Peacekeepers

Chapter 53: Frantic

"Tell me what's going on, because you haven't had this reaction for a long time." Poppy said softly, looking down to Diane in concern as she shook, trying to contain her sobs.

"Sebastian and I were going to get married first, but Ominis was acting strange, so when we talked to him about it he danced around the subject a lot..." Diane shook her head in frustration, more bright curls escaping her hood with the motion. "He's hurting, so much... I know it's not the real wedding, this one is really only for the kids and the girls. But it's still a wedding! He's hurting and it's my fault, and I HATE IT!" She yelled the last part in frustration.

Poppy made a soft sound of realization how tangled this had gotten. "You three have a real talent for messing up all your emotions until one of you bursts." She sighed, hugging Diane gently. "You didn't mean to hurt him, Diane. Why are you so upset? Just talk to him about it."

"I don't want him to get mad at me." Diane whispered softly. "Talking about my feelings makes it sound like I'm ignoring his... and I'm not. I'm so afraid of messing this up." She put her hands to her eyes in agony as she moaned. "What if... what if he leaves me? I don't think I could take that, Poppy."

"Hey now!" Poppy said in frustration. "Why do you think Ominis would leave you? What kind of talk is that?" She scoffed. "You know Ominis loves you way too much to even think about that, silly."

Diane gave her a guilty look, before glancing away and wiping her eyes anxiously in a futile gesture to dry her tears.

"Do you seriously think he doesn't love you enough to stay with you, Diane?" Poppy asked gently.

"No, I know he does." She said quietly, but refused to look at Poppy.

"Then why do you think he would leave you?"

She said something in a quiet mutter that Poppy couldn't hear.

"Diane, say it louder or I'll pry it out of you." Poppy said firmly.

Diane bit her lip, closing her eyes before she said it again. "Because eventually he'll find out how shit I am."

Poppy went silent for a long moment, staring at her with wide eyes. "Why do you think that? Diane..." she said in shock.

Diane gave an angry little sound. "Why? Poppy, how could I not?!" She growled. "Let's name them off, huh?" She said bitterly, counting fingers. "I failed as a daughter, I failed as a niece, I failed at protecting Professor Fig, I'm probably the worst Keeper they've ever seen, oh and I'm a horrible girlfriend who makes the person she loves think that he's less than the other!" She yelled angrily. "I'll probably be a shit mom too, since I hardly remember mine." She muttered.

"I thought you'd gotten over most of those." Poppy said quietly.

Diane looked away uneasily. "I accepted them, if that's what you mean."

"That's not what I meant." Poppy shook her head and sighed. "Diane, look to me." She said firmly, waiting until Diane looked up to her reluctantly. "Your father failed you, not the other way around. Your aunt abandoned you. Professor Fig knew the risk of fighting, and he was proud of you. You're the only 19 fucking years old, Diane. You're barely an adult, of course you're not the most adept Keeper yet. You'll learn. You'll grow. I mean, look what you did here just from your emotions." Poppy motioned around them.

Diane looked around and suddenly seemed surprised, as if she hadn't expected the sight of so many plants around them.

"As for being a horrible girlfriend, I don't think Ominis or Sebastian think that. You need to talk to them. See how they feel. You're assuming things again, and going into a spiral."