Letting My Brother's Best Friend Take My V-Card

BROKEN

LUKE

"Sarah," I began, my voice low and steady, hands still raised, "you're confused right now, okay? We can help you. You just need to put the gun down."

Her eyes darted between me, Jess, and Laura, her knuckles white where they gripped the weapon. The gun wavered slightly, but her voice came out sharp and resolute. "I'm not confused, Luke. You are."

I stayed perfectly still, watching every slight twitch of her movements, but Laura snapped.

"Are you fucking crazy?" Laura's voice was shrill, the words echoing in the kitchen. "We helped you! We've done nothing but help you!"

Sarah's head whipped toward her, her expression darkening, but there was something fragile in her eyes-like glass about to shatter. "Help me?" she repeated, her voice trembling. "You think I needed your help? You think I wanted your pity?"

She looked back at me, her eyes filled with something desperate, something unhinged. "All I wanted was for us to have a shot, Luke. After the island, you knew. You felt it too. I thought we connected there."

Josh shook his head from where he stood, his voice calm but firm. "Sarah... no. I might have been delirious and dehydrated

BROKEN

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but there was

toward Josh, her hand shaking violently. "You're lying! What about

softly, "what you saw at the waterfall... that wasn't real. What you saw was me, imagining Jess was with me. It had nothing to do with you." Her face crumpled for a moment, raw pain flashing in her eyes before her lips

tremble. I knew Josh had taken the bullets out earlier, but there was no way to know if she'd figured that out and reloaded it. I wasn't willing to gamble on anyone's life. Josh caught my eye, and I knew we were thinking the same thing: we had to keep her talking,

this, okay? Please. Just hand me the gun,

grip loosening slightly, but then Jess and Laura shifted behind me. Sarah's eyes snapped toward them, wild and

I'll fucking shoot you both!"

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my chest tightening as Jess and Laura went completely

down her face now. She was spiraling, muttering to herself, her words a frantic jumble. "I was good on the island, right? I mean... I coped without my medication. I didn't unravel, not once. That means I'm cured, right?

pointed the gun directly at me, her hand trembling violently. "But now... now you're telling me I'm imagining things again! Do you know what that means? It means I'm still broken!" Her voice cracked on the last word,

another step forward. "You're not broken, okay? Nobody's saying that. You've been through a lot, and you're just trying to make sense of it all. Let me help you, Sarah. We'll figure it out. Just

face now. The gun wavered again, and for a moment, I

hardened. "No. You don't want to help me. You just want to get rid of