I could hear the footsteps grow louder, and before I could step back or push the door closed, a familiar voice called down the hall.
"Ellie? Tristan?"
Then I felt my heart sink. It's Sophia.
She appeared at the end of the corridor, and the moment her eyes landed on us, with me half-hidden behind the guestroom door and Tristan far too close to me, the air seemed to thicken with something unspoken.
Her smile faltered. "What's going on?"
I froze, guilt surging through me, though I knew I had done nothing more than stand there. Yet the way she looked at us, her best friend and her eldest brother together, it felt like she had walked into a truth I wasn't ready to admit.
_
My exhaustion from the trip suddenly vanished in an instant. I had seen that look before. That charged silence and the almost-too-close stance.
My brother never lingered near anyone. And Ellie, she wouldn't even look at me.
I swallowed hard and forced my voice to a steady tone. "Ellie, were you waiting up for me?"
Her nod was too quick, and her fingers tightened around the doorframe as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.
And Tristan just stood there with his unreadable emotion while his eyes locked on Ellie like she was the only one in this room.
My stomach felt twisted. Even when they weren't saying anything, I knew I didn't need any words at all. I could feel something was happening between them that I couldn't catch, and it left me caught between relief that Ellie wasn't alone and the dread over what it might mean.
_
"I was just trying to get some air," I blurted out, stepping back into the safety of the guest room. My pulse was thundering in my ears, and the shame was crawling over my skin. "Since you are here, should we go together?"
Sophia's brows lifted, her gaze flickering between us.
Tristan cleared his throat, finally breaking the heavy silence. "Sophia, you should go to rest. You are just back, and it's late. Anything can be discussed tomorrow."
Ellie saw Sophia's eyes narrow just slightly from Tristan's words. At that moment, I understood that my best friend, the one who could read me better than anyone else, was catching things that she wasn't supposed to understand.
_
My eyes narrowed just slightly from Big Brother's word.
He forgot that Ellie was my best friend, the one person that I trusted most, while he was my brother, the man that I thought I knew better than anyone. When seeing them like this, locked in some fragile and unspoken tension, it left me standing in the middle of something I hadn't been prepared for.
And I wasn't sure whose side I'd have to take when the truth finally broke free.
Later that night, Sophia lingers outside Ellie's room, debating whether to ask directly, but before she can, she hears voices near the room.