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“She has to make the decision to change her course. You can’t do it for her.”

“So I just give up?” The fight in me rose to the surface. Surrendering wasn't my forte.

“No, you can be there for her. But you have to stop putting so much of the outcome on yourself. Because it’s not your life, Red.”

“But she's my sister.” The words started coming out faster, my breathing increased, and I was shaking my head now. All the conflicted feelings I felt at dinner yesterday came rushing back to me. “I need to protect her⁠—”

My vision blurred with tears, and I turned my head, trying to hide them.

But then I felt Rove's fingers gently lift my chin, making me look at him.

“I know,” he said, his green eyes softer than I'd ever seen them.

“And I’m worried.”

He nodded again. “I know.”

A tear slipped down my cheek, and his thumb brushed it away.

“I don’t know what to do,” I whispered.

“You’re going to come into the gym tomorrow. And you’re going to practice for Nationals.”

“But—”

“You’re going to text your sister that you love her, and that if she ever needs you, to reach out. And then you’re going to get back to work.”

I shook my head. “Rove⁠—”

“You’re not going to retreat into yourself. You’re going to keep going, and we’ll get through it together. Okay?”

After a long moment, I finally nodded, letting out a long breath, my shoulders falling.

“Okay.”

He gave a small nod and opened his mouth to say something else, but then his phone rang.

Both of us sat up straighter, and he pulled his hand quickly away from my face, suddenly aware of the world around us again.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and Lexi's name flashed across the screen.

He answered it. "Hey, Lex. What's up?"

"You coming to Marco's?" I could hear her voice through the speaker even with the phone pressed to his ear.

He gave me an exasperated look.

"Yeah, I'm coming. I'm just with Scarlet. We ran into each other at the beach."

There was a brief pause.

"Scarlet's with you?" Lexi asked. "Well, tell her to come too."

He glanced at me.

"Lexi says you should come."