"It's nice to see you have friends who visit you regularly," Leah said, "I mean, it's good that you have that support system."
Leah knew Mel had friends, of course - after all, she'd been recommended to Leah thanks to Emma - but she felt it necessary to reiterate that very fact back to Melanie regularly to remind her that her efforts at betterment weren't only for herself but also a positive thing for those around her. Melanie shrugged and bit her lower lip. "I guess," she said, "It's nice to see Gus. It's just lonely here without them. I mean...I'm scared to befriend anyone here because I'm worried if they aren't getting better, they'll pull me back down with them, you know? Is that wrong?" "Not at all, you're here to help yourself, and that's a perfectly valid reason to stay away from people. Some people, unfortunately, don't get better. It's just a fact, it's not a judgement," Leah said, crossing her legs, "but for what it's worth, I'm proud of you, the efforts you're making and the strides you've made. You've come a very long way since we met, and since the storm especially." Mel groaned. She didn't like thinking about that night in particular. She shifted in her chair and glanced to the window, overlooking the garden with the fountain, and saw the very same woman who had peeked into her bedroom. She was sitting on the lip of the fountain, creating a flower crown. She had long curly golden red hair and she seemed to be almost...totally at peace? Mel finally came back to reality after a moment and looked back at Leah. "Are we done?" Mel asked, and Leah, surprised at the abruptness of the session, simply nodded. After Melanie was let out, she headed straight for the garden area, but when she finally arrived at the fountain, the woman was gone, She sighed, threw her arms up in frustration and continued walking. As she headed down the path, past various other residents of the home, she then heard humming from a nearby little pond (extremely small and shallow, to keep residents from attempting to drown themselves), and saw the woman sitting there, throwing sunflowers into the water for the ducks. Melanie straightened her hair, then continued towards her. "Hello?" she asked, as she approached, and the woman looked up, smiling. "Hello," she said. "I saw you through the window, I saw you making a flower crown." The woman grinned and raised her hands to her head, touching the flower crown that now sat atop her head. "I am the fairy queen, and as such, I require the most beautiful headgear," she said, making Melanie chuckle; the woman then gently patted the little stones she was sitting on and said, "Please, sit with me, I like company." Melanie seated herself and took some sunflower seeds for herself, eating some and tossing the remainders into the pond. "What's your name? I'm Melanie," Mel said. "I'm Amelia," the woman said, "Isn't it just beautiful here? It's so pretty and relaxing it makes me never want to leave, especially when you're reminded of just how ugly and cold the real world outside these walls is." "It's very charming, I admit," Mel said, "...so why are you here?" Amelia smiled warmly, making Mel feel strange, before shrugging and saying, "we all know why we're here. Because we can't be out there." *** Gus stood in front of his bathroom mirror, shaving, when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him from behind and he could immediately smell Bea. He laughed as she squeezed him, before she took her clothes off, climbed into the shower and started the water. Gus continued shaving carefully, thinking about the last time he'd run into Jeremy in the park, and the way he and Leaf had reacted to one another. "Tell me I'm being overly concerned," Gus finally said, "Tell me I'm just being a dad." "You're totally being a dad," Bea said, "There's no denying that, but I also can't deny the fact that the guy skeeves me out just as much as h does you." "Something about the way she acts around him makes me uncomfortable, like she's walking on eggshells," Gus said, "Like...like she's afraid to even talk around him. I don't know, maybe I'm paranoid. Maybe everything is fine. She's becoming a teenager, there's certainly room for general awkwardness." "But she's not awkward around us," Bea said from the shower, "I mean, even around you, and you're her dad. Pre-pubescent girls are notoriously awkward around their dads." Gus tapped his razor on the sink edge, ran his hand over his face and looked to the shower. "Were you awkward around your dad?" he asked, and the door slid open as Bea peaked out. "Are you kidding? I'm STILL awkward around my dad," Bea said, laughing, "Now, get naked and get in here with me." Gus grinned. That was an offer he couldn't refuse. *** "Your family has been coming in for therapy?" Amelia asked, surprised. "Yeah, they support me, they wanna see me get better," Mel said, "Is that...surprising?" "I don't know, I don't have any family, so I guess I'm just surprised whenever anyones family is supportive because I'm not entirely sure what family is supposed to be like," Amelia said, picking at her flower crown as she added, "but it's nice to know that some people are loved, and have that support. It means the world isn't as cold and careless as I was led to believe." Melanie wanted to ask why she had no family, but she decided against pushing the issue. Instead she cleared her throat and looked back towards the ducks in the pond beside them. Amelia really wasn't at all how she'd expected her to be. She'd expected her to be...well...crazy, to use an outdated term. To be raving mad. Instead, she was coherent and well versed. This didn't make sense, because most of the people Melanie had come into contact with here thus far had been of the unwell variety, but Amelia...she seemed like she could walk right out of here if she wanted. "I appreciate them, it's true," Mel said after a few moments, picking at her nails, "but their support for me doesn't mean the world isn't cold and careless. Take it from someone who's been through hell in the last few years...life is very cold and cruel, and if anything, that level of support - while worthwhile - actually may at times do more harm than good, as it shelters us from the reality of life. It makes us think life is nothing but abject happiness, when in reality, life is often nothing but unfair cruelty a lot of the time...not to sound, ya know, all depressing about it or whatever." Amelia threw her head back and laughed, which in turn made Melanie feel better. She was afraid that perhaps her perspective would sour this potential new friendship. "Well, thank you for being so blunt about it," Amelia said, "It's good to know I'm not the only one with a pseudo bleak outlook on everything." Melanie smiled again. Maybe friendship here was possible, but only if she let it be. *** "See, now this guy is an asshole," Bea said, as she laid on Gus's couch, her legs across his lap while she ate an ice cream sandwich and pointed accusingly towards the television; "he's talking about how much these antiques are going for when he's dressed like a goddamn snake oil salesman from the twenties! The absolute audacity of a man who wears a bowtie and loafers to tell me what my antiquities are worth when he don't know shit about taste." Gus shook his head and bit into his own ice cream sandwich as he said, "I love you, I hope you know that." Just then the phone rang. Gus reached to his side to the table by the couch, hitting one end with his fist so it popped off the base and he caught it in his hand. He then lifted the receiver to his ear. "Hello?" he asked. "Dad?" "Leaf? What's going on?" Gus asked. "Can I come over?" Gus hesitated, but only because he was surprised. He ushered Bea off his lap and stood up. "Yeah, of course, you know you're welcome here anytime," he said, "What...what's up?" "Okay. I'm gonna ride my bike. I'll be there soon," she said. Before she hung up, Gus could hear shouting in the background, and he simply shook his head then dumped the phone back to the base and sighed, pacing, rubbing his forehead as Bea sat upright on the couch, finishing her ice cream sandwich and licking her fingers clean. "Wassup?" she asked, mouth still half full of ice cream sandwich. "That was Leaf, she's riding her bike over here," Gus said, "I think I heard shouting in the background. I think there's something really shitty going on over there. I...I wanna do something to fix this but I don't know what I can do." "You can give your daughter a safe place to escape to, like you are. Your ex wife is a grown woman who can handle herself," Bea said, standing up and approaching him, putting her hands on his arms, "you don't have to rush to her rescue, believe me. From the things you've told me about that lady, she's...she's scary, but I'm telling you that your main concern right now is to your child, not your ex." Gus nodded and cautiously placed his head on her collarbone. Bea smiled and held him, gently stroking his hair. "I just don't wanna see her get hurt again," Gus whispered, "I already hurt her once, by accident, and I think she deserves better now." "That's noble of you," Bea replied, "but right now your daughter needs a safe place to live and clearly home isn't it, so let this be a home to her too." When Leaf finally showed up, she was quiet and didn't want to discuss things. Gus ordered in whatever she wanted, and he even took the three of them out to get movies before settling back in for the night. Once Gus was asleep on the couch, Bea offered Leaf to follow her onto his balcony, and together they sat there and Bea lit up a cigarette while Leaf chewed gum. "So what's going on? Your dad's all flustered and, funny as it is to watch, it makes me concerned for you," Bea asked. "Jeremy's weird. Sometimes he's a totally nice guy, but most of the time he just...goes off about anything to anyone," Leaf said, "he scares me. I've started locking my bedroom door at night because I just don't trust him to not come in and smother me in my sleep with my pillow, or...or worse." That got Bea's attention. "What do you mean 'or worse'??" she asked, "Do you have some reason to believe he'd do you harm of some kind?" "...a few weeks ago, when I was with my mom doing errands, I saw him with another girl. She...she didn't look my age, but she also didn't look much older. Maybe late high school? I don't know, I'm bad at gauging that sort of thing. I didn't say anything to my mom, and as far as I know he didn't see me, but...ever since then, it's made me worried he might do something to me. Now I just try and spend as much time out of the house as possible, but I feel bad leaving mom there alone." Bea reached over and started rubbing Leaf's back, which calmed her down. "...I like you and everything, but sometimes I wish mom and dad hadn't separated," she said. "I understand, and I don't blame you," Bea said, "Cool as I am, I'm certainly no replacement for your actual mom. But at least you know you can come here when things get weird there, and we'll always protect, you okay? You don't have to worry about bothering us or asking for too much, because that's what we're here for. Your dad loves you so much, an by extension, so do I." Leaf smiled and put her head on Bea's shoulder as Bea continued to smoke with one hand and rub Leaf's back with the other. "People need to be there for eachother. Take it from me, as someone who grew up with not a lot of great adult influences in my life, I wanna help in any way I can. You just tell me whose ass to kick, and I'll kick it." Leaf laughed, which made Bea feel good. That made her realize she was making Leaf feel safe, and that made her feel good. "I promise," Leaf said, "When the time comes, I'll let you know." *** Mel and Amelia had come inside once it had gotten dark - as was the rule for people in the home - and were now set up in the lounge area, just doing art and sketches and coloring pages. It was said to relax you, but Melanie never really got that feeling from it, but Amelia seemed to be enjoying herself, so that was nice. "Do you ever think about what you might do when you leave?" Mel asked, "I wrack my brain constantly but can never seem to come up with anything other than resuming my old life but, ya know, less hysterically." "Seems like a fair enough idea," Amelia said, picking up a new marker and coloring something, "but no, I really don't. I honestly don't know that I'll ever leave. I feel safest here, and I'm afraid of what I might do if I leave." This surprised Melanie enough to make her look up from her arts and crafts project, jaw slightly ajar. "Really? You can afford to stay here indefinitely?" she asked. "Yes, but that's not really the issue," Amelia said, "like I said, I'm afraid of what I'd do if I left. I think sometimes some people just...can't function out in the world, and I'm one of those people. Sad as it may sound, it's the way it is. But at least in here, I'll always be the fairy queen," she finished, smiling and touching her flower crown once again before yawning, stretching and adding, "I think I'm gonna go to bed. I'll see you at breakfast." As she stood up, she slid the paper she was working on across the table to Melanie and patted her on the head, then headed out the lounge area and to her room. Mel turned the paper around and looked at it, blushing as she saw a very childlike drawing of the two of them together in a field of flowers. Melanie then took the drawing back with her to her own room, taped it to the wall over her bed and laid down. She pulled the storybook that Darren had brought her out from under her bed and cracked it open, reading, and thinking about this new friend. While the statement she had made about potentially never leaving made her somewhat sad, Melanie wanted to do what she could for this new friend. The way she saw it, everyone had been there for her when she'd been at her lowest, and maybe Amelia was Melanie's chance to do the same for her. It was, after all, a princesses duty to give back to her community.
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Royally Screwed follows 24 year old Melanie Irres, an average young woman...who legitimately believes she's a princess. Archives
July 2023
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