Don't Tell Me I'm Not Alone PV E. Reeves Ended

@Eyre Reeves

Her comment about their parents hit like she knew it would, and her stomach only twisted itself further into a knot. She knew that if someone, especially someone who had known her so long, ever said anything like that to her, she would have been absolutely devastated. She was preparing for another blow when his next words caught her off guard. What the hell was he talking about? Anastasia was, for one of a countable number of times in her life, completely speechless. When did their lives turn into "Real Pureblood Housewives of London"? This was insane and she honestly couldn't deal with it. The sane part of her knew that the best thing for both of them would be for them to stop whatever was currently happening and lean on each other the way they had their entire childhoods. So, of course, that wasn't going to happen.

Ana had more than enough insanity in her life at the moment, and nobody would say she was handling that even remotely well. Anyway, revealing that your mother was terribly murdered, your father is in jail for the aforementioned murder, and that you don't know for a fact that he didn't do it was a little bit more than finding out your parents weren't your own. Based on her exchanges with Ivy, that phenomenon was more common than one might expect, especially among Purebloods.

"You know what, Eyre, no, I don't," she snapped, blinking hard. He had no idea what it was for his life to literally come crashing down in every possible way. This revelation might make him re-evaluate a lot of things, but it didn't meaningfully change his life unless he chose for it to. What she was dealing with had already completely upended everything she took for granted and had the potential to become even worse if her father was convicted and people actually started finding out the truth about Athena Beckett. "Your life is still your life! It's not some nightmarish lonely mess you don't even recognize!"

Her voice caught on the last word and she swallowed hard. She wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of crying. Sure, he had seen her cry over falling off a broom or getting scolded for smacking some other small child, but not like this. He had never been the one to make her cry and god, it hurt. Two people who knew each other as well as Ana and Eyre did had no end of ammunition to use against one another. At that moment, she felt more alone than she had ever felt in that empty manor all summer. This was different than her chosen isolation, this felt like one of the people she trusted and cared about most in the world was leaving her on purpose and she was shoving him away with both hands.

"You have no idea what you're talking about," she repeated, scoffing at the idea she wasn't alone. She was utterly and completely alone, standing there in that crowded train station. She half thought she could scream and nobody would even notice or do anything. "Don't you tell me that I'm not alone, Eyre. You have no fucking idea what you're talking about." Her arms that were wrapped around her waist tightened protectively as Eyre slightly moved towards her. She squeezed her already tight fists to the point of pain as she stared at her friend. What the hell had happened to them?

Interacting with @Anastasia Beckett

The 'Fit

Eyre wished he had a rebuttal, but he knew that they were both too far gone for any sort of redemption. He didn't have anything else to do but stare at Ana in disbelief at how badly it had gone. When he wiped the tears away with the sleeve of sweatshirt they felt raw and painful, and his nose felt stuffy as if he had a horrible cold. He was so tired, and so, so done. As much as he wanted to get through to her, to push until she finally gave in and let him comfort her, he simply had no energy left. All of it was wasted when he let out one final pitiful sob, his frame and shoulders shaking before he was able to compose himself again. He looked at her with newfound bitterness, his eyes narrowing in defiance.

"...Fine." Eyre said, the firmness of his own words surprising him when he heard them come out of his mouth. "Go on, then. Just pretend like I never even bothered. See if I fucking care." There was no punch line, no extra jab or even an invitation to come back to him once she got her life sorted out. Instead, he pushed past her as if she was any other stranger on the Platform that was in his way, grabbing onto his trolley cart and taking off towards the Express.

He was proud of himself for that, a tiny smirk appearing on his face. Then, the weight of it all came crashing down on his shoulders. This wasn't a competition, or a game. Leaving his friend in the dust and mocking her when she was hurting wasn't anything that warranted an award, or a stupid fucking pat on the back. He began to loathe himself for it, the smirk abruptly being replaced with a glossy stare as more baggage was piled onto his already-brimming plate.

So much for having a good year.

Eyre has left the thread. To cry. A lot.

@Eyre Reeves

Her throat tightened when she saw how Eyre looked at her. They had known one another for so long and knew one another better than most people did. He had seen her through countless angry breakdowns over how nothing was good enough for her parents and she had comforted him through just as many bouts of crying over his parents' treatment. They had still always managed to see the best in each other though. That was why his gaze hurt so much.

His sob broke her heart. Her already watery eyes were threatening to overflow and she blinked hard. She couldn't weaken now. She had hated his parents for making him cry like that and suddenly it was her doing the exact thing she had hated them for. Still, he just didn't get it. He had no idea what she was going through, and if she got her way, that was exactly how it would stay. She couldn't imagine how much worse it would be if he knew what had happened.

His words stung too. She had always been the meaner of the two, the sarcastic one. To the extent that there was a nice one in their duo, it was, without question, Eyre. That made this all the more painful. "Good," she snapped, her tone catty and cold while her voice was on the verge of breaking. God, why couldn't he have just left her alone as she'd asked in the first place? They would both be hurting and alone, but they wouldn't have hurt each other like this. She watched him storm away for a moment before turning her gaze back to the brick pillar and exhaling shakily. A few tears brimmed over her lashes and splashed onto her cheeks before she quickly wiped them away. She couldn't cry. She had spent far too much time crying lately and she wasn't about to break down.

The train seemed to have begun boarding, so she nodded towards her uncle and stiffly accepted the overly affectionate hug from her aunt before forcefully shoving her cart and making her way towards the train. Eyre had disappeared in the crowd, which gave her a sense of finality about what had just happened. Surrounded by parents and students on that platform, she was more alone than ever.

End of thread