"I knew this was a mistake. I tried to tell you, but no. You're the big brother, and you always have to be right."
"What’re you talkin' about?" John Ross had barely stepped foot into the kitchen before the accusations were being hurled in his direction. To say he was confused as to where they were coming from and what had suddenly brought them on would be a definite understatement.
"Like you don't know," Scarlett scoffed, clearly not in the mood. "That little plan to have Mama committed -- that I still can't believe I let you talk me into, by the way -- it completely backfired right in our faces. She clearly doesn't trust either one of us, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if she actually hates us for how cold and cruel we were."
A somewhat involuntary roll of the eyes was John Ross' initial response to his younger sister's argument. She always did have a flair for the dramatics, ever since they were kids. Some things truly never changed.
"I didn't force you to do anything, Scar. If you didn't want to go along with the plan, you never should've agreed to it."
Maybe her brother had a point, but that didn't mean Scarlett was ready to admit to anything just yet. Oh no, she wouldn't back down and move on until she'd come out on top victorious in the whole thing, whether she was actually in the right or not.
"We should've found another way to handle it. That's all I'm saying. I mean, she was sober for over two decades before she fell off the wagon this time. That has to count for something, right? Maybe all she needed was a couple of drinks to get her through the initial shock of everything, and ---"
Now it was John Ross' turn to scoff. Did Scarlett honestly not remember what it was like when they were growing up? Had she for one reason or another purposely blocked out the times when J.R. had told them Sue Ellen was sick, when in actual reality she was simply too drunk to tuck them into bed at night?
"I'm not tryin' to make excuses for her." That much Scarlett wanted to make clear, almost as if she could read her brother's mind in that moment. "I just remember certain things differently than you do. That's all."
"Do share," he prompted, both wanting as well as needing a bit more elaboration.
"I'm just sayin' that by the time I was old enough to retain actual memories, she'd already quit drinking. She and Daddy were happy together, and we were a real family. Then when the Wicked Witch of Weststar swooped in and completely ruined everything, instead of goin' right back to the bottle, she just tried to ruin Daddy's life instead."
The explanation made enough sense, but John Ross still stood by his earlier decision.
"Just because you might not remember how bad things used to be, it doesn't mean she doesn't have a problem."
Once again, there was no valid argument for Scarlett to fire back with, and both siblings knew it.
"We did what we had to do at the time. What's done is done." As far as he was concerned, it truly was as simple as that.
The smallest hint of a soft sigh filled the space between them as Scarlett finally gave in, just not before having the last word.
"I hope you're right, Jerkface.”
i finally figured out what to do with some of the gifs i matched up of the ewing siblings, so i hope you like it, labyriinths. enjoy! :)