She let herself settle into that feeling, in a way she hadn’t been able to before.
Even though she’d been happy for Blythe, she’d been unable to turn off the apprehension about what it would mean for them. For the group. For the future.
And now, she knew.
The thing she’d been worried about, how this was Blythe’srealfuture and that it wasn’t one with Darcy in We, The Romantics, was correct. Deep down, just like with Emerson, she’d known Blythe’s vision for her next steps were different than hers, and she just hadn’t known how to handle that.
But the future was now. And she was handling it.
“Darce, I just need to talk, and I need you to let me,” Blythe asserted, turning away from the land, focusing on her.
Darcy much preferred this kind of demeanor from Blythe to how she’d been the other night. Nervous to tell Darcy what was going on, unsure of how to talk to her.
“I know that you’ve had my not going to the University of Tennessee weighing on you for a long time.”
“Yeah, because youshouldhave been able to. You got in on a full cheerleading scholarship. And–”
Blythe cut her off, exasperated, but grinning with it. “I saidI’mgoing to talk right now.”
“Right.” Darcy closed her mouth, but couldn’t help that she did feel impassioned about that.
Yes, it weighed her down knowing that Blythe’s life could have looked very different, if she hadn’t chosen to stay behind for Darcy. It had added fuel to her fire to try to reallymake somethingof herself for a long time.
“No, I didn’t go to college. But who knows how my life would have been, anyway? I wasn’t going to break up with Colton; I’d have probably come right back to Pineford, anyway.”
Darcy stared, nonplussed, right back at her sister. But she didn’t interrupt.
“But, Darcy, you havealwaysbeen meant for bigger things. Bigger than I ever was.”
Now, she couldn’t help but scoff. “Give me a break.” She wasn’t being derisive or negative; she was just stating the truth. “I’ve been trying to keep up with you from the day I was born.”
“Because I am your older, cooler sister, yes,” Blythe smirked.
Darcy leaned into her shoulder. “There it is.”
Something that felt normal.
Blythe’s smirk faded into an expression far more serious. “Look, I’m not downplaying my own skills. Attributes. Whatever we want to call it. But what you have is – it’s different. I don’t know anyone who has what you have. Not only your talent, not only the drive, but… you haveneverleft me behind.”
That wasnotnormal. The strain in her voice, thick with emotion.
Blythe’s eyes shined with tears that she reached up and quickly swiped away. “I’m nowhere near capable of what you can do, and I never have been. But you still always made sure we were a team. You could have looked at Pineford – and me – and saidfuck ita long time ago. You could have left us in the rearviewand tried to make it on your own; it might have been easier. But you didn’t. I might have stood by you, but you gave it back to me, tenfold.”
Darcy sniffed, feeling her own throat grow tight. She shrugged. “It’s not… I mean… I wanted you by my side.”
Especially once their mom had left, cementing herself even closer to Blythe and Emerson had felt like the most comforting, safest decision. They could all be in somethingtogether.
“And I had the time of my life being there. I really have. Emerson loves the music the way you do, but hates everything else. I don’t have that same passion for the music, but… the kind of experiences we’ve had? That’s once in a lifetime. Once in a very rare lifetime. And I’d never have had it without you.” Blythe’s inhale caught audible in her throat, before she gestured out at the land the way Darcy had. “This house that we dreamed about when we were kids? The dream wedding I never thought I’d be able to have? The security neither of us ever had? The only reason I have any of it is because of you. And I willalways,” Blythe stressed, turning to grasp tightly at Darcy’s hands, making sure she stayed locked on her. “Be grateful for you, for everything. You’ve made mylifepossible. When I have kids, they’re not going to live the way we did, and it’s because of you.”
Darcy’s breath shuddered out of her, tears dripping from her eyes as she somewhat fell forward, right into her sister.
No, they didn’t often get emotional in front of one another. They didn’t often become so vulnerable like this, as they both cried.
But they hadn’t had the luxury of that in their lives. And now… now, maybe they did.
“I love you,” she murmured, in a way they so often verbalized to one another.
Blythe tightened her hold around Darcy for another few seconds, before she pulled back.