This thought had never entered Greta’s mind before, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she knew they were true.

“And that’s why it’s integrity, right?” Carys said. “Because you honored the truth of your feelings above what the consequences were for speaking them. We’re taught that what matters most is what happens. Did we get what we wanted, did we win, did we achieve the most. But what use is getting what you wanted if you get it at the cost of never being real about your own feelings?”

That hit Greta hard.

She’d spent so much time thinking what mattered most was the outcome. Did she succeed? Did her parents approve? Was she pulling her weight in the family? But all those things were done in spite of her feelings, not in line with them. She had always worried that telling her sisters she didn’t want to do something would result in them being upset, but she never thought that doing the thing despite her own feelings was behaving as if her feelings didn’t matter.

But they did. They mattered a lot.

“Fuck.”

“Yeah. It’ll mess you up when you fully realize how little you’ve honored your own feelings, which are, like, your whole self.”

They were her self. What had she thought her self was? She didn’t even know, but she’d been wrong.

“Fuuuck.”

Carys nodded in solidarity.

“And before, you were telling me your true feelings, and I was only thinking about the outcomes and my own habits of ‘taking care of someone,’ not about what you wanted at all. Damn. I get it. I really do.”

Carys’ smile was bright and fond. “Thanks, babe.”

Greta was practically buzzing with determination. This was the piece she’d been missing. The thing she’d failed to understand. It was so crucial that she didn’t think she could do anything else before she had a conversation with her family. It was scary and huge, but if she could express to them how she felt…how bad she’d been feeling…if they loved her, they’d want to help. Right? She had a free airline chit since her flight to New Orleans had been delayed and rerouted. She could go see them right now.

“I think I gotta go talk to my family. Can I…?”

She approached Carys, not sure if they’d repaired everything enough to warrant a kiss.

“Of course. Come here.”

She sank down beside Carys, and they wrapped their arms around each other.

“I don’t mean this in a patronizing way,” Carys said, “but I’m really proud of you for confronting your family. It’s so hard. You’re really brave to do it.”

Brave wasn’t a word that Greta would ever have used to describe herself, but she liked it. She wanted it to suit her.