Alex.

As you stumble out and through the library proper, your hand scrambles for your phone to try and text Alex. It's probably useless, though. The way your hands are shaking, there's no way you'd be able to come out with something coherent. And no doubt you'd just confuse her with the garbled mess you'd inevitably send her.

Which means it's a stroke of luck that as you open the door, standing outside in the corridors is Alex. Once again, she's here at the perfect moment. It's as if she were sent from above to watch over you, like a guardian from the heavens.

She looks up from her own device. "Oh, hey, Rosie, you all good?" Over the course of the silence that follows, you can just barely notice her face falling a little, that little detail being visible even as the world is spinning around you. It would seem that she's realised that your answer is an emphatic "no".

So, she pulls you in for a hug, and once again, you collapse into undignified crying while wrapped in her arms. You must look a complete fool every time this happens, every time you get overwhelmed and lose yourself to your emotions. You should learn to keep yourself in reserve more. It's unbecoming. Of what, you don't know, because you don't see yourself in any sort of "becoming" position, but... all you know is it's not right.

Yet, in this moment, you feel a weight lifted off you. Maybe it's just that Alex's presence is safety to you now. The way her arms feel around you, the way she strokes through your hair... it's just comfort. You feel the loosening of parts of your body you didn't know had been tightened.

"Do you feel okay to talk about it? Or do you just want to stay here?" You don't answer. Some part of you wants to milk this for as long as possible. Maybe it's that you don't feel prepared to address the complex feelings. Maybe it's just that to be close to Alex is to be where nothing can hurt you. She doesn't reiterate the question. You guess that means she understands.

Finally, still red-faced and out of sorts, you pull back and look up at her. You're not sure your current look could convey determination in any sense; you can still feel the tears streaked down your face, and your voice barely comes out in choked spurts. "I think... I think I'm ready now." Yet something inside you feels determined, to get through this and maybe seek a bit of peace once more. And you're at least better equipped for that than a few minutes ago.

"Okay, I'm glad you waited." Something about the way she says this makes you feel more secure. "I saw that Seraphine girl head off just before you, so I figure... probably something to do with her, right?"