“Let me ask one question, was it worth it?”

 The question that has hung in the air for minutes now. Maisie is not thinking about the question and the perfect answer to give her sister, she isn’t.

There are instances where Maisie shuts down her mind and brain to prevent a thought from coming to life. Thoughts that can slowly poison her mind and have her question all that she knows is true She won’t be able to shake it off and it will linger in her mind till it can’t anymore.

“Doesn’t matter anymore, what matters is that we can start over, build a relationship that we never had. I am sorry for not being there when you needed me-”

Daisy interrupts, “You don’t know the half of it”. She scoffs. “Did you know that Chrissy is dead in a car accident?”

Maisie gasp in shock, she covers her mouth with her hands. “O my God.”  She manages to say.

Chrissy is Daisy’s best friend since forever. They act like sisters, it gets Maisie jealous sometimes.

“Cut it out, it’s been years since she died.” Daisy rolls her eyes at her sister’s dramatics.

“W-when?” Maisie's voice comes out shaky.

“Just around the time, you left. I lost two sisters in a year.”

“I am so sorry. If I had known-“

Daisy interjects. “If you had known you would have what? Come back?”  She says dryly. “No, you wouldn’t because you are a selfish, attention-seeking bitch.”

“That’s not fair.” Maisie shakes her head as tears roll down her eyes.

  “Why else did you leave if it’s not for attention? You obviously didn’t leave to get married,” Daisy looks down at her sister’s empty finger. “To pursue your photography career, I don’t think so. To have a better life with the man you love?” She looks around like she is just seeing the place for the first time.  “I guess not.”

“You can get mad at me for not being there for you, you can look down at where I am now, after all, life isn’t kind to people’s dreams. But you are not going to reduce the feeling of happiness, love, freedom, fear and hope I had when I was leaving with him that night to attention-seeking. I won’t let you.” She says firmly.

“I guess you got to hold on to that feeling because from the looks of it, that’s all you have,” Daisy says venomously.

~~~~

Tripp opens the door quietly with the hope that the sisters have gone to bed. His heart skips a beat when he walks inside and sees Maisie washing the dishes in the kitchen.

He knows he screwed up bad but he lost track of time. Once he finished laying his songs he was cornered by Shawn, the man with the record label and he started going on and on about how he started with music. At least he collected his card and he was told to call so they can set up a meeting.

Maisie turns around to see who just entered the house, immediately she sees Tripp she looks away. Just when she thought she couldn’t get any angrier, she sees his face.

Tripp drops his bag on the couch in the sitting room and walks up to the kitchen. “Did Daisy-”

Maisie interrupts, “Yeah, she is asleep.”  She says dropping the plate in the zinc. She is too angry to be holding something that she can easily break on his head.

She leans on the counter with her arms folded as she stares at him. Her heart his beating so fast, she is trying to push back tears. When she is angry, she cries.

“I am so sorr-“

She interrupts again. “How was your gig tonight?”

It’s a trick question.  She is hoping the car had a fault again hence the reason he couldn’t make it, because that he couldn’t control.

“It was really good, the crowd-” He starts with a big smile on his face.

Maisie scoffs at the nerves he has.

Noticing her disinterest, he stops. “I am sorry for missing dinner.”

“I have just one question. Do I ask for much from you?” She glares at him. “Do I?”

He shakes his head.  “You don’t and I am grateful.”

“You are not, because if you were you would have been here so much earlier.”

“There was this friend of Ad-”

“I don’t care. You were supposed to be there and you weren’t, instead, you selfishly did want you wanted.”

Tripp’s heart breaks a little when he hears that word. “Selfishly?”

“Yes, Selfishly,” Maisie repeats.

“That hurts because you know everything I do, I do for us.” The tone of his voice increases.

“Well, I don’t feel it.” She shrugs.

“Why did you even want to here tonight? Your sister doesn’t even like me, I would have ruined dinner.”

Maisie doesn’t say a thing.

Tripp's eyes widen in realization. “You want to prove to Daisy that even though we aren’t rich, we still have our love.”

“Well, I don’t know if we have our love anymore,” Maisie says as she walks out of the kitchen.

~~~~

“Good morning,” Tripp says to Daisy who lazily walks out of the bedroom. He sits up on the couch he slept on overnight to give her space in case she wants to sit down.

“Morning,” Daisy says with a forced smile as she hugs herself. Self-conscious that she is not wearing a bra. “Where’s my sister?” She asks not leaving the position she is standing.

“She went jogging.” He says rubbing his eye. “Want some coffee?” He offers.

“No,” She says as she stands there awkwardly. She is the only one feeling the awkwardness in the atmosphere, Tripp also.

“Guess dinner didn’t go well?” Tripp tries to start a conversation.

“Yeah,” She mutters.

“I think you need to give your sister a break, she is really trying-”

Daisy interrupts him. “I don’t fucking know you other than the fact you are the guy my sister ran away with. You don’t tell me what to do.”

Tripp stands up, “I guess we should change that.” He walks up to her. Daisy raises her eyebrows as she takes a step back. “I am Tripp, the man who loves your sister more than life itself. She is my family, my heart. I know what we have doesn’t seem like much to you, but every day I will work towards giving her a life she deserves.”

Daisy stares at him speechless.

The door opens and reveals a sweaty Maisie walk in. Tripp gives Daisy a quick glace before walking back to the couch.

~~~

 Daisy picks up her backpack and wears it over her shoulders. “I should get going.” She announces.

Maisie stands up and follows her to the door. She really feels bad for last night but she doesn’t know what to say. “You’re sure you don’t want to stay for breakfast?” Maisie asks.

“No, I need to get back to campus early.”

Maisie opens the door for her, “Daisy,” She calls out.  “I am-“

She interjects, “I know me too.” Daisy says with a small smile. “I said somethings I wasn’t proud of yesterday.”

“It’s okay, it was your truth,”  Maisie mutters. “Can I hug you?”

Daisy nods as they both throw their arms around each other and lock themselves into a tight hug. “I am trying hard to be your big sister but you have to meet me halfway.”

“Fine,” Daisy says as they release each other. “Come home one of these days. Mum and Dad won’t admit it but they are dying to see you.”

Maisie doesn’t know how to face her parents, yeah she is a lot older but she will literally die when she sees their disappointed faces.

“Maybe one day.” She says making no promises.

“Bye,” Daisy smiles.

“Bye.”

~~~