IT STARTED WITH A WHISPER, Elizabeth Olsen

Ray of sunshine

When I woke up the next morning, Lizzie was nowhere to be seen. I assumed she went back to her place, taking the few clothes she kept here with her. I knew yesterday's argument was bad, but I didn't realise it was that bad. I called Brie, asking her if she could come over, without really telling her what happened. She must have sensed that something was wrong, because fifteen minutes later, she was standing in front of my door.

"What happened?" she asked, a concerned look on her face. We sat on the couch, and I told her everything that happened, trying to be as accurate as I could. I didn't want to make Lizzie look like the bad guy, but as the words left my mouth, I realised I wasn't the one in the wrong there.

"Wait, so Lizzie was that person you were with when we met?" Brie connected the dots, making sense of it all. I met her while Lizzie and I were secretly dating, it was during the summer when Lizzie cheated on me. Brie was there for me after the breakup, but I never revealed the identity of the person I was with. I could have, Brie didn't know her at that time, but I had promised Lizzie I wouldn't tell anyone until she was ready, and I was willing to keep that promise.

"Yeah, she was" I sighed, remembering how painful it was the whole time. I'm not minimising the pain of being unable to come out of the closet, but being dragged back into one felt pretty awful. It took a lot of strength for me to come out when I was younger, my parents weren't so open minded. They didn't kick me out, because they believed I was their responsibility, so they took care of me, and gave me everything I needed, until I reach the legal age when only I was responsible for myself.

"And that's why Caity was so pissed about her moving here. It makes so much more sense" she mumbled to herself, still assembling the whole puzzle.

"I told Caity about it one night where we both drank too much wine, and started talking about our first loves" I explained, even though Brie didn't need me to justify myself.

"You can do anything to me Y/n, but please, don't like another blonde more" she acted offended, dramatically holding onto her chest with one hand, covering her eyes with the other. I couldn't help but laugh at her little act, making a content smile grow on her face. "So, you really want to go back to writing?" she asked in a more serious tone, but I sensed no hint of judgment.

"Yes, I do. I mean, I only stopped because I didn't have time to write anymore. I miss it, I've missed it for a while now. And don't get me wrong, I love psychology, but I don't feel like it's bringing me anything, if that makes sense" I tried to find the right words to express myself.

"Yeah, I get that. I remember the first story you wrote. It was about her, wasn't it?" Brie raised a questioning brow, already knowing the answer.

"It was. I miss the way writing made me feel, you know?  Creating all those characters to express myself, it really got me through a lot" I shot her a soft smile.

"I know. I'll be there for you, if you need anything. Actually, I know someone who owns a coffee shop not far from here, maybe she's looking for someone" she immediately got enthusiastic about it, which warmed my heart. "And about Lizzie, well, maybe she'll come around. But just- just promise me you'll protect your heart. You deserve to be with someone who supports you, no matter what" she reached for my hand, gently squeezing on it.

"Sometimes I really think I should've kissed you during that spin the bottle game" I joked, earning an disapproving look from the blonde woman.

"Duh, that's what I've been saying since that day" she chuckled, unable to keep the serious tone she tried to use at first. I yawned loudly, pulling my hand over my mouth, reminding me of my lack of sleep from last night.

"You need to rest, I'm going to leave you alone. But you can call me if you need anything, alright?" she said with the softest smile. I simply nodded, feeling a knot from in my throat, signalling me that tears would leave my eyes if I tried to speak. I pulled her in for a hug, holding tightly onto her as she reciprocated the embrace.

I felt safe and comfortable in her arms. I knew that if the whole world turned against me, Brie would turn against the world without an hesitation, and she knew I would do the exact same thing. In fact, when she got heavily bullied for playing Captain Marvel, and none of the cast members defended her, I clearly told them what I was thinking. I couldn't stand the fact that they were not willing to publicly defend her after she had done nothing wrong. I think that's when Scarlett and I really started getting along. Since she didn't have any social media, she couldn't really say anything. But, every time she would get interviewed, and asked questions about the cast, she would always slip in a sweet word about Brie.

Eventually, Brie left. I found myself alone, sitting on the couch, not really knowing what to do. Loki looked at me with his soft puppy eyes, almost as if he knew exactly how I felt. After staring at the wall for a long moment, I decided to clean and declutter the place. I turned on my headphone, turning it on full volume as I played my Taylor Swift playlist. The cleaning part was easy, doing the dishes, laundry, vacuuming... It was annoying, but easy. The worst part was getting rid of stuff. I grabbed a large box and went through my closest, getting rid of every clothes that didn't fit me anymore, or that I hadn't worn during the past year. It filled up rather quickly, mostly with shirt and jeans that I kept since high school. I froze when I pulled a specific shirt out of the drawer.