Happy Monday, my lovelies! I hope you're all having a lovely day! I've been busy inviting people to my birthday party and seeing who can show up and stuff like that. My birthday's next Wednesday, which is exciting and also kind of scary. Hopefully nineteen is a good year for me. Well, let's get to the chapter. Hopefully you lovely people enjoy! (Also plugging my Tumblr again, please follow me at sincerely-shaymie and maybe ask me stuff or something, I'm lonely. xD) ~Shaymie

Darcy's POV

"My sister hates me," I huffed, flopping onto my boyfriend's bed. John looked up from his homework and arched an eyebrow as he turned to look at me. I sighed, remembering what had happened earlier. I needed to learn to keep my mouth shut. I had been mad at her, but I shouldn't have said what I did.

"Are you ready for another exciting day of physical therapy?" I asked, leaning against the doorframe. Today was my day to take my sister to her appointment, and Martha was nice enough to let me borrow her car. It was finally starting to warm up a bit, so I could finally wear some of the clothes I had brought from home. I was dressed in my favorite red flannel with a black tank top underneath and some jean shorts.

Lori didn't answer, and I assumed it was because she couldn't hear me through the bathroom door. She took forever to do her hair, but she refused to cut it again. I almost wanted to go in there and tell her to hurry up, but I knew that she liked her privacy. I sat on her bed and looked around the room. It was so perfectly… her. The shelves were lined with stuffed animals and Disney movies. I think she owned every single one at this point. The entire room was pastel colors, which reminded me of her. Soft and delicate.

I traced a finger over her bedspread and smiled. This was the first day since November that we were able to spend time together, just the two of us, and I was determined to make the best of it. From here on out, I was going to be the best big sister ever. Not just for Lori, but also for Colton. I didn't want to mess this up again. I couldn't understand how my sister was still so nice to me after I've failed to be there for her.

Lori came out of the bathroom a few minutes later, her hair tied up in a bun. I didn't miss the way her legs were trembling slightly and gently led her to the bed. She huffed and brushed some stray hair behind her ear, and that was when I finally noticed it. She was wearing a short-sleeved dress, which showed off all the scars on her arms. I bit my lip. Most of the scars had long since faded, a pale white against her skin. Only the ones she had given herself shortly before Thanksgiving were even noticeable. Those stood out a bit more. If she was comfortable baring her skin like this, then I shouldn't try to stop her. But I couldn't help but be worried. What if someone made fun of her for them?

"You should put a jacket on," I blurted out. Lori looked up at me, her eyes wide. Her eyes narrowed when she noticed I was staring at her arms. I forced myself to pull my eyes up to her face. The fire in her eyes surprised me. She was beyond pissed.

"Why should I? Are my scars making you uncomfortable?"

"I… I just don't want people to stare at you, Lori. I know how much you hate attention-"

"I've worn short-sleeved stuff before and I haven't had any problems. Then again, you wouldn't know about that, would you? You're never fucking here," Lori glowered at me as she got up and went over to the cubby where she kept her shoes. She spent far more time than was needed looking for a pair of shoes. Her back was to me, but I could tell that she was trembling, her breaths coming far too quickly to be healthy. She shuddered and flinched as she wrapped an arm around her torso.

"Lori, I'm sorry." I went over to her and knelt next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. She shoved me away and grabbed a random pair of flats. Some white ones with little bows on them. Her eyes were filling up with tears as she shoved her feet into her shoes and grabbed her purse. "Lorin, I've been trying. I don't work as much as I used to. I'm trying to be here for you."

"Look how far that's gotten you." My sister laughed bitterly, her eyes stormy. "Everytime you say that you'll 'be here for me', something goes wrong. You're never here when I need you. Gil's a better sibling than you, and we're not even related."

"That's not fair, Lori. I've been busy-"

"Sleeping with everything that moves? I'm surprised you haven't cheated on John yet. Lord knows that you'll fuck anything that moves." My anger flared as I stared down at her. What the hell was her problem? I was trying my hardest to be a better sister… A better person. All of that was behind me, but she couldn't seem to let it go. I knew I should have left the room and given myself some time to cool off, but I was too pissed off for that.

"At least I don't cut myself for attention," I spat out. All the anger melted from Lori's face. Her expression was unreadable. I should have stopped there. God, I should have stopped there. But I didn't. "At least I'm smart enough to leave someone when they start to abuse me. You probably liked it, didn't you? You were probably into that shit."

"Shut up."

"Why should I? I should let the whole world know that Lorin Haywood is nothing but a slut. If you hated it so much, you should have just left them. But no, you just had to stay, and then turn around and cry victim."

"Shut. Up."

"What'll you do if I don't? Go crying to Alexander? That's all you ever seem to do nowadays. You just cry and have your little panic attacks and then go to your boyfriend, expecting him to make everything better-"

She cut me off with a slap. A hard one, too. It was probably going to leave a mark. She gasped and looked down at her hand, her eyes wide. She started sobbing and mumbling frantically to herself, half in Spanish and half in English. I was too stunned to even be mad at her. She had once told me that no matter how angry she was, she refused to hit anyone. She didn't think that violence was an answer to anything. She ran out of the room in tears before I could respond.

"You haven't seen her since?" John asked, his homework forgotten. I shook my head and screamed into a pillow. I was a terrible person. I didn't mean any of that. I knew that she was still hurting from everything that had happened to her, but I threw it in her face anyway. I deserved that slap. If she didn't hate me before, she surely hated me now. Why was it so hard for me to have a decent relationship with my family members? Even Mama still walked on eggshells around me. "Darcy, I'm going to be blunt. You messed up big time."

"You don't think I know that? Has she called you or anything? Do you know where she is? She hasn't answered my calls all day." I watched as my boyfriend grabbed his phone from his desk and called my sister. I didn't know what Lori was saying, since John held the phone away from me, but he nodded and hummed along, occasionally putting in his own two cents. It looked like he was trying his best to stay neutral in the whole situation.

"From what I can tell, both of you said some things you really shouldn't have," he murmured, glancing at me from the corner of his eye. "I'm not picking a side, Lori. This is between you and Darcy. But I will say that the two of you are sisters. You shouldn't let a fight like this tear you apart."

"I don't want to talk to her!" I jumped back as I heard Lori's voice come through the phone. John flinched and held the phone away from his ear. I couldn't take it anymore. I got up and left the room, my eyes filling with tears. I wiped at my eyes and sat down in the living room. I'd go home, but I didn't know if Lori was there and I couldn't face her. Not so soon. Probably not ever again. My worst fear was coming to life. My sister hated me.