<3 1,100 words.
####So wrapped up in her own pain, Princess did not realize how concerned he was about her until she was sitting on his couch, clutching the glass of water tightly in both of her hands. Her breathing was still shallow, but Princess felt a tiny bit calmer now that she was sitting down in the company of someone that she cared about so much. Being with him helped her feel better, something that she would realize later was so important in their budding relationship. Princess had never really had a good role model when it came to loving relationships, and these feelings were all foreign territory for the young woman. For now, all she knew was that she had someone she could seek comfort in and know that he would not judge her for what she did or said. Having that meant so much to her, but even with those feelings, she could not fight that hurt and anger and sadness away. Once upon a time, she had thought that she would always have her brother to comfort her, but now she knew that it was nothing but a false sense of security that she had had with him. She hoped that was not what she had with Haven; it would kill her.
####Golden eyes closed slowly, resting while she thought about the past two days. She felt so stupid about all of it; she should have realized that Ares was gone much earlier than she had, and she should not have gone to blame Mati, and she certainly should not have gone to see Tokyo. The only intelligent thing that she had done in the very short time span had been coming to see Haven, and even that she was unsure about. Pushing her problems onto him was not something that she really wanted to do, but she needed the comfort now. Her usual nature, so composed and headstrong to the eyes of anybody but herself, was dropped now, and it felt strangely comfortable to do it in his presence. Never before had she really had anybody to lean on, rather than be strong for. Even with her brother, Princess had always been the strong one, trying to protect him from their mother and going against her orders in sharing her food with him, and then later giving up everything she had more than once to be with him.
####It seemed so absurd now that she had gone to see her mother, but it had seemed so important at the time that it had crossed her mind. Everything had started when she had finally read her brother’s note of farewell, and briefly, Princess wondered whether or not everything would have been better if she had not ever bothered to read it. If she could have completely forgotten about it, then she would not have blamed Mati and she would not have gone to see Tokyo. She surely would have questioned her brother’s sudden absence, but she probably could have silently stewed in anger about it and then moved on. In the back of her mind, she knew this would not have been the case, but her anger was very frequently illogical. It rarely made much sense to her, let alone to anyone else, but it helped her to cope when she could rage behind her mask of being proper and pretty. Finally, Princess lifted her eyes to meet Haven’s worried gaze, her heart lurching at the concern she found in his eyes. She had not wanted to worry him, but only to find someone who could help her to feel better, less angry and hurt.
####Exhaling, the girl finally felt able to speak, terrified that she would have done or said something to worry him more if she spoke much more in her initial state of shock and pain. “Yesterday, I found a note my brother had written for me a while back, but I had forgotten about it. . . I guess I’ve just been so preoccupied with myself, because I wasn’t even aware that he had gone. But. . . Mati talked to Tokyo, and because she didn’t know everything about it, she told my mother that Ares and I were in Crimson Dreams. Ares didn’t want me to blame Mati, but I did. . . I went to her room and I yelled, and then I cried, and we talked. I guess we’re closer to being friends, now, though,” she added, wincing at the displeasure that was surely going to come from the Knight at hearing that Princess had yelled at Mati. “I feel really badly about blaming her, but it just seemed like the first person I should, and I was just really upset. . . It wasn’t her fault, though. Ares told me he liked her, and I know she liked him too,” she added, not even realizing that Haven might not know this, “so I just assumed he would have told her everything about Tokyo. I mean. . . How could he not?” Princess just didn’t understand that.
####“Then, I realized that I was misplacing my anger, so I apologized to Mati and told her to be careful around Tokyo, especially if my mother knows that your sister was friends with my brother. This morning, I went back to the old den I shared with my mother, and she was there. . .” She trailed off, her breath catching in her throat. “She’s pregnant, probably due soon. Haku’s puppies, and she says she wants them and loves them.” Tears formed in her eyes at the memory of how she had thought her mother had loved her. It had only been a lie, though, not even worth her tears. Tokyo was still horrible, and she had been lying to Princess for her entire life. She hated that she had apparently fallen for her mother’s lies, blind to the fact that her mother had never loved her. “How could Ares have left me? I’ve given up so much, so many times, just so that I could be with him,” she added, turning her tear-filled eyes back to Haven. “I’ve given up so much, and he could not even stay when the tiniest bit of a threat from our mother came around. . . Why?” she whispered, trying not to think of the inevitable. Just like her mother had never loved her, it seemed that her brother had not, either. Princess did not understand why her brother had been so fearful. The pack would have protected him if he had told someone before leaving so abruptly.