She obliges, and I use another tissue to wipe her tears. Delilah sits back, leaning on the headboard. Her face is red and swollen. And I love her. I don’t know when it truly hit me, but I feel it now with every breath I take. I want to tell her, but it isn’t the time. Truth is, I don’t know what to do to make it better.

Delilah crumples her tissue and tosses it aside. “All this time, it was Sam who did that stupid prank.” Red-rimmed eyes meet mine. “You never said a word. Never defended yourself.”

“To what purpose? You hated me and loved Sam. It was better for everyone if you kept on assuming it was me.”

She huffs, her blunt nose wrinkling. “You hated me. By all accounts, you could have easily torn me apart by telling on Sam.”

Wincing, I take her hand. It lies limp in my grip. “I never truly hated you, Delilah. That night, you walked in wearing that killer dress, and it occurred to me that I’d been an utter fool when it came to you. I wanted to say something that night. Call a truce, apologize, something. But then those fucking tater tots showed up, and it was too late.”

Her pink lips wobble, and she shakes her head. “You know what’s strange? When I saw you that night, it finally hit me that we were both outsiders there.”

Because Delilah is the only one who ever truly saw me for me. I don’t want to lose that. I hold her hand a little tighter. “It wasn’t our time yet.”

Biting her lip, she ducks her head. “Would you have ever told me?”

“Delilah, I’d have taken it to my grave if it meant sparing you pain. The fact that you were able to forgive me despite thinking I’d done that to you was a rare gift. How could I selfishly hurt you just so I could look better in your eyes?”

“Instead I was left thinking my sister was someone I could trust.”

My throat clogs, and I clear it. “I’m sorry. I thought I was protecting you.”

She laughs bitterly. “And I thought I was protecting Mama and Sam. You called me a martyr for it.”

Shit. “I was wrong. Stupid.”

Her lips twist in a sad smirk. “You always got so pissed when I tried to defend Sam. You said she wasn’t worth it. Now I know why.”

My fingers curl into the comforter by her hip. “You weren’t wrong to try.”

Delilah blows a raspberry and then tilts her head back to blink up at the ceiling. Tears trail down her cheeks. “I was a fool. And you know it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with trying to help the people you love. That’s what I know now.”