Somewhere Only We Know (Bella)

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Pushing herself through the doors of her sister's dorm, she entered the common area with a sigh, realizing her sister wasn't there. She continued towards Bella's room and without knocking, she once more, pushed herself in with a frown as she in silence walked over to her twin sister's bed and dumped herself there with a groan, without as much as offering her sister a hello.

Remaining silent for a few more seconds, Erika lifted her head and leaned it against the back of her hand and turned her gaze towards her two minute younger sibling and pursed her lips out into a pout, closing her eyes as she shook her head, ''I fucked up,'' she muttered and rolled onto her back, her brown eyes darting up towards the ceiling.

No, Erika felt no need to apologize for the rude intrusion. She felt the need to talk to someone, and who was better than the person who more or less knew her better than anyone? Exactly. Besides, Bella was most likely used to Erika's upfront nature by now. If not, then she really needed her head checked for some kind of memory loss.

''I really, really fucked up,'' she said again and covered her face with her palms, letting out yet another sigh, ''Kill me. Please. Just take it all away,'' she said with a overly dramatic tone added to her voice, before in another swift movement sitting up and flailing her arms. She wasn't sure if she was supposed to feel happy. Or sad. Or frustrated... Ugh! She let her body fall down against the bed again and fell still, at last.

''I kissed a staff member - and I ended my friendship with Ellen. All in the matter of a day or so,'' she said and closed her eyes. The memories of what happened in the kitchen, with Everett still lingered on her mind as if it had happened only yesterday. It haunted her every waking moment and she was about to go insane.

[Isabella Bellefonte]

'Clare complains that I don't relax until I'm dead tired, but actually I'm often relaxed when I'm with her. This older self seems leaner and more weary, more solid and secure. But with me he can-' Bella's reading was interrupted by someone barging into her room. The girl didn't even look up, because she could feel the familiar energy. The frustration coming off of her sister smacked Bella in the face. Her older sister was quiet, so Bella kept reading.

'But with me he can afford to show off: he's got my number so completely that I can only acquiesce to him, in my own best interests.' "I fucked up." This grabbed Belly's attention. Her chocolate eyes looked up from the pages of her book that was propped on the arm of the chair she was snuggled into. The more her sister said it, the more Bella felt tense from the emotion. "And how exactly does that make you feel?" Bella cracked a soft smile. It was great to see her sister, one of her closest friends, even if she was a bottle of pent up emotion.

"Hmm. I wonder what our mother would say to that? She liked Ellen. And as long as you tell me that you aren't making out with that creepy janitor on the second floor of the girl's dorm, I'm not completely against it." Belly chewed her lip and focused on Erika. The girl had put herself in a dilemma. Breaking up with Ellen? That was brave. Bella hated Ellen anyway. "I commend you for finally getting the guys to push Ellen away. What caused that?" Of course, the details about their big fight was all distorted. It was best to learn the truth before she made any judgments or offered an advice.

"And why exactly is it bothering you that you ended with her?" Honestly, Belly was more concerned with Ellen than the teacher thing. However, she turned her focus on to that problem next. Before continuing, she let the silence hang in the air for a few minutes. The last thing she wanted to do was upset her sister by spewing out advice that wasn't needed. She was sure that Erika just wanted to vent, not play counselor and patient.

"Do you really like this staff member? How much older is he? People can't find out about that. Both of you will get into a lot of trouble, Erika. I'd really rather not see you under mom's thumb being home-schooled. I would miss you." God knows Erika couldn't leave her little sister here. The Bellefonte sisters were supposed to stick together. They always had in the past.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Erika remained silent at first when her sibling spoke, trying to find it in herself to enjoy the humor, but she couldn't. So instead of lashing out, she simply held her breath and forced the venom back. Her sister was the last person who ever deserved Erika's talent with rude comments whenever she didn't feel at ease. In times like this, having a sister who was empathic was probably the best thing in the world. She didn't have to actually describe the feelings she was having, they were as apparent as the moon on the dark sky. It made talking so much easier without having to explain every single detail. It was a relief, really.

What their mother thought was truth be told the last thing Erika was concerned about. Erika's relationship with her mother was strained and Erika was starting to realize whatever choices she made, her mother had no say in it, ''I could care less about what mother has to say, since she always has to say something,'' Erika said with a faint smile, ''And no, it's not the creepy janitor. He's not really creepy at all.'' Well, at first he had been. Somewhat at least, but Erika had quickly, too quickly warmed up to him and one thing had lead to another and now she was heads over heels.

''I got fed up I suppose. I finally realized that she's been manipulating me all along and used her powers on me to take away my freedom. You know, the whole hypnotising me to push people away, do her bidding, yadda, yadda,''

Erika sat back up again and pulled her feet up underneath her cheek, finally looking at her sister, ''I'm not really bothered by it. I'm just a little afraid of what she might do, you know. Who she'll end up hurting,'' Ellen usually did things like that. She didn't seem to realize that she couldn't always get things her way and when she did something wrong... Boy, when she did something wrong, she was incapable of taking any responsibility. Whatsoever. ''I'm actually kind of glad to be rid of her,'' she added silently with a faint smile. Yeah, she was also proud of finally finding the guts to stand up against her.

Remaining silent, Erika waited for Bella to finish before pushing herself off the bed, her arms falling to her sides as she stepped around the room, running her hand through her hair, ''I do, I do like him.'' she said with a sigh, ''And about six years I think?'' God, this really was a horrible mess. And there was no chance it could ever work out, though she still enjoyed playing around with the thought, ''And we're eighteen, and mom no longer have any say in what we do or don't do,'' she said a little harsher than intended.

Erika took a deep breath before sitting down at the edge of the bed. She only grew more restless by strutting around, ''I'm just scared he'll leave, or something. Or lose his job,''

[Isabella Bellefonte]

The joke she made didn't make her sister feel better, and Bella could feel that in her sister's aura. No jokes. This is serious. Got it. The young girl refrained from a sigh. She didn't want her sister to think she was sighing out of boredom. Just from the waves of anger mixed with sadness, was it?

Erika's quick retort about their mother made Bella smile a little. She figured that would be a reaction to her words. Neither of the girls were a fan of their mother at the moment anyway. Their eighteenth birthday had gone off without a hitch; no problems in becoming legal adults that could make their own decisions. It was grand feeling responsible for oneself for once. Not creepy? That was great. It only gave Bella a little relief.

So many things that Bella wanted to say about Ellen were bit back by her conscious telling her this was Erika's gut spilling time. They could bash Ellen later. Perhaps then it would be acceptable for Bella to say, I told you so. Repeatedly. "I'm glad. I worried about you and Ellen." She left it at that, because she didn't want to get her sister too riled up. However, Bella noted, it seemed she was already there.

Ellen always had that tendency to make people feel bad. Isabella knew this because she was often a target of this inadequate feeling when they were kids. Ellen was Erika's friend, but that didn't stop Bella from hating her. As a third party, she watched Ellen abuse Erika, then later abuse her power with Erika. But there was only so much one could convince people. And she decided that she didn't want to strain her relationship with her older sister just because of a bad relationship that Bella had nothing to do with. It wasn't worth it.

The uneasiness in Erika bubbled through Bella. She refrained from getting up and pacing herself. The mental wall she worked hard on was a little weak with Erika. Erika had mental powers as well, and being so close on an emotional level, Erika's emotions often slipped through her little sister's barrier. The point being, there was no use in throwing up a wall that couldn't barricade what the girl was throwing at her.

Now that the feelings for this guy was on the table, Bella could make a decision on what needed to be done. Age didn't really matter, if Erika truly liked him. It was the imposition of him being a teacher that was daunting. Bella stood up and walked to the edge of the bed where her sister sat. She grabbed her hand and focused on the girl. Isabella felt happy thoughts, and tried to transfer the happy thoughts to her sister. It was still a baby power. Really, she had only begun to master such a thing, and with Erika's mental power, she wasn't sure if it would work. After a few minutes she sat in the chair across from the bed again.

"If you like him so much, any implications that comes after that shouldn't worry you so badly. He should be worth the risks, if you are willing to go through so much trouble." It was really quite clear to Bella what should happen, but then she had never been put into such a situation before.

[Erika Conner (Bellefonte)]

Erika had on some level always known about her sister's disgust towards the blonde. And as much as she hated to admit it, she had brushed it off as it was nothing. Back then, things like that hadn't really concerned her, and she had been, quite frankly, a little afraid of Ellen. Which was probably the reason as for why it had taken her this long to finally stand up against her.

Erika remained silent, only offering her sister a smile at her comment before nodding. Well, all that was over with now, and Erika wasn't sure if there was ever any going back. She really doubted they would ever recover, and she was actually fine with that. It didn't seem like Ellen would ever manage to take any form of responsibility for her actions. She didn't have it in her anymore. She had become the monster people often viewed mutants as. She was the exception. She was everything everyone tried so hard not to become.

And... Erika sort of pitied her, though she somehow felt it was well deserved. Ellen had brought it upon herself from day one.

Bella's hands on her own had the brunette smiling, mouthing a 'thank you' as she felt her sister's feelings flow from her fingertips into her own, filling Erika's body with a warmer, happier feeling than before. But the second the connection was broken, as was the feelings.

''Yeah, I know,'' she paused and looked away, narrowing her eyes, ''But.. He doesn't think he deserves anything, you know. He's kind of...'' she stopped and shook her head, ''I really don't know what to think or what to do, Bella.'' Erika frowned and turned her attention towards the window, ''I think it's a lost cause you know. We're both so stubborn and he seems so set on... Ugh. It's a mess, it really is. And I'm scared. I'm scared of getting hurt and I'm scared I'll ruin his career. He doesn't deserve that.''

[Isabella Bellefonte]

The dramatic window gazing only added to the words falling from her sister's lips. It was a confusing situation. And Bella had never been in love, so she wasn't sure what she could offer that would actually help anything. She realized that was exactly what this sounded like, love. Why not point that out to Erika? "So you're in love with him? Because if I just had a crush on this guy I wouldn't be sure if he was worth my time and effort. But you seem pretty adamant on clinging to him."

Honestly? Erika was going from being in Ellen's grasp to falling for some guy. It was like she had to feel needed by someone. The whole thing happened rather quickly. Maybe that was why Erika was flailing and felt so overwhelmed: her life was shifting directions. That would be enough to make anyone doubt and stumble around in their emotions.

"Is he willing to take that chance? I know you care, but he's also an adult and can make his own decisions. If he wants to be with you, I'm sure he knows the risks involved. So I can only tell you to go for it, Erika. If you don't you'll wish you had. At least then you can say that it just didn't work out. You are afraid to try." The pot calling the kettle black. Bella refrained from a lot of things, because it was out of her comfort zone. However, this was not about her.. It was about Erika.

"Erika Rylie Bellefonte. We don't sulk. I want you to call him and tell him to take you to dinner. Do something. Obviously you are crazy about him. You just survived many years with insane Ellen, and you're scared of being happy with a guy?" Bella shook her head and sighed. "I knew there had to be some mental flaw in our powers." She cut her eyes over to her sister, and cracked a smile. The atmosphere was so tense and stressed. How did Bella even manage her sense of humor with Erika in this kind of mood?