Loneliness

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Movieverse

In the dead of night, Miss Peregrine sat in the sitting room, staring at the photographs in frames on the other side of the room

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In the dead of night, Miss Peregrine sat in the sitting room, staring at the photographs in frames on the other side of the room. Every so often she would bring her pipe to her mouth, take a puff, then blow the smoke back out again.

An untouched glass of red wine sat beside her next to the lamp that lit up the room with a dim glow.

A sigh escaped her and she placed the pipe down, replacing it with the wine. She took a sip, then another, and put that down too.

For someone who had twelve children, who adored her, she had never felt more lonely. Maybe it was because she couldn't relate with the children, what with being the only adult. Or maybe it was because she longed for a partner. Either way, as she sat in the sitting room at one am, the loneliness crept upon her, almost suffocating her like a heavy blanket.

Standing up, she made her way over to the photographs she'd been staring at. She picked one up, a picture of Hugh and Fiona, and let a smile cross her features. After placing it down, she picked up another one- this time of Claire. It was two seperate photos in one frame. A picture of her face, and a picture of the back of her head.

Miss Peregrine put the picture down and hesitantly reached for another picture. After a second, she took the picture and brought it towards her. Tears welled in her eyes and she tried to blink them away, only to have one fall down her cheek. In her hands she held a picture of Victor and Bronwyn. Victor was holding Bronwyn on just one hand, and the latter held a boulder above her head.

"Hem."

Miss Peregrine quickly wiped her tears away and put the photograph back down. She turned around to see who was out of bed. In the doorway stood Enoch, a stern yet confused expression on his face.

"Enoch," Miss Peregrine chuckled, "you startled me. What are you doing out of bed?"

"I could ask you the same question. It's one o'clock in the morning," Enoch pointed out. Miss Peregrine nodded.

"I'm aware, Mr O'Connor," she replied.

Enoch entered the room and walked over to her, where she stood next to the photographs. She watched as he glanced over all of them before his eyes landed on the one she'd quickly put down when he'd shown up. He nodded slightly to himself before turning and taking a seat on one of the couches.

"Enoch," Miss Peregrine said, "you should be in bed," she chastised with crossed arms.

"So should you," he simply retorted and leaned back. With a sigh, Miss Peregrine moved and sat next to him on the couch.

After a few moments spent in silence, Enoch spoke, "you were looking at the picture of Victor and Bronwyn," he stated.

"I was, yes," Miss Peregrine admitted after some hesitation. Enoch nodded and they fell into silence again for awhile, each lost in their own thoughts.

"Are you okay, Miss?" Enoch asked with a short cough at the end as he avoided hee gaze.

"Why wouldn't I be, Enoch?" Miss Peregrine asked back, though it didn't sound as confident as she'd hoped it would.

"You were crying," Enoch said.

"I wasn't crying-"

"You were. I saw you. I was stood there longer than you thought," Enoch interrupted her.

Miss Peregrine sighed and stood up. She walked over to the other side of the room and grabbed her glass of wine from the side, and started pacing. Enoch watched in silence, wondering what was going on in her head. It was something he oft wondered to himself when thinking of his mother. She was a mystery in and of her itself, no matter how well he thought he knew her.

Miss Peregrine paced for a minute or so until she said something.

"It's just... every day, I wonder if I could have done more. Could I have saved him? Would he be here if I had gotten to him in time? Would he be here if I had gone in his place? It keeps going round and round in my head, and at some point, I have to admit that... I'm a bad ymbryne. The worst. I let my ward get killed-"

"That's not fair," Enoch said before she could continue her rant, "you are not a bad ymbryne, and certainly not the worst. It wasn't your fault Victor got killed, and there was nothing you could have done about it. None of us could have done anything."

With another sigh, Miss Peregrine sat back down, but on the couch opposite Enoch. She stared into the red wine she'd picked up but not drunk.

"Why are you out of bed, Enoch?" Miss Peregrine repeated her question fron earlier. This time Enoch answered.

"I couldn't sleep and I heard you moving around down here, so I thought I'd give you some company."

"That's very unlike you, Enoch, but thank you. I appreciate it," Miss Peregrine smiled and Enoch nodded in response.

They fell into silence again until Enoch yawned and his eyes started closing of their own accord. Miss Peregrine's eyes started closing too as she watched Enoch falling asleep. Soon enough, both of them had fallen asleep on the couches, leaning their heads against the arms of the chair.

A/N: Not my best work, but hey (:

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