Stone Circle I'm still here

She was inwardly relieved that her mother didn't try to defend Ezekiel. She gave him no excuses, and neither did Steph. She felt he had none. He hadn't been there most of her life, except the few weeks he tried to get to know them. Steph hadn't allowed him to, but @Clary had. She hoped her sister wasn't hurt by his disappearance. 

Steph opened her maw to contradict her mother that Poppy was nice. She was about to say Valette wasn't all that kind to her either, but her mother beat her to the punch. She made some good points, most of which began to thaw out Steph's cold detachment to Murdock. But, there was one thing that still froze her. He said I wasn't enough for him, she admitted. Murdock hadn't said that in so many words, but it felt like that to Steph. Steph didn't say anything further, as she couldn't really deny that what Valette said was true. Maybe they could all hang out and be friends together. @Poppy didn't seem that bad. Well, actually she seemed pretty nice. But, Murdock's words still hurt.

Tagging for reference!