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“only kid? what rock have you been living under- actually. he wouldn’t of told you about me, anyway.” not surprising in the slightest. why would he? “… are you really that blind? or are you choosing to ignore our resemblance?” oh, this was going to be a disaster.

       it's exactly as he perceives. cold, wet and extremely miserable --- jolyne is at her rock bottom. she won't confirm his statement, she won't even lift her eyes to meet his as she's determined to not let go of the small amount of dignity she's been left with. it isn't as if his words come from concern anyway, they are merely siblings by biology ; he hates her, and though she is unwilling to look at his face to confirm, he is probably thriving in her misery.

       the worse part about it all --- it isn't as though she blames him. she is the product of a love that more than likely brought him a misery worse than the one she is experiencing right now. the delinquent can't even imagine the pain he and his mother must have felt and if her pride would let her, she'd express just how sorry she is to him.

       “  — because i know how this goes,   ”  there was a tiny bit of hope in her eyes, but it vanishes almost as soon as it came. the meetings between the two always seem so sparse and the news accompanying them only aides the construction of the wall she's built around herself to shield her from the pain that comes from it. hiding her disappointment from him is only a temporary solution ; she knows well enough that her feelings and need to be acknowledge will only manifest later in a way that'll only cause her trouble in the long term.

       “ so i've gotten into a little bit of trouble when i was younger, what of it ?  ”  an understatement ; one they both are well aware of.  she’ll go on like it isn’t,  it’s better than deliberately giving him a list of things he'll no doubt criticize her for later. as much as she tells herself she can't stand him — she and her newly identified older brother’s struggle is too similar. he'll more than likely be able to read into those incidents as the desperate cries for attention they were so clearly meant to be.