Post by tobias on Aug 8, 2021 18:20:30 GMT
continued from archive
Tobias nearly cut her off, wanting to rip those cruel arguments straight out of her mouth and her mind. How dare that snake have turned the bright, shining thing that Lauren had been at seventeen into a woman who thought she was worse than garbage? What he had done was worse than murder, in Tobias's mind. It took more self-control than he had used in quite some time to keep his mouth shut and let her get it all out into the air. His face was impassive, though his upper lip twitched slightly as he held back the disgust that roiled like tar in his stomach.
"What's past is past, Lauren. You cannot change it. All of us have done things we regret," him more than others, perhaps. He'd had plenty of time to make his mistakes, after all. "What we can do now, however, is make sure that the people Starkwood took advantage of are not smothered by his shadow. That starts with you."
Her whole body started to shake with the force of her sobs, and he sighed tersely. This was not going well. How was he supposed to undo a decade of manipulation and gaslighting in five minutes? He didn't want her to suffer like this; she deserved so much better. But even with all his power, all his magic, he was useless when faced with a crying woman. He couldn't touch her past. He couldn't go back and slap some sense into his previous self, make him see the obvious signs. All he could do now was be there.
"Hush, love. You're not alone in this," he muttered, raising his free hand to gently pet her hair, trying to soothe her. It didn't feel like enough. With a dull grunt, he sat fully on the floor next to her and dragged her over into his arms, pushing her head to rest against his chest as he folded long arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head. "Cry if you must, but I refuse to listen to such doomsday predictions. We won't allow all that to come to fruition. We'll clean up this mess as best we can. But there's nothing you need to do at this very moment than trust me. Just trust in me."
Tobias nearly cut her off, wanting to rip those cruel arguments straight out of her mouth and her mind. How dare that snake have turned the bright, shining thing that Lauren had been at seventeen into a woman who thought she was worse than garbage? What he had done was worse than murder, in Tobias's mind. It took more self-control than he had used in quite some time to keep his mouth shut and let her get it all out into the air. His face was impassive, though his upper lip twitched slightly as he held back the disgust that roiled like tar in his stomach.
"What's past is past, Lauren. You cannot change it. All of us have done things we regret," him more than others, perhaps. He'd had plenty of time to make his mistakes, after all. "What we can do now, however, is make sure that the people Starkwood took advantage of are not smothered by his shadow. That starts with you."
Her whole body started to shake with the force of her sobs, and he sighed tersely. This was not going well. How was he supposed to undo a decade of manipulation and gaslighting in five minutes? He didn't want her to suffer like this; she deserved so much better. But even with all his power, all his magic, he was useless when faced with a crying woman. He couldn't touch her past. He couldn't go back and slap some sense into his previous self, make him see the obvious signs. All he could do now was be there.
"Hush, love. You're not alone in this," he muttered, raising his free hand to gently pet her hair, trying to soothe her. It didn't feel like enough. With a dull grunt, he sat fully on the floor next to her and dragged her over into his arms, pushing her head to rest against his chest as he folded long arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head. "Cry if you must, but I refuse to listen to such doomsday predictions. We won't allow all that to come to fruition. We'll clean up this mess as best we can. But there's nothing you need to do at this very moment than trust me. Just trust in me."