Case Reopened

At Fault (Part 1)

Sophia blinked hard, her eyes stinging. "It was a choice. What he said really hurt. It hurt so much that I wanted him to hurt as much I did."

"I can understand that. And you made him hurt as much as you. Do you believe you are justified in what you did since you repaid him for the hurt he caused you?"

"No. I know I am not supposed to lash out even if others do. But... I do not know how to fix a problem that I felt I didn't start. If he had not hurt me I wouldn't have hurt him."

Donovan turned to the side and rested against the railing. Sophia looked up at him and found he still felt neutral. His emotions and thoughts were his and his alone, he put none of them on Sophia.

"Even though this might not make sense, it is a lesson that you will have to learn and practice every day: even when others choose to treat you unfairly what you must strive to do is treat them as you wished they would treat you. That means even if they insult you, do not insult them back."

"Why?"

"Because more than for their sake, it's for your own. How did it feel when you made Charles cry?"

Sophia dropped her gaze, thinking about the sickening twist in her stomach, the niggling pain in her chest, and the way everything around felt closed off from her for her action. How she didn't even want to accept Zander's gift because she felt that she didn't deserve it.

"Awful," Sophia said.

"That's a good thing. It means next time you will work at having more control over how you react. Do you understand?"

"Yes." She touched her grid of pebbles. "I never made someone cry before. I know I'm supposed to apologize but will words be enough to make it right?"

"Words are a good start but you might think of how you'd like someone to act if they hurt you and were trying to make it right."

"Okay. I can think about that." She gave Donovan a tiny smile. "Thank you. I knew you would be the right person to talk to."

"How come?"

"Because you wouldn't want to come to my defense but Charles'. Carter would not have been the same way."

"And your parents?"

"Mama would focus on making sure I fully understood where I was wrong while still understanding my hurt. Father. He'd want to know the name of the boy and hurt him as well."

Donovan nodded. "I see."

"Can you give me a ride home now, I have something I must do."

"Of course."

They left the rooftop and Sophia knew it didn't fully make sense since her weight hadn't changed as she stood on the rooftop, but she felt lighter.

In the Keller apartment, Carter looked up from her phone as they walked inside. She met Sophia's gaze but cut to her husband. Again, Sophia knew that they were sharing unspoken words. Something she'd seen them do often.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Carter asked.

"No," Sophia said. "Donovan is driving me home."

"Okay, it was good seeing you."

Sophia nodded and gathered her things. She didn't know where Kennedy and Harrison were but felt grateful she didn't need to answer the questions they would have most likely wanted to ask her. The issue didn't involve them and since she planned to handle it also without them then they didn't need to know. Though she imagined the next morning would mean being asked about it.