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[healerofharms]

"Please let no one be home." She said it to herself as she let George have free rein. She'd found earlier that day that Lionel - Lionel - was gone. Gone.

Forever.

He'd always been there. Through idiocy, through panic, through the worst time of her life, he'd been there for her in a way that no one else had been. Before she'd met Tim, before any

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[eldestking]

Peter came to the door, book in hand, and a small smile on his face. "Jill, I-" He glanced up and his face dropped; he threw the book onto the table by the door, taking her upper arms in his hands. "Jill," His brow was furrowed and his heart raced, unsure- "Jill, what's wrong?"

[healerofharms]

"Lionel's gone," was all that she managed to get out before she started to cry. It wasn't the first time, but she'd thought she'd gotten over it. Calmed down enough to just want to spend some time with Peter, to not be alone while her mind kept rolling over he's gone like the way you pick at a scab.

It was the first time someone truly important to her had vanished since Catherine had gone.

[eldestking]

Before she could finish, he was moving forward, his arms wrapping tight around her, a hand tucking her head in against his shoulder. She looked like she was about to rip apart at the seams, and in that moment he just wanted to hold her. He'd only met Lionel a little, but he knew how important he was to Jill, and how hard it must be. His forehead creased, he shook his head softly against hers. "Oh, Jill. Love, I'm so sorry."

[healerofharms]

Her hands gripped his shirt as her breath caught, hot tears against his neck. "He'd been here even longer then I had," she said thickly, breathing in fits and starts. "I never thought he'd go."

She'd never see him again. Even if Lionel Thayer reappeared, he'd never be the one she knew. She curled into Peter like he could protect her from this place somehow, not even letting herself think of the other important people in her life leaving.