Melinda's eyes rose to Terence's again, only this time her eyebrow rose as a sort of punctuation as her expression moved from something vulnerable to the suggestion that he had asked a stupid question. "Are any of us actually alright?" She asked pointedly. The answer was, without any doubt, absolutely not.
"She's not just my friend, she's my family." Melinda said stubbornly, shifting a little to bring her knees up to her chest to try and hide beneath his jacket. The longer she sat in the cold grass, the more it started to creep into her extremities. Even the jacket didn't really help that much.
"Everyone has their own demons -- their own shite to get over. I won't every say otherwise. But... when the time comes that she has to confront hers, he won't be there. He won't know how. No matter how much he loves her, he will end up hurting her if he keeps on the road he is, and she'll go with him." Her voice was quiet, hollow as she spoke. Writing them in anger and saying them out loud were two very different thing. She could feel the tears sting her eyes and she hated them for it. "But it's her life, yeah? I don't get to make her decisions and protect her all the time."