January 1st, 1893 — Afternoon — Malfoy Residence, Wellingtonshire

It had been hours since Melody had broken the news to him, but Ben didn't feel like it had caught up to him yet. He hadn't had an emotional reaction to the fact that she'd been in bed with someone else, but it wasn't as though he didn't care. At some point it would hit him and he'd be — angry, betrayed, depressed, something — but it hadn't happened yet. When he'd internally admonished himself to try and handle the situation like Aldous would have, he'd been expecting that he'd hear something that would make him want to punch someone and he'd have to talk himself down. He hadn't expected to spend so much time feeling like this was happening to someone else.

In Ben's mind this was happening to Nora. It was something Melody had done (willingly or not) to their daughter, and he was only concerned with managing — minimizing — the fallout for her. Someone had to be thinking about her, because whatever Ben and Melody had done to each other, however fraught their marriage had been, Nora had never deserved this. She deserved better than both of them.

He'd flooed over directly after he received Nova's return letter confirming that he would be welcomed. Before he left, he'd pulled the nurse aside and asked her to alert him immediately if Melody took their daughter out of the house. He didn't think she would really do something so drastic as trying to take their daughter somewhere else, but — he had not expected her to leave the party last night with another man, and Melody had always been unpredictable when she felt trapped. If she heard him leave and anticipated the worst... it wasn't impossible that she would do something rash.

He took a seat in November's sitting room when invited, but he was too tense to actually sit; he looked more as though he was waiting to spring. It wasn't until the door was firmly shut and the two of them were fully alone that he unspooled all at once: a long exhale, a droop of his shoulders, his eyes sinking to the floor, a gentle shake of his head accompanied by a deep frown. "I don't even know where to start."

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November Malfoy Ursula Black

  

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MJ made this <3

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

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Both letters she'd received from her brother had been alarming but particularly the second. After reading the first letter she was naturally concerned but also had hoped that whatever had happened might result in her sister-in-law ceasing to be such, which was not to say she wished her dead exactly though the thought had admittedly crossed her mind. Indefinitely lost or absconded forever were both non-fatal options she'd felt less deplorable for wishing for. She still wasn't convinced about her brother's marriage although she'd grown a little more accepting of it since Eleanora. Unless she had a solid, tangible reason to believe her niece was better off without her mother then for her sake she would have to believe that, under the present circumstances, their union was for the best.

The second letter, however, had reignited her distrust of Melody Finch. As sheltered and naïve as Nova might've been, she wasn't unintelligent and even she had struggled not to consider the possibility that her sister-in-law had engaged in some sort infidelity. Reuben had said she'd disappeared from a party and she was now back home. There was no mention of her well-being so she had to deduce that Melody was unharmed so it was probable that she'd voluntarily left the party. Either she'd left unaccompanied with the intention of absconding or she'd left with someone. If she'd left with a female friend why had she not communicated this to Reuben? Perhaps she was merely inconsiderate or spiteful but if this was usual for her then why would he have worried? This left the option that she'd left illicitly with someone and selfishly hadn't given Reuben a second thought. This seemed the most likely option but she doubted whether her bias wasn't influencing her judgement. She wanted to believe the worst of Melody and this would vindicate her instincts about her. It was probably just poor judgement and a lack of consideration, failed communication, with a dash of unfortunate circumstance culminating in a moderately unpleasant situation that she couldn't entirely blame Melody for.

After re-reading the second letter she felt more confident that it was far less sensational than infidelity and she was only struggling to figure out what that might be because she had already jumped to the most extreme conclusion and now nothing else seemed to be proportional to how intense and serious the situation felt to her.

For her own peace of mind if nothing else, she hoped that Reuben would write back to her sooner rather than later. She was ricocheting between a novel and his letters as her focus ebbed and flowed, occasionally shooting a glance out the window any time she heard a noise that could be mistaken for an owl. To her surprise and relief, Reuben himself arrived instead. This relief was short-lived, however. A single glance at him did nothing to assuage her worry, her anxiety felt entirely appropriate.

By the time he was seated and they were alone she was convinced she should have been more worried, not less. Maybe start from the beginning..? Hopefully she sounded encouraging like she'd intended to rather than patronizing as she now felt.

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Outfit | Tag: Reuben Crouch | Notes:

  

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Ben breathed out a sharp huff of air that could have been mistaken for a chuckle under other circumstances. The beginning. Once upon a time, I thought I was in love with her, he thought, but after he thought it he was glad he hadn't said it. Was it accurate to say he thought, past tense? Was he still in love with her? Did it matter one way or another, when it came to the present situation? Was the matter of whether he loved her or not even relevant anymore?

And anyway, that wouldn't have actually even been the beginning.

His feelings for or about Melody weren't relevant, he decided. He wasn't looking for advice on what would make him happiest, or what would salvage the most of his pride. He was looking for advice on what was best for his daughter.

"Maybe I'll just — try to cut straight to it," he demurred. He could have told his sister about how his marriage had been strained (as though she did not already know) or how they'd been trying to patch things up lately. He could tell her how he'd thought it had been working, up until the morning. But none of that mattered, because what mattered right now were the facts... and how those facts would impact Nora's future. "I, ah — we were at the Sugarplum Gala last night. Not sure if you heard about it. It was a bigger party. Plenty of people there." These details were relevant, because they impacted the scope of the crisis he was currently faced with. "We came in with a friend. Did the typical ballroom things. I lost track of her sometime before midnight. I went home probably... one in the morning, or a little later, when I couldn't find her. One of her friends helped me look. And it turns out she left earlier. With — someone else." He paused, not wanting to go into much more detail for the sake of his sister's delicate sensibilities but also wanting to ensure she had not missed his meaning.

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MJ made this <3

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

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Oh. The bottom of her stomach seemed to turn to lead as she was faced with the fact that she had guessed correctly. At least she thought so. He hadn't actually specifically stated that it was a man, the way he said it made her think that was the correct conclusion to have jumped to but she wasn't convinced that her earlier speculation wasn't heavily influencing her. If she asked for clarification and he'd meant a female friend then he might understandably be offended and decide she was prejudiced and the wrong audience for what he had to say.

Someone like me, or...? It was the most delicate way she could think to pose the question although she didn't much care for using herself as the reference point, it was better than the alternatives.

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Outfit | Tag: Reuben Crouch | Notes:

  

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Wouldn't that have been nice.

"Beckett Longbottom," he said with a careless shrug, as though it didn't matter. In the grand scheme of things, it probably didn't. No one would be blaming him when news of this got out. He wasn't the one who was married, and even if he had been the woman was always more culpable in the eyes of society anyway.

Which brought them to Nora. "I want to know which you think would be more detrimental for my daughter," he said, and though he was aiming for level and emotionless his voice did waver slightly. "Being raised by a woman with that kind of reputation, or — growing up without a mother."

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MJ made this <3

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

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Nova's eyes widened a fraction at the confirmation that came in the form of a name, and then grew considerably wider still when she realized what he was asking of her. She then looked away, her brow furrowing at the predicament she now found herself in. She knew she had to be careful, she didn't know how much sway her words might have but she feared they'd be more powerful than she cared to believe. This impossible position her brother was in, it felt like the latter end of the disaster that had been set in motion the moment they eloped. Maybe she'd never know for sure how the elopement came about but she knew with more certainty now than she ever had that her brother could not have been the driving force behind it. A man like that wouldn't ask his sister for advice on something like this, he'd take whatever immediate short term self-serving action appealed to him most and think nothing of the consequences.

I cannot in good conscience answer that, Reuben, came her eventual somber response. I cannot countenance how she has treated you, in this, or in the past. Even before today I still feared for your happiness with her, but I have no grounds on which to judge her as a mother. You know better than I whether she falls short as a wife and mother. To deprive a child of its mother by choice is no small matter. If she is as selfless a mother as she is selfish a wife, if there is no chance of what she has done being known, or of repetition then... Then it may be best to leave well enough alone. Nova finally stopped speaking for a moment to chew her lip thoughtfully, still avoiding her brother's eye. Women may be loyal and steadfast, but we too are only human and humans make mistakes. She was thinking now of Elmer Macmillan and the letters she had been too weak to destroy. Her cheeks were flushed with shame. If... If on the other hand she is not repentant, if she considers her own whims to be of greater importance than her daughter's future... Eleanora is young now, too young for memories. Loss is only as strong as the grasp we have on what we have lost. If you believe it to be a matter of when rather than if... Now may be best for all involved. Her words were a good deal steadier and measured than she felt on the inside which was a relief but she couldn't quite shake an icky feeling of hypocrisy in what she was saying.

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The following 1 user Likes November Malfoy's post:1 user Likes November Malfoy's post
   Reuben Crouch

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Asking November for advice wasn't like asking Aldous for advice. Aldous was decisive, and typically (except in the case of managing the fallout of Ben and Melody's elopement) projected confidence that what he was suggesting was the proper course of action, or perhaps even the only viable course of action. He hadn't gone to Aldous with this question because he had expected that his sister's insight would be more valuable when it came to matters of a woman's reputation, which was at stake for both Melody and Nora. As he listened to her nuanced answer, it occurred to him that this was another reason November was better suited for this question than his older brother: like every other issue that had arisen in Ben's marriage so far, this didn't have a singular, clear-cut solution, and he might need someone to argue both sides of the matter if he was going to make the best choice.

That said, a part of him did miss Aldous' decisiveness. If someone could just tell him you must divorce her, there's nothing else for it then he wouldn't have to wrestle with the more difficult question of whether or not he could keep their marriage alive. If you believe it to be a matter of when rather than if... Ben considered. Was divorce inevitable? Could he live with her after this? Could he even try to be happy, after she'd done something like this? What would he say when other people made snide remarks about it, or when Witch Weekly ran a piece on it? November spoke as though the news coming out was uncertain, but in Ben's mind it had been a foregone conclusion from the moment that Melody hadn't been able to definitively say whether or not she'd been seen leaving with him. They had rumors circulated about them that weren't even true; it seemed unreasonable to suspect that now that one of them had transgressed, it would go unnoticed.

"I don't know if repentant is the word," he muttered, with a vein of irritation undercutting his tone. "She claimed she was drugged. That she didn't have any real interactions with him and she didn't care about him at all. Which — it's almost worse, if it's true. Because that means that it could have been anybody, and — and next time it could be anybody," he managed. And there it was, an anxiety he had not yet been able to voice: he had heard there was strange magic at play at this party and it made me do something I never would have done otherwise before, when she'd drugged him. This was a recurring theme for her, and if it had happened twice, what would prevent it from happening again? Maybe there had been something in her drink, or maybe she'd only been a little drunk and supposed there was. Maybe she'd concocted the idea that she'd been slipped a love potion after the fact, when she was struggling to find a way to justify what had happened. She might even believe it — but Ben wasn't sure that he could.

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MJ made this <3

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

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If taken at face value Nova rather thought, despite her prejudices, that it absolved Melody's character. It didn't negate what had happened, if it got out it wouldn't matter what the circumstances were gossip would circulate and the more cynical and salacious the gossip the more people seemed to revel in it. No one would want to hear that it wasn't Melody's fault unless there was a better villain to be had in saying so. Do you believe her? If you set your feelings to one side, do you believe she could be telling the truth? If it wasn't hurt and betrayal blinding him to reason then it was probably founded on what he knew of her already and the way she'd been when she'd explained herself. The trouble was discerning his reason from his anguish.

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Outfit | Tag: Reuben Crouch | Notes:

  

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The first response that came to mind was a flippant one: do I believe it's possible for someone to be taken advantage of after having their drink drugged at a party? Yeah, I'm sure it's happened on occasion. November didn't know about that, though, and however hurt Ben might have been at the moment he wasn't going to tell her. Back to the question at hand, then: did he believe Melody? Maybe, maybe, maybe. He had thought things were getting better, so it wasn't as though he could have predicted her behavior. He'd thought it more likely that she'd been hurt or kidnapped, when he'd started looking for her last night. On the other hand, he'd had one of the drinks she'd mentioned as the potential culprit and so had others he'd interacted with at the party, which made the situation more incredible. Melody as the victim of general mischief was easier to believe than someone singling out her and Beckett Longbottom for obscure reasons, but Ben had a hard time with the former simply because he hadn't seen anyone else do something like this.

That was the crux of it, he thought. He didn't know if he believed her, but even supposing he did, he didn't think the story absolved her as much as she would have liked. He had first hand experience with mind-bending potions slipped into his drink at parties, after all. Melody might have gotten him to agree to marry her when he otherwise never would have, but there had been something there. He'd cared deeply about her and had wanted to do what he could to protect her; that was why he'd procured the potion for her in the first place, and why he hadn't sought an annulment after her family had disowned her. If he hadn't already loved her, he didn't think it would have worked, even with the potion. He didn't think magic could create something from nothing: it amplified or redirected things that were already there. Maybe when she was sober Melody wouldn't have fallen into bed with someone while she was supposed to be at a party with him, but — but it was difficult to believe, in any version of events, potion or magic or not, that she loved him. Not if it was that easy for her to cast him off.

"I don't know," he admitted. "But even if it's true, I don't think a love potion is enough of an excuse. I don't... think I can forgive her." Granted, it was early yet; he'd only learned the story a few hours ago. But at the moment, he wasn't sure how they could possibly claw their way back from this kind of fissure. He had not decided on divorce — that he still wanted to consider in terms of how it would affect Nora — but emotionally, he felt their marriage was over.

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MJ made this <3

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

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Nova reflected on what she knew of her brother's capacity for forgiveness and understanding. He had always been more impulsive than her, more headstrong, more emotionally connected. Not that she had a disconnect exactly but she had always found her feelings very easy to confine and control. She felt things, very acutely in fact, but they very rarely overcame her judgement. Whether this was a testament to her self-control and composure, or a sign that her emotions ran on a different frequency to most other people, she couldn't say for sure but she preferred to believe the former. Reuben felt things strongly too, of all her brothers she knew him to be the most sensitive, she'd sensed it about him before she could even remember, before she'd had words to communicate it. There had been a time when her silence had been taken as a sign of stupidity, but Reuben had never written her off. He'd been the only one to see beyond her blank, lingering stares.

He wasn't cold, he didn't freeze people out, he was impulsive but he wasn't too proud to apologize or admit when he was wrong. He might have put physical distance between himself and the family when they'd been at odds but he'd never cut ties and turned his back. He was loyal, he was forgiving, he was patient. Which gave his mistrust of Melody some weight. He'd protected her when Nova had made plain her suspicions about his wife, he'd taken the blame and with such fervor that she'd briefly believed him. If now he was faltering, if he wasn't clinging to smallest shred of possibility that she'd betrayed him against her will then something had brought him past the point of wishful thinking. Perhaps he had loved her and perhaps that's what had changed, but if it were only that then he wouldn't be asking her what he should do. The answer would be obvious, stay put for the sake of his daughter and make the best he could of it. Enough of him, for reasons she would probably never know, was convinced that was no longer an option.

Nova knew that the Elmer Macmillan debacle had irreparably altered his view of her and at the time she thought she'd sullied their relationship beyond salvaging. It was now that she started to wonder if perhaps in the end it had strengthened it. Perhaps that was the only reason he'd come to her with this, now. She'd sacrificed some idealized version of herself for something more real, had they ever been closer than they were at this moment? He'd confided in her before but not like this. He was more intuitive than he gave himself credit for and that was what she had to trust now.

I think you can forgive her, I think you will forgive her, because that is who you are. But I think you mistake forgiveness for what she has done, with forgiveness for who she is. Nova paused for a moment and stared hard at a fleck on the wallpaper over Reuben's shoulder. She was rambling and it probably wasn't going to get anymore helpful. She sighed heavily and steeled herself to continue. That you can't believe her suggests that either you must not want to believe her or she has given you cause to mistrust her. Perhaps both. I do believe if you considered her an honest woman you would feel hurt and betrayal, but also forgiveness and compassion. If it were me, would you not believe I had been taken advantage of? Would you not be laying the blame at someone else's door? A brief pause as she once again thought of the letters. Even now? She trusted he'd catch her drift, she also trusted his opinion of her hadn't jumped straight to wanton harlot over an unwise correspondence. So whether she is telling the truth, or whether she is not, is immaterial. If your opinion of her has been brought so low that your first thought is to her guilt and not her innocence then I believe she must have given you valid reason. Is there any chance of reasoning with her do you think?

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Outfit | Tag: Reuben Crouch | Notes:

  

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His sister's words had an effect on him, one that he felt more than Melody's revelation that morning. Her description of him made him pensive, but he wasn't sure he fully believed her assessment; she had always viewed him more charitably than anyone else had. But maybe she was right; maybe if he stayed with Melody, either engaging in their marriage or merely coparenting their daughter, forgiving her was inevitable. He'd certainly fallen into these cycles before of trying to make things better between them, hoping that they'd finally landed on a route to mutual happiness, and then having his expectations derailed when it all crashed and burned again. Was he doomed to just repeat the same tired song if he stayed? Because the distinction November made also resonated with him: there was a difference between forgiving her and trusting her, and maybe he could do the former but not the latter. Maybe that was why all their efforts so far had always been doomed.

Much as he didn't want to imagine anything like this happening to his sister, he had to admit she had a point in how different his reaction would have been had it been her. Of course he would have believed her, and he would have been out this very moment trying to figure out who was responsible for the potion in her drink and what he could do to hold them accountable. He'd dueled someone to defend her honor, and he would have done it again if he'd had to. Meanwhile, Melody's honor was — pretty thoroughly tattered, after last night, and challenging Beckett Longbottom hadn't even occurred to him.

"You're right," he allowed. He felt, and sounded, weary. "Reasoning with her to what end? I don't even know what I'd want from her. She can't undo it."

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MJ made this <3

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

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To determine if there is any possibility of reaching an accord for Eleanora's sake. She shot him a vaguely bemused look, she'd thought they were on the same page about salvaging a romantic relationship with his wife, hadn't that ship sailed already? Had she missed something?

There can be no undoing what has been done and so it does not matter overmuch in the scheme of things. Which was not to say Nova wouldn't be judging Melody for her disgraceful behavior later, she most certainly would, but it was not helpful at present to do so. Not unless you still wish to pursue a romantic relationship with her? I do not think it advisable, I fear that you are irreconcilably ill-matched and it will only ever end in misery. Now that would be the sort of misery she read about in novels, pure agony and thwarted love. Although there had to be a firm basis of love first for the misery to be of any substance. As enjoyable as that might be in a novel however, and Nova might idly wish it upon herself at times, she didn't wish it on her brother. If Reuben enjoyed suffering he wouldn't be in her drawing room, he'd be sobbing in a dark room with some intoxicant and writing about his feelings. Reuben wanted a solution, not eternal agony and that was okay.

Forgive me, I should have chosen my words more carefully I think. She had been a little harsh, hadn't she? That was the last thing her brother needed, she must be more careful. Can she be reasoned with, is there any hope of a peaceable arrangement, of friendship? If you could find a mutual respect and appreciation for one another, passionless companionship, Eleanora might keep her mother and her prospects. As friends all might be well in time? He still hadn't given her reason to think that Melody's inadequacy extended beyond the role of wife into mother. If she'd lied about the potion then it did suggest she put her own whims before her daughter but that couldn't be proven. For all Nova knew Melody was a fiend of a wife but a doting, attentive mother whose absence would be sorely missed in her daughter's life. It would be so much easier if she were consistent.

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Outfit | Tag: Reuben Crouch | Notes:

  

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November didn't have the context, but as she spoke Ben couldn't help think through it all. He didn't have to reach an agreement with Melody about anything. He had the grounds to divorce her even before last night — Aldous had said as much — and he was fairly confident that if he wanted to, he could push to have Eleanora removed from her custody immediately and permanently. He had looked into the logistics of it while Melody was pregnant and things had been rocky between the two of them; care of their daughter would be granted to him by default in the event that they divorced, and Melody would have to petition to reverse the decision if she wanted to. Given that she had no income of her own and no family to support her, the likelihood that she would be able to do so successfully was slim... even before the grounds for the divorce came into play. Cold as it was, he didn't need her to agree to anything, if he decided that separating her from Eleanora was in their daughter's best interests.

"But can Eleanora keep her prospects if this comes out?" he pressed. "That's the first question. As to whether we could live together — I don't know, maybe. Probably, I guess. But if this — or something like this, in a year or two or three — was being talked about, and we stayed married, and Melody kept raising her — then what does that mean for Nora?"

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MJ made this <3

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

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Nova pursed her lips in thought. As harmful as rumors and gossip can be, it moves quickly. If there is no evidence and no further fuel for the fire, it will be forgotten before long. I fear divorce would not only be seen to validate the gossip but it would keep it at the forefront of people's minds a great deal longer. The specter of divorce would always follow her, being something of a rarity it would entertain the gossip circles for months. Eleanora would probably carry the stigma until her own marriage. It it were to end up a published scandal complete with irrefutable evidence then... The idea of divorce was quite horrific, to be rejected so thoroughly and publicly by one's husband... She couldn't even romanticize it, not presently anyway, it all but ended a woman's life! Nova knew she could never bear the humiliation. Then I suppose divorce may be the lesser of two evils.

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Outfit | Tag: Reuben Crouch | Notes:

  

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Ben wasn't sure he believed that there wouldn't be further fuel for the fire, but November seemed convinced. She'd made allusions to the idea several times, despite his doing the contrary. He was forced to consider that perhaps he was being unfair, letting his judgement be skewed by emotion however distant he felt. November was likely the more objective judge of the situation, between the two of them, so if she said the sting of rumors were unlikely to stay with Nora and were unlikely to resurface... then he supposed he'd have to accept that as the answer, and decide where to go from there.

(Or he could have washed his hands of the whole affair. It wouldn't have been difficult to produce proof of what had happened, if he wanted the scales tipped in favor of divorce — but what he wanted or didn't want wasn't supposed to be a deciding factor here, he reminded himself. He was trying to do what was best for Nora, and that was it.)

He couldn't pretend that Melody had been anything other than a good mother, at least from his perspective. Up until this incident, anyway — he was still angry with her for having so little concern for how her actions last night would impact their daughter, but otherwise she was a better mother than Ben had dared to hope, back when she'd been pregnant and despondent more often than not. If November thought it wasn't detrimental to Eleanora's reputation for Ben to remain married to her, then there was no reason to deprive Nora of her mother's care and attention. So where did that leave them? Melody didn't love him. He suspected he would never really trust her again.

"I guess maybe I should move out, then," he said with a weary sigh. "I don't know. I don't want to leave Nora, but — I don't want to live with her. I mean, we've already done that — living together and avoiding each other. It was miserable."

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MJ made this <3

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

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Nova was taken aback by how abruptly Reuben had seized upon such a monumental conclusion. That, and from the sound of it, her brother had been at the end of his tether long before this morning. It was one thing to think all that she did of Melody and to worry for Reuben's happiness and well-being but in reality she had no idea what the situation was. The small glimpse he'd just offered her, however, spoke volumes. It made sense, all things considered, but it was still surprising and disheartening to hear it. She should've known he would've already tried his very best, that to have come to her as he had meant he was well and truly at a loss.

Hesitantly, Nova extended a hand out towards him, resting it very lightly on the top of his. I am sorry, Reuben, she murmured, patting his hand so daintily it could almost be mistaken for a twitch. Is there really no possibility of you becoming friends? It was the only way out she could see for him where he didn't have to sacrifice either his happiness or his daughter.

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Outfit | Tag: Reuben Crouch | Notes:

  

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