Dancing With Deception

24 | Sister Needs Sister

Ordinarily, I'd have written and proof read my work at least one week before it was due, but today I'm struggling to even formulate the opening sentence of an essay that's topic is so interesting.

The sound of a knock on my door snaps me from my useless attempts to write my essay. I turn to look at the entrance to my bedroom, the baby blue painted nails curling around my door as Emily pushes it open.

"Hey," she whispers shyly, stepping into my room slowly.

Her hair is tied back, and she's wearing a blue oversized jumper with some black baggy jeans. She looks good, but her face says otherwise.

Her eyes are etched with a sense of sadness, her lips sealed nervously as she walks slowly towards the middle of the room.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask, dropping my pen as I turn on my seat, facing her as she walks closer to me, her eyes dropping to the floor as I ask her my question.

It's always been hard to ask my sister if she's okay. She has trouble expressing her feelings, she tends to bottle things up too much, she's been getting better recently. Ever since Eldon, she's been able to talk a bit more about our dad, and her breakup.

She's still not in a good place emotionally though, she still needs to be asked several times before she opens up about her problems.

"Yeah... I was, I don't know," she mumbles, placing her hands on her hips as she sighs, looking up at the ceiling as she fidgets, stepping from foot to foot anxiously.

She needs to open up, I can see that. This is her typical Emily style of asking for help. She wants me to reach out, and of course I will.

"What is it?" I ask, my voice kind, and light, and free of any judgement. I want her to know that it's okay for her to talk to me about these type of things.

I'm her sister, and I'll be there for her, no matter how small the problem is, I want her to know that I've got her back.

When it all comes down to the core, if one sister needs the other, we would both drop everything for the other.

"I was just kind of hoping that we could talk?" She suggests hesitantly, her eyes racked with a fear of rejection as she fiddles with her fingertips, biting the inside of her cheek.

"Of course, you never have to ask," I tell her, my words are true, I'm upset that she feels so nervous asking me to talk about something with her.

I know that I find it easier to talk more openly about my feelings than she does, but it's still so upsetting to watch my sister feel so trapped from asking me for any help at all.

I just want her to know that I'm here for her. I want her to trust me with her feelings in the way that I trust her with mine, I know that if I ever went through something like what happened between her and Eldon, I could rely on her.

I know that if that ever happened to me, Emily would be the first person I'd go to for help.

I smile softly, standing up from my chair and walking over to the bed, sitting cross legged as I pat the space on the bed that's next to where I'm sat, gesturing for Emily to come and join me.

I don't want her to open up whilst I'm not around her, I know that she doesn't like people to see her cry, so if we're sat on the bed and she starts to get self conscious about her tears, then I'll be able to wrap her into a hug more naturally.

Emily doesn't open up a lot about her feelings, especially now that a significant time has passed since she found out about Michelle and Eldon. I need to be tactical if I'm truly going to provide her with the support that she needs.