Lessons in Love(Lydia)

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Vincent had run all the way from the beach trying to keep himself from screaming. He had really liked Jessie, and he thought that they were doing alright. He sat down making certain not to damage any of the strawberries. That would be all he needed on top of what had seen and heard. Vincent punched the ground softly and shook his head. 


"Ahhhh! Why does it hurt so much? All we did was kiss that one time, but it feels like I got my heart ripped out." Vincent stated to the air around him. He looked at the dirt and felt the tears sting his eyes. 

[Lydia Shepard]

Lydia was in the strawberry fields tending to them as part of her cabin's duties when out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone run through them. She lifted her head up, about ready to call out to whoever was running that they needed to stop, but the person, a boy, collapsed in between rows. She put down what she had in her hands and brushed herself off before she got up and walked over to him.

As she approached the man, she noticed that he looked visibly upset. She slowly approached him from behind as she put both hands out in front of her to have a little bit of a buffer. "Are you okay?" she asked as once she got closer, her voice soft. "Can I help you?"

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"Are you okay?" "Can I help you?"



Vincent heard a definite feminine voice call out to him. He quickly wiped at his eyes and turned to see a woman slowly approaching him. Vincent forced a smile onto his face. He shook his head a bit at her questions, then opened his mouth only for nothing to come out. He sighed softly, and then shrugged gently.





"Well no, I'm not okay. As for helping me, I doubt you have the ability to turn back time or repair broken feelings. ...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have started on you like that." Vincent started with a touch of anger finishing with a tone of apology.





"I'll be alright eventually, I'm sure." He said without looking at the lady in front of him. He really hoped that she couldn't hear the sadness in his voice threatening to break out.

[Lydia Shepard]

Lydia watched the man as he seemed to try to pull himself together. She could tell that something was off. Mostly people didn't run into the strawberry fields and collapse in a row unless something was completely wrong. She inched closer and slowly lowered her hands once she realized that he wasn't going to be violent. She looked at him as he talked and she could see the definite sadness in him. She pressed her lips together before she moved to sit in front of him.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked as she leaned forward and smiled softly. "Sometimes I find it helps to talk about it instead of letting it bottle up inside."

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Vincent sighed again, but nodded a bit. He looked up at the woman in front of him with an expression of betrayal and sadness.

"Well, I met someone, and it wasn't like love at first sight or anything. I just felt like we had a connection, but I guess I wasn't wild enough or something for her. I thought we really had something in the works until I found her at the beach making out with another guy. I caught a bit of what they were talking about, and well...I decided to run."

As he finished speaking he felt tears sting his eyes again. He shook his head, and wiped at his eyes.

"Sorry for getting so emotional at the end there. Oh, my mother would tan my hide if she saw me." A hollow chuckle left his lips at the thought.

"M'names Vincent by the way."

[Lydia Shepard]

Lydia listened attentively as she slowly nodded her head before a slightly sad look grew on her face. She learned how to empathize very well, but it still broke her heart when she learned about romances gone wrong. From the sounds of it, it didn't even sound like they solidified anything. She, however, tried to remain neutral as she listened to his story.

"Some girls," she said as she straightened up as she tried to put some logic in his situation, "don't want to have one singular, committed relationship. Some people would like to explore their options before they pick one, if they ever pick one. But it really does suck that it happened to you." She gave him a gentle smile before she said, "I'm Lydia. It's nice to meet you Vincent."

[Deleted]

Vincent quietly listened to her explanation with a pensive expression. He nodded slightly at her words, and returned her smile with a sad one of his own. He shook his head for a second then took her hand and kissed the top of it before returning it to her.



"It's nice to meet you as well,  Lydia. Thanks for listening to my problems. ...I hope I didn't disturb you out here," he stated while pushing through his sadness. 

'I should try to cheer up and move on,' Vincent thought to himself as he smiled softly at Lydia. 

"Thank you, Lydia," he said with a playful grin.

[Lydia Shepard]

Lydia clasped her hands in her lap as she looked at Vincent. She was really hoping that he wouldn't let this experience affect him negatively. The worst thing he could possibly do is let one person's actions dictate his entire mood. She shook her head as he said he hoped he didn't disturbed her.

"Not as much as you think," she said with a bit of a shrug. "I was just checking on strawberry plants, which isn't as exciting as my siblings make it out to be. They just try to get out of it just as much as I want to." She smiled back at Vincent as he smiled at her. "You're welcome. Are you feeling any better?"

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"A little actually, and for helping me allow me to help you with the strawberries. I used to live on a farm, and my mother made certain that I took good care of her strawberries," Vincent stated with a nostalgic expression.  I am actually feeling better, and it looks like she could use the help, he thought to himself with a small shrug. "So, why do you try and get out of doing this? This would be a relaxing and fun thing for me to do. I know that sounds odd. A child of Ares enjoying gardening." He finished speaking with a soft laugh.

[Lydia Shepard]

"It's something that everyone expects us to do, I guess," Lydia said with a slight shrug. "I don't know why we're always wrangled into it when the Demeter kids are just as capable as us, maybe even more. I know there's things I rather do than spend up to hours around here tending to the strawberries, but my brothers just like to endlessly party and drink. So that's why they always want to get out of it." But Lydia smiled a bit as she tilted her head to the side. An Ares farmer boy? She'd heard of stranger things. "But if you want to join me, Vincent, I wouldn't mind the company and it would work go by a lot faster."

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"Well, we should have a talk with a few of the Demeter kids and see if we can't convince them to give you a hand. Although, I personally wouldn't say no to coming out here with you to help you out," Vincent stated while pulling a pair of old work gloves out of his back pocket. He looked down at them and smiled softly. "Mom always told me to carry two things on me, a pair of gloves and a knife. Never know when you are gonna need to protect your hands or yourself, she would say," he said with a small reminiscent smile. He pulled the gloves on and turned to Lydia. "So, what do you need me to do?"

[Lydia Shepard]

"They only come out if we somehow majorly screw up the harvest," Lydia said with bit of a shrug. "Why spend your time in the strawberry fields when you can be at the beach or the lake. I understand why they don't come out here. My cabin is the only one with obligations to here. It probably helps that our father runs the camp too." But Vincent looked like he wanted to help and even brought gloves. Lydia couldn't help but smile a bit as she shook her head. "Well, I was just pruning the bushes and seeing that the strawberry plants were still doing well." She turned on her heels as she waved him over. "I was working over. I just need to finish up this row and then my job here is done."