In the Meantime...

One week, one full week.

It didn't seem like a long time at all.

For the people who were awake, time flew by and passed without a second thought. They did normal, everyday things that everyone considered mundane: talk, gossip, go to class, hang out with friends, study, and do everything they wanted to do. Nobody really cared what happened because there weren't many consequences if they did something wrong - it was just an ordinary day and ordinary schedule. Who would've paid attention to something so trivial, so nonexistent that it didn't affect them much? That'd be silly because most people would believe: what's done was done so no point in trying to change it.

In her dark state of mind, she wasn't sure how many days had passed. Had it been only a few days? A week? Months? Maybe a year? It didn't matter when everything was crushing her, tormenting her mind, and tried to suffocate her with every passing moment. But she subjected herself to this, with no escape except when Fate decided to play with her again. Or maybe everything had been a horrible dream and she was only waking to reality now. Was she actually already dead after that stupid stunt? Nothing made sense - a sleep through near-complete nothingness. But it would be a beautiful lie if she had died because Fate was waiting to string her life again.

Everything blew away like it was nothing. The faint voices that she heard, to the prodding every now and then, and the possible stir, as soft as a pillow that it couldn't be felt. She wasn't very aware of what was happening around her, only the whispers that constantly echoed in her head. People seemed to pass by every now and then, but nobody seemed to stop and stay long, always leaving with frustrated sighs or disappointment. The doors closed and opened, and everything continued as though she didn't exist - a forgotten existence that was in an unbreakable slumber.

Was it okay to think about waking up? The world would only continue to fall into ruin if she tried to come back into the picture. Everyone's worlds would end because she was so stupid to think about even trying, and those whispers that played themselves over and over again told her mercilessly that she should just give up, that the gods made no mistake in their decision here. But things never ended that simply, not with her.

You monster. Why'd you break apart our family?

Her brother's broken, pained voice still rung in her ears when her eyes flashed open.

God, everything was throbbing, and Lamia uncomfortably shifted into a sitting position, her breaths shallow and quiet like a mouse. What happened after that? Did they keep fighting? Fuck, she should've made sure everything was alright before she tried. Goddammit... Why the hell couldn't she think straight? Everything was a bright light and she couldn't concentrate her eyes in one area properly, her vision smeared out like an accidental streak of paint that the artist tried to erase but couldn't. A groan escaped her mouth and leaning back, a hand came up to cover her eyes.

She was back in the infirmary. Again. And something was ringing. And wouldn't shut up. And it was annoying.

It was frustrating, being sent to this place countless times only because she was so weak and couldn't deal with her problems. It wasn't fair to the other people that they had to deal with her stupid mistakes. Why couldn't she do anything to help herself? But most of all, it was the fact that the infirmary reminded her of hospitals.

She only had a good handful of memories about them, and sadly, the bad memories outweighed them. If it weren't for the fact that she had forced herself into this situation, then she would gladly have avoided the place some more and refused to have come, even if it meant visiting someone like an injured friend -- actually, no, she would've forced herself to go, dammit. The white walls and the overall sterile atmosphere for some reason only reminded Lamia of deaths, and she had enough of that in her short life time, really.

Slowly removing her palm from her eyes, she allowed them to focus for a few moments and listened, only hearing distorted sounds that sounded like footsteps. Was someone coming? God, didn't she tell them to forget that she fucking existed for their own good? "L-l-leave me a-alone..." she mumbled, throwing the covers over her head.

Life sucks.

Logan had arrived an hour before. The August heat followed him into the building and died in outreaching arms, in the power of the air conditioner that sputtered above him. He got in before every other volunteer, to turn on the lights and check the patients and take his medicine and press a finger to his neck, long enough for the crackling to stop in his lungs. This was his routine. He'd always cough after he did this, as if it was expelling death from his lungs.

Logan had arrived when all the patients were asleep, in the summer's rising sun, a sun that seemed to rise particularly early. It always beat him. He'd get dressed, and it would be high in the sky, taking the cool night with it. He prayed for winter in this, prayed to wake up before the Earth and to walk in the barren, frosty courtyard at twilight. It seemed he was going faster than his days. He prayed for the season to come fast.

Logan was still the only staff member when Lamia woke up. He didn't notice her at first, hiding under the sheet, but no one was sleeping like that the last time he checked, and there was the slightest quiver every other moment or so to show him that someone was alive under there. He smiled, looked at his clipboard, and back to her. "I see you're finally awake," he said.

Barry, always the early riser, was headed towards the infirmary to check on Lamia. He'd been there every day since Magic had vanished to check on her. He dreaded the fact that he was going to break it to her, but it had to be done. He opened the doors and noticed that one of the volunteers was already here and that he was checking on Lamia, who was hidden beneath the sheets. "Uhh... is this a bad time?" he asked nervously. He didn't want to interrupt things, because he usually ended up getting in the way.

Lamia muttered something under her breath from where she was hidden under her blanket. This blissfully warm and comfortable blanket that she wouldn't mind staying under for awhile longer. Her mind was working too sluggishly, the remnants as she tried to piece together everything that may have happened after she blacked out still nagging at the back of her head as she slowly reached her hand out to pull the covers up a little to see who it was that had came in. The voice was too hazy, she couldn't quite recall who it was, but they sounded familiar at least. Wait no, if it was one of those guys from back in the forest she was going to just hide back underneath and pretend she never heard them.

Her eyes were still adjusting a bit and while it took awhile, the blurred out figure eventually came to fine details and she wanted to smack herself in the head.

How could she be so stupid to forget that Logan worked in the infirmary? Blinking slowly, she took a deep breath before fully pulling the covers away, and awkwardly sat up. For god's sake, it was one incident and they weren't going to worry about her just because this happened often. It wasn't a surprise that she was going to pass out; they'd probably think: Oh, she fainted again. Nothing to really think about. They should've seen it coming with how weak she was and how she could barely get herself to even speak a proper sentence. Rubbing her eyes, Lamia replied subconsciously, "G-good m-m-morning..." Was it even morning? Where the hell was the clock in this place? Or the calendar? It felt too early to be up... she was half-tempted to flop back onto the bed and sleep again until evening - at the very least another five minutes.

The door creaked open, and she felt her entire body stiffen as she saw who came in. Didn't she tell them to pretend that she vanished or something? Lamia wanted to avoid Barry and the others for just a bit longer, but she couldn't force herself to curl up under the blanket again, petrified, completely frozen. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but no words came out. Go away... At least respect an unconscious person's wishes.

This was all disconcerting and confusing enough as it was. The more they came to talk to her, the worst it would get, and she really hated that feeling. Them coming only reminded her that she was a walking bad luck charm. Inside her, there were just mixed feelings churning together. But this time? She should just ignore it, not tell anyone as usual. It probably didn't mean anything. What she thought or wanted was completely irrelevant. So she forced herself to give a small smile before turning her head away.

Sadly, Logan could not read Lamia's mind, nor could he discern the expressions she made as signs of avoidance. He smiled at Barry, and gave a short glance to Lamia. "Oh, no, um..." he scratched his head. "I didn't expect visitors this early, but it's fine. You must be one of her friends." He honestly didn't know much about Lamia. Her mannerisms and speech, the timid way she looked and breathed and whispered, made him think that it was quite the effort to "know much about Lamia." He felt at a loss, and scribbled something on his clipboard, just his name, as if he was finishing up some report. "Um, I'll be at my desk over there if you need anything." This was directed at Barry, before he glanced over at Lamia. "If anything hurts or something, just let me know. I've got the magic touch." The last sentence was hushed and mischievous, like a secret, and off his raised hand came green globules, levitating and floating as if of a lava lamp. He closed his hand into a fist, grinned, and retreated to his nearby station.

Barry nodded, and moved closer to Lamia's bed. "Hey. How're you feeling?" he asked, pulling up a chair next to her. He wondered if she knew how long she was out, if the volunteer worker, Logan, he thought his name was, had told her or not. He also wasn't sure how much she remembered of the fight a week ago. He tried as hard as he could to find Magic, but he wasn't on Beata's campus nor was he in Rosebury, which meant he couldn't go any farther without permission, which meant he'd have to explain everything and that would only make things worse. Aspen was trying her hardest to keep Vincent distracted, but it was hard even for the bubbly personality that she had. "So umm... how much do you remember?" he asked tentatively.

For a second, Lamia's face twisted into horrible confusion as she tried to process the last sentence Logan had said before her face went red, burning like a fireplace in the middle of a blizzard. She wrung her hands, a familiar anxiety settling on her shoulders, and she felt something in her stomach sink. He definitely didn't mean anything by that... nope, not at all. It was just his gift or something, which was why he mentioned it; it's not like he had any ulterior motive from saying that or anything. That wasn't possible - he was probably just teasing or joking around. Haha, funny joke, right? In an awkward attempt to respond, she dumbly nodded, watching him leave before averting her eyes. A part of her half-hoped that Logan would stick around a bit or excuse Barry for some check-ups or anything, but that wasn't happening. She was stuck answering questions about something she didn't want to talk about.

If she could, she would will the ground to open up and swallow her whole. But that'd be too easy. Life wasn't that simple. Her body slouched back, slipping into the covers as she felt herself shrink. "Th-that..." Lamia stammered, her mind racing to placate the situation, trying to find an answer which didn't come as quick as she would've hoped. Her lips thinned and all she could focus on as crumpling the blanket in front of her. She didn't want to think about what happened back then... Was that seriously the first question Barry had to ask her? "I-I just... u-uhm... I'm f-f-fine. N-nothing t-to worry about." Her voice reeked with a desperate, feeble hope that he bought her lie. She just hoped to gods that it was quiet enough that the Autumn couldn't make out her tone.

"Wh-what a-about... e-everyone else? A-are th-they... u-uhm... alright?"

She wasnt much of a morning person.

Although when she happened to tumble out of her bed and see that Barry was gone so early she has figured that he would be at the infirmary visiting Lamia or something. Aspen didnt really talk to Vincent after that and no one heard from Magic still and its been an entire week. Aspen didnt visit Lamia as much as Barry did she saw her at least twice ever since the big fight. Last night she did happen to pick up a get-well gift for her though a cute teddybear plushie she was going too give it to her when she woke up. Although since it was unknown when she would wake up Aspen had figured she would bring along the bear just in case.

As she opened the door to where Lamia was she quietly poked her head in too see what was going on. She was a surprised when Lamia had already been up. Pushing open the door to where it had slammed into the wall Aspen had waved towards the winter a pleased smile on her face as she quickly shoved Barry off his chair and sat there instead. "Hey Lamia! How you feeeelinnng??!" The autumn asked curiously as she glanced around the room. "Glad to see your awake!!!!"

Barry was just about to break the news to Lamia when Aspen came out of nowhere and knocked him out of his chair. "I don't know about you, Aspen, but I fnd it much easier to grab another chair than to knock someone off of theirs." he said, getting back up. Anyway, as you can tell, Aspen is fine and so is Vince for the most part. It's Magic that's got me worried. He's gone. He disappeared. I have no idea where he could be. I've checked all over the campus and in Rosebury. I'm sorry..." he said to Lamia, his voice trailing off at the end.

She hadn't even noticed that Aspen practically snatched Barry off his seat - let alone slam the door open - until she heard someone loudly speak up and pulling themselves beside her bed. Wincing, and a bit unsure of what she should exactly do, Lamia went into a small panic, numbly bringing a hand up to cover her ear. It was like someone was blaring speakers straight into her and she couldn't pull the plug; yet it sounded like she was so far even though she knew Aspen was practically right next to her. "W-w-wai--" The words were caught in her throat as the Autumn girl continued talking. It just made her head throb more, and slowly, her hand withdraw itself and her nails were digging into the sheets as though it would help quiet the other person down. Flickering her eyes to Barry, she gave him a worried look, but a sigh of relief escaped once she saw that he was fine. Awkwardly, the corners of her mouth twitched into a queasy smile as she glanced over at Aspen for a moment before wrenching her gaze away. Why the hell didn't they just leave her to die in the forest or something? It wasn't worth being concerned about her.

Still clenching onto the blanket, Lamia listened to Barry, silently thanking the other boy for speaking at a less deafening volume, and during that time, she immediately felt dread lurching inside her. Why was he so hesitant? Nothing could've been wrong after that... They should've been fine after everything - she made sure there wasn't a trace left from the fight. Did someone else spot them out there in the woods? Time seemed to freeze, and her mind was absorbing everything at a snail's pace, a slow and lagging process to figure out what Barry was saying. Fitting the puzzle together, Lamia hardly seemed to be paying attention.

Until everything rushed into her at once.

It couldn't be... The color drained from her skin so quickly that she almost wanted to pass out again, and her fingers curled the soft fabric between them harder, knuckles white. Lamia's eyes widened and her mouth was agape slightly. There was no way... Everyone was supposed to be fine. She was out of the picture for a week. It should've gone back to normal, it should've. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she forced herself to mentally count to ten, doing her best to calm herself down. Why wasn't this working? Everything inside her twisted into a maelstrom and the words pierced through her like a stake. What the hell? Clenching her eyes closed, the Winter focused slowly on trying to say something, but it wasn't working. She couldn't fucking speak; everything was caught inside of her and she couldn't force it out, her tongue twisted into ways so she couldn't make a sound.

Everything around her seemed to get warmer, her figure trembling as she drew her arms closer. It was shaking uncontrollably and she was lost for words. Lamia wanted to just panic or to just forget what he said - it'd even be better if she passed out and hit her head. But she knew why he ran off like he did. How couldn't she after she saw how he suffered beside her on the vacation? Even if he smiled, it hurt. I wasn't being fair then... I made this worse, was the bitter thought that kept repeating itself in her head, ringing like the bell that sounded each hour. Magic fled because he didn't want to make everyone else feel the same pain he had, not after she stupidly decided to heal him and Vincent. She gripped the blanket harder. Stupidstupidstupid... You fucking idiot.

All she could do was give them a small smile, trying to hide the unfathomable sadness inside her. Lamia muttered, "H-h-he j-just n-needs some sp-space... g-give him t-time." Her voice was so quiet, like a mouse. Something was wrong, but she had figured out how it worked: he would try and leave if he felt that he would lose control of himself. He didn't want to hurt anyone... he wasn't that kind of person, no matter what the others thought. "Hehe... I-I m-messed up. I-I-I'm s-so s-s-sorry that h-he left because of m-me."

You're trying so hard, Magic. I'm sorry for failing and not understanding...

Logan couldn't help but listen. As he gazed at the papers in front of him, papers with no real urgency to them, as he watched a few of the volunteers finally file sleepily through the door, he eavesdropped. It wasn't too hard. That blonde girl was build with a megaphone for a mouth. "Sssht!" He hushed her from across the room. Lamia was visibly put off by it. "Keep quiet, there's sick people trying to get less sick here."

Who was Magic? Logan remembered the boy from that evening after the party, the one where they painted themselves sunset and sat together on the roof. Logan remembered him as quiet and uninteresting. He pushed back in his chair, on two legs, the back clanking to the cabinet behind him. The boy rocked like this for a while. Why was Magic missing? That was something you reported to the campus security. Though he wanted to tell them this, he kept silent. Didn't want to look like a spy. Even though he was...

The blonde had stared intently into Lamias eyes.

Thoughts were mixing into her head she was wondering if she was confused or lost she didnt even know what exactly had happened too her all she knew was that she was pretty much in a coma for an entire week. Heck hopefully this didnt mess up Lamias brain in anyway like loosing her memory or her sainity. Aspen couldnt really picture such a cute and quiet girl as a loud obnoxious loud-mouth like her, she wasnt really sure if she would like Lamia that way she was fine how she was now. The autumns head cocked when the winter didnt say anything for a few moments Aspen had no idea what was going through Lamias head right now although since she woke up from a coma she was most likely... "Bored Oh yes you must of been so bored just laying here and doing nothing!" Aspen had spoke out suddenly a small smile forming onto her lips as a bright Idea came too mind. "I know we could all go to Rosebury! and just like laugh and chill and stuff too celebrate Lamias recovery doesnt that sound greaaat!" Her gaze shifted over towards the teddy bear that was in her lap and her smile increased in size. "I also got this for you! Isnt it so so so cuteeeee!?" The blonde had asked Lamia eagerly as she shoved the bear forwards pratically pushing it into the winters chest before her head had quickly turned when she had heard another voice.

She looked in confusion towards Logan before her eyes had slightly widened realizing she was disturbing the patients in the Infirmary. "Right Sorrrrry!!!" She had said slightly quieter, "Hope you all have a nice and easy recovery!" Aspen had smiled before she turned towards Barry slightly blinking he wasnt gonna tell her about Magic already was he? She just woke up how could he be so selfish in ruining the celebration for her she had to stop him quickly! Although before Aspen could react the words had already left Barrys mouth. Aspens eyebrows had furrowed and her eyes squinted glaring at the autumn as she leaped at him tackling the autumn down and pounding him with her two fists at his scalp. "Barry why would you tell her so soon!!!" Aspen had huffed as she slowly started rising onto her feet dusting off the dirt on her clothing from the tumble and she slowly had turned to glance back over too Lamia a smile on the autumns glossy lips.

But she was already gone. Probably blaming herself for everything again just the usual it was her bad habbit she was already frozen and her skin had looked pale and sweaty just like it was when she was in a coma like state. The autumn had slipped over towards the winter and sat on her bed scooting real close. She gave it no thought her immediate thought was to hug her, she was obviously so distraught at the news. Her hands had reached for Lamias hips and she squeezed her softly it was comforting and her voice had sounded well assuring. "Dont you worry you're pretty little head Lamia! Once he finds out your awake there is not a single doubt in my mind that he'll come racing back." She had let her go of her hugs after a few moments of silence.

Barry listened as Logan told Aspen to quiet down and he silently agreed. Then suddenly he was on the ground with Aspen's fists coming down on his head. He didn't stop her, because he figured that she was frustrated about Vincent. Once she was done, he got up, took a deep sigh, and glared at Aspen. "Calm the hell down. She deserves to know. This isn't some make believe world where everything can be happy and nothing could ever go wrong. This is the real world. Bad things happen. I wasn't about to let her discover on her own that Magic wasn't here. I didn't want her to think her friends didn't care enough about her to tell her about him. You need to ease up and not put out your frustrations on someone who didn't do anything to you. Grow up." he said angrily. He turned to Lamia and his gaze softened. "It's not your fault. It was his built up frustration at Vince that drove him to do this. You can't blame yourself."

"I'm n-n-not r-really---"

Lamia blinked, realizing that Aspen kept going on and on without giving her a real chance to speak. She didn't like being cut off all that much, only because she would have to repeat everything a second... or third time. No one could hear her properly, except Magic. No, she should really stop trying to think about him; he wouldn't like it if she was constantly trying to relapse and blame everything on herself - she couldn't really help it, though. Even though she had said that he needed the space and just really needed to calm down a bit, it was her fault for not realizing it. Her fault for making him have to worry about her just because she fucking messed up hard. It wasn't fair of her to make everyone brood over her just because she passed out again and tried to help, only to fail recklessly. Her stupid attempts to hide how jealous she was really sucked... And fuck that incident in her past for permanently crippling her, mentally and physically.

One moment, she was talking to Aspen - sort of - and the next, she saw her on the ground, beating up Barry for telling her what happened. Honestly? Lamia would've liked it if they told her, but at the same time, she really would've preferred if they let her find out on her own. Either way, she was taking the blame and both ways would have the same results. In other words, it didn't matter. She couldn't help but wince, watching the Autumn girl constantly pounding her roommate, and awkwardly, she muttered, "Pl-please st-st-stop... D-don't f-f-fight because of m-me." Her please went unanswered, and she was sorry to say that she had clenched onto the plushie that Aspen gave her a little more tightly than she should've. Was the other girl really that strong? Because it was a little hard to breath when she forced it into her hands.

The next moment? Aspen was hugging her, and Lamia flinched at her touch. Too close - way too close. She couldn't help but uncomfortably shift within Aspen's grasp, half-afraid her power would suddenly activate and suck the life out of her friend. Pretty? Uhm... hell, no. She wasn't that attractive or anything; just some random student with an average or maybe just below appearance. This was just another attempt to motivate her and tell her to let go of her insecurities. Guess what? Not fucking happening. If she could, she would've done it long ago and been that self-entitled brat she was in the past. You can't change a stupid personality that was caused by trauma. Magic would come back for her? No way. Absolutely, positively, no way. He doesn't care about me that much... I'm just someone who he coincidentally could give his secrets to. That was the only value he probably saw in her, even after everything that happened.

And then Barry spoke up, retaliating his fellow Autumn with harsh words. Did they seriously want to start another fight? They saw the consequences last time... why couldn't they just get along? Or maybe this was just some stupid scheme to get her to fall into an unfaltering sleep. Probably the latter, if she had to think about it. But if it was about her? It wasn't worth it. Why the hell did they both pity her? It was her fault for messing up - they shouldn't blame a thing on the brothers. Lamia saw everything herself on the vacation; she should've put two and two together more quickly. Hesitantly, she replied to Aspen first: "H-h-he pr-probably wouldn't... I-I'm not m-much in th-th-the end." Barry, on the other hand... "I-It i-is m-m-my fault...! I-I d-didn't n-notice, a-after everything. I m-m-made y-you guys w-w-worry over n-nothing..."

OOC;; Okay, I cursed way too many times in this post. Sorry. ;w;