Don't plan.
Grief was a funny thing. Sometimes it lingered under the surface - bubbling - but not noticeable enough to stop you from your day to day life. It was subtle, eventually allowing you to go to the grocery store without sobbing in the pasta isle. It was small enough to let you walk down the street without breaking down on the footpath. Grief could be quiet. It waited until you were safe in your room, hidden from the world. Only then did it spill out of you, letting you deal with it in private, away from judgemental eyes and voices telling you to calm down and move on.
Don't think.
But grief was not always quiet. Sometimes grief was overwhelming. It was loud and unapologetic. It was crushing and devastating. It tore you in half until you could no longer breathe. It shattered you into tiny shards that were impossible to put back together. It sat on your shoulders like a weight that refused to budge no matter how desperately you tried to shrug it off. It sat there, on full display of anyone who crossed your path.
Don't doubt.
And sometimes grief was violent. It manifested itself in raging outbursts, in screaming and punching and reckless actions you knew you'd regret. It brought up thoughts you didn't know were bubbling, and it pushed them to the surface. It made you angry. It shortened your temper and narrowed your vision until you could only see red. It turned you into a monster, someone so unlike the self you thought you knew.
Don't stop.
Lizzie Tanner tried to keep her grief quiet. She tried to keep it under the surface. She hid it from the world and she hid it from herself. But her grief was not the type to hide away. Her grief was loud. It was reckless. It pushed her towards danger, her mantra running through her mind as she moved forward without an ounce of hesitation. Her mantra kept her focused. It kept her moving and it kept her from falling apart. But it did not keep her safe.
Don't die.
A/N: Hey lovely readers! I'm back again with another OC wooooop. This is just a tiny prologue/teaser for Lizzie's story and hopefully Chapter 1 will be up soon. Just so you know, Lizzie's story will be set in Season 3A and will hopefully continue through the series. I'm so excited to share her story with you all so feel free to fave/follow to keep updated! And you can see all of my sneak peaks and Lizzie edits on my tumblr at fraysquake. Thanks for reading :)