astra 'bubbles' underhill. d6. cb fin.

I was the last to find out about Papa. Probably because I'm not very good at keeping secrets. Look at me the wrong way and my bottom lip quivers. Raise your voice and I'm in tears. All my secrets are yours to keep: all my fears, my insecurities, my hurt. I know that it makes me seem weak, the weakest of my sisters. I get that. But being soft can also be a strength. I'm little, soft-spoken, sweet and bubbly. People trust me. Open up to me. I learn their secrets, and I wear my heart on my sleeve so they think they know mine. Whatever they say behind my back doesn't matter, even though it gets to me sometimes - but I know I'll never betray my family. They can bet all they want, suspect me of being a scared little nark. I'd never betray Papa, or Blossom - not even Buttercup, even though she teases me. Fragile, like soap bubbles popping at the slightest jab. But I'm beautiful and delightful like my nickname too. Iridescent and temporary. I make people laugh and smile, it's second-nature. You get back what you put into the world so I try to make it a little lighter, a little brighter, underneath the pills and the guns and the fear. And I take my secrets, swallow them whole, feel them bubbling on my tongue but I don't ever speak them aloud. If I put those out into the world then everyone around me hurts - and I'm tired of the hurt. A little happiness never hurt nobody.