What goes on behind the words (is there pity for the plain girl)

Mia

"How long have you-" Marjorie started. Mia ignored her and walked over to Charlotte, lovingly grabbing her hand.

"I heard the whole thing. Quite an achievement, making the Knight siblings actually open up, they must really care about you both," she nodded towards Winter and Marjorie, who couldn't conceal her slight smile. "Anyway, of course, I visited Autumn, she was my little sister. You probably don't remember much though, darling, at the beginning, you were barely conscious and couldn't even breathe on your own." Autumn flinched ever so slightly. "I couldn't bear to see you in so much pain that I started messaging Reecey to see whether you were awake and only came in to sit with you when you were asleep. Even in your sleep, though, you looked like you were in pain." 

Autumn closed her eyes, trying to process all the new information that she had received. "You never told me this." 

"No I didn't." the redhead replied.

"Why did you avoid me afterwards?" The younger woman asked, voiccing the question that had plagued her for years.

"Truthfully, everytime I looked at you, I'd just see your battered broken body, with your faced scrunched up in pain and hundreds of tubes and wires sticking out of you. I just couldn't bear to be reminded of that, darling." Autumn looked down, the gravity of what she'd been though crashing down on her. 

Mia smirked, gaze softening slightly in sympathy, before whispering "I'll see you later sweetheart," to Charlotte and breezing out of the room. 

An uncomfortable silence broke out across the room, everyone trying to process the latest revelation. No one wanted to speak and break the silence, each prefering to try to absorb the weight of everything the siblings had been through. Reece had his fists tightly clenched and his jaw was set; thoughts of punching his father racing through his mind. Marjorie and Charlotte didn't even bother wiping the tears that cascaded down their faces as they processed. Winter chanced a glance at Autumn, and was horrified to see her hands shaking and her breathing speeding up. 

"My sweet?" he asked tentatively. She didn't respond and Winter's panic spiked. "Autumn? My love, can you hear me?" Autumn didn't respond, capturing Reece's attention.

A/N I love the Mia/Autumn dynamic. I have this headcannon that just like how Mia always calls Charlotte 'sweetheart', she used to call Autumn 'darling' when they were younger. Next two chapters will be tough and then we lighten up a little bit. Hope you're all enjoying it so far.