not quite meet the parents

It was almost a betrayal of the slow and yet steady progress Gloom was making, the confidence she was finding, the way she was getting used to walking with her head held... well not high but not ducked anymore either, it had all slowly been progressing the fact she walked as though she wasn't being watched because... well she wasn't.
So while she did not feel animosity towards her brother for shattering and tearing down all the progress she'd made it still felt like all the air had been pulled from her lungs, her limbs shaking and her body pressing to the ground as though hoping the grass would hide her, or even better, the dirt itself would open up and swallow her whole so she could hide. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes, something that had never been common for her even in Abaven but the sudden and unexpected flood of the fear and panic was such a shock to her newly rebuilt system that she found herself struggling not to cry.

So that was how she'd met Plague, instantly falling to the floor, shivering and trying so very hard not to cry. Under all her fear and the flood of confusing emotions was a current of guilt. Guilt over her sudden and potentially distressing to her sibling's regression, guilt over her inability to be happy her brother had made a friend, especially one who was so willing to help them... guilt over the brief flash of resentment for void she'd felt, that he'd changed the plan on them, that he'd brought an intruder into the journey they were supposed to be on as a family.

"Speech"