#there's a good chance they'd have ended up similarly even if I hadn't changed their main setting once I got deeper into their background

[byanyan]

aaaand tonight i'm thinking about how byan was originally meant to be this irredeemable little shitbag who was a problem just to be a problem... but now they're a lot more sympathetic and much more just this traumatized kid who's been done so dirty their whole life. like, they're still not a great person or anything, but it's a lot more out of necessity than actual nature...

[booksandlewks]

Intensity in Insmire | A Jurdan AU

Happy Holidays to my wonderful knife wife @starborn-faerie-queen!! I’m so lucky to have you as my friend and now snusband (we’re def married now) <3 I was so excited to see that I got to try and write something for you. I also have to thank everybody in the @jurdannet discord for helping me with my writer’s anxiety throughout, and @jurdannetrevels for hosting this secret santa event! 

So this was a prompt you didn’t ask for, but that I hope you will like. I thought of this right when I saw your name and have had a blast making it a reality. One of our first conversations in the discord was about none other than Lauren Layne, so I thought I’d give it my best go at making it Jurdan. I picked what I think of as the iconic scene in Passion on Park Avenue because Jude and Cardan literally define passion. You also put Nicaryn, so in my head when I wrote this they’re already dating and Jude just hasn’t noticed. 

"Be careful, you're going to drop that!" Jude said watching her twin throw down yet another box full of her merchandise.

 It was times like these that Jude wondered about her choice in friends. Not that she had so many choices in friends to begin with, something about her being "abrasive". People may not always appreciate her edges, but that edge is what landed her on the 30 under 30 list. She was grateful, if not confused, about her new-found friendships. While the ladies made for excellent company, and fellow schemers in action, a moving company they were not. Not that Jude would say a word against their help out loud. She was still so grateful to have her twin back in her life.

Jude would thank Locke for bringing them together, if she'd thought it was even remotely a part of his plan. Maybe she could thank him for dying, so that they could find each other in the park that fateful day. Not likely, she had better people to think on.

Nicasia kicked a box into the corner with the toe of her Louboutin heels, "You worry too much, they're not going to break because I didn't gingerly place every single one of your hundreds of boxes down."

"I'm not worried about you breaking an accessory," Jude said huffing as she moved to open the box Nicasia had kicked to prove a point. She held up the lipstick tube, twisting to expose the blade to prove her point. "I'm worried about one of my accessories breaking you."

"Oh, I like that," Taryn laughed, her eyes widening, "Can I borrow that for my next date?"

"Well, it is just a sample," Jude nodded her head to the truck parked outside her new building, "You can keep it if you help me unload the rest of the truck." 

"You drive a tough bargain, a days labor in exchange for one accessory?" Nicasia teased.

Jude put one hand to her heart and the other to her forehead dramatically, "Oh you're truly suffering going up and down the elevator while carrying small boxes."

"These boots were not exactly made for walking Jude," Nicasia said flicking her hair over her shoulder, and punctuating it with an all too casual check of her nails. Why she wouldn't just concede to putting her hair up was beyond frustrating to Jude. She wasn't sure if she hated or respected Nicasia's commitment to always looking perfect.

 "I mean I didn't get to where I was by giving things away for free, but I may have also ordered us pizza and tiramisu from the Italian place on Lexington Ave."

 "Ahh I knew you were my favorite twin!" Taryn said wrapping her arms around Jude and kissing her cheek with an exaggerated smack.

 "I'm your only twin, and you definitely did not know it."

 "The real question isn't why I can't move things in these heels, it's why you think I should be doing this in the first place," Nicasia said glancing speculatively.

 "Wait, yeah, aren't you meant to be rich now Jude?"

"Well, according to my accountant, approximately I am," Jude tilted her head and pretended to tally with her free hand, "filthy rich." She moved the box that had been hoisted on her hip onto the floor of what would be the main living area.

Jude wasn't insane, the larger items like the couch and industrial garment racks would be delivered by a moving company later. She just knew that she could handle the smaller boxes herself. She'd always survived by being self-sufficient, so she wasn't going to start changing what was working now. She'd moved herself into her first shoe box apartment, all her belongings compact and loaded into the back of her ancient little two door.

��"Then why on earth are we moving all of this by hand?" Taryn said turning to her sister, exasperated to see the determination gracing her twin's face. She hated that look, especially when it was on the face that was practically her own under all that stubbornness. "Nic, I need backup here, we're entering dangerously uncharted areas in stupidity. "

 "Jude, love, remember when we agreed to stop each other from entering another toxic relationship?" Nicasia said gently, her hands up as if coaxing a small animal.

 "No, I've blocked out the entirety of Locke's funeral out of a sense of self-preservation," she said voice and face purposefully blank.

 "Why stop there, why not erase him from your entire mind?" Taryn said a bitter edge to her words.  

 Jude laughed, "Me and my therapist are hard at work doing just that."

 "Well while you're working on that, have her work on the toxic relationship you've got with your stupid pride," Nicasia said checking her already perfect nails.

 "Wait, was all of that just the set up for the punchline to your dumb joke?"

 "Woah Tar, harsh words from the woman who asked for my backup in the first place." Nicasia pursed her lips clearly displeased that Taryn had not enjoyed her attempts at humor. "Maybe you should try being nicer to me considering that I have the power to save you from Jude's torture."

 Jude laughed as Taryn started to pester Nicasia to tell her what she meant. While they'd all become fast friends on the fateful day of the funeral, Jude couldn't help but feel that Nicasia and her twin had gotten closer over the summer. She supposed it had to do with the fact that they both had to worry about their reputations and what the fallout from Locke's infidelity would do to it.

That old wound started niggling at Jude again. She may not have been in an official New York society relationship with the man, but she'd had to mourn the loss too. She supposed it hadn't affected her societal standing, being Locke's dirty secret, but she hadn't gotten out unscathed. The bastard had known about her fears. She'd confided in him, about her mother's cheating and how she'd grown up not wanting to get attached for fear of ending up in a similarly messed up situation.

 He'd comforted her, talking about how cheating on somebody wasn't in her character. He'd spelled out what their story could be instead, spinning a story of comfort, safety in his arms, and safety in that future. It made Jude's skin crawl to think about now. How he could say all of this while cheating on her with Nicasia and Taryn, and using her to cheat on them. Some nights it actually made her physically ill. She was such a careful woman, and yet she'd never suspected.

 She wondered if lying to her was part of the game to him, it had to be. Jude thought about how she'd considered bridging the gap and calling Taryn to tell her that she'd met somebody. She'd been too scared to reopen that wound. At eighteen Jude walked away from the stifling role of being Madoc's daughter. She hadn't thought about what leaving Taryn behind to deal Madoc's only other eligible daughter would do. She left her behind for him to put all of his stupid high society rules and dreams into. She'd wondered about her twin over the years, but could never pick up the phone and just dial. What would things be like if she had? Thinking about it wouldn't change anything.

 During Jude's musings Taryn had moved into Nicasia's lap and was switching between pleading and apologizing. Her groveling was so over the top that a warm spot bloomed in Jude's chest while watching her. She had no idea how much she'd missed Taryn, and yet having her take up space in her apartment just felt right.

 "Okay, okay, fine!" Nicasia said standing up and taking Taryn with her. "I happen to have a friend through the New York royalty network, as you call it, and he lives in this very apartment complex."

 "Oh thank god, I love you Judie Bee Jones, but this is the worst."

 "Woah no, I never agreed to having anybody over," Jude said walking over to lock her door, "and wasn't the point of having you ladies around to avoid the assholes."

 "How can you call them an asshole when you don’t even know who it is?" Nicasia asked unlocking the door. Jude went to stop her, but Taryn simply took her face in her hands and pointed it towards the window where the open moving truck stood idle.

 "I promise he's good people, we grew up together," Nicasia said clearly forgetting that her and Jude had not exactly grown up as friends.

Jude did not have much of a chance to consider who might be coming to the rescue she did not need, as there was a knocking at the door.

The warmth she felt from being with her friends left her the second she opened the door and saw Cardan Greenbriar standing there. She'd never seen Cardan look anything less than impeccable, so she was even more furious to see him standing there looking like a Saks Fifth Avenue model from the catalog to help her move. A cable knit sweater, really, to move boxes. With an overcoat no less. No, no, this couldn't possibly be happening. Jude would rather move every single box one by one, than have Cardan Greenbriar help her.

What on earth could have even possessed him to try. She thought she'd made it clear when she'd damn near bitten his head off in her "entry interview" to the apartment complex. It wasn't her fault. Cardan had a particular way of getting under her skin, and the fact that he'd known her from her twin and had not even bothered to look at the application resting in his hand the entire interview had gotten her blood boiling. She'd never actually wanted to live in Elfhame.

The stupid application had been filled out for her and sent in by her mother ages ago. Eva Duarte had been so proud of Jude's success, it had never occurred to her that her mother had plans to use it as a statement. She'd miss her mother's mean streak, and wished she'd been around longer so Jude could understand this plan. Jude had been shocked to be called in for the interview to move into The Palace, and caught completely off guard to see Cardan on the day of the interview.  

 She must've released an actual snarl at seeing him darkening her new doorstep because Taryn and Nicasia pried her away from the door and invited him to come in. This was ridiculous ; she was not a rabid dog to be put in the corner. Although, she was considering biting Cardan.

 "And hello to you too Jude," Cardan said laughing as she struggled to break free of the grip of her friends, "Lovely as ever to see you."

"Why am I seeing you?" 

Cardan raised an eyebrow at that, "Not a very friendly greeting neighbor."

"I read over the paperwork your father sent over and it said that the building takes care of pests in the apartments."

 "Ha ha, very funny Jude," Cardan said stalking closer, "I do hope that's true, as I'd love to see them take you out of here."

 "Really, we're going to resort to I know you are but what am I?" Jude intoned, "On day one?"

 “Is this really our first day together, Judiebeet?"

 "Don't call me that!"

 "As much as I do love seeing you upset my sweet villain," he said trailing a finger over her cheeks, "I didn't come to pick a fight." Jude knew her cheeks had to be bright red, she always got flushed when she was mad. She hated that he had command over her, more than she appeared to have over her own body. Which only made her more upset when he called her that stupid name.

"Why did you come, I had demon summoning scheduled for later in the day," Jude said ignoring the looks Nicasia and Taryn were shooting her.

 "I was informed of a damsel in distress, and princely duties demanded that I come to your aid."

"Oh no, that's it," Jude turned on her friends glaring, and pointing at the door while practically shoving Cardan out, "Everybody out, I'll move them all myself."

 "Wait, but I brought champagne," Cardan said materializing a bottle from the inside of his coat. 

"Jude you can't kick the man out, he brought Dom," Taryn said pulling Cardan back into the apartment by his arm. Jude watched as he re-entered what was meant to be her space, unwilling to fight with Taryn.

"Fine, but if he's here he works," Jude said looking at Cardan as if to say 'unless you've got a problem with that.' The Cardan she knew would never deign to do a day's labor on his own. Always calling somebody his father employed to do things for him instead. So Jude was shocked when all he did was set the actually quite nice bottle on the counter, and gesture his hand towards the door with a look that said 'after you'.

Jude was not sure if she was pleased or pissed off when Cardan actually matched her for work ethic for the rest of moving. He eventually took off the coat, and the sweater, tossing them on the counter with his welcome gift. Jude wished he had not, as she'd been determined to carry more than him before that. She would have managed it too, if he had not rolled up his white dress shirt to the direct center of his forearm. Where it hugged just below his elbow as he worked.

She dropped one of her merchandise boxes when his arm brushed hers while reaching for another, shocked by the contact of his skin hot against her own. Furious with herself for the look that graced his face when she cursed and picked up the box, she decided to be less ambitious with how much she carried.

They had not actually had all that many boxes left. Which made it all the more traitorous that Nicasia had called in for help. As the work dwindled Nicasia and Taryn gave up the pretense of pretending to want to help move the boxes, and sat on the benches that were near the building's entrance. They sat close talking and laughing quietly at each others jokes. Jude could be funny too, but her humor was more dry and wicked. Just as Jude was sprinting to get the very last box, the pizza delivery driver had pulled up to the curb. 

Taryn had gone from commiserating with Nicasia, to giving Jude puppy eyes in 10 seconds flat. Jude laughed softly as she went to go pay the man. Her path was blocked by Cardan who'd made a beeline for the car as it pulled in, while she'd been distracted. If she hadn't been so focused on his damn arms she might have missed how he went to get his wallet from his back pocket. Hell no.

Jude stood one shot at having Taryn and Nicasia not mention her attitude since Cardan walked in, and that was to buy their silence. Nothing says be on my side like hot pizza and good dessert. Which is why she was going to pay for it. Cardan was already handing the man a crisp bill when Jude went to shift the box she'd been holding to under one arm. God, she hated him so much. She'd already missed out on getting to bond with her friends over how annoying moving was because of him, and now he was going to ruin their meal too?

He'd already ruined Jude's childhood, but she was an adult now, and he would not even get a single day from her. She grabbed the boxes of her food and walked to the elevator clicking the button for her floor and slamming on the door close button before he could follow. She walked into her apartment, and she would've locked Cardan out if it not for the fact she had to wait on Taryn and Nicasia to follow. If she had to face him again today, it was going to be on her terms and her rules.

 Jude moved to the boxes now all neatly lined up in what would be her living room. She scanned the barcode stickers on the top of the boxes, each item had been carefully cataloged so that she could be sure that she didn't lose anything important in the move. Downsides to owning and running a successful companies that sold accessories with a dangerous edge? There was so much inventory to keep track of.

 She found what she was looking for and swapped her sneakers for stilettos. She'd love to see Cardan try to look down on her when they were eye level. She'd give a new meaning to the term glaring daggers. She was perfectly capable of paying for a damn pizza.

The door of her apartment opened and Cardan strolled in, his arm around each of her friends. Jude let out a breath that his shirt had been set back to normal, although she was not sure if she was relieved.

 "Really, my own twin?" she said putting a hand on her hip and looking at Taryn who moved, hands up, to sit on the counter top.

"Jude, he got us pizza, please be reasonable," Taryn said in a placatory tone.

 "I got you pizza, this interloper just stole it because pizza is joy, and he can't let me have it."

"You need to stop, you're hangry and turning into rude Jude," Nicasia teased using the family nickname she knew Jude hated. That was just low, she'd revealed that in a 2 A.M. group chat. Which every woman knows means it’s classified information.

 She was being rude, she knew, but well...frankly he started it. Years ago, but she was a petty elephant and would not forget.

 "Fine, have a slice of pizza and then get the fuck out."

When Nicasia and Taryn turned their looks at her, Jude just blinked her eyes slowly a few times. She had never claimed to be a saint. 

"Can I at least get a drink before you kick me out on my ass?" Cardan asked the corner of his mouth upturned.

"Nope, sorry," Jude started and feeling her friends angry stares added, "I just moved in, and I haven't stocked the fridge yet."

"Well, then it's lucky for us my friend was kind enough to drop in to christen the home with champagne," Nicasia said as she made remove the muselet. Jude watched her carefully grip the wire as she twisted it off with effortless ease, and admired her friends grace. Jude would've likely embarrassed herself biting at it. She'd been served champagne at events, but it always came in a glass if she was honest.

 With the sound of the popping cork her control of the apartment got further away from her. She watched as the three of them opened cupboards and looked at an empty counter top as if expecting glassware to simply appear. Jude knew she could easily scan the boxes and find her glassware, but business had taught her to spot an opportunity.  

 "Oh darn, it seems like we can't get you that drink after all."

 "Yes, you seem very forlorn about it," Cardan said shaking his head at her, amusement in those dark eyes. 

Jude gave him a mock apologetic shrug of her shoulders, lips pulled to one side of her mouth. The amusement in his eyes turned to challenge. Unbeknownst to Jude, Cardan's newest hobby was complicated jigsaw puzzles. He had needed something to do while being able to keep an eye on his father, and he found that once he started he just couldn't resist figuring out how the pieces fit together. She'd just presented him with his newest game, and he was going to figure out her pieces.

"Don't worry my darling, like I said we're neighbors now," smiling when Jude scowled at the pet name, "I can just head to my place, and get us some glasses."

It was clear that he'd gotten under Jude's skin when she stalked towards Nicasia and took the bottle from her, and into her own hands. Nicasia just looked at Taryn, and whatever that look meant Taryn must have understood. She moved to the edge of the counter top and invited Nicasia into the circle of her legs, resting her chin on her the top of the other woman’s head.

"How very unfortunate for high-born little princes like you, that you can only sip champagne from the finest of glasses."

She looked right into his eyes as she began glugging the expensive bubbly from the bottle and drinking it like watered down beer. She raised an eyebrow at him as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

"I do hope I haven't offended you Cardan," she said snarling out his name as if it was foul, "I'd hate to scare you off from ever visiting again."

"Not at all, I'm quite charmed by your lovely manners," he said walking over to where she stood by Nicasia. "Do not expect others to share my depraved tastes," he said taking the bottle from Jude's firm grip and drinking directly while their gazes stayed locked in a battle of wills.

 "Nic, you feel like we're interrupting something here?" Taryn said from where she sat inches away. It shocked Jude out of her stupor, and her sister hopped off the counter as Jude made to reach for her. She was suddenly stricken, it was all fine and well to hurt Cardan, but she wouldn't lose Taryn again. Not when she just got her back.

"Ugh I thought you'd never ask, this is all too straight for me," Nicasia said taking Taryn's hand and making for the door.

"Wait guys, don't go--"

 "Nope, text us when you're ready to act like a person again," Nicasia said laughing as the door shut behind their quickly retreating figures.  

 "Way to go, you scared them off with your stupid smoldering thing."

 "Jude, I think you'll find I'm not the one in the wrong here, although I am delighted to hear you think I smolder," Cardan said backing away from her.

"I meant that stupid staring," she started but trailed off when she noted his smug face.

 "Jude, all I've done today is bring you a housewarming gift and offer help at my friends request."

Jude opened her mouth to protest about the pizza slight, but stopped as she'd realized she'd just dig herself into a deeper hole. All he'd really done was cover her food for her and her friends. Was it possible that her childhood tormentor really had come here without the intent of torturing her. She'd been too caught up in trying to catch his next move, that it hadn't occurred to her. He’d clearly taken her silence to mean something else, because he went to gather his coat and sweater.

"Look, it's clear you don't want me here and I'm not actually trying to hold you hostage in your own apartment."

Jude's pride stopped her from correcting him. She'd been working so hard to get him to leave, that she couldn't exactly walk back her position now. She wanted to though, she wanted to grab him by those rather toned arms and hold him in place. To explain herself or make him explain himself, she wasn't sure. Instead she nodded her agreement, and silently watched him leave. She watched as he walked down the hall, opening and then closing his door. Only then did she finally unfreeze from her doorway and shut her own door.

She sat for about 30 minutes just trying to process all that had just happened. She was not sure when she'd become the villain in this story, but she didn't enjoy the feeling. He was the bully, not her. If his actions today were to be trusted, maybe not even him any longer. Jude stood up suddenly confident in her movements as she scanned the boxes searching for her glasses. She hadn't actually moved everything today, so all she was able to find was some coffee mugs. She looked down at her "I Rule" coffee cup, it'd have to do.

Jude went to where the remains of the bottle was left on the counter, and poured it into the cup. She wouldn't apologize, as she was not truly sorry. Even if he was not the menace he used to be, one day of rudeness was the least of what he'd deserved. She did however write what she'd call her concession. She'd apologized for the coffee mug. The note told him that while her fine Waterford Crystals were still in storage, it should taste just as good coming out of a mug. Jude left the note under the cup, and knocked on his door before leaving.

[girl-next-door-writes]

Drunk Confessions

This is an entry from my eldest for my writing Bingo.

Drunk Confession - Vincent (OC) and Peter / Line without a hook

It was their final year at Hogwarts and with it being their final year then obviously the boys would go full on out for a Halloween party. There hadn't been a lot of them, no, but there was music, food, great costumes and a little drinking. The group to meet up at the Shrieking Shack on this Hallows Eve happened to be the marauders - consisting of James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin- followed by one Lily Evans and a Vincent Daae. The moon was bright in the sky yet not full, to the relief of Remus, as they began to meet up at about seven in the evening. The first to be there, early of course, were Sirius and Remus who'd been decorating the place to give it more of a spooky atmosphere. Not that it needed to be changed much for that effect. The next two had been James and Peter, the smaller male being the records they'd kept in their dorm room as requested whilst the boy with glasses had managed to sneak a couple bottles of firewisky over to let everyone get a little looser that night. Finally though, coming a few minutes later than planned due to some finishing touches on their costumes, where the Gryffindor girl and Slytherin boy.

Each person's costume seemed to match with another's, two pairs purposely whilst the final one being a coincidence. First happened to be Lily and James who finally managed to hook up that year. Hook up being she'd gone on a few dates with him but their relationship had not been official yet. The two had agreed before that they would go as the famous couple from grease, Sandy and Danny, with Lily going for more of the character's early movie style rather than her outfit at the end. James, however, had 'borrowed' one of Sirius' leather jackets to use for the costume and had actually bothered to comb his hair back to make it less of the casual mess it usually was. The second duo happened to be Sirius and Remus as Han and Leia. The original suggestion from Sirius had been for Han and Chewy but Remus refused, resulting in Sirius handing over his costume idea to the boy whilst he borrowed a white dress from Marlene. His hair, he was impressed with, having managed to put it up similarly but not exact to how it had been. When Remus first saw him in the costume, he'd tried not to laugh, but in all honesty he'd admitted it did look good in him.

The final pairing happened to be Peter and Vincent who'd accidentally ended up as Morticia and Gomez Addams. Vincent's dress hadn't been taken from anyone without their permission unlike with the clothes Sirius and James had, but rather sent over to him by his mother from his cousin when hearing about his plan. He felt relieved it had been the long black sleeved dress instead of the other one. Peter had been given the suggestion for the outfit off Remus when he confessed that he'd just show up dressed in his normal clothes. Come to the awkward moment when the third wheels of the two relationships see each other, not knowing whether the others had somehow planned things out to go this way or if it had merely been a coincidence.

Moving on into the evening now, Queen had been playing as the drinking had more than begun. Sirius and James had been some of the most heavy drinkers that evening, only beaten out by Vincent to most of their surprise. To people like Sirius and James he'd seemed like one of those more quiet and responsible kids who'd be prefect or head boy, but to Lily this hadn't been a shock since she'd known the guy better than the rest of the boy's. The one's to drink the least were then Remus and Lily, with Peter holding the record for least intoxicated after having a shot offered to him by James and not liking the taste, thus refusing to continue with the drinking.

As it grew even later it appeared as if James and Lily had already begun to head back to the castle to call it a night whilst Remus and Sirius stayed close to each other, having a slow dance to a few more songs. Peter found his leaning against the wall and watching the two, smiling a bit at how well they went together but also finding his eyes occasionally wandering to the only non-Gryffindor to have shown up. He'd wanted to talk to him all evening yet hadn't found the chance to due to the music being blast, James interrupting him on many occasions and the small fact that over the past week he'd been getting the silent treatment from the boy. He'd not even been sure why the Slytherin had avoided him, feeling as if it might have not been his fault but more of James and Sirius' reputation with pranks, especially more harsher ones towards the other boy's house. Hell, James had previously planned a prank to do on the boy that evening but stayed off it when he'd started hitting things off with Lily better than ever. With one of his small looks over to Vincent, however, he'd noticed he'd started to move out of the room with one of the bottles that neither of them had managed to finish. The smaller boy couldn't help but follow, curious and still hoping he could finally talk with him.

When looking around the old and abandoned house, He found the other boy sitting on the windowsill of one of the upstairs rooms, the bottle being a bit more empty as it stood on the windowsill too. When hearing the creak of the floorboards in the doorway, Vincent had looked over to find Peter standing there and stayed silent for a moment as he just stared at him. "Hey Vince… Um… I wanted to talk…" The Gryffindor was the first to speak between the two as he moved into the room a bit more, scratching the back of his head.

Vincent ended up moving from the sill as he left the bottle on the side, still keeping his eyes on Peter as he listened to the silence break. His next few words seemed to come out of nowhere as the taller of the two traced the others face with a finger before lifting his chin up to look at his face. "I don't really give a damn about the way you touch me when we're alone…" The words actually sounded as if they were meant but it had just appeared from nothing as the blonde had lost whatever words he was going to use on the other boy. He'd not expect to hear this, especially after a week of hearing nothing. Moving his hand from his chin however, Vincent began to take Peter's hand and grip it just a bit. It wasn't too tight, more soft but still with the intent of not wanting to let go. "You can hold my hand if no one's home…"

The Slytherin looked from the other's face down towards their hands as he hesitated for a moment before letting out a brief question "Do you like it when I'm away?" Peter assumed that this was in regards to their lack of conversation and tried to get his words out, being a hard no in reply as he'd found the other's presents to be quite pleasant, not that he'd tell the others that. However he'd still been somewhat flustered with the previous statements and actions towards him making his reaction appare a bit more delayed. This resulted in another question shot towards him as Vincent let go of his hand and put a bit of space between the two of them as he quietly mumbled "If I went and hurt my body, baby, would you love me the same?"

This was even more jarring then the first few statements, making a blush finally form onto the Gryffindors face as he began to feel his own hand, finding it hard to believe the situation he'd now found himself in. He felt concerned about how the other was acting at this moment, wondering how he could help before then hearing "I can feel all my bones coming back and… I'm… craving motion…" With this, Pete looked from his own hands to the face of the taller boy which now also hosted a Crimson shade rather than the usual pale completion that's found on the boy's face, a lip bite also in process.

The blonde wanted to get to the bottom of whatever this appeared to be and knew he'd actually needed to start asking questions instead of submitting to the raven haired boy. "Is everything okay at home?" Happened to be the first thing he could think of digging into since he'd known his homelife to be a little… Complicated. His father had abandoned them when he'd been younger and he'd had to live with just him and his mother, somewhat relatable to the Gryffindor, with the only difference really being that for Vincent he had his older cousin who happened to be a squib that would visit often to help out. He'd doubt there would be problems now he thought of it more but he needed to just check in case of anything that might be an issue. "Momma never really learned how to live by herself…" was given as a quiet reply with a nervous chuckle and a slight shrug proceeding that. It had been followed by a somewhat mouthed 'not like it matters' meaning he'd definitely been trying to move down the wrong rabbit hole at this moment.

He got more of an answer though when following this was "It's a curse… And it's growing…" Ah, so this was more of a magical problem. He'd been hex or something then? Peter felt this might have James' written all over it before then getting the slightly muffled of "You're a pond and I'm an Ocean…" which brought a bit of confusion to him. When thinking about it a bit more, the curse bit could have been more metaphorical then literally, but that still didn't really give the blonde much of a hint to the issue with the raven haired boy.

"All my emotions… Feel like… explosion," Vincent could notice the Gryffindor struggling to understand him and he continued to try getting his feelings across as best as he could. He usually had a way with words but being as intoxicated as he was, it was hard to think of what to say. The first things that came to his mind appeared to be what he was saying. "When you are around… And… I've found a way to kill the sound?"

Peter watched the taller male stumble over his words as he tried to put things together, coming to sort of a conclusion which kept him heating up at the thought he might actually be right with it. He couldn't actually be saying he liked him in that way though… Right. He'd just refused to talk to him for a whole week after all so why would he? In an attempt to convince himself otherwise, Pete began to make excuses to the Slytherin. "Vincent, you're a bit drunk… More than a bit. I don't think you know what you're saying," was the first excuse he gave to which he got a head shake back, not to the drunk part but the not knowing what he was saying.

"Then maybe… Of course, Padfoot or Prongs must have laced your drink with Amortentia!" appeared to be the next one he gave to get a verbal response of "I said no…" from Vince.

"Well you wouldn't realise if you drank it beca---"

"I said no…"

Before Pete could even get another word out about this theory, Vincent put a finger over his lips and sighed as he looked the other boy in the eyes. "Listen close… It's a no…" The raven haired hair mumbled once again before making sure the Gryffindor wasn't going to say another word about it to which he moved his finger, thinking once again on how to explain. He should have probably moved away from the poeting replies he was trying but the boy occasionally had a flare for the dramatic. "The wind is a pounding on my back, and I've found hope in a heart attack…"

With this, the mood of his words appeared to shift as if in a small moment he'd realised something. He'd realised something about how even I'd he got his message across then there wouldn't even be a point due to the other's disbelief. It was at this time there was a scruple in the boy's confession as he looked away from the Gryffindor. "Oh, at last… It has passed…" He shook his head just slightly, moving towards the windowsill once again with a pause when he reached it, turning back for a moment as he didn't look at Peter then he clutched one of his hands over where his heart was. "No I've got it… And you can't have it…"

Of course Pete would notice the change in his story and realised that he wouldn't really learn the source of the problem proceeding like he was. He couldn't just deny this guy, or rather he could but he didn't want to. There was a mixture of him for different reasons he didn't want to and so, to hopefully get back to the track and confession he was looking for, the gryffindor asked another question. "Why now…? Of all times to tell me this, why is it now?" It was one of the main things he wanted to know anyway, curious to why after a week of silence this would come out. Curious to why the week of silence still too.

"Darling…" When the word came out, Vincent hesitated for a moment on whether or not he'd should have used it before deciding he couldn't go back. It had escaped already so there was no point in holding back. "When I'm fast asleep, I see this person watching me… Saying…" The words grew slowly as he began to turn away again, his glacé heading towards one of his arms as he rubbed it a bit. "Is it worth it?" This came out as a mumble before the slytherin repeated more louder "Is it worth it?"

The blonde continued to listen to the Raven haired boy as he thought of what 'it' could be in regards to. He'd moved closer as he began to stand next to the other male. When Vince had noticed he took a breath in, looked over to the Gryffindor and asked once more "Tell me, is it worth it?" As the words came out, Peter caught himself getting lost in the other's newly damp yet lilac ocean of eyes. He'd not been lying before, they were with his own appearing like ponds compared to the deepness of what he'd stared into. It felt like the words that had been going into his ears had been an incantation to draw him closer and trap him yet this moment soon ended as quickly as it came about when the Slytherin turned away once more, hugging himself in silence for a moment.

"Are you okay?" Yes, it did seem a bit of a stupid question to ask in this moment when it was obvious the other boy was getting emotional in this moment but Peter knew that Vincent needed to hear these words. He needed to hear that the Gryffindor cared about him and how he was feeling, and with hearing this the other boy began to explain more clearly, touching slightly on the reason for that week's silence. "cause… There is something and there is nothing… there is nothing in between," in being more clear, it didn't mean he was going to stop in trying to be poetic however. "And in my eyes there is a tiny dancer, watching over me… He's singing…"

These next lines made Peter realise where'd he'd gone wrong and this brought him a sense of guilt. He felt guilty about the fact he'd not realised how obvious it had been, of course it was. The other week he was short on money before the group was going to head to Hogsmead and as a dare off James so he could get some extra money, he was told to tell Marlene that he smelt her in his Amortentia. And thus, he did, which ended in a small rumor, an awkward kiss off Marlene that neither of them wanted and him getting paid more than he was offered from a hysterical James. Of course he'd realised this was the problem upon the words "He, he wants a lady and I am just a boy…"

He didn't even like girls, he was just desperate and hadn't thought about it at the time. Yet, now, here he was with a guy who'd been crushing on him for who knows how long now thinking he had no chance from assuming the blonde was straight. His early assumption about this involving James and Amortentia hadn't been too far off, then. Just how they were involved was slightly different. To hurt even more however, the drunken slytherin had to go ahead and repeat the line again with more emotion and emphasis. "He's singing, He, he wants a lady! And I'm just…" In this moment, Peter placed a hand on Vincent's shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, seemingly working in his favour. "a line… Without… a…"

Silence came between the two, the raven haired male not being able to bring himself to finish before letting tears roll down his face as he reluctantly brought his face to looking at Peter's again. The words to escape him after held a lot of weight as he struggled to get them out through tears. "Oh baby I am a wreck… I need you here to stay…" were the first as he began to take both of the blonde's hands, gripping them tight unlike the first time. "I broke all my bones that day…"

"I found you," Peter began to confess back as he wasn't wrong. The day the silence between them began he had seen Vincent alone yet hadn't approached. He didn't think it was his place two when he was "Crying by the lake…"

Even though now he knew, and definitely KNEW, what the problem had been but needed to have that confirmation just to put the nail in the coffin. "Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden?" came out in a soft voice as Pete raised an eyebrow, getting nothing but a pained look from the Slytherin. This had to be a yes to which he followed with a quiet 'oh' before "and if I could take it all back I swear that I…"

The words faded out a bit when the blonde noticed himself getting caught up in the other's eyes again, not even noticing how close they'd gotten at this moment. The raven haired boy, however, did notice the closeness and was determined to close it. "Would pull… You… From…" the shorter had continued but hadn't managed to finish as just before he could let the last words out the other boy had locked lips with him. Even if it didn't last too long, it felt like an eternity. It was just the two of them alone dressed all fancy in an abandoned house now shearing a chaste kiss.

When it had finished, there appeared to be silence as both of them kept their eyes closed and bodies close, both not really believing what had just gone on. Not just the kiss but the entire thing! Nevertheless, Peter never got to finish his sentence to which, after wrapping his arms around the Gryffindor, Vincent leaned into his ear to wispeare two final words to end it for him. "The tide…"