“Look, since you’ve clearly stuffed your head a mile up your ass in denial, I’ll break this down nice and easy for you: ” Andie let go of Dyllan’s shadow, cleared her throat, and took a few steps back. “If you hated Aspen half as much as you claim, you wouldn’t turn into a quivering mess every time you think about what happened to him.” She let a smirk creep up her face - her blue eyes flickering with a touch of colorless silver. “It’s obvious to anyone with a lick of common sense that you’ve forgiven him… so why can’t you just forgive yourself already?”
“Because…” For the first time since Andie had broken into Dyllan’s Nightmare, his ego spoke. “I hurt someone. Badly.”
“I… That’s…” Andie took a deep breath, turned around, and walked over to her friend. “…I’m sorry.” She sat down next to him. “I got a little too intense. I know a quick ‘nobody’s perfect’ speech isn’t enough here.” Andie’s eyes shimmered silver. “But you know I’m right.” They were blue again now. “All this beating yourself up? It’s pointless.” Silver again. “It’s stupid.” One blue, one silver. “You do not need to atone for what you did.” Both were blue again. “But if you did? This wouldn’t be the way. Sitting here being miserable, hurting yourself… it helps no one.” Silver again. “If you insist on atoning, do it by helping people. Take that anger, that frustration, and let it do some good. Let it help people.”
Stolen novel; please report.
“Hate…” Dyllan curled up tight as he spoke, turning his gaze away from Andie. “Hate never helps anybody.”
“For the last goddamn time, it isn’t hate!” Andie threw her hands up in the air. “It’s a -” She paused. “Wait… You think the way that your shadow lashes out is because of something inside it - something inside of you.” A huge smile spread out on Andie’s face, reawakening all the light and color that had been sleeping while her shadow was at the wheel. “Dyllan, your shadow isn’t violent because of what he has inside him - he’s violent because of what he’s missing, because of what he didn’t get from you.”