Song: Cozy Christmas Ambience by Cozy Moments

Lilah slumped against the warm chair, yawning loudly. Her droopy eyes traced the dancing flames as they twirled like poised ballerinas. The quiet chatter filling the Carmichael mansion created a peaceful ambiance. Her eyes fell shut as the nutty aroma of roasting chestnuts wafted over her.

The cushion beside her dipped as someone sat down. She knew who it was by the scent alone and it had her slightly on edge as she wondered what was to come.

"I know you're not sleeping," Lonnie whispered. "Mom might be terrible at knowing when you're faking but that doesn't mean I am."

Lilah snorted. "I wasn't faking. Just resting my eyes."

Lonnie reclined against the firm cushions and brought her good leg up to wrap her arms around it. "We haven't really... talked for a while. You and me."

"I asked you to pass the salt at dinner, didn't I?"

Lonnie's lips twitched. "You're right. I guess I should be happy. Those were the first words you said to me since the wedding."

Lilah opened her eyes, no longer sleepy and no longer at peace. She pushed herself to sit up, bumping shoulders with her sister in the process.

They both wore the same ugly red flannel pajamas that Granny made everyone wear every year. Neither of them looked particularly thrilled at the moment, horrid attire aside. Lilah didn't know exactly how to fix that.

Lonnie wet her bottom lip, considering her next words carefully before speaking. "I need you to know something and I need you to really listen to me, this time, when I speak to you."

Lilah swallowed thickly, hating how alone they were in the living room with no one else around to act like a buffer. "Ok."

"Granny gave me a choice, when she proposed the marriage with Adrian." Lonnie made sure to hold eye contact no matter how much Lilah tried to avoid her firm gaze. "I could either accept it, or not. No one forced me to do this. I had a choice. You need to understand that. So do Kiki and Caius."

"Does it really count as a choice if you knew Granny would have approached the rest of us to seal the deal?" she asked in a hushed whisper. Annoyance flared within her when Lonnie's firm face didn't change one bit. "Having a choice implies that you had the freedom to accept or decline the proposition without backlash. But you knew Granny would've gotten one of us to marry into the Radcliffe family one way or another. It isn't a choice if you're backed into a corner and go along with things to spare the rest of us. I don't accept that."

"You don't accept that." Lonnie ran her fingers carelessly through her long, curly tresses. The black sea of her hair was a comfort in the face of her sister's stubbornness. "But I do. So where does that leave us?"

Lilah sighed, looking away when the question in Lonnie's warm brown eyes became too much to handle. "I don't know."

The silence was unbearable this time.

The fire crackled too loudly. The chestnuts smelled burnt. Every soft song of laughter and delayed whisper of discussions floating on the air irked Lilah to no end.

"I miss you," Lonnie admitted, tilting her head to catch Lilah's eye.

"I'm right here," Lilah mumbled, still refusing to look anywhere but the wall.

"Are you?" Lonnie fiddled with her cast, mulling over her words. She tried and failed to string along the right sentences to portray how she felt. The silence continued to sing. One minute. Five minutes. By the tenth minute Lonnie found her bearings and finally spoke. "Sometimes... you get so in your head and you just... drift off. And you don't always open up when that happens. You don't like it when people see you vulnerable. You don't like to talk about how you feel unless you're pushed into it. I just..."

Lilah looked at her sister, watching the way Lonnie let out a breath so heavy her whole body trembled. Her lips were pressed into a thin line while she fought to compose herself. When their eyes locked a tendril of guilt curled within Lilah's stomach. To see Lonnie's features twisted with confliction left a bad taste in her mouth because she was the cause of it.

Or, at least, she was one third of the cause for it.

"Lilah, I love you, but the way you've handled my engagement has been very immature," she said.

Lonnie's voice was incredibly stern and even a bit harsh. Her eyes glistened like pools. She breathed in shuddering staccatos and her palms were unbearably sweaty.

Scolding her sister wasn't anything new for her. She was the oldest. She had to lead by example. It was her responsibility to meet every expectation their family set before her. It was her duty to protect and keep the younger ones in line as much as she could.

She'd set her siblings straight many times over the years. But this, fighting over a decision she made to spare them, was foreign territory.

It filled Lonnnie with nerves, tackling this new situation, but she wasn't backing down.

She'd tried the soft approach and that had failed. The understanding approach had crashed and burned. The extended olive branch from Adrian had been scorched upon delivery.

No more.

If her siblings wouldn't accept her soft love then they were sure as hell going to listen to her tough love.

"You're smart. You know the world we live in. You know what's expected of us. You know how things work." Lonnie leveled Lilah with an even stare, feeling her own eyes dry up as she watched her sister's water. "But the way you've been acting towards me and Adrian since you found out about the engagement has been childish. Not at all a reflection of the way Mom raised you."

Lilah bit the inside of her cheeks hard enough to leave marks. "I—"

"You don't come by the townhouse to see me anymore," Lonnie said, bulldozing over Lilah's feeble attempts to talk. "You practically ignore me when we're in the same room unless you absolutely have to talk to me. And Thanksgiving!" Lonnie threw her hands up, letting out an exasperated laugh. She didn't realize how fed up she was until she started speaking. Now everything was coming out like word vomit. All of her frustrations. All of her loneliness and pain. She couldn't have stopped herself even if she wanted to. "I don't even wanna know the truth regarding the lies all of you spun to hide whatever the hell that brawl was about."

Lonnie sucked in another breath. Her chest burned the more agitated she became. She held up her hand when Lilah attempted to speak again.

She wasn't done yet.

"I have been alienated and pushed aside. Kiki won't talk to me unless it's to be a snarky prick. Caius is quieter than usual towards me even when Mom is around and you, Delilah." Lonnie's cheeks puffed up as she took another breath in an effort to stabilize herself. She sniffled, feeling her nose get clogged up. "You have been infantile and naive. I am a grown ass woman. I made my choice. I accept my choice. And while I don't expect you or Kiki or Caius to love the decision I made. I do expect you all to treat me with the respect that I know I deserve because I didn't do a damn thing wrong."

Lonnie shucked off the knitted blanket she'd been unknowingly toying with and stood. Snatching her crutches up from the floor, she placed her weight on them and let out another shaky breath.

"I expect you to treat me like I'm your sister." Lonnie glanced at Lilah and while it hurt to see her sister cry, she didn't make any move to comfort her. "Because I am, you know. I am still your sister." Lonnie tightened her grip on the cold metal. "You need to grow up because I don't deserve this. Neither does Adrian who, if you'd taken your head out of your ass for one second, would know is a great guy that I really like."

Lilah bit her bottom lip and hastily swiped at the flood of tears soaking her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she said, feeling thoroughly chastised. She opened her mouth to say more but her voice wouldn't come out between the quiet sobs choking her ability to speak.

Another broken apology came out in between stuttered breaths. Yet the sight of Lonnie's back was the only thing to greet her.

"Actions speak louder than words."

Lilah couldn't watch her go, too ashamed to look at Lonnie for longer than necessary. She sank lower to hide and curled up on her side. The worst part wasn't that she cried or felt hurt by her sister's words. The worst part was that Lonnie had spoken no lies regarding their behavior as of lately.

She laid there for hours, listening to her younger cousins protest as they were ushered to bed. The sounds of her mother conversing with her sisters emerged from the kitchen in hushed whispers. She heard it all but she didn't process a single thing.

Lilah let out one last shaky breath when Caius plopped down beside her. A white rag filled her vision. When she touched it she found that it was ice cold. Sniffling, she laid the rag over her eyes. It was soothing after hours of rubbing them raw.

"Thank you," she said, voice slightly hoarse from hours of holding in her sobs so as not to disturb anyone.

"I take it you got your ass handed to you too." Lilah settled for a stiff nod when her voice refused to cooperate. "Same."

Peeking out from under the rag, she saw Caius running his fingers through his wavy ginger hair. An old habit. She hadn't seen him do that since the day they dropped him off at New Haven for his first day of college.

"We fucked up," she croaked.

Caius hummed, lips thinning into a bitter line as he crossed his arms and glared at the roaring fire. He'd been so caught up in protecting one sister, that he neglected to remember that he had another to consider too.

"Yeah," he agreed, honey eyes glazing over with disappointment. "We did."

Midnight struck. The grandfather clock chimed throughout the mansion. It was Christmas.

Lilah's phone buzzed against her thigh. She fished it out of her pocket and read the incoming text with swollen eyes.

How the hell did you know I needed more?

Ambrose attached a picture of the box of lens wipes she'd gotten him for his glasses. Her lips twitched in spite of her poor mood, already picturing his frowning face and steely gaze.

I didn't

???

Vincent said you don't like meaningless gifts

Tbh I don't think you like gifts at all

So, y'know, I went for practicality

This feels like more PI shit 🤨

Wdym?

When Ambrose didn't elaborate she turned her phone off and sighed. "Caius, did you have Rhys investigate Ambrose?"

"Yes."

Lilah let out something between a snort and a laugh. Before she could reply her phone went off again.

Thanks

She smiled.

No problem

Ignoring her wounded heart and feeling a bit more determined, Lilah texted Rhys. If there was anyone that had the information she needed, it was the family's private investigator, Rhys Fairfield.

Rhys responded not even a minute later and she jumped up. "I'll be back." Lilah ducked into a nearby bathroom and dialed the number, waiting impatiently.

"Hello?"

Lilah's thumping heart slammed into her ribcage so hard that she forgot how to breathe for a moment. His voice sounded groggy and heavily laced with sleep. But she recognized it enough to know that this was the man she was looking for.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Lilah mustered up what was left of her courage and responded. "Adrian? It's Lilah. We need to talk."

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QOTD: What are your thoughts regarding Lonnie and Lilah's interaction? Do you think Lonnie has a point? How do you think the siblings can mend their relationship with Lonnie after weeks of their bad attitude towards her situation?