Elijah really wasn’t fond of speaking at the moment. And, thankfully, it didn’t seem that anyone wanted to speak much to him since the news came out in the first place. It was more people talking about him, really. Mostly, it was arguments. Some people – most people, in his opinion – were talking about how dangerous he was, how he was a loose cannon just waiting for the chance to explode on the next unwitting victim of his anger. They were making comparison stories, even; Laurent was still in a hospital bed, and what were the odds he would wake up, really? Loxias was still suffering from bruises from when the two of them traded blows, and if he was still with Aislinn, there could have been some kind of brain damage too, couldn’t there? Who would stay with a girl who had a reputation like that when there were girls like them around, after all? And what about Bridget; why was she staying with him, standing up for him still? Maybe it was battered wife syndrome, before she was a wife at all. That would make it all make sense, wouldn’t it? That seemed to be the popular opinion, that Elijah was an abusive loose cannon who would undoubtedly show his true colors soon enough. The others, the very quiet ones, were insistent that there had to be a reason, that a boy who was so stoic and seemed so nice couldn’t possibly be that violent without a reason. Loxias, for instance, was a bully and a blood purist. So surely, Elijah had a reason with Laurent just the same as he had with Loxias.
He was just tired of hearing it all now.
Which was why, after his talk with Chloe, he’d finally just given up and gone out to hide again. If even Chloe was angry with him – Chloe, his best friend who he’d so ruined things with – then surely everyone else would be as well before long. Hiding was evidently the better choice for now. The surprise had been in Bridget asking to come up and see him, really. He had thought… well. Elijah didn’t know what he’d thought, really. But he hadn’t thought she’d seek him out, that was for certain. And so, of course, when she asked to see him, he said yes immediately. It was Bridget, after all; he would never turn her away, even if he didn’t understand why she wanted to be around him right now. He had done something terrible, after all. And yet, there she was, coming into the tower where he’d curled himself up against the windowsill again with his forehead tilted against the glass. Containing himself to a corner was much easier, after all. Clearing his throat to draw her attention to where he’d shrunk himself down as much as he could manage, he offered something akin to a smile. “I’m here. Just… If you feel safe, could you lock the door? I don’t want anyone to come up here, especially since I think people are starting to figure out that this is where I’m hiding…”
Opening the door, Bridget couldn’t help but notice how empty the room was. There was something about it that was off putting but in a way also comforting. If Elijah had wanted peace and quiet, he was sure to have found it up here. Though with there being almost nothing in there, you’d think it’d be easier to find the boy. It wasn’t until he cleared his throat that Bridget saw him curled up. The tall built boy was now in a position were he looked like a mere child. It was heartbreaking for Bridget to see that. She already knew that he had felt bad about this whole thing, after all he always felt bad about stuff like this, but she never thought it would have taken him to a stage like this. Keeping a calm expression on her face, Bridget shook her head. “Of course I feel safe with you…” She sighed as she turned and switched the lock. Her fingers lingered there for a moment as she took a deep breath in and composed herself. Taking a step back, the girl turned so that she was facing him as she walked towards him. Once she was by the ends of his feet, she moved them slightly as she took a seat on the window sill across from him. Because of her small build, she could easily fold her legs across one another as she sat opposite of him. She didn’t dare take his eyes off of him in fear that he would take it the wrong way.
She knew that they were going to have to talk about what had happened. Bridget still didn’t know what was actually going on since she didn’t bother reading the article because she only wanted to hear it from Elijah and Elijah himself. Parts of her conversation with Lyn still replayed in her mind. She couldn’t believe that she would had thrown Elijah and his secret out in the public just to keep herself safe. How would Lyn had felt if Bridget outed her like she could have? It did’t matter now though, it was already done and they couldn’t change anything. Leaning forward, Bridget took Elijah’s hand in hers as she looked to him with a soft expression. She was curious as to what had happened, if what everything they were saying was true, but she wanted Elijah to tell her when he wanted to. She didn’t want to make things any harder then they already are for him. As selfish as it is, Bridget didn’t want to risk getting him upset with her and telling her to leave him forever. She couldn’t bare the thought of losing him. Her thumb graced the top of his hand as she slowly rocked it back and forth. “How are you doing love? Are you alright? You’re not hurt or anything, right?” Her voice had sounded more soothing then it has before, it sparked memories of her asking Elijah these same questions after his incident with Loxias. But just like then, she cared far too much for him to see him in a state like this. She’d do anything and everything to make sure that he would be okay again. “Do you want to talk about it?”
