Shit. She had barely worked up the strength to tell her father, and now she had to find that strength again to tell Ollie. Eva seems tense, surprised, a bit lost when her father sighs and leaves them alone. Her emerald gaze bounces back and forth between Ollie and her father’s back until he disappears around the corner and into the kitchen.

“How much of that did you hear?” she asks cautiously, unmoving from her place just in front of the couch.

---

ollie morales

He had been around to hear enough. Perhaps not the details, but the outcome. Her already tired and solemn expression grows more heartbreaking when he puts it into words. There’s a long pause as the knot in her throat grows tighter.

“Yeah,” she eventually confirms, turning her gaze to break eye contact. Her arms lifted to wrap around herself in a defensive posture now that her heart was bleeding all over the floor, “I’m not getting married. Matias left me.”

---

ollie morales

Eva expected a shocked reaction, perhaps even an over-exaggeration. She slumps onto the couch as gravity pulls her down. Her eyes remain fixed on the coffee table as Ollie slides over beside her. She spares him just a brief, pained look before looking away once again, too embarrassed to hold his gaze.

“He changed his mind . . . I guess.”

I wasn’t good enough.

“He said there’s . . . someone else.

Someone better than her.

“He didn’t even want to try.”

Everything they had built together was insignificant.

---

ollie morales

“Ollie, it’s fine,” she’s quick to retaliate when he threatens to lash out against Matias. It’s not fine, but she refuses to let Ollie get too involved. It’s not his relationship to step into. Sister or not, she can handle herself.

“It’s fine,” she repeats, gently laying a hand on Ollie’s arm, “I’ll be ok. It’ll hurt for a while but . . . I’ll be ok.”

---

ollie morales

It’s not fine. She’;s far from fine. But what is she supposed to do when faced with the disappointed and hurt face of her big brother? Instill more worry in him by diving into her grief? Accept her colossal failures? Admit to still being madly in love with someone who not only broke her heart but betrayed her? How she’d run back to him the moment he asked her to?

She hates how weak she is.

“I’m sure, Ollie,” she feigns reassurance with a smile that doesn’t quite meet the genuine Morales smile they are known for, “But thanks for being there for me.”

---

ollie morales

Ollie words remind her of something Matias said that eats away at her very soul, little by little. You’re too good for any of us. He likely meant well too, but the implications projected her fears of ending up alone.

Eva finds herself leaning into Ollie’s touch, letting him take the role of comforting big brother. Tears well in her eyes and she sharply inhales back a sniffle, “There was a time when . . . I didn’t mind being alone, you know?” She curls into herself, small and feeble, “But after him, after knowing what it’s like to be loved,” she shakes her head, “I don’t wanna be alone.”

---

ollie morales

Her shoulders sink in defeat. A small sob cracks through her throat and she gives in. She lets Ollie be the big brother, and in his embrace, she feels a warm protection. It's a space she can feel in, and accept her sorrow that she has to hide from the outside world.

Eva buries her head into his shoulder, snaking her arms around his waist to embrace him. After a moment, a long sigh banishes the tension from her back as he pulls away. She attempts a small smile beneath her tinted, teary eyes, “I hope so, Ollie,” she swallows the knot back down, “Cause it really sucks right now.”

---

ollie morales