Falling PV Simon Corbin Closed

It was a day before the holidays- the time where Simon could finally kick back, relax, and be himself with just his mom and friends. His mom had been sending him letters nonstop, talking about how good she decorated and how this holiday would be better than the last, blah, blah. And her truckloads of cookies, of course.
Simon may have loved Christmas, but even after three years it didn't feel right celebrating without his dad. He was always so happy- singing, laughing, setting up the tree.
But it wasn't like that for the last three years, and it would not be like that ever again. They would always have only two piles of presents under the tree. No more laughter or singing.
Simon may have convinced himself that he would get used to it, but he didn't really believe that. But that wasn't what had brought him up here today.
Simon had sent his friend Bruno some letters about how upset he was about his dad not being there, but he never received a response from him.
And now that he climbed the stairs leading up to the Astronomy tower, he realized that he had never responded since the start of the year, and even then he gave a short response that didn't seem like it then, but now it seemed like he just didn't care.
What kind of person would do that to someone? Leave them for so long even when they needed you. He had been so understanding about his problems, and now that he just wanted some comfort, he would ignore him? That was a dick move.
But he didn't need him, did he? He could make friends here. He didn't need stupid Bruno.
He wrapped his cloak around him and stormed up to the top of the tower. He shivered and saw another student that he'd seen before in his dorms. He didn't know her name, though.
He sat down next to her and buried his head in his lap and closed his eyes, not really caring at this point. "I hate stupid Bruno," he mumbled, quietly, then lifting his head. "Don't you hate when people you think you know just act so mean out of nowhere? Like, do those people know something called communication?" He waved his arms around dramatically and wildly and got ready to rant some more when he saw her face. The poor girl looked so sad, and he frowned. He considered asking her if she was alright, but she obviously wasn't, and it was annoying to ask people that when they clearly weren't okay (as that was what happened a lot when his dad died)
Instead, he looked at her and said in a soft voice, "Um, do you want to talk about it?" Simon knew he wanted someone to ask him that. "Or just want to relax?" He patted her shoulder a bit, but then pulled away.

Interacting: @Simon Corbin ☽ ➶ ☾ Mentioning: --

Her eyes glistened with unshed tears as thoughts whirled around in her head. They were invading her every moment. While awake, she couldn't think of anything but the ordeal, and while asleep she dreamt about the moment repeatedly like a broken record. Anyone who looked close enough would surely be able to see the hurt expression that haunted her features these days. Lizzy had never thought that the person she was the closest to would be the one to hurt her the worst, but here she was.

For weeks after coming to the school, she had been homesick, wondering what he was doing without her. Now she knew he was just as broken as she had been. The days when she had missed him the most, she had written him soulful letters describing her adventures and how much she wished he were with her. Now she knew as he wrote back, he had been plotting his revenge. When she had finally come home, she had wondered why he had not been there to greet her. Now she knew that he had been waiting for her to come to him, to tell her what he was about to do to get even.

Everything had been set up perfectly. The plan he had thought up had been executed without a single flaw. Exactly as he had wanted, her spirit had been crushed into a tiny, little ball. As the stars shone above, one seemed to float down to rest on her palm. And then another flew down to join the first. Snow. It was snowing. It fell softly down, flakes of white nestling in her hair and on her face. The sky was crying her unshed tears.

Someone sat down next to her suddenly, burying their head in their lap. They muttered something into their lap, and then asked her something about communication? Lizzy's head was still trying to block everything out. She gently forced herself to focus though, something was clearly upsetting this boy. If she couldn't do anything about her current situation, perhaps there was something she could do about their's.

The next words out of the boy's mouth though, were, "Um, do you want to talk about it?" She looked at him, debating whether to talk or not. Her head was screaming at her to block out everything and retreat back into her shell. She had done well enough with detaching herself from reality these past few days, why would she stop just because this kid had asked her about it?

Deciding firmly that she would not talk about it she said, "You hate stupid Bruno, and I hate stupid Ben." Lizzy was surprised to hear the words that came out of her mouth. What part of 'no' did her words not understand?

As he was ranting angrily, he realized that no matter what he said, nothing was going to change Bruno's mind. Obviously he made his choice, and it was not going to be his best friends. Why? Because he was a wizard? Why should it make any difference to him? It never made any difference before. Simon's voice faltered.
Well, this was not what he expected when he came up here. He wanted to come up here to scream at the moon and curse out Bruno for leaving him.
Instead, he was comforting a girl who he barely even knew, which was slightly out of character for Simon. But he couldn't just leave her there. She looked so sad and if someone just did that to him that would just be so hurtful.
"You hate stupid Bruno, and I hate stupid Ben."
Simon looked up at her, and felt his eyes well up with tears randomly, and bowed his head a bit. He shook his head, talking quietly. "Um...no, i uh, lied. I don't hate him. I want to... but i can't. He's my best friend, i don't..." He stopped his sentence short, then looked at her and asked her, "Do you actually hate him? Ben?"
Simon closed his eyes, listening for an answer, if any. He opened his eyes and asked him, "If you don't mind me asking, what did he do? Were you two close? I sure know i was close to Bruno. Emphasis on was, and to be honest i..." Once again, he stopped himself before he could finish his sentence and say what he was thinking- 'and to be honest, i understand'.
'I understand?' That wasn't true. He didn't. He did not understand why someone would just ghost him out of nowhere. He had lots of good traits.
He heard a voice in the back of his mind whisper, "Like what?" and Simon shook his head again, waving off the thought.

Interacting: @Simon Corbin ☽ ➶ ☾ Mentioning: --

Still mentally kicking herself for saying anything about Ben, she looked at the boy sitting across from her. She wished they would just go away and leave her to mope in her misery as she had been doing for days. If they were going to be the one who finally made her open up, then she would want to stay as far away from them as humanly possible.

Lizzy was angry at them, herself, the whole world. She knew it was not a good idea to have so much anger bubbling up within her, but she couldn't help it. Ben had been her best friend since, well, forever, and now was she expected to forget all the happy memories just because he wanted her to? The best course of action would be to try and understand his hatred and forgive it, so that the siblings wouldn't grow any farther apart, but the rationality Lizzy had once had was nothing more than a spot in the distance now.

Ben was jealous because she was a witch, hated her for leaving him, and angry at some phantom sister that he thought wanted him to be unhappy. Had becoming a witch caused a prejudice to start? No. She had always been a witch, and she had made the conscious choice to come here, because it was a dream come true to her. Just because some may not be happy with what she was, did not mean she shouldn't be that. If anything it made her want to be a witch even more, just to irritate him.

Lizzy had let her thoughts get on an out of control rant. Looking at the boy, she saw tears in their eyes. She wondered what had happened with them and this Bruno. Whatever it was seemed to have affected them in a serious way. They started to stutter that they didn't really hate Bruno. "Yes! Okay? I do hate Ben," she burst out, her eyes filling with tears once more.

"Were we close? He was, I mean, is, my brother." As she spoke, she felt a tear slide down her face slowly. "It's complicated I guess," she said after a pause. "He's my older brother, and so when I went to Hogwarts, we both knew he was never going to come with me. I guess he felt betrayed by me, and kept saying how I left him. When I came home for holiday break, he--" she broke off. "He told me he was leaving me like I left him. He's probably in New York by now." He hadn't even said goodbye to her, when she had woken up the morning after their fight, he was just gone.

Simon was now aware that he probably sounded like a crybaby. She didn't even know what the issue was. He wiped his eyes, scolding himself for being such a baby. "Sorry," he sniffed, his cheeks wet. "I'm sorry."
He shouldn't have brought Bruno up at all. It always put him in a bad mood. He should have just comforted the girl and been on his way. Now he was caught crying in public by this random girl.
"Yes! Okay? I do hate Ben," the girl blurted out, and Simon was a bit surprised at her voice. He wanted to comfort her, but he had no idea if she even liked being comforted, so he didn't. He listened.

"Were we close? He was, I mean, is, my brother." Simon noticed she was crying a bit as she talked about what her brother did. He took out a tissue to give to her.
"-When I came home for holiday break, he--he told me he was leaving me like I left him. He's probably in New York by now."
Simon almost gasped. That... was so unnecessarily petty. "Oh my... why though? Hogwarts isn't a choice. I understand feeling lonely but that?" He felt angry on her behalf. "That's a terrible thing to do to someone. Did your parents allow this? It's a huge life decision. "
He took a breath, trying to cool his head. "He doesn't deserve to be lonely... but neither do you."
Simon held out his arms for a hug (if she wanted one).



[center]sorry for the short post

Interacting: @Simon Corbin ☽ ➶ ☾ Mentioning: --

Gone, just like that. Lizzy was still hung up over her last thoughts. Why hadn't he said goodbye at least? It was a question that had crossed her mind so many times over the last few days. Was it because he was too much of a coward to look her in the eyes and say those words? Knowing that it would be the last time he saw her for a long time. Would he have even been able to go through with it if he had tried to say goodbye?

It was no use dwelling on the past, the things that had already been done were done, and yet it was all Lizzy could do to dwell on the past events. Turning her attention back to the now crying Gryffindor in front of her, she said softly, "You don't have to be sorry for having feelings. Everyone has them, some just are better at hiding them than others."

She continued on, "I- Hogwarts wasn't a choice for me, but it could've been. I know a boy who quit going to Hogwarts to resume his studies in the muggle world. But like I said, it was never a choice for me. This, everything about this, is what I've always wanted. Ben- he knew that and yet he still hates my guts."

Why though? Why did he have to hate her for following her dreams? "My parents said they were supporting him because he had his heart crushed by me already. Apparently he really played up the sad, broken boy card on Mum and Dad."

"He doesn't deserve to be lonely... but neither do you." They held their arms out for a hug. She liked them. They didn't ask if she was okay, a question she hated, they just listened and occasionally asked questions to understand better. Lizzy leaned in, hugging them back. "Thank you, but what about you? What happened with Bruno?" she whispered into their shoulder.

It's all good!

Simon gulped, not knowing what to say. He never cried in front of anyone except Bruno, and usually his response was... less than sympathetic. He sniffed again and looked up at the girl. He wasn’t quite used to this.

Simon listened to her talk about how much she wanted to go here. Simon nodded, even though he wasn’t as enthusiastic when he first came.
Why? he thought as he listened to her explain her story. This all just seemed so unnecessary to Simon. What was the point of getting mad at someone following their dreams? “Did..did he give a reason why he did this?” Simon asked-he must have had a reason, no matter how dumb it was. Was her brother just trying to hurt the Gryffindor girl?

Simon clenched his fists. His mother would never fall for that. She would probably sit them both down and force them to talk with one another about it because ‘We are NOT making drastic decisions on a whim. We have to think it through.’ But apparently that wasn’t a common way to think.
“Did they actually say that? Are they kidding?” Simon rubbed his forehead.

Simon melted into her embrace and closed his eyes. "We... were friends for almost six years, which is a long time for people who aren't in the same family. We never kept secrets from each other because we knew that we could trust each other. But one day, he just decided to stop talking to me... I sent some cookies to him but i'm not sure if he'll even eat them. I miss him, y'know? Especally now." Simon took a deep breath. "My dad... he kind of... uh...died. And Christmas has been hard. I just wanted someone to talk to, but apparently that was too much for Bruno." he spat, feeling hot tears spring to his eyes. "And it might not seem like a big deal, but it is to me-" Simon's voice cracked, and he could not finish, so he settled on watching his tears drip onto the floor.

Interacting: @Simon Corbin ☽ ➶ ☾ Mentioning: --

When she was done talking about what had happened, explaining the full, or most of the full story to them, they asked if Ben had a reason for leaving. Her heart said yes, trying to defend him, but there was a nagging little voice in the back of her head asking if he really had a reason. Was there a reason, a true reason, behind his absence? "I-he said he was leaving because I left him," she repeated to them. "He told me he had dreams too, dreams he wanted to fulfill without me." Even though we always said we'd go to America together, she thought.

It was mildly funny that Lizzy was still trying to defend Ben, even now. Even when he had left her for really no good reason. "Yeah, they said that. Mum wanted us to talk about it first. She probably thought we'd hug and make up or something. She would rather us talk it out, but she made it quite clear that she supported Ben's decision once we had clearly not resolved anything." She wished her mother would have seen the reasoning behind Lizzy's anger at letting Ben go so willingly. Mum was always trying to do what she thought was best for the family, but it wasn't always what would make everyone happy.

They hugged her back, a friend comforting a friend. Even though they hadn't known each other that long, Lizzy was grateful for them comforting and listening to her when she needed it. That's when they started to talk about what was bothering them, and Lizzy listened as they had listened to her.

So, if she understood correctly, this Bruno and the person sitting beside her had been friends for a long time, and then Bruno just stopped talking to them? Even after their dad died? They broke off and tears spilled from their eyes.

"It is a big deal. I'm not going to ask if you're okay and I'm not going to tell you everything will be fine either." Lizzy hated when someone asked her that. "But, if you still need someone to talk to, I'll listen."

When the girl explained why he left, Simon frowned. That did not seem like that much of an excuse. If he was so upset about her leaving, why move farther away? That sounded very illogical and like a decision you would make in the heat of the moment. "That's.... not a good reason. No offense to Ben or anything but that's..." Simon did not finish his sentence but the unspoken words hung in the air. pretty dumb. Saying it would not make her feel any better, so he kept quiet.

Simon pursed his lips, feeling angrier and angrier. Gosh, this just was one train wreck after another. What were her parents thinking?! "Don't they see it's hurting you as much as it is him?" He took a deep breath, trying to calm his anger. He had never felt this angry on someone else's behalf before. "Sorry, it just... My god, i wish i could have been there and helped you. I can't with this."

Simon sniffed. "Thanks. You're an angel, you know that? Please don't feel bad because of Ben. I'm not sure what i would have done if it wasn't for you."
Simon closed his eyes and thought of himself and this girl, how alone they both felt, in Hogwarts. They didn't deserve this. They came here to live their dream, to be happy. They didn't need others to pull them down.
They didn't need others to pull them down.
Simon knew what to do. He jumped up, a spark in his eyes and determination in his heart. "You know what? We didn't come here to worry about Bruno and Ben. We came here to learn and have fun. And guess what? That's what we'll do! We'll have the best time here and i know it. We don't need them." He stretched his hand out for the girl to take. "I'm Simon Corbin."