Nathaniel let out a sharp breath through his nose, the kind that was too close to a laugh to be humour and too bitter to be anything else. “Held it in my hands?” he echoed, eyes flicking to hers, something flaring behind them. “Yeah, I held it. And then he let go. So what does that mean? That I just wasn’t enough to make him stay?”
His jaw tensed, the anger not loud but close to the surface, raw and unexpected in how fast it arrived. “Don’t talk about it like it was some beautiful thing. He chose to walk away. He looked at everything I was offering; everything I fucking was and decided it wasn’t worth holding onto.”
He paused knowing he'd said too much, given too much of himself away in that moment when all he wanted was to keep a lid on all the feelings and pretend they weren't there. Drawing in a breath, he managed to get a handle on his emotions. Not calmer, but at least contained. She was right, he had given someone a chance. He'd let someone see the real him but all that had done was prove that no matter how much of himself he offered, it was never going to be enough. He wasn't enough. And That he wasn’t someone people stayed for.
Andie knew that the hurt Nathaniel was going through after all of this was unimaginable. However hearing just how left behind Nathaniel felt absolutely broke her heart. She couldn't even think of what she could possibly say in response to that. It was an awful feeling. Not feeling like you were enough. Enough for somebody. She couldn't imagine Scorpius thought so little of her brother, even if he had chosen to walk away. She didn't want to believe it. "Would you have let him?" she then asked quietly. "Would you have let him turn down the opportunity and stay with you? Or would you have told him to go?"
"But it was beautiful... wasn't it?" she pointed out with a watery smile. "The happiness it brought you. You– I don't think I'd ever quite seen you like that before." Recounting it melancholically, wishing there was a way to have bottled up the way Nathaniel had been when he was with Scorpius. "I don't want to believe that he could be so heartless– but if that is the case then this is not your fault. If he saw you and didn't want that, that doesn't mean something is wrong with you. Maybe you two just weren't meant for one another in the way that either of you thought. Maybe you were never meant to be each other's destinations. Maybe it was only ever meant to be temporary," she considered softly.
"I think you are one of the most brilliant things about this awful, awful world," Andromeda wiped a tear, only realizing she had been tearing up until they were running down her cheeks. "It hurts to see you like this, Nathaniel. It hurts to see you not see yourself the way I see you. The way that I'm sure the few you've let in see you too," sighing with an air of defeat. Like she had failed him somehow, failed to protect him or help him see how amazing he truly was. "I wish you could see it. And I wish you could love yourself the way I do you," she whispered softly. "I'm sorry about what you're going through right now, Nathaniel. If there's any way I can help lighten the load... please tell me. Please let me in."
