Rose Petals ✿ Remus Lupin - Discontinued :(

Chapter 25

"You're such a drama queen!" Eileen burst, now matching Belle's tone. "We never neglected you Belle—you distanced yourself and that's your own fault!"

"Distanced myself?! There were times when you guys completely didn't notice me! No-one ever said a word to me!"

"That's because you're depressing to talk to Belle!" Eileen got in Belle's face, her eyes slithered into judgmental glares. Eileen and Belle weren't the closest out of the group, but none of the girls had ever been purposely demeaning towards one another. Belle shrank away from her gaze.

"Oh, really?"

"I get that your mother died—and I'm sorry—but you're not the only one with a sob story! My mother died before I was born and my father died when I was four! He left me with my evil grandmother and my wicked aunts alone! You don't see me boo-whoo-ing, do you? You—"

"Do you remember them, Eileen?" Belle screamed, "Do you remember the way your mother used to talk to you and clam you down, the way that she rocked you when you got hurt, the letters she used to send you when you felt alone?! Do you remember anything about them?!"

Eileen was silent.

"Consider yourself lucky!" Belle huffed, tears streaming down her face. Everyone took large breaths, ignoring the presence of everyone else as they tried to steady themselves. Eileen begun to move to the bathroom but Belle latched onto her arm.

"Oh no- I'm not done yet. As for Aiden, I consider him my closest friend right now! Because as of late, my old friends really don't give a crap that I have another friend that I like! They don't care about how Belle is feeling! They only care that I'm not giving them my full attention! Rose—you fucking told me that I should hang out with him because he probably likes me, but no—that doesn't matter now, does it? And Lily—you teased me about him all the time! Saying we were flirting and that it was 'cute'? Where'd that go, huh? I don't know why the hell you guys suddenly think I'm the biggest slut in the world, but whatever reason you have—it's invalid! You guys are acting like first graders that didn't get the last crayon! Grow up!"

A few stray tears ran down Lily's face before she slowly stood, anger lacing her features. Belle had never seen someone look so collected and so devastated at the same time. 

"Grow up? Why don't you grow up, Belle! Who was there for you when your mum died? Who tried to get you to speak for weeks and weeks, even though you wouldn't budge? Who was there to comfort you every time you cried at night? Who was there for you to rant at when you were angry? We've been here for three whole damn years, Brielle. Three years that you threw away for a guy that gave you some attention. "

"Why are you guys so strung up about him?" Belle let out a frustrated scream. "He's my friend."

"He's a biased, disgusting pure-prick!" Lily huffed.

"No he's not!"

"Watch him, Belle! When you're not there he's a monster! He's puts on an act for you!" Eileen sobbed, her whole body shaking. The room was quiet as Belle thought it over. It didn't make any sense. They all seemed happy for her until today, why now was she finding all this out?

"You're just making shit up now!" Belle shook her head, "If this is true why just mention it to me today? Why start caring today?"

The room was silent again.

"It's not true." Rose spoke for the first time. She peeled her head away from her knees, glancing up towards the girls that all gaped at her appearance. Her cheeks were covered in silent tears and her eyes burned red, her cheeks flushed and her lips forming a deep frown. "They're lying to you."

Both Lily and Eileen stiffened and glanced at Rose with betrayed eyes.

"I'm sorry, okay? But I couldn't let Belle ruin her friendship just because you guys are scared Belle is gonna leave you!"

Belle's face neutralized, and her gaze snapped towards the two other girls. This didn't falter Rose in the slightest.

"They were upset that you sat with Aiden and thought that you were gonna stay there from now on— I tried to tell them that it was a crush and that we'd still be in your lives but they started acting childish and made up this stupid plan to try and get you completely back! Everything escalated and then everyone started yelling and I don't know what's going on anymore! You guys are friends--we're all friends-- and this petty little fight is gonna ruin us! I don't want us to not be friends anymore! So please, stop fighting!"

The room was so silent a pin could drop. The rain outside lessened considerably and a chill overcame the room. Belle had completely abandoned her anger and now was feeling more and more sad as the minutes ticked by. Everyone was in their own thoughts, trying to answer to why they were so upset.

Belle's mind ket flashing back to all the times her friends had tried to help her and everything they did, and she knew that her words were over-done. She'd been a drama queen for many years now, and she did tend to blow things out of proportion. She should've considered her friends' point of views before completely lashing out at them. There was only one person who was really making her feel neglected, one that seemed to have a lasting affect on Belle's stability.

Remus Lupin.

He barely said a word to her the past couple of weeks, and she hadn't noticed until now how sad that really made her. Remus was her best friend and her rock, someone to keep her head leveled when her emotions took full control. He had always stood by her side and was always there whenever she needed him. What did she do to make him ignore her?

"I'm sorry," Belle choked out after a minute. Tears clouded her eyes and her knees shook violently. "You guys are right."

"N-no, Belle. We overreacted," Lily dismissed, wrapping her arms around the bookworm. The two shared a quiet moment, both of them silently forgiving each other. Neither of them could stay mad at one another, it just wasn't natural.

"I should've listened to you both before freaking out, and I'm sorry. I just—Remus hasn't talked to me at all lately, and I guess Aiden helped me forget about that."

"Why isn't Remus talking to you?" Eileen frowned, glancing at the other girls. "That's really weird—like, he even talked to you when you didn't talk back."

"Ever since the day at Hogsmeade..." Belle trailed off, catching Lily's eye. Except Lily wasn't looking at Belle, instead she was sharing a panicked glance with the other two girls in the room.

"...what?" Belle asked slowly, "I think I missed something."

"Try talking to him!" Rose blurted, her face sympathetic but another emotion hidden behind her blue eyes.

"I have—"

"No, try talking to him about him ignoring you, and do it soon. The more time you two spend not talking to each other the farther that wedge is gonna be driven between you. You guys are good friends—don't let whatever stupid reason Remus is ignoring you get in the way of a beautiful friendship."

Belle pursed her lips as she nodded. "Alright, yea. I'll talk to him. Hey, Rose? When did you get so philosophical?"

"Guess I peaked." The blonde shrugged, a grin overtaking her face as Lily, Belle, and Eileen tackled her onto the floor. The four laughed over their tearstained carpet, the mood in the room lifting considerably. Once everyone's laughter died down, they all lay on the floor staring up at the ceiling.

"When did everything become so screwed up?" Belle sighed, "Sometimes, I wanna go back to first year. Everything—and everyone— was so happy. Now we're all a bunch of hormonal teenagers that can't seem to make up our minds."

Rose snorted and moved her head to Belle's stomach.

"I know, right? I'm over here trying to figure out when my friends got more complicated than my transfiguration homework!"