Now You See Me

Eleven: House Arrest

He pressed a small box into my hands. The label on the front told me they were Courtney's, and I couldn't help but be surprised at the half-covered antidepressant brand. I'd never have guessed Courtney needed them.

I knocked on the door – since it was worth a shot – and heard someone move on the other side.

"Courtney?"

I heard her swear. Her voice sounded choked when she eventually responded. "Now's not a great time, Damien."

"I know," I replied. "I understand that. Being on your own isn't going to help you, though." I paused. "Lorien's here, too."

"I kinda guessed he would be," she said, and chuckled, but it morphed into a strangled sob partway through. Lorien looked stricken and ready to force his way inside.

"You left your medication in my room," he said, putting a hand against the door as if trying to reach her through it.

"Oh."

"I have it here. You should take it."

She let out a shaky sigh. "Yeah. I should, shouldn't I? Wait there a minute."

I heard her moving around on the other side of the door; a cupboard opened and closed, and there was a light tinkling noise as if she was sweeping up broken glass.

The door opened after a few tense minutes and Courtney emerged, looking completely different to her usual well-presented, collected self. She wasn't wearing any makeup, but the grey streaks on her cheeks betrayed that she had been at one point. Her hair was straggly and unkempt, and all she had on was a large t-shirt that barely covered her up. She crossed her arms over her chest as if hugging herself, and took the box off me when I offered them to her. She looked forlornly at the pill packs inside, and a few tears rolled down her face. Lorien made a small noise of distress in his throat.

"Courtney?"

I turned to see Thea coming up the stairs, breaking into a jog when she saw what state her friend was in. They embraced fiercely, and Courtney promptly broke down on Thea's shoulder.

"What happened? Tell me what happened, honey."

Courtney shook her head, and Thea sighed, starting to guide her back into her room.

"Thanks, boys," she said over her shoulder. "I'll deal with this. Don't worry, Lore, she'll be just fine," she told the distressed elf on the landing. She mouthed 'look after him' at me and closed the door behind her.

"Hey, Lorien," I said, waiting for a long moment to see if he would stop staring at the closed door. He peeled his gaze from it. "What d'you say to hanging out in my room for a bit?"

He didn't respond, just turned back to the door.

"You can go in my bath again."

That got a response; his face lit up, and he let me lead him back down to the first floor and into my room. When he disappeared into my bathroom, I made a beeline for my photo album and put it on my lap when I settled on the bed. I didn't open it. I was thinking about Courtney, how surprising it had been that she suffered from depression. I knew she wouldn't have told me, though.

I heard Lorien slide into the tub and squeak in surprise; some water splattered on the floor and I rolled my eyes.

I opened my album at the page I'd last looked at, and slipped the picture of me in Trafalgar Square back under the plastic covering before turning the page. It was like looking down on the documentation of someone else's life, which was both fascinating and inexplicably saddening. The photo was one of Tori and I – at first I wasn't sure, since my first memory of her had been in a darkened nightclub, but the makeup and hair made up my mind. She reminded me of Leia, if Leia had been a Goth. I looked a stark contrast to her, wearing a white shirt and khaki half-lengths next to her predominantly leather ensemble.