treat you better ☔︎ s.m

Chapter Three

Treat You Better
Chapter Three
☯︎

The fork clinks on the plate as the knife cuts the waffle into pieces. The melting butter reminds me, somehow and for some reason, of how I am with Mia. I melt whenever I am with her, and she is the syrup; sweet and is the most perfect with the butter.

My sister drums her fingers on the table, making a beat to whatever song it is that she is listening to. Her fingers clench the bacon from the plate and sticks it in her mouth.

My mom, at the head of the table, takes a sip from the glass. She turns to look at my dad before turning to look at me with confusion.

"What's wrong Shawn?" I shrug and play with the food on the plate. "Is it about Mia?"

I look up at the sound of her name, mentally cursing myself for doing that exact thing, and she gives me a little smile.

"Does it have to do with Ben as well?" I nod my head at the question and she takes a breath. "You can't do anything to help; she has to see everything for herself. Nothing is going to help, only she can help herself."

"I know but I just wish there was something that I can do to help it move along faster."

"Sweetheart," she says, "everything takes time. You just have to be patient."

I can be patient about most things, but this is the one thing that I cannot be patient with.

❁

She looks at the fire with a frown. Seeing a frown on her face leaves a frown on my face as well. She holds her legs to her chest with the large blanket wrapped around her body. A sigh escapes her lips as she turns back to look at me.

"What do I do? Please, tell me what to do." Her voice is so soft you could barely hear it. "Do I seem happy?"

"If you are questioning it, then ask yourself what's wrong with it."

She's quiet for a while before she leans her head back on the couch and sighs. "I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm being told this and that and just don't know what to believe anymore."

"What do you believe?" I ask her as pass her the bowl of popcorn.

"I... I think that there's things that I'm not being told and it doesn't feel great."

My moms words from our morning conversation ring through my mind as I look at her. She needs to find out for herself. So I give her the same advice that my mom gave.

She stays with me for several more hours before leaving to get ready for her date night with Ben, which may or may not have made me roll my eyes.

I chose to stay in the living room so I wouldn't creep on them from my bedroom window, so I turn the volume up to Scooby Doo and watch the gang fly to Spooky Island. My sister joins a few minutes later and steals the bowl from me and takes some popcorn for herself.

"You love her, don't you?" I turn to my sister and nod my head. "No, not like a friend. I mean that you love her."

Her words leave an affect on me that make me wonder for the millionth time today, but they make me realize that I do love her. They make me realize that I would never want to hurt her in my life.

[Made June 27, 2016 - Rewritten June 4, 2018]