The Most Wonderful Time of the Year? open

"....." i nodded and held the door open for her, keys in hand

I walked out, not saying anything else.

"......" i began walking quietly, unsure of what to say at this point, my headache starting to affect me now...

"Whats wrong now?"

"just a headache is all...."

"Why? Hangover? Anxiety?...Awkwardness?"

"hangover, and a bit of anxiety.... im always anxious when i leave the house.... im sure youve seen me be jumpy before...."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

".... its anxiety, ive always had it... basically, the fear of something new terrify's me.... it was almost to the point that i wouldnt leave the house, but my sister bribed me with games and icecream... i was 3 at the time, and would cling to her hand the whole time.... anyways, its a neurogical condition that can be treated, but not cured... and it sucks... it took alot of effort to ask you out all those times, and thats why i stopped, is because i couldnt take another disappointment of getting hopeful... we are almost to your house now... much quicker now that the snow is gone and we can take shortcuts..." i said quietly, my voice weak, shivering slightly

"...Hold my hand," I said suddenly, extending it.

"....." i sighed, to tired to fight against it, and took her hand and sighed contentedly "its nice and warm...." i said simply, continueing to walk

I smiled, before closing my eyes. Im so regretting this later...I sucked away a considerable amount of his anxiety onto myself, sensing it ebb significantly on his person, easing his nerves, slowly pulling my hand away before he could start feeling my emotions. "Better?"

"..... i do feel better, but id rather you didnt take it.... but i do appreciate the gesture...."

"Dont worry; since its not my emotion, it is easily supressed until I can find something to move the emotion to," I explained. "I just well...almost never do it because I fear that that is an easily exploitable part of my empathy.

"i could see how, as it oculd be used to force someones feelings on yourself.... and i wouldnt want that, even taking my feelings into account"

"Yeah, it gets pretty uncomfortable after a few hours, and we kinda get sick if the emotion is really strong or we stick with it too long. And thats only one of the few things we empaths are capable of; the only downside is that every single one of our empathic abilities has a downside, and we can get hurt if we try and go over our heads."

"..... all the more reason for you to never do that again.... you of all people should know how i feel about causing discomfort...."

I sighed. "You are way too overly concerned about this. Its only been a few seconds. That is not going to kill me."

"i cant change how i feel, i was RAISED to worry about other peoples reactions and actions, and about everything about them.... im no empath, i have to use intuition and gut feelings to do the things you do.... but id rather be dieing on the inside than have someone take the pain onto themselves.... i dont want anyone to have to experiance what i had to, if i can avoid it..." i said quietly, pulling my hand back from where i was holding it, and put them both in my jacket pockets as i kept walking, glancing at the tree that was some distance from her house, noting the park was accross the street, and looked at her "your dads probobly worried, probobly thought you would come straight home..." i said simply, looking at her with a blank look, as i was trying to think on something

It was pretty hard to keep my mouth from smiling. "Yeah, he probably thought I would just ditch the food there. So I...guess Ill be seeing you at the funeral?"

"if you choose to show up.... i would be careful though, Susan will be there, and she isnt the nicest of people.... she will probobly only be there as a favor to my father...." i said quietly, nodding at her as i turned to walk away and paused ".... watch that key, its very important that you dont lose it... cause id hate to wake up and have someone trying to choke me to death cause they dont like my methods... cya..." i said "and try to smile like that more.... it makes things seem brighter when you do...."

I simply nodded, giving a small wave before entering my house. I'll just make the stealthiest gift insult I can for her... I grinned. "Why are you feeling so evil?" My dad asked.

"We're going to a funeral to pay our respects to his sister. While his fiancee to be or whatever will be there to kiss butt."

"You dont even know her!" My dad exclaimed, slightly amused.

"He said so."

"......" i sighed and went straight for my tree and saw it was still available, and i sat down at the bottom of the trunk, leaning against it and resting my arm on the stump right next to it, and watched the city pass by quickly

"You took your time. Enough to do something you feel guilty about," he suddenly noted.

"..."

"Even if you couldn't resist, why did you do it?"

"Its not like he'll ever know," I argued. "I can hide things from nonempaths just like anyone else."

"And yet you feel you betrayed him."

"Whatever," I said, going to my room.

(TS to the funeral?)