To Be Found ♧ Legacies

33 | super squad 2.0

While Landon dove right into his books, Celia found herself dazing at all the shelves. Sitting there she remembered why she didn't want to return to the library to begin with. Her eyelids fluttered shut anytime she sat still and she couldn't even spare a glance toward the front of the room Chills ran down her spine as she remembered all of the blood.

She stood abruptly, causing Landon to look up from his book. "I, uh, I'm gonna go find more of that magic stay awake potion."

Landon nodded. "Mind grabbing me some?"

Celia forced a smile. "Yeah, sure."

She stumbled out the door, cursing to herself as she did so. Smooth Celia. Just walking around was already getting her blood flowing and waking her up. She was happy her headache was gone as well. Her head was finally healing.

The Salvatore School was big, but yet the students, the community felt like family. She had her pack when she needed anything. She never felt alone. Yet, as she wandered the school's halls toward the kitchen, she felt empty. For the past five years, she had missed Maddie, sure, but the image of her frightened in Doris's arms tore open a wound Celia hadn't realized healed. A wound that was now gaping in her chest, and she couldn't take it.

The whole day she had kept herself busy, never thinking of it, pushing it down, worrying about out trivial issues, but now she was alone. And it ached.

Celia leaned on the wall, suddenly very aware of the tears that had begun streaming down her face. For the slightest moment, she ceded, collapsing onto the ground and pulling her knees to her chest. She just cried. God, she couldn't remember the last time she cried. And it felt so so good.

"Celia?"

Oh no. She buried her face in her knees. Now that the tears had started, she couldn't stop them.

"Hey, you good?" Raf bent down, placing his hand on her shoulder. Or at least she thought he bent down, she refused to look up to see.

Stifling a sniffle, she stole a glance up. The first thing she noticed was that he was sweaty. Why? She didn't know. It didn't matter, but he must have come from the gym. His brown eyes were wide with worry. No, no, no. He couldn't worry about her. He shouldn't worry about her. Quickly she took her sleeve and wiped away all the tears she could. "Yeah," she nodded as enthusiastically as she could, "just tired."

Raf sat next to her. Apparently he wasn't going to give up as easily as she had hoped. "Aren't we all?" There was a lightness to his voice. He was trying to make a joke. "I've never wanted to go to bed more in my life."

Celia forced a pained smile. She wondered what he saw? A pathetic girl who couldn't hold herself together in the midst of a crisis? A failed leader who shouldn't have had any power? She knew she looked like a mess. Ruffled hair. Red, puffy cheeks. Dark circles. Not exactly the I'm completely sane look.

"If you need to talk about anything-"

To her dismay, before he even finished his sentence, a sob erupted in her throat and she collapsed in a puddle of tears. He wrapped his arm around her as she cried into his shoulder. His hand ran up and down her back in an attempt of comfort. He didn't say anything more.

Celia hated this. They all had their own problems they were sorting out. She should pull herself together and help kill this thing. She should at least stop crying like a baby. Maddie was out there and yet here she was throwing a pity party for herself. Celia pulled away from him, wiping at her eyes once again.

"I'm sorry. I'm being ridiculous." She looked at her feet refusing to meet his gaze. Ridiculous was right. How could she look him in the eyes when she was being so selfish? People needed her. She couldn't let them down. She couldn't let Maddie down.