lizthewriter

you didn't know who else to call when you came back to england. it was expensive to room at a hotel or something similar, so you called an old . . . friend. or maybe more than friend. definitely more than friend.

as you exited the interior of heathrow airport, you made your way to arrivals. your eyes searched the crowd of families and couples happily greeting each other as they departed on their journeys. you felt like a bundle of nerves - you hadn't seen theo in years, not since your regretted post-break up hookup. one that had been humiliating and embarrassing and so shameful for the both of you that you hadn't spoken since. but he was your only friend in england who had responded to your messages.

your eyes fell upon him, finally, looking as well-dressed and collected as ever. he leaned casually against his car, watching you intently. as your eyes met his, he sent you two-fingered salute in greeting, pushing himself off the vehicle to approach you.

"hi," you said breathlessly, nervously, a chuckle leaving your locked lips. you couldn't seem to find much more to say, a bombardment of old emotion overtaking your psyche.

"hello," he responded, his tone nothing but gentle and nostalgic. the both of you shared a look, filled with old memories of the moments you shared, flickers of memories that are now light with the weight they once carried.

the both of you quickly snapped out of it.

"i should probably put this-"

"let me take your bag and-"

the both of you laughed as you stumbled over each other's words. theo took your bag and suitcase, loading them into the trunk before opened the passenger-side car door for you. always the gentleman, he was.

the start of the car ride was filled with awkward smiles and brushes of hands. as theo pulled out the airport, you found a radio station you liked and sat back in your seat, trying to get comfortable despite how tense you were.

"so . . . you were married?" your shocked glance spoke more than the broken sounds leaving your mouth. you had never told him that. "i know, you didn't tell me, i noticed the tan line on your ring finger. your skin is lighter where a ring would have been. so either, you were married or you're married but separated."

you cleared your throat, sitting straighter. "divorced. the papers went through about a week ago. i'm not suprised you noticed . . . you always had a very keen eye, theo." his old nickname rolled off your tounge like smooth, rich honey. it was like trying on your favorite pair of pants - they were molded to fit you and you alone from the years of use. just like that little old nickname.

"i don't mean to pry," he mumbled, diverting his eyes from the road to send you a worried glance. "i'm sorry, that must have been . . . difficult."

"it was," you whispered softly. it wasn't so much that the divorce was difficult, that was perhaps the easiest part for you. the marriage was the issue - he never treated you right. never liked you wanted, never like you had been. maybe that's why you had never loved him entirely. maybe that's why it had been so easy to separate, to pack your bags, move back home, with - well, with your ex-boyfriend. who you had to admit, you had never stopped thinking about, even if he was only a lingering smell or sight within the depths of your memory. "but i've moved on. i like to think moving home will bring back some of my old self . . . as well as a new start. thank you for letting me stay while i look for a flat, i really really appreciate it."

"please, it was no problem," theo responded humbly. "anything i could do to help . . . you."

-

"your flat is colossal!" you exclaimed, letting out an envious groan at the breathtaking view of london from his flat. your eyes wandered the dull, copy-and-paste monochrome room which theo somehow made feel homey with his choice in warm, wooden furniture. his stylish choice of leaving books on practically ever surface also aided in the apperance of making his apartment feel like a home. it suited him, you thought. "you've made quite the life for yourself, theo. i'm proud. i'd always knew you'd do well in life."

"yes, well, as much as i adore my flat, life is not all about luxury pools and garden roofs," he responded with a simpleton's smile. he made his way toward the staircase and gestured for you to follow. he showed you to your guest room, where he had already taken the initiative to leave out a variety of towels, bath necessities, snacks, and more.

"aw, you made me a welcome basket without the basket," you said jokingly, clutching your heart with mock sympathy. "thank you," you told him, with much more sincerity in your voice this time around. "really, you didn't have to go out of your way to do this for me."

"really, it was no problem. besides, it's nice to have company . . . for once." he awkwardly knocked on the dresser by the door and took a step back. "well, i will let you unpack. i'm cooking dinner soon and no, it is not a big deal, i cook dinner everyday anyways. i'll let you know when it's ready. all right? sooo... just relax."

-

theo poured generous amounts of wine into two classes, one for each of you. he say across from you at his charming dining table, taking a small sip of his drink and shutting his eyes as he appreciated it's unique taste. letting out a content sigh, he returned his gaze to you. "are you doing all right, considering . . . well."

you felt awkward discussing this with him. your divorce. as though it were rude or inappropriate to do so. "i, um, i already know it was ending long before the relationship ended so by the time it was all over, i think i got over most of it. i'm just happy to be back home. home being england - not that this doesn't feel like a home, it does, it's just not . . . my home and now i'm blabbering and this is really weird," you said with a chuckle, digging into the beautiful meal theo had cooked for both of you.

"you always do that when you're nervous," theo said lightly, an affection to his tone. "there's nothing to be nervous about." with a few taps of his phone, the room was bathed in the smooth saxophone and jaunty piano of 50s jazz that you both loved so much. "relax. it's all right."

"how have you . . . been? i hear you're making your way up in parliament. they talk about you in the news now. i remember when the only way i'd hear about you was during uni, when your best friend would run to my dorm to tell me you'd gotten black-out drunk," you recounted with a reminiscent chuckle, taking a sip of wine.

"ah yes, blaise," theo grinned widely at the mention of his best friend. "he'd always have my back. and if he didn't, he knew you would."

"do you remember that one time you both had taken shots of fire whiskey and stole every whiteboard marker from all the classrooms in the humanities building and hid them in secret locations, and then when you woke up, forced me to come help you search all across campus to find them and put them back before class started on monday?"

his expression softened, his eyes crinkling as he remembered his university days of tomfoolery and shenanigans. "i'm suprised you remember . . . university was so long ago."

"it was when i was happiest," you replied with a soft smile, meeting his eyes and glancing away from him uncertainly. you let out a nervous chuckle, taking another bite of your food. he was still . . . just how you remembered him. it didn't matter that he was some important government man now, he was still the same theo you knew.

"have you found a job here yet?" he asked. despite our small talk and the music flowing through the room, it somehow felt completely silent.

"erm, no, not yet. i've been looking, but you know how hard it is."

theo stared at you for a long moment before wiping his face and standing up from his chair. "get up," he said to you with that signature grin of his - it was obvious in his eyes, he was planning something.

"what?" you asked with a laugh.

he approached you, grabbing your fork from your hand and placing it delicately beside your half-eaten dinner. he held out his hand to you. "up. we're going to dance, loosen up a bit. like old times, yeah?"

the phrase like old times brought back a number of memories, all from the time when the two of you were still together. the late nights wrapped in each other's arms, tipsy and laughing so hard you'd fall to the floor. later, sitting on the windowsill and discussing deep topics in great length. early morning, the sun rising over the horizon just as your back arched, slumping back into the sheets. the smell of moscato and cigarettes.

you tried to remind yourself, that was a long time ago, as you took his hand.

he swept you off your feet, twirling you around until you were wrapped in his arms, your back against his chest, as he swayed you to and fro. his head rested against your shoulder, his breath tickling the very edge of your collarbone. "small talk is all so . . . needless, isn't it?" he asked, scrunched his nose up.

"yeah," you responded with a chuckle. he spun you back out and grabbing your hand, pulling you close so you were face to face, waltzing across the kitchen floor. "this is much better."

you didn't need to talk. you only needed to feel. theo hummed to the tune of the music and you closed your eyes, swaying with him.  "you're still amazing at dancing - i'm afraid i've grown clumsy out of practice," you told him as you almost tripped over his foot.

"yet i still somehow seem the same elegant and sophisticated woman before me," theo responded with a grin and an arch of his brow.

"i wouldn't use those two words to describe me in university." you grimaced as your mind was filled with images of all your most embarrassing university moments.

"well, you smart and beautiful and had this moxie." he had such passion in his tone - it felt like university again with each passing minute. "like the leading lady of any black-and-whife film. like . . . hedy lamar!"

"you flatter me, theodore nott," you said, waving him away with an embarrassed flush of your cheeks. the music swooned through your ears, the artist singing about true love, and the both of you fell into silence. your eyes somehow always found a way to meet up again, but quickly they separated like two schoolchildren in love. "you're not so much different either. just as witty and polished as the day we met."

"you mean i haven't grown handsome in my old age?" he questioned in a dry, mock sense of hurt. "you wound me. i really thought this peppered look was working well for me."

"it is," you sputtered out, both to comfort him and to be honest, but once you said it, it felt much more like an admission of feelings than anything. you blushed and stared down at your feet. "i mean, it - um - you look really great."

"you look great too." when you raised your head, finally meeting his eyes once more, something electric passed through the both of you. the awkward tension from the past day had finally built up against a dam, broke through the wall, and exploded into a river of unexplored territory.

before long, he was leading you to his bedroom, hands desperately clutching your cheeks as he rougishly pressed his lips against yours. clothes were discarded, glances were shared, and by the end of the night, you were tangled in each other's arms. like old times.

"this makes things complicated . . . doesn't it?" theo asked, trailing his finger across your bare back.

you stretched your neck to turn and observe him. your hand outstretched, you placed it upon his cheek and rubbed it soothingly. "it doesn't have to be complicated, theo. i . . . i want you."

"i want you too," he replied, leaning forward and pressing a not-so-chaste kiss to the interior of your collarbone. "in every way i can have you. sleep here tonight?"

theo glared at the wall with an unbridled fury as he rubbed your back, your sobs filling the room. he was going to kill him.

who was him, exactly? oh just your good-for-nothing boyfriend. now theodore loved with his whole heart. he truly did. but he couldn't for the life of him understand why you were going out with an absolute wanker like him.

you were so paticular about who you allowed in your life - but this arse somehow slipped his way through the cracks. this boy somehow always found a way to make you crawl into theo's arms with tears in your eyes, a broken heart, and wounded pride. and damn it, he's been holding himself back from knocking sense into ypu because he was afraid that kind of talk was coming from the fact that he'd been bloody in love with you since the day he first laid eyes on you. but he knew it was beyond that now. all he wanted was for you to be happy - and you very obviously weren't.

"hey, do you think you can look at me for a second?" theo asked in a gentle tone, shifting away from you slightly to get you to pop up out of your shell. you raised your head away from his chest (where his sweater was now damp with your tears) - he practically felt his heart break at your apperance. cheeks shiny with tears, eyes red and puffy from crying, hair frizzy and messy.

"i am telling you this as your best friend and someone who cares about you," theo started slowly, taking your hand and placing it in his. "you're an amazing person. and you don't deserve to be treated like this. you deserve to be treated like - like a queen! all right? this shitty guy shouldn't get a single sickle of your time."

"but - but what if this is the best i can get?" you asked with a sniffle, the waterfall of tears returning as your chest heaved. another pang of his heart, another surge of his rage. "what if i break up with him and then i'm alone forever cause no one else wants me?"

"i promise you, that's not true," theodore told you reassuringly. "i'm not complimenting you to be nice, i'm being honest, you're genuinely one of the best people I've ever met and i'm grateful i have you in my life . . . anyone else who's fortunate enough to be friends with you will see and recognize that as well. please. for your sake. break up with him. he only ever makes you upset. and you deserve to be happy."

the responsive silence weighed more heavily on theo than it probably did on you.

"maybe you're right," you sniffled in response. you wiped away your tears with the edge of your sleeve before theo offered you a tissue. "i deserve to be happy."

he smiled softly. "that's right."

"yeah . . . why do i get to be treated like this when i'm nothing but a great girlfriend?" you exclaimed angrily. "i mean, does he go sobbing to his friends about this stuff or is he just going about his life like- like he's not ruining mine?"

you stood up suddenly. "thank you, theo. you made me realize something today. i'll be right back."

"wait, i didn't mean break up with him no-" he wasn't even able to finish his sentence before you slammed the door to his dorm behind you as you rushed out of the room. he sighed, then chuckled. "well, that was anticlimactic," he said sarcastically to himself.

-

you laughed gaudily, your nose buried in a bouquet of flowers. your arm wrapped around him. your eyes admiring him. your body leaning against him.

what a prick, theo thought.

your "boyfriend" was manipulating you and you couldn't even see it. or at least, you didn't want to see it. see, you had confronted him. made a whole scene in front of his friends. landed a stark slap across his face. but he just as easily won you back in your moment of post-relationship weakness. by bringing you flowers and chocolate a promising to be better.

and here you were in hogsmeade, where you had invited him on a double date. you hooked him up with one of your friends, who was obviously very into theo and very dissappointed to see theo not granting her even a moment of his attention. she sat grumpily beside him, sipping on her butterbeer while grumbling under her breath.

"i'm going to grab us some more drinks," you said with a wide grin, getting up out of your chair. turning around, you bumped into another student trying to carry an obscene amount of butterbeer which accidentally slipped down your entire front. soaking your shirt, causing the thin fabric to cling to your chest.

"watch where you're going!" your boyfriend shouted at the kid, who mumbled apologies under his breath as he began to clean the mess he had made. he grabbed a handful of napkins from the center of the table, beginning to wipe at your chest, but you gently pushed his hands away as you wrapped your eyes around your body to protect from the wandering eyes of neighboring tables. "and you, couldn't you wear something a little less . . . showy?" he asked you under his breath, all though theo could hear him well enough. "i don't need other guys looking down your shirt."

"there's- there's nothing wrong with my shirt," you mumbled, receding further within yourself.

"you look like a cheap whore walking around like that."

you shut your eyes tight, almost as if you were afraid of standing up for yourself. "you said i looked pretty earlier."

"don't you dare call her that. and stop trying to police what she's wearing," theo said suddenly, getting up from the table and wrapping a protective arm around you. your boyfriend narrowed his eyes at theo. "when you should be helping her instead."

he took what was supposed to be an intimidating step towards theo. "take your hands off of my girlfriend."

theo chuckled bitterly. "your girlfriend? you certainly don't treat her like one."

"i'm warning you."

"just stop," you said quietly, placing a hand on your boyfriend's chest. "i was right. this . . . this wasn't a good idea. thank you for the flowers and the drinks but we're done."

you didn't even look him in the eyes as your hand slipped away from him and theo turned around, leading you out of the three broomstick.

"you're a little bitch you know that?" he called after you, causing the whole bar to go deathly silent. "probably cheating on me with theodore 'i miss my mommy' nott. date a pathetic loser like that and see-"

the crowd let out a collective gasp as he was suddenly shut up by theodore's fist meeting his mouth. red rinsed theo's knuckles - he couldn't tell if the blood was his own or your boyfriend (well, ex-boyfriend he now supposed) but to be honest, he didn't care. "you keep your filthy mouth shut," theodore spat.

"that's it! you two, out of my pub!" madam rosmerta exclaimed, shooing you and theodore away with a rag. as you left, you glanced behind you to see her giving your ex a good verbal beating. "oh and the headmaster will be hearing about this! students fighting, in my pub! not in so many years have i seen such disrespect to a public establishment!"

"here," theo said, placing his rather large coat around your shoulders as the two of you exited the three broomsticks. "are you okay? he said some pretty shitty things to you back there."

"i'll be fine," you responded with a weak smile. "i'm really sorry, you shouldn't have had to-"

"i wanted to. punch him in the face, i mean. he deserved it." the two of you soaked in the silence wrought on by your awkwardness. "he's wrong. you're not a - you know, what he called you. and i don't think anyone in that pub would assume that of you either."

"that means a lot to me, theo . . ." you paused, reflecting on your past relationship. "you want to know something?"

"hm?"

"i knew he was bad for me. of course, deep down, i knew. i guess i just hoped that he would be the person i thought he could be, the best version of himself. but . . . he didn't turn out that way." you buried your face in your hands and sighed. "merlin i feel so stupid."

"you're not stupid," theo reassured you, stopping in the middle of the road to place both his hands on your shoulder. "you're optimistic and you always believe the best in those around you. and that's one of the things that i- i love about you. it's not your fault that not everyone deserves your kindness."

the corner of your lips curled upwards and for a moment, you felt your heart pang in your chest. the way theo was looking at you, well, you didn't want to delude yourself, but there was so much love in his gaze. so much kindness and compassion. and looking back on your friendship, you can't remember him having done all the things he's done for you for anyone else. and you can't think of a single moment, at a drop of a quill, that he wasn't there for you when you needed him.

"you're too kind to me, theo," you mumbled in embarrassment, your cheeks growing red at his praise.

"i'm not kind, only honest, you know this."

"i- i can't help but think there's a reason you're so nice to me," you suggested subtly. it seemed so obvious to you now - it made so much sense. "theo, you have been there for me whenever i needed you. and you've helped me through so much. it's hard to think you'd do all that for someone you just consider . . . a friend."

theo paused and his silence made you nervous. maybe you were looking too much into it, reading too much into it?

"if my care for you were coming from a different place . . . hypothetically, how would you respond?" he asked, nervously shifting the weight of his body from one foot to the other.

"hypothetically, i'd say i would need some time to properly move on but i wouldn't mind going on a hypothetical date," you responded, pretending to consider the prospect. "that is, of course, if you can fit one into your hypothetical schedule."

it was obvious to perhaps everyone but sanji himself who was leaving him small sonnets and gifts in the kitchen. everyone knew how you pined for sanji - because no other person on that ship didn't consistently pick on him (well, except for usopp but he had his own love stashed away on a charming little island). maybe it was sanji's over-inflated ego that made him think it could have been anyone on the ship leaving him these cute gifts or maybe it was something else. but he was determined to find out who, exactly, it was.

you, said person secretly leaving all this for him, didn't want him to find you out anyways. what if he was dissappointed that in the end, it was plain old you? you had imagined his expression falling upon realizing this and it pained your heart - you couldn't imagine how much more it would hurt to actually see that in real life.

your job on the ship was a simple one - you cleaned. every room, every floor, every wall. sparkling clean every day because of your valiant effort (and valiant was an understatement - the straw hats could be terrifyingly disgusting sometimes). you never complained because you liked your job. it was just as valuable to the team as anyone else's. if luffy wanted the straw hats to be the best, most well-renowned, most sought-after in all the east blue then his ship must emanate that.

so there you were, mopping the starboard as luffy guided the ship through today's rather calm sea. zoro was busy meticulously caring for his swords while usopp, sanji, and nami were deep in conversation (although, nami seemed only a bystander while the other two conversed excitedly).

"luffy, we're going to need to restock soon. you are planning on taking us to the next port, right?" sanji asked, climbing up the starboard, two stairs at a time with those long limbs of his. "as much as i enjoy our little adventures, i don't think they'll be very fruitful if we're not well fed."

zoro and nami groaned. "please, not another one of your food-themed puns," nami complained aloud, while zoro only grunted in discontent and continued carrying for his swords (which sometimes seemed to be the only things he cared about).

"i'll stop at the next port then!" luffy exclaimed with a wide-grin, chock full of his usual child-like enthusiasm. sanji passed by you on the way back down to usopp, sending you a signature flirty wink and a two-fingered salute before greeting usopp boisterously with a clap on the back.

part of you hated the way the butterflies in your stomach twirled and twisted at some gesture as small and meaningless at that - i mean, come on, he did that to literally everyone. but the heart wants what the heart wants. and sometimes, the heart was completely and utterly ridiculous.

-

it was practically nightfall when luffy brought the ship to a port, so the others decides they would have a night on the town and invited you. now, you weren't very outgoing - in fact, you often avoided excursions like this, but sanji was going and you wanted to spend time with him, so you said yes.

most of the straw-hats were pretty loud. even zoro, who was rather broody most of the time, grunting as a form of communication. luffy walked through the bustling streets of this port city with all the maturity of a cartoon character. usopp and sanji, who had somehow already obtained alcohol, had their hands around each other's shoulders and were loudly singing some pirate song while nami and zoro were (suprisingly) getting along quite well (most due to luffy's way of bringing everyone together). you, however, hung back. it was always their extrovertedness that made you feel like the odd ball of the group.

as the rest of the group made their way into a pub, you stopped by a local stall filled with little trinkets for sale. you pointed towards a minature decorative ornament of a chef's hat. "can i have that one please?"

you smiled softly as you exchanged gold for the small decoration, admiring it before tucking it away in one of the pockets of your coat. you joined the straw-hats in the pub, but drank only a water. if they were all to get drunk, they needed someone sensible to guide them back to the ship and get them asleep before zoro tried to guide them to the other side of whatever island they were on. his navigational skills were truly terrible.

as you admired your friends' drunken spirits from the sidelines, you didn't notice the way sanji crawled up to your side and rested his head against your shoulder. "i'm cold and i'm hungry but the door is open and the food here is terrible," he whined in your ear.

you patted him on the head awkwardly. "it's all right, sanji, there's some leftovers from lunch that luffy hasn't eaten yet and you'll be in your warm bed soon enough."

"hmm, i think i'll use you to keep me warm instead," he responded (in surprisingly an innocent way), snuggling up to your side and snoozing against you. you felt a warm blush fall over your cheeks - you couldn't help but think he was suggesting something else at what he had said.

"i think it's time we head home - i think you're all a bit too drunk tonight," you muttered softly, gently pushing his head off your shoulder. slowly (and painstakingly), you somehow managed to gather all the straw-hats in one piece and struggled (but was successful) in your endeavor to get the aboard the ship. soon enough, almost all were asleep, except for sanji.

you lead him down one of the narrow corridors of the ship to his room and opened the door, helping him into his room. the doorway was rather small for you both (let alone the ship for you entire crew), and in your attempt to squeeze through the door, the little trinkets you had planned on leaving for him in the kitchen tonight fell from your pocket and directly in front of sanji.

the two of you froze. he stared down at the hat. so did you. fear settled within you, filling you like air, freezing you in place.

then, sanji laughed. "i need me one of those." and he continued unbothered to his bed, flopping onto it and cuddling one of his pillows. you watched in utter shock as he mumbled a quiet good night before falling asleep immediately, his obnoxious snores filling the room. he had just breezed past what had happened. he hadn't even realized. thank gold roger he was drunk. you collected the trinket from the floor and closed his bedroom door as you departed towards your bedroom.

-

the next morning, all had seemed normal. sanji didn't show any signs of remembering what had happened the night before. you didn't want to risk his memory coming back by gifting him the trinket in secret, so you absentmindedly placed it back in your pocket before swiftly falling asleep the night prior. were you never going to learn? if you were being completely honest, you forgot all about where you put the decoration. which is why you were so shocked when you dropped it. again.

you were cleaning the kitchen. sanji was cooking. it was a normal, every day occurence. but your nerves were still aflame from the night before, making you antsy and clumsy - and as you turned around to grab a new bar of soap from another cabinet, sanji was turning towards where you were (the sink), to place yet another dish in. the result? the two of you, limbs tangle together, while the gift you had yet to give sanji sat right on his chest.

suddenly, the memories from the night before swirled in his head. he picked up the small trinket, tilting his head in confusion as he looked at it, then you. "you're the one leaving me gifts in the kitchen?" he asked, as though suprised that it was anyone other than you.

"well - i - uh - yes," you responded dejectedly, trying to untangle your legs, boeing your head so you didn't have to meet his puppy eyes.

a grin spread across sanji's face, as he repeated what he said before, as though solidifying the reality of it. "you're the one leaving me gifts in the kitchen."

"yes, i know, it's stupid," you responded, pushing yourself up from the ground and brushing off your apron. "stupid, stupid," you mumbled to yourself.

"no, no, it's anything but stupid!" sanji exclaimed, standing up and grabbing you by the shoulders, excitement written all over his face. "they - they make my day! i keep all of them, you see, all the cards and the poems and the gifts in a drawer in my room! i'd put them on display in the kitchen but i've no idea how - they'd fall down without something to stick them to the shelf. no, they're - they're really sweet. just like you."

"you're telling the truth?" you asked hopefully, a hesitant smile brimming beneath all that uncertainty of yours. sanji barked out a laugh.

"of course! i wouldn't lie to you, mon cherie," he responded, tucking some stray hair behind your ear. "i think this enlightening event deserves something to mark it's importance. a kiss, perhaps?"

through red cheeks and averted eyes, you nodded. he placed his index finger under your chin, tilting your head so that you were facing him completely. "don't hide that beautiful face of yours, pretty girl. i want to see all of it." he admired you with those starry, puppy eyes of his before bringing his lips down to catch yours in a gentle, loving kiss.

your hands somehow made their way up to clutch his face. caught in the moment, you slipped in deeper before-

"finally. it was annoying watching you two pine for each other." you and sanji separated as zoro entered the kitchen, stealing one of sanji's ingredients for dinner and taking a big bite out of it. you both stared at him.

"we're kind of in the middle of something here."

"right."

"AND YOU NEVER TOLD ME?!"

you grimaced at ginny's shocked rebuttal. you see, you hadn't exactly told her that theodore nott had asked you out a few nights ago. and you hadn't yet revealed ro her that it was all fake - but in all honesty, you didn't think you would.

"you know, he might be a bit grumpy and quiet, but i've never had anything against nott. you know he always cleans up the gym at the end of the day? never leaves it to the janitor, he hates people making a mess. i can't tell if he's nice or if he has ocd."

ginny cared about you, a lot. of course she would, she was your best friend in the whole world. but she never took the time to focus on herself. you were hoping that maybe if you were dating someone like nott, she would trust him enough to take care of you and she'd finally start to focus on herself.

"anyways, that's beside the point, when are you seeing each other next?" ginny asked, holding back a squeal of excitement.

"we're grabbing coffee with his friend blaise after my economics class," you responded, a little nervously. it wasn't exactly seeing theo that you were nervous about, but having to see his friend as well. you couldn't say you knew blaise too well. he had been in one or two of your classes, but you'd never spoken to one another and you didn't like to put your faith entirely in rumors.

"oh yeah, zabini, right? i hooked up with him once."

you wrinkled your nose. "as happy as i am that you're doing great in that aspect, i'd rather you keep the details to yourself." ginny grinned mischievously in response - any time you told her no, she couldn't help but disobey. you blamed it on those damned twin brothers of hers.

"no, i don't want to hear about it!" you exclaimed, shoving your hands in your ears and running from ginny, as she chased you around the dorm shouting what you assumed to be a rather detailed escapade of her time in bed with the one and only-

-

"blaise zabini. theo's told me all about you," blaise said in a polite tone, shaking your hand. he wasn't as scary as you made him out to be in your head. he was tall, but a gentle giant as it seemed to be.

"really?" you asked, slightly suprised at this, glancing towards theo.

he shrugged sheepishly. "a bit, yeah."

"he's mad for you, mate," blaise told you with a chuckle. "a real keeper, he is."

you couldn't see, but theo was glaring at blaise with daggers shooting out his eyes. blaise, of course, knew all about theo's little fake dating scheme and how it was all a facade. besides his actually reasonable rationality for fake dating each other, there was another, secret reason. he wanted to make you fall in love with him. but he couldn't deny that you were so damn stubborn and argumentative that it almost pissed him off sometimes.

"anyways, there's a little fair nearby i thought we could all check out. we're going to meet my date there," blaise explained as he gestured to us to follow his trek towards some campus event in the distance.

"you didn't tell me you were inviting anyone else," theo said as he caught up with blaise, pulling on your arm as he jogged, as your fingers were interlaced together. his tone was as level-headed as could be, but still there was that hint of irritation within.

"i thought i did?" blaise responded with a fake look of thoughtfulness. "oh well." he turned back to face you. "i assume you've met daphne greengrass."

"yeah, she's been in a lot of my classes. she's nice. is that her over there?"

you pointed to a girl with silver blonde hair, dressed in a rather extravagant chanel two-piece suit that made you wonder if you were a little dressed down in your average clothes. daphne greeted blaise so elegantly, so beautifully. she emanated every value of a high class woman. everything you, unfortunately, were not. you shifted uncomfortably as she slipped her arm through blaise's.

"you are the prettiest girl here." you felt theo's nose brush against your left ear. a blush painted your cheeks and you leaned away from him with something of a suprised look. his eyes were dead but as insistent as ever. "don't worry about her."

"thank you . . . theo," you responded hesitantly. was this his way of getting into character? perhaps you should play along.

"so, have you two kissed yet?"

you sputtered out a cough and theo cleared his throat uncomfortably at daphne's sudden and blunt question. she barked out a laugh at your responses. "i'll take that as a no then. but you've went on a date before, right?"

"theo took me to dinner last night," you exclaimed, expression growing warm with a soft smile as you reminisced the night prior.

"you should have kissed her theo," daphne said in disbelief. "are you trying to drive her away from you?"

"daphne, daphne, lay off them," blaise said with a light chuckle. "their time will come."

as the four of you approached the fair, light-heart carnival music filled your ears, as well as the sounds of carnival games and excited college students who seemed to be brought to life by the free food avaliable.

"what do you guys want to do first?" blaise asked, glancing towards you and theo.

"i mean, i'd like to go on the ferris wheel," you said, gesturing to the large wheel that had been resurrected on one of the football fields.

"great, well daphne and i are going to look at the games, so how about we meet you back here in an hour? yeah? great!" and while you and theo were just starting to protest blaise's desicion, him and daphne had quickly left the two of you behind.

you turned towards theo. "so."

"so."

the air was awkward. despite last night, which you had to admit was a lot easier with alcohol floating through your veins, the two of you found yourselves at an impasse. "do you want to go on the ferris wheel then?"

"sure."

the two of you walked through a crowd filled with friends having a right laugh and couples making those who were single gag and grimace at their public displays of affection. "do you think we should . . . kiss? like daphne said. it'd be pretty weird if we didn't, right? most couples do."

theo looked flabbergasted. "w-well, sure, i suppose. do you want to kiss . . . right now?" he glanced around at all the people nearby and felt the butterflies in his stomach flutter, the heat in his cheeks rise.

"theodore nott, are you blushing?" you teased.

"i am not!" he protested grumpily, turning his face away from you to hide his reddened cheeks.

you drew closer to him with a mischievous grin, your fingers climbing up his chest before grabbing onto the lapel of his versace coat. "what, have you never kissed a girl before?"

"no, actually, i have not," he responded, his line still set into a grumpy, thin line. you drew away, again shocked by the man before. he always found a way to suprise you, didn't he?

"you've never had a girlfriend? or even just a girl that you happened to kiss?"

"no, i'm not much for dating," theodore replied simply.

"oh."

"i've never had the time either - much too busy with university and my career," he explained in a bored sort of tone. "have you dated a lot? not that i'm judging you or anything. just curious."

"i've dated around a bit, yeah," you responded, your pride a bit wounded. despite him saying he wasn't judging you, it very much felt like he was. "you can't find your soulmate if you don't go looking for them, right?"

"you really believe in soulmates?" theo asked with an amused grin.

"yeah, and you don't?" you replied, your tone slightly defensive.

the two of you strolled up to the ferris wheel and got into one of the cabs. the ride operator closed the door behind you and soon enough, you were slowly rising into the air, overlooking the entire carnival, as well as campus beyond that.

"so you think we don't present like a couple?" theo asked you, leaning back on his side of the cabs and shutting his eyes.

"well, we're very tense around each other. and not in a hot, sexual tension kind of way in the awkward, i don't know what to say to you way." obviously the two of you needed to change that. especially if you wanted to convince mattheo of your relationship.

"how do you suggest we change that, then?"

"i suppose we have to act like a couple in all aspects of our life. that means in private too. it will get us in the groove of pretending to like each other."

"what, you don't like this charming mug?" theo asked sarcastically, lifting up his head and shooting you a charming grin. you barked out a laugh.

the corners of his lips upturned for a second more. "yes. yes, it is a start."

"well, i'm starting to hate it less and less, so there's a start."