Catching Up PV Aldor Finished

Rose blushed at his compliment. She wasn't always right. She just tended to be able to put certain things into perspective. Some things, like the problems of her own life, were not things she was able to put into perspective for herself. But other people's problems, other people's worries, if she could take a calm second to weigh it, she could put it all in perspective as she viewed it. She could gauge if things were being overthought or overreacted to. It was a unique and strange skill of hers, something that most people her age weren't able to do very well. And it was definitely strange that she couldn't see her own predicaments the same way she saw other people's.

"I'm not always right," she murmured bashfully, though she appreciated him complimenting her like that. "But- thank you."

Intrigued by his explanation of his journal, Rose listened intently to him. "That's so cool, Aldor," she said, a genuine smile on her face. That was not something that happened very often in the past few days, to be honest. But thinking of him writing into that journal, putting his thoughts and stories in that journal- it made Rose feel happy to even be in its presence, even though that sounds weird to say.

Rose had a couple of journals of her own. She mostly wrote down deep into her thoughts in her diary-type journal, and did write some very short scenes and some poetry in her writing journal. She trusted those journals with her deepest secrets and darkest thoughts, and she didn't know where she would be without being able to explain some of the things out that she wouldn't really be able to fully explain out loud. She poured her heart into those journals by her thoughts and her writing. She hadn't written any long stories, just short scenes in those notebooks.

She nodded as he trailed off, not talking any more. "That's brilliant, Aldor. I bet those pieces are absolutely amazing," she said, almost in awe. "Some other time, I would love to read some of it."

Rose smiled at him. She was glad he felt like he could trust her with his writing. Did he do that with anyone else? She didn't know, but being the one he trusted, being the one he found the most trustworthy. Then Aldor spoke up and Rose listened as he thanked her for coming and told her he was glad to know her. Little did he know, that those two sentences had just been the absolute best part of her day so far. Rose tried so hard to support everyone and make them know they were worth it- worth her time and her effort and everything. She really did try hard to preserve the friendships and relationships that she had. Because Aldor was worth it. She wanted him to stay in her life forever and ever and ever and for them to never stop being friends, supporting each other, finally feeling like they could trust each other. "Thank you. I- that means so much to me Aldor, thank you so much for telling me that."

It was probably cliche to reciprocate it, but Rose just had to tell him the truth as it came to her mind. "Thank you for coming, too. I'm really grateful for you too. I've been having a rough time and kind of have been down, letting my thoughts and worry just control me. It's nice to have someone who will treat me like I'm worth something and I'm doing something right," she said.

Wow. Once again, little did Aldor know that he just opened Rose up. It was really hard to do that. Rose hated being vulnerable with other people, telling them her feelings. Because she was used to being the one who supported other people, not it being a mutual thing where they support each other. And with her trust issues that she had, trusting anybody was hard. But Aldor wasn't just anybody. He was one of her closest friends and she cared about him. Even better, she knew he cared about her. That was the best thought to have, to be honest. That they were there for each other.

Aldor sure was something special. He made Rose feel better and then opened her up, all within a couple of seconds.

She was quiet for a moment, letting Aldor talk if he wanted.

The topic of conversation switched to Rose now. Aldor asked about how her family and relationships had been doing. Rose did think about dodging his question. Talking about how her and Eyre were doing well. Talking about her friends and how they were doing well. Talking about everything but her family. Everything but her fight with her mother. Oh, she was very tempted to just talk casually about her life, leaving out the important things.

Plus, she had to tell somebody sometime, right?

"Eyre and I are doing well- really well. Um, as for my family..." This was it, the last chance to lie to one of her best friends' face and tell him she was fine, her family was fine. They weren't falling apart. "My mom got engaged over the break, actually." She told him. There. It felt good to get it off her chest, but it felt horrible to acknowledge it. "I didn't even know she was dating anyone until she invited him and his children over. They're getting married in the summer. This summer. It was a big shock- we... we didn't know she was ready for all that, and now I know why she was... why she was neglecting my little sister at home. It was... it was a lot, and I..." she looked a little ashamed of what she was going to say next. Usually Aldor never saw her angry at all, and she didn't want to scare him off with this new part of her. "We got into a fight. An argument. I said some things that were extreme. I've been ignoring her owls and her in general." She shook her head, tucking an amber curl behind her ear. "I was just so angry at her. Angry that she wouldn't tell us. Angry that she was moving on from my dad. Angry that she had chosen to spend time with some stupid guy instead of with my little sister." The curl she had just pulled back fell back into her face again.

She looked back up at Aldor, and though he wouldn't be able to see it on her face or expression, a little bit of panic rose up in her. Why had she just dumped all that on him? That wasn't fair to him at all. But he had told her about his problems, and he had said he was there for her. "I'm pretty sure my whole family is falling apart, to be honest," she admitted, tracing her index fingers under her eyes once. "But um-" she cleared her throat. "I- I'm okay, though. Thanks for asking."

There was plenty enough time for Aldor to say something if he wanted to, and if he did, she would listen. If not, she would try to carry on the conversation. "So, how are things with your family? Your aunt and your parents and stuff. Have you heard from them again?"

Rose smiled again- that gentle and grateful smile. "Thank you, I appreciate that."

Oh, his brother had been writing to him? "Really? That's amazing," she murmured. She knew his parents sucked and because of them not really caring about him. She hadn't ever been sure why, but her best guess had been because he was muggle-born and that was weird or something, but that was just ridiculous. All parents loved their children, right? Even if they're different, right? Right? But the thing was, Aldor's parents had three other kids. It wasn't like he was their only child. They could try again with their other children. Just thinking about that possibility was horrible. Horrible to think about. Rose felt lucky- her mother had always supported her in being magical, and if she hadn't been, her mother would support her then, too. Of course, she could be wrong and that couldn't be the reason that his parents sucked at their natural job to take care of Aldor.

He offered to show her some of the pictures that his brother had sent her. She nodded- of course she did. "Yeah, I would love to see them." She scooted a little closer to him, though just barely. Maybe things were getting better through his relationship with his family? Se sure hoped so.

She waited while Aldor seemed to catch up with his thoughts, and then took the pictures from him as he handed them to her. "They look a lot like you," Rose murmured thoughtfully. Seeing them, she had a better vision of how they looked when he talked about them. "Thank you," she said, handing them back to him. "Cara is so adorable. Have you met her?" She thought she had briefly been told that he hadn't ever met Cara, his little sister, but she couldn't be sure.

He then started to ask her a strange question, as if he was building up to something. He asked her if sometimes she tried to believe that even the most evil-seeming people had some good in them. Rose nodded. She did, often. She tried her best to believe that there was no such thing as a bad person- just bad choices, bad habits, and bad mindsets. Because every person had feelings and thoughts that were just as valid as her own. Nobody could be truly evil, right? It was good to know that Aldor tried to think the same.

Then Rose was offered to be told the truth about Aldor's parents. She had wanted to know this for a while now, but she didn't want to push him. If he felt like now was the time to tell someone, she was here. She listened as he told her about his parents- the whole story. So it was his mom that had freaked out when he showed signs of being a wizard, and his dad was a squib.

Rose couldn't imagine being threatened to be given away to an orphanage- that was crazy. Her mother could be furious and disappointed in her, but she would always, always want her. She wouldn't ever want Rose out of her life. That was so sad to think about.

Now she knew why he had asked the question. It linked directly to his mother.

Most of the time, parents rocked. Sometimes, like in Aldor's case- they sucked. They forgot that it was their job to nurture and support their children, no matter what. She wished she could stomp right up to them and knock some sense into them. Maybe that's why Aldor was kind of scared of his aunt getting in a relationship? Maybe he thought that she would end up exactly like his mother?

Aldor was tearing up, which was never a sight she wanted to see. Rose reached forward and placed her hand on his knee in comfort. "I'm so sorry, Aldor. That's horrible. I don't know what kind of person would do that, but she didn't deserve you anyway." She knew he didn't like much physical touch, so she made sure not to keep in on there too long. She took her hand off of his knee at that point, just because she didn't want to overwhelm him with the physical touch. "Thank you so much for telling me. It... it really means a lot to me that you trust me with that." She then made a point to look him in the eye as she said, "Aldor, you know that there's nothing- nothing that could ever chase me away from you. You know that, right? I'll always be here for you. I'll always stay by your side." Rose knew it was sappy, but Aldor hadn't cared about sappiness before, had he? She could just be herself with him.