"Nora...? Are you in here?"

"...Don't turn on the lights."

"Do you want to come back to the room?"

"...Are they mad at me?"

"They're concerned."

"...Why?"

"You weren't acting like yourself."

"No, I mean... why do they care?"

"They're your friends."

"No they're not."

"Of course they are."

"I don't have any friends."

"What about me?"

"...You're different. The only reason you don't leave me like everybody else is you never actually do anything."

"..."

"...I'm sorry. I don't mean to ruin everything."

"You don't."

"Will you stop lying to me?!"

"I would never lie to you."

"You would if you thought it'd make me feel better."

"..."

"...What?"

"That sounds like something a friend would do."

"...I hate you."

"I know."

"...No I don't."

"I know that too."

"Can you just... Can you just leave me alone?"

"Is that what you really want?"

"Yes... No... I don't know."

"Then I'll stay until you do."

"...Why don't you ever get mad at me?"

"Practice."

"You're not funny, you know."

"I'm hilarious."

"...Sometimes."

"It's an understated humor."

"It's barely noticeable."

"You noticed it."

"Just lucky, I guess."

"Yes, I am."

"...Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Trying to make me feel better! I'm not a kid in a bad mood you can cheer up with a few bad jokes and ice cream! I'm-"

"Sick."

"...I don't mean to be."

"I know. It's okay."

"It's not fair."

"...You haven't been taking your medicine, have you?"

"..."

"Your doctor said-"

"She doesn't have to take it."

"You were doing a lot better. I could really see a difference. Everybody could."

"Yay. Everybody noticed me being less of a freak."

"Nora."

"Sorry... I just... I couldn't keep doing it. I felt like I was about to fall asleep or throw up all the time. Not being able to... It's not important."

"What?"

"Nothing... I need... I need a pill every day to be normal. Do you know what that feels like? To be so broken you need to have your mind altered just so the eight hours a day you're awake for aren't hell? It's not... It's not right..."

"I know..."

"No, you don't. You have no idea what it's like. It gets so... I want... I was doing so much better."

"Yes, you were."

"No, I was doing so much better, you see? I was okay. I felt okay anyway. It was like I had been drowning in a pool while everyone swims around me and suddenly I had an inner tube to keep my head above water. But... But it's not enough. I can't really swim. It's awkward and uncomfortable and I'm still apart from everybody. So I just... slipped out. And I could swim... For a while... For a long while... And now..."

"I'm sorry."

"..."

"...Do you feel up to going back to the dorm?"

"...Do I have to?"

"Eventually. But not now. Not if you don't want to."

"I don't want to."

"Okay."

"...I'm afraid."

"...What are you afraid of?"

"Them."

"They aren't mad."

"No, I just can't... Arggh!"

"What's wrong?"

"I can't explain it..."

"Can you try?"

"No, it's... It's crazy..."

"..."

"...I can't go back... I'm going to do this again and I can't be the person who... I'm a time bomb. I'm going to go off and hurt them and get better and then go off again and again and again. I don't want..."

"You don't want to hurt them... That's not crazy."

"No... Yes... No. No. They'll start treating me with kids gloves, like I'm made of glass. They'll put up with outbursts and episodes and... And they'll get tired. They'll get as tired as I am and... And they won't be able to keep it up... Nobody can forever... I can't see them again because I don't want to lose them."

"...You won't lose us."

"You don't know that! Nobody stays! Everybody leaves me, and I don't blame them! I-I-I'm not worth it."

"You're worth it to me."

"You don't count."

"You're worth it to Jaune. You're worth it to Pyrrha. You're worth it to Ruby and Yang and Blake and Weiss."

"You don't know that."

"I do."

"How? How can you? Everybody says that, but when they have to live with it they... They can't! They never can! You're all going to leave me, just get it over with!"

"...We're not leaving tonight."

"Tonight."

"Tonight matters. We are here for you tonight. You don't think we'll be here tomorrow, or some tomorrow to come and I think I'll always be here. We don't really know... But tomorrow won't undo today and today we are here."

"...I hate you sometimes."

"I know."

"...I don't want to be broken any more."

"I know..."

"It's like... It's like I'm bleeding out but nobody can see the wound, just the blood. It's like the only reason I don't cry all the time is I can't find the energy. There's a machine in my head twisting every joy into something wrong... I feel so... weak..."

"You'll get better."

"You don't know that."

"I have faith in you."

"...Why?"

"Because you're not weak. You're still here. You wake up in the morning dreading the day. You feel alone when you're surrounded by love. You bleed and cry and wish you were gone with every bit of yourself... And you still get up. And you still face the day. You keep making friends and you keep trying even when you wish you could stop. Can't you see you've been fighting the entire time? You're not weak. You're the strongest girl I know."

"...I don't feel strong."

"That's because you're tired. And when you're tired, I'll be here for you."

"...Why?"

"Because you're my hero."

"..."

"...Are you ready?"

"Just... Just a little longer... I'm so tired."

"It's okay. We can rest a little longer."