Alicia watched as he struggled to answer her. As he debated what he was actually capable of. It made her sick to think he had to weigh the pros and cons but he had never been one to go with his gut. At the end of the day he might not have a choice in the matter. That was a truth she had been aware of all along and she had accepted that price for the sake of being his friend. He wouldn’t hurt her, not on purpose. That was his choice and all she needed to hear. After all the bullshit and politics he was still Robbie. He had fucked up, more than she ever thought him capable of but he wouldn’t be suffering so much if he didn’t see the wrong in his actions. She knew all about fucking up.
“Okay. Okay,” she repeated, rising from her seat to go over to him. She looked down at his tired frame for a moment before wrapping her arms tightly around him, her face buried against the top of his head.
“They’re fighting poison with poison, Robbie. I know what Cedric means to you but they’re destroying you,” she said seriously, refusing to lessen her hold on him. She was rarely serious and never good at it but she had already lost enough friends. She wouldn’t lose him without a fight. “Diggory is not Cedric. He’s not.” She didn’t know how to make this better. She had always had a talent to destroy, not heal. “Don’t let them drag you down, you’re a good man. We all fuck up but that doesn’t mean you’re not a good man. You wouldn’t care if you weren’t.”She believed that more than anything else. If he stayed with them he’d continue to do worse and worse things. Maybe he’d think they were for the right reasons but eventually he’d hit a place he couldn’t come back from. They’d take advantage of his loyalty and Alicia was terrified he’d let them.