#pebble post

[piningpebbles]

years later and it's STILL got its claws in me don't ever think otherwise

[pebblestar]

Lee x self harm reader

[TW: self harm, mentions of SA, alludes to rape.]

[Are you okay?]

[It's Lee. I am sorry to contact you like this but after our talk yesterday on the roof I can't help but be concerned.]

[I am here if you need someone to talk to.]

[Please text me back.]

The phone vibrated from somewhere on the hardwood floor but you couldn't be bothered to check where exactly the damned thing had fallen.

Or if you'd finally received a text from a actual person.

You couldn't be bothered any more to care enough, Let alone hold out any sort of hope whatsoever that it was maybe, just maybe a friend finally reaching out to ask to hang out or at least talk on the phone like old times.

You'd cut contact with a ton of people sometime two years ago and you'd thought that the few friends you'd had left would stick around or at least answer the texts you'd sent to them but that certainly wasn't the case.

It was always the same thing.

Over and over again again and again.

I'm hanging out with my boyfriend/girlfriend tonight. Sorry!

Can't. Busy. Maybe some other time.

Your mind drifted to Lee at the clinic-

The concern on his face yesterday on the roof.

The way your eyes stared down at the drop below for longer then necessary-

You recalled how he hesitated for the faintest second then scooted just a tad closer, Almost like he was silently begging for you to look up at him.

Then the conversation...

You'd known each other for maybe three months now, Coming in and out of the clinic for blood to be drawn then lastly for the injection.

The conversations weren't anything ground breaking, Lee's random information dump about fire shrimp were amusing yet every time you couldn't help but listen intently and ask questions or make assumptions which led to Lee immediately correcting you or answering the question itself.

You both were the quiet type it seemed-

You'd tell him about a show or book you were reading or watching to help ease the anixety of receiving the injection.

In turn he'd hum in acknowledgement or make small comments about how such a thing was unrealistic and that a person could die from shock or likely a head injury before even arriving to a hospital.

The context being that a character in the book had gotten into a car crash but that was beside the point.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶...𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵?" 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰." 𝘓𝘦𝘦'𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩��𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘰𝘥, 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. "...𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩. 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺...𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘪𝘳." 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. "𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶...𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥?" 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵. "𝘏𝘶𝘩? 𝘖𝘩. 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦." 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘓𝘦𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. "𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵?" 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨." 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮, 𝘚𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘦. 𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦.... "[𝘠/𝘯]?" 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥. "...𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦?"

"𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘖𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤. 𝘞𝘩𝘺? 𝘖𝘳 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨?" 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯. "𝘕𝘰. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵...𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶��� 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘖𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥." 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯Though when you'd started to become more detached from the conversation themselves, No longer putting in the effort or making small snorts of amusement at how serious Lee was when it came to certain topics, That was when Lee seemed to suspect that something was off.

"𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦. 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶...𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵?" 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳, 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘹𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯. "𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰." 𝘓𝘦𝘦'𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘯𝘰𝘥, 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. "...𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘩. 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺...𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘪𝘳." 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘭𝘺, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘻𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘪𝘳. 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘸. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦. "𝘈𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶...𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘥?" 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵. "𝘏𝘶𝘩? 𝘖𝘩. 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘈 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦." 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘓𝘦𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. "𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵?" 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨." 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘮, 𝘚𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘦. 𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦.... "[𝘠/𝘯]?" 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘣𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘸𝘬𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥. "...𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦?" "𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘖𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤. 𝘞𝘩𝘺? 𝘖𝘳 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨?" 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘯. "𝘕𝘰. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵...𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘖𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘤𝘰-𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥." 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪��𝘨 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭. "...𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭..." 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘴. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬 𝘵𝘰." 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘵. 𝘈 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴, 𝘉𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱. 𝘋𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥.

"...𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥."

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

"...𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴. 𝘊𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳. 𝘖𝘳 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴...𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧. 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺.

𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯? 𝘖𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵?"

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘈 𝘶𝘯𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦.

"...𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭...𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩. 𝘐𝘵 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯. 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳." 𝘈 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦.

"𝘐𝘧 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬...𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘵?" 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶.

"...𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺. 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴..."

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯.

"𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘊𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘶𝘩... 𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭...𝘏𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦. 𝘛𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘢𝘹𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬..."

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘦𝘦'𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭...

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥. "𝘞...𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥."

𝘈 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯.

"𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 ��𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺? 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴? 𝘊𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱?"

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺.

𝘖𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.

"𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 '𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.' 𝘛𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘪 𝘸𝘰𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘴...𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘬𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳..."

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

...𝘐𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵...𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩...𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵?

"𝘐 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺."

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘶𝘱 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘉𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘺.

"𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘰. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵." 𝘓𝘦𝘦'𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘮 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴. "𝘠/𝘯. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦-"

𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧.

"𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭? 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘨𝘰 𝘢 𝘨𝘶𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦? 𝘚𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘴𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦?"

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘶𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘶𝘣 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘪𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘦𝘦.

"𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯-"

"𝘔𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴."

"𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵-"

"𝘞𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘐? 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦? 𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦? 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦?"

𝘈 𝘱𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴.

"...𝘎𝘰𝘥...𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨." 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘵𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘺. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯��𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺. "𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘯𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦."

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘺 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥. "𝘕𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺." 𝘓𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘴. "𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨." 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘓𝘦𝘦.

"𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵. 𝘞𝘢𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵-" 𝘓𝘦𝘦'𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘧𝘵 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘴.

A cracked image of your own self stares right back at you almost mockingly- The handle of the knife in your hand tightens and you pace back an forth between the bathroom an your bedroom. Absorbed in your own thoughts of what you were about to do. Then finally, You settle yourself down on the edge of your bed- Then finally you press the tip of the blade to your finger until beads of red could be seen then trickle down your hand. Then with a yank of your sleeve, You tug up your sweaters sleeve exposing the skin on your arm where old cuts had littered your skin. Wordlessly, You press the knife against your arm then with slow movements, The blade glides across your skin and the sharp sting causes you to wince for just a moment. Beads of red bubble to the surface before blood soon trickles down your arm and onto the hardwood floor. The blade glides across your arm again. Once.

Twice. A third. Again. Again. And again. Each line more jagged then the last as tears finally blur your vision. It was all too much. This whole adulting thing. Being shunned by your family and friends hadn't helped much either. Seeing the very same man who was your ex when you worked certain weekdays... That made it all the more worse. But you needed the job. Had to have a job to even live. The thoughts jumble together until they are but a black hole threatening to swallow you whole. In your trance like state, You fail to resigster the sound of a door clicking open and the sound of someone calling out to you- Looking for you. No sounds or words escape your mouth, Too lost in your own muddled thoughts and the one thought that ping ponged back n forth was 'This is the end. This is the end. I'm done. Please. I'm tired. I don't want to do this anymore. Please-'

"...(Y/n)? Y/n!"

Lee? For a brief moment, You startle as you slowly resigster the fact that Lee was now standing inside of your bedroom. But the feeling of hands tugging at the handle of the knife startle you and a unaudible 'No.' escapes your lips. "Let go." Lee practically demands and he almost sounds...upset? Or maybe scared? Almost comically, The two of you wrestle for the knife- You fall backwards on the bed before Lee is towering over you. Your body wriggled to the right in a effort to avoid the male but it was the wrong move- Effortlessly, Lee had wrapped his left arm around your waist pulling you backwards as his legs held you down. Lee's right hand grasped onto your right wrist then with a sudden grasp then squeeze to your wrist, The knife fell from your hands. The tears slid down your cheeks breaking into sobs and sniffles- The knife was thrown elsewhere, Possibly somewhere onto the floor. But it didn't matter. The sound of your sobs filled the room as Lee loosened his hold on your wrist now checking over the deep bloody cuts. "Shit." Lee mumbled. The male let out a shaky breath then quietly asked. "Where's your first aid kit?" Lee asked. You let out a small painful whimper before sniffling. "...under the sink." You manage to choke out between tears and sniffling. With a shaky hand, You made a gesture to the bathroom connected to your bedroom. Lee seemed to understand as he stood and hurried off to the bathroom to grab a first aid kit then a few wash cloths. Lee sat back onto the bed before gently lifting your arm up and wasted no time in dabbing at your bloodied arm holding it firmly onto the injury in order to stop the bleeding. Once your sobs and sniffles soon subsided, A tense silence settled upon the room. Lee's hand was shaking and a wave of guilt washed over you at having the male see you like this.

"I'm sorry."

You attempt to whisper out but Lee immediately shook his head.

"No. Don't apologize."

Lee sighed before running his free hand through his hair.

"I'm the one who should be sorry.

I hope I did not hurt you."

Lee said.

A faint noise of amusement escapes you and you shake your head.

"I'm fine."

A pause before you contuine.

"How did you even get my address?"

You ask hoping to somehow avoid the topic of self harm as long as you possibly can.

"It was on your file. They needed it in order to send over the money once the trial was over."

Lee explained briefly then gently removed the wash cloth from your arm now that the bleeding had finally subsided.

"This will sting."

Lee warned and without awaiting your response, Disinfectant was sprayed onto the cuts causing you to wince then relax again when Lee apologized.

You watch Lee work on applying ointment to the cuts, ensuring that they weren't infected or had cut through any veins before finally, Lee wrapped your arm up with a roll of gauze.

"How long?"

Lee asked.

You almost want to crack a joke or somehow try again to avoid the topic at hand but it was clear that Lee wouldn't be letting this topic go so easily.

With a resigned sigh, You let your head rest onto Lee's shoulder-

He tenses at the sudden contact then slowly came to relax at the warmth now resting on his shoulder.

"...Off and on,"

You finally admit.

"Been doing it since I was...maybe twelve?

it's hard to remember."

For a few minutes, You didn't say anything then almost quietly.

"...I just know that I wanted it all to finally stop. Seeing his face...When I worked my job...how he tries too hard to worm his way back into my life...Or he'll flirt with the nearest woman he sees not caring whether or not it makes them uncomfortable...

He just goes about living...While I'm stuck in the past.

In that one particular moment back at that party.

It was probably like any other normal day for him but for me...it was one of the worst moments of my life...and...still is."

You trail off into nothing but there seems to be a silent understanding from Lee as he stared at the wall then back down at you-

He could see just how physically and mentally exhausted you truly looked.

"...Would you..."

Lee pauses almost like choosing his next words carefully, not wanting to scare you off.

"...How about a weekend away? From all of this?"

"My job won't-"

You start to respond but Lee shakes his head.

"No. I'm not talking about asking for a vacation or sick days from your boss.

Come with me. You can stay at my place. Get away for a while. Clear your head.

Then...Maybe I can help you with searching for a new job. Somewhere...away from that guy."

Lee clears his throat before quickly adding.

"But only if you want to."

A few moments passed by in silence and you consider the offer-

"Actually..."

You let out a shaky breath as your hair falls in front of your face.

"Yeah. A escape from everything sounds pretty good right about now."

Lee let's out a breath- Almost one of relief as he allows himself to rest his chin ontop your head.

"Do you have anything you want to bring?"

"Mhm."

You hum back quietly but didn't want to move.

"...Yeah. But right now...I just want to...sit here for a few more minutes. is that okay?"

You ask quietly.

"Yeah. More then okay."

Lee shifts his position slightly to be more comfortable then a comfortable silence finally settled upon the room.

[bisexualcell]

this is a poem. to me

[zyekno]

i quite like this fanfic...

[vastunlife]

day 8 - the rot

i give myself to you

[coldfruitwater]

(girl with onemillion important assignments voice) i think all that matters in this world is falling in love with everything & drinking hot tea

[asherashedwings]

EDIT: CHAT THESE DESIGNS ARE OLD STOP LOOKING AT THEM

Here are the new ones (Twisteds coming at some point):

————

Huh, something seems different..

MAIN UPDATE! Added Sprout finally and made a few changes to Astro and Vee

And I also drew their twisteds!

That is all, buh byeee

[shrimpricebowl]

my greatest mistake was that i cared

[redfirefox-55]

They tried their best at least?

[krispykrematory]

[supersillynewt]

pebbles appreciation post. she has carried many a henry far and wide

sometimes i see screenshots of other people’s gameplay where they have a horse other than pebbles and i forget that’s even an option. i stay loyal to my silly cowardly girl thank you pebbles

bonus hansry:

does it count as third wheeling if you ARE the mode of transportation

side note but aethon (hans’ horse) gets lost during the divorce era but he and hans are reunited later just like pebbles and henry!

horse :)

[piningpebbles]

there has never been better wlw representation in media ever

[pebblestar]

After sex

You feel the gentle caress of Lee's finger tips against your cheek and feel yourself stirring slightly at the sudden contact. "Hey," Lee murmurs against your forehead that'd been slicked with sweat just a few moments before. "Let's get you cleaned up. Would that be okay?" You manage a tired nod, Blinking up at Lee's face then find your eyes wandering to the wash cloth in Lee's hand. Your own thighs twitch with the sudden contact when Lee begins to wipe away the lingering stains of cum on your thigh and genitalia. His eyes find your own for a moment but you give a nod to silently convey that you were okay. "I...I hope I wasn't too rough." A small smile faintly ghosts your lips and Lee's stop his movements to glance up at your face for a brief moment- The males own face reddens and he quietly continues to wipe the sweat from your body, knowing fully well that you were too tired to properly get into a quick shower or bath at the moment. "You...made me feel seen tonight. Even if the both of us were incredibly awkward God as hell at first..." You chuckle for a moment. "God I sound cliché...But you listened to me when I told you to slow down, Or when a postion just wasn't working and well..." You trail off, Seeming to briefly recall how no one else had even bothered to ask if you were even comfortable let alone okay in past situations. "Well...?" Lee asked nervously. "Sorry. What I'm trying to say is...You've been nothing but respectful. I appreciate it so much, Lee. You made me cum three times- The first two times were from you just prepping me of all things..." A faint blush is now dusting your own cheeks and you shyly find yourself burying your face onto the pillow. "Hold on. Be right back." You listen to Lee shuffling around, The sound of Lee entering the bathroom to hang the wash cloth to dry vibrated off of the metallic towel rack. Then his footsteps re-enter the bedroom and the male slips back into bed, His fingertips now ghosting your cheek before you find yourself nuzzling against the males hand. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." Lee's voice whispers with a slight tremble but it seemed to click that male was flustered beyond belief. It'd been his first time tonight and you faintly recalled just how terrified he even was of putting it inside. You had started to close your own eyes again before opening one of them. "Did you enjoy yourself too?" "Oh! Y...Yes! I didn't mean-" "It's okay Lee. I was just checking." Your quick to reassure and the male relaxes when you scoot closer, Now allowing your head to rest onto the males chest. You feel the familiar thump thump thumping of Lee's heart against your own ears finding the sound relaxing as you stretch yourself out comfortably. "You took me so well. Like...we were meant to be." Lee's voice murmurs against your hair. "I might've clawed the shit outta of your back though...Sorry." You apologize. "No...I...liked it." Came Lee's mumbled words but still audible nonetheless. You feel yourself starting to doze off, The warmth of Lee's chest and the gentle caressing of the males fingers playing with your hair were enough to make you feel sleepy once more. "[Y/n]?" Lee whispers. You make a small noise, practically fighting against the urge to fall asleep right then and there. "I...I really...ˡᵒᵛᵉ ʸᵒᵘ" The words were almost lost to your own ears, You feel the familiar shift of Lee moving slightly from where he lay- almost if anxious that he'd somehow misread the entire situation, that maybe it was a one time thing or that 'I love you' was just too quick of a thing to even say. But before the males thoughts could spiral out of control- "I love you too, Lee. I won't forget tonight." Came your own mumbled words then Lee watched the steady rise and fall of your own chest that indicated you'd fallen asleep in his arms. Lee almost felt frozen- You loved him. You loved him back. He almost felt tears welling up in his own eyes but he let out a shaky breath willing himself to be calm, not wishing to wake you up.

[lyss-butterscotch]

Hades style portraits for the doomed siblings

[bitsbug]

Slugsign is a language of many uses

[khaos-chaos]

I posted this on my Tiktok first so that's what the thanks for 5k is referring to !! ;w;