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Night in the woods
a closed starter for @beabracknell
darcy had been back in coolsville for months, and yet she'd done an excellent job of avoiding those she did not wish to see.
a certain amount of that was because she was an introvert, much preferring to stay in on a friday night, reading, than to be out and about. but her complete and total avoidance of a one bea bracknell had been purposeful, a result of ducking out of sight when she spotted a once familiar face in passing. not going anywhere that held memories that darcy was not yet ready to confront.
it had been years, and she still was not over the fight that had changed the course of their lives forever. the day that she'd said something unforgivable, her insecurity causing her to lash out at the one person she thought she'd have in her life forever.
so it was a surprise, clearly, to see the girl in the room at the community center that morning. to (from a distance) study her face, changed by the years, but still that of the girl who'd known all of her secrets in elementary school, who had stood by her side even through relentless bullying. for a moment, darcy had been happy to see her. and then she remembered. retreated. back into the girl she'd become over the last eight years away.
"what are you doing here?" she asked once the inevitable finally happened and they came face to face, mentally cringing at how her words had come out so wrong. force of habit, it seemed. but though they'd been blunt, there had still been genuine curiosity in her tone.