When I met up with Fiona, she teased me, "I've called you out so many times, and you never came. Today you're actually the one who asked me to dinner."
I took a guilty sip of beer and said, "Peyton hurt his leg. I've been busy taking care of him lately."
"Alright."
Fiona was munching on a meat skewer when she suddenly asked, "Abbey, don't you think your brother is a bit too dependent on you?"
Peyton—too dependent on me?
I started taking care of him when he was fourteen. During his most rebellious phase, he skipped school, but I didn't let him get away with it.
If he dared to skip school, I wouldn't go home and let him starve.
If he skipped school for a day, I'd sleep outside for a week.
Eventually, he learned to behave. He stopped skipping school, and the first thing he'd do when he got home was eagerly look for me.
If we're talking about dependence, that was probably when Peyton was most dependent on me.
When Peyton turned sixteen, he gave me a necklace with a pendant and wrote me a card.
At the end of it, he wrote, "I love you."
I was so excited at that moment, feeling that my little brother had finally grown close to me. I happily told him, "I loves you too."
But from then on, he started rebelling and never called me "sis" again.
I awkwardly explained to Fiona, "He witnessed our dad's death when he was fourteen. Maybe he was just more vulnerable, so he became dependent on me."
Fiona raised an eyebrow and poured me a glass of beer:
"You mentioned something about NPCs last time. Could your brother be the male lead?"
I was taken aback and asked her why she thought that.
Fiona rested her chin on her hand and said, "His father died early, plus with a face like his, it would be strange if he wasn't the male lead."
I took a sip of beer. Fiona had guessed it right, but she would never imagine that Peyton was that kind of extraordinarily gifted male lead.
"But why did you say we're NPCs? You're the male lead's sister, and I'm the male lead's sister's best friend. At the very least, we're the third and fourth female leads, right?" Fiona joked, but her words left me frozen in place.
Yeah, I'm Peyton's sister.
A heavy feeling weighed on my chest, and I quickly downed another glass of beer.
As Fiona nibbled on buffalo wings, her tone grew concerned:
"Abbey, take it easy."
I can't even remember when Peyton arrived.
Why is it that Peyton always finds me and takes me home?
Lying on the couch, I drunkenly asked Peyton, "Do you like cars?"
Peyton's cold hand brushed my cheek, and I heard him say, "I do."
"As long as it's from you, I like it."
It felt like I was holding a block of ice in my arms. His grip on me tightened, and I started struggling to breathe, unable to speak.
In a daze, the ice block gradually morphed into Peyton's cold face. He covered my mouth, his gaze burning with intensity.
"Peyton, I'm your sister."
I found it harder and harder to breathe, the heavy breathing in the living room echoed around me.
I didn't catch what he said next, just heard a low chuckle.
"So what?"
