[OTC] Rivalry
Don loved his sister.
Don loved his sister, and he wasn’t his father. Not saying that his father didn’t love his daughter-he did, that was why he had written her off when he had, Don could understand that now. He didn’t then, when he tried to talk his father out of it, tried to help Sam, thinking that one day she’d finally snap out of it and realize that she was only screwing herself over. He realized that that wasn’t going to get them anywhere, probably a lot earlier than he would care to have actually admitted. So he did his best to make it that it wasn’t about her. Because it wasn’t her. He just didn’t know how else to help her anymore.
Don loved his sister, which is why he checked up on her with the guy at the bar to see how she’s doing on the job. He checked because he worried that she was getting herself into trouble all over again. It’s why it hurt when she lied right to his face without even blinking. It’s why he confronted her about losing her job, the drinking, the people she’s hanging out with. It’s why he got angry with her when she lied to him, and when she asked him why he cared it felt like a punch to the gut. Because he never hadn’t cared. She was just the one who seemed to be floating further and further away.
Don loved his sister, which was why he was standing outside her apartment playing Peter Gabriel in the middle of the afternoon. Despite the sibling rivalry, and the long car rides, and the years between then and now, he still remembered what was important to her. He remembered the song from the walkman in the back seat of his father’s car, and he needed her to remember that. He needed to make things right-mostly because she was the only sister he was ever going to have.
Don loved his sister, which is why he didn’t burst into the AA meeting, and he only listened. He watched as she poured her heart out to people who were total strangers. He understood that there were some things you just couldn’t say to family, but he still wanted her to talk to him. She was his sister. If he wasn’t there for her, who would be? But he didn’t go in and try to interrupt anything. He knew she had to do this for herself.
Don loved his sister, and he knew that he couldn’t get her through this by holding her hand.
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