I flinched at the sound of a knock being hammered softly against my door, a voice following short after. "Adelaide? It's Ed. Do you mind me coming in?"
He didn't wait for an answer, and insisted on entering regardless. The hard light from the hallway seeped into my tenebrous room as the door shifted on its hinges, being pushed cautiously open.
Ed appeared to stall for a minute, clearly searching for my whereabouts before resorting to reaching his hand out to flick the lights on, revealing my hunched figure to the right of him. He flittered his gaze around the room, locating me with ease, a sad smile carving onto his face as he did so.
"I won't ask you how you are because well, I think that's already quite obvious, isn't it?" he said, attempting a light hearted tone as he perched himself on the edge of the bed beside me.
"I'm sorry," I sniffled, pulling my jumper over my palms in search for any sign of warmth.
"There's no need for you to be," Ed argued softly. "If anyone should be apologising, then that's me. I played a part in all of this too."
A small laugh left my lips, though it wasn't particularly out of humour, "I haven't even gotten to process the fact you two are cousins."
"I really am sorry. Even though it wasn't my place to go meddling with your relationship, I still shouldn't have lied to you."
"I suppose that you weren't really given a choice."
"Neither was Luke," Ed commented. "Look, I know that he screwed you over, but I think that the least that you owe him is a chance to explain. Surely you want some answers? He really is the only one that can give you them, Adelaide. To put it lightly, he's a mess downstairs, but I know that he'd do anything for a chance to come fully clean."
"I can't take anymore lies Ed."
"He won't give you any, not this time. Luke really isn't one to open up about a lot of his personal life Adelaide, but I know that he's more than willing to tell you everything. He trusts you, and cares about you a whole lot more than you understand. I know that claiming he did all of this for your safety may seem like an excuse, but it's not. Your safety comes before anything in his mind, so please just remember that. And don't hold Legrenzi over him, he has nothing to do with him anymore. He pretty much considers that man dead. I can't tell you anymore, because well it's Luke that should. You need to hear it from him, and him only."
"I don't know if I can bring myself to go and see him though," I admitted. "I don't trust myself to remain distant from him."
"Maybe because that's not what you need," he suggested. "You think it's what you want, what you need to be doing, but he makes you happy, don't you go forgetting that."
"I couldn't if I tried," I smile sadly. "I just don't know how to get past this if our whole relationship was based upon a lie?"
"I get that, I honestly do. I just think that you need to hear him out. Find out why he lied before you make any decisions, yeah? I know for certain that he won't let you go that easily. He's going to fight with everything he has for you Adelaide."
"I'm not certain that there's a lot left to fight for Ed," I admitted sorrowfully, shaking my head slightly as I pulled my body up from the floor. "Where is he?"
Ed failed to hide the small upturning of his lips as I moved away from him. I sent him a cold glance, though he merely shrugged it off before letting his back fall against my duvet. "His office. I'll be in here if you need me."
"Thank you. I think?" I forced a smile as I left my room, pacing downstairs before I could reconsider my actions or resort to sprinting back to what little comfort I could obtain at present.
