I'll be there for you... when you come back from the expedition

[huntersdaughter]

Who: Jo, Jet, Spike S., Max, Julia, and Gwaine.
Where: Jo's house in the city.
What: Gwaine returns after the expedition. Julia is upset. Clearly.
When: ... when Gwaine returns.
Notes: Friends Loss Continues.



[Apparently, when you're raised in a military-like compound and not exposed to pop-culture while you grow up -- you miss out on a lot of things. Max has recently realized that she doesn't exactly know all of the movies that Jo and Julia grew up loving. We'll skip over the part where Jo and Julia know all the words to Lawfully Pretty and skip right to where they're trying to explain to Max that hard work does pay off and that the core message is really about accepting you for yourself, and that the sequel deals with a side of animal rights. Which, they figure Max will appreciate.]

We can watch the next one, too. [You know, in case Gwaine isn't back yet. She glances to the boys, because she is not putting in Die With Difficulty again. This is supposed to be making Julia feel better.]

Comments

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Something flashes over her face in that moment. Is she beginning to have second thoughts? No matter what happened, how much it hurt her, this almost hurts more. Knowingly watching someone you love crumble to pieces because of you.

She shuts her eyes, trying to shut it all out. That's the only way she can keep her resolve.]

It's for the best.

[... But she still has yet to make a move to wrench her hand from his grasp.]

[gwaine.livejournal.com]

No. No! No, it's not for the best. Julia, why— I am sorry I went on that trip without telling you. I am sorry I did not communicate all week. I am sorry for whatever else I may have done...! We-we do not need a break. We're fine. We are. Please. Please, Julia, please, I am begging you.

Don't.

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Of course he can't understand the ramifications of what he's done. Just how much he's teetered the balance of a something that's already fragile. But they can't keep doing this to each other, keep falling into this cycle.

Sweet words and good intentions can't save them. Nothing can.]

I have to.

[That's the death knell. Her voice is quiet, but her mind is made up. In one final act of defiance, she tugs her hand away at last.]

[gwaine.livejournal.com]

[He's left grasping at nothing but air. There's a pause that drags on, the silence heavy. Everything hurts. And it's too raw, too present, too real for him to remain. He turns around and walks out.]

[itwas-raining.livejournal.com]

[Her hand drops quietly to her side, but she otherwise remains perfectly still as he walks away from her. She's trying her hardest to remain as composed about this as possible. This is the right thing to do. What needed to be done. No reason to think otherwise.

But there's one thing giving her away. It's the look on her face, a hint of the same one that passed there before. Subtle, maybe, but it's enough. Despite her best efforts to portray otherwise, she's falling apart.]