Late Night Snackage OPEN

Paloma heard Frodo say how the past few months would have been more difficult without his sister and gave him a sympathetic smile. She wanted to ask if he was okay, what had happened, and if there was something she could do to make him feel better, but she didn't know if she should.

"Not really," she answered his question, "We barely see each other. My sister goes to Hogwarts and stays at her friend's house during the holidays, so we only see her for about a month during the summer. And my brother is still too young, he goes to a Muggle school near our home, and I only see him during the summer and holidays. We all get along very well, we barely fight, it's pretty nice when we're all together, never too noisy or too quiet."

"Mine's the opposite. It's always crowded, you never have a moment alone or any privacy whatsoever. You guys are lucky. My siblings have taken it up on themselves to bring home everyone they've ever met when we go home for holidays." Deidre said pushing her hair back again. She had noticed the vagueness of Frodo's words and was immensely concerned.

"So, I have a strange question. And because I am terrible at asking questions, don't take this the wrong way... Is everything okay in your life right now?" Deidre didn't want it to seem like she was prying, but couldn't think of any other way to ask him.

Paloma tensed a bit when Deidre asked the question, not knowing how Frodo would take it, but was relieved she did it.

Looks like she wasn't the only one who sensed something wrong.

"I think I'd like it if it was crowded like that at my home. It's always too quiet expect for the occasional shouting from my father or when guests flood our house for fancy parties." Frodo smiled slightly and added, "I'm sorry, I don't want to sound like I'm complaining or anything."

"Oh, um..." he trailed off and rubbed the back of his nervously. He thought about his response. "No, everything's not fine. At least, not completely." He finally said. He wasn't used to telling people his problems and he wondered if they really wanted to know about his loss.

"You don't have to apologize for anything," Paloma said quietly.

She looked sadly at the boy, a bit surprised he told him that easily. She supposed telling people you didn't know very well about your problems was better than telling your friends, after all.

"Frodo, what's wrong?" she asked soflty, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."

Frodo smiled at the Uchitels embarrassedly. "I really didn't mean to bring down your moods. It's just that I'm never aware that I'm expressing my feelings unless someone points it out to me." He sighed and attempted a grin. "But thanks for bearing with me so far."

He looked at Paloma and Deirdre in surprise. They wanted to know? He took a deep breath and murmured, "My mother committed suicide two months before." There, I said it, he thought as he avoided eye contact.

Paloma's eyes widened in surprise and she looked down. His mother had commited suicide? Paloma thought that was a pretty selfish thing to do, especially considering she had a son who obviously cared for her. But, of course, she wouldn't say that. She must have had her reasons.

She looked up and saw he was avoiding eye contact. Without thinking, she went up to him and hugged him.

She wouldn't have done this udner normal circumstances - she had just met him! - but God knew how much she needed someone to be there for her when was facing the death of her grandmother. Of course, they couldn't even compare, a mother was a mother.

She let go of him, "Err.. sorry. I- I know we barely know each other, but if you ever want to talk about it or if you need someone..."

And she was honest. That night was definitely a strange night for Paloma.

Frodo looked at Paloma in surprise but accepted the hug gratdfully. "Thank you," he told with a smile. "And I should be the one apologizing, I didn't mean to be the centre of attention and that too for such a depressing thing." He said, once again feeling the embarrasment. This was the first time he had told anyone about it other than Kait, and he had to admit, he did feel slightly better.

"I'll definitely take that offer if I ever need it," he promised the Uchitel. "I thought I had moved on, but apparently not," he muttered.

Paloma looked at him, "And I told you, you have nothing to apologize for. We asked you about it, if you're at fault then so are we."

She gave him a soft smile, "Two months. It's not that much time. You can't move on from something like this so easily. It takes some time, especially when it's someone closer to you, and that is nothing to be embarrassed of. It's not true what some people say... crying does not make you weak, grieving does not make you weak."