lincoln avery

Kennedy stomped her foot in frustration, “You never listen to me. What a horrible betrothed you are. Merlin, is it too late for me to get a new one?” she said, folding her arms across her chest. “And my idea isn’t horrible. If you opened your ears, you would know that.”

Lincoln lifted a brow at Kennedy’s little temper tantrum as he brought his coffee to his lips. “Sure, but you’d hate them even more then you hate me, so you’ll just be screwing yourself over,” he mused. After a moment he sighed, “come on. Tell me about it while we walk.”

She knew Lincoln wouldn’t want her to make a big deal of his birthday, he never wanted her to before either, but that never stopped her then and it wouldn’t stop her now. Evie wanted to do something special for his special day, something big that could make up for the last two apart, but that was seeming easier said than done while trying to keep the relationship on the down low. It took some planning, but with Addie’s help, Evie was able to get his flat all set up for the surprise, now the only thing left was for the birthday boy to come home from work. 

The latches of the door began to unlock as she lit the last candle. She flicked off the lights and took a step back to admire her work, deciding that if journalism ever fell through for her, party planning honestly wouldn’t be too bad of a fallback plan. “Hey you,” she hummed as the door shut behind Lincoln, greeting him with a kiss. “I’d say ‘surprise,’ but if you weren’t already expecting something from me, I’d be surprised.”

@linc-avery​

Birthdays were never something that Lincoln enjoyed: in fact, before starting to date Evie back at Hogwarts, he never celebrated them. His family never made a big deal out of birthdays, so he in turn never saw a reason to. He had figured Evie would do something for him, but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind the moment he made it to the Ministry. Now that he was out of work and unlocking his flat, the thought came back almost instantly. What would Evie do for his birthday?

He stepped into the flat and flicked his wand to lock up behind him as he looked around, his gaze flicking from the candles to Evie before he kissed her softly. “You really don’t listen to a thing I say when I tell you not to do something, do you?” he asked as his jacket and bag found their place. He kissed her cheek as he tugged the knot of his tie down before he shook his head. “So, are you going to give me the overview or do I have to do all the work?” He teased.

“Well, I’m always here to give you the advice you need to hear,” Callie said with a smirk. “Oh, we can always talk about me,” she laugh “what would you like to hear about?”

“Anything. Ramble for all I care. I just don’t want to talk about me right now. Especially not that particular subject,” he said as he glanced over at her.

“Because I’m always right. You know that,” Callie said with a soft smile before taking a sip of her wine. It was all a tough subject but she knew that he would have to face the situation at some point. “I’ll keep it to myself for now. I promise.”

“I refuse to agree with that statement,” he chuckled as he glanced over at his best friend before he nodded his head. “I do appreciate that. I just have to figure out how to do it.” Lincoln was never good with facing his problems head on, but he knew that Callie was right, even if he didn’t admit it. “Now, can we stop talking about me, and focus on you for a bit?”

“It’s just as painful when you find out,” she said with a sigh. “If you don’t want to fine. I’m not going to drop that bomb on her,” she looked at him. “but just think about what would happen if it was the other way around.”

Lincoln’s nose wrinkled at her words. “That isn’t fair to put it like that,” he huffed with a shake of his head. He didn’t like to think about Evie ever going through something like he had. “Why do you have to be right about this?”

“Because it’s also important that you don’t lie to her,” she said looking directly at Lincoln. Callie knew that if he kept the truth from her there was no telling what her reaction could be. It could go either ways, she is sympathetic or she is angry at him for keeping it from her. If it was the latter, she didn’t want to see him go through even more pain. “Please, just think about it more.”

“I don’t like talking about that whole thing period,” he replied, already shaking his head as he shifted in his seat. It had been a rough time for him and he knew without Callie he wouldn’t be where he was today. “Is just not mentioning really lying though?”

“She still needs to know,” Callie said bluntly. Seeing her best friend after the break up was hard enough, she couldn’t imagine what would happen if it all happened again. Even if he wouldn’t admit it to himself she knew that they would end up back together. “If you don’t tell her it will cause more problems later on.”

As much as Lincoln didn't like discussing the subject at hand, he knew that it needed to be had. There was a lot that had happened between the breakup two years ago and present day. He wasn't quite sure if his overdose was something that he wanted to worry her with. "It'll only cause more problems if she finds out about it, Callie," he pointed out. "Which will only happen if one of us tells her--" his words trailed off as he looked down at his glass of wine. "Why is it so important that she knows I almost died? What good is that going to do for anyone?"

“Well, I thought I’d at least give you a head up,” she said with a small laugh. The thought of them together made her head spin. Callie had watched Lincoln at his most vulnerable state after they broke up. “So, are you going to tell her? About what happened after the break up?”

“I don’t know why we’re friends. You’re so cruel to me,” he replied teasingly as he shook his head. At her next words though the smile dropped from his face and he took in a slow breath. “If I tell her she’ll believe it was entirely her fault, which it wasn’t. To this day you’re still the only one who knows.”

“Really? I say you’re pushing it yet you keep at it with the lip, huh?” she placed a hand on her hip and shook her head. “If I knew I was going to be harassed so much tonight I might’ve stayed home.” As annoyed as she was beginning to get, a laugh couldn’t help but escape from her lips at his remark, “You’d rather I put on A Walk to Remember, then? Because I have that one too. In fact, I have a whole arsenal of chick clicks at my fingertips. Do you really want that?” She narrowed her eyes at him, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Or,” she began, bringing out the eyes once again as she closed the gap in between them, forcefully pulling the case back out of his grasp. “Can you just please shut that pretty mouth for an hour and a half and let me have my movie without complaint?”

“It’s what I do best,” he countered, a grin crossing his lips. He knew that enough was enough just by the look on her face and he immediately backed down. The beauty of having known Evie for as long as he had, he knew exactly what buttons to push and when to push them, or in this case, when to stop. “That’s the one with the girl who dies at the end if I remember correctly, so that’s a no from me.” Lincoln’s hands dropped to rest on her waist when she took the case back and he pulled her toward him before his hands slid around to her lower back, then down. He leaned forward to press a soft kiss to her jaw followed by her neck as he let out a soft mhm in response. “Yes, princess. You won’t hear another word from me.”

“That’s just ‘cause you’re out of practice, but you’ll get used to the sunshine again soon, I’m sure,” she smirked before softening her expression into one more serious. “No, I’ve had enough of storms. You brought the light back into my life and I want to cherish every minute of it,” she said, adding extra emphasis with a soft boop on his nose. Yvette realized she probably sounded incredibly corny as soon as the words left her lips, but it was true; she still had her off days but it was no coincidence that her depressive episodes had become fewer and farther in between since their reunion. She gave Lincoln a wide, smug grin when they pulled away from the kiss, pleased that her big eyes still had the same effect on him as before. That’s what they call me: the heart breaker,“ Evie scoffed with a playful roll of her eyes. ”Atrocity?“ she echoed unhappily, giving him a soft but firm sove out of her way as she made her way to the living room. "You are seriously pushing it, you know that?” she called out over her shoulder before snatching the movie case off the coffee table and turning around to present it. “Well, I was thinking about Beauty and the Beast - that is, if it’s up to Oh Pretty One’s standards, of course. Don’t wanna bore that pretty smile I love so much off your face.”

As much as he wanted to call her out for being corny, he couldn’t even bring himself to do it. She had the same effect on him: she always had. He hadn’t even known that the level of happiness he felt with Evie was even possible until they had finally set aside their differences and given themselves a chance. They had lost that sunshine for awhile, but now they were back together, and if he had it his way, they’d never be apart again. He fully intended on keeping his word to her that he’d marry her one day. They just had to figure out how to make things work. 

“Yes, atrocity. That’s exactly what I said. I didn’t stutter,” he replied, shrugging up a shoulder as he made his way back over to the stove. Lincoln checked on the food and once he was sure that it was completely ready, he waved his wand to set the table and serve them both a plate. He placed his wand down then made his way over to stand in front of her once more, this time reaching out to snatch the case from her hands. A loud, dramatic groan left his lips as he wrinkled his nose. “Really? We’ve watched this one at least a hundred times since you’ve introduced it to me. Haven’t we worn it out?” Despite his protests, Beauty and the Beast was one of his favorite Disney movies, even if he wouldn’t admit it. In a way, it had a way of reminding him of their own relationship. “What ever happened to girls wanting to watch romance movies?”

“Friends. Okay,” Callie said with a smile and small shake of her head. “Interrogate, catch up, it’s the same thing.”

He groaned. He knew that being friends with Yvette never worked out for either of them, but they were both willing to try. Callie was just confirming what he already knew: it probably wouldn’t last that way for long and they’d either go their separate ways or end up in a more complicated situation than they already had. “No, they most definitely are not,” he laughed softly. “I appreciate you asking me, but we both know that you’re going to do it whether I give you my blessing or not.”

“Well, as long as you’re happy. I know I’ve already said it but just so you know,” She smiled. “So, if I were to invite her to dinner. With me. Would that be okay? To catch up.”

“We’re just friends.” Lincoln reached out to pick up his glass of wine before he had a sip. “You can do whatever you’d like. Just not sure why you’d want to, unless you want to grill her on what her intentions are.”

“Well, if you ever need me you know you can always reach out,” Callie said with a small smile. “So, are you going to tell me how you and Evie reconnected? Seems a bit sudden and I feel like I haven’t heard any details.”

Lincoln nodded at her words. He knew that if there was one person he could rely on in his life, it was Callie. She was always there for him whenever he needed her. He sighed a little as he relaxed his shoulders, “I was at the Leaky Cauldron and so was she. She came over and talked to me. It wasn’t anything profound: just a quick conversation. Then we ran into each other at the masquerade party, and we’ve been talking since.”

“I guess you’re right,” Callie said with a sigh. Growing up in either one of their families was difficult. As she grew older her parents had become a bit more relaxed with how she spent her time as long as she helped with the shop and kept the Burke name untarnished. She knew better than anyone she was lucky to have a bit of freedom. “Well, then when do you think you’ll go see him. If you must go.”

“Probably some time this month, if I end up going. I haven’t seen him since April, so they’re pushing,” Lincoln shook his head at the thought. He hated going to Azkaban, and as of late he felt as if the only reason he was ever asked to go was so his father could put more pressure on him. He always felt like was more of a pawn in their game than a son.