We Can't Help It

[Alexandra Lawson]

The twins slipping through the doorway and out of sight brought little relief to Alex. She just stood off to the side, in the corner of her room, staring at the door for a long while. She didn't understand fully what had happened or how everything had escalated so quickly. Was she really in the wrong? Had she been blinded by her young, budding relationship and neglected her friends? Alex didn't think so but the way the twins reacted had shaken her deeply.

The tears flowed freely now as she sunk down onto her bed. The words Jasper had spoken and the tone he had taken with her made her doubt so much of herself. His suddenly furious disposition had frightened and hurt her in a way only someone she'd opened herself up to in some way possibly could. She reached out and grabbed the Umbreon plushie that had been a gift from its usual spot at the corner of her bed and brought it into her as she curled up around it. Everything had blown up so quickly and it left her confused and distressed. She had never meant to hurt anyone, let alone her friends. With a soft sobbing a hand reached out, groping for the edge of the comforter on her bed and she pulled it over her. Curling up into a ball, the soft Umbreon toy clutched to her chest, Alex buried her face in her pillow and wished like hell she had a clue what had happened and how to fix it.

[Casper & Jasper Emory]

The siblings waited outside of Alex's dorm room, waiting and even expecting that she would be out to come after them at any moment. They both though that she cared about them but as the time passed that feeling started to go away more and more. The siblings were not all that patience, but they actually waited almost twenty minutes for Alex to come out after them. It was near the twenty minute mark that Casper notices that his brother had started to cry a little. This was what he was worried about, and could not help but to feel a mix of sadness and anger.

"Hey, it's okay. Let’s go get a snack and just relax a little with some card tricks." Casper said as he moved to pull his brother close for a hug. Jasper didn't hesitate to hug his brother tightly as he buried his head into his shoulder. "I thought...she would come. That she was...different." Jasper said between some sniffles. "I know...me too. But we can't keep standing out here like idiots." Casper said, quickly rubbing at his own face to keep from letting himself cry. If he cried, then there was going to be no way to calm his brother down. Jasper didn't say anything and just nodded his head. With the sad conclusion that Alex was just like the rest that dealt with them, the siblings moved off to go back to their room.

There Jasper would do a bit more crying with Casper doing his best to not cry as well as he tried to calm his brother down. They would get better after some snacks and showing off to one another a few magic tricks. They missed...something. They didn't know what they missed but they wanted to go back to how things were before they had to deal with this pain.