#beywriting

Her statement was met with silence and Hilary immediately regretted letting her anger get the best of her, biting her lip as she braced herself for an argument, she looked up at Tyson. To her surprise, her words didn’t seem to have upset him, he was watching her with wary eyes and when they met hers, he just shook his head coolly, turning his attention back to the magazine he was flipping through.

“I feel like this isn’t really about the jar,” he said, calmly turning a page. “When you do need me, I’ll be right here.”

Hilary let her head drop to the table, burying it under her folded arms. She knew that by now, she should be used to how well Tyson knew her but he still managed to throw her off guard when he showed her just how much he’d grown since they first met. Back when they were kids, a claim like this from Hilary would have him balling up his fists and shouting back how he didn’t need her too, before storming out of the room. Now, he just sat there patiently waiting for her to tell him the truth, which if she chose not to do immediately wouldn’t even bother him. He would be ready to listen to her problems, whenever she chose to come forward with them.

She sighed, there was no point in trying to run from the truth. The fact that she’d been keeping her feelings buried for a week now felt silly considering how one simple slip had Tyson figuring out she was hiding something without any effort. Lifting her face from the table, she straightened up in her seat. Tucking her hair that had come loose from her bun behind her ears, she tapped her cheeks lightly, hoping to motivate herself and build up the courage to discuss the problem that was bothering her. Tyson had fixed his eyes on her when she raised her head, so she met his curious gaze with a determined one.

“The invitation for the X Tower inauguration event,” Hilary started, fidgeting with her fingers under the table as the nervousness over how Tyson would react settled in her gut, “it doesn’t address me. They only sent one for you, with the option to bring a plus one.”

“Maybe they’ll send one for you separately-”

“They won’t.” Hilary interrupted Tyson, now casting her eyes downwards, “I called to check, and they’re not planning to send one out for me.”

“Why not?” Tyson looked confused, which was reassuring because so far she’d thought she was blowing up the issue more than it was needed in her head.

“I don’t know, they tried to avoid answering my questions,” Hilary responded, “But I suppose it’s because I’m not a Beyblader like everyone else.”

“But you’re still a part of our team.”

Now he was angry, leaning forward in his chair with his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to make sense of what she was saying, since to him it seemed like a foreign concept that anyone would consider excluding her just because she wasn’t an active player of the sport like everyone else. His reaction soothed her, she’d spent the whole week trying not to think too hard about this, wondering if anyone would even understand why this made her so mad. And there was Tyson, looking much more enraged on her behalf than she ever could, validating every thought she’d tried to push away in an attempt to make herself feel better.

“Indeed, but I don’t think that makes much of a difference to other people,” she said softly, always having made her peace with the fact internally it felt odd to speak it out loud, especially to Tyson.

“Well, I’m not going then,” Tyson stated flatly, folding his arms in a defensive stance as his nostrils flared and jaw went taught.

“No, you don’t have to do that!”

She rushed to react, leaning forward in her seat so she could reach her hands across the table, opening her palms wide with the hope that Tyson would calm down and slip his hands in hers for comfort. But he seemed determined to remain furious, his eyes weren’t looking at her but were fixed at a spot in the distance. She could almost see the thoughts popping up in his mind one after the other, eyes darkening as his anger climbed to new heights. Hilary had hoped to catch his attention somehow but since he remained deep in thought and her arms started to ache, she pulled herself back, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt as Tyson’s silent anger made her anxious.

Although she would be lying if she said that his strong reaction was not something that relieved her, she still hadn’t imagined that he would be upset enough to skip the event entirely. Beyblade was no longer a huge part of their lives as it used to be when they were younger, so whenever these little opportunities popped up for them to connect with that world, Tyson was always the first one to get excited and geared up for it. To think that he would so easily give all that up for her sake was an overwhelming thought.

Of course, the call with the B4 associates had put her in a mood sour enough to want to skip the event herself, but she would never ask that of Tyson. Both of them may have grown up to be very different adults now, but that would not have been possible without Beyblading. The Tyson that sat in front of her now was a result of everything the sport had taught him, the people he met through it and the battles he won and lost, she wanted him to have a chance, no matter how fleeting, to be a part of it all once again. And as far as her relevance was concerned, Tyson had already proven how much he cared for her, his anger made her realise that she didn’t quite need anything more than that.

Taking a deep breath, she stopped her fidgeting fingers, bringing them up to tuck her hair behind her ear again. Forming her thoughts into coherent sentences in her head she spoke up gently, “I know how important this is for you-”

“Nothing is more important to me than you!”

Tyson cut her off loudly, looking more furious now as he fixed her with an intense stare, challenging her to suggest otherwise. When she didn’t, he looked pleased with himself as he relaxed his tensed frame, letting the worst of his anger fade under the calming silence that settled between them. He did continue to watch her carefully, however, perhaps expecting her to launch into an explanation any time. It was only when he confirmed that Hilary would not argue back against his statement, did he break the silence by leaning forward in his chair and fixing her with a warm yet blinding smile, “And I know I don’t have to skip it, but I don’t want to be a part of anything that makes you unhappy. I love you, Hilary.”

She stared back at him with wide eyes and pursed lips. Tyson was never one to shy away from letting her know how he felt, but he still managed to surprise her with the depth in his words, the raw emotion in his voice, and the overflowing affection in his eyes. In moments like these, Hilary was always left speechless to the point where she questioned whether it was possible to fall in love with the same person over and over again because that was the only way to describe the uncontrollable fluttering in her stomach that almost made her forget how to breathe.

She could feel the tears in her eyes, threatening to fall any second, the lump forming in her throat, almost too hard to swallow. Raising her hands to her face she dabbed at her eyes, trying to clear her mind so that when she spoke next, all of her feelings wouldn’t come rushing out at once. But before she could do that, her stomach decided to announce to the room that she really ought to pay attention to it.

“Do you want me to open the jar now?”

She heard Tyson’s laugh echo through the room as she slapped her hands onto her face, covering it completely to hide her flushed cheeks, she whispered in a squeaky tone “Yes, please.”

It didn’t take him too long to reach for the jar, within a few seconds she heard a popping sound, the stubborn lid could not put up a better fight against Tyson, though she wanted to believe that she had some part in loosening it up for him. When she heard him slide the jar across the table, she finally removed her hands from her face, catching it before it slid right off the table. Hilary wanted to turn and shoot a glare at Tyson, but she was still embarrassed by how she had managed to ruin one of the most perfect moments they’d shared in a while by uncharacteristically, acting like Tyson.

Setting the jar in front of her carefully away from the edge, she picked up the knife and slice of bread that had been lying in wait for some time now. Scooping up a large chunk of the peach marmalade on the knife, she spread it across the bread evenly, realising now just how hungry she felt as her hands picked up pace on their own. From the corner of her eye, Hilary noticed that Tyson had scrunched up his nose in disgust as the smell of peaches filled the room, muttering under his breath how he thought it was the worst flavour of jam ever made. But Hilary decided to let his attitude slip and happily bit into the simple sandwich she had prepared for herself.

She knew that in the coming days, she would end up letting Tyson get away with a lot of things, until the effect of his words wore off, and even then, her toughness wouldn’t last for long since he was bound to make her swoon one way or another. It all felt so irrelevant now, the anger that had taken over when she saw her name replaced with ‘plus one optional’ on the invitation. Did it really matter, she thought, what everyone else thought of her when Tyson loved her and cared about her enough to make up for the rest of the world?

Popping the last bite of the sandwich into her mouth, she dusted the crumbs off her hand above the empty plate. She pushed her chair back and stood up, making Tyson look up from his magazine once again. As she walked towards him, his eyes followed her attentively, he quickly adjusted his own chair without Hilary having to say anything. When she reached him, she smiled before comfortably settling herself on his lap, looping her arms around his neck as he rested one hand on the small of her back and put the other around her waist.

“Your understanding, your support,” Hilary said, pausing to put her forehead against his, “It matters much more to me than my name on an invitation ever could. I love you too, Tyson.”

She could feel his whole body buzzing with fuzzy warmth and excitement, but she didn’t let him steal a kiss just yet. Moving her head back for just a moment, she leaned in and touched her cheek to his, whispering in his ear coyly, “I want you to attend the event and if you’d let me, I would be more than happy to be your plus one.”

She’d hoped to tease him a little more but Tyson was nothing if not impatient. He let go of her waist and grabbed her chin tightly with his fingers, effortlessly pulling her lips closer to his and crashing them together without a pause. All the words that had been left unsaid were now being uttered silently through every caress of their lips, every stroke of their tongues, every gasping breath and every satisfied moan. Time could not imprison them in its flow, but was rather made to bend to their rules, slowing down the world around them so they could fall deeper into the kiss and taste a part of each other that they hadn’t yet discovered.

The air in their lungs, however, wasn’t so kind and eventually the two broke apart, panting and dazed, still refusing to look anywhere else except each other’s eyes. It was only when Tyson muttered something about peach not being a bad flavour after all, did the spell break and Hilary was able to throw her head back to laugh to her heart’s content.

“Are you sure,” Tyson spoke up after some time, lifting a hand to push back the hair that had fallen across her face, continuing in a careful voice as his eyes searched hers for the truth, “about going to the event?”

“Yes.” Hilary nodded confidently, grabbing onto his hand before it fell to her side.

The uncertainty of how the night might go with some people treating her like she meant nothing had all but disappeared from her mind. If Tyson had reacted that badly to her name missing from the invitation, she could only imagine what he would do if someone did end up snubbing her in his presence. That thought was comforting, it gave her enough courage to don her most polite smile and tail him around through the night, maybe even make sure that he doesn’t make a fool of himself or worse, challenge every person in sight to a beybattle.

Tightening her grip around his hand, she smiled at him, letting her gaze drop to his lips for a brief moment before she met his eyes and said, “Besides, it doesn’t seem fair for me to keep the most handsome World Champion of the sport all to myself, wouldn’t you agree?”

Tyson didn’t waste a second in securing his arms around her frame tightly before he stood up and lifted her along with him. Getting ready to directly sprint towards their bedroom, he leaned down to rub his nose against hers and with a mischievous smirk said, “I agree. It’s always good to remind others who the real winner in all of this is.”

Hilary knew that once their bodies hit the bed, the rules of the game would be set by Tyson and she wouldn’t exactly put up a strong defence. So just before she let herself be swept away by his love once again, she decided to rile him up for good by getting the last word in.

“If the World Champion thinks that I won him over, does that make me the new-”

Having opted for the most amount of subjects in their year, if Hilary was not dashing from one end of the castle to the other to make it to her next class on time, she would be glued to a corner in the library, frantically scribbling on parchments trying to finish all her assignments on time.

Tyson was kept equally busy by Kai taking every opportunity to squeeze in a Quidditch practice after classes. Rumours about the likeness of the Gryffindor team practicing at odd hours to Ghosts roaming around the castle aimlessly cropping up did nothing to deter Kai's dedication. The only one who did manage to influence the Captain in some capacity was Mimi, when she threw a tantrum in the Common Room about how she was not able to spend time with her friends anymore and Kai, unable to stand tall against her crocodile tears and shrill voice, caved into allowing the team to rest for a whole weekend. Not that it made much of a difference in the end, since the entire team, including Kai, spent their free time snoring away in their beds which only made Mimi more upset.

The only time Hilary could see Tyson lately was in the Great Hall during meals or in the few classes they shared, neither of which made for spaces where she could bring up the topic of his Hogsmeade invitation privately. Though what she would've said if they got the chance to talk was an entirely different matter. On days when she felt like she was on top of her schoolwork and managing her prefect duties marvelously, there was a skip in her feet as she turned every corner expecting to see Tyson so she could tell him that maybe taking up his offer didn't sound so bad after all. But then she would get back her graded homework for one of the classes and the feedback wouldn't be what she wanted to see, making her want to stay buried in her corner of the library, knowing that Tyson would never be able to find her there.

It probably wasn't a good sign that when she came across a book in the restricted section that talked about potions used for stabilizing moods, Hilary's first thought was to try that out for herself in the hopes so she could either be giddy or grumpy all the time, rather than swinging back and forth between the two like an out of control pendulum.

Not trusting herself around the book, she decided that it was time to head back to the Common Room and continue her studies cozied up against the fireplace with the soothing sound of her friends chatting in the background. As the portrait door swung open to allow her entry, Hilary was surprised to find that the room was emptier than usual considering how it was a Friday night. One quick sweep told her that the Quidditch team was missing, possibly still out practicing, she concluded with a sigh. She spotted Mimi with some third years and made her way towards the group. Settling her study material on a desk close to Mimi, she greeted the group of girls with a smile before picking up a book from her pile, An Advanced Outlook into Arithmancy, a bit ahead of where they were in the course right now but it wouldn't hurt to go through it once.

She almost put a tear in the page of the book on account of clutching onto it so hard when May got up to excuse herself, announcing that she wanted a good night's sleep before her first ever Hogsemeade visit.

The first Hogsmeade weekend was tomorrow.

And she still hadn't spoken to Tyson.

Hilary sunk into the chair, holding the book high in front of her face so Mimi or anyone else wouldn't be able to see the pained expression on her face. Regardless of her feelings, she didn't want Tyson to keep waiting for her to show up tomorrow. Technically, as Sora would say, she had already stood him up once this year and it just won't be right for her to do it again.

She hoped that her guess about the Quidditch players still out practicing was true because she knew that heading up to the Boys dormitory to ask Tyson to step out for a few minutes would embarrass her into oblivion.

Forcing her eyes to concentrate on the book in her hand, Hilary made up her mind to wait out here for Tyson to show up.

What she would say to him when he did, was something she'd decide after looking at his face, which itself made it seem like she was fighting a losing battle. Though, as her fellow housemates began to trickle back up to their rooms slowly, there still was no sign of any of the players returning.

Mimi stayed to talk about some trouble she had been facing with her Muggle Studies classes lately, but it wasn't long before her eyes began to droop and Hilary suggested that they pick up the topic later over the weekend. Nodding agreeably Mimi rested her head against Hilary's knees, sleepy eyes staring at the entrance of the common room in wait of possibly Misty or Sora.

The candles lighting up the room had long since dimmed, making Hilary wonder just how long Kai was planning to have their friends slave it out tonight. It was only when the clock kept ticking and she felt Mimi's soft rhythmic breathing against her leg as she dozed off, did her wonder turn into worry. She had kept her book away a while ago but her hands were itching to do something as she waited, so she began to stroke Mimi's hair, the softness of which instilled some calm into her now tensed body.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the portrait door swung open to let Ash and Misty in, the pair of them looking extremely frustrated yet relieved at the same time, if that were even possible. Mimi woke up at the sound of their arrival, rushing to Misty's side so she could share all the things that had been planned for their Hogsmeade visit tomorrow in her friend's absence. The two walked up the staircase with looped arms, Misty looking livelier by the minute as Mimi kept on talking about Hogsmeade. Ash watched them leave with a pout on his face, when neither of the girls bothered to turn around, he glanced at Hilary and mumbled a good night before dashing up the stairs of the Boy's dormitory.

Hilary wanted to call out to him, ask him if everything was okay with the team but he was out of her sight before she could form the question in her mind. It didn't take long however, for another handful of members to show up. Her face almost perked up at the sight of Sora stepping through the portrait, but when the door closed behind Charlie and Tai, it was hard for Hilary to fight off the disappointment and worry in her voice. All three of them wore similar expressions as Ash and Misty, with the only difference being Charlie looking extremely furious as she stomped off towards their room without bothering to meet Hilary's eyes. Sora was kind enough to indulge her though, even before she asked.

"Were you waiting up for us? Sorry for the delay." Sora smiled tiredly.

"That's okay, I had company." Hilary nodded towards the pile of books and parchment still scattered on the table. She then glanced expectantly towards the door, hoping to see Kai and Tyson walk through it any minute. But after a long pause where neither Sora nor Tai offered any further comment, she frowned at the two of them and folded her arms across her chest, "Why aren't Kai and Tyson back yet?"

Sora's eyes met Tai's without missing a beat and a silent understanding passed between them, one that Hilary knew meant that she would not be finding out anything from either of them tonight, which made her throw up her hands in frustration.

"I'm sorry Hils, but they'll be back soon and I will explain everything tomorrow. We're really tired and we just want to crash," Sora said, her voice on the verge of cracking as she fixed Hilary with a pleading look that may have put a puppy to shame.

"Fine, go on then."

Hilary shook her head exasperatedly, gesturing towards the staircases. Tai and Sora seemed unsure whether she would change her mind so they leapt at the chance to escape, not even bothering to respond to her good night wishes.

She ought to feel upset about being left alone in the Common Room once again, Hilary thought, but since her anxiety over what had happened with the Quidditch team tonight had almost taken the form of a boggart ready to torment her by showing the worst possible outcomes, she found it hard to assume the room was empty.

Kai staggered in almost half an hour later, and by then Hilary had almost befriended her imaginary, anxiety bridled boggart. She had sunk quite low in her chair so when he entered the common room, Kai didn't notice her. Hilary herself had fixed her attention on the door, wondering if Tyson was going to step through it next. When that didn't happen, she turned her attention towards Kai, who’d already covered the distance of the room to reach the stairs that led to the boys dormitory. He had his back to her and she was surprised to see that his Quidditch robes were covered in mud, as if he'd spent the evening rolling around in it.

"Kai, is Tyson okay? Why isn't he back yet?" She called out, and Kai almost jumped in his spot as he turned around to face her, covering his face with an arm which only made her more anxious.

"He'll be back later. We will talk tomorrow, Hilary. Good night."

The lighting in the room was too dim for her to figure out exactly what it was Kai wanted to hide from her, but his usual stern voice felt strained, like speaking itself was painful for him. She didn't want to push him if he was hurt, but his response was too vague to calm her nerves. It didn’t help that only after another 30 minutes, which felt like 30 hours, did Tyson finally appeared through the portrait door.

"Tyson are you okay?" Hilary sprung to her with a renewed energy, her shrill voice making Tyson jumped as he noticed her in the dark and empty common room.

"Why are you still up?" He was headed straight towards the dormitory stairs but halted midway to frown at her.

"I-" She started to speak but when her mind registered the meaning of the words on the tip of tongue, Hilary cleared her throat and tucked a few strands behind her hair to hide her embarrassment as she muttered quietly, "I was worried about you."

"You were worried about me?"

Tyson’s jaw dropped down as he stared at her, deciding that he could sacrifice rest a little further, he turned away from the stairs and walked up to her. Hilary instinctively took a few steps back, making sure that there was an appropriate amount of distance between them, yet it wasn’t of much use because she could already feel the warm, inviting magnetic pull that Tyson always carried around him, tugging at her to come closer.

"Are you okay? You look-" Hilary managed to face him with a little difficulty, controlling her expressions by talking.

"You should see the other guy."

Tyson grinned at her, while his robes were not as badly drenched with mud as Kai’s, it was still not a pretty sight. She already dreaded the worst as she let out a sigh and asked the big question.

"What happened?"

"Kai and I got into a fight,” Tyson said in a very matter of fact voice, like this was just another normal school night activity for them.

"What?"

"Which isn't new.” He shrugged at the look of shock on Hilary’s face, continuing with his carefree explanation while scratching the back of his head, “But uh, things escalated this time. Unfortunately, Madam Skyla happened to be passing by the pitch and saw us fighting so…"

"So?"

"So I got detention."

"Kai too?"

"Nah, he probably only had to write a letter of apology. He is the Captain and well…" Tyson stopped to roll his eyes as he explained, though when Hilary expected him to pass out a smug smile, he instead let his shoulders droop and let out a defeated sigh, "I threw the first punch."

If she’d been her younger self, she would’ve taken this moment to berate Tyson for lacking patience or relying on violence for solutions. But now that she knew him better, and because she could see the guilt that darkened his humorous face, Hilary decided to gently ask him more about the problem instead.

"Why did you two fight?"

"He's acting like if we don't spend every minute we're alive and breathing on the pitch, we'll end up losing everything!” Tyson immediately responded, his voice more animated yet laced with a lot of frustration.

"He was going to make Ash and Misty ditch their first Hogsmeade visit to come to practice tomorrow." He added, scrunching up his nose in a look of utter annoyance, "I get that he wants to win since this is his last year, but I could not let him take that away from those two." Just for a moment, at the thought of Ash and Misty perhaps, his face changed to its usual softness and Hilary felt the corner of her mouth tug itself towards a smile as she watched him.

"Obviously the pipsqueaks were too afraid to say anything, so I brought it up…” Tyson paused to avert his gaze, his cheeks turning pink as he added, “Not so nicely and that kind of turned into a full fledged fight. Then Skyla came along, broke it up, gave me detention for the weekend and cancelled all the reservations Kai had made for the pitch until Thursday."

"That's a relief." Hilary couldn’t help but feel relaxed over the conclusion, though when she met Tyson’s questioning stare, she shook her head and quickly explained, "I mean, not the detention part obviously, but with the pitch unavailable now all of you will get a chance to rest. Even Kai."

"Yeah, we desperately need that."

"Skyla didn't deduct any points, did she?" Once again, her anxiety jumped the gun and she found herself blurting out this question knowing full well that Tyson’s reaction to this would not be helpful.

"Nothing you can't make up easily in class on Monday." He snickered at her, as expected. He peered over her shoulder, taking one step closer towards her to get a good look, “Let's see- is this the Arithmancy assignment, due after Christmas holidays?"

"I wanted a head start.” She mumbled, feeling the colour rise in her cheeks.

"Two months seem about right then," he said, his snickering now turning into a full fledged laugh.

She was glad to see him return to his usual mood, making fun of her study habits had that effect on him the fastest perhaps. A moment of silence passed between, and Hilary, assuming that this would be the end of their conversation, began to wrap up her study material. She'd half expected Tyson to head back up to the dormitory, but it seemed that she wasn't the only one who had been mulling relentlessly over his invitation this past few weeks.

"So about tomorrow…" Tyson cleared his throat, waiting for her to meet his eye before he continued, "I'm gonna have to take a rain check on-" he paused, and Hilary swore that she could feel the passing of every second in her veins as he searched for the right word to use. "Our- uh my plan." Bringing up a finger to scratch the tip of his nose, Tyson turned his gaze towards the floor.

It was rare to see him look embarrassed, and Hilary would've enjoyed the sight had she herself was not feeling the weight of the tension buzzing between them pulling her down towards the ground, her knees wobbling in an effort to make sure she didn't fall down.

"I doubt I'll get out of mowing the entire pitch, cleaning the goal posts and then help Brock in feeding the magical creatures before night time."

"That's okay!" Hilary quickly spoke up, trying her best to smile at him through her burning cheeks, "You did the right thing, standing up for Ash and Misty like that."

Tyson shrugged off her praise, though he could not hide the smug smile taking over his lips.

"I still remember our first visit."

"I'm sure you and I have very different recollections of that day considering you switched my chocolate frogs splurge with very real and very slimy frogs."

"That was the first time I actually saw you cry." "I'm sorry by the way, for that prank. It seemed like a very funny idea in my head at that time."

"Water under the bridge." "It's getting late, you should get a good rest considering the day you're gonna have tomorrow."

"Yeah, I can't believe I was the one who asked you and now I'm the one who can't make it."

"Don't worry too much about that, we'll just go next weekend. After you guys win the first match, of course. And besides, Matt will need my help keeping an eye on the Third Years-"

"What did you just say?"

"Matt will need my help-"

"Before that."

"W-we'll go next weekend."

"Just the two of us?"

"Yes."

"So it'll be a date? You will consider it a date?"