Day Sixteen
Prompt: Dreamily
"Pell, do you like my hair up like this?" Vega asked, leaning closer to the mirror in their dorm. She had twisted her honey-brown hair, that had grown longer over the summer, into a simple chignon and was holding it against her head. She turned her head side to side, looking at herself from different angles.
"Sure," Capella said when she had looked up at her sister. "You know you look pretty no matter what." She looked down at her hands and her hair slipped over her shoulder, hiding her face. "Who are you going to the Yule Ball with, again?"
"Terry Boot," Vega said with a little sigh. She rushed over to Capella and sat down next to her on the bed. "I know he's a year younger but he's so wonderful," Vega said dreamily. "He's such a great guy, he…" Vega stopped abruptly and looked over at her sister. "Pell, I'm sorry. I don't mean to go on about Terry. I know you have had a really hard time since George."
"Oh, no, Vega, I want to hear about Terry," Capella said as she tucked her hair behind her ears. She grasped her sister's hand and forced a smile. "I want you to be happy. And really, I'm not upset about George and me anymore." She had tried to look her sister in the eyes as she spoke but couldn't.
"You're such a bad liar," Vega said with a sad smile. "Why didn't you tell him you love him?"
"Vega…"
"Don't you 'Vega' me," her sister interrupted as she took Capella's face gently in her hand and forced her to look at her. "You love him. Why didn't you tell him?"
Capella brushed a stray tear away with the back of her hand and pulled away from Vega. "I was scared," she finally said. "Looking back, I realize that I probably always loved him, even when I hated him. I just think I was so scared to admit it." She looked down at her hands again and her hair slipped over her shoulder.
"What we're you afraid of?" Vega asked. "He had already told you he loved you. The scary part was over." She reached out and tucked Capella's hair behind her ear again.
"I don't know," Capella said with a little shrug. "The enormity of what I was feeling? The intensity?"
"You need to tell him," Vega said.
Capella buried her face in her hands. "It's too late. I really hurt him." The tears that had previously been threatening to fall finally did.
"Pell, what can I do?" Vega asked. The pain her sister was feeling was palpable and it broke Vega's heart to see Capella this way.
"Nothing," Capella replied. "I ruined it and I have to live with that." She brought her legs up onto the bed and laid her head on her sister's lap.
"It can't be irreparable," Vega said, running her hand through Capella's hair. "He loves you."
"Loved me," Capella corrected.
"Loves you," Vega repeated. "You can't just turn off love like a lamp. I doesn't work that way." Capella turned her head to look up at her sister. "If I told you to stop loving George right this vey second, could you?"
"No, I couldn't."
"See?" Vega smoothed back Capella's hair and smiled down at her.
Capella nodded slightly. She understood what Vega was saying, but she also remembered the pain etched on George's face. It wasn't going to be the same between them, ever. "Tell me again how Terry asked you to the ball," she said, changing the subject.