A few feet back from Finn, trying to blend with the walls, Penny flinched, feeling the sting of the comment.
Finn ignored the bitterness in her voice. “We brought you some scones.”
“I’m not hungry. If you leave them in the kitchen, maybe I’ll have one later.”
“They’re better when they’re…,” he started, his words trailing off as her lips turned down and her shoulders tensed. “Right. Maybe later. Any chance you’d want to watch a movie or something? It's probably not a good idea to keep staring at that computer. Or… it’s a gorgeous day, we could all head over to the Marina Market.”
Bonnie closed her eyes and looked as if she might be counting to ten, her lips moving ever so slightly. “Look, lads, I appreciate that you’re worried about me. I’ve picked up on it from the constantly hovering Penny. But this is where I’m at right now. I want to sit in my pajamas and do my work without thinking about anything else, okay? Thinking about anything else, doing anything else without… him… hurts. And I don’t want to hurt. This is what I can manage.”
Penny couldn’t help herself; she darted forward to kneel at her friend’s side, placing her hands gently on Bonnie’s leg. “Bon, I hate seeing you like this. You’re not….”
“Myself? No. I’m not. But I can still do my job. So that’s what I’m doing. When I’m capable of more, I’ll let you know.” Her voice was stern, her face fixed on the computer in front of her.
“But….”
“I’m asking you both to leave me alone. Please,” her voice cracked, and they could see how hard she was straining to hold herself together.
“Okay,” Finn acquiesced. He stepped forward to gently but firmly pull Penny back.
“You should go to the Marina Market,” Bonnie said, her expression softening for the first time as she tried to hold back tears. “Take her, Finn. Go do something fun. Honestly, that would help. Knowing you’re just sitting here miserable makes things worse. I really did want you to come here to have fun, Penny.”
“I haven’t been miserable,” Penny objected. “I’m totally fine just being here with you.”
Bonnie shook her head firmly before finally letting out an emotional sigh. “I know you want to mean that. And I love you for it. But I really just need some time alone.”
“Come on, Penny,” Finn reached down to catch her hand in his. “If you change your mind, if there’s anything at all we can do for you, get for you….”
“I’ll let you know,” Bonnie affirmed in a quiet voice. Her expression softened slightly as she nodded.
Penelope felt completely defeated as they stepped out of the house. This wasn’t how it was supposed to play out. Finn was supposed to fix it. She was hurt and disappointed, but she knew it wasn’t his fault. There was nothing either of them could do.
“She needs time,” Finn reassured her.
He’d dropped her hand when he’d opened the door, and she wished he would reach for it again. She nodded, still feeling like a crappy friend.
“It would be worse if she wasn’t working. At least she hasn’t given up on that.”
“I know,” Penny agreed, not really feeling it.
They fell into a silent stroll as Penelope let him guide her. The bright sunshine that had seemed so beautiful that morning now felt wrong. All the smiling people they passed felt like an affront.
“Hey,” he said finally, touching her arm with a single finger. “She’ll be okay. She’s tough. She’ll get through this. You moping about isn’t going to help anything.”
“I’m not mo…,” she stopped herself, aware that she was doing precisely that. “Okay. I am. But how am I supposed to be happy when she’s so depressed?”
“Look,” Finn stopped walking, turning to face her. “We both love Bonnie.” He said the name with a comical expression of suffering. “But right now, there isn’t much we can do for her. What we can do is make sure you’re making the most of your time here so that when she eventually feels better, she doesn’t feel guilty about the time you spent worrying about her. Okay?”
Frustratingly, this did make sense. “Okay.”
“So, you don’t have to put on a bright, sunshiny smile, but I’d appreciate it if you’d stop frowning so much. It’s making me feel like a horrible guide.”
The implied time together cheered her up despite herself, prompting her to tease him. “Well, to be honest, you’re not doing a great job. People keep mentioning this Marina Market, but no one has actually told me where or what it is.”
“What?!” Finn came to a dead halt, turning to face her. “All the exploring you’ve been doing, and you haven’t bothered to go there yet?”
“What is it?”
“Although I suppose if you didn’t know what you were looking for….”
