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"That boy isn't yours." Before Rio can even touch Agatha, she pulls away. A smile grows on Agatha's face, Rio knowing that smile didn't have an ounce of joy behind it. She looks Rio in the eyes for a minute, trying not to cry. She brushes her shoulder before walking off, not looking behind her once. Rio just stands there, her heart broken and her eyes darting anywhere on the forest landscape to stop the tears from flowing down her face.
Rio looked for somewhere to sit on, hearing the leaves stop rustling, meaning she really walked away from her. She sat on a log before breathing in the fresh forest air, feeling the dirt beneath her hands. Why would she do that, she didn't need to tell Agatha that. She couldn't lie to her, she loved her too much. She loves her too much. Flowers bloom under her hands, trying to restrain her sadness.
"Rio?" Teen called, rustling leaves following his footsteps towards her. She sighed before turning to look at him, hoping he couldn't hear her tiny breaths.
"Are you feeling more alive then you were a few hours ago?" She asked him, grabbing her knife and running it through the dirt. Teen thinks for a second before sitting beside her on the log. Rio sighs, she wasn't in the mood for a conversation right know. Unluckily, that was exactly what Teen wanted.
"Uh- I feel better, I guess." He answers, "Can I ask you something? If- you want to answer it." He immediately follows up, wanted to be conscious of the current weapon in her hand and an unsettling calmness she has whenever presented with danger.
"Of course you do." She laughs with a sigh, she'll humor him. Maybe he wants tips about magic or something? God, how did Agatha bring a prying teenager without throwing a tantrum.
"I don't mean to pry- and you don't have to answer. I know you and Agatha are.. complicated but in what way?" He askes, his voice getting sing-songy. Rio is very unamused, great. She had just aired her business to the entire coven and Teen wants to know aswell, fucking fantastic.
"She's my scar." She reiterates, she couldn't get a scar if she tried but Agatha is a scar Rio couldn't get rid of, even if she wanted to. "I loved her, I hurt her, and she hates me for it." She said through gritted teeth. Teen looks at Rio, looking at the softness on her face when she talked about Agatha. This was a surprise to Teen, he didn't know she could be soft at all.
"Are you sure? I mean Agatha is a bit, uhm. Immature?" Teen said. He has done his research on her but nowhere did it mention her level of pettiness and immaturity. Rio laughs, she doesn't know if he is being serious. She knows how much hatred she has for her, it may just look like petty fights but she had took away a part of Agatha's world, even a part of own.
"She hates me, trust me. Or not, but she- doesn't want anything to do with me." She states, her heart cracking a bit when she said this. It was the truth, being death had ruined her relationship with her. Teen wants to rub her back and tell her that Agatha loves her but the was she holds that knife discourages him.
"But what if she doesn't?" He replies, trying to deliver an inch of comfort.
"If." She knew that if was very strong, with Agatha's hate being stronger.
"I have faith in that if." He reaffirms. Rio stands up to walk to the campfire, Teen following.
Agatha can feel her smile fading each step she took, she knew that but she didn't want to believe it. Rio didn't have to mention that. So instead of doing what she wanted for the past decade, she walked away. As she sat near the campfire, it didn't help the cold feeling in her chest. She knew Rio was the only on who could fix her aching heart but she always ended up being the one to break it.
"Here, eat." Alice said before handing her berries. Agatha looked at the food hesitantly, throwing some onto the floor when Alice came to sit beside her. "Jen and Lilia went to find more food and wood." She said, trying to strike up any conversation after that very awkward trauma dumping/love confession circle. "Are you okay?" She asked again, for safe measure.
"Have you ever heard the quote silence is virtue?" Agatha asks, hoping to get an actual reply from Alice.
"Yeah, why?" Alice asks, what does a famous quote need to do with Agatha and Rio's need for couples therapy instead of embarking on a dangerous quest?
"Practice it, just sit in pure, amazing, bliss silence. No questions asked." She said, laying closer to the fire and popping a few berries into her mouth. Alice is beyond confused but sits in silence with her. It is not worth the endless amount of bickering to argue so she sits and hopes Jen would come back soon.
"I'm going to sleep, goodnight Agatha." Alice said before getting up from the uncomfortable log to lay on an uncomfortable clear spot on the ground. Lilia and Jen returned later, Jen laying beside Alice and talking each other's ears off while Lilia set up a makeshift bed out of leaves to sleep on leaving her to hitch up on a tree by herself. She was about to fall asleep with the constant snores around her and an empty firepit but then Rio walked back to the campsite and suddenly she couldn't keep her eyes off her.
Teen walked towards Agatha catching her attention, "Are you okay?" Agatha asked, hoping that he was completely better.
"Mhm, I'm fully healed. I'm sorry about the question earlier." He apologized, he had definitely crossed a line there. He didn't mean to but he just wanted answers, was he really travelling with somebody that would do that? Trade their family for magic?
"It's fine." She replies, patting him on the shoulder. "You should get some rest. We're hitting the road tomorrow." She suggested, he had a rough day with almost dying so resting for the nest few hours is the next best thing for him.
"I have a question, just one." He said before hearing a sigh come from Agatha, guessing his questions got less fun and more of hassle for her to answer.
"I'm starting to prefer you sleeping, or just quiet." She said before fixing her slouching position on the tree. "Ask before I lose the little energy I have left." She answers, getting tiny claps from the boy who thought about his question for a moment and she couldn't help but look at Rio. She sat beside a tree herself, using her knife to cut the ground. To Agatha, she couldn't be more beautiful.
"Hello? Did you hear my question?" He asks, clearly waiting for his question to be answered. He waved hands infront of her face to get her to stop fawning over Rio which actually seemed to work. She snapped out of her stare and finally paid some of her attention to his question.
"Speak up, I couldn't hear you." She replied, keeping her attention on the boy instead.
"What's up with Rio and you?" He asked, grabbing berries from the bush behind him to snack on.
"It's complicated." It would be impossible to summarize their entire love story from the first meeting until now, they were just too complicated. She hated Rio but always finds herself missing her, missing her touch, voice, her everything. She couldn't forgive her, what she did was unforgiveable. She couldn't find herself not loving her, it was impossible. They were two alternating puzzle pieces that manage to always fit.
"That's all..?" He huffed in disappointment, how did he manage to get more out of the literal chaos junkie? He said his farewells before going to his previous sleeping spot and calling it a night, leaving Agatha and Rio awake.
"Can't sleep?" Rio asks, getting nothing but a stare from Agatha. She wasn't ready to stop being mad at her, she wasn't prepared to love her again.
"Goodnight, Rio." Is all that she could reply with, before heading to sleep.
Agatha woke up to constant bickering from the group, confused and still wanted to sleep, she opens her eyes.
"I think we should leave now." Alice adds in to the argument. Is this really what they argued about? Leaving at a specific time? This was so unnecessarily petty.
"We can wait for a moment, to get rejuvenated then we leave." Lilia comments, brushing the leaves out of her clothes and hair.
"How the fuck is it still night? I actually fuck with this vibe." Teen said, looking around at the still very dark sky. Rio just lingers in the corner watching them argue about something so pointless.
"You guys are so petty, we literally have all the time in the world." Agatha said, getting up and joining them at the dead fire. Teen looks at her, shocked that she can't take this level of pettiness.
"Uh huh, we are very petty.." Alice said before walking off. Jen and Lilia following her, sighing. Agatha follows, rubbing her face to wake herself up.
"So uh," Teen said but quickly getting interrupted by a loud groan. Teen has more questions about her and Rio and Agatha has no patience to answer one.
"Absolutely not." She groans, "It's too early." She can't handle another overbearing question about her and her ex-wife? girlfriend? It's complicated.
"Hear me out! Just, answer one question." He begs. He definitely needed more than one question but he wouldn't tell her that.
"Hear me out! No, no more questions." She mocks him. Would this considered being petty? Maybe? She doesn't care too much anyway. She turns away from him, running into a branch. She feels her jaw, trying to contain the pain and blood coming from her scratch.
"Are you okay?" Teen asks, seeing her hold her jaw. This catches Rio's attention, who's silently trailing behind them. Agatha simple huffs, feeling trickles of blood on her jaw.
"I'm fine, god. I'm not going to die from a scratch." She said, earning a tiny laugh from Rio. God, she wishes she could hear that laugh more often. Teen just sighs, he is too tired to deal with her attitude.
"Do you need a bandaid- or cloth at least?" He asks.
"I can help her, thank you, Teen." Rio said, inching towards Agatha. Teen surrenders as he walks to the group infront, joining whatever conversation that they had been talking about. "Want me to lick your wound clean?" Rio asks, her tone sounding somewhat sensual.
"That would be great, yes." Agatha said, her tone be overtly sarcastic. She groans as she stopped, moving her hand from her jaw. Rio held her jaw before licking her scratch clean. Agatha sighs as she feels a relief of pain and locks eyes with Rio as she wipes her jaw. " Thank you. " She said, her eyes darting around Rio's face.
"I'm sorry for mentioning Nicky. I couldn't lie to you." Rio said, Agatha looking back at her eyes. Rio knew why Agatha had a change of heart for her, and she couldn't let her believe it. She doesn't want her to go through the grief of losing Nicky again.
"You could've. You could've let me believe it." Agatha argued. She could've let her believe in her fantasy for a moment, or even a second. It would have broken Agatha after but for that moment, she could've experienced happiness again. She could've forgiven her in that moment.
"And let you experience the grief once you know it's not real. I can't watch- I wouldn't let you go through that." Rio said, getting somewhat closer to Agatha. Rio hurt Agatha against her will once and promised oto never make her feel like that, hurt her again. Emotionally, at least.
"What's it to you. You're not new to hurting me." She argues. Rio suddenly caring about hurting her? She didn't buy it.
"I love you. That's why I told you." Rio admits. She loves Agatha too much to hurt her again. Rio rolls her eyes at Agatha, walking away. She knows that she can't be forgiven for taking away Nicky, for breaking their family. She didn't want to.
"Rio. Stop trying to walk away from me." Rio stops, looking back at Agatha. Agatha walks towards her, holding her hands. She tries to say it back, she couldn't. She just cups Rio's cheeks. "I know Nicky is gone." She whispers. She didn't ever want to accept it but he's gone, "That never stopped me from loving you." Her eyes flicker from her eyes to her lips, leaning in and connecting their lips. Rio's hands finds her way to Agatha's waist, pulling her even closer.
"Agatha? Rio?" Lilia calls, getting the attention and breaking their kiss.
"Yeah, we're coming." Rio yells out, grabbing Agatha's hand and joining the group. Jen and Alice giggling between themselves while Teen manages to talk Lilia's ears off. Teen notices the sudden handholding and reminds himself to ask Agatha about that later, and maybe update Alice on his findings, granting she's the only one who could actually care.