What Goes Around (Unedited)

06

N E R V E S
(Trigger warning: talking about abuse, assault, starving, etc. No graphic descriptions but that is the premise of this chap. I'll summarize it at the end for anyone unable to read.)

Eventually one of her brothers noticed that her legs were becoming wobbly due to her dire need to sit down. She couldn't remember which one offered her a seat, but she had faith she'd figure it out eventually. He stood up and gracefully left the room, watching her as he left. He didn't come back down until dinner. Aelia felt disgustingly guilty.

It wasn't until Triton asked to speak to her—which also made the entire room quiet down—that she finally moved, too stuck in her head and too afraid to bother anyone again to do anything but that. Her fears were screaming in her face as she followed Triton out of the living room, down the long hallway that the front door opened to, and then a left into a small room with two armchairs, a rug, and a couple bookshelves filled to the brim.

"How are you feeling so far, dolcezza?" The chair roars as he moves it slightly so he can face her better. She avoids looking at him, shielding her eyes with strands of her hair.

"I'm okay." She mutters, kicking her feet. They don't say anything for a while, caught up in the soft sounds of their breathing and every time her socks accidentally scraped the legs of the chair. "Am I in trouble? I'm sorry."

Triton frowns immediately, his pupils constricting.

"No. Of course not. I wanted to have a chat with you about a few things. Is that okay?" He tried not to bring attention to her now obviously timorous behaviour; the bending of her fingers, the clicking of her heels together, playing with her hair, looking anywhere but at the man beside her. He couldn't even imagine how she felt right now.

"It's okay." She responded quickly.

Robert never had chats with her, he would just yell. Aelia was waiting for that, and she wouldn't be surprised if already she had messed something up. When they sat down together and let the silence engulf them, for some weird reason it made her even more nervous that she didn't know what to expect. A conversation didn't seem promising, not when the entirety of her life has been made up of faulty promises and cruel perjury.

She risked a glance at him. He looked like he was trying to figure something out. As soon as his eyes met hers, she quickly retreated back to looking at her feet.

"I was wondering about your life before we came to get you. How our uncle treated you. Although I have my assumptions, I don't want them to be false." He tells her, sounding almost professional. "Would you mind talking about that?"

She shakes her head, unable to form a sentence. Her nerves were eating her up, crawling up her body from her toes to the tip of her head, trying to dissolve her into nothingness.

"If there's anything you don't feel comfortable telling me, that's okay." He pauses, thinking for a second, before he continues. "I'd like to suggest something after our conversation. No matter how good or bad this goes, or the outcome, I think it's important you know of this option anyways." He quiets down, watching her face for any betrayal of her emotion or thoughts.

He hoped that over time, he'd be able to bring her out of her little suffocating shell, and have her share more similarities with the girl he spoke to on the plane.

"Okay."

"Okay." He tries to send her a reassuring smile. He stands up and closes the door, but when he notices she tenses up, he opens it a smidge again. She finally looks up from the floor at the gesture and looks from the crack of the door to his large hand, confused. "You can shut it if you wanna."