Emily loved and loved hard, mainly because so much of her life already had been spent being subjected to such torture. She loved her family so much that it came through in every action, in every way and her perspective on them was something she knew they’d never understand. For years, she just had herself down in that cold, dark basement and she would think about how her big brother had grown up, what he would be, what he would look like, and the same for her father and mother. She pictured them all the time and to see them now, to actually see them, it was mind-blowing to her. She studied them when there were pauses in conversations, or when she was quiet, because Emily still was very quiet. Her parents were naggers, always trying to get her to open up, always bending over backwards to make her comfortable.
Emily couldn’t blame them exactly—they had lost their daughter.
The one thing they didn’t understand though was that it still wasn’t a happy ending. Her mother cried tears of joy everyday, her father kissed Emily’s forehead, saying he was the luckiest man alive to get his baby girl back, but in truth, Emily wasn’t back. She wasn’t the same little girl they had known and they didn’t want to accept that. Furthermore, what really made Emily mad was that they neglected Aaron all of this time. Emily loved her big brother more than almost anyone and it broke her apart to see her family like this after all this time.
Aaron, she knew, held something against her. She didn’t know it was just her returning, her even existing, but she knew he did. She could tell by the look in his eyes sometimes and it silently broke her heart, but she’d never reveal that. Ever.
“Hmm. How about mac and cheese? Remember that was the one thing you would make me when Mom and Dad would go away and you’d babysit? Mac and cheese and french fries.” Emily giggled, putting the menu down and looking up at her older brother. She was so happy that he had invited her to lunch, so happy he wanted to spend time with her.
“I missed you, Arrow. Here, give me your hands. Remember I used to always wanted to read your palms for fortunes? Maybe I can predict why you used me here!”
Emily always had this way of bringing the past up with her. And when her mere presence wasn’t enough for it, she would bring it up with her words - with stories she’d no doubt spent years ruminating on while he’d spent years trying to forget. Even a question of what she wanted for fucking lunch was an opportunity for reminiscing, and Aaron felt his grip on his menu tightening in frustration at that fact. But he refused to let it get to him, both because they were in public and because he was here to share good news and he didn’t need to spoil every decent moment with a fight. “Yep, I remember,” he answered shortly, a small tight smile on his face as his eyes flashed over to her quickly in acknowledgement before fixating again on his menu.
He sighed at the use of that insufferable nickname she refused to stop using - the beleaguered kind that spoke of an argument waged and lost, and best not to bring up again. Arrow - it was like an albatross around his neck; a specter back to haunt him. “There’s really no need for silly games, Emily,” he said, finally setting down his menu and setting his full attention on his sister. “I can just tell you why I brought you here. I’m not trying to make it some sort of secret. Jade and I are getting married. I thought you’d want to hear it from me.” Simple, straight, and to the point. Now, he just had to steel himself for her reaction.
