Can a bandage heal a broken heart?

Serah's life had been marked by various injuries that stemmed from her height and her curiosity of things that could hurt her. Most of the time she healed herself, but today, she managed to get a cut on her arm that needed more than just a simple Episkey and a band aid.

Serah sat still as Monsieur Avery cleaned the cut. She was watching his moves carefully trying to avoid looking at the wound itself when she heard the Infirmary door open quietly. She whirled her head around to see Ruby.

Serah hadn't seen Ruby yet this year, so she was excited. "Hiya, Ruby!" she greeted, waving accidentally with the hand on her injured arm.

Ruby pushed all of her feelings aside when she heard that her friend was hurt and in the infirmary. Poor Serah! Her feelings about Noah didn't matter at the moment, all that mattered was her friend. So, the soxth year ran up the steps to the fifth floor and ran down the hall to the infirmary. She was told not to run and to calem down, but she ignored the warnings. She sat beside her friend, she was out of breath. "H-hey Serah."

She finally caught her breath andwas calm. "What happened, Serah?" She pulled at her pink and black hair with her thumb and index finger, something she had been doing lately when she was upset. "Do you need anything? How bad is it?" This is the first time she had been out of her dorm without having to go to classes or for food. She wished that there was something she could do for the third year but she also knew that she was in good hands.

"I'm fine, Ruby," Serah assured. "It's not as bad as it looks."

She hoped Ruby didn't see Monsieur Avery shake his head and smile. It had been very bad, but Ruby didn't need to know that.

"I was in Potions, cutting an ingredient. No big deal."

Monsieur Avery chuckled once as he began preparing stitches to seal Serah's injury.

"Forget about me," Serah ordered. "What's the deal with you? I've seen you, like, one time at the Sorting Cermony. Where have you been?" Serah asked.

She really had missed Ruby and not having her around made freetime incredibly dull. "Do you need to talk about it?"

She didn't believe that it was no big deal. Why else would she be here? But she didn't speak of it anymore once she was asked where she had been. She forced back tears that threatened to fall. "Noah moved," she said softly. She hadn't been taking it well, she spent most of her time crying in her room. "I miss him." She looked down at her hands, it was the only bgthing she could focus on without crying.

"I rather not talk about it," she admitted. People only said what they thought she wanted to hear. And she was in no mood for that again. She didn't want anyone talkinhg about Noah like he was a bad guy.

"Oh gosh!" Serah exclaimed. " I had no idea!"

Serah just assumed that Ruby had been buckling down for school. She didn't know that it was so tragic. Ruby's first real boyfriend. And he was gone. Serah felt like she had experienced a loss, too.

"I wish I could tell you that it's all okay, and it will be eventually. But you have to make the choice to make things okay. It's not just something that happens," Serah said.

That's what her dad always told her. 'You have to choose happiness. It doesn't just come all the time.'

She just hugged Ruby with her good arm.

Monsieur Avery sewed a stitch into Serah's arm suddenly.

"You can do it, Ruby. I'm cheering you on, even if it's from the sidelines," Serah promised, feeling the pain of another stitch.

She had gotten so much advice from all of her friends that it was starting to get stale. She loved the fact that her friends cared about her but she wished they'd stop giving her advice about the break up. To be honest, Ruby just wished that she'd stop telling her friends about things. "Thanks, Serah." She gave her friend a small smile before biting her bottom lip. At least her advice was better than others.

"To be honest, I think the only way to be happy is to do something crazy. I don't know what yet, but I'm planning." What did people do when they were getting over a break up? She didn't want tl cry anymore, she'd rather just have fun. "Maybe its time to fancy someone else," she admitted. Her heart hurt a bit while she said those words. It was like she was betraying Noah or something. Like she was rushing to get over him. "No, that's a bad idea." She didn't know what to do.

"That's a good idea! You deserve to have fun. It'd be a nice distraction from school. What are you planning?" Serah asked. She hoped that she didn't sound like she was inviting herself to join. Serah figured that Ruby would want to fly solo or with Marceline and she didn't want to impose.

Serah shook her head. "You don't have to like anyone right now."

Serah looked at Ruby, who looked like she was about to cry. Serah decided that saying nothing at all was the best. She squeezed Ruby's hand as comfort for the both of them.

Serah looked down at her arm. Sixteen stitches.

"I don't know yet," she said softly. What was something crazy to do? She thought back to Marcy and how her lips felt on hers. That was something crazy, kissing like that. The fact that they had kissed left the girl in a weird state of mind. It made her wonder about all sorts of things. Did Marcy want a relationship? Did she, herself, want a relationship? She hadn't told anyone about the kiss and she didn't think about telling anyone. It was a secret. It was a beautiful secret. A dirty little secret that made a smile form on her lips when she thought about it. "I might invite Marcy," she admitted but that she was going to give.

She didn't have to like anyone, yet she did. Though she wouldn't do anything about it. She couldn't waste anymore tears, she wouldn't have any left to cry over anything else. "I...I'm fine," her voice was hardly over a whisper.

"Do it! Marceline would be able to cheer you up," Serah encouraged.

Serah really didn't know much about Marceline. All she knew was what Ruby had told her. And that wasn't much. But she knew that best friends could cheer each other up. Serah knew it full well; Milan was a riot most of the time.

Serah sensed that there was more to Ruby and Marceline's relationship than was on the surface (Ruby was usually easy to read), but if Ruby wasn't going to bring it up, Serah wouldn't pressure her.

"Did you guys ever think of doing a sixth year prank? Kind of like muggle school where they have a senior prank?"

Serah hoped she had the terminology correct. She'd never been to muggle school, so all she knew about it was what Milan had told her.