Hey all! Here's another little ficlet :3 This is after Seth finds out Maeve is a proxy (This is my own little universe cause I'm not really far in the game yet tbh)
She hadn’t had a choice; not at that moment, maybe never at all, it would eventually have come out. But in that moment, it was either reveal herself as a proxy or Seth could have been stuck in that hollow. He could have been corrupted. She could have lost him forever. But the critical situation had left her no other option; fate had forced her hand. And now, sitting in her bedroom, a place that once held their fondest memories, it was all crashing down around her; she was losing him. The pain and betrayal in his eyes were clear as day, and he was struggling to look at her.
“How could you not tell me?!” He asked, voice hoarse from trying to control himself, to bite back the urge to yell even though the store downstairs was closed.
Maeve sat on the arm of her couch, her eyes red-rimmed and her shame plain as day. As Seth paced back and forth, running his fingers through his hair so much that she thought he might start pulling it out altogether.
“I-I couldn’t! Seth, it's not just my secret to tell!” Her voice was pleading for him to understand, to calm down, “I have my brother to think about, too. I couldn’t put Miles on the spot like that either! Besides, we can't risk getting arrested!”
Whirling around to stare at her, she could tell she said the wrong thing, “So you don’t trust me? Did you think after everything, EVERYTHING we’ve done, all the things we’ve been through, I would just turn around and turn you in?”
“N-No…Maybe…Seth, I know how important your job is to you. I didn’t want to put you in that position. I thought the less you knew, the better it would be for everyone. I didn’t want to put you in the middle of anything.”
“Well, I am in the middle now! God, Maeve, what do you expect me to think? You’ve been lying to me our whole relationship!” Dragging his hands down his face, he covered his eyes and shook his head, “I might be new to relationships, but I’m pretty sure honesty and communication are a big thing!”
“I haven’t lied to you, Seth! I just…didn’t tell you everything.” Looking down at her lap, ashamed of herself, she let out a soft sigh, “It was for your safety as much as ours…”
Groaning in frustration, Seth dropped his hands from his face, and his tail swayed slowly to a halt behind him. He stared at her for a long time, contemplating what he was about to say before speaking in a low, slow voice, “I can’t be with someone…who doesn’t trust me.”
Her gaze flew up to him at his words, as she leapt off from the arm of the sofa and moved towards him. She reached out her hands to gently take hold of his arms, but felt her heart painfully squeeze in her chest when he pulled away from her, “Seth, please, don’t say that! I do trust you, I swear!”
“Really? Because you kept a whole aspect of your life from me,” He said, taking a step back as he tried to rein in the growl that was creeping into his voice along with the hurt, “Something that puts me in a horrible fucking position.”
“I know, I know! I’m sorry!” She reached out again, panic rising in her voice, but this time he took a step towards her bedroom door.
“I don’t know if sorry is going to cut it here, Maeve…”
The shatter she felt in her chest was one of the most painful things she’d ever experienced, and finally tears began to slip from her eyes, “Seth, please…D-don’t leave…I love you!”
Reaching up, she cupped his face, and she saw him hesitate. She’d never said those words to him before. Turning his face slightly into the palm of her hand, his eyes closed, and he stood there in silence. It felt like forever before his eyes opened again, and he sighed, pulling away from her once again as he opened the bedroom door.
“I’m sorry, Evie…I need some time to think.”
Turning away from her, he slipped out of the room quickly, before she could grab him again. As he headed for the stairs, his heavy footsteps heading away from her sounded like thunder, the kind that threatened to bring her world crashing down around her.
“Seth!” Maeve called after him desperately, moving to follow him down the stairs, but as she reached the store at the bottom, he was already out the door, “Seth!”
Just as she let go of the stairway railing, she collapsed to her knees as tears flowed freely down her face. He was gone…she’d lost him. Staring at the door in a dreaded silence, not wanting to believe what had just happened.
At that moment, Miles stepped out of the back room with a frown on his face, seeing his sister on the floor. He had heard most of that argument. “Maeve…” The older brother sighed softly. He knelt next to his sister in hopes of getting her back to her feet, but the second she felt arms around her, she let out a guttural cry of despair.
Falling completely against her brother, she sobbed into his chest, and he just sat there and held her. He’d never seen her in such pain before, and he felt his own heart breaking for her as she soaked his shirt with her tears.
They sat there for what felt like eternity, and he held her until her sobs died down into quiet sniffles. He slowly shifted to pick her up, carefully maneuvering to stand up so he could carry her up the stairs. She was practically asleep, having cried herself into a state of exhaustion by the time he set her in her bed, and with a sigh, he left her there to rest but kept her door open a crack so he could listen if she needed him.
Heading back downstairs, Miles locked up the shop once again and sighed, resting his head against the doorframe. He had no idea how to deal with a heartbroken girl…
