I hate to say 'I told you so' [Attn: Aero]

[Paige Guthrie]

Paige was not the kind of girl who often paid attention to gossip and rumors, finding them to be, in general, the product of idle minds. Her mind, on the other hand, was very rarely idle and therefore had no room for that sort of garbage. Today was a special circumstance though, as she had heard her little sister's name attached to some of that gossip. While she barely tolerated her siblings (at least on the surface) she had absolutely no tolerance at all when it came to other people talking about them. So Paige had marched her skinny little butt over to the gaggle of girlies and demanded to know what they were talking about.

What she had learned was that her darling baby sister was no longer dating Julian Keller, something Paige herself looked on with more than a little favor. It wasn't exactly a secret that she disliked the telekinetic, after all. Who broke up with who was apparently unclear at this point in time, at least to the group that had served as her informants in the matter, but in the end that wouldn't really matter much. She did rather hope that Julian had broken up with Mel, since it would give her a reason to deck him...something she'd been dying to do practically from the first moment she met him. Her sister wouldn't want her to do such a thing, of course, but Mel could be a bit of a softie unless her buttons were really pushed. The complete opposite of Paige herself, obviously.

Now on her way towards Mel's dorm room, the Kentucky metamorph wondered briefly about her sibling's mental state. She supposed it really depended on just how attached she had become to Julian -- although how she could possibly have gotten even the least bit attached was beyond Paige's ability to fathom. That girl was just so strange sometimes. Stopping outside her door, Paige sighed briefly and shook her head a little. She really shouldn't judge Mel's relationships, but when it was with someone who was just so...irritating...she found it hard not to. And it might, might have something to do with the fact that she was the protective big sister. Maybe. A little bit. "Mel? I know you're in there." Not strictly the truth, and boy would she feel dumb if she wasn't. "Open up."

[Melody Guthrie]

The beautiful girl lay, desolate on her bed; completely alone. He’d left her, no warning, nothing. It was as if the fears she’d been having had flourished and this was the climax of a tale too confusing to tell. Recently, her feelings had been conflicted to say the least. Things with Julian had been going wonderfully, they laughed together, ate together, slept together; not always following sexual encounters, just for comfort. As amazing as things had been, they’d begun to diminish. Insecurities invaded her head, guilt over his previous relationship with Sofia had taken over her life. She’d been avoiding him, avoiding the physical closeness they always shared. Every time she looked at him, she saw the other flier’s grief stricken face, an image that was leaving her tired and agitated.

She thought back to the first time she had such a thought, not long ago, outside with the Cuckoos present. They’d violated her for all intents and purposes. They were vile, any good Melody had struggled to find in them, lost. One time, one time she had let her emotions get the best of her, and they capitalized. She should have known better, she had no right to be sitting her crying, moping around when she had allowed this to happen. Regardless as to whether she had a right to be laying around crying or not, the fact of the matter at the moment was that this was this exact position she found herself in.

Yesterday her world had been turned around by a visit from him. Julian that is, Hellion himself. The handsome Psi that had stolen the brunette’s affections from their first meeting all of those months ago in the Danger Room. The progression of their relationship from one of playful flirting, to hooking up following the Chimera virus, and the months after were filled with memories of the two of them. Now, that was all she had. He was gone, back to California for school. She couldn’t understand it, and as she sat listening to him yesterday, her mind was racing. To the younger of the two, she couldn’t see why he would leave Xavier’s, why he would leave her. He had though, he’d packed up and flown off yesterday back to the Golden State. Their lips had met as he promised to return, but the idea that he would be returning was of no comfort. She had looked up at his perfect face, tears streaming down her own, as she told him that they were through.

He’d told her that wasn’t necessary, that they could work things out. She could visit him, he could visit her, but the distance for the girl was too hard. That’s what she had told him at least. Her husky voice, deepened from crying, told him that phone calls and occasional visits wouldn’t be enough. The truth though was that she wanted him to be happy, something she knew he would be at school. Disregarding her own feelings, she urged him to go, told him to leave and forget about her. Regret filled her as she thought back to the past few weeks. The relationship had taken a beating thanks to an outside force of Three-in-One. In a way, maybe that made his decision even the slightest bit easier. Her only hope was that he would truly be content in California, and that she hadn’t sacrificed their bond for nothing.

She hadn’t eaten since their talk, hadn’t spoken to anyone, hadn’t left her room. She’d drawn the shade to a close, and changed into the sweatshirt he had left in her room. Okay, it was the sweatshirt she had stolen from him one night when she had complained she was cold. That wasn’t unusual though, she was commonly chilly, but now she couldn’t tell what she felt. She was just…numb. Everything in her room reminded her of him, and his scent still resounded in both the sweatshirt and on the pillow he used as they would lay together on her bed. She didn’t expect it to hurt this much, for her heart to feel as if it had literally been ripped out of her chest. Hell, it hurt to breathe and she felt like a walking, or rather lying, cliché.

It wasn’t just Julian’s departure that had her in this mood though, there was more. Guilt nagged at her in the form of her friendship with John. The boy who no one had let in, who no one had trusted, Melody had. She did. It was no secret that Julian and John held contempt for each other, and with Julian gone now, she couldn’t help but feel that John would actually be happy about that. The camping trip had been good for their friendship, as they had grown closer. She couldn’t deny the growing attraction she’d been feeling for the pyrokinetic, specifically when she and the blue-eyed boyfriend were having issues. Now, she didn’t know if she could look at him without feeling awful about the way she had been treating her noe ex-boyfriend.

God, when had her simple little Kentucky-raised self gotten into such a mess? This wasn’t what she wanted, to be crying over a boy, feeling guilt over another, and avoiding everything and everyone. The stunning brunette, face fresh of make-up, lifted herself from the bed, moving to the window and raising the shade. The sun was setting and she was aware that she had spent over 24 hours in this state. She didn’t care though. Anything was better than going into the halls and facing the peers she was sure would heckle her. Those that had been jealous of the relationship she had with Julian, those who just plain disapproved, those who would pity her. She knew there would be rumors, there were always rumors, but that didn’t mean she was ready to face them. Most kids in school could at least escape for the weekend, but not here. She didn’t have the money to fly home to visit the rest of her family, and with the school just rebuilding the net of safety that surrounded it; it wasn’t safe to venture out alone.

She just wished there was someone she could talk to. Death Cab for Cutie’s Transatlanticism rang throughout the room. Ben Gibbard’s voice almost bringing her to tears once again.

The Atlantic was born today and I'll tell you how...
The clouds above opened up and let it out.

The wounded pleading of his tenor crushed the girl. His repeated declaration of needing this person so much closer, just bringing her thoughts back to Julian. She was an idiot, she had thrown away what they had without so much as a fight. She needed him, and she wanted him to need her back. Right now though, what he needed was the California sunshine and a tan.

"Mel? I know you're in there. Open up."

Her older sister’s voice reverberated through the closed door. When she had said she wished there was someone she could talk to, she hadn’t thought of her sister. Paige had despised Julian for as long as Melody could remember, and made such known constantly. Inhaling deeply, she made her way to the door. Her anger at her sister was overtaking her, the lack of support she had shown her sister’s relationship filling the younger’s senses. Striding to the door, she unlocked it, before pulling it open with exceeding force. As her hazel eyes locked with the blue of her sister’s, a sneer was hard to repress.

”Go ahead. Say it! Ya know ya wanna.” Her jaw was locked tightly, her stance combative. If Paige was here to gloat, she had another thing coming.

[Paige Guthrie]

When she was busy sulking, as Paige was sure she was, Melody Guthrie could out-emo any emo kid who dared to challenge her. Knowing this facet of her sibling's personality, the blonde had expected to be banging on the door for at least ten or twenty minutes before she gained admittance. It was a given, and she intended to use the time to squash those things that desired most to find their way out her mouth: criticism of Julian. No matter how much she thought he deserved it, Mel wouldn't want to hear it at just this juncture, especially since Paige had been harping on the same things over and over again from the start of their relationship, even before it was actually a relationship. She had intended to bury the urge to say 'I told you so' so far down it'd never see the light of day again.

"Go ahead. Say it! Ya know ya wanna."

"Ah told ya he was an ass, but ya never listen." Strangely Mel swung the door open barely seconds after Paige had spoken, robbing her of the opportunity to prepare herself, and thus the very words she had meant to suppress popped out as soon as the brunette told her to speak them. At least they were without her usual scorn for the boy, just a simple statement of fact as opposed to the typical condemnation. Mel should be grateful for small favors. Besides, she asked for it, the silly girl, and she ought to know Paige well enough to know she'd quite bluntly do what was desired of her in cases such as these. Someone had to be the cool head of logic.

A brow rose slightly as her sister's aggressive posture and tight features were glanced over, not having expected such anger to be present. It wasn't normally this way when Mel was upset about something -- Paige was the one who bypassed crying and went straight to yelling at anyone who crossed her path. But then, looking closer, it seemed that the younger Guthrie hadn't skipped crying at all. In fact, if the reddened eyes and the still-wet tracks on her cheeks were to be believed she'd spent no short amount of time weeping, and had possibly been doing so right up until a moment or two ago. Which meant that this anger was specifically provoked for Paige's benefit, and it wasn't hard to figure out why. Mel was a sweetie until her buttons were pushed properly, and every time the blonde had insulted Julian the other girl had borne it without much in the way of comment. Obviously whatever had happened between she and Hellion had put an end to her tolerance. Great. Just when she was trying to swallow her judgments and be a good sister.

She could still do that, though...it'd just be a little more difficult to begin.

First things first. The tears. A frown replaced her look of mingled surprise and understanding, and her hands dropped from where they'd been folded across her chest in anticipation of a bit of a wait. One hung loosely at her side, but the other lifted to cup Mel's chin up slightly so that the tangible remains of her sorrow clearly caught the light. Her frown deepened. "You been cryin'." Stating the obvious, of course. "How long?" Letting her hand drop, she attempted to take the other girl by the shoulders and steer her back to a seat on the bed, closing the door behind her. While she didn't participate in the rumor mill herself, she was all too aware of how many other did. Her sister's pain was not going to be the next thing the little leeches latched onto. Not if Paige had her way. "An' do you wanna talk about it?" After Mel had exhausted her (slightly) misplaced anger, anyway.

[Melody Guthrie]

The younger girl was quite surprised to be reacting this way. Her siblings had always known her as the most sensitive of the lot, the smallest things sending her into fits of tears. Those tears would gradually morph back into dimpled smiles that reached her hazel eyes, and all would be right. Now though, standing here, an arm gripping the door knob still, she looked upon her older sister with contempt. Deep within herself, Melody wished beyond hope that she could talk about things Paige, the girls were relatively close in age; this should have been a time for the two to really talk about everything. In a perfect world, Paige would hold Mel as she wept and whisper soothing words in her hair, comforting her. This however, was not a perfect world, and the blonde was anything but sweet.

"Ah told ya he was an ass, but ya never listen."

A cold, dry laugh escaped the brunette’s lips, the bitterness unmistakable. Only her sister would have the audacity to come to her room and make her feel even worse about the situation. “Ya know, usually when people tell anotha person ta do somethin’ they don’t really do it. I should’a known betta with you though.” Shaking her head, she knew not what else to say. It was true, most people would just apologize and try to console the wounded girl before them, but not Husk. No, this girl was far from ordinary and that wasn’t even including her mutation. Her skin-shedding ability was definitely different, but it wasn’t what set her apart from the rest of the lot. She spoke her mind with no apologies, she said what she thought, and she meant what she said. Nothing held her back, not even the tear-stained face of her beautiful sister.

Melody wished that she could just have their mother with her at the moment. Lucinda Guthrie would know exactly how to mend her daughter’s broken heart. After Thomas Guthrie’s death, it had taken a while for her mother to really live again, and he had been the love of her life. Surely, at this very moment, she’d be able to fix her darling daughter in no time. Alas, she was nowhere to be seen at the present moment, instead she was nearly one thousand miles away in Kentucky. Therefore, that left the hazel-eyed girl with her elder sister, and she supposed that was something, even if she weren’t going to be helping all that much, what with her negativity towards Julian. Her face was downcast now, and she felt a hand upon her chin, forcing her to look up.

"You been cryin'."

She had perfected the art of the eye roll and executed it perfectly at this very moment. Her sister was ever the perceptive one, no? “Me? Nah, I just thought ah’d see if ah could bring the whole puffy-eyed look back.” Her cynicism was actually quite good, maybe her sister hadn’t inherited all of the snarkiness in the Guthrie blood. “‘Course I been cryin.’ Ya think ah like lookin’ like this?” The smartass act work was working surprisingly well for the younger of the two sisters. Who’d have thought she had it in her?

"How long?"

Her eyes darted to her sister’s stormy, blue orbs. A slight look of confusion flashed across her porcelain-like features, before she could respond. Was her sister actually concerned? She’d have thought the sole purpose for her little unexpected visit was to torment the shorter girl. Melody’s voice, softer now, yet still hoarse from lament now held a regretful tone. “Ah don’t really know; a while?” The fact of the matter was that she knew exactly how long she had been crying for, since the moment Julian closed her dorm room door the previous day. For a moment, Aero was upset with herself for allowing her walls to be broken down so quickly, but family had that affect on her. Sadly, they held a power over her that she had no control of.

"An' do you wanna talk about it?"

Her forehead wrinkled in perplexity, an eyebrow raised slowly. She contemplated the offer briefly as the two moved to sit on Melody’s bed. One thing the flier knew for certain was that she could trust her sister, and that one fact alone made her decision for her. With little hesitation, her head nodded sullenly. “Ya gotta promise me though; no judgments. Ah really just need my big sista right now.” Tears began to prick her eyes, the umpteenth time in the past twenty-four hours they had done so. “Ah told myself ah wasn’t gonna do this; that it wasn’t worth it.” Her face was rapidly becoming streaked with wetness once more, and at this moment she reached for her sister, pulling her close for a tight hug. Whether she returned it or not, she just needed that touch, to know someone was really there. Her husky voice was completely broken, in much the same fashion as her heart. Choking out the words was more difficult that she’d imagined. Her hazel-eyes were clenched tightly as she spoke into her sister’s blonde mane. “He-he’s gone and…it’s a-all my fault.” Sobs wracked her slender form as she wondered if her sister had felt her heart break.

[Paige Guthrie]

“Ya know, usually when people tell anotha person ta do somethin’ they don’t really do it. I should’a known betta with you though.”

Although Paige made no response to the statement, internally she agreed completely. Yes she should have known just how her older sister would react…they’d only lived together for Mel’s entire life, you’d think she’d pick up on things like that. It wasn’t that she was trying to hurt her sister even more, or that she even liked to be right in situations like this, but that didn’t change the facts of the matter and Paige was all about the facts. While she may be a bit awkward when it came to the more sensitive situations in life, when it came down to looking at the facts and reaching a logical conclusion Paige was the girl to see.

Unknowingly, Paige wished for exactly the same thing as her sister did -- that their mother was here in the blonde’s place. For all her protectiveness towards her family she was just not that good at making things better when people were hurt. That was a mother’s job, and Lucinda Guthrie did it better than all the rest. She would have known exactly those things to say to make Mel’s tears go away and would have had her laughing again in less than an hour, and Paige would have been spared the discomfort that came from taking on a role she preferred to shy away from. Unfortunately for both of the Guthrie girls, their mother was too far away to be of any help, and Paige was the only one left to do the task in her stead.

Waiting patiently through Mel’s sarcasm, the metamorph couldn’t help a private chuckle nonetheless. The brunette might seem to be sweet and mild mannered on the outside, but it was more than obvious that all the Guthrie kids had received some measure of prideful spirit. Life could kick them all it wanted, but they still found a way to go on, spitting out rude comments as they went. The expression on the other girl’s face made it perfectly clear that she hadn’t expected her sister to do anything more than make a rude comment about Julian and go on her merry way. She underestimated Paige’s concern for her wellbeing, something the blonde couldn’t exactly blame her for. It wasn’t like she was always fluttering about and wanting to talk about everyone’s feelings. Paige preferred to show her love in more…aggressive ways. Like beating up the schoolyard bully who picked on her younger siblings.

“Ya gotta promise me though; no judgments. Ah really just need my big sista right now. Ah told myself ah wasn’t gonna do this; that it wasn’t worth it.”

Hm…they’d reached the touchy-feely part rather quicker than she’d anticipated as well. Had someone hit the fast forward button the brunette? ”I was tryin’, but ya answered the door too fast.” Technically she’d couldn’t promise her sibling that she would make no judgments. Paige made judgments with every small interaction with every person that she met -- it was just her way. What she could promise was that she’d keep those judgments to herself for the time being…but she was not about to make the distinction to Mel. At the moment it all amounted to the same thing, anyway.

“He-he’s gone and…it’s a-all my fault.”

Although Paige didn’t show it very often, or chose to show it in less-than-traditional ways, she was fiercely protective of her family. She was the big sister, which came with a hell of a lot of irritation that she never bothered to suppress, but it also came with an instinct and a need to look out for her younger siblings, to make sure that any harm they experienced was as muted as she could make it and that she dealt harshly with whatever or whomever did the harming. And, occasionally, it came with the need to hand out hugs and a listening ear. She may not be good at it, and she may not particularly like it, but if it was what she had to do then by God she was going to do it to the best of her ability.

Mel was already crying again -- the girl was like a fountain -- and by the strength she was putting into her hug you’d think she was using Paige as a rock to keep herself from drowning. Then again, maybe she was doing exactly that. It wasn’t like the blonde had any experience with the aftermath of a long-term relationship…maybe Melody was afraid that she’d never find her way out of her grief, especially if she was blaming herself for whatever had happened. Paige’s arms settled around her younger sister, drawing her close with a soft, ”aw, Mel.” If she ever saw Julian again she was definitely going to give him what-for. If not physically, then at least verbally, regardless of what the flier wanted her to do. That was one of the perks of being the big sister. ”It ain’t your fault. An’ even if it is a little bit your fault, it sure ain’t all your fault. He had as much say in what happened as you did.”

[Melody Guthrie]

She felt the immediate tensing of her sister’s body as she latched onto her. The embrace was one of desperation, as the younger sibling grasped at the usually closed off elder. Paige was not one for overt displays of emotion, aside of course for anger; that she could rival the best of the best. The fair-skinned flier just needed her metamorph sibling to understand the pain she was feeling, if only for a moment. She needed her to set her feelings for Julian aside and just listen to her sister.

“aw, Mel.”

Was that…compassion in her sister’s voice? Nah, she must have been imagining it. There was no way that Paige would actually be offering words of comfort and using a nickname for her brunette kin. Although, the taller of the girls had showed up unexpectedly at her door, perhaps she really did mean it when she asked if Melody had wanted to talk about everything. Settling into the hug, the blonde returned her touch. She was sure her eyes were looking far worse than they had when she had opened the door moments ago after semi-composing herself. At the moment though, she couldn’t have cared less. She had no one to impress, it was just the two Guthrie girls, sitting in the dorm room with no one from the outside world present. In that instant, it were almost as if the sisters were transported back to their true home and the room they had shared. Melody could remember only one other time when Paige had comforted her like this. The dimpled brunette had been five and little Bobby Carey had told her that he thought she was “yucky.” That was the first heartbreak the young girl had ever experienced. She had gone on for days about how she and Bobby were supposed to get married where she would look like a princess get lots of presents. Times had been so much simpler, when a boy calling you “yucky” was the worst of your troubles.

“It ain’t your fault. An’ even if it is a little bit your fault, it sure ain’t all your fault. He had as much say in what happened as you did.”

Shaking her head vehemently, she pulled away from her sister’s arms. Locking her reddened hazel eyes to the blue’s of Paige; she couldn’t tell her how completely wrong she was. “It’s more than a little my fault. Ah’m jus too stubborn fa my own good sometimes.” Julian’s say in the matter had been negated when Melody all but pushed him out of the door. He had tried to tell her that things could remain the same between them; he’d been more of a gentleman than she’d ever seen him. In the end, it was for naught however, as she pushed him away even against his wishes. “Paige, ah may as well have packed his bags and bought him the damn ticket.” The small laugh that escaped her was hollow, the only emotion present in it her own foolishness. She wondered briefly if she should tell her sister about the strange imaginations she had been having. Those being the visions of Sofia that had tortured her for weeks.

Her eyes became downcast, the tears shed now dried upon her face, as she pondered her next statement. Revealing this information to Husk would be risky as she knew her sister was likely to fly off the handle at the thought of someone manipulating the flier’s mind. Thinking better of it, she instead chose a different approach. “Lately, he and I’d been kinda driftin’ apart. That…that was all me. Ah just had all these thoughts goin’ through my head an’ it sorta messed me up. Ah pushed him away even though ah didn’t really want ta.” She wasn’t sure if she was making any sense, but talking about it really helped. Even more surprisingly, Paige really helped. Having her sister with her meant more to the younger of the two than the elder could have ever imagined.

[Paige Guthrie]

She thought she was too stubborn for her own good? And here Paige had thought that she had a monopoly on that particular market. Then again she'd thought precisely that after Mel had continuously refused to pay heed to her warnings about Julian, warnings that obviously held some merit, as no matter how much Mel professed that it was all her fault Paige would never believe it. The telekinetic had a say in what happened in his life...if he had chosen not to use it in this case it didn't mean he was off the hook, it just meant he didn't care enough to fight for Melody. To the elder sister that was even worse than leaving her in this condition to begin with. Any fool could see that the brunette was a catch; Julian's leaving was his loss, no her's.

"Ticket?" Confusion showed on the blonde's face as she tried to decipher just what the hell Melody was talking about. Sure she hadn't seen Julian around lately, but since they didn't exactly hang out in the same circles she hadn't found that to be all that unusual. Outside of those times with the entire Hellions squad was assembled she almost never saw him. Obviously the pair hadn't just broken up -- the telekinetic had left the mansion entirely. Was that the reason for the split? Julian had intended to leave the mansion for some reason (college perhaps) and they had decided that a long distance relationship just wasn't going to cut it? Or, she corrected herself as she thought over her sister's words anew, had Melody decided that a long distance relationship wasn't good enough? That would explain why she felt the need to take all the blame upon herself -- although Julian could have fought harder, should have fought harder. Why did he have to go away in the first place, even if it was for school? There were plenty of good colleges in New York, close enough for he and Mel to continue seeing one another without putting undue stress on either one of them.

Paige took a moment to wonder, with no small bit of irony, when she'd become such a staunch supporter of this particular couple.

Narrowed eyes scrutinized her sibling's face, wondering what sort of 'thoughts' could bother her so much and how exactly they had messed her up. Paige tended to be rather good at reading people, even more so when she happened to be related to the people in question. Melody wasn't telling her everything, hedging around what had really happened and, in all likelihood, hoping against hope that Paige didn't inquire too closely into her story. A foolish hope, obviously. The Kentucky girl could never resist the opportunity to unravel a mystery, even one as potentially painful as this one.

"So Julian is gone," she said, mostly for clarification. She wasn't condemning him for leaving...at least not out loud, and even managed to keep it out of her voice. A promise had been made, after all, and Paige was a woman of her word. "He's left the mansion entirely?" The idea was a rather foreign one to the blonde -- she couldn't imaging anywhere she'd rather be. "Him aside, Ah thought ya wanted to talk. Keeping secrets about what happened kinda defeats th'purpose, don'tcha think?" She cocked a brow quizzically at the brunette. "It ain't like you ta let any kind of thought get to ya like this, so obviously Ah gotta wonder what exactly has got you all messed up."