Olivia awoke to Hero's growl.
"All of it." She flinched at the voice, starting to move, but stopped short upon hearing him continue. "What did you hope to gain from that? To steal her away to your side?"
"Of course not." Steven. "She asked, so I told her. I didn't mean anything by it. And my side is the same as y-"
"Don't lie to me." Hero snarled. By now, Olivia had gathered the context. Hero hadn't been asleep last night.
"If you heard, then you know how sorry I am." Steven's voice was soft, almost pleading. "How much I regret what-"
"Regret will not give me back three years of my life!" The younger tried to respond, but was cut off by the smack of flesh striking flesh.
"Hey!" A female voice, Alex, followed by rapid footsteps. "Listen, I don't care who you are-"
"Alex, it's alright." Steven tried to cut in, but he was ignored.
"I don't care who you are, no one strikes my husband!"
"Do you think that I am afraid to hit a woman?"
"Hey. Hey!" Olivia broke in, shoving herself upright. The argument went silent. "Fighting solves… nothing." Rubbing at her eyes, she swung her feet over the side of the couch and stood up. "Hero, let's go."
"This is none of your concern." Hero snapped.
"Yes it is." She shot back. "You're my concern." He hesitated, and she took a step in his direction. Not sure of his location, she didn't move any further, and there were a few moments of heavy silence. Finally, he growled, and one of his hands took her by the wrist.
"Fine. We're leaving." Pulling her with him, Hero started in the direction of the door.
"Wait." Alex interrupted. "Take these." Her escort stopped, releasing her, and Olivia froze in her tracks. She wasn't sure what the woman was offering them until she felt Hero's hands on her face, gently pressing soft fabric over her eyes.
"They're thin enough so that you should be able to see through them." Steven spoke up softly as Hero tied the blindfold behind her head. "But should hide your eyes."
"So that you won't suffer from association with me."
"You know that's not it." A sad sigh followed his words. "Goodbye. I hope you find what you're looking for."
"I hope I never see you again." Hero hurled back. The next thing she knew, Olivia was being dragged out the door and down the stairs.
"Ouch," she complained as she stepped on the side of her foot. Hero didn't respond.
The pair walked in silence for a little while, making their way down the stone-brick street. It was early in the morning, Olivia could still smell the dew in the air, and the sounds of merchants preparing their trades could be heard all the way down the street.
"Why didn't you ask me?" Hero asked, jerking her from her thoughts. His voice was no longer a growl, now it was almost sad.
"Convenience." Was her response. "I planned to ask you, your brother just-"
"He's not my brother." He interrupted.
"I can see why you feel that way." Gently, Olivia extracted her wrist from his grasp, placing her hand on his arm instead. "Can see why you hate him so much." Hero only grunted in response.
They kept walking. Olivia felt the sun begin to peek over the buildings, warm rays filtering over her tired body. She shivered, clutching her free arm to her chest in the early-morning chill.
"Did he tell the truth?" She spoke at last, catching Hero's attention. "You heard his story. Is there anything about it you would change?" Her escort contemplated this for a moment, silent.
"No." He answered quietly. "He told the truth."
"You believe him when he says he's sorry?"
"I told him already, sorry doesn't make up for what he did to me." The venom had returned to his tone, and she adjusted her grip on his forearm.
"I think that if you gave him the chance, he would do whatever you wanted to make up for it."
"He's not getting another chance." Hero snapped. "You don't understand, he was all I had. He was the only one I had in the world, and he tore that away from me."
"He was a kid!"
"So was I!" His tone was becoming decidedly upset. "How can you take his side?!"
"I'm not taking his side! Or yours, for that matter!" Stopping in her tracks, Olivia turned to face him, planting her feet when he tried to tug her forwards. "I'm acknowledging that you had an awful childhood. An awful life. Your br- Steven made it worse." Hero didn't interrupt, so she pressed onwards. "It messed you up. It messed him up too. But dwelling on your anger isn't going to solve anything, it'll just take up mental energy and keep you from focusing on other things."
"Make your point." He growled.
"My point is, stop sulking over him. You can't change the things in the past, so don't dwell on them. Your future is the only thing you can change." Hero didn't respond. After a few moments, he sighed, releasing his grip on her wrist.
"You're eloquent for your age, you know that?"
"I'm aware." Olivia preened. Taking her hand, he set it on his arm, and they started forwards once more.
"You're right in that focusing on my anger does not help me move forward." He began, his voice quiet. "But it keeps away some of the alternatives."
"What do you mean?"
"Some feelings are far worse than anger." She didn't quite know how to respond to that. "Anyway," He continued. "We should get to the library. I know the area, so it shouldn't take long."
"Okay." For the rest of the walk, Olivia simply hung onto his arm, quietly mulling over everything that she had just heard.