TW: contains mentions of past abuse, molestation, alcoholism. caution advised.
She didn't know how to feel. A few days, she spilt her guts out to a licensed therapist.
"I don't know what the fuck i'm doing."
"That's not true."
She looked up to see Thomas in the doorway.
"Tommy!"
She stumbled up to him, throwing her arms around him.
"Where have you been?"
"Training, as they say." He said warily.
"How have things been over here?"
"Same old shit."
"I heard you've been going to required therapy."
"Yeah."
"How's that been going?"
"Good, I guess."
"You want to go have some lunch together?"
"Sure."
Thomas's face lit up, beginning to stand, but she pulls him back down.
He looks at her in confusion.
"Iz?"
"There are things I haven't told you. A lot, actually. And I wasn't ready to tell you then. But now I am. And I want you to know."
"You don't have to."
"I know. But I need to."
Thomas nods, sitting down next to her.
"Do you remember when dad left?"
"I do."
"It's my fault. I'm the reason he left."
"No, it's not. How could you possibly think that?"
"But it was."
"I found out he was cheating on mom, with a woman from his job. And- And I told mom. And she got upset, and confronted him, and he left because of me."
"Izzy."
"He told me I was a mistake. That if he'd had it his way, I would've never been born."
Thomas sits there, silently.
"The last thing he said to me was that I was on my own."
"When I was nine, mom had a man over. An old family friend I suppose."
Thomas's eyes widened, not liking the direction this was headed.
"He stayed that night. And he came into my room, in the middle of the night. And he molested me."
"I never told anyone until now. Because I knew it would change everything. That no one would ever look at me the same."
"Izzy. It's not your fault."
"It is."
"It's not. What he did to you, I would kill him for it, if I ever found him."
"This doesn't change anything. You're still my sister. You're my family, Iz. Nothing could ever change that."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course. It doesn't matter. Because you are still the same person I knew."
"The one that could kick my ass in clue, and was always better at reading then I was."
"You're still that little girl I used to read to. You're still her, whether you believe or not."
"I'm not."
"Maybe. But it doesn't matter, not to me."
"Why not?"
"Because I love you, Iz. If you died, I wouldn't know what to do with myself."
"Same."
"Really? Same? That's what you say?"
"It's true."
"I know."
"You are the most important person in my life. It wouldn't be complete without you."
Izzy chuckles, but it turns into a sob.
Thomas tugs her over into his arms, mumbling consoling words into her hair.
He can feel her trembling still, so he knows to stay. He always stays.
"Sometimes I think he was right."
"Who?"
"Dad. About me being a mistake."
Thomas's eyes well up, at the knowledge his sister believing this.
"You're not a mistake. You never have been, and you never will be."
"You should never apologize for being you."
"That was super corny, I hope you know that."
"I figured, but it doesn't change the fact that it's true."
They sit there for a while, until both of their stomachs growl in hunger.
"You up for some food?"
"Yeah."
"Cmon'."
Thomas pulls her up, wiping tear tracks off her face.
He then slings an arm over her shoulder, as they head off to the cafeteria.
"Hey, Iz. You okay?" Thalia inquires.
"Yeah."
Thalia turns to look at Thomas.
"Thomas."
"Thalia."
He nods, scurrying away to his friends.
He looks back to see Thalia leading his sister to sit down at their table.
"Hey. Everything okay, Thomas?"
Thomas shrugs. Minho sits next to him, setting a hand in his shoulder.
"What's wrong?"
"We just talked about things. Our parents. Our childhood. All the shit that's happened to us."
Minho remains silent, waiting for him to go on.
"Our dad... he wasn't good. Pretty shitty honestly. He left us when we were nine. He was seeing another woman he worked with, while he was still with our mom."
"He was a violent drunk. He was abusive and cruel. Izzy got it worse then me though."
"I'm sorry, Thomas." Minho comforted.
"Nothing to be sorry for. It was a long time ago."
"Besides, he's as good as dead to me."
Minho nods, squeezing Thomas's shoulder before getting up.
Newt looks at him questioningly, as he gestured for him to talk to Thomas.
"Tommy? Everything alright?"
"Maybe. I don't really know."
Newt sits next to him, shoulders touching.
"I just- God, I hate myself so much. I was gone so much, I was barely at home, and i- I couldn't protect her. I should've been there."
"It's not your fault, Thomas. You couldn't have known."
"But I did. Our dad was violent towards both of us. And I still left."
"You were being hurt too, Thomas. She knows that."
"Yeah. I still hate myself for it."
Newt doesn't say anything just grasps his shoulder, consoling him.
"Thomas. Time to go back."
He glances at his friends, and his sister, giving all of them an apologetic look as he's lead out the door.
"Attention all, your training will begin in a few months. You will be trained in multiple areas. That is all the information we have for the moment."
There's hushed whispers around the room, rumors of what's to come.
"Hey, you with me?"
"What?"
"You seemed, I dunno, not here."
"No, I'm good. Just zoned out for a second."
"If you say so."
"I'm fine, Thal."
"Okay, but just know you can tell me if you're not."
"I'm fine."
𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘮𝘦. She thinks, nervously.
She hopes she's just paranoid.
𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙽𝙲𝙴'𝚂 𝚂𝚈𝙿𝙽𝙾𝚂𝙸𝚂
I was struggling to finish the end of this one because I didn't know what else to write 🫶