#gracieislion

Riley rolled her eyes at Asher, leaning back on the couch and putting her feet up on the ottoman. “I’m not getting up and vacuuming for you,” she told him pointedly, folding her arms over her chest to prove that she really wasn’t going anywhere. Her favorite TV show was on, she’d finally positioned a pillow under her back so that her injury from earlier stopped hurting, and the last thing she wanted was to get up and both give away her injury and ruin her zen. “I think you’re reading the terms of our agreement wrong; I vacuum the common living space. I don’t got into your bedroom and vacuum there; I’m afraid of what kind of creepy things are growing under your bed from all the lost trash and dirty underwear that are probably piling up there. Do it yourself, Asher -- but don’t do it until Real Housewives is over, I can’t miss a single word!”

He was right; he was absolutely freaking right, and Reese had half a mind to lay into him about how stupid and stubborn he was for pushing everyone away. But she could start bossing him around later -- right now she had better things on her mind.

“Right now you need to just shut up and kiss me already,” she informed him, standing on her tiptoes and snaking her hand through his hair. “And then maybe I can help you with other things later,” she added coyly, trying to ignore the breathless, giddy rush of being close to him again after all this time as she finally pressed her lips to his. 

Riley leaned her cheek against her hand, propping herself up as she side-eyed her roommate. She tried to act as annoyed as possible with Asher and his stupid optimism, but it was all a front -- she’d come too close to revealing who she really was, and she couldn’t let him figure it out. “I just know now all heroes do their job as well as they should, that’s all. Some of us aren’t in it for the rush of doing the right thing, or saving someone -- some of us just want the money and the fame and the special privileges.”

The word ‘us’ felt like lead rolling off of her tongue, but she hoped the simple lie was enough to cover her tracks... for now. The tentative balance she and Asher had would be ruined if he figured out she was a so-called “villain”. He’d long ago made it obvious where his allegiances fell, even if she didn’t know who he was yet. And as annoying as he was -- and as easy as it would be to kidnap or kill him in his sleep one night -- she’d rather just keep living in sort of harmony for the time being.

Reese had never imagined herself being here in this place, with her fingers laced through Andrew’s again as she squeezed them to show her support for him. Yet here she was, by his side, helping him through one of the toughest things of his life... and realizing that he was right. 

Sure, Andrew hadn’t told her by choice -- the call to come to the hospital had given away his condition whether he wanted her to know or not -- but he hadn’t had to go into all the intimate details like this. He hadn’t had to tell her what he’d been thinking every step of the way, or why he kept falling off the bandwagon.

He didn’t have to jump into trusting her, but he did. 

And now, if they were ever going to make things work between them, Reese was going to have to do the same thing. After months of excuses about wanting time off for practical experience, and wanting to spend time with her mom in her failing health, she needed to admit to someone what was really bothering her... and who better than the guy who had just laid his entire heart on the line to be truthful with her?

“I stole a boat. I got arrested, I dropped out of school, I... they said I didn’t have what it took to make it, Andrew. They said I didn’t have it, and I panicked, and... oh my God, what if they were right? I’m too scared to go back and find out. I’m too scared to fail, so I gave up before I ever got the chance,” she whispered, everything coming out in a rush of words. She chewed on her bottom lip, fighting back the tears that always came with the thought of her own weakness, and the thought of how small and pathetic she’d felt that night. 

“I don’t know what to do. I just... maybe it’s not just about me helping you get through this. Maybe I need you to help me, too.”

When Ryder’s gaze had scanned the entire room of people that would be in Auror training, the last person he’d expected to see there was Lily. How could she have not told him that she was going into training too? How could that major detail have just slipped her mind?

Now the room was nearly empty and Ryder was glaring at his girlfriend, clenching his hands into balled fists at his side so he didn’t snap at her then and there. He wanted to be an Auror to keep her safe -- her and everyone else he loved. He didn’t want for her to be there with him, risking her life side by side and maybe losing it, if things went badly.

“I know you deserve it,” Ryder told her, his voice oddly level, even if it sounded a bit distant. He bit his lip, trying to figure out how to express what he was feeling right now, but there was too much running through his head. “I just wish you’d warned me,” he finally said, figuring here wasn’t the place to fight about her choice. He shrugged his shoulders, then picked up his bag to go into the locker room and get changed. 

“I’ll just... see you at home later, okay? Don’t wait for me.”

Ryder swallowed hard at Gracie’s proposition. Merlin, it was tempting -- way too tempting -- to just fall back into her arms and act like the last few weeks had never happened. Like their complicated fake relationship had never been fake at all, and they could just pick up and be together as if nothing had gone on with him and Marley, or her and Piers, or her and Hugo, or... or whatever. The sixth years were a bloody mess, and it seemed like he and Gracie were hopelessly intertwined in it all... but he didn’t want that for her.

He missed her -- missed their charade, missed the little acts of affection he did by accident that made it seem like it wasn’t so fake after all -- but she deserved better than him. She deserved better than any of them -- so, so much better. She’d been jerked around this way and that, put on a rollercoaster ride of emotions, and then everyone had blamed her for things falling apart, when Ryder really didn’t think she was this villain everyone made her out to be.

Gracie Wood deserved someone that was going to love her and only her, completely, unconditionally, and Ryder couldn’t be that person for her. He thought he could, somewhere down the road, but right now it wasn’t fair for him to waste her time when she’d had enough back and forth in the past couple of years to last a lifetime.

If he stayed, though... if he stayed and hashed out the details, and explained himself to her, he’d cave. He’d kiss her senseless, hold onto her until someone forced him to let go, and he’d cling to this moment without a care in the world for what tomorrow and other people might bring. That was the wrong thing to do this time, though. That wasn’t what she needed, and he couldn’t put her in that place again.

So instead, he shook his head reluctantly, muttered “Yeah, it is too late,” and turned his back to walk away. It wasn’t what he wanted, and right now, it wasn’t what she wanted either... but it was what she needed. Let Ryder be the bad guy this time; let Gracie have a reprieve from all the hurtful words and accusations people threw her way. He’d take the heat on this one, and maybe, just maybe, that would pave the way for things to finally be better for her the next time.

Riley folded her hands in her lap, staring down at them and trying not to shift uncomfortably. He didn’t know, did he? All this time, and Asher still had no clue what was hiding in her head, what kind of atrocities she’d actually committed. To her, they felt like a justified means to an end, but to him... if her roommate ever found out the truth about what mask she wore when she was out in the field, he’d never look at her like this again.

That thought ate Riley alive -- she loved the way his eyes lit up at the sight of her, like she was the only person in the room and like she could hang the moon. But that would all be gone in an instant if she told him who she was, and there was no use getting attached to something that was never meant to last. She couldn’t change herself, not for him; she’d come too far to give up what she believed in for a dumb boy.

“No one asked you to do that. I can take care of myself,” she snapped, rising from her chair and stalking off to her room. The door slammed behind her, and Riley threw one of her pillows at it for good measure before collapsing onto her bed with a frustrated groan. When did being a supervillain get so freaking complicated?

Ryder squeezed Gracie’s hand as he led her into the Room of Requirement. She’d just seemed down since they’d gotten back to Hogwarts, and he hated seeing her so bummed out like that. With each new thing Ryder did with Gracie, he worried that he was teetering closer and closer to the line of acting like a real boyfriend, and not just her fake one, but right now he didn’t care about that. All he wanted was to see her smile again.

“Do you like it?” he asked eagerly, his eyes wide with excitement as he snapped his fingers and the lights came on. Well... lanterns, really. Tangled wasn’t her favorite, it was Marley’s, but it had given him the idea for cool floating lanterns in the room, and he’d practiced squeezing his eyes shut and wishing them into existence a few times before he brought her here. That was just the start of the surprises he had in store, but he cast a glance towards Gracie and felt his stomach flip when it seemed like she was finally cheering up.

“If anybody’s going to think that, I’m glad it’s you,” Ryder told her, trying to keep his grin teasing but failing as he felt it turn sincere instead. He was way too excited about this, and he knew it was going to end badly for him if he kept this up... but at the same time, he just didn’t want it to ever stop.