Worth Solving {Dylan O'Brien}

Chapter Fifty

"That's why you wouldn't stick up for yourself and make her stop it. She figured out it was about Daniel." The clicks kept coming in my head. "She was going to tell everyone if you tried to stop her." I sighed, shaking my head as I sat down on the sofa. "Even if she had no part and there wasn't going to be a book released, would you have told me?"

"When I was brave enough, I would have."

"How brave are you feeling right now?" I asked in reply. "I don't want to read it in a book, Gen. I want to hear it from you."

Gen sat down in the arm chair, crossing her ankles on impulse as she wiped under her eyes. "Before Tanner, I have to start somewhere else. It was back when Daniel and my brother were still in grade school. We all lived in London at the time, but it's bigger than people think, so even though we were in the same city, we were still far away. For a surprise for Tanner, one day my father and I picked Daniel up and we drove to get Tanner from school."

I watched her carefully, knowing it was the first time she'd openly spoken about her father.

"You never got an explained answer about why I don't drink alcohol. That day when we went to get Tanner, we were in the base collision to the biggest London pile up in 20 years. We were hit by a drunk driver. It killed my father instantly and only injured the rest of us." Genesis swallowed, looking to her hands. "That's what really bonded Daniel to our family. From then on, it was hard to separate him from Tanner and I, being the annoying little sister, liked to tag along, and if Tanner was feeling nice he would let me hang out with them.

"As I got older it was a cliché kind of thing. It's the oldest thing in the book, to fall for your brother's best friend, but I did and Tanner didn't like it. He especially didn't like it when Daniel seemed to, return the feelings." She struggled to explain it all, it hurting her as she pushed on. "We didn't really listen to Tanner, but I know now that we should have. It was about the time that season 1 of Teen Wolf finished airing and a little before Daniel got casted for the next one. He and Tanner were sharing a flat in London and on my 20th birthday Tanner was out and Daniel had gotten special access to the roof of the building.

"It was set up like a little maze, a maze of fireworks. None of them were out of range or over explosive. They were small ones you could have in city limits. They would go off one after another, and Daniel and I stood off on one side when he lit the first one." Her eyes were practically glowing at the memories, it imprinted in her brain in a beautifully tragic way. "They were set up to weave around the top, and then went from one corner, passed the door onto the roof and went down to the other corner. Tanner was supposed to be on a date, and apparently it didn't go well. That's all I could figure, because he came home early. He checked the flat and saw my bag was there, and he heard the fireworks on the roof. There was security footage that showed him do it, and you could tell he was mad. He'd said so many times for us not to be together. And he had this stupid habit of smoking, and he lit up in the stairwell..."

My eyes widened, Gen covering her mouth with her hand as her words began to fall away.

"He shouted my name and swung open the door just as the one in front of it went off, and he was just gone. The cigarette smoke and the impact of the door on the firework caused a massive explosion. Daniel's missing part of his earlobe if you look close enough and I went to the flat building today, it's still wrecked. Part of the roof is missing." Her weary eyes met mine, "That's why I couldn't tell you, Dylan. I couldn't do it. I'd already shut myself off from the world, I didn't want to go back and make you think of me like you must now. I didn't listen because I was stupid, and it killed my brother."

"Do you love him, Daniel?" I asked, leaning forward with my knuckles just above my lip.

"I did," she softly said as warm tears rolled down her cheeks. "I ended it and after the funeral, mum and I moved to Bury. I shut down, and I wrote that god forsaken book. I hadn't even talked to him in over two years until he called me after I'd showed up in California. I found out only days ago I never accidentally called you, either. My mum and Daniel had planned something; he'd given her your number and she put it in my phone as hers so I would call you."

"Is everything a lie with us?" My eyes stayed on hers, "Did you ever sleep with him?" I lightly questioned, the words barely making it out of my mouth.

"No," she shook her head. "You were the only one. Last night, that was my first." If she were to collapse, she looked like she wouldn't be able to get up. "I understand if you hate me."

I stood from my seat, wiping away the tear that had escaped and slid down my cheek. "I don't hate you, I just can't, I can't do this. You lied to me, and I'm not sure if I can trust you anymore." I gripped my palm, walking to the hotel door. Opening it, I glanced back to her. "I just wish you'd told me sooner."

As the door shut between us, I heard her whisper, "Me too."

And even though I loved her more than I thought was humanly possible, I walked away from it all.

The world had imploded and I wasn't sure if I'd survived the aftermath.