It seemed fitting that her only place of comfort came from a bookshop. It was in this bookshop where she first was sure that this is where she belonged. Knowledge was held in each and every spine and as she slid her nail down an old book, she knew that this would calm her anxiety. She didn't know when it started; perhaps it was the fact that she had more time to actually think about what was going on in her life. Perhaps now she had her mind all to herself to bring the worst thoughts possible to row towards her. But perhaps the strongest part was that after working hard she realized that she wasn't happy. Her friends were happy, had lives, found love and she realized they didn't need her. She had been logical about it at first, but now after everything she realized she was back to square one.

So there she was back to where it all began. Books were her first friends in her time of loneliness. A time where her parents didn't pay attention to her and her brothers were in the limelight. This brought her comfort and taught her about the good in life in moments of darkness.

Walking down a hallway she nervously looked both ways before walking into the section. Fairy Tales she smiled softly and picked up her favorite. It had always been the mermaid that kept her attention as a child. She never understood how she wanted to leave underwater, yet the thought of being the youngest of twelve made perfect sense to her. She curled up in a chair and found herself skimming the pages and smiling softly.

This truly was comfort.

It was stupid how much Tess felt the need to hold it closer to her as she read the words she'd read over and over again. The way the mermaid did something for herself and yet sacrificed so much spoke volumes to her. Yet the idea of doing it all for love was somewhat farfetched in her opinion. The mermaid had done the sacrifices even died to make the prince happy. If that wasn't a reality check she didn't know what else it could be. It was decided, she would buy it. It brought her the comfort of the dark fairytales and yet had more stories that she needed for a good nostalgia trip.

'Another night of wine and reading. How festive' she thought sarcastically.

Getting up she found herself wanting to get more books. It seemed that in her shutting down, she acquired a massive book collection in the spare room. Once she decided that Rhian would never move in she sold everything in the spare room and made it a sanctuary. She didn't need it if no one would visit she figured. And in her show she avoided the upstairs neighbors in fear she would be forced into having a conversation with the boy that made her blood boil and her heart beat faster.

Looking up she noticed that the halls were so narrow and someone was already standing there. She also noticed that the book the girl was in front one she wanted to buy.

"Excuse me" she murmured shyly, "May I grab that book quickly please?"