SHE DIDN’T MEAN TO BABBLE with any intention of getting sympathy or even reassurance. It tended to just… pour out like a waterfall once she got going. Piper was THOUGHTFUL, but she tended not to think too long and hard over her words once she was in a certain mood. Her emotions were haywire, and though she attempted to often smother or contain them, they had a habit of breaking apart in her hands. Eventually, she just r e l e n t e d and let them all come forth. Perhaps in some vague hope of getting the stress out, of finding some sort of relief.
It was rare to actually obtain such. Ultimately, she just didn’t know how to handle herself when the vulnerability set in. She got scared, nervous. Just wanted to say something because who knew what the other might think if she just remained quiet… Quiet was not something Piper handled well ( at least in terms of the room she existed in ). Even when focused with art, she liked some m u s i c or background noise to fill her head. When things got quiet, the thoughts got loud. A roar that took over her mind and reminded her of the ocean.
And remembering the ocean… Well. That much could be understood from her earlier display. At least now when her blue eyes turned seaward, the numbness had settled too strongly to allow more tears to spill like a saltwater spray down her cheeks.
The wind tickled at her, and she was finally able to focus her attention back to the present and grip her musings from the unleash about her parents. She loved them… and they loved her, right? They wanted what was best for her. They gave her ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. It was all to keep her quiet, and this was a fact she was heavily aware of ( and that Michael had also been so, but now he was no longer there to remind her ). Still, that didn’t stop her from seeking an alternative fact.
What child wanted to believe that their parents were ashamed of them?
When Lauren spoke, it sounded like something Michael had said once before. Still, she rebuked it initially, trying to convince herself otherwise. Keeping quiet even though those words thundered around her skull. Suppress… Hide. Not entirely… they just tried to hide the faults. They… used her otherwise.
She was their little token in some sense. They held her out and said they were s u p p o r t i n g a community like her. Donating to mental health. They did, but the amount by comparison to what they made was meager at its finest. They supported enough to convince the general public that they cared.
They just didn’t want to look… flawed.
Eyes were met by the other’s, and it visibly made Piper wince. Not because Lauren was wrong or judging… but she was right. Though that fact would haunt the brunette for years to come, most likely. She didn’t like to a d m i t it. But even the tutors and nannies knew. They were closer to being parental figures that the woman and man who gave her life were. Even if her mother and father cared, it was superficial ultimately. They wanted Piper happy and healthy, they would never wish ill on her.
But they also wanted someone who didn’t risk their image.
“They… like to show me off. Claim support of… people with… with depression like me. But as soon as the cameras are off…” she trailed. She didn’t have much more to add, the silence echoed with unspoken words. Daring herself to meet Lauren’s gaze again, she just sighed. “I have parents… but since my brother died. I don’t really have a f a m i l y… But you can’t say that to anyone! If mom and dad find out…”
Shoulders slumped. This girl would go back to Britain and it wouldn’t matter but. Still. Piper didn’t want to risk it.
“I’m almost old enough to… go to school and forget all this.”
There were those who would accuse Lauren of being cold, hard-hearted, uncaring of anyone except herself. Not without reason, perhaps, for that was certainly the impression she could give, especially around school. But those people had never seen the side of her that simply ached for those who, like her, had never known the parental love they ought to have.
And that heart broke a little more as she listened to Piper’s tale. At least her own father, useless to her though he was, never tried to hide the fact that he didn’t give the slightest damn about her. He didn’t care who knew that she was a burden he’d never wanted, and Lauren could at least appreciate his honesty. But this, this was so...
To pretend to love Piper when people were around, and then turn around and not care whenever they got the chance? It was wrong, wrong, WRONG on so many levels, Lauren felt sick to just hear it. She could hardly imagine how it must feel to have parents who put on an act of caring, while knowing all the time that it was fake, that it wasn’t real...
Worse than not knowing that love at all? To Lauren, it felt like it must be.
“I’m sorry-- I’m so sorry--”
The words spilled out without any effort being made to stop them. She was suddenly seeing this girl in a different light, a light that said she was just like she was, unwanted, unloved, and worse; that the only caring she knew just a sham to elicit sympathy from the media...
And those like her, in that sense, Lauren instinctively trusted. Sympathised with. Would do anything to protect.
Her hands had clenched into fists again; and she had half-risen from her seat, though she couldn’t remember when she’d actually made that movement, nor what she thought she’d been going to do if she had. The redhead forced herself to unclench, sitting again, her intense brown gaze never leaving Piper.
She forced herself not to let too much of her fresh anger at Piper’s parents spill into her voice as she spoke, kept her tone low.
“I’m not going to get you into trouble. But...”
She wasn’t sure what she was trying to say. Settled, rather than anything else, on an awkward confession.
“I know what it’s like. To have ‘family’ who don’t care.”
If it was Rachel, Lauren would have reached out with a reassuring touch. Having no idea whether Piper would appreciate such, she didn’t try; but she wanted to do something. To let the other girl know that she wasn’t alone.
