ɢᴏ ꜰᴏʀ ɪᴛ, ᴍᴀᴛᴛʜᴏʟᴏᴍᴜʟᴇ!

tears

Ignoring the surge of joy inside me, I protest, "Well, he can't. Gus (when did I start calling him that?) is just an illusionist. He'll only hold us back." The human insists that Gu- Augustus! is some sort of a "super witch", to which he drags her to the side and hurriedly whispers to her. She smiles and hands him something, which isn't shady at all, but either way it's enough to change his mind.

"Alright, I'm in. Where do we find these Galdorstones?"
"We're journeying to the Looking Glass Ruins in the Forearm Forest!" shouts Bria excitedly.

Looking down onto the forest, I shiver in fear. Trying desperately to ignore the frightening aura of the place, I project my insecurities onto someone else. (Way to go, Matt.) For some reason, my mind immediately shoots to Augustus. (Right. Because I bully him. Why do I do that?) 

(What if I held his hand and he told me not to be scared? Would I feel bett-)

I crush my thoughts before they can turn into something I can't come back from.

"What's wrong, Augustus? Scared?" I tease. "We all are," Bria says disapprovingly. "Who knows what awaits us out there? But we all got each other's back, right?" She looks at Gus. I don't miss his furious blush- how could I? 

Something in me breaks, and I don't even try to hide my crushing disappointment that I definitely shouldn't be feeling.