About You Now

Turmoil

"I know you lot can be stubborn, but ..." started Brie, a small smile painted on her features. The weekend had been both busy and relaxing; Echo was awake now, AJ had been released from the hospital, Brie had received a message from Damian asking her to prom - revealing himself to be her mystery man, and Serenity seemed to have ramped up her games despite being on the losing end of whatever she was playing and planning. But at the same time, it had also been peaceful; she'd gotten to play games with her little brother and talk with Nikki like old times. She'd learned some new family recipes from her mom, too, and even began to focus on life after the fast-approaching end of school life. "Do you have to make things so damn difficult?"

"Do you have to be so quick to forgive?" asked Dean in response, as if he had the words ready and waiting to be used. His response had been so quick that Brie had been taken aback, although it was clear to anyone who knew her that she was simply trying to understand. In Brie's own mind, she'd once been like Roman, worse even, and yet the Mismatched family had given her a second chance without blinking. Yet with Roman, they acted differently; those who had allowed him back were weary, as if expecting the next part of his game to begin at any moment; they said they had forgiven him, but it was clear they hadn't forgotten and weren't ready to move on yet.

Then there were Seth, Dean, and the Darklings. Those who had made it clear they weren't about to forgive Roman for his transgressions, let alone forget how he hurt them. Whenever Roman joined the larger group, the Darklings disappeared and took Seth, Dean, and Renee with them; it was like they had a sixth sense when Roman would appear, as it got to the point where none of them could be found on the breaks Roman wandered over to them.

"I have to think positively, especially when I was like, him once, worse than him," replied Brie, admitting she generally believed she was worse than Roman while also displaying just how little she had truly learned about the Darklings, about how much she knew about Seth and Dean. "I was the Queen Bitch then turned on my twin sister, who tormented those who were different and thought popularity was everything; thanks to all of you, I see the error of my ways; you all accepted me without a second thought, helped me get on the right path and kept me focused, why is this so different?'

"Cause you weren't a part of this family while you were like that," replied Nikki from Brie's side, as she quickly realized what prevented the others from moving on, or at least the betrayal Seth and Dean were unwilling to forgive. "You set your sights on being better. Sure, you kept your friendships with those you love in the cheerleads and jocks, but you haven't gone out of your way to play games with them, to lead them on, or give them false hope. You've been honest with them and helped them see the error of their ways, too. You didn't only better yourself but also helped everyone you love, apart from those groups, find themselves outside of stupid popularity contests and idiocy."

"In short, Brie Mode," started Seth, "Me and Dean won't forgive Roman because we can't look past the betrayal. He didn't just play games with all of us, break Summer's heart, and go out of his way to destroy. He did so while also being a founding member of this family. He told us one thing, then essentially did the opposite behind our backs, so much so we don't even know who the real Roman is and don't care to know either. He made his bed; it's time he lies in it," added the Architect, although no sadness glimmered in his eyes this time; instead, he had time to process everything and let go of all the regrets and blame he'd been holding on to. He'd let go of the things he knew he couldn't change.

"He knew what he was doing when he burned that bridge but did it anyway. There's no coming back from what he did," spoke Dean, rolling his icy eyes when Serenity came storming toward the group on the bleachers, no doubt looking for the Samoan teen she'd been obsessing over for god knows how long. "He isn't here," shouted the lunatic; his intentions were all too clear to those around him; he wasn't just keeping Roman at arm's length but also keeping the poison that was Serenity as far from those he loved as possible. If rumors were to be believed, then Serenity had already gone out of her way several times to hurt others, and she'd been the reason the girls he loved in different ways had been hurt in the car accident.