The North Wing

Restoring a broken friendship
@mona

He couldn't do it any more. He had been trying to keep his distance from the Hufflepuff girl since the awkward night she had confessed her crush on him but... It didn't matter anymore. Whether or not she did, whether or not he was with Zoe anymore didn't matter when it came to this because she was struggling. The past few days he had noticed it all over her face. He had seen her sniffling in the hall between classes and pushing food around her plate at meals. The times she came to meals, anyhow. Their friendship might have come to a halt but his caring for her did not and he knew that he needed to be there for her. Better, worse, awkward or not. He needed to be.

There were a few placed he had thought to check but only one place he had figured she would likely be. Dima headed to the North Wing where they used to study in search of his estranged friend. And he found her. "Hey," he drew out quietly as he sat next to her. The sadness of her features made his heart feel heavy and but there was a relief in talking to her. It had been months.  Hell, he'd hardly spoken to anyone in a month. It was high time the silence between them was broken. "...How are you?"

How did she tell people, how did she make people understand what she was feeling? She had lost her entire world in less than four months and now she was alone. Sure, her father was there and her mother had been in contact, but she wasn't sure that she could do this alone anymore. Even Summer had been nice to her lately, which was rather scary if she was being honest with herself. She was probably looking a real sight if Summer was being nice. She wanted something that she could not have, and those that could make it better were pretty much gone too.

Nothing could change that now. She hated herself for what she had done, but... she had been honest about her feelings, but it had been too late. He would never choose her but with how things had been changing since then, she would give anything to just... have her best mate back. She was in the North wing, She was crying again, and she just wanted to hide. Exams were killing her, and she couldn't sleep. She was reaching the point of hallucinations when she swore she heard Dima speak. The seat on the couch moved and she raised her eyes to see the boy that meant so much to her. He asked her how she was, and she crumbled and threw her arms around his neck and immediately began to sob into his neck.

@mona

They had been friends long enough that he knew when things weren't right. He could sense something was off since she had returned from Spring Break but he had been dealing with his own brand of hell. Something told him that he still needed to keep his distance. Rumors would be flying about him and Zoe... Running straight to Mona would look bad. Especially to Zoe. Especially when he had told her what had happened. It hurt him to stay from her. There were so many times over the last month he had wanted to go break down to her about all the things happening in his life. But he had kept it together. She...she couldn't anymore, and he and everyone else could tell. He had even seen Summer hug her and that was the last thing he ever expected to see.

Seeing her hiding away was something he expected. She did it often, especially when others were cruel to her, and he knew just where to find her. The Hufflepuff girl hadn't even spoken and at this point he didn't think she even could. She crumbled around him and all he could do was wrap her up like he always did. "Vse normal'no. YA pryamo zdes'." Dima hugged her tightly, hoping all the comfort he had left in himself would somehow work into her. 

This hurt deeply, more than telling Dima good-bye ever could. She had known they were sick, she had known their time was limited but she didn't think it would happen this fast. She had not even had time to make her peace with them, or tell them that she loved them one last time. They were gone. They were really gone and her life would never be the same again. She would never be able to hear them cheer for her or see them when they picked her up off the train. That hurt, merlin's bollocks that hurt. She didn't want to let them go, and it happened at the worst time.

The last people who had been there for her were dead now, and she was so broken. He held her and she cried. Not just for her loss, but that he was there, that he was really there. She needed him, and this; it was relief that flooded her fully as she let him hold her and finally came down, rubbing her face with her hands but not breaking the hug yet, she would let him do that. Resting her head on his shoulder she closed her eyes and sighed. "Thank you, Dima..." She didn't know what else to say other than to sit there with him like that. Three months of no hugs, of no talks. Her best friend was right there and who knew how long it would be before they were like this again

@mona

Dima wasn't sure who needed this more: him or her. The relief that flooded over him told him that it was him, but he could feel her do the same. They needed each other in some weird way. Then again they always had. Ever since first year when they had met in Potions class. He had been shit for Potions, probably always would be, but he had always been a good friend to her. Up until recently, that was. And he could always count on her. Merlin only knows how many times he had wanted to go whine to her about his problems over the last month.

The hufflepuff girl stirred against his chest wiping away tears from her face but he didn't let her go. He wouldn't, not until she let go first. His mother's words cycled through his head, reminding him that the person who needed the hug should always be the first to break it. Not that he minded. It had been long enough and he had missed his friend. "You don't get to thank me," he retorted, giving her a playful squeeze. Dima rested his chin on her head as he spoke. "It's my job to make you feel better. I'm just sorry it took so long..." 

If there was ever anyone that Mona was sure that she needed to have in her life it would always be Dima and Winter. They were her best friends, they were the ones who helped to carry her burden, they held her close and kept her safe, they lifted her up when she needed it, but most importantly they made her feel like she was never alone, even when she was. Dima had been her friend first, and then Winter, both acting like guards from a girl who had changed and begun being kind now that she had lost everything. She didn't want him to let her go, but she knew how it could look and the last thing she wanted was to have rumors about this at the end of the year, despite the late hour.

He squeezed her and she laughed a little as she sniffled and the light hiccups faded. She rubbed at her face with her hand as she let him go and leaned back to where she had been sitting, but she didn't pull her knees to her chest like she wanted to. She turned towards him instead, unaware that she still had a hand on his arm before leaning to kiss his cheek in the same manner that she always had. "Well, we both know you have always been a stubborn old mule." She said before giving him a small smile, but it faded just as quickly as it had appeared. "Nanny and Papa are gone… They… They died, Dima."

@mona

It had been over three months since he had last talked to Ramona. The longest amount of time that he could actually recall ever not speaking to her since he met her. For a while he had thought that it was a necessary evil, even if it did bother him. She had confessed something to him and he didn't know what else to do. Aside from Zoe he had kept it to himself, though a lot of things started making sense about the snide remarks Summer would make about Mona. He wondered if he had been blind to it, like everyone else could see it except himself, but he didn't think so. Still, it had kept him from returning to their friendship even after the unfortunate events of Spring Break.

Dima had been so wound up in his own issues following Easter that he thought he should just keep his head down and focus on his own self. That was something he was used to, something he had done all his life. It was easier to be a disappointment on the inside than it was to put it out into the world and watch it come back in the eyes of someone you loved. All he could think about was how rushing back to his friend, a friend who his ex knew had feelings for him, could bring that look into Zoe's eyes. He didn't want that. As a matter of fact, he was avoiding that just as well as he was avoiding her. But when it came down to avoiding his friend he simply couldn't do it anymore.

"I wish I were as stubborn as a mule," he smiled weakly. It could certainly come across that he was stubborn at times. That he was unmovable about some things. The truth of the matter was that he was often unmovable because of his fear of disappointment. And today the fear of disappointing Mona by keeping away overwhelmed the fear of how this all might seem to anyone else. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry." His words fell solemnly as his eyes dropped with them. That was a heavy load to bare, and now... "What are you going to do?" She lived with her Grandparents last he knew. What would happen to her now?

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