'Moonlight'

9

**im back 🙏🏻 this chapter isnt great, but eh the dialogue gives some character development i suppose**

I don't come out of my room till Lori calls me downstairs for the third time, now sounding rather impatient. I wipe my glasses quickly as i realise they're dirty from my tears, then check my reflection in my mirror before i leave the room. My eyes are red, and i've chewed my lips down till they started bleeding, but nobody is gonna notice anything apart from that. I sigh, running a hand through my hair anxiously as i slowly trudge downstairs. Lori is just leaving the studio, looking so angry i'm surprised she doesn't have steam blowing from her ears. She brightens up a little when she sees me, but i can tell she's still fuming.
"Are you okay." she says. It's not a comforting 'are you okay?', it's a genuine concerned question.
"No, but it doesn't matter," i reply, not wanting to get into it. "are you okay?-"
She shrugs. "I know what happened, Pierre."
I nod, not really wanting to have this conversation, but Lori seems insistent.
"I also know that you were standing outside the door the whole time," she says, nudging me gently. "i knew what Stevie was doing, it's why i didn't want you to listen in."
"You knew they were getting back-?!" i start, furiously, but Lori cuts me off.
"No! i knew about the letter, i knew about Kim. I had no idea that she would go crawling back to Lindsey." Lori sighs, shaking her head.
"It's wrong, it's sick. He's an awful person!" I say, angrily.
"Give him at least a little credit, P. He did make her happy.. for a short while, at least. If they're in love, who's to stop them?" Lori says, smiling sympathetically as i stomp my foot in frustration.
"Us!! Me, you, Sharon!" i shout, impatiently. "We have to stop them, it's horrible, we can't let him do this."
Lori places her hand on my shoulder gently, calming me down.
"I just thought that.." i say quietly, as my anger ceases. "that maybe she, um, would've thought about it first."
i changed my mind on what i was gonna say halfway through, as i saw Lori's eyebrows raise slightly. I knew that if i said what i was really going to say, she'd probably judge me, or freak out, or tell Stevie.
"Stevie doesn't tend to think, she dives in headfirst," Lori sighs, still watching me with that concerned expression. "come on, Pierre, i thought you knew Stevie better than any of us."
"You did?" i say, bewildered. Lori nods, smiling.
"I thought i did too," I mutter, staring at the floor. "but apparently i don't know Stevie at all."
"Don't get so upset over it. Stevie is a really complicated person. You have to crack through the tough outside to get to know who she really is inside, and she is a sweet, loving person." Lori says. I sigh, shaking my head. I DO know Stevie- or i thought i did- and this isn't how she usually seems.
"It'll take time to get to really know her. But if she opens up to you about something? Man, she trusts you with her life!" Lori laughs lightly, shaking her head. "It's just how she works. She'll either be stubborn and not let you through her tough outside, or she'll let you inside straight away. It depends how your relationship works."
She smiles, patting my shoulder gently once more before skipping off to look for Sharon. I sigh, sitting down at the bottom of the stairs. If what Lori said is true, then i have nothing to worry about. She's right, i shouldn't get so upset. I didn't expect Stevie to be such a tough person, but still, i'd got my hopes up over nothing.