good enough.

"I don't know about new me but a new start is always a nice thought." It'd ended up being a tough year for Freya and whilst there were plenty of highlights, one moment in particular managed to sour how she viewed the entire year. "I want to put the past behind me and just start over again."

"Put the past behind you?" Hazel asked with eyebrows raised. "I figured you were having a good year. I mean, you and Damien seem to be doing good an everything. You tend to be smarter and handle everything else way better than I do." Hazel paused lightly. "I don't want to make assumptions or offend you but I feel like I should ask, things are good between you and Damien, right? He's treating you right, right?"

"There better not be," she said. "I only have so much in me to fight with you. Also, sorry if Maddie was sicked on you. She has to see the aftermath from me of our fights and be the sounding board for it all."

Hazel let out a soft sigh, hating that she knew her sister was right. She didn't need to know everything, and she hated that. She felt like she could be blindsided at any moment, but she knew that was life. "Okay, as long as you talk to someone," Hazel replied. "Just don't lie to me again, okay? Even a lie by omission."

❄️ - our muses get some fresh air from the celebrations together

"Well I'm pretty tipsy right now, so that helps," Hazel said, taking a sweet and opening up the wrapper. "I don't really believe in new year, new me ideology. It always just pisses me off in the end."

Hazel shook her head, "Let's just say my childhood wasn't exactly filled with that kind of stuff."

"It's okay," she said, knowing that she hated that they had been angry at each other for so long, she hated she had been angry at him mostly for so long. "I knew you would come when you were ready." Hazel nodded lightly along with his words, letting out a slight sigh at him when he was finished. "I understand that, when Freya left, a part of me felt like I was responsible for you then, and I definitely may have been a bit overprotective... or well, a lot. I was triggered myself, especially when Freya left, because I felt like no one wanted to stay and maybe if I just forced it, there wasn't a chance you would leave, and that carried over to when she came back because well, I didn't trust her to not leave again. I didn't think about what I was doing to you when I was trying to ease my own anxiety. I guess maybe I'm co-dependent in my own ways." Hazel leaned her head on his shoulder. "You're going to make stupid decisions," she said, "so am I. All I ask is for you to talk about it, and I could probably do better at that too, and even asking about it. I get so angry at that and I need to be able to trust you because you're important to me Gale. Can we at least trust each other to take care of ourselves? I promise to try to be less overbearing if you promise not to purposely put yourself into harms way. And when we're feeling a certain way, trust that we can come to each other about it."

Hazel opened up the door more to let him walk inside. "I mean... you did come here to bribe me with my favorite sweets, so I guess I have to be willing," she tried to joke, but it was hard, it had been a while since she spoke to Gale, and she was still a little angry with him. However lately, and after talking to their sister about it, she missed him more than the anger. "I guess it could've gone both ways," she replied, which it could've, but Hazel sometimes felt she was the one to always put it back together and let him ignore his feelings. This time, she knew she had to let him come to her when he was ready, let him work it out for himself instead of her trying to fix it, and she definitely knew that he couldn't keep holding it all in and ignoring the bad parts.

Hazel was in the middle of getting ready to go out for Halloween, mostly waiting for Maddie to get back. "Why are you knocking?" Hazel said, thinking it was Maddie at the door, but she was surprised when it turned out to be her twin. "Gale? What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I know. And, like, from a fiscal point I get it, wider customer range means more money, but you can't please everyone." Maddie turned to look at Hazel. "Your designs are fantastic, babe. I don't want you to be beating yourself up if not everybody wants them. Fuck those guys, y'know?"

"Those guys would be out customers, babe," Hazel replied with a small laugh.

"Perhaps not but you understand my meaning, Hazel." Freya responded softly. "I don't know what you or him are going through, but sometimes hard decisions have to be made and you have to think about what they are worth to you. Both in gain and loss." She finished in an understanding tone. "Shall we finish this here? We could go and get some lunch if you would like?"

"I'm giving him the space he obviously wants, and I'm okay with that, and if he's not, he can tell me like a big boy," Hazel replied. She let out a soft sigh. "Yeah, we should, on both those things."

"Well, I'm hardly complaining, so clearly you've got enough." Maddie laughed. "Who cares about trends? You should do it however you want to."

"Yeah, but I want something for everyone, y'know?" Hazel replied. "Even the trendy people, though I'm not sure why people want something everyone else has."

Maddie pulled the shirt on and turned to look in the mirror. "I mean, it's a bit of a weird fit on me, but that's because I don't have the goods to fill it out. But the style is nice, and it'll definitely fit someone."

"Well you have more goods than I do," Hazel replied, moving the shirt on her. "I'm trying to keep up with some trends, but I don't know, maybe I didn't pick the right shirt to do this style with."

Freya sighed at that and leaned lightly against her sister. "Haze... I don't think anyone is going to care about his life more than you do." The blonde spoke in tender humour. "And that's not an insult, that's just clearly how much he means to you. You'd do anything for him." At least that's how she had always perceived it. "Tell me though, when has saying 'I told you so' ever really helped a situation or even continuing on when you've told someone once already? You can warn someone yes, but they have to make their own choices despite how we feel about it. All we can ever really do is make sure they know we are there to help when they inevitably need us. Pushing something too much can actually push them away even if the intent is good." And she knew that Hazel had such good intentions.

"Well I wouldn't tell him I told you so, I just don't want to be the first person to bridge the gap. I'm not forcing it on him anymore. If he wants to talk to me, he's going to have to come to me when he's ready. I told him, I'm tired of caring about him more than he does himself. He needs to value his life more, and I can't keep enabling him."