TRUTH BE TOLD | KINSEY

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first week of september

Peyton was skipping, which usually meant that she was in a good mood. She had a small break in between her classes and had just previously left the owlery. Having sent a letter home to her parents, just to check in, she decided to spend her time in the closes courtyard to her previous location, but close enough that she’d have time to make her way to her next class. Through her skipping, her eyes went from person to person, watching people play little games, talking and laughing, some even reading. She slowed down a bit, stopping her skipping and instead of walking. It was nice out, a mixture of cool and warm air that filled her being. She loved it, and quickly pushed a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, slightly annoyed that a strand had escaped her ponytail.

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@kinsey

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Kinsey was looking for somewhere new to spend her free time. She used to always go to the Pond, but she couldn't anymore. There were too many memories there of Riley and she was nervous that if she continued to go there, it wouldn't be a place of beauty to her anymore. It would be much better for her to simply find somewhere else to spend her time. At least, that was how she saw it. So now she was wandering around the grounds, looking for something to do. 

Somehow she found herself in the courtyard, where lots of people were hanging out. Well, that put this place out of the question. She didn't want to choose somewhere that lots of people would go to when they had free time. There would be no peace of mind for her there. She didn't sense any negative intentions at the moment, which was a good thing. Then ... she saw a familiar figure a short distance away. Her sister. "Peyton," Kinsey called, offering a small wave even though she didn't really know why. Would her sister want to talk to her right now, or was she busy with something?

@peytonbainbridge

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Through her humming and playful skipping, the young blonde heard the sound of her name being called. Quickly her attention was drawn to look for the source of it, a familiar voice at that. And then she noticed it; she met the eyes of a waving older sister, Kinsey. Now that Cara and Diane weren’t here, it was Kinsey, Peyton, Persephone, and Penelope on the grounds of Hogwarts. It was rather sad to see her siblings off, and she wondered what they were doing on this beautiful day. She waved back and began to skip her way over to the older Bainbridge. “Kinsey! Hi!” she said excitedly once she drew closer, “How are you on this fine day?” she questioned with a small giggle, she was overly chipper.

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@kinsey

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Kinsey's stomach was in knots when she saw her sister turn and notice her. Peyton seemed cheerful enough, but Kinsey felt so anxious that she would do something wrong. She loved her sister, like she loved all her siblings, but she wasn't on speaking terms with about half of them. She was nervous that she'd do something to push her younger sister away too. Then again, she was the one to reach out, so she wasn't about to push her away. 

Peyton came closer, asking how she was doing and Kinsey forced a grin. She could hide her pain about what happened with Riley, or at least try to, even though it probably wouldn't work. "I'm doing pretty well. Better than expected," she answered, more honestly than she expected. She bit her lip nervously before returning the question."And you?"

@peytonbainbridge

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Unlike some of her siblings, Peyton wasn’t one to turn on blood. While she didn’t understand while her siblings had pretty much exiled Kinsey, the young blonde wasn’t about to do so. They were family, and Peyton was someone that could easily forgive someone else unless they were a bully that was. She adored all her siblings, and that wasn’t’ about to change anytime soon. When she reached her sister, she noticed the forced smile that appeared on the brunette’s lips, her words sounding as if she had to force them out as well. She even bit her lip, and Peyton felt like something was off. “I’m fine, great even! But I feel like you aren’t…” she breathed out as she looked at her sister, “Is something wrong?” she questioned in a whisper almost.

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@kinsey

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Kinsey's smile became a little more real at Peyton's enthusiasm. She always loved how cheery her younger sisters seemed to be. Sometimes she could tell that it was just for show, but most of the time they were great and happy and that was enough to lift anyone's spirits, right? Then Peyton called her out. Okay, so it wasn't really calling her out. Kinsey knew that her sister was concerned and that she could tell something was wrong. Crap. Kinsey didn't want to talk about this. Then again, maybe it would do her some good. She sighed, "Yeah," she admitted softly. "I just was so excited to come back to school and now it feels like everything is falling down around me. I don't really know what to do," she admitted, surprised even as she spoke that she was confessing this much. Then again, Peyton was the first person to really ask. Didn't that mean she should know the most? Even if her sister didn't really want to know all her problems, Kinsey was starting to realize that she might not be able to keep them all to herself anymore. As long as Peyton didn't attack her feelings/previous relationship with Riley, Kinsey would tell her whatever she wanted to know.

@peytonbainbridge

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A sigh left the lips of her sister, and she grew even more concerned by the way she was acting. Weren’t they just getting on the train, each going their way, talking about what they were all looking forward too? Hadn’t Peyton seen her with Riley, or whom she believed was Riley? Why now was she so torn apart, she even spoke about being excited about coming back to school, and now everything was crashing down around her. She didn’t know what to do, admitting that she was just as lost as she looked. The frown grew deeper on Peyton’s face, “What happened? Why do you feel like that?” she questioned softly, wanting to know what brought her sister pain. Last time she had seen Kinsey, she seemed happy and alight, just as Peyton had been moments before.

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@kinsey

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Kinsey could practically see the concern in her sister's eyes at her response. Great. She wasn't doing a good job at hiding her feelings at all, but she honestly couldn't help it much. She was just, this was hard. Kinsey didn't know how to talk about her pain of losing Riley or how to explain to her sister that she was now dead to their brother. She sighed, fighting the tears that wanted to come when Peyton asked what happened. "Can we go on a walk?" Kinsey asked. She didn't really want to be around other people while having this conversation. So she started walking away from the courtyard, headed towards the grounds. She figured Peyton would be following her. "I guess I should start at the beginning," she said after a few minutes, her tone resigned. "Do you know about the fight Dustin and I had during the summer? The reason I left the family vacation early?" Kinsey hadn't really explained that to any of her siblings and didn't know if Dustin had. It was all so complicated, but it was the beginning of her problems. Then came Riley. Then Dominic, though she wasn't going to tell her little sister about her bully.

@peytonbainbridge

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Peyton waited for her elder sister to speak, but when she asked if they could go for a walk, she instantly nodded her head. “Yes—yes, of course, come on,” she said as she began walking, running to sort of catch up with Kinsey would had already started walking and caught Peyton off guard. She fell into step beside her as her sister asked her if she knew about a fight with Dustin and the reason she left early from the vacation, and she quickly shook her head. “No one would talk about it. I just assumed you got sick or had always planned to get home early to see Riley or something,” she said mumbling, a little hurt that she was kept in the dark about some fight with Dustin. “Why did you and Dustin get into a fight?” she questioned, her innocent eyes turning to Kinsey.

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@kinsey

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Of course she didn't know. It wasn't like Dustin was the kind of person to tell everyone about something so personal and it did happen between the two of them. Kinsey wasn't surprised, but a part of her wished that she didn't have to be the one to explain this. She sighed as she tried to decide where to start. "Sorry, I wasn't really trying to keep it a secret. It's just ... painful." Honestly, Kinsey didn't expect herself to be this open and honest with her younger sister, but she wasn't going to lie. She'd tell Peyton, as long as the younger girl actually wanted to listen. If she felt her sister getting restless, she'd stop. "We got in an argument about Riley." Kinsey bit her lip before plunging in. "Dustin was convinced that Riley was bad news and that I needed to dump him, but he wouldn't tell me why. He wouldn't give me any reasons why I should leave Riley, but said that I needed to trust him and dump Riley." She hung her head as the memories came back, along with the guilt. "I couldn't," her breath was a soft whisper. "I told Dustin that I couldn't do that to Riley and he said that I had to choose between him or Riley." She glanced over at her sister. "I chose Riley and Dustin will never forgive me for that. So I left." 

Kinsey looked straight ahead as her eyes started to fill with tears. Now she lost them both, Riley and Dustin, but she'd give her sister some time to soak all this in before moving on to the issue she was really struggling with now. Riley was engaged to someone else and she lost him. Ugh, she sounded like the main character in a lame romantic comedy movie. Maybe Peyton thought she was being overly dramatic. She waited for some kind of a response.

@peytonbainbridge

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The words that came out of her sister’s lips pained Peyton to hear. The reason she had left was because Dustin made her choose between love and family. And while Peyton didn’t blame her sister for leaving because she couldn’t break up with Riley, she couldn’t believe the words would to be true. “Dustin did that to you?” she questioned softly, her voice sounding as if she were lost for words. She believed her sister, the two of them had grown closer the past year, and hearing that their elder brother had done such a horrible deed, just seemed foreign. “You’re his sister, he’ll get over it eventually Kinsey,” she breathed out, her words sounding as if she were trying to convince herself of those exact words. She could see Kinsey beginning to tear up, and quickly she moved forward and wrapped her arms around her sister. She knew Kinsey wasn’t one for touching, but screw it; she hugged her anyway. Something else was wrong because if it were just Dustin that had hurt her, she surely wouldn’t be fully crying. “And—what about Riley? What did he have to say about what happened or did you not tell him?” she questioned softly as she pulled back to look at her sister, still keeping herself close for comfort if needed.

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@kinsey

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Kinsey could tell that her sister was very surprised by what happened between Dustin and Kinsey. In all honesty, it should be a surprise. Out of all of her siblings, Kinsey always went to Dustin when she needed something. At least, she started going to him when she realized that Diana was avoiding her. She and Dustin were always rather close, but not anymore. She nodded slowly when Peyton asked if Dustin did that to her. Her throat was tight and she couldn't force herself to speak, so a nod was all she could do. She shook her head when Peyton continued. "I don't think so Peyton," Kinsey answered quietly. "You didn't see him. He was ... heartbroken and furious and disappointed. I've never seen him like that before." And she'd never see him again after what happened. Kinsey shook her head to try and keep herself from thinking on it. Torturing herself with memories of that night wouldn't help her in the slightest. 

Kinsey was definitely surprised when Peyton reached to give her a hug, but the only intentions she sensed coming from her sister were concern and sympathy. She wanted to be there for Kinsey, and she wasn't going to push her away for that. Peyton was one of the only people Kinsey could still really talk to. She needed her. She sniffled a little as Peyton brought the conversation back to Riley. "He doesn't know. I wasn't trying to keep it from him, I just couldn't figure out how to tell him and now there's no point." She couldn't look at Peyton anymore. Kinsey stared across the grounds. "Riley's betrothed. His parents made the arrangements at the end of the summer and he told me our first day back. He's engaged to a girl your age. I've seen her, but I don't know her name," might as well get that out of the way before Peyton asked. "So ... after everything, I guess Dustin was right, but now I've lost them both." Kinsey bit her lip and looked back at her sister. "I miss Riley," she admitted, saying the words for the first time.

@peytonbainbridge

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The way that Kinsey spoke about Dustin, it was like a whole other person she was hearing about. Sure, she understood that some of her siblings weren’t a fan of Kinsey herself, mostly because of her gift and such, but Peyton still saw her as family. She was a family oriented type of person, she was, and Kinsey was her blood. She shook her head, frowning deeply in disappointment at their elder brother’s reactions and such over summer break. They were there together as a family, and he did such a thing. She frowned more, “I’m sorry he did such a thing to you, Kinsey…I didn’t know,” she breathed out, guilt filling the fiber of her being. She knew that it wasn’t her fault about what her brother did, felt or thought towards Kinsey, but just now hearing about it made her feel bad. There she was enjoying her summer with her family, and this happened to someone in her family.

Kinsey was quick to reveal that Riley was betrothed to someone her age and that she was at Hogwarts as we speak. She didn’t know the name of the girl, only the age of her and that it happened over the summer break. But she was quick to reveal that Dustin was right and that she lost both of them. Peyton, ever the hopeless romantic, shook her head in disappointment of the situation. Why was everything horrible happening to one of the sweetest people she knew? Peyton wanted to hug herself, but a part of her feared getting close. She knew her sister wasn’t one for touch someone else, but Peyton was a hugger. She shook her head, “No—Dustin isn’t right. Is there anything that can be done? Can Riley tell his parents he doesn’t want this? Surely, this doesn’t mean you two are over…”

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@kinsey

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Kinsey felt bad unloading all of this on Peyton. She didn't exactly know what to say anymore. Kinsey knew that Dustin wasn't a bad person. She didn't understand why he was so strict sometimes or why he wanted her to break up with Riley, but that didn't matter anymore. First of all, she and Riley weren't together anymore and secondly, Dustin ran off to some other part of the world with someone. Kinsey didn't know who, he hadn't talked to her about it. She bit her lip, trying to keep her emotions in control as Peyton apologized to her. "It's not your fault. It's done and I ... I didn't want to cause any problems between Dustin and anyone else." She gave a wan smile, "Sorry to unload it all on you now." So much for trying to not be a burden to the people she loved. 

Peyton continued on, saying that Dustin wasn't right and asking if anything could be done. "No, Riley ... agreed to it. He told me that he'll lose everything if he goes against his parents. We're ... not even friends anymore." Her bottom lip trembled and her eyes filled with tears. "I ... miss him. I know it's stupid, but I miss him, Peyton and I can't do anything about it. He made his choice, and it wasn't me." The tears started falling and Kins turned to her sister, holding her arms out and shrugging. She didn't know what else to say. Part of her wanted a hug but ... she didn't know.

@peytonbainbridge

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WE'RE BRIGHTER THAN FIREFLIES LIGHTING THE SKY

[attr="class","next"] When it came to figuring out who were the strict people in the family, she didn’t turn to her parents; instead, she turned towards Dustin and Cara. She had always felt like they were strict, but when it came to Kinsey, it seemed like much more than that. She knew their family wasn’t perfect, but learning the stuff she did from Kinsey, really laid everything bare on the table. She was quick to say that she didn’t want to cause problems between Dustin and anyone else and that she was sorry that she unloaded it onto Peyton the way that she did. She shook her head, “No—no, it’s okay. Being able to talk about things, I’ve heard it helps you move on,” she said truthfully with a warm smile upon her face. She didn’t care that her sister had told her what had happened, and she probably wouldn’t see Dustin in a different life, but she might be careful around him a little. Who knows if Dustin would react the same way if she had found someone like Riley.

“Wait—hold up, you guys aren’t even friends anymore?” she questioned with wide eyes. They went from being head over heels for each other, or rather she had seen it in Kinsey (mostly because she had yet to meet Riley personally), and went straight to the not-even-knowing-each-there-anymore mode? That was—holy crap. A surge of anger filled her beings, but she calmed it with a breath of air leaving her lips. “You don’t need him anyway,” she said with a matter-of-fact tone, “If he doesn’t have the—” she started before clearing her throat “—the balls to fight for the person he supposedly loved, then you don’t need him.”

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TAG @kinsey

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