{ winnie }:
There was one person Winnie wanted to attend the wedding reception with, and since she couldn’t she’d settled for dragging Blaise with her. She’d stuck with him for a little, before he’d managed to find his own friends and she’d bumped into Alina. Winnie was happy to spend time with the other – even if it was just as friends for the moment. Until the other excused herself, causing Winnie to become concerned.
It didn’t take her long to follow after the other, slipping into bathroom she knew Alina would be in. At the sight of the other girl, Winnie’s eyes widened – she wasn’t sure what shocked her more, the sight of the bandages or that Alina was practically half dressed in front of her. She quickly recovered though, and Winnie shook her head. “Alina, I figured you had more injuries that what you were letting on,” She admitted, taking a cautious step towards the other. “You know that doesn’t change my opinion of you, right?”
“Did you expect me to show you all the injuries,” she snapped, keeping her gaze adverted. Alina knew she shouldn’t have been angry with Winnie, she was just checking in on her, but there was a deep embarrassment to getting caught like this--so unkempt and vulnerable. Taking a shaky breath, she hung her head, trying to remind herself that she didn’t need to get defensive just because of the ingrained discomfort of appearing weak to others. “I’m sorry,” Alina said softly. Every nerve in her body wanted her to storm out or yell at the other to leave, but Winnie had a way of keeping her calm and allowing her time to find her words.
“I-I--” Her voice wavered as she tried to speak again, causing her to shift on her feet and wince as she moved her side too much. “I don’t like needing help, Winnie.” She finally looked up. With her eyebrows pinched together, and slight discomfort coloring her features, she leaned back against the sink. “My mother always told me that I was weak if I couldn’t do things on my own. And that showing weakness was...” She trailed off, closing her eyes as she shook her head. All this and more--she didn’t want Winnie seeing everything her cousin had done, she didn’t need that. “I didn’t want to worry you.”












