Sand And Stone

“Everyone runs. It’s just a matter of how bad things have to get before it happens. Some run when they have family problems, others it takes the aurors beating down their doors. Everyone has a limit of what they can stand”. Oliver nodded with a smirk “I was always a fan of a good sexy bad girl personally”.

“I stayed when my brothers tried to get me to leave so I wouldn’t be disowned, I didn’t run when my family disowned me, and I stood my ground when I was offered money to do so. My daughter is here and as ridiculous as it may seem, I’d never leave her. Trust me, my father is scarier than any auror ever could be.” She rolled her eyes and let out a laugh. “A good sexy bad girl?” She giggled, “Well, lucky for you I’m a newly changed good sexy bad girl.”

“I feel bad for him but he just needs your brutal honesty. In situations like this he may not want to be your friend for awhile but he deserves you to allow that. If he’s truly in love he needs time to heal, and as long as your around him he won’t. If the friendship is true and real then it will survive some time away from it. He won’t ask for that, he will say that he just wants you in his life but that’s a lie. That’s him grasping to the piece of you he can, hoping the rest happens naturally. Do the kid a favor, and be someone he can hate for awhile. It’s kinder than you think”. Oliver nodded as he listened “I just don’t see the beautiful part of it, or I struggle to. I find beauty in many things. I find beauty in the delicate paint strokes on a painting, or the mild evidence of a finger print of the artist on a sculpture, or the female figure. I don’t know if the beauty love can provide is worth it to me, when I have access to so much beauty already”.

“Sadly, he’s one of the least deserving to be hurt by me, but not hurting him would be cruel of me.” She sighed, slumping her shoulders slightly. “I guess that after I get off of my shift tomorrow, I’ll have to go look for a new flat.” Annabelle forced a smile, though she made it clear that it was not a real one. “Strokes of a paint brush and the human form are nothing but visual beauty, though, Mister Fawley. This beauty is something that courses through your veins, makes you weak in the knees, and has the ability to shatter you like thin glass on a marble floor. It’s looking at a child for the first time and finding yourself ready to die for them, should they need it. It’s looking at another human being and knowing that they are the reason why the world exists. But I’m not saying that it is something you have to want, or that you should want. I mean, look what it did to me.”

“Well, consider it useful information for future reference then, if it is not needed now.” 

“It’s a risk I’ll have to consider, I guess.” She said, giving him a small smile before standing. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go flat hunting.”

“It was unexpected but the best thing that’s happened. I never thought we’d get to this stage.”

“Yes, the two of you did date previously, didn’t you?”

She shook her head, “It doesn’t matter.”

“I won’t pry, then, but if you ever want to talk to someone that won’t judge you, you know where I am.”

“That’s fine lovely. Do you want your lovely girl to be put in the crib?”

“That would be great, thank you.” She smiled at her friend. “And thank you for coming and bringing me chocolate. It really does mean a lot to me.”