#emma 'ive been drinking since i was like twelve' swan

[screwhope]

❛ i bounced around foster homes for most of my childhood. sometimes found something more substantial , but then that would fall through. i'd get to sent to a new orphanage , or i'd run away -- try a different state. NEW PEOPLE. none of them stuck around. then when i grew up , i fell for a guy. we were on the streets -- had to move around to avoid getting arrested since we stole everything we had. i wound up in jail , so i guess that was actually my longest stay anywhere. ❜ a sigh escapes the blonde as she smoothes her hands on her thighs , palms clammy from talking about her past.

as she listens &* notes ruby's glossy eyes , that uncomfortable feeling rises up in her stomach. she can empathize with her -- share her story like some cautionary tale against being alone. BUT GENUINE , RAW EMOTION ? that was not her field. so she clears her throat &* looks away , mouth opening , then closing as she fails to think of anything particularly poignant to say. ❛ ----------- you know what we need ? something to drink. wait , are you old enough to drink ? ❜

"Only two years?" Easily distracted from heavier matters at hand, Ruby's interest - as well as her demeanor - perks up at that. "I can't imagine that. I've never even been out of town." Which was half of the cause of this rift to begin with. Every time she'd tried, something always seemed to get into the way. Granny's fault or not, it had Ruby nearly clawing at the walls to get out on her worst days.

Unfortunately, she's just as quick to deflate again. "I didn't start it." The answer is a petulant one, she knows - but she's so tired. Of being labeled a troublemaker, irresponsible, a slut; whatever else everyone thinks of her, Granny included. Of always being the one in the wrong, no matter what she tries. Still...

"Maybe you're right. Maybe she doesn't mean anything by it, not really. But, living with her - it's different than just knowing her, Emma. I've never had parents, only Granny, and she's harder on me than she is with anyone else. And I don't - I don't know what to do with that." Her voice trembles as she chances a glance back up, blinking back tears threatening to spill out. At least if they fall, she's already washed her makeup away - not that the thought is really all that much of a comfort. "I don't know what I ever did so wrong to make her like that."