"yes! yes, that's exactly what i -"

[break][break] he cuts himself off, agony twisting in his heart at the mention of how much he's hurting her. he knows he's hurting her and yet he can do nothing to stop it.

[break][break] it's just like that time. it's exactly like that time.

[break][break] 'no,' something in him shouts. 'it isn't. don't let it be.'

[break][break] "i just want you to be honest with me, like i'm being honest with you. i'm going to come back, pen, i'll make sure of it. i'm not leaving you - never again."

[break][break] "just trust me," he says, reaching for her. "trust that i want to come back. to you."

[break][break] he flashes a soft smile.

[break][break] "i said i'd wait forever for you, didn't i?"

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

She flinched at his touch.
[break][break]

It seared more than it comforted.
[break][break]

"And you said you would never hurt me. But then you did."

And now, years later, he was doing it again.
[break][break]

With one step backward, she furthered the aching gap between them, pulling herself away. Back toward the door. Back toward MATIAS SILPH. Back toward the peace of burying her head deep into the sand.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

"and you said you would never hurt me. but then you did."

[break][break] he flinched, like she'd hit him.

[break][break] she turned away from him and towards the door and it was like that day all over again — she was leaving him.

[break][break] immediately, his hand flashes out again to grab her wrist.

[break][break] "you broke up with me, remember?"

[break][break] his heart climbed into his throat.

[break][break] "and then you moved on."

[break][break] sure, he had broken her heart, but that didn't mean she didn't break his.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

Her body froze to his touch. Head tilted downward, bangs veiling shadows over her eyes, the woman kept her body twisted toward the door, never daring to make the mistake of turning back.
[break][break]

"What other choice did i have?!"
[break][break]

Her question came back as a roar. Guttural, raw, it was no different than a lion warding off a threat to existence.
[break][break]

"You made it clear that I wasn't enough for you."
[break][break]

willow atkins, kalos - it didn't matter how you looked at it. She wasn't enough to compare.

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

"i don't know! stay? try? pretend like you gave a shit about me or us?"

[break][break] his fingers close around her wrist, not willing to let her go. not like this.

[break][break] his gaze doesn't waver from hers. as her words cry out at him like a lion's roar, he has the resiliance of a tiger who has been through this storm more than countless times before.

[break][break] PENELOPE LIVY wields her anger like a weapon, but it's just a shield to protect from her innermost FEARS.

[break][break] the ones that she tries to hide under a councilwoman's facade.

[break][break] "you are enough, pen. you've always been enough - ! i - "

[break][break] he swallows, voice raw.

[break][break] "you were the love of my life, pen. how many times will you make me say it?"

[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

Her armor shuddered beneath the countless slings and arrows of his deep-cutting words. Still, she remained strong. Resilient against every attempt to tug at the facade that pressed further into her skin with each passing heartbreak.
[break][break]

"Then why go?! You told me -"
[break][break]

her breathing hitched, tears finally spilling. She'd been brought to the edge.
[break][break]

"You told me you wanted to see the world, but Ollie, you were my fucking world. I didn't need anything else. But you--"
[break][break]

You wanted everything I couldn't give.



[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

"i wanted to see the world - with you! you were everything to me. i just wanted to share the things i loved, with the person i loved - "

[break][break] his voice hitches when he sears the tears spring from her eyes.

[break][break] his mind reels back, knowing that this isn't the way he wanted the conversation to go. this isn't what he meant. this was what the old ollie would have said, arguing with her until the end of time.

[break][break] he swallows.

[break][break] "but, i fucked up then like i'm fucking up now."

[break][break] one hand reaches out, brushing the tears out of her eyes.

[break][break] "i didn't take what you wanted into consideration. i'm sorry, penny."

[break][break] 'i was reckless with your heart.'

[break][break] he'd taken it for granted.

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

He was reckless with her heart.
[break][break]

The tears seared the white of her eyes, pricking her skin until it grew taut and red. A rough tug of her arm dragged the back of her sleeves against its wetted edges, drying them almost immediately. They stained the cloth and left behind long, damp streaks.
[break][break]

"You know the worst part, ollie?"
[break][break]

A bitter, mirthless chuckle rumbled up her throat.
[break][break]

With raised shoulders and glassy eyes, she stared back at him, continuing, "All you had to do was stay. That's all I wanted."
[break][break]

A pause.
[break][break]

"But I can now see how impossible that is for you to do."
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]

pain swells in his eyes like a tide coming back to shore.

[break][break] "penny..."

[break][break] conflict tore a war in ollie's expression, wanting to make her tears stop. anything so she wouldn't cry again - especially at his expense.

[break][break] "can't you try and understand?" he said, voice thick in his throat. it warbled, nearly drawing to the torrent of emotions that he felt. "i don't have a choice here."

[break][break] 'she's my best friend! we're just friends!'

[break][break] willow atkins wasn't the real reason that they'd broken up.

[break][break] in the end it was...

[break][break] 'are you asking me to choose?'

[break][break] that they could never understand each other.

[break][break] they could never meet in the middle.

[break][break] ollie morales was a sun who refused to set, and PENELOPE LIVY was a fire that could only burn.

[attr="class","ooc"] PENELOPE LIVY [break]

"You always have a choice, ollie."
[break][break]

He had one back then, and he has one right now.
[break][break]

Nothing's changed - not him, not the situation, and certainly not the rupture tearing at her heart.
[break][break]

Without waiting a second longer, a curtain of fiery magma whipped around as spun back toward the door. It looked further than it had before, and yet, her legs still vibrated with movement.
[break][break]

Every step marked another hour on the clock; 1pm, 2pm, 3pm, and so on. Until sunset was imminent.
[break][break]

Her hand hovered over the door handle.
[break][break]

"Stay safe out there and come back alive."
[break][break]

6pm. 7pm.
[break][break]

The door shut close.
[break][break]

[attr="class","ooc"] ollie morales[break]


[attr="class","pkspr pkmn-ditto"]