Lily.

Ash slouched deeper into the bench, his stomach twisted. 'Just great,’ he thought, burying his face in his hands for a brief moment. ‘All I wanted was to get home, but no, that’s asking too much, isn’t it? Can’t I get a single day to myself?’

He took a breath, resigning himself to the fact that she was heading his way.

He sat up and tried to look halfway composed as she approached, her expression hard to read as always.

She strolled up to the bus stop and, without a word, sat down beside him on the bench, crossing her legs. “Hey, Ash! How ya doin’?”

Ash stopped himself from saying ‘Terribly, I am exhausted, and tired, and wanna go home and eat something sweet and soft-’ and replied with a stern, “Fine, What about you?”

Lily shrugged, “ Like always, I guess. Busy day, looks like you’re tired, is everything okay?”

Ash blinked, surprised by the unexpected question. “Yeah,” he muttered, leaning back. “Could say that.”

‘Still as cold as ever, I see. I wonder what happened, her eyes look so serious and…sad.’

She smirked faintly, eyes fixed on some distant point across the road. “Same here.”

There was something oddly perspective, and maybe judging, in her tone, like she was thinking over things she wasn’t going to share with anyone.

Typical Lily.

“So,” Ash said, breaking the silence, “what brings you here?”

She shrugged, not looking at him. “Just… felt like dropping by. Checking things out.” She paused, as if debating something, then added, “Not like anyone really expects me, though, right?”

Ash shifted uncomfortably, not sure how to respond. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, wondering where this was going.

She always had this way of dropping comments that left people feeling off-balance.

“No, it’s not like that.” Ash continued, his mind swirling with the things his dad told him, “It’s just, you never contact us, and such.”

Lily scoffed, then started to idle with the loose bangs, slightly shadowing her eyes, “ Yeah, as if anyone wants me to. Besides, I don’t have anyone’s number.”

Ash blinked, then asked, “You seem….maybe, uh…frustrated about something, is everything okay?”

Her jaw tightened for a split second, and then she let out a sharp laugh, bitter and humorless.

“Frustrated? You are too good, Ash, at reading people,” She paused, crossing her arms. “Dad called me yesterday,” she said, her tone edged with anger.

Ash looked at her, startled.

‘E-Eh? Dad called her!? Dad did sound like he was sorry for what happened, I think that he was genuinely concerned for her.’ Ash’s mind wandered to the day his dad openly shared how he felt.

.

.

“Lily’s my… daughter, just as much as you and Noah are my sons. She hates me. And do you know how hard it is for me to tell myself that my own daughter, my first-born, hates me? Every night, before going to sleep, I’ve to remind myself that I’m a terrible father.”

.

.

“I never hated her, or you. I never did.”

.

.

‘Dad had actually reached out?’

“He… he called you?” he asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.

“Yeah,” she said with a tight smile, one that didn’t reach her eyes. “Wanted to know if I’d come back. If I ‘needed anything,’ whatever that means.” She clenched her fists, “And what’s he going to do, huh? Pretend like he didn’t push me out in the first place?”

“...” Ash didn’t respond.

“He’s a damned bastard, that’s what he is,” she spat, her voice low but laced with venom. Ash flinched, feeling the weight of her words settle heavily in his chest.

He knew she was angry, but hearing it put so plainly, so full of bitterness, left him at a loss.

“Wants me to know he loves me,” she continued, her voice mocking. “Stupid of him to think I’d believe him in the first place. After everything…”

Ash glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

He could see her fists clenched, her knuckles white, her shoulders rigid with tension. This wasn’t just anger- this was pain.

For a moment, he wondered if he should defend their dad, try to explain, try to make her see that maybe things weren’t as black and white as she thought.

‘Maybe I should tell her, that- that dad doesn’t hate her, and…’

“Maybe…” he started, then hesitated, feeling his throat tighten. He took a breath, willing himself to speak. “Maybe he’s trying to… make up for it? I don’t know, Lily. But, uh, maybe he wants to fix things.”

Lily laughed, a harsh sound. “Huh, don’t tell me you actually believe him, do you?” She shook her head, glancing over to him, “It’s too late, Ash. Way too late for apologies, for ‘fixing things.’ You don’t just get to break someone and then decide to put them back together like nothing happened.”

Ash looked down, hands folded neatly in his lap. He wanted to tell her that maybe it wasn’t too late, that maybe she could find a way to heal, to let go.

But he knew better than to say it. He knew that sometimes, words weren’t enough to mend what had been broken.

They sat in silence for a while, the sounds of passing cars and distant voices filling the space between them.

Ash wondered if there was anything he could do, anything he could say that would make her feel less alone, less angry.

Finally, he broke the silence. “Lily, you know… Dad doesn’t hate you.”

She scoffed, a smirk tugging at her lips. “Right. Sure, Ash. And I bet he told you that, too, didn’t he?” Her voice was laced with bitterment. “You know, for someone who says he doesn’t hate me, he sure has a strange way of showing it.”

Ash hesitated, choosing his words carefully. “No, I mean it. He… he talks about you sometimes, you know? Not in a bad way.”

She rolled her eyes, clearly unconvinced. “That’s crap, Ash. I know Dad. He’s good at pretending, but he’s a master at hiding what he really thinks. Why do you think I left in the first place?”

Ash had no response to that.

He knew Lily had always felt unloved from their father, but hearing it spelled out like this made him uncomfortable. He wanted to believe his dad’s words, but maybe… maybe Lily saw things he couldn’t see.

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‘Why doesn’t anyone tell me what happened?!’ he thought.

He took a breath, focusing back on her. “I don’t think it’s as simple as you think it is. Maybe he doesn’t show it the way you want him to, but… you know, he cares. He just… shows it differently.”

Lily glanced over. “Dad can lie to you all he wants. But I know the truth. I’m not his perfect little girl, and he never wanted me around. That’s just how it is.”

Ash watched her carefully, his mind spinning, trying to make sense of everything she was saying. He didn’t want to believe her, but a part of him wondered if there was more truth to her words than he realized.

‘Lily… what happened to you?’ he thought, seeing her bitterness like an open wound that wouldn’t heal.

He wanted to tell her things could be different, that she didn’t have to carry all this pain. But something held him back.

Finally, she spoke again, changing the subject abruptly. “How’s Noah, anyway?” Her tone was light.

“Uh, he’s fine,” Ash replied, feeling slightly thrown off by the sudden question. “Why?”

She shrugged, “Just wondering. He’s cute, you know? He always was. He’s still just a kid, but…” She let out a low chuckle, almost to herself. “Mom and Dad must love having him around, huh?”

Ash nodded slowly, feeling a sudden chill run through him.

Lily’s words felt… off. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more behind her question, something he wasn’t seeing.

‘Why does she care about Noah all of a sudden?’ Ash wondered, trying to piece together her intentions. He couldn’t help but feel that her interest in Noah wasn’t innocent.

Lily finally pushed herself away from the bench, stretching. “Well, tell Noah I said hi,” she said, her tone almost casual. “Maybe I’ll see him around sometime.”

“Uh…Okay? Lily?” he called out, his voice unsure.

She paused for a moment, before she turned back to face him. Her gaze was icy, like a cold wind cutting through the air.

“Yeah?” she replied, she sounded like she had already made up her mind about everything.

Something that Ash knew wasn’t good for him. For their family.

Ash hesitated, then asked the question that had been gnawing at him for a while. “Did something happen? You’re planning something, aren’t you? And you didn’t tell me why you left.”

There was a moment of silence, where Lily just stood there, her back to him, her posture rigid.

The only sound was the faint rustling of the wind, the distant murmur of traffic. He couldn’t read her, couldn’t tell what was going on in her mind.

Then, slowly, almost like a reflex, she spun around, her eyes blazing with something dark, something Ash couldn’t quite understand. “You don’t understand, Ash,” she said, her voice low.

Ash made eye-contact.

“And I hope you never do.”

Her words hit like a slap, sharp and final.

She didn’t wait for his response, didn’t give him a chance to ask anything else. She just turned away and walked off.

‘What did she mean by that?’ he wondered.

Nothing made sense. He wanted to reach out, to tell her he understood, or at least that he wanted to understand.

But she had closed the door before he even had a chance to knock.

‘Why does she keep pushing everyone away?’ Ash thought, the frustration bubbling up inside him. He couldn’t understand it, couldn’t figure out what she was trying to prove. ‘Does she even care about anyone anymore?’

Ash didn’t want to admit it, but the answer was a big, fat “No”.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lily sat alone in her small apartment, watching as the last rays of sunlight slipped through the blinds. She stared down at the blank page in her notebook, her pen knocking above it.

She didn’t usually write, but right now, the anger and frustration inside her needed somewhere to go.

‘Damn it, not even Ash understands now. Thinks dad wants to fix things. I hate that. I hate that he doesn’t want to understand.’’

She pressed the pen down hard, her words messy, jagged, barely readable.

‘No one understands me. Not a damn person in that house,’ she wrote, her handwriting slanting as her anger grew.

‘They think they can just apologize, like that’s going to fix anything. Years of living under Dad’s stupid expectations, trying to be his ‘best child.’ And for what?’

The memories came flooding back, sharp and bitter.

Every time she’d come home from school, exhausted, her father’s voice would echo in her head, his gaze full of that endless pressure.

.

.

“Be my best child.”

.

.

He’d say, like it was supposed to mean something to her. Like she was some prize he could hold up to the world.

She was supposed to be smart.

Poised.

Perfect.

Everything he wanted, not what she wanted.

And her mother? No different. Always watching, always waiting for Lily to do something that would make the family proud.

School was supposed to be a place to learn, to make friends, but for Lily, it was a battleground. Every day, her father would look at her, asking her to bring home the highest grades, to be the student every teacher would praise.

He wanted her to be the "best child" he could ever ask for. His expectations loomed over her. And for years, she tried to meet them, bending herself until she nearly broke.

She clenched her jaw, her grip on the pen tightening until her fingers hurt. ‘They took my childhood from me,’ she scribbled furiously. ‘Everything was about them. I don’t think they ever saw me for who I am.’

Growing up, Lily had often felt that her parents saw her less as a person and more as an extension of their ambitions.

But when she thought of Ash, her hand softened for a moment. ‘He’s the only one,’ she wrote, her anger giving way to something quieter. ‘The only one who didn’t make me feel like I had to be something else. Around him, I could actually be myself.’

She paused, staring at the words. They sounded pathetic, even to her. But it was the truth.

Yet, there was one exception in her life: Ash.

Her younger brother had been the only one who made her feel like a kid. Around him, she could let her guard down, play, and laugh.

Ash was a reminder of what childhood should have been - carefree and simple.

She could still remember coming home from school, only to find Ash, who was only five at the time, squealing like a fan-girl, and hugging her tight.

.

.

“Lily! You’re so gonna get it if you don’t play with me! I’ll…uh…”

He’d say, whenever he saw Lily going to her room to study. And then Lily would scoff and say,

“Oh no, Ash! Don’t tell me you’ll wrestle with me?!”

“Yeah, I’ll.” Ash would puff out his chest, only for Lily to cross her arms at him.

“Ash, you don’t know the meaning of wrestle, do you?”

“....No.”

And then the two siblings would crack into laughter.

.

.

She let the pen drag across the page again, her thoughts rushing back to her parents.

‘I told Dad once. I told him I couldn’t take it anymore, that he needed to stop with his stupid expectations. And he just looked at me, all confused, like he didn’t know what I was talking about. He actually apologized — as if that could change anything. As if he could just say sorry and I’d magically feel better.’

She pressed harder, the pen almost tearing through the paper. ‘Well, guess what? It doesn’t change anything. It doesn’t give me back the years I spent trying to be his perfect daughter. It doesn’t make up for everything they took from me.’

She leaned back, staring down at the words, her chest heaving.

She’d given them everything she had, every ounce of herself, and it still wasn’t enough. And now, she was supposed to just forget, pretend like none of it happened?

‘Well, guess what, Dad?’ she thought, her heart pounding. ‘I’m going to take something back. Something that’ll make you feel a fraction of what I felt.’

An idea burned in her mind, cold and vengeful, but so clear that she almost smiled.

Noah. Her little brother.

He’d been born after she left - she hadn’t met him, hadn’t seen him grow up. But she’d heard about him.

She knew he was young enough, impressionable, still innocent enough to come with her if she asked.

Ash had grown up now, almost an adult.

He wouldn’t follow her. But Noah... he was just a kid.

She could take him with her, bring him into her life in the city, far from the reach of their parents.

‘I’d finally make them feel what I felt when they expected hell out of me, forced me to be something I wasn’t, and took everything from me in the process.’

She thought darkly, her jaw clenched, her thoughts simmering with anger.

‘They deserve it. And Noah - maybe he’ll be better off away from them too.’

She stood up, heading towards a mini calendar pasted on the wall, and held it in her hand.

The date read: 28th of September.

‘I won’t be free until 01-October. Guess that means, I’ll step into that hellish home on 02 October. Yeah, that sounds okay.’

02-October, that’s when Lily will head home, stupid of her to even call that dumpster home. But who cared? She’ll step into that home on that day, and step out of that house with Noah.

That much was planned.