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Post by Riley Neves on Sept 27, 2009 23:37:11 GMT -5
There it was. She didn't want him to pretend. And even if he was a completely opposite kind of guy now, he was still her best friend, for better or for worse.
" I know you're not," she said quietly. "No one expects you to be after what happened."
She didn't bother explaining to him that what he had gone through was terrible... He already knew that. Truth was, she didn't have anything to say to make it better. All she could do was be there and try to pick up the pieces.
"No one is asking you to be fine. You need to break down. Hell, embrace it. Be angry about it."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Sept 28, 2009 0:19:47 GMT -5
It was a very scary thing to admit that he was no longer the same person. And even more frightening to face the fact that he might never be that person again. It was almost like he had died in the attack and now he was this whole other person. And Riley had changed, too... He could feel it.
"I just wish things could be the way they were," he said. "I hate this, I hate myself, I hate being afraid... I want to go back to the person I used to be. But he's gone, and I don't think he's coming back. Why do things have to change? I feel like I don't know you anymore.... I don't even know myself."
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Post by Riley Neves on Sept 28, 2009 0:47:45 GMT -5
"I,m still me, Geoff. You still know me better than anyone else does, and even if everything else changes... That doesn't. And no matter who you've changed into... Deep down, you're still my best friend, and I still know you. Besides... It's life. People are always changing."
She moved in front of him again, sitting on the floor in front of him, her hands on his knees. She didn't want to seem threatening or anything.
"We'll make it through this, like we make it through everything else." She refused to take herself out of the equation, refused to remove herself from his healing process.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Sept 28, 2009 1:06:20 GMT -5
But things had changed between them. Roland had her heart now, and he knew her in ways that Geoffrey never would. If she had to make a choice, she would choose Roland. Of course she would. He wished that didn't bother him so much.
He looked at her quietly for a moment, trying to figure out hat to say to her. It didn't help to try and hurt her, so he didn't want to mention the third part of the equation.... Roland.
"How?" he asked at last. "How am I supposed to get through it? What do I do? I thought if I acted like my old self, it would come true, but it's not working... it feels like a mask that no longer fits. I'm so lost and I don't know what to do..."
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Post by Riley Neves on Dec 9, 2009 13:15:34 GMT -5
He may have been wrong about what choice she would make- only two people could make her make that choice, and they were Geoffrey and Roland. And whichever one of them was heartless enough to put her in that situation... if Roland asked her to choose, she would choose Geoffrey, and vice versa. Everyone else could go to hell.
She wished he never got mixed up in the whole thing. Roland kept telling her not to go to Geoffrey. He wasn't an Auror, he didn't have any kind of training to either withstand these curses or deal with the aftermath of them. But she didn't know who else to turn to, and she even tried... when it came time, she had chosen two Aurors to help her. But Geoffrey...
She sighed. It had been selfish of her, and she'd destroyed him in the process.
Riley took a deep breath. "You have to start doing things. Anything you want, anything that you make the choice to do. And when someone asks you to do something, you should say no. That's what they taught us."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Dec 20, 2009 15:25:42 GMT -5
There was a part of him, a selfish, wounded part, that almost wanted to make her choose between him and Roland. After all, when he'd been faced with a similar situation, he had chosen her over Alison. When he had thought Roland was dead and Riley was pregnant with his child, Geoffrey had immediately offered to marry her. He wanted to see her make that same sacrifice for him, just this once. Yet instinctively, he knew that would not happen. Roland was the one she would sacrifice herself for. And why shouldn't he be? She loved him.
He pushed these thoughts from his mind and looked at her, a lost look in his eyes. "It's easier to stay in here and hide," he said. "This house is so big... I don't ever have to leave if I don't want to."
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 3, 2010 23:37:14 GMT -5
The difference was that Riley never asked him to offer to marry her. She would have never asked him to sacrifice his relationship with Alison, and even told him no several times when he offered to marry her.
"If that's your choice, if that's what's going to make you feel empowered, then stay and hide." He didn't want to hear her tell him how it would be better for him to get out, or start doing things... deep down, he knew it. Hearing someone else reiterate it didn't help.
"I'm staying for a little bit, though. Do you want to do something? In here, I mean."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 13, 2010 17:05:46 GMT -5
He nodded. Although he knew instinctively that he should be talking to her, opening up and asking her for help, he didn’t want to. He was still confused and couldn’t sort out exactly what he was feeling or thinking. It was so much easier to push it all aside and distract himself from it all.
“We could play pool,” he suggested. “There’s a pool table downstairs. I should warn you though, I’m getting a lot of practice these days, and I’m getting to be pretty good.”
He smiled, but it was weak and empty, completely devoid of his usual charm and humor.
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Post by Riley Neves on Jan 13, 2010 18:04:13 GMT -5
"Well, fantastic. I'm horrible at pool... you know that."
Riley shrugged. She liked to pretend she was good at it when she was younger, but she'd never quite had the skill for it. Still, she liked to play, and she would have done anything at all the Geoffrey suggested. "Which means, you're either going to have to teach me, or go easy on me."
She stood up, holding her hand out to him. "Come on."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jan 13, 2010 22:45:48 GMT -5
It was easier this way. It was much easier to pretend to be interested ina game of pool than to sit her and try to talk about what his was going through. He needed her, desperately, but he didn't know how to ask her for help. He was used to being the one who helped her. But to admit that he needed her, that he was hurting... he didn't know how to do it.
He faked a grin and placed his hand in hers. "I'll take it easy on you," he promised.
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