Solar and Fawn part 7 (TW)

The bullying intensified after Solar's suspension. Lily, having tasted the power of her cruelty and escaped serious consequence, emboldened her followers. The whispers turned into shoves, the sneers into targeted verbal assaults. Solar started cvtting himself. Solar, raw from his earlier outburst and burdened by self-blame, retreated inward. He let the comments and the occasional, jarring shoves hit him like blows he deserved. His iconic style, once a source of confidence, became a target for mockery and aggression. He would come home with faint bruises hidden under his dark sleeves and a quiet, haunted look in his deep-set eyes. He would simply shake his head when Fawn asked what was wrong, retreating further into himself, haunted by the feeling that his existence was a magnet for trouble. Fawn, with her snow-white skin and gentle exterior, saw everything. Each time she saw Solar flinch or heard a whispered insult, a cold fury built inside her. The bullying was like a poison seeping into their peaceful cottage life, and she refused to let it consume them. One evening, Solar came home from school with a bruised jaw and a distant look. The sight of it shattered Fawn. She carefully cleaned the wound, her touch feather-light, as she fought back tears. "They did this, didn't they?" she whispered, her voice trembling. Solar's eyes were vacant. "It's fine. It's just... I shouldn't have gotten involved. I made it worse." He was reliving the hallway fight, replaying his loss of control, and was convinced it was the source of all their present pain. His mental state was now deeply affected, suffering from the trauma of repeated bullying and the guilt he felt over it. Fawn placed her cool hand on his cheek. "Listen to me," she said, her voice firm. "What you did, you did to protect me. What they are doing now, it's because they are cruel. You are not responsible for their hate." She took his face in her hands, forcing him to meet her gaze. "You didn't make this worse, Solar. They did." In the days that followed, Fawn's care became a shield against his self-loathing. She started tracking the bullying herself, her mind turning to tactics and solutions. She discovered that the school's anti-bullying policy had a reporting form that allowed for anonymous submissions. She spent hours meticulously detailing every instance of Lily's bullying toward Solar and their friends, submitting the forms with unwavering resolve. Instead of trying to force Solar to talk, she began to rebuild his resilience in small, gentle ways. When he was quiet, she would play his favorite gloomy music. When he was withdrawn, she would read to him from his beloved gothic literature. She would draw pictures of them in happier times, reinforcing the image of their strong bond. She knew his emotional recovery would take time and that her constant, quiet presence was more important than any forced confrontation. One afternoon, Fawn found Solar in his darkest moment yet. He was sitting on the floor of her room, his knees drawn to his chest, the deep red of his hair a shroud around his face. She knew, without a word, that he was wrestling with the painful weight of it all. This time, she didn't just comfort him; she presented a plan. "The anonymous forms are in," she said softly, holding out a journal. "But there's more we can do." Inside, she'd written a list of small, actionable steps: Documenting every negative interaction. Identifying safe spaces at school where they could go when things got bad. Meeting with the school counselor together to establish clear boundaries. Solar looked at her, his eyes still haunted but no longer devoid of hope. He took the journal and held it tightly. It was a lifeline, a concrete plan of action that showed him he wasn't alone. He saw not only Fawn's unwavering support but also her gentle guidance, pulling him out of the darkness he'd trapped himself in. That evening, as they sat under the stars in her garden, Fawn traced the faint bruise on his cheek. "You're my sun, Solar," she said softly. "You have your own battles, and I have mine. But we face them together." He leaned into her touch, and for the first time in a long time, the shadow that had been following him seemed to grow a little smaller, bathed in the gentle, steadfast light of her love. Solar locked himself in his room and started distancing himself from everything. He had given up on trying to fight back. He had started doing SH and he had stopped being the ray of sunshine he once was.