Ali listened as Joseph explained they could probably go to her old house and get her things that were essential, studying him a moment as she moved toward the chair and slowly sat down as he set a glass full of coffee in front of her on the table next to the plate with an omelet. “I only would like to get what I’d need for school – mostly essays we have due after spring break I’d prefer not to restart – some things of my mom and dads. I know clothing can be replaced, but my late parents' things can’t be. I mean...I know roughly where Henry hid them...” Her voice trailed off; Henry hid everything in the house that had to do with her father in the basement – her mother's things were soon to follow shortly after she passed so he could bring new women home. 

The young woman paused as Joseph brought up that he had one request for her, glancing up to meet his eyes as she took a sip of coffee. She bit her lip as he told her to cut ties with her friends after they were married – those were the people she knew as a little kid when her father was killed, they were there to comfort her when her mother passed away. They had been her rock, her shoulder to cry on – they had been her escape from Henry if she was able to sneak out and he was too drunk to notice she was gone. They had been her safety net for years; it was going to hurt them and herself to not have them in her life – they had gone to school together since kindergarten, but she didn’t want to cause them any harm if she could help it. Now she just had to figure out how to tell them, surely, they’d understand if they knew who she was marrying. 

She gently set her glass of coffee on the table, a soft sigh escaping from her lips – she only was able to see them at school and the very few times she was able to get out of the house at night. She simply nodded, keeping her eyes low for a moment as she took a small bite of the omelet. She would be losing those who kept her grounded when her mom passed, her support system, the people who always were in her corner whenever she needed them. She was going to cut ties with people she’d known for years for someone she wasn’t only being forced to marry, but someone she’d only known for a few months before marrying him. “I understand.” She said softly, biting her lip a moment more. This was doing more than turning her life upside down, this was taking everything she knew and held dear away from her.