Smoke Without Fire || Amelia & Teddy

amelia-hurricane-shepherd:

cry with me dr-teddyaltman

Every man I’ve ever loved has died. The words had spilled so easily from her
lips – so sure he had understood their weight; so sure his promise not to be
another would hold true. Her protests, her unspoken cries for him to stay left
unanswered, so she had to trust in his word. He was coming home. He would
never leave her. He would never leave their child, the baby growing inside her.
They were his reason to come home. And now they were the ones left behind.

Cerulean eyes turned dull and empty, staring into those of the blonde woman
before her; the one who had acted as best man at their wedding; and the very
reason her husband was gone. The world swirled around her, everything turn-
ing to blurred lines. This couldn’t be happening again. She shook her head,
sniffing away her tears, fighting hormones and sorrow in one. How could he
be gone?

“He’s– How– How did it– How do you just lose a person?”

Of  the  tears  in  Amelia’s eyes, Teddy knew better than to bear any form of
likeness. What right did she have to cry, when the weight of an appropriated
blame rested solely upon her shoulders? It was a duty unlike any other to let
herself be hated; yet, Amelia’s accusing gaze could never stand to challenge
the hatred she had for herself.

She alone knew how many lies it’d taken to convince herself that deploying
her best friend was the right thing to do. She alone knew the price it had dealt
her, the knowledge that her very worst nightmare had come true. It’d taken
more than sacrifice — no, this decision had cost her any faith she’d had left.
And  each  word,  each  breath  that  wasn’t set upon finding him — they’d
only become her regrets.

“We haven’t lost him. Not yet,” Teddy vowed, her eyes never once betraying
her  doubts. To  doubt was to give in, and she knew she couldn’t afford to do
that.

Not if she ever were to live with herself again.