noah suddenly stood up and walked out the back door. I quietly slipped out of my seat with nobody noticing. My twin instincts were telling me something was off.

"Noah, what's up with you?" I questioned, making my way down by the lake where he was standing. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be perfectly fine once I get back in a car, and you aren't the center of attention anymore."

"Geez, why do you hate me so much?" I questioned, slightly raising my voice in an irritating manner. "What have I ever done to you?" I questioned again.

"A lot of things Summerlyn. You have no idea."

"I doubt it, Noah. I've been living behind dad's shadow and your shadow for so many years. Do you know how frustrating it was to see you have all the fame and success? Now the moment I have what I've worked my ass off to do, you don't even care. You haven't even congratulated me on any of my wins, you didn't say anything before or after my Cup debut!"

"I'm not discussing this. I don't owe you an explanation."

"Noah, we're twins for crying out loud! We're supposed to be brother and sister, not whatever this relationship has turned into." I frustration shake my hands. "All I wanna know is what I ever did to be treated like this."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my mom and dad peaking out the window. I don't think they interrupted because we all knew this conversation had to happen before anything got better. For so long Noah and I had this harsh, toxic sibling-relationship. I wanted it fixed because after mom and dad are gone, my siblings are all I would have left.

"You're self-centered, you like to pry yourself into other people's business. I could go on about you, but I'll spare your feelings for once." Noah spat out with hate red. Normally, I would ignore any negative words about me, but something about my own brother saying them to my face bothered me.

"You sure you aren't describing yourself? I mean do you even hear half of the stuff you're saying to me? Noah, I really don't know what I've done wrong here!" I throw my hands up in frustration. "I've stayed out of your way this entire time! This is the first real conversation we've had in years!"

"THEN CONTINUE TO STAY OUT OF MY WAY AND HOPEFULLY MY LIFE!" Noah yelled. I stood there absolutely dumbfounded, hot tears began slowly escaping my eyes. Maybe I'd never have a healthy relationship with my brother... I couldn't find any more words to say, so I just rushed back into the house. I grabbed my phone and rushed out of the house without saying a word.

I ran as fast as my feet could and as far as they could carry me. I really couldn't see where I was headed, all I knew is that I needed to get away. My lungs were burning within a few moments of running.

"Summer?" Someone called across the street. Tearfully, I spun around and saw the one person I needed this whole time. Theo runs across the dark and vacant street bringing me into his embrace. My body instinctively collapsed into his embrace, a safe feeling calmed my body. "It's okay, deep breaths." Theo's hand gently brushes down through my hair. "What happened Summer?" Theo politely asks helping me sit down on the curb.

I struggled to put tonight's events into words, but the words slowly but surely came out. I explained everything from this lack of communication and understanding that Noah and I had for years on end to tonight's altercation. Theo was raging even though he didn't want to show it, his muscles tensed up more and more as I continued to talk.

"I always knew you and your brother had problems, but never knew it was this bad." Theo sighed placing a kiss on my neck. "I'm sorry you have to deal with all that shit."

"I never would've thought that it would get to this point."

"Do you need a place to stay? You're always welcomed at my place."

"Thank you."

As soon as my head hit one of Theo's pillows, I was down and out. Today was emotionally and physically exhausting. I kept my eyes closed as I felt Theo climb into the bed beside me. He softly kissed my temple before wrapping me in his safe embrace.

"The things you do to me, Blaney." I heard him whisper before the room entered a complete state of darkness.

N O A H
B L A N E Y

"Yeah, she's over at Theo's house." I heard my mom sigh in my dad's office. "Ryan, we did the right thing, right?" She questioned with a hint of frustration.

"This is something they have to figure out on their own. They're adults, they should be able to fix their relationship. I think we did the right thing sweetheart."

"I just don't know what went wrong with them. Summer tries so hard to be there for Noah, Noah just doesn't want to accept it for some reason. Summer is kind, everything Peyton was."

"I think you might have found the center of the issue. Maybe Noah has taken Peyton's death harder than we thought. Summerlyn is almost an exact replica of Peyton. Noah sees P in Summer and he pushes her away because he doesn't want to be hurt again." Dad explained. "Noah and Peyton were closer than we give them credit for. He always wanted to impress her and follow in her footsteps. But P and Summer were glued at the hip."

I walked to my room knowing they'd figured out everything...

To Kianna: Hey, you still up? I need somebody to talk to...