"I know I should have told you the day it happened," Reyna began, staring at the ground and swallowing painfully. There was a mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of her. If she looked up, she would see the face of her sister. Probably with a disappointed look since Reyna had waited a few days to tell her. "I've just had a really bad time since then."

"I'm happy that you told me," Hylla breathed with relief in a gentle voice. She reached across the table and gently grabbed Reyna's forearm. "You look pretty miserable."

"I am," Reyna admitted. She shrugged and forced herself to look up. The only thing on her sister's face was concern. Reyna looked back down.

"You don't have to talk about it anymore," Hylla assured. "I know that it's hard for you to open up."

"Hylla," Reyna began as she brought her hands together to keep from clenching them tightly. "Do you promise me that you won't leave me?"

"Reyna, I am never going to leave you," Hylla swore. She stood from her chair and walked around the table to sit next to Reyna. Hylla wrapped an arm around her. "I promise you that. I still regret telling you to get out, and I am never going to do that again. You're stuck with me."

"But, you're not planning on leaving me, are you?" Hylla slowly asked, concern lacing her tone. Reyna shook her head as she tensed up. She could feel her emotions boiling inside her: anger, sadness, and just this ache she couldn't describe.

"No," Reyna promised. She forced herself to look Hylla in the eyes. "I am never leaving you again. I swear. I know that I need to open up to someone, and honestly..."

Reyna moved a hand to her heart as it felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. It shouldn't be this damn hard to talk to her sister, but here she was, acting like she was about to go into a war. Reyna closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

"It's hard to open up," Hylla admitted. She gently rubbed Reyna's back. "When we were kids, I couldn't open up to you. I don't blame you for that, though. It was just because of our father. I had to be strong for you, and to be strong, I couldn't show weakness. To me, emotions were a weakness."

"It took a lot of therapy and Kinzie to help me realize that I was wrong," Hylla continued. "Even then, I didn't know about opening up to Kinzie. Why would I open up to someone who-"

"-is just going to leave me," Reyna finished. Hylla nodded her confirmation. "That's what is so hard for me. Mother leaving. Father just not being there in the head. And, the two of us parted when I walked out. I just haven't had the opportunity to open myself up."

"We can change that," Hylla promised. She gripped Reyna's shoulder. "I don't care what you do, Reyna. I don't care what you say. I am here for you. I swear on my life."

Reyna took a deep breath, "I won't ever leave you either, Hylla. Not again."

The two fell silent for a few moments. Reyna slowly grabbed the mug and took a sip of the hot chocolate. Hylla spoke, "I want to know about what happened with Thalia, but we don't have to talk about it today."

Reyna shook her head, "I need to open up. I'm going to do that today. But, that's not the only thing bothering me."

"What else is?" Hylla gently prodded. Reyna slowly sat back against the couch. Her stomach growled, and a small smile came to Hylla's face. "Did you eat?"

"Not yet," Reyna answered quietly.

"Not yet as in you haven't ate dinner yet or you haven't ate today?" Hylla questioned. Reyna shrugged. "Okay, I'm going to order something. Did you come right here from the gym?"

Reyna nodded and sighed, "Nico gave me a ride. I kind of assumed you would take me home. Sorry."

"That's okay," Hylla promised. "I can give you a ride. You are eating first, though. Where do you want me to order from?"

"It doesn't matter to me," Reyna admitted. "I'll eat anything."

"Alright. Help yourself to the fridge if you're thirsty. I'll order the food," Hylla offered. Reyna nodded and slowly stood. She glanced around her sister's house. It was two stories tall, more than enough for one person to live comfortably. The few pictures on the wall were of Hylla and Kinzie. There was one of Hylla and a group of people that she said was her group for therapy.

Reyna grabbed a soda from the fridge. Upon closing it, she opened it almost immediately and grabbed another can for her sister. She used her knee to close the door and made her back into the living room. Reyna sat on the couch, and Hylla sat by her after retrieving her phone. The television was turned on, and the two sat in easy silence.

Reyna used the time to gather her thoughts and relax slightly. She nursed the soda she had grabbed. Hylla did the same after she finished ordering. By the time the food was there, they were two episodes into a sitcom that was showing reruns, and not a word had been spoken.

It was not awkward. It wasn't weird, either. In fact, Reyna was relaxed as Hylla passed out the food. She ate her salad first, leaving the pasta for later. A third container of food was placed off to the side, and Hylla was about five breadsticks in when Reyna found her voice.

"You're going to eat all of the breadsticks," Reyna complained.

"They're really good," Hylla defended as she shrugged. She handed half of a breadstick to Reyna. A grin came to her face as Reyna rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. I ordered three bags of it. One for each of us."

"When does Kinzie get off work?" Reyna asked.

"She's at home now," Hylla answered. She shifted and looked at the ring on her finger. "We still live separately, and I am trying to figure out how to ask her to move in with me."

"Just ask her," Reyna suggested with a shrug. "I thought you two already lived together."

"We spent most of our time together. Not here, though. Kinzie kind of hates this place," Hylla admitted.

"Why?" Reyna asked. Hylla looked away.

"Because I used the money from my mother to buy it," Hylla slowly revealed. Reyna fell silent. While she wanted to open up to Hylla, the issue of their mother was one she didn't know how to approach. It was a heavy subject that hung over them at all times. They never approached it, scared of what would happen if they opened that old wound.

"I can't believe she stopped giving you those checks," Hylla continued as she shook her head. Reyna frowned slightly. She vaguely remembered having a conversation about the checks. Her eyes narrowed. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"I know we talked about this, but I don't remember," Reyna began.

"It was right before your accident," Hylla said softly. "We were talking about how mother gave me checks every month, like her twisted version of child support. She cut the amount in half sometime around the time you got emancipated. I kept getting the checks, but you didn't."

Reyna gritted her teeth and remained silent. Hylla was the one who said what she was thinking, "What a bitch."

"Yeah," Reyna muttered. She let out an angry breath. "I don't even care about the money."

"It's the fact that she gave it to me and not you. I think it's bullshit," Hylla voiced. She shook her head. "I never should have taken a cent of her damn money."

"You should have taken everything she gave you," Reyna argued. "Spend every damn cent. It's a good thing that you bought this house. You should have bought a car too."

"I did," Hylla shrugged. "But while I was just handed all of this, you had to become a fighter just to make a living."

"That's not why I became a fighter, Hylla," Reyna corrected, grinding her teeth together. "I wasn't desperate for money and begging for a way to survive. Lupa hired me as a teenager off the streets to work in her gym. She paid me enough to not only live but also to have some left to save up."

"Why did you start fighting then? Did it interest you that much?" Hylla questioned.

"Kind of," Reyna answered. She shifted slightly. "I took some self-defense classes with Lupa, and I also helped her fighters. I got paid to be a live training dummy. Then, I..."

Reyna fell silent and looked down. She sighed, "Don't freak out."

"Don't freak out?" Hylla repeated, and she raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"There was this asshole back in high school. He bullied Nico, among other things. He tried to assault Nico. Sexually. So, I punched him in the face," Reyna explained. "A couple of days later, him and a few of his buddies jumped me."

"What did they do to you?" Hylla asked as her face twisted into a mixture of concern and horror.

"Beat the shit out of me," Reyna answered. She shifted. "Nothing beyond that, honestly. The worst thing Bryce did was promise to hurt Nico worse, and they left me coughing out blood. I made it to the small apartment I was staying in. Then, I passed out. Woke in the hospital."

"Nico was concerned when I didn't go to work the next day. Everyone at the gym just dismissed it as me finally having enough and getting back into trouble," Reyna continued. "Nico still went to my place, found me there, and called Lupa."

"What happened to Bryce?" Hylla asked softly.

"Karma came for him," Reyna replied after a few moments. She cleared her throat. "I got into fighting because of that. I wanted to defend myself in case I got jumped again, and Gwen helped me train. At some point, I went from learning self-defense to learning how to fight in the cage. I don't regret it."

Hylla nodded and finished off her share of breadsticks. Reyna had finished her salad and had moved on to the pasta, "I dated Jason in high school. He's Thalia's brother, and I got really mad when he broke up with me. For some reason, I thought dating Thalia would help me get back at him. It was easy because she came to the gym a lot, and at some point, I ended up actually liking her."

"We broke up because I couldn't open up. About you," Reyna explained, casting her sight downward. "I don't blame you. It is my fault. She wanted to know more about you, and that wound between us was so raw. I couldn't even begin."

"It took forever for me to tell Kinzie about you," Hylla admitted. "Why did you think you would get back at Jason by doing that?"

"I don't know," Reyna admitted with a shrug. "It's so dumb looking back on it. And, I was going to tell Thalia earlier this week. Before I could, she told me that she cheated on me. With her ex."

"Reyna," Hylla began.

"It hurts," Reyna stated. She shook her head. "So badly. I actually opened up to Thalia. I told her about our father. I called her every day and asked how she was doing. I told her how I was doing. Yet, she still cheated on me."

"We said a lot of hurtful things to each other. I called her a whore. She called me one. She brought up that mom left because she knew what kind of disappointment I would turn out to be. Then, she slapped me," Reyna ranted. Hylla remained silent and let her continue on without interrupting.

"On top of that, I already had Lupa yell at me early in the day. She welcomed back this guy she saw as a son, but he killed his twin brother. I warned him that I was not going to stand by and let him hurt her again. Lupa blew up on me. We still haven't talked about it."

"I just don't want to see Lupa be hurt. She just lost her mother, and she won't admit that she has a hole in her heart that needs to be filled. I don't think Romy is the answer. He's a junkie, and I don't buy that he's changed," Reyna muttered.

"How long ago did that happen?" Hylla questioned in a quiet voice.

"Years. Maybe a decade. I don't really know," Reyna answered.

"People can change, Reyna. Just think about giving him a chance," Hylla suggested. Reyna looked at her and went to argue. Hylla held up a hand. "I'm not saying to trust him; he has to earn that. But, he can't earn it if you don't give him a chance to."

"I just don't want Lupa to be hurt," Reyna said softly.

"Sometimes, you have to let people make their own mistakes," Hylla commented. "It hurts, and it sucks, I won't lie. But, all you can do is be supportive. If you turn out to be right, don't brag about it to Lupa. Don't rub it in her face. Be there to comfort her."

Reyna sighed and stared ahead. She hung her head and focused on her pasta. Hylla rubbed her shoulder, "How is your wrist doing?"

"It still aches," Reyna said. She rolled her shoulders. "I still have another month at least with this cast on. Then, I'll have physical therapy before I can get into fighting shape."

"Your fight isn't going to be postponed?" Hylla asked. Reyna shook her head. "That's not fair."

"I don't want it to be pushed back, and I can't afford for it to be," Reyna explained. "I'm so close to finally having a shot at the title. I have spent my entire career waiting for this opportunity. I am not going to let it go to waste."

"A date was set, right?" Hylla inquired. Reyna nodded. "Would it be possible for me to be there?"

Reyna's eyes shot to her sister. She slowly nodded and then smiled, "Yeah. I can get you tickets in the audience for free. And, you could come backstage. If you wanted."

"I want to," Hylla agreed. "I'm going to be there for every fight from now on. I promise."

Reyna suddenly hugged her sister with her good arm. Hylla hugged her back tightly, "I love you, Reyna."

"I love you too," Reyna whispered. It wasn't hard to say this time. It didn't leave a lump in her throat. Reyna really meant it, and while it would take some time, she felt like she could open up to her sister without hesitation.