Imprints in Stone [AU]

[Carver Amell]

He nods. "Alright. And... and there's no place in my life for someone who will hurt you, okay? So you don't have to fret about that."

[Bethany]

Bethany shakes her head. "As long as you... as you don't hate me. Don't let her convince you... if you can have your mother back, that's okay." She looks him in the eye, almost completely honest when she says, "I think she loved you. And I know you loved her. It's alright for you to have that, it doesn't have to... have anything to do with me. Alright?"

[Carver Amell]

"But Beth... if she..." 

He struggles for a minute, finally coming up with, "If she can love me, and not love you, then, then I don't want it. Because, I don't know who she loves. I mean. She thinks she's with Marian but she's not, it's just delusion. What does she think I am, that she thinks I'm better than you? I can't trust she's seeing me as me if she thinks you're not wonderful."

[Bethany]

Bethany had narrowed her eyes, about to lecture him about him having worth again, until he gets to that last night. That's... alright. I can accept that. "I... Carver, I'm so glad you think I'm wonderful. I even think I'm pretty good." She winces. "Most of the time," she allows, given how this conversation had started, it would be rather suspect to just leave it at that first comment. 

"But she doesn't have to agree. I mean... hating me, dispising me because of me preferring women is a bad thing, but..." She glances at the door. "I can't... entirely blame her for hating me for... other stuff. Marian." Beth licks her lips nervously. "...actually, we've never... actually talked about that. Not since... the trip here."

[Carver Amell]

Carver looks away from his twin. "No," he says, his voice low but firm. "We haven't."

[Bethany]

Voice small, Bethany asks, "...can we?"

[Carver Amell]

Carver sighs. "You really do always want to borrow trouble when things are bad, don't you?" he chides gently. "If you need to talk, we can talk."

[Bethany]

Beth blushes. "I just... I've been trying to work up the courage to... do this for months," she mutters. "I'm worried I won't be able to trick myself into bringing it up again if I don't do it now."

[Carver Amell]

Carver nods. "I can... understand that."

[Bethany]

Damn. Nice try, cowardice, but Carver's too nice to let you skate out of it that way. Drat. "So. Umm. What... what do you already know? Or should I... just start at the beginning?"

[Carver Amell]

He swallows. "Whatever you want to tell me. I don't... I guessed a lot of things, and I... It'd be good to get the whole story at once."

[Bethany]

Bethany nods tightly, eyes slipping to the side. "It... it was during the festival for Astea. I was... please don't blame yourself. You- I should have spoken up. And I will, if- I was feeling lonely and abandoned, and... I decided I was going to do something for myself. Which... turned into going to Varric's and making myself a huge fancy meal, all for me. And... then I remembered about his wine stock. And decided... I'm an adult now, more or less, so I'm going to have a fancy dinner with a nice bottle of wine." She winces.

[Carver Amell]

Carver blinks. "A whole bottle by yourself?"

[Bethany]

"Yeah..." Bethany says with a blush. "I'd never had wine before, not really. Some mild mulled wine during festivals and that's it. I, uh, may have underestimated the potency of some of dad's best wines. But Marian showed up before I got too far into it- the bottle- and we got to talking and I just... dumped everything all over her. She insisted on joining me, so we both ate and... drank that bottle. And maybe another bottle, plus a shot of whisky. I can't recall if Mari did as well, or just me. But I know we both did about a half bottle of wine." 

[Carver Amell]

He whistles softly. "You must have been pretty drunk," he says, neutrally.