Closed Relapse

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose couldn't believe it. She wouldn't. She'd soundproofed her studio room, and after the phone call she'd just gotten, it was a good thing. She'd done so much damage- smashing her guitars, the shelves, throwing sheet music everywhere and smashing a lamp. She'd screamed until she couldn't scream anymore, and now she was curled against the wall, angry tears soaking her face. He couldn't be dead. She was going to kill him. She was going to kill Sam. She didn't care what Lily thought, it was all that stupid, horrible girls fault, and Rose would never forgive her. Not ever. She was shaking, hurting more than she'd ever thought was even possible. "I hate you," She whispered to her brother, hands tangled in her hair. "I hate you," She tried to make it true, tried to force her anger at her brother, try to numb the pain, but it wasn't working. She should call Iris- but Rose couldn't bring herself to get up again.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris came home from her shift at the Inner Eye and immedaitely knew something was off. She wasn't sure what was wrong but she could feel something wasn't right as she looked around the empty house. Iris had learned to trust her gut feeling over the years, even if she didn't have the Sight as she had once hoped she had. She called out cautiously. "Rose?" And looked around for her girlfriend. When she finally opened the studio, a place Rose could often be found when she was working or just wanted to be alone, she let out a gasp. The whole place was trashed. At first, Iris thought they might have been robbed, but then she saw Rose curled up against a wall. Iris dropped her bag in the doorway and rushed to her side, dropping to her knees. "Rose!? What's wrong?" She asked, looking her over. "Are you hurt?"

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

-godmod approved-

Rose deflated completely when she heard Iris' voice, and immediately she leant into her girlfriend. "I hate him," She sobbed, clinging to the redhead. "I'm never going to forgive him, never," She couldn't get anymore out, just crying into Iris' neck. After who knew how long, Rose managed a little bit more. "Ren," She whispered. "He- a car- he's gone," She choked out, hands clutching so tightly at Iris' shirt that her knuckles had gone white.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris' heart was pounding and her mind was scrambling as she tried to make sense of Rose's words. Her girlfriend clung to her, and Iris wrapped her arms around her tightly as she strained to hear what she was saying. "Rose- what-" She said, uncomprehending for a moment. But then Rose's words started to make sense, and Iris felt her heart sink. "Oh, oh no..." She whispered, holding her.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose was shaking, her emotions wild and swirling in a mess she couldn't begin to hope to untangle. "It's her fault," She spat, voice laced with venom even as it broke in pain. "She left him- broke his heart- he would never have been there if she hadn't- if she-" Rose burrowed into Iris, gasping for breath. "I'll never forgive her," She swore, finding anger the easiest emotion to cling to.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris held her girlfriend tight as she tried to process the news she had just heard, the terrible loss Rose was now suffering. As she started speaking again, Iris had trouble following what she meant. It took her a moment, then she grimaced. She knew Ren's relationship had ended recently, and she understood that Rose's anger needed somewhere to go, but this felt unfair. She kept quiet, though, knowing she needed to vent these feelings. "I'm so sorry, Rose." She murmured.

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose shuddered, leaning heavily into Iris. After- well, who knew how long, she'd finally settled enough to try and pull herself together. She was still in so much pain she felt like she was crawling in her skin, like she was going to fly apart into a thousand pieces, but Iris being close helped- it was soothing, keeping her in something at least resembling a Rose-shaped person. She sat up a little, not moving too far away. "Um," She croaked, swallowing hard and trying again. "Do you think- could we go away for a bit? Just a week or two?" She peeked through her hair at Iris, knowing she must look awful and just hoping she wasn't shaking as badly as she thought she was. "I... I just want to be with you for a little while, without the rest of the world in the way. Somewhere we haven't gone before."

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris' mind was racing as she held Rose, trying tot hink of what she could do to help. But there wasn't anything she could really do, nothing could help this pain. Iris couldn't even really imagine it, if she was honest. The thought of losing Fleur or Lars was bad enough, but the idea of losing Emma was something she couldn't even think about without flinching. She looked at Rose as she spoke, reaching over to smooth her hair out of her face. She nodded. "I'll have to arrange things at work— but I'll figure something out," she said quietly. "Where do you want to go?"

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose leant heavily into Iris' touch, shutting her eyes and letting out a shuddering sigh. "I don't know," She murmured, biting her lip. She knew her face must be wet but she couldn't bring herself to pull away. "Maybe a beach somewhere- we can lounge about and I'll play you guitar and we can swim under the stars or something?" She tried to laugh, knowing it sounded choked, but she moved past it anyway. Still shaking Rose forced her way onto her feet. "I should... probably clean up," She murmured, looking around at the mess she'd made.

 

[Iris van Houten]

Iris brushed away another tear from Rose's cheek, listening closely to her words. She nodded. "We can do that," she said, mentally trying to calculate how soon she could realistically get some time off. She shook her head as Rose offered to clean. "I'll clean up, it'll be done inquickly with a few spells. You should rest."

 

[Rosalind Lockwood]

Rose gave a tired laugh, falling back down beside Iris. "You don't have to do that, I'm the one who wrecked it all," She rubbed at her eyes, feeling suddenly so weary she felt it in her soul. "Maybe we can just both go to bed, cuddle a while?" She offered instead, looking to Iris and hoping she didn't look as worn out as she felt. "I'll clean up later- I'd hate to make you clean up after I threw a fit and smashed my stuff."