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Any hope Maria held that she might be left alone fled when her new compartment door creaked open no matter how much she wished it wouldn't. She kept her eyes trained at the window, concentrating on the view as they sat down across from her. It wasn't hard to miss the flaming red hair in her peripheral vision.
"What do you want, Fred?" Maria sighed in defeat, no longer having the energy or motivation to fight anymore.
"I just want to make sure you're alright," Fred shifted uncomfortably in his seat as Maria refused to look at him, making him unsure if he was doing the right thing.
"I'm fine," Maria's voice was clipped and tense, enough for Fred to know she was anything but fine.
"You may not have felt anything but something happened," Fred's words finally prompted Maria to tear her gaze away from the window as her eyes narrowed at the redhead.
"I saw your face, Maria," Fred told her softly, watching the way her body tensed at his words.
"Why do you care?" Maria avoided the real issue at hand as she crossed her arms over her chest defensively.
"Bloody hell," Fred groaned as he leaned back in his seat, frustrated with how oblivious Maria was. "Because I just do, okay? Is that soo hard to believe?"
"Yes, because everyone who ever cares about me ends up dead!" Maria exclaimed as she suddenly stood onto her feet and made a move to leave.
Fred stopped her, reaching out to grab her gloved hand. Maria stopped as she turned back to face him, but she didn't pull away from his grasp. She seemed frozen instead as Fred quickly realized what he had done.
"Sorry, I- uh," Fred mumbled as he released his grip on her hand.
Maria stared down at her hand, which now hung loosely on her side as she felt a sudden emptiness inside of her. Glancing back up, her eyes met Fred's chocolate brown ones as he waited for her to freak. Instead, Maria released a tired sigh as she made her way back to her seat, sinking into the soft cushions.
"You don't understand what it's like," Maria's soft voice filled the compartment, her defeat and tiredness seeping through every word. "To see the death of everyone you love, knowing there's nothing you can do. I can see ghosts around every corner. Some of them are nice, others like to torment me. I can never go a single day without it. I wish I could but I can't. It haunts me in my dreams, when I'm awake, every single second of every day. And now I can hear their screams."
"Is that what you heard?" Fred asked slowly, afraid of pushing too far. "Screaming?"
"Sometimes, I wish I would've stayed dead," Maria muttered instead of answering, too far in her own head to hear anything from the outside world.
"You don't mean that," Fred responded, but even his voice was filled with doubt. He couldn't imagine living through everything Maria had and staying completely sane. He was already surprised by how well Maria seemed to be handling it but he was slowly realizing deep down, Maria wasn't okay.
"I thought it was over," Maria sighed, causing Fred's heart to tighten in his chest at her words. "I truly did. I should've known I would just keep coming back to life."
Fred found himself furrowing his eyebrows at her words, slightly confused by the way she phrased them.
"Maria," Fred hesitated, hoping he wasn't going too far. "How many times have you died?"
Maria finally seemed to be pulled from her trance as her eyes darted to Fred and her face slightly fell when she realized what she had done. She hastily straightened in her seat and cleared her throat, suddenly feeling very awkward. Not knowing what to say, they both remained silent for several moments until Maria finally found a way to escape her confession.
"We're here," Maria stated as the train came to a slow stop.
Fred nodded as he sunk into his seat, knowing he wouldn't be getting anything else from Maria. He was surprised by how much she had told him and he assumed she would go back to ignoring him again as she had for the past month.
Maria made her way to the compartment door, sliding the door open before turning back around. Fred remained sitting in his seat and Maria knew why. He wasn't sure she wanted him to come with her.
"Well?" Maria questioned as she stared back at Fred expectantly, hoping she wouldn't regret her decision. "Are you coming or not?"
Those words were all Fred needed to give him hope that maybe he was finally getting somewhere with Maria.
