#bergen_county

"I was the bad girlfriend, I got upset when he complained about how the lodge treated him, because they're my friends. I got resentful of how he treated them. I got hurt when he'd... I... I'm not a good girlfriend, I didn't do all the stuff. Not the physical stuff. And I'm not... Nadeen is pretty, and so's Sally Mae, and so's Piper. And I'd get mad when he... I mean, that's my fault, right? Not being a good girlfriend, or I'd have been enough."

"And... and it had... I... I... it had to be that I dumped him. I had to say it. That it was my fault."

Brekke stays quiet, letting her speak. Her expression is neutral.

An eyebrow at Adam at that last.

She swallows, looking fixedly at the ground.

His shoulder's slump and he looks away sadly.

"Adam, do you resent Dagmar for the end of your relationship?"

"I do not." Quietly.

"I wish it had all been different."

"Do you believe the end of the relationship was entirely her doing?"

"No, Chief."

"It was 50-50, or more my fault, I think."

"What part did you have in it?"

He looks up at the Chief still bewildered. "We started talking. I mean, I came up to the Lodge for a lesson and we got to talking first and then we were talking about us and then we were talking about how we wanted different things really and then we were breaking up."

Jaw-jut.

She notes Dagmar's expression. "Is there more to it than he thinks?"

"I had to say it."

"That it was me."

"And I guess I had to, so he and Piper could? I dunno. Piper does all the stuff."

She draws in a harsh breath. She is not going to cry. By sheer stubborn trollish will.

"Do you understand this, Adam?"

The boy looks pained, and nods.

"Did you understand it before?"

"No. I thought.... I thought it was the right way to do it."

"It had to be me that dumped him. It was my fault."

"Adam, you see now that it was not?"

She chafes her upper arms and fidgets.

Adam takes the time to think. "I.... yes."

(That is, he -wants- it to be true but might know it isn't true.)

An eyebrow. "If you do not, Adam, you need to ask. This needs to be resolved."

"It's my fault, because I'm fucked up, and I fucked things up because of how I am. Okay? So it's my fault, and it's my fault I couldn't just act right since I am the one that dumped him, but I said I'd be polite and I have been, and I said I could work with him, and I don't... I don't know what else to do. I know I fucked up, or we wouldn't be out here."

Adam's jaw dropped.

"Dagmar, we -talked-about this! You acted just fine, you just didn't want what I wanted and now you're with Nadeen and you seem happy so.... you didn't fuck anything up, we just......" He looks at Brekke as if hoping she has a translator or something handy??

Brekke takes a breath. "Adam, is Dagmar right, that you were not interested in a relationship with her if it were not going to become sexual?" She colors somewhat, but asks.

She looks like she wants to sink into the ground.