Chapter Text
The bottom of her dress was wet, her legs covered in droplets of water from the waves pushing up the shore. She was sure her arms would be pink in the morning; the sun was almost unbearable, yet she felt frozen in place.
She'd fallen to the ground after he left, pulling her knees up to her chest and reaching her feet out into the water, looking for something to ground her and feel real.
As soon as she saw the boxes, it was like her voice had broken, her body stuck, and her brain stopped. It felt like a nightmare. She couldn't speak but just stare at him, wondering where it had gone wrong. Where they had lost their connection, the line of understanding that held them together through conflict.
At one point, Link was the first person she would confide in. She never feared telling him anything because she knew that it would be met with a strong hug and words of affirmation, how he would always be there, how he loved her, how strong she was. He could read her face and tell what she was feeling and know exactly how to help her.
Except for the past few months, when their mornings were awkward, when they always seemed to get in each other's way, when Amelia was attending more meetings than ever before, and Link didn't seem to notice anything wrong. She waited for him to fall asleep before crawling into bed, spending extra time at work checking on perfectly stable patients, inviting friends over for dinner more nights than not, hoping to fill the house and avoid what was happening between them.
A strong breeze blew past, her hair flying in front of her face. She closed her eyes, willing herself to wake up to where she was months ago, before Luna, before the proposal, when things were the way they were supposed to be when she woke up every day beside the man she loved, smiles on both of their faces as they whispered 'Good morning' to each other.
Meredith walked up behind her, taking a seat in the sand next to her sister. "You know," she started, glancing over at Amelia, "the tide's coming in. You mighty wanna move to avoid getting drenched." Amelia simply shrugged and continued to stare, her eyes tracing over the horizon. Meredith sighed beside her. "Zola told me what happened," she muttered, placing her hand on Amelia's arm.
"He left," Amelia whispered, the wind blowing her hair into her face. "He just left; he stormed off this beach to god-knows-where and left me here." She brushed her hair back, laughing softly as she did so. "He just left. He proposed, even though I thought we were on the same page about this, and he looked so disappointed," she brought her hand up, wiping her eyes. "I thought that it didn't matter if we were married or not, I thought that it didn't matter if we had another kid because we would have each other, but I don't even know if I have him anymore." Another laugh fell from her mouth, and Meredith frowned.
"I was so scared to tell him that I didn't want another kid, or that I don't want to get married, because I was terrified that he would leave. And, he did," Amelia muttered, finally looking over at Meredith.
"I don't think he's really gone, Amelia."
"You should've seen his face, Mer; I've never seen him like that. He looked so," her voice trailed off, her finger drawing lines in the sand beside her.
"What can I do?"
"I don't know. I don't know where to go from here," Amelia whispered, a tear falling from her face as she looked up at the sky. "What am I supposed to do, Mer? Just go home and put Scout to bed like everything's fine? Tell him that Daddy's at work?"
"You can come home with me. I'll help with Scout, and we'll figure everything out together."
"I don't want to figure things out. I want my life back; I want to be happy." She sniffled loudly, biting her bottom lip. "How did this even happen? How did I lose him, is there something wrong with me?" Meredith wrapped her arm around Amelia's shoulder, leaning her head against the neurosurgeon's.
"There is nothing wrong with you, Amelia. Nothing at all," Meredith consoled, rubbing Amelia's shoulder as the woman began to cry, pulling her knees closer to her chest and leaning into Meredith's body. "I promise you that it'll get better. And I'm right here for as long as that takes."