Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Bens Note of Sheer Awesome: With the storm over, I kind of like writing these chapters. There's a sort of change of pace that I quite enjoy. I would say I should write arcs like that more often… if not for the fact it's kind of sadistic of me to say. Still, I think I'm making good progress on Kitty's recovery. Also, this is still Winter time. All of the recovery will happen in the Winter. Also, bear with me on the prompt of this one.

Prompt 27: Brotherly Love

Kitty didn't really have a lot of male figures in her life.

Her father abandoned her as a baby. Her grandfathers didn't give cheese about her. Most of her friends were girls. The only male she had in her life was Alistair. Even then… she knew things were different between them know.

Kitty was sitting outside at a table, eating her lunch. She was aware it was freezing, but Kitty didn't mind the cold. She felt that if she froze, so be it. At least it wouldn't be her fault…

She jerked her head back to confirm that Maddie was still watching her. She hid an appreciative smile. Kitty knew that she had enough control to never do something that stupid again… but she was happy Maddie could help her be double sure.

"Hey Kitty," came a voice from in front of her. Kitty yelped in surprise and turned her head back around. In front of her was none other than Hunter Huntsman. Kitty gave him a brief half-smile.

"Hi… Hunter," she said.

"Pretty cold out here," he said. "You sure you're ok in the cold?" He had decided to sit at the same table as Kitty. Kitty didn't mind, of course, but she found it odd he was talking to her. They didn't socialize very much to begin with, so why the sudden change?

"I'm… fine," she said. "The cold doesn't really bother me…"

Hunter shrugged and gave her a smile. "I guess we all have some strengths," he said. "I myself have physical strength. But being immune to cold… wish I could have something cool like that."

Kitty gave out a small giggle. It was short lived, though, as Kitty went back to being silent. She didn't deserve to be happy. Not after the sadness and pain she caused…

Hunter cocked his head. "Now, I know you aren't troubled by the cold," he said. "But are you being troubled by something?"

Kitty's head bolted up. "No!" she said, a bit harsher than she meant to. She then winced and lowered her head back down. "I mean… sorry."

Hunter gave her a warm smile. "It's ok," he said. "But if something is bothering you… you can tell me. I'm here to help," he said. He stood up and was about to walk away when Kitty reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Wait," she said. Hunter stopped and turned. "Something is wrong… but I don't want to talk about it. Could you just… talk with me?"

Hunter offered her a warm smile. "Sure," he said and took a seat back down from across her.

A few hours later, a knock could be heard at Kitty's and Maddie's dorm. Kitty was asleep in her bed so Maddie stood to go answer it. She smiled to see Alistair standing in the door frame. "She tried staying up for you, but in the end she just couldn't make it," she said, letting him come in.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Professor Stiltskin gave me detention," Alistair muttered. Maddie set up two chairs and Alistair took a seat. Maddie took off her hat and reached inside, to pull out a teapot and two cups. She poured both and slid one over to Alistair. "How was she?"

"Well, she seemed about as normal as she is now," Maddie said, taking a sip of her tea. "According to the others, she's hanging on. Although, she seemed to form a friendship today while I was watching her."

Alistair raised an eyebrow as he took a sip of tea. "Oh? With who?" he asked.

"Hunter, actually," Maddie said. "I think, from what I read on his lips, he wanted to make sure Kitty was ok. Kitty didn't tell him, since she still doesn't talk about it… but she just wanted to talk with him."

Alistair smiled. "That was nice of him," he said. "She does need a friend after all that's happened. And since she still thinks she hurt me…"

Maddie looked at Alistair carefully. "She did hurt you," Maddie said. Alistair looked up and was about to protest, but Maddie held up a hand. "Don't start arguing with me like a road-runner in a ghost town," she said. "You know I'm right, so stop denying it."

Alistair sighed, slumping in his seat. "Ok, yes. Kitty hurt me by jumping," he said. "But… I don't want her to know that. I don't want her to blame herself more than she already does. I still love her Maddie. I just… how am I supposed to feel when Kitty didn't realize that when she jumped?"

Maddie gave Alistair a gentle smile. "The rose grows as the seasons change," she said. "But so do the thorns."

It took Alistair a moment to realize that Maddie wasn't actually talking in Riddlish. "Your saying that Kitty did value our love… but the pain was too great to realize it?" he said.

"Every night, before the attempt, Kitty came to our dorm and could not stop talking about how much she loved you," Maddie said. "I'd wake up in the middle of the night sometimes and see her hand grasping that necklace you gave her. Alistair, when she jumped… the first thing she said to me was, 'Alistair… he's going to hate me forever… oh hex, he's going to be so mad… what have I done?' I bet her last thoughts before I caught her were you. She loved you Alistair. She still loves you. She just… can't get over in her head she almost hurt you beyond repair."

Alistair sighed, but nodded. "I can understand," he said. "I won't give up on her. Never. Still… I wish that I didn't hurt so much."

Maddie smiled at him warmly. "Give her time," she said. "Your wounds will heal." Alistair smiled and the two went back to their tea. They didn't notice the tears streaming from Kitty's face in the bed she was in.

BN: I really do love this arc. I'm sorry if that's depressing, but I love writing for these two coping. Also, a few things I need to mention in this one. This was basically supposed to portray that Kitty DID hurt Alistair. Thing was, Alistair needed to realize that Kitty didn't MEAN to hurt him. Sometimes, we do things rashly without thinking of those we'll hurt. Kitty realized too late how much damage Alistair was going to suffer, and blames herself to an extreme because now Alistair had to deal with her being alive. It's really hard, coping that your significant other saw you at a moment so low, you almost died in front of them. I'm not saying Alistair doesn't have a right to hurt either. He just needs to cope with the fact Kitty wasn't thinking straight and needs to try to move on.

Next, Hunter. I could have used any male character to fill the role I want (which will be shown more next chapter), but I chose Hunter specifically for a reason. In both stories he's in (Snow White and Red Riding Hood) he's kind of a brotherly figure toward the girls he helps. He grew up knowing that he was to protect and help those who needed him to. Kitty needed someone in her life to help her through her issues. However, Alistair couldn't be that one person. Kitty needs help coping and understanding that Alistair still loves her. Alistair and Kitty are finding it hard to communicate because of the incident, so Alistair couldn't help her as much as he wanted to. I found that Hunter could be a sort of brother figure in Kitty's life and help her through this pain while Alistair works through his.

Which leads to why Maddie was so level-headed this chapter. Maddie was hurt by Kitty too, but Maddie's good at coping with stress and grief. She was level-headed and not as crazy because she's the equivalent to Hunter, only instead of helping Kitty, she's helping Alistair cope with the hurt he feels. I feel as though Maddie's a better choice than to Bunny, since Maddie is close to both Kitty and Alistair, and can tell him exactly what Kitty would say and do. Plus, Maddie was there at Kitty's suicide attempt. Maddie can relate with Alistair better than Bunny can in this instance.

Last thing: Go read the title of this fic. Just because I'm having the two main characters interacting with different people right now does NOT mean I'm breaking this couple up. They both need to cope. They can't cope together because they are both hurting for the same reason: they're afraid the other doesn't love them. The ONLY way they can recover is if they have someone else to help them cope. So, Kittystair for life, you can cheese it if you ship something else, have a good day.

Like? Hate? Meh? Let me know via review! Or don't! Either works!