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"Aw..." Glory cooed, seeing them cuddle, "they're so cute together." She grinned. Archie and Damon were cuddling like puppies, but her grin faded a bit when she saw a distinctly jealous look on Léan's face.
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Léan did indeed look jealous. He was jealous of almost everything about Archie. Archie had friends...he had a friendly, loving, permanent home--about two hundred miles away, of course--and he also had someone he could love and trust, for the rest of his life.
Léan had none of that. |
"Be happy for him," Glory said softly, nudging his shoulder. "Come on, it's the least you can do if you're going to keep being so cold all the time. Besides... if he can be happy, then you can too, you know?"
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Léan heaved a great sigh, pulling away a bit. "No. I don't deserve to be happy..."
He ducked under the water and swam away, out to deeper waters. Archie watched him, frowning. "I always make him jealous...he's never had a lot...I have a home, friends...I have Damon, too. Plus, our father was ten times nastier to him than he was to me. As a result of all these things, he thinks I'm better than he is." |
And with that, Glory's good mood vanished.
"Well, then," she said softly, "if he thinks he has no friends, then obviously I don't mean a thing to him." Turning, she started heading back to shore. "I'm going back inside. I need to take care of my sunburn again." Wish that, she pushed off of the rocks and went back to the beach. Nana had gone inside a while earlier, so Glory just picked up her jacket where it was left on the beach and made her way to the cottage. |
Archie pouted. Léan's bad self-esteem always reared its ugly head only when he was close to accomplishing something. He hugged Damon and then went off to talk to his brooding brother.
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Glory didn't even greet her grandmother as she went into the cottage, fuming. All of that time she was spending with him, trying to coax him into at least smiling, and he couldn't even bother to acknowledge her as a friend? Well, he could just keep pining over that Selena girl, for all she cared...
Storming into her room, she slammed the door closed and changed into dry clothes, throwing the wet ones to the floor. Ignoring the burning on her shoulders, she threw herself onto her bed, trying not to think about the gnawing ache in her heart. |
It took Archie over an hour to calm Léan down. He knew Léan was terribly afraid of messing up...he could understand that. He swam back up to shore, with him in tow, and grudgingly tried to get Glory back out, slapping his tail against the rocks, calling her name.
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Sighing, Glory sat up on her bed when she heard her name being called. Going over to her window that overlooked the shore, she opened the shutters. She could see two blonde heads poking up from behind the rocks.
"What?" she called back shortly, still annoyed. |
Seeing as Léan had his head down, Archie made sure she could see him and mouthed 'Now is your chance. He has self-esteem issues, if you didn't already guess. He thinks everyone sees him as inferior, and he's having a hard time admitting that you don't see him that way. He's crying. If you can calm him down, now...he will trust you. Please?'
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Sighing softly, Glory left the shutters open and left her room to go back out to the beach. Walking over to the rocks, she sat down softly and motioned for Archie to leave. Once he was gone, she turned to Léan.
"Come sit with me and tell me what's wrong," she said softly. |
Léan was quiet, head hanging. It seemed like he was indeed crying, or just getting over crying.
As instructed, he crawled up onto the rocks to sit with her, dripping wet and looking like a kicked puppy. He didn't know what to say, so he just sat there, hanging his head and looking sad. "I...I don't know..." |
Glory scooted over so she was next to him. Leaning over, she gave him a hug, not really caring that her shirt was getting wet.
"Just talk," she said softly. "It doesn't matter what you say. Maybe you'll stumble across what's bothering you as you go." |
Léan sighed, staring off into space for a moment.
"I am sorry. I tend to abruptly lose confidence in things and have outbursts such as that...I have very low self-esteem. I tend to think I don't have the ability to make friends or keep them...or anything above or beyond that...it's frustrating. But I can't seem to shake it off." |
"You just need a little practice, that's all," Glory replied softly. She didn't let go of him, although she wasn't hanging on all that tightly, so he could get away if he wanted to. "Look how well you're doing already."
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Léan nodded slowly, leaning a bit. "It's something I have to live with...and it's an awful thing, indeed...but...I will be fine, as long as someone is there to bring me back to my senses."
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Glory let him lean on her without a second thought.
"You just have to keep in mind, I can't follow you with you dive like that," she said. "I wish I could... but I can't." |
Léan nodded, eyes downcast. He seemed to be feeling a little better, now, but he still looked like he was crying, or going to cry very soon.
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Glory could tell something was still bothering him and hugged him again.
"Something is still on your mind," she said. It wasn't a question. "Tell me what's bothering you?" |
"I'm just tired...and confused..." Léan murmured, closing his eyes. "I don't know what to think anymore. I feel peculiar and I don't know why..."
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"What are you confused about?" Glory asked, genuinely curious. She was trying to make him feel better, and she couldn't do that if she didn't know what was going on in his head.
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Léan shook his head. "I'm confused about...whatever I'm confused about...and I can't figure out what it is...at all. I just know it's eating away at me. I will be fine, though. I feel better. In time, I will figure it out."
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"Well, if you need to talk about it at all, let me know," Glory said. "Are you sure you're feeling better? Or are you just saying that to get me to back off?"
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"I feel better," Léan assured her, nodding and closing his eyes. He hadn't moved, yet, and was still leaning on her.
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"I'm glad you're feeling better, then," Glory replied, letting him lean on her. She didn't mind... She hadn't been lying when she said he was comfy to hug, and it wasn't like any part of him was digging into her. Looking out over the water, she grinned. "Seems like we're out here at the right time... We have a perfect view of the sunset."
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