𝐌𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐨𝐮𝐱 𝐂𝐢𝐧𝐪

𝙩𝙚𝙣

Vanya stood by the door with Leonard, her latest violin lesson appointment.

"Uh, I'm a woodworker. I have a shop, in uh... Bricktown," he says awkwardly, "You should... come by some time. You know, check it out."The silence was practically deafening, Vanya didn't know how to respond.

"Uh- This week I'm-" Thankfully, she didn't have to awkwardly turn him down as there was a rapid knocking on the door.

"What-" Vanya opens to the door to see a bawling Annalise, with a swollen eye and some mostly dried blood down her face, "Oh my God!"

Annalise instantly falls into the arms of her sister, "Vanya! Ça fait mal!"

"What happened to your face!?" Annalise ignores her sister's outcry as she continues to sob, "Cl-close the door on your way out, Leonard, please, I need to- Oh my God, what have you gotten into, Annalise?"

Vanya picks up her sister and places her on the small space of the kitchen counter rushing off the get the first aid kit, leaving a crying Annalise and a bewildered Leonard. Vanya comes rushing back to the kitchen, flipping on the lights and standing in front of Annalise.

A quiet voice comes from behind her, "Do-do you need any help?"

Vanya glances behind her to see Leonard awkwardly standing by the door, "No, I-I couldn't ask that of you."

"Oh, it's not a problem... I uh, used to deal with bullies all the time, got punched a few times too many. I can help with that shiner of hers."

"P-punched?" Vanya takes Annalise's face in her hands, examining her face closer, "I-I..."

Leonard steps closer, hesitantly trying to help, "Here, um, let me just get some ice or something for the swelling and bruising."

"Oh, uh yeah," she points to the freezer, "We have frozen peas..."

"Vanya," Annalise cradles her hands close to her chest, "Ça fait tellement mal!"

Vanya ran a rag under cold water and begins to wipe the blood from her face, relieving only a small cut on her brow. By now, Annalise's sobs had died down to just tears. She begins to clean it with a disinfectant wipe and cover it with a bandage. Leonard presents the bag of frozen peas, carefully pressing it to her swollen eye. Annalise immediately grabs hold of it, letting Leonard let go of the cold bag.

"Hey, Annalise?" Leonard bends down slightly to see her face, "I need you to tell me if anything else hurts, so we can fix you up and make sure that nothing else is wrong, can you do that for me?"

"Tout," she whispers quietly, silent tears streaming down her face.

He turns to Vanya, "Wh-what did she say?"

Vanya steps closer to her sister, her eyes wide, "Annalise?"

"Tout me fait mal."

⑄⑄⑄⑄⑄⑄⑄⑄⑄⑄⑄⑄

Vanya closes the bedroom door behind her, glancing back at the girl she'd just spent the last hour sitting with as she drifted off.

"She's finally asleep," she sighs, pressing a hand to her forehead as she makes her way back to the kitchen that was bound to be a mess, only to find it cleared of all traces of blood and bandages. She turns to the living room; Leonard was sitting on the couch, waiting silently.

"I hope you don't mind, I didn't think you should have to deal with cleaning after all that," he stands and grabs his jacket from the coat rack.

"Listen, I'm so sorry that you had to deal with all of that, especially since we just met and you don't know anything about us."