Page 247 - It Ends with Us

bec ause he’s her brother. We’ re supposed to be one big, ha ppy family.

I kno w ex actly wha t she’s thi nking .
She’s quiet for a long time as she struggles thro ugh ev er ythi ng I’ve
told her. She fina lly lifts her ey es to mine and squeez es my ha nd s. “My
brother loves you, Lily. He loves you so much. You ha ve cha ng ed hi s
ent ire life and ha ve made hi m someo ne tha t I nev er tho ught he could
be. As hi s sister, I wish more tha n any thi ng tha t you could find a way

to forgive hi m. But as your bes t friend , I ha ve to tel l you tha t if you
take hi m back, I will nev er speak to you again. ”
It takes a moment for her words to reg ister, but when they do, I
start sobbing .
She starts sobbing .
She wraps her arms around me and we cry over the mutual love we
ha ve for R yle. We cry over ho w much we ha te hi m right no w.

After sev era l minu tes of us sobbing pathet ically on her bed , she
rel ea ses me and walks over to her dres ser to ret riev e a box of tissues .
We’re both wiping our ey es and sni ffling when I say, “You’re the
bes t friend I’ve ev er ha d.”
She no ds. “I kno w. And no w I’m gonna be the bes t aunt .” She
wipes her no se and sni ffles again, but she’s smiling . “Lily. You’re

ha ving a bab y.” She says it with ex citem ent , and it’s the firs t moment
I’ve been able to sha re any sens e of joy over my preg na nc y. “I ha te to
say it, but I no ticed you put on wei ght . I tho ught you were just
dep res sed and ea ting a lot since R yle lef t.”
She walks to the back of her closet and starts pulling thi ng s out for
me. “I ha ve so many materni ty clothes to give you.”
We start going thro ugh clothes and she pulls down a suitcase and

opens it. She beg ins to thro w thi ng s toward the suitcase unt il it starts
to over flow.
“I could nev er wea r thes e, ” I tel l her, ho lding up a shi rt tha t still
ha s the tag on it. “They ’re all des igner. I’ll get them dirty.”
She laughs and sho ves them int o the suitcase any way. “I won’t need
them back. If I get preg na nt again, I’ll just ha ve my peo ple buy me

more. ” She pulls a shi rt off a ha ng er and ha nd s it to me. “Here, try
thi s one on. ”
I take my shi rt off and then pull the materni ty shi rt over my hea d.
When I get it int o place, I look in the mirro r.