Randy got up from the couch, yawned, and stretched his body. He could smell coffee and made his way to the kitchen. Seth was sitting at the kitchen table looking like something the cat dragged in.

"Did you sleep at all?" Randy asked.
"No," Seth sighed. "My mind won't shut up. I've gone over everything I can remember from our childhood. She's right about everything she said last night. I always thought she was weird for not having friends. I didn't understand they didn't allow her to have any."
"Did she actually do your homework?" Randy asked.
"More times than I can count. I wasn't the brightest student and I found it easy that she did it for me so I never tried to stop it," Seth said.
"Classic kid," Randy chuckled.

Randy poured himself a cup of coffee and jumped up to sit on the counter.

"Even her birthdays," Seth said.
"What about them?" Randy asked.
"We went where I wanted to go on her birthdays. I got to choose what type of cake she got. There was even a present for me but she never got a present on my birthday," Seth said. "Fuck, I was a shitty kid. I just let all that happen because I was content with my life. I didn't care about how she felt."
"You were a kid," Randy said.
"But still," Seth blinked tears away. "I should have seen how fucked up it was. I never questioned it, Randy. She never complained so I just assumed she was happy with me getting my way."

Seth dried his eyes and took a sip of his coffee.

"I finally understand why she never wants to see me. It's so hard to make her want to hang out with me. She always has an excuse why she's too busy when I'm home from the road," Seth said.
"She came to your birthday," Seth said.
"Because I begged her to. I was still so down after losing our parents that I told her I needed her there instead of them. I fucking guilt tripped her into coming, and she showed up. Once again I got my way," Seth said.
"You guys need to talk all this through. Without me and red wine," Randy said.
"I'm gonna drive over there after I've showered," Seth said.

Randy heard a car stop outside and turned his head to look out at the window.

"You don't have to," Randy chuckled. "She's here."

Seth jumped up from his chair and hurried through the house. Randy followed behind. Outside Callie was pulling two boxes up from her trunk. She placed them on the ground, then went around her car to take out two boxes from her back seat and the final one from the passenger seat.

"There," Callie said. "They're all yours."

Callie closed the door again and walked around the the driver's side.

"Callie, wait!" Seth yelled.

Seth ran around her car and looked at her. There was no more anger left. She looked unhappy and he couldn't blame her for that.

"Please, come inside and talk. We need to talk about this. We can work this out and come to terms with everything that happened in our childhood," Seth said.

Callie looked up at Randy and then back to Seth. It was clear she liked Randy but she didn't want to date someone who would push Seth deeper into her life.

"You make it so hard for me to love you," Callie said.
"What?" Seth asked.
"For some reason you need me to love you and I don't understand why. I can't have you in my life until I learn to love myself," Callie said.

It hurt both Seth and Randy to hear her say that. Randy tried awkwardly not moving at all but they both knew he was there listening in on everything. He was hoping Callie would change her mind and come inside.

"I want you in my life, Callie. It took ages for me to realize how things were and I'm sorry for everything I was part of doing to you," Seth said.

Callie's eyes got wet. Seth felt the same way inside as she was feeling in that moment.

"I did a lot of thinking over the night. I remember that vacation. I had blocked out the memory until you reminded me. I thought you were invited too. They said you were but that you declined coming with us. During the vacation, I overheard them laughing about how you were probably homeless by now. I confronted them but they started guilt tripping me. They asked if their love wasn't enough for me. Mom looked me straight in the eyes and asked, why do you need her love when you have us?" Seth said. "Callie, I need you to love me because I love you."

Tears started running down Callie's cheeks. Seth reached a hand forward but she held up her hands to stop him.

"I need you to leave me alone for now," Callie said. "Once I'm ready, and that is if I even ever will be ready, I'll reach out to you. For once in my life, I need to figure this out without you constantly hanging over my head. I can't focus when you're there because all I can see is that annoying 5 year old brat getting a licorice cake on my birthday despite me being allergic to licorice. I need my life to be Seth-free for now. Please, respect that."

Seth nodded and blew out his breath. His own tears started rolling too and he did nothing to stop them. He understood her need to find herself without him in his life. He didn't blame her one bit for that.

"I hope you find what you're looking for and then come back to me because I need my sister," Seth said. "I hope you can forgive me one day."

Callie nodded, threw a final glance back up at Randy, and then got into her car without a word of farewell. She drove away and Seth stood there looking at her car disappearing down the street. Randy walked over to Seth and placed his arm around Seth's shoulders.

"It hurts," Seth whispered.
"I know," Randy said. "That was very mature of you to say what you said and then let her go. She'll come back."
"How can you be so sure?" Seth asked.
"You got a free lifeline in me," Randy held up his phone. "She only said you should leave her alone. I plan on continuing my usual talks with her. If there's anything she wants you to know, she'll tell me to deliver the message. You won't be completely in the dark but of course I'll respect her privacy and not gossip away to you. It's a thin line but I'll manage."
"Thank you," Seth said.
"Let's get those boxes inside," Randy said.

They carried the five boxes inside and Seth opened all of them to see what was in them.

"It's all my stuff," Seth sighed. "They didn't keep anything of hers. It's all my fucking stuff, Randy. Those cruel assholes!"

Seth roamed through the boxes and then suddenly gasped.

"What is it?" Randy asked.

Seth pulled up a stack of homemade birthday cards.

"I made these," Seth said.
"Cute," Randy said.
"No, I made these for Callie," Seth said. "Each year my mom made me give them to her, and she swore she gave them to Callie. I didn't understand why Callie never thanked me for them, and mom told me not to ask. She said that Callie had mental issues and that I would make it worse by asking such stupid questions. They never fucking gave her these cards, Randy. They just hid them in the attic along with everything else of mine. They didn't care about her. They didn't fucking care about her, and I wasn't helping her at all."

Seth broke down sobbing. Randy quickly found his way to the floor and pulled Seth into his arms.

"I'm just as bad as them," Seth cried.
"No, you're not," Randy said.
"I should have known," Seth said.
"You were a kid. There's 10 years between you. Once you started understanding the world, she was out of the house, wasn't she?" Randy asked.
"She moved out when I was 10," Seth said.
"See," Randy said. "You were too young to understand so stop blaming yourself for what they did. They divided you and kept you apart. Callie knows that too. She's not blaming you but she needs time to heal the pain she's carried inside for decades."

Seth broke the hug and stared at Randy.

"Whatever she needs," Seth said.
"I'll be there to help her," Randy said.
"And if she needs me but for some reason can't ask me herself," Seth said.
"I'll let you know," Randy smiled. "Don't worry, Seth. I won't let her or you down. Now give her time and space, and I'm sure she'll come around once she's ready."