Doris let herself be pulled in close, but she almost yelled her response anyway. “That’s Hippogriff shit and you know it, Sturge. I will always be in danger because of who I am and what I do. He has to understand that. But I get his position too. It just makes me so angry. I hate the world for putting us in this place. I dont know how to fight for him. He doesn’t want me to.”

“I know you will, but it might be hard for him to see that. He thinks he is protect you, you just have to make sure to tell him that he’s not. He is just hurting you by doing this, even if he sees it differently.” He understood Dante’s idea, because he had done the same thing, but he had realized he was wrong. “It’s gonna work out, Dor.”

“Awww…” He said with a teasing smile, “You love me.”

Sturge laughed, “I really do. Most of the time, at least.” He joked, “How have you been, Bertram?”

Doris buried her head in his chest, her own chest heaving with sobs as she tried to both take in air and cry. It took her a moment to calm down, and when she was able to, she spoke, “He told me he wanted to protect me. He–He thought us being together put me in danger. I understand. I understand, and that is why it hurts so badly.”

“He wants to protect you, he wants to keep you safe.” Sturgis pulled her in close, running a hand through her hair, “But, he might be doing it the wrong way. That’s why I thought leaving was a good idea. I wanted to make sure Greta was safe, but the only way to keep her truly safe is to be there with her. You, my love, are in danger no matter what, unfortunately. We are in the Order, Dor. There is always going to be someone or something coming after us. But, you should fight for him because the only way to be happy through all of this, the only way to survive it, is to be with the people you care about.” 

She smiled as he kissed her before he was off and she stood there looking around at everyone. As much fun as it was dressing up. She had to admit, the masks were kinda creepy. And she honestly couldn’t wait to be able to take hers off. “You think anything looks amazing if you’re hungry enough.” She teased.

“That’s true.” Sturge laughed and began shoving food into his mouth. “When I’m finished, get ready to dance.” He shook his shoulder to loosen them up a bit, “By the way, I think you look better than amazing.”

Greta shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Thank you though.”

“Okay, I’ll be right back.” He said, placing a kiss on the top of her head, before darting off to get in line for food. It didn’t take him too long and he was at her side, again. “These little tart things look amazing.”

“There’s a buffet table over there.” Greta said, pointing over towards the corner where people were helping themselves to food.

“Oh, thank Merlin!” He said, “Do you want anything? I need to get something in me before I try and dance out there.”

@sturgepodmore

Sturgis could tell something was definitely wrong as soon as Doris opened the door. She didn’t look like herself and all and worry immediately took over. “Hey.” He responded, walking in and taking a look around. “What’s wrong, love?” He knew it had to be something big. “And why are you not dressed for the ball?”

Truthfully, Scarlett had hoped that all of this would blow over, and everything would get back to normal. That hardly seemed to be the case, it actually felt it was getting worse. Greta refused to come back, Sturgis refused to talk to them, and the tension and silence in the flat was suffocating Scarlett. It wasn’t an easy fix, and that was were they were floundering. She understood both sides, but she didn’t agree with both.

Sturgis knew he had done wrong, a lot lately. He just wasn’t sure how to fix it. He knew there were things that were out of his control, that he couldn’t change. Everything that had gone down with Sebastian, he was starting to come to terms with. He had made his choices, they had had consequences. But, he knew there was nothing that could be done to take any of that pain away. 

Birdy shook her head. “Of course I’m not mad. You don’t have to apologize.” She smiled at him, “Come on, I’ll help. There’s still some in inventory and it won’t be hard to make more.”

“You are the best.” He said, letting out a sigh of relief. He had been so scared to tell her for fear she might get angry with him. “Hopefully, we have enough that way you don’t have to make anymore.” He started heading to the back of the store, “What are you doing here, anyways? I thought you were taking the day off.”