I. ALIVE

Dahlia had arrived home a few hours later, completely and utterly exhausted. She saw her sister already sitting at the dining room table, a droopy frown on her face as her back was hunched over her chair.

Dahlia sighed, kicking off her boots as she took the seat besides her sister. She opened the chair gently, brushing her hair out of her face as she leaned down to meet Julie's eyes.

"I assume music class didn't go great?" Dahlia asked, her voice soft and hushed.

"No. I didn't make the cut," Julie explained, her lips pressing into a tight grimace as she sighed heavily, resting her head on Dahlia's shoulder.

There was a brief pause, a moment of silence as Julie swallowed hard before opening her mouth to speak again.

"I froze, Lia. The second my hand touched the piano keys...I just couldn't do it. I ran out of there like a coward and blew my chance. People were laughing...and I just feel so embarrassed. Now Tia and Dad are going to freak out...and,"

Dahlia stayed quiet for a moment as Julie trailed off, her head burrowing further into her shoulder.

The effect music had on Julie was obvious. Almost as if it brought her soul to life, a beaming smile spreading on her face as her eyes lit up with every note.

As much as Dahlia wanted to tell her sister she was right, and that giving up was easier than preserving through the tough waters, she'd be a terrible sister if she simply allowed Julie give up music with no effort to get her into it again. It was rare that many found their true passion so early in life, if they even found it at all, and Dahlia was not going to let her sister's talent slip away.

The brunette bit her tongue and didn't let her words out, knowing she'd sound like a complete hypocrite knowing she gave up songwriting months ago. The oldest Molina struggled to find the right words, stroking Julie's hair soothingly.

"Hey, it's not your fault, you know that, right? If anyone tries to give you shit, they'll have to go through me first." Dahlia replied, hearing Julie chuckle softly as she sighed.

The weight off her chest lifted slightly, knowing she was able to cheer Julie up a bit and get her mind off music. Deep down Dahlia knew that everything would be just fine, and her main was concern was making sure Julie didn't blame herself for what happened.

The silence was broken a moment later, when the two girls heard footsteps making their way downstairs. Dahlia shifted her head slightly, her father's silhouette coming into view.

He smiled softly at the sight of his daughters, before he made his way over to sit with them. A mindless conversation started, one that Dahlia had been zoning in and out of. The older sister failed to notice Julie's anxious expression, waiting for her father to bring up her being cut from the music program.

When Ray cleared his throat, Julie was afraid she'd get in trouble about the music program. If she was going to get scolded, she'd rather have it happen in private.

Julie gently kicked Dahlia's leg from under the table, catching her attention as her brown eyes met Julie's. She raised her eyebrows slightly, motioning for Dahlia to go upstairs.

Dahlia nodded, making up an excuse about studying. The older sister sucked in a breath, sliding past her father as she walked up the stairs. She caught Julie's eye for a moment, mouthing, 'you've got this,' as she smiled. She turned in the direction of her room, and opened the door to her bedroom.

Her hand gripped the doorknob as she walked inside, her nose immediately breathing in the comforting scent of her gingerbread candles. Dahlia sighed, letting her feet bring her towards her bed as she sunk into the covers, glancing over at her bedside table.

She could see her notebook that was filled with songs resting in the corner of the nightstand, collecting dust as it sat untouched. Dahlia was tempted to look through her previous work, missing the familiar fiery spark music evoked in her.

The Molina girl shook her head, knowing it wasn't the time to take a trip down memory lane. Her eyes threatened to shut down on her any moment now, her body beginning to succumb to its exhaustion.

Dahlia decided she had enough time to nap, letting her extreme lack of sleep take over. She wasn't sure why she was suddenly so tired, but Dahlia had a feeling that getting less than three hours of sleep a night was ultimately starting to take a toll on her.

Still, the brunette let her mind wander before sleeping, eyes continuing to wander around the room. Her eyes landed on her wall of photos, a happier Dahlia with a shining smile that could brighten any room in the pictures. 

Dahlia felt her personality had grown duller after the last few months, her usual bold and excited personality changing drastically. Dahlia Molina still had a fire burning deep in her; she just needed someone to light the spark.

She heard a soft knock on her door suddenly, mumbling a small 'come in', as she poked her head above the covers. Brown eyes met brown, Dahlia blinking as Julie stood there, fiddling with her fingers, her oversized yellow sweatshirt nearly swallowing her whole.

"What's up, Jules?"

Dahlia had immediately sensed her sister's anxiety, motioning for her to sit on the bed. Julie nodded, sitting on the corner of the bed. She seemed reluctant to make herself comfortable, her eyes still wide as she looked to Dahlia.

"Dad wants me to clean out Mom's studio." Julie announced, her words coming out sort, yet quick and nervous.

"What?" Dahlia said, sitting up as her back rested again her pillows. Julie sighed, adjusting her position in her sister's bed as she laid down beside her.

"He said he and Carlos wouldn't know where to start with cleaning it." She stuttered out, and Dahlia felt a pang in her heart. Neither of the sisters had been in that room for what felt like an eternity, though it was the place they practically grew up in.

Everyone knew that a younger Dahlia had claimed the studio as her first home, and had gone there night after night when she had trouble sleeping. Dahlia recalled the numerous times she had crept into the space, flicking on the light as she'd spend hours writing songs in her notebook, eager to show her mother in the morning.

It still hurt, most times she felt more empty than not. Songwriting felt pointless, doing it alone with no one to show. It felt like she was betraying her mother, the woman who taught her everything she's ever learned.

"I can go with you if you want," Dahlia suggested, though she wasn't even sure if she was ready to take that step herself.

Julie hesitated for a moment. She wanted to say yes, but she knew that Dahlia wasn't ready, and had only offered to be there for her sister. As much as Julie appreciated it, they were both grieving in different ways, and Julie had to do this alone for herself.

"It's okay. I think I at least want to start this alone, I need to do this for myself." Julie said, eyes flickering to Dahlia's window, watching as the sun was still far from setting, giving her time before she had to start the task she was given.

Dahlia didn't reply after that. The girl wasn't sure if the feeling in her chest was disappointment or relief, but she was too tired to find out. Dahlia let herself sink deeper into her bed, her hair already messy between pillows as she drifted into a light sleep.

***

Dahlia's 'light' sleep had not been as short of a nap as she thought. Dahlia blinked once, twice, peeling her eyes open as her eyes trailed over to her window. She had previously had the curtains open, the shining sun making its way past the glass and into her room. Instead when she looked, the curtains had been drawn, but Dahlia could see a faint darkness emitted behind the sheer fabric.

Dahlia raised an eyebrow, shifting her head to look beside her. The salt lamp that rested on her bedside table was on, the light dim though bright enough to provide some light. Had she really been asleep for that long?

The oldest Molina ran her hands over her face, rolling over as she attempted to find her phone in her bundle of balled up sheets and blankets. After a minute of searching, she felt the object, her fingers latching onto the device as she brought it towards her face, tapping on it as it powered Dahlia's phone had turned on seconds later, revealing that she had been sleeping for five and a half hours.

This caused Dahlia to jump up, still in a groggy state as she had to steady herself still. She placed a hand on the chair by her vanity mirror, sitting down on the fluffy seat. Dahlia was suddenly very grateful that she didn't have anything extracurriculars going on today, otherwise she likely would've missed them all.

The Molina girl felt refreshed, willing herself to get up as she finally began to tackle her post nap appearance. Dahlia sighed as she attempted to comb down her messy hair with her fingers.

She settled for putting her hair in a low ponytail, putting on a layer of her favorite cherry chapstick, ready to go downstairs as she hoped her family hadn't started dinner without her.

Dahlia had been slowly, almost lazily, trudging down the stairs, though she had been startled seconds later after she heard Julie scream from outside. All traces of previous fatigue managed to exit her body in an instant as she suddenly began to sprint down the stairs, throwing open the front door.

She was then met with the scene of Julie looking at her father with wide, fearful eyes, her father staring back at her confused.

"Whoa, hey! Slow down, you look like you've seen a ghost," he joked, and Julie put her hands on his arm as she nodded.

"I have!" She claimed, voice slightly trembling as Carlos perked up.

"Cool." The boy cheered as Julie shook her head in disagreement.

"Not cool!" Julie denied, running up the porch and taking Dahlia with her as she ran to her room. When she saw that no one except her sister followed behind her, she stopped in her tracks as she turned to face the rest of her family.

"Run!"

Dahlia watched as Julie screamed the entire time to her room, and upon entering it, she slammed the door in Dahlia's face.

Dahlia stood there for a moment extremely confused as she crossed her arms over her chest. The Molina girl rolled her eyes with an annoyed sigh as she trudged back into her room, utterly puzzled by her sister's odd behavior.

Dahlia heard the Julie's door open and close a few minutes later, hearing her sister's soft and quick footsteps as she fled downstairs.

The older sister raised an eyebrow, though decided not the press any further. Julie didn't get in her business, so she wouldn't disrespectfully bother in hers either.

Dahlia had thrown a flannel shirt over her tank top, slipping on a pair of polka dot fuzzy socks.

She glanced at the clock, seeing it now read 9:09pm, meaning her family would be starting dinner soon. Dahlia knew her father would need help getting things prepared, so she opened her bedroom door to sneak downstairs and get everything set before he noticed, so her father could have a relaxed night.

However, when Dahlia opened her door she was met with her father about to knock, his figure startling Dahlia as she slightly jumped back.

"Whoa! Not you, too." He joked, chuckling as he saw Dahlia's blank face, showing she clearly wasn't having it.

"What's up, Dad?" She asked.

"Look, I know you were going to sneak down and try to set the table, but leave it to me for tonight. Do me a favor and take your brother over to your mom's studio to check on Julie, I'm worried."

Dahlia looked at him for a moment. She wasn't sure if invading Julie's privacy was the right idea, but she knew her father wouldn't back down until she obliged.

"Fine," she agreed with a playful eye roll, watching her father smile out of gratitude as he pat her on the back.

A moment later, Dahlia and Carlos set off to their garage, Carlos a noticeably far distance away from his sister as he paused to let her catch up.

"Do you think Julie's a weirdo now?" Asked Carlos, and Dahlia couldn't help but laugh at the completely serious question.

"No, Carlos. Julie's our sister. Weirdo or not, we still gotta love her." She explained with an amused smile, watching Carlos laugh.

"You didn't say she's not a weirdo..." he laughed out, and Dahlia ruffled his hair.

Dahlia had planned to politely knock on the door awaiting Julie's reply, but it seemed Carlos had a completely different idea as he waltzed inside.

"Thought you were afraid to come out here," He began, "talking to your ghost friend? How's he look, is he hideous?" The brother teased, crossing his arms around his chest.

Julie didn't say anything, but instead looking slightly above her, annoyed.

"No, he can't."

Carlos looked around, baffled at his sister's comment.

"What?"

"Uh...what do you want?" Julie questioned, disreguarding her previous reply, both still frazzled as Carlos sighed.

"A normal sister, for starters. Stop being weird and come eat."

Carlos walked away, glancing at his sister who was still standing in the driveway. He looked proud of himself as he winked with a thumbs up, "nailed it."

Dahlia rolled her eyes, planned to put her own plan into action. She walked towards the garage, knocking on the door as she caught Julie's attention.

"Hey, you okay?" Asked Dahlia, her head titling to the side in concern.

"Fine. I'm Fine." Julie replied, though Dahlia could see right through her lies.

Dahlia looked around the room, her eyes falling on a few pieces of paper sitting comfortably on top of the piano. Upon closer inspection, Dahlia had recognized the papers to be a song that Dahlia and her mother had been working on.

More specifically, it was the last full song the two had ever written together. She remembered they were going to give it to Julie as a present, and Rose had let Dahlia take the lead in writing it.

The Molina girl had been so excited and when she showed her mother, she could not have been prouder. Dahlia blinked the tears that began to form in her eyes at the memory, swallowing the growing lump in her throat. She really wasn't in the mood to feel emotional, and she just wanted to leave the room after she spoke to Julie.

Dahlia managed to hide her emotion, straightening herself out as she turned to Julie again.

"I know it's hard coming back here and stuff...so if you want to talk you can always come to me," Dahlia began, shifting around awkwardly as she anxiously scratched at her neck, "come up and eat when you're ready. I'll keep your food warm in the microwave."

Julie didn't say anything for a second, looking around as if she were talking to someone. There was another beat of silence before Julie stuttered out, "thank you, Lia."

Dahlia nodded. "Anytime."

The brunette began to lead herself out, though she stopped and hid behind the door for a moment to hear Julie's hushed voice.

"That's my sister, you weirdo! And she is not cute." Julie scolded, seemingly speaking to herself, scoffing and cringing in disgust.

Dahlia raised an eyebrow to herself, and suddenly agreed with Carlos' earlier statement.

***

Dahlia walked back into the house, seeing her father's hand wrapped in oven mits as he placed a bowl of steaming spaghetti in the center of the table. Carlos was setting the places for everyone, leaving their usual place for their mother.

Dahlia found herself eager to help, grabbing a salad from the counter and placing it on the table. The older sister was pleased to find Julie back, hopefully acting less suspicious than she was moments ago.

Dahlia had sat down in her seat, Julie beside her. There was an empty space on her other side, and Dahlia's eyes scanned the table to see if everyone was sitting down, ready to begin dinner. Dahlia gave her father a quick smile, watching his clap his hands together to catch his children's attention.

"Alright, let's do it," he started, motioning for his family to join hands in prayer, "your turn, Carlos."

Carlos nodded, clearing his throat.

"Thank you for our leftovers, and the power of the mighty microwave. Amen."

Dahlia chuckled slightly at her brother's remark, removing her hand with Julie's as she reached to grab her plate.

"So," her father began, scooping pasta on to Julie's plate, "Carlos tells me he found you in the studio."

Dahlia fought the urge to scoff as her dad's terrible acting skills. He had so obliviously known Julie had spent the last few hours in the studio, he had even asked Dahlia to check on her.

Maybe she was just good at seeing through people's lies, but she was pretty confident that his acting skills simply sucked.

"She was out there...talking to herself." Carlos added, making Dahlia kick him from under the table for being a snitch.

"...I was rehearsing for a play." Julie lied, Dahlia giving her sister a side eye to display her disbelief.

Dahlia stuffed a piece of tomato from the salad that was in her mouth, choking on it when she heard her aunt's voice.

Their aunt had been adamant on moving on from Rose's death, and she had been taking it much easier than the rest of her family. From what their Tia believed, they no longer set a spot for their mother at the table.

"Hello, hello!" The woman spoke in a sing-song tone, her feet carrying her from the back door to the dining room.

"Oh, busted!" Carlos exclaimed, whacking the utensils and the place mat off the table.

"Yeah, we're in here," her father said as the children rushed to clear the spot on the table.

"Oh, spaghetti. Again." She said, walking into the room holding a pot as Ray awkwardly chuckled.

"Yeah."

"That's too bad. I brought you my pasteles and arroz con pollo."

"Yum."

"Mmm!" Dahlia said enthusiastically, her mouth watering as the smell of the food wafted into her nose.

"Thanks, Tia. It smells great," Julie spoke.

"You can have it tomorrow, I can't let you have leftovers every night. My sister would kill me, may she rest in peace," the woman explained, making her way over to the table as she ran her hand over the empty place on the table.

"Oh, I see things here are going better?"

"Actually, Julie has been cleaning out mom's studio. Hopefully we can get the house on the market and some offers soon."

Dahlia slumped at the reminder of moving. She didn't want to move, not when her memories were here. If they moved, she wouldn't have any memories left with her mom.

Their house was full of such loving energy, and Dahlia would absolutely hate to leave that behind.

"Well, I like the sound of that. Moving from here is only going to help you move on." Their aunt said again, looking at Dahlia as the teenager nodded in mock agreement.

"You've got to rip that Band-Aid off and get the pain over with," she added, and a moment later Julie yelled.

Dahlia eyes snapped towards Julie, who's eyes were trained behind her father. Julie looked back to the table, laughing awkwardly.

"That's me...ripping off the band-aid. Aah!" She yelled again, though this time it was quieter.

"There's my brave girl. Hopefully Lia will follow and rip the band-aid off soon, too. Isn't that right?"

Dahlia looked up from her plate to stare at her aunt. She was resisting rolling her eyes, why would she move on when she clearly wasn't ready? Why was everyone forcing her to grow up when she was still just a kid?

Before Dahlia could reply, Julie had interrupted her unsaid snarky response.

"You shouldn't be here," Julie sneered out of the blue, and Dahlia's eyes widened at the blatant disrespect to their aunt.

"Oh, I'm just here to help, mija." She said, rubbing her back as Julie quickly tried to find something to save her previous words.

"I mean...you should be at Pilates. Thanks for bringing us food," she said, bringing her aunt in for a hug as she grimaced.

"It's nothing. And now that you're no longer in the music program, you can concentrate on classes that matter."

Dahlia watched as Julie tensed under the grasp on her aunt when she mentioned music. This then led the brunette to assume she never told her father, and that's why there hadn't been a shred of awkwardness during dinner.

"You got the email from the school, right?" Her tia asked after a moment, eyes falling on Ray who nodded inconspiculously after a moment.

"Yeah. We're still discussing it." He replied quickly, sending a look his youngest daughter's way.

"Bueno," she cheered, clapping her hands together as she smiled and sighed, "I'm off to Pilates." She saluted, blowing a kiss as Carlos pretended to catch it and toss is away playfully.

"It's gone," he mumbled to Dahlia, who gave him a pity chuckle.

"Te quiero mucho, mijos." She said, abiding her goodbyes as she left.

There was a beat of silence. Dahlia wasn't sure if it was appropriate to excuse herself or not, but she did it anyway.

Dahlia awkwardly waved as she excused herself outside, simply needing a moment of silence. She felt tensions were too high, and sometimes it was suffocating.

Dahlia's head rested on the banister of the porch, her eyes closing. Being back in her mother's studio was weird, even if she was there for just a couple of seconds.

The brunette wasn't sure what to expect, really, but she wasn't expecting it to feel so familiar. Dahlia had always expected to feel...almost lost there—after what happened. But she didn't. It still felt right, and that gave Dahlia hope.

She wasn't sure why, but maybe this feeling was her mother, encouraging her to write music again. Dahlia could never forget the feeling of writing a new song, being able to show it to the people she cared about.

Dahlia stood up a moment later, slowly walking towards her mother's studio. Her legs were shaky, because this time she knew that whatever she felt upon walking in would decided if she would ever write music again.

A moment before Dahlia could place her hand on the door handle, loud rock music suddenly started blaring from inside. Dahlia's face contorted in confusion, suddenly worried that someone broke in and was testing out the instruments.

It was a wild theory, sure, but so was hearing rock music begin to play out of nowhere. Just as Dahlia went to open the door anyway, Julie appeared from behind her, out of breath.

"Don't...open...the door..." Julie panted out, obviously having sprinted the few feet from their front door to the garage.

"Why are you acting so odd?" Dahlia asked, her patience running thin, as she tried to open the door anyway.

"I'm not, just tired and I want to get a head start on cleaning the studio out," Julie began, removing her hands from the door handle as she suddenly turned Dahlia back in the direction of their home, pushing her away from the garage door as she ignored her sister's word of protest.

Dahlia wasn't in the mood to argue with Julie, given her sister's already aggrivated state. Though she was curious to see what Julie was hiding behind the closed doors, she decided maybe it was best to leave it alone for now and tackle everything tomorrow.

Dahlia knew she had a busy day once the morning started, and she likely wouldn't get a break until the evening. Dahlia only hoped it was enough to take her mind off of the curiosity, not wanting it to get the best of her.

— argentsires
hi! i know much didn't happen in this chapter, but the best is yet to come! i hope you enjoy and let me know if you have any questions or comments <3
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