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Mels had disappeared since Friday. There had been no sign of her in the shop or the apartment since she'd pushed Braeden down the stairs which may not have been too suspicious since he'd been spending time home since then. For the first day or so since her form shredded out of sight, Mels had been in a sort of limbo. She came back to consciousness on Monday and had been hiding since. She was sure Brae saw her, sure Cael knew what she'd done and afraid to show herself. She expected to be removed and kept waiting for it to happen yet it never came.

This morning was Ardaen's shift. Unable to face the twins for her guilt, Mels decided she could test the waters with Daen and see what was to be her fate. She was sunk into the cashwrap watching the oldest Donnelly get ready for new comic day and she kept eying the stairs to make sure neither of the twins were coming down.

Timidly, she poked her head out near the register and made sure she was visible. "H-hi..." She cringed, expecting some sort of backlash.
Ardaen had just finished with a few customers when he noticed Mels slinking down, he didn't want to draw attention to her because she looked...upset. Once the first set of customers were out the door he turned to her and offered a soft smile, "Hey, you can come out. Just me for the time being." It didn't sound like he was mad at least.

He carefully leaned against the counter and watched her, "You okay?" Daen had been told about the incident, and it just seemed a little weird to him. But Ardaen figured that something more had happened, and that she'd used a lot more energy than she likely should have. "Haven't seen you for a few days...was afraid we lost you."
Mels watched the door to see if the customers had truly gone out and left before floating up a little more. She settled with her torso still in the counter and stared at the ground, wringing her hands. "I, uhm, yes... Is... Are you... Uhm." She didn't seem to have a great handle on words just then.

Finally Mels took a deep breath even though she didn't need or actually intake air and calmed down. "Is your brother okay?" It was not an answer to the question but she didn't trust herself to be around Brae at all and the guilt was driving her mad.
Ardaen tilted his head and looked more than a little concerned. "Are you okay? Mels?" He didn't want to scare her but he did step closer and actually reached out for her, setting his hand down near her.

There was a nod, "More or less, the alcohol probably kept him from getting too hurt. Which is why you shouldn't drink and stairs." His brow furrowed though, "Mels...are you okay? You're acting strange..."
Mels nodded until she'd displaced her glasses. She fixed them and ducked her head once more. His hand was noticed though she shied back a bit, going more opaque. She relaxed a hair to hear Daen's brother was doing okay. She managed a teeny, tiny smile at the little joke and wilted. "I'm sorry."
Daen frowned again, and when she shied back he drug his hand back to himself. "Mels, you're flickering..." He actually just sounded incredibly concerned and it showed on his face. When she apologized he gave a shake of his head, "There's nothing to be sorry for, Braeden probably just saw two sets of stairs. I've been there before, he'll be fine. Just a few days of rest that's all. How about you? You look like you're wearing thin Mels..."
Mels shook her head and wet her lips; a habit she didn't really need to do. "There is!" She lowered her voice and almost lost her nerve again. "It's my fault... He made it up the stairs fine..." He had a whole lot of practice getting to the apartment completely hammered before and never took a spill like he had the other day.
Ardaen frowned, "What do you mean its your fault?" There wasn't any anger there, but he was confused and leaned more heavily into the counter. "Mels, what happened that night?" His eyes drug up the stairwell and then back to her, surely she wasn't saying she pushed his brother down the stairs!
Mels followed his line of sight and dimmed even more, cowardly sinking some more down. "I-I mean it's my fault..." She wouldn't look at Daen at all as she spoke, just wrung her hands and twisted the ends of her sleeves. "I... Cael..." She took another deep 'breath' and launched into an answer. "Cael had a bad dream," which she maybe shouldn't be telling Daen but she felt it necessary for the set up, "And he wanted his brother, but B-Brae was out. So we came down here and he sort of fell back to sleep and then Brae got home but he was going right upstairs without even seeing Cael..."

She glanced up at Daen and some shimmery light thing traced down her face, presumably ghost tears. "I got s-so angry."
Ardaen looked stricken, not really mad but hurt, "Why? Why would you do that?" She was starting to explain though and he sagged, she obviously felt awful about it. But he reached for her again, "Mels..."

Letting out a breath he looked up at her, "You really could have hurt him..." His eyes floated up to the stairs again then back to her, "Do you...are you...do you still feel angry?" Angry spirits were not a good thing, but she seemed remorseful and upset. Though his instinct was to protect his brothers, he also knew that it could be a lot more dangerous than it already had been if she were to go vengeful spirit on them all.
Mels didn't move away this time when he reached out, just hung her head and her lip trembled. "He-he-he... He just... I was so tired of the way he treats people..." Her voice was small, barely audible. When Daen mentioned Brae could have seriously been hurt, she looked up and her face screwed up like she was going to cry. "I know," she said miserably. "I feel awful. I never wanted to hurt him." As for feeling angry, she shook her head hard. "I'm only sad. But I've been avoiding them to be safe. I thought... I thought he saw me and you all knew and I was going to be banished from this place but the guilt was killing me all over again."
Ardaen sighed softly again and stretched his hand to where if she had been a human it would brush against her's, "Ohe Melissa." He took a deep breath and flexed his fingers gently as if he were trying to brush them along her arm, "He's okay, you didn't hurt him, not really. Not this time." But now Daen was worried, if she gave into her anger so quickly once...would she do it again?

"If he saw you he hasn't said anything to me." But he gave her a nod, "I'm glad you're not angry, and it was probably good you were avoiding." He just sounded sad but gave a shake of his head, "You aren't going to be banished, Mels. And you can't...you have to control your emotions better, it's not safe for you or us."
Mels was glad to the comforting gesture even if she couldn't feel it like a living girl could. The 'not this time' part made her wilt though. "I won't go near him again," she promised. Daen was entirely right and Mel's lip trembled again. "I'll do better. I'll just poof when he's around and then--an then there won't be accidents."

"... Should I tell Cael?" She didn't want to keep secrets from her friend.
Ardaen noticed the lip trembling and he couldn't help himself, "Shh hey...it's alright." The urge to protect Mels though was as strong as it was to protect his brothers, "No. Don't, don't ever tell him." It was forceful and his expression changed so that he seemed much more serious. "Cael...Cael is fiercely and blindly protective of Braeden, if you tell him...don't. Please, don't."

As for Brae he looked down, "You can't make that promise Mels...but I can help you and Brae." She got those sad eyes again, "I'll get him a protection charm...you won't be able to touch him and if you tried it would hurt you. But it will protect you both." His hand was still there and he moved it so that it would feel like he was taking her hand, "I don't want either of you hurt."
Mels looked right at Daen when she got her answer and swallowed hard. She understood what Daen was saying as she'd seen Cael's anger when his twin was threatened and just nodded, her expression miserable. "I just feel badly not confessing..."

The talk of a charm did lighten her mood some. "Really? You can get a thing like that?" The more she thought about it, the more she perked back to her normal self. "That would be really great. Then we wouldn't have to worry..." She looked back to him earnestly. "But I'll still do my best to avoid him and be careful!"
Ardaen nodded, "I know...but don't. He won't...he can't think straight when it comes to Brae. He'd do something rash, and he wouldn't think twice about it." The last thing he wanted was for Cael to find out and do something that he'd regret.

There was another nod, "Yeah, I know where I can get that stuff. I'll get it to him, just lay low from him until I do okay?" Still he hadn't moved his hand as he watched her, "Good, that's good." He took a breath and sagged again, "Mels...he's a trigger for you. That...that's really dangerous for a ghost to be so close to a strong trigger, you know that right?"
Mels chewed her lip and nodded again. "I won't... I don't want to lose you guys." She'd reached out like she was going to hold Daen's arm though her hands went through.

She was nodding again. "I'll sink back into the foundation of the building where I've been. It's quiet down there." As for Brae being a trigger she sagged right along with him. "I never meant for any of this to happen. I didn't know I'd come back and be here with him... Do you want me to... leave?"
Ardaen nodded, "Good, I don't want to lose you either." When she moved her hand through his arm he closed his eyes, it broke his heart. "Please just be careful...if you start feeling strong emotions pull away. I'll help you anyway I can. I promise."

Her words made him smile softly, "That's good, its a safe place for you when you get upset. That's a good plan." But her sagging and his sagging just...it hurt. "No. I don't want you to leave Mels, I just...you have to be careful. Getting angry like that is dangerous, especially for you." Looking at her again he let out a breath, "Have you...tried forgiving him?"
Mels promised and she would continue to do so with every intention of following through. As Daen pointed out though, her feelings of regret and anger were not safe, despite her intentions. She was extremely relieved she wasn't being asked to leave; she loved this place and the boys. Especially Cael.

She stared at the last question and then looked at the ground. "No... Watching him now... He hasn't changed at all. He's still hurting people."
Ardaen sighed softly and moved to push his hip up on the counter, "That's not his intent, Mels. You know that. Braeden...he's a lost soul. He always has been." Not that the other Donnelly boys were much better, but that didn't matter. "I know it's hard, but for your sake you need to find something redeeming about him. Some way that you can try to forgive him. Maybe...maybe I can help you with that?"

It would keep them all safe if she could let go of her anger at Braeden, he knew that, hopefully she would too. "You want to tell me about Cael's bad dream?" His eyes fell, he had a good guess on what the subject might be. "He didn't tell me about it..."

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