_jenxkiss
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- Parts 15
Once upon a time, Rian Lynch was just... Rian.
The lad who'd steal chips off my plate and swear they tasted better because they weren't his. The one who'd knock on our front door without texting first because apparently that was "more dramatic."
Then Liam died.
People say grief comes in waves. They're wrong. It crashes into you all at once and leaves bits of you scattered everywhere, and you spend the rest of your life trying to gather them back together.
Rian changed.
The smile disappeared first. Then the jokes. Then the way he'd look at me like I mattered.
Now he looks through me as if I'm just another stranger walking past.
I know he blames my family. I know he blames me, even if he never says the words. The awful part is I don't think there's anything I could ever say that would make him believe otherwise.
Sometimes I still catch myself looking for him in crowds.
Sometimes I still hear something funny and think, God, Rian would love that.
Then I remember. Grief made him angry. It made me quiet. I used to believe love fixed things. Now I think sometimes love just gives you another thing to grieve.
***
Rylie O'Neill.
Used to be the girl who could make me laugh even when I was in the foulest humour imaginable. She'd ramble on about stars, flowers, films that'd make anyone else cry, and somehow I'd sit there listening like every word mattered.
Maybe because they did.
She was too soft for this world.
Always seeing the best in people, even when they gave her every reason not to. She believed everyone deserved another chance. I always thought she'd end up getting her heart broken because of it.
Looks like I was right.
There was a time when I thought she'd always be beside me.
Truth is... there was a time I was starting to want more than that.
Never said anything. Didn't need to.
Then Liam died. And everything after that stopped making sense.
People keep saying it wasn't the O'Neills' fault. Maybe it wasn't. Doesn't matter.