A/N: Brace yourselves for a long chapter! XD

Closing my eyes, I recalled when Isla revealed that Novah was her half-sister. She'd done it with tears. And her body was shaking as if her life depended on the secret. But Mom didn't bat an eyelid.

"Is it true?" Isla clutched my hand with all her might.

I gulped. I could tell she was would never speak to me again if I said yes. Because I saw right through her.

"Nope. I'm the only child Mom has. I guess she didn't want to share her love for me with anyone." I shrugged, and pulled her closer for a hug.

"She just wants to make you jealous. Wait, you're jealous enough already, eh?" I winked.

She just heaved a sigh as if a burden was lifted off her chest. Her curls fell across my chest. Back to the drama. Mary and Joseph were looking for the room in the inn.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

What? I never thought I'd hear her say those words. She lifted her head from my chest to study my face with puppy dog eyes. Oh my God. Oh.
My.
God.
She looked so freaking cute.

"For what?" I asked.

"I should never have brought up Novah. I mean, she was your girlfriend, and you're still mourning her. I'm so pathetic," she moaned.

My gaze flickered to Mom. The anger that vanished before resurfaced. I couldn't believe she just made my best friend have a heart attack yet, she didn't budge. Isla closed her palm over my fist. I looked down at our knotted hands, and I realized she was trying to calm me down. Boy, she did. Sometimes, I felt insecure about how she could, and did alter my feelings anyhow she wanted.

"You're not pathetic. Oh yeah, you're one heck of a bitchy ass. Pushing away those who want to help you with your damn problems. Hurting me right here." I placed my hand over my chest. "But you're still my best friend. And it's forever".

She flinched. Had I said something wrong?

"Only if you're fine with that," I added, hoping that would discourage her from doing anything stupid.

Between her and me, I wanted total honesty. We had lied to each other for too long, and I was tired of hurting her over and again. And searing my own conscience too.

But I couldn't tell if she was joking about that apology or not. Isla was a damn good actress when she felt like it. If only she were that good on the set, I wouldn't have met, or fallen head over heels for Novah. Those memories were killing my soul piece by piece, and I was sure nothing would be left by the time I relived all of them.

In tenth grade, we were shortlisted in the cast for Macbeth, to make up for never turning in our homework. We spent our study time licking ice cream and watching Netflix. Isla was chosen as Lady Macbeth, but she messed up her lines so much that the teacher gave up on her.

"Cut!" He yelled.

Ouch. My ears hurt.

"Get off that stage, Miss Dehler. You know nothing about acting!"

She flashed her smile at him, folding her hands across her small breasts. I smirked.

When she saw my eyes travel in that direction, she flushed red but continued, "The nerve you've got! I'm so fucking done with acting this stupid play. And you know what? I'm going to get an A plus."

The teacher's eyes widened. I tried to signal to her to keep it low but she never looked at me.
As she swayed her hips down the stage, most of the guys were admiring her ass.

Then she stopped right in front of the teacher, "Let me get this straight, Mr What's-his-face."

"Don't. You. Ever. Yell at me again! " She slammed her palm on his desk, sending screenplay sheets flying in the air.

He just sat transfixed. I could swear I saw him shudder. I caught on the smile tugging at the corner of her lips. She was feeding on his fear. Then she straightened up, flipped back her curls and sashayed out of the theatre, her stilettos clicking on the floor. Every damned student within twenty feet of her gazed at her retreating figure in awe.

I showed up for rehearsal the next day to find Novah in a black midi skirt slit up to her thighs topped by a floral cropped top that slid off both shoulders, and had a deep V, showing off much of her cleavage. Wasn't she the queen bee? Next thing I knew, I had this crush on her. It drove me nuts. When I asked her out at the cafeteria, and we became official, Isla gave us the middle finger. And when Novah wasn't looking, she drained the contents of her milkshake over her head.

"Mmm," she purred, snuggling up to me.

Outside, the church bells chimed, signaling twelve midnight. The Carol was brought to an end with a flourish. Cradling Isla in my arms like a baby, I carried her outside. She stirred, fluttered her eyes open for a split second, then went right back to sleep. Mom stomped behind us, pushing Isla's wheelchair. A blast of wind hit our faces as soon as we stepped out of the church.

"We have a ride to the hospital", I frowned as Mom pushed the wheelchair in the direction of her car.

"Snap out of that hospital shit, young man. Don't you want to spend Christmas at home with your momma?" She grinned.

I shuffled on my feet. Isla's weight wore me down, I was tempted to drop her on the steps.

"You___ you want her to come home with us?" My jaw dropped. This had better be a dream.

"Ugh. What do you think I am? Cruel?" She pressed the remote and the door to her shiny, black Limousine slid open.

Then she did something that numbed my senses. Helped settle Isla in the backseat. Taking her cue, I opened the front door to get my ass in but she gripped my hand, frowning.

"Get in that backseat with her. What kind of best friend are you?" She ordered.

"I wish you could see how beautiful you look right now," I murmured, watching the rise and fall of her chest. Her hands were clasped on her stomach. I dared to trail my forefinger over her face. She seemed so innocent with those eyes closed, but there were many dark thoughts and secrets concealed beneath the facade.

Mom poured herself a glass of champagne from the fridge. She held out the bottle to me but I shook my head.

"Was just trying to help." She shrugged, putting it back in the fridge. "Who knows what might happen when two young adults have a room to themselves?"

"Mom!" I cried, running my fingers through my hair in exasperation.

"Shush, you'll wake your sleeping beauty."

"I'm not going to fuck her," I shot her my best glare.

It didn't scare her one bit.

"Well, you know where the condoms are in case you change your mind. I bought a new pack from Piggly Wiggly last week." She kicked off her shoes, yawning. Disgusting.

My muscles strained from carrying Isla for so long. My side hurt as hell, the burning sensation stung. I pushed up the remainder of the stairs with all my strength. Kicking my door open, I collapsed on my bed.

"Phew," I exhaled.

Then I stretched out on the bed and let out a yawn. My eyelids drooped shut. I caught a glimpse of myself in my wall mirror opposite the bed. Jeez, I looked like a hag.

"Hey." She mumbled in her sleep. I considered changing her into my spare pair of pyjamas for the night.

"Are you___ are you wearing a bra?" I tried my luck to see if she was conscious.

She just turned on her side. Her hoodie rose up to reveal her bare stomach, and higher up, giving me a peek at the swell of her breasts. I slapped my palm over my eyes as I tugged it down.

"Stupid pervert," I muttered, feeling ashamed of myself.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la
Tis the season to be jolly
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la

I woke up to this Christmas song filtering in through my window. Isla yawned and muttered something in her sleep. I made to get my ass out of bed but___ oh shit. Somewhere in the course of the night, she'd wrapped her hands around my waist, and buried her head in the crook of my neck. I could feel her breathing next to mine. She snuggled closer to me so that her face was just a few inches away from mine, and our lips were almost touching.

But I couldn't wake her. Not yet. So I unwrapped her hands from my waist. Great. All I had to do was slip downstairs and make her a cup of hot chocolate now. Then she slammed her palm over my chest again, making my head hit the pillows.

"Isla?"

She mumbled something and threw her leg over mine, trapping me.

"Isla?"

"Come on baby, let's get back to bed," she moaned.

"Hey, wake up," I whispered.

I was glad that the first thing she set eyes on that morning was me.
"Merry Christmas to you,"  I chuckled.

She clucked her tongue.
"Peter?" Her emerald eyes were trained on me.

Where the fuck did that come from? She propped herself on her elbow, waiting for my response.

"Nope. I'm Craig. Earth to Isla."  I waved my palm in front of her eyes.

"Wait, how the hell did I get here? Who are you?" She shot up, staring around the room.

Strange. She'd been here plenty of times, so it shouldn't be new to her.

"I'm Craig." I cupped her face in my hands, forcing her to focus on me.

She shook her head.

"No way. No fucking way. I don't know Craig. You're Peter. No, you don't look like Peter anymore. Wait, Dad? Dad!" She screamed.

I seriously needed Jesus.

"I'm not your dad! Please!" I yelled, shuddering at the thought of being likened to that asswipe.

She flailed her arms around wildly. I struggled to hold them together. This was all so messed up.

"Don't hit me, Dad! Please! I ain't done nothing wrong, I swear." Sweat broke forth all over her body.

Mom burst open into my room. Once she registered the situation, she scuttled over to us, flung the duvet away and gestured for me to calm down. How could I calm down when my best friend was going nuts?

"Mom?" Isla sobbed, rushing into her arms.

"Please don't let Dad hit me. He's been treating me badly. He said he wants to pop my cherry. What does that mean, Mom? Is it bad? Please don't let him hurt me any longer."

I groaned. How much hurt had this girl suffered at the hands of her Dad? All these years of our friendship yet I had no idea.

"She's losing her mind. We need to get this girl to the hospital," Mom said.

"I'll carry her." I placed one arm under her waist to lift her. Bad idea. She clutched the edge of the pillow, pushing me away. I just wanted to break down and cry. I'd never seen her like this.

"Argh!" she shot out her hand in my direction, as if trying to shield herself from a blow.

In the end, Mom carried her down the stairs, but she was so small that I was scared they would both trip and fall. My Christmas was officially shot to hell.

At the bottom of the stairs, I made to carry her but she cursed, "I don't want you near me, Dad! You fucking hate me!"

I drove fifty kilometers above speed limit to John Hopkins while Mom whispered sweet nothings to Isla in the backseat.

"That should be me." I thought. Why was I always useless whenever it came to Isla's case? I couldn't even comfort her when she was heartbroken, and it broke my heart too.

It shook me to the core that her dad could still affect her so much.

Back in my home for the past two weeks, I could only watch helplessly as Mom babbled the problems to the nurse on duty. As if on cue, the resident doctor emerged from his office.

He placed his stethoscope on Isla's chest. When he looked up, his expression was blank.

"Theater, now!" He beckoned to the interns flanking him. Everything happened in a flash. I didn't even have time to process it.

"Hey, what's going on?"

The doctor hung back while the interns prepared the theatre, but for what?

"Did she hit her head on anything last night?"

Holy shit. The tickling spree.
"Y___ yeah," I croaked, staring at the floor.

He shrugged and adjusted his white coat.
"She has a permanent concussion. Her memories are being erased slowly."

"She might not recall anything from her past." He took off in the direction of the elevator.

Anything from her past. Including me.

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And here is the new chapter 16. 😋 You know, someone commented that the old one gave them a headache. TBH, I also had a headache after writing that chapter. But it's gone now.

I want to give a shout-out to all my amazing friends who supported me right from day one! You guys are the best!

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So... What are you thinking? Spill it, cupcakes. 💋