Moved To We-Are-Guiltless

The girl sat quietly at her desk in the school news room. The room was shared by the Auradon Prep Gazette and the Auradon Prep TV News Group. Dorothy was in the former, Schuyler in the latter. It was what her mother wanted from her as usual.

“It might not be bad but it’s not what I want, Dorothy.” Sky told her. Her tone was sad and a little upset. “The worst part is I seem to be good at it.” She rolled her chair over to her childhood friend to take a look at the article she was writing. “Is this that article on the new villain kids coming to Auradon?”

“Just in-until gr-graduation. Then you c-c-can go to college and who- and do whatever you want.” She assured. Sure, Snow White may have some say over what her daughter does during high school, but no one could control them once they were adults. 

“Absolutely not!” She exclaimed, reaching forward to take Dorothy’s hand. “I will not tolerate my son acting in such a manner. To be quite frank I’m appalled by his actions and the fact that he would do such a thing.” Glaring at Chad with that look that meant mother’s where going to have strong words with their children later she turned back to Dorothy. “And please call me Ella dear.”

“Of course w-we won’t let it ho- g-go!” Doc chimed in. “N-no one treats my d-daug-d... child this way!” Dorothy put her head in her hands, sighing. This was going to be a long meeting. 

Aggie beamed at the praise. “I know which one Doc is,” she said proudly. “My mommy’s Princess Anna of Arendelle. My auntie’s Queen Elsa. She has magic, and she makes really pretty ice just by doing this–” Aggie held her hands out and wiggled her fingers.

“J-Just checking, bec-c-cause some people het- get them c-confused.” She explained. “Wow!” She gasped, giggling. “Th-that’s pretty cool! D-do you have ma-magic too?” 

“I swear I’m working on not coming out of no where on you Dorth.” He said softly, looking down for a moment before smiling up at her. “But I promise not to leave your side when they get here if you want. That way if you need I can fly you away from here for a bit or something.”

“Thank you.” Dorothy signed, finally managing a weak smile. She really did appreciate everything Payton did for her. He was a great friend to have fun with during the good times, and a gentle shoulder to cry on during the bad. She trusted him completely, and knew she had nothing to worry about with him by her side. 

“I would not offer it if I did not mean to or intend to or wish to.” He mused, a slow grin spreading over his lips, standing slowly and moving the rose closer to her. Watching her for a moment he then added. “It is a shame. A shame indeed that the males here do not see you for the breathtaking intellectual girl that you are. Being different is something that should be praised, not looked down upon.”

His gaze drifted, the tell tale look of someone remembering something passing over his features for a moment before he shook it from his face. Lifting her hand gently he placed a kiss to her finger tips. “Happy Valentine’s Day Dorothy.”

“No one’s ev-ever done dome-s-something like this b-before.” She admitted, blushing as she took a gentle sniff of the rose. Dorothy had no idea how he saw any kind of intellect or beauty in her, since she so rarely saw it within herself, but appreciated the compliment nonetheless. 

He opened his eyes when she pulled away, watching as she signed to him before shaking his head. “Nothing to be sorry for Dorothy. I shouldn’t have come leaping out of no where like that on you and just dumped news like that. If your having a bad day then you have every right to feel those emotions. My mom always said keeping them bottled up is never good for you……”

He paused before adding softly. “I’m sorry for telling you that out of the blue.”

“Y-You- you didn’t know.” She shook her head. Perhaps he should have taken a second to even say hello before sharing that information with her, so he could see she was not in the state of mind to be prepared for something like that, but it was Payton. Sometimes he just didn’t know any better. “It s-okay..” Dorothy said softly. She was going to find out sooner or later, at least it was from a good friend. 

He didn’t move when she leapt up and started pacing, only cracking an eye open before closing it again, showing her that he was at least in no rush to get to class. In fact the teachers had given up on making him get there in time, agreeing that if he passed all the tests and homework in then he’d be ok. Not that that really mattered to him at the moment.

Her head on his shoulder startled him a bit, having thought she wouldn’t leaning on him so readily. Even still he didn’t move, making no attempt to pat her head or anything even though he wanted to. Instead he just let her cry.

She finally calmed down enough to stop crying, and she pulled away while still keeping her eyes fixed on the floor. “Sorry.” She signed, still not in the mood to talk. Everything had just piled up so quickly today, and his news was the straw to break the camel’s back, and she hoped he understood that. Dorothy wasn’t mad at him at all, she was just angry, frustrated, and confused. 

Unsure of what to do as she curled in on herself he ignored the bell ringing above them. Instead he moved to her side, making sure to give her a bit of distance as he leaned back against the wall, long legs stretched out before him as he closed his eyes basking in the sunlight and waiting for her to calm. The best he could do at this point was wait, hoping that just being there would help her.

The bell ringing caused her to jump up, and pace back and forth, like she was having an inner argument with herself. Should she just suck it up and go to class like any good person would, or should she take whatever punishment for being late in order to take care of herself? Feeling even more overwhelmed, she sat back down next to Payton, leaning her head on his shoulder and crying. 

Realizing the girl was panicking he gently reached out, holding her shoulders as he slid to the ground with her, voice instantly soothing and calm. “Woah there Dorth. Just breath ok. Your alright.” He’d always had a soft spot for the girl, finding her stuttering honestly rather adorable and had more then once stood up for her in front of their classmates.

Reaching up he placed a gentle finger under chin, waiting until she looked at him before flashing a wide cocky smile at her, attempting to get her to laugh. “Come on Dorth, do you really think I’d let any of them do anything to you? I’d sooner feed them to the crocks!”

Dorothy wanted to tell him that now was not the time, and all she wanted was to be left alone, but she couldn’t. All she could do was sob and curl tightly around herself. She wrapped her legs against her chest, burying her head against her knees until Payton forced her to look up at him. She only nodded before putting her head back down, trying to block everything else out.