the teawitch (the tea-series part one)

friends

19-12-2022 Eliana's house, livingroom

P.O.V. eliana

A silence followed when Rue dissapeard upstairs. Her footsteps almost not noticeable.

"Strange but nice girl," I smiled a bit.

"Yeah, but Hobi strongly advised us to noy ask her anything about her past. He is worrying about her but wants to give her time to tell herself."

"Hmm..." I nodded, "will do, but if she feels more comfi with us then she can tell us too, right?"

Scarlett nodded. "She is polite tho," she giggled, but quickly became serious again, "I love it too, but I am just not used to be called 'miss', but Hobi said to her she could if she felt better by using that."

I grinned suddenly, "Even while they know each other for only two days now, don't you think..."

"Girll," Scarlett laughed, "ah, and give her some time to find out how nice Hobi is, if she didn't find out yet."

"Sorry, just think about their now already couple vibes," I sipped my coffee. "You gotta tell him that she likes tea, her eyes literally lit up at the first sip."

Scarlett nodded, "will do!"

After more then two hours chatting I walked upstairs to check on Rue. The door of our guestsroom was on a crack and to my surprise I heard her crying.

"Rue...?" I said, pushing the door open.

She was sitting on the bed, her back to me. Her whole body was shaking and I heard her sobbing. She didn't answer me.

I picked up her hoodie on my wayover to her, and laid it down over a chair. "Hey... What's the matter?" I slumped down next to her.

She flinched back a little.

I stayed silent for a while, listening to her sobbing while thinking what to do. "Do you need anything?"

She shook her head, pulling up her knees.

"Rue... Can I help you in a way? I care about you okay?"

She broke down even more, sliding off the bed and sitting down against the side. She was shaking badly.

I kneeled down infront of her and tried to get contact with her. "You can ask me anything, okey? I won't get angry..."

She looked up slowly, her eyes full of fear. They stood glassy due the tears. "J-just a nightmare..." Rue muttered softly.

She looked so fragile. Now she wasn't wearing a hoodie I noticed her fully bandaged arms. They were thin like the rest of her body. She hadn't eat much the last couple of weeks, and about sleeping the same.

"A nightmare... Do you want to tell one of us about it?"

She shook her head, "I don't w-wanna be a b-burden."

"You are not... We just wanna help you, okey?"

"Rex s-said the same..." She muttered, immediately creating a thousand questions in my head.

"Rex? Who is that?'

"J-just a g-guy..." She grabbed a pillow and hugged it like it was her kid, digging her nose in it.

I sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

She flinched back a little before leaning against me.

"Hey... We are here for you... Do you want me to call Hobi for you? Or get a drink? You can ask me anything."

"Without... Anything b-back?" She muttered, staring at the fabric of the pillow.

"What do you mean?"

She shrugged, "nevermind."

I stayed silent, stroking my thumb over her shoulder. "We don't want anything in return, okey? You can ask us anything."

"S-so..." She sniffed, "no service back?"

I shook my head, "no... Only if you call friendship a service, but that's only if you want that."

"what I wan't doesn't matter that much..." She drew with her finger on the ground, "It's a-about what y-you need..."

"What you need is essential too, Rue..." She had a lot of history. A lot I didn't know. But what I did, was that someone had used her as trash, and that person had told her she wasn't worth. The same person had put himself high above her, maybe not even one... Her questions... Some pieces fell into a place, she had been scared Hobi was like that too... Or his friends. "It's important and I want you to remind that you are important..."

She broke down by my words, curling up against me.

"Hobi thinks you are, Scarlett too... I do... And you can be yourself around us," I pulled her on my lap, and wrapped my arms around her. I dug my nose in her hair like she did to the pillow.

"I d-dunno how... I j-just..."

"For how long...? For how long couldn't you be yourself?"

She stuck up two fingers.

"Two years... Then we will fix you get those two years back, okey? We will give you everything back you missed."

With a tiny nod Rue dug her face in my chest while sobbing. "T-thanks mi- Eliana..."

I smiled soft, and stroked her hair. "Shall I ask Scar for a cup of tea? Then you can calm down a little..."

She nodded, "yeh..."

"Okey, cover your ears..."

She did, looking at me a little curious.

"SCAAAARRRR, GET SOME TEA READY!" I grinned at Rue.

"BUSYYYY," Scarlett voice sounded from downstairs.

She giggled soft before again hiding her face in my shirt.

"So... What's something you miss from when you could still be yourself?" I played with her hair softly, trying to distract her from the nightmare she had.

"I... Always made tea with my mom..."

"You made it yourself?"

She nodded, "but I don't know where everything is now... I had a book and everything..."

"Do you... Have a friend that knew about it and could get it safe...?"

She stayed silent while thinking. "Quinten maybe..."

"Do you know his adress?"

Her eyes lit up a little. "yeh..."

"We can give him a visit maybe... Do you want that?"

She nodded and a smile appeared on her face. "Yeh."

"Do you know when Hobi comes back?"

She shrugged, "No idea."

I grinned, "Shall we ask Hobi to pick you up later and go to that guy to fix your stuff?"

Her smile brightened even more, "can we do that?"

"Yeah! Sure!" Seeing her happy made me as well.

She wiped her tears with her sleeves, looking at me. Her fear had dissapeard and made place for a smile, while she made eyecontact with me. "Thanks."

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woah, the story itself has exactly 1000 words :)