"Effy"

Effy opens her eyes slowly, trying to focus on the figure in front of her.

Tony. Effy can keep her feelings from everyone, concealed behind her piercing blue eyes.

Everyone that is, except for her brother.

Tony stares back, the intensity of his gaze surpassing that of his sister's, and Effy knows that she can't hide anything.

"I'm scared," Effy says, still a bit uncomfortable sharing her true feelings, even though it's her brother. Tony just waits expectantly, knowing that she hasn't told him everything. Effy sighs. Sometimes her brother won't let his younger sister get away with anything.

"I don't, I don't want to be here again. I love someone," she continues, starting to look around frantically as though she's just remembered where she is. "Freddie, I mean. I love him. What if it's making me crazy? I don't want anything bad to happen again, not like last time. And I don't want John Foster anymore; he's not helping me. I think he made it worse… I just don't think I can handle this. I think, I think I'm afraid of myself."

Tony has never seen his sister so vulnerable. Her mischievous, icy, indifferent front is gone, all because of passion, because of love. He's reminded of how after his accident, Effy was the one who helped him. She cared for him even when he wasn't himself. Tony knows that he has to do just that for her.

"Effy, everything's going to be okay," Tony starts. He puts his hand over hers, noticing how much smaller she seems. "Don't worry about Freddie. He knows what you're going through. He's going to stick with you. He loves you. All you need to do is rest, yeah? And you can have a different counselor; we can get rid of John Foster. Passion might make you crazy, Eff, but is there any other way to live?" Tony winks.

"Thanks Tony," Effy says gratefully. She looks into his eyes, almost mirror images of her own, and smiles her half smile. "When did you become so good at giving advice?" she smirks.

"Fuck off!" Tony laughs, pushing his sister's shoulder.

The two let a comfortable silence fall over them. Effy dozes, she's absolutely exhausted, and Tony can't help but admire how beautiful his little sister has become. He knows not to be too worried about her; Effy Stonem is pretty much invincible. The sound of Effy's cell phone vibrating interrupts his thoughts though, and Tony flips open the phone to show his sister.

I'm going to come back tomorrow. I'll love you forever. Don't forget that.

Freddy

"See Eff? You're going to be fine." Tony reassures her.

Effy smiles and drifts back to sleep.