Tori’s face fell immediately, she didn’t know how to explain this and now it seemed like she’d inadvertently upset her best friends. That’s what it seemed like, since neither of them were smiling. She blinked, stunned alittle by their reactions. Her excitement immediately dulled, and she felt like she might shrivel up, especially after Lilith calls her out on her promise. “It’s just one more term. That’s all. I just—there’s stuff I didn’t finish there. Not just with Stefan. Not because of Stefan.” Speaking to her mother had gone about as well as this too, she supposed. Her voice cracked a little, she couldn’t help it when she turned to look at Eoghan more directly. “You know that wasn’t the reason I left in the first place. You know I didn’t go there for a boy, I went because—” She took a moment to breathe, these are her best friends, she can explain it to them, she can tell them what she’s doing and they’ll understand right? She trusts them, she loves them, and that wasn’t going to change because she wanted to see how things went in one extra month, but she loved New Zealand, and Durmstrang was cold. She had to see this out and then she could come back refreshed. “Because I needed to figure out if I could do something hard. Alone. And I did. But… then I got offered something there, something for next term, and I did think about it, okay? And maybe part of me does want to see where things go with him, but that’s not all of it.” Maybe she’d started this off the wrong way.
She turned back to Lily then with her heart somewhere in the vicinity of her throat. “I haven’t told everyone yet. I wanted to tell you two first, because I thought… I hoped… you’d understand.” And she was sure they did, sure they would if she could only explain properly. They’d let communication problems nearly cause them issue before and she wasn’t about to let that happen for a second time. Never. Not with her two best friends in the whole world. “I’m not staying there forever. I promise. Just until the end of next term. Then I’m home. Back here. For good.” They didn’t have a Eoghan and a Lilith there and outside of Stefan and a couple of others she didn’t have that many friends there. Here she had Eoghan and Lilith and Susie and Nox and William and Jasper and… maybe Felix? She hoped Felix, and she hoped she could reconnect with Esme too. Things were so complicated, would they all hate her? She folded her arms over her chest a little, hugging herself in slight frustration. “I didn’t want it to feel like a betrayal,” she added, much softer, “but I guess I really messed that up, huh?” She wasn't going back on her word, she was just... extending it. Things had changed and she didn't want to make things worse, but she needed to understand something, and she felt like she needed to be in Durmstrang to do it. Just for a little bit longer.