A/N: Hey! I've been loving the reviews I've been getting! I've got one chapter left on this episode, then I'll be starting on the next one. I know I'm behind, but it's hard to keep up! The reviews have been fantastic though! Please keep them coming! Also, this was one of the hardest chapters to write, but I think it shows a side of Genevieve that I haven't gotten to show much. Please continue to read and review!
Arriving back at Nolan's, I was surprised to find JD alone in the living room, at least until I heard voices coming from the kitchen. I wouldn't have found that strange, if one of the voices didn't belong to Amanda. I stood quietly at the entrance to the kitchen, listening as the pair argued, my heart breaking for Nolan. All he'd ever done was help my sister, and here she was yelling at him. I felt terrible, and suddenly wished I had come when he first told me my sister was in town, rather than now, when my sister was so far gone and not even recognizing help when she saw it.
I moved towards the wall as Nolan stormed away, leaving the air thick with his words, all he wanted was friendship. I couldn't blame him for that. Being a CEO, it's a lonely world; I knew that from my own life. Being a CEO with a secret, that was even lonelier. Nolan had probably hoped Amanda could be a friend, someone who understood what it meant to adore and respect someone that the rest of the world hated. Instead, he'd been a pawn in her game with no one to reach out to. That thought upset me further, as I questioned my own friendship with Nolan.
"What?" Amanda demanded as I stood quietly at the kitchen entrance. I pulled myself from my own internal questions to face my little sister.
"I know how he feels." I said, stepping towards my sister. "Your scheme leaves those of us in your world feeling rather lonely," I reminded her. Amanda didn't look impressed.
"I didn't ask for any one of you to help me. Nolan wouldn't take no for an answer, and you just showed up out of the blue," I shook my head slightly as I leaned against the counter across from my sister.
"You don't have to ask us for help, Amanda. Loving someone, that means we help you whether you ask for it or not. Being friends, that means we stand beside you in any storm." I said, wishing my sister could see what was right in front of her, three people who just wanted into her life.
"I didn't ask for any of that." I covered my face with my hands, a sign of exasperation if there ever was one.
"Okay, let me explain something to you," I said pulling my hands away from my face. "When dad was in prison, he asked me to do two things for him. One, listen to my mother and keep her from doing anything crazy. Two, watch out for you. He told me that you were my sister and my responsibility. He told me to protect you. He asked me, probably because he knew you never would. So I did that to the best of my abilities, and one of my abilities was reaching out to Nolan. When Dad died, Nolan was my lifeline and he was amazing at it. He knew what I was going through when no one else did. I knew that if I couldn't be there for you, Nolan was the next best thing. I asked him to help you, okay? I did that, and he agreed, not because I asked but because he cared about Dad, and Dad cared about you." I said, wishing my sister could understand that us caring about my sister wasn't something we could just turn on and off. We were responsible for her, because our father had once been responsible for us. My father had believed in Nolan when no one else did, and my father had believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. It was in his memory that I strove to honor his last requests, and I knew Nolan did the same. But I wondered now if my father would still ask us to watch out for Amanda if he knew what that would entail.
"Consider your responsibilities over then," I shook my head.
"Doesn't work that way. The moment you were born, you became my responsibility, Amanda. You might not think of yourself as my sister, but you are, and like it or not I will always protect you." I said, feeling the protective older sister side of me, a side that was usually tucked away begin to come out. "It may create a difficult life, but I don't care, I can deal with difficult." I said, well aware that my entire life had been difficult. I'd never had it easy, though I suppose my life was easier than Amanda's. I'd never been put into foster care or juvie like her, instead I had been put into fancy European boarding schools and college. I'd never disappeared for years, I'd always been in a stable place. I'd also gotten to follow my heart, but that never meant my life had been easy. I'd lived in the shadow of what happened to me when I was twelve for a long time. I'd lived with storm clouds every time the anniversary of my father's arrest and death came around, and that had never been easy. It hadn't been easy to have a father that I loved so dearly, but who was hated so deeply by the entire world. It had made life hard, yet I didn't give up and I wasn't about to start giving up now.
"Nolan clearly can't, he's gone rogue," Amanda said, like that was some terrible thing.
"Going rogue implies that he works for you." I snapped, angry at the idea of my sister being mad at Nolan for choosing to confide in someone that wasn't my distant sister. "He doesn't. Friends don't work for you, they look out for you. And if you aren't careful, soon no one will have your back anymore." I warned, aware that she was dangerously close to losing everyone who wanted to protect her. Jack was already at a breaking point, I had seen that. Nolan was clearly tired of my sister's games, and me, well I was still trying to figure out what role I was going to play in all of this.
"I don't need you to have my back, I can protect myself," Amanda said, moving from behind the counter and starting to walk away.
"Whoever called me didn't think so." I called after her, listening with a slight wince as the door closed with a bang. I let out a breath, and then a sob as the anger I felt turned into frustrated tears. I tried to pull myself together, grateful when I felt Nolan's arms around me.
"Shh, it's okay." Nolan said, which only made me cry more.
"We're going to lose her." I said, my tone muffled by my hand trying to wipe at the tears. "She's going to lose this game, it's going to destroy her." I said, my breathing starting to slow down as Nolan hugged my tighter.
"It will be okay. I won't let that happen," Nolan assured me. I pulled back the best I could to look at him.
"Thank you, and I'm sorry I wasn't a better friend to you." Nolan released me, but kept a hand on my shoulder.
"You were a great friend, Gen, a great friend, a sister," I gave Nolan a weak smile, wiping the last few tears from my eyes as the oven starting beeping nearby.
"Thank you. Um, let me help with dinner. I've been told I make a fantastic devil's food cake," I said, just wanting to do anything rather than think of my sister's fate. Anything was better than facing that reality.
