Closed Important Questions

[Katy Miller]

With the flurry of activity that was settling into a new dorm and the first week of classes, Katy could almost overlook the fact that Elliot seemed to be avoiding her. Almost. Luckily, she'd learnt early one where the Hufflepuff dorms were and it hadn't required much work to linger on the 4th floor until she eventually spotted him, grabbing him before he could manage to slink away into the Hufflepuff common room.

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but are you avoiding me? First you don't come home and skip my birthday, and now you don't wanna hang out at school?" Katy asked, laying on the hurt thick as she pulled Elliot over to an unoccupied couch. Elliot wasn't always good at expressing his feelings, but Katy found it hard to believe being embarrassed about not mentioning him having a boyfriend for almost a year was the only reason he didn't want to talk to her and Katy intended to do a little gentle interrogation to get to the bottom of it. Elliot wouldn't be avoiding her unless there was something he actually needed to talk about. "So.. Lars is your boyfriend huh. You never mentioned him before, really.." Katy said innocently now that she actually had Elliot's undivided attention for a bit, trying not to devise too much glee from watching the muscles in his face jump uncomfortably as he no doubt scrambled for an excuse

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot really had missed Katy. She'd practically been a sister to him growing up, and he figured once he was done getting over the weirdness of having her at school, it was going to be great having her so close. But after seeing her already starting to poke around and interrogate his friends, Elliot had decided he was going to need to spend some time honing his defenses before he could relax around Katy or she was going to walk all over him. He didn't really have anything to hide, but Katy didn't need to be involved in every aspect of his life while she was here. Unfortunately, Elliot's plan to keep his distance went a little overboard, and he spent most of the first week slipping out of meals early and hurrying between classes. He knew it wouldn't be too long till she finally got ahold of him, and it he really did feel bad about avoiding her, but Elliot just couldn't help himself.

It was almost a relief when Elliot felt Katy's grip on his arm, like the tension was finally broken, and Elliot gamely let her drag him over to a couch in the student lounge, trying not to let the guilt gnawing in his stomach show too much on his face. "I'm not, I'm not avoiding you, I swear," He protested weakly, though even he could tell it wasn't very convincing. "Fine," He sighed, resigning himself to the conversation. Maybe he spoke quickly Katy would get what she wanted and Elliot could finish this awkward conversation quickly. "There's not much to talk about.. He's a good friend.. and we kissed last year and things were kinda weird, but I asked him out so now we're dating?" He answered, eyes trained pointedly at a worn spot on the carpet as he spoke.

 

[Katy Miller]

Katy had missed teasing her cousin, and missed having some nice juicy relationship gossip to chew on, so she'd been looking forward to finally getting some details from Elliot about his new boyfriend. Elliot's answer was pretty disappointing though, and Katy frowned as he finished up. "Seriously, that's it? You've been dating for months and that's all you've got to say about him??" Katy asked incredulously, smacking Elliot with a nearby pillow to emphasis. "Here I was thinking you were a big romantic deep down, yawn, Elliot," She said, stretching out on the couch and poking him with her feet. "Come on, you can do better than that. Tell me about him, why do you like him? He's kinda dorky looking, let's be honest," She said, wiggling her toes and smirking when Elliot jumped and swatted at her ankles. Lars seemed sweet, but if she was going to make Elliot actually express some sort of information without him combusting from awkwardness, some drastic measures might be needed.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot yelped when Katy hit him with the pillow, yanking it away from her and wrapping his arms around it. It was best to confiscate things like this from her before things escalated, anyway. He'd known it was unlikely Katy was going to let him get away with an answer like that, but he was still embarrassed when she nudged him to elaborate about Lars. "I don't know what you want me to say," He muttered, adding on an indignant hey when Katy called Lars "funny looking". "He's nice.. and a great artist. I can relax around him," Elliot said, tucking his chin onto to the pillow in his lap and partially muffling his words into its seams. That was enough right? Lars was a good friend and dating him made Lars happy, so Elliot was happy. But he knew Katy had been angling for some sort of grand love story since Lars had mentioned them kissing in the rain last year, and Elliot didn't have anything like that to say, really. Beyond that moment, things were just.. Normal.

 

[Katy Miller]

Katy gave Elliot another encouraging poke, happy when her gentle insult seemed to have succeeded in spurring Elliot to actually answer her question. His answer still seemed lackluster and Katy frowned, sitting up and crossing her legs to face Elliot. "Okay, but you actually like him, right? Like, like him like him? Like butterflies wanna kiss him like him?" Elliot had always been a nervous kid, it was endearing when it wasn't just straight up frustrating, but it was weird to Katy that he'd be with someone and not be a total mess around them. Maybe she wasn't being fair to her cousin, after all she didn't see him nearly as much as she used to, but she'd always expected Elliot in love would be him falling over himself for someone. Lars seemed sweet, and clearly Elliot cared for him, but it was all frankly a bit anti-climatic if you asked her. "Not to pry or anything, El, you just don't seem super into your own boyfriend." She finally said, leaning back against the arm of the sofa as Elliot opened his mouth a few times to try and respond.

 

[Elliot Briar]

"Of course I like him-" Elliot said crossly, but he trailed off as Katy continued, fidgeting with the pillow in his lap. He had to scoff when Katy said she didn't want to pry, though he did spend a few moments thinking about what she was saying. Really thinking. "I like hanging out with him. And kissing him makes.. him happy. That counts, right?" He asked, feeling his stomach knot up in confusion. He didn't mind kissing Lars, it felt nice and giddy in a sort of pleasant way. And spending time with Lars was the same.. But if he was being honest.. "Asking him out seemed to be what he wanted.. And I wanted him to stay my friend, so I did," Elliot shrugged, slowly sinking his face into the pillow. He hadn't thought about it much, since both he and Lars seemed happy, but the way Katy was asking about it was making Elliot rethink things. "Is that.. bad?" He asked, peering up from where his face was tucked into the cushion.

 

[Katy Miller]

Katy listened patiently as Elliot worked his way through an answer, doing her best to keep her mouth closed for once. He must have seen her disapproval on her face as he spoke though, as he faltered a few times, seemingly ending up more confused as he went on. Katy felt a pang of pity, she'd honestly started probing to tease him a bit, but the more they'd talked the more it seemed like maybe Elliot didn't really want to date Lars and just.. somehow hadn't noticed.

Katy shook her head, sighing and giving Elliot a condescending pat on the head. "Elliot, you're very sweet, but you're an idiot," She said earnestly, looking him in the eye. Imagine how long this might have gone on if she wasn't around to help him. "And thank Merlin I'm here," She added, shushing him when he went to object again. "Elliot, you can't just date someone because you think it's what they want to hear. Don't you think it's worse to make him think you like him- I mean actually like him romantically- than to just say no?" She said, waving her hand when Elliot went to interrupt again. "You need to be honest for both of you before you break that poor, weird, noodle boy's heart." Katy said solemnly, looking at Elliot in the eye.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot opened his mouth again to complain when Katy called him an idiot, but kept quiet as she continued talking. He made sure to scowl at her so she knew he was annoyed about it though. It was easier to be annoyed at Katy than at himself, but the more she talked, the more the horrible realization settled in that she might actually be right. He thought dating Lars had been the right thing to do, it made sense. He liked Lars, and Lars seemed to really like him, so what did it hurt.

Elliot had never really had a big crush on someone before, and he thought maybe he'd know what he felt like if he and Lars went out. But the longer they were together, the more Elliot was aware nothing had changed. "I don't know," He said softly, resisting the urge to bury his face back in the pillow in his lap. The last thing Elliot wanted to was to hurt Lars. But the idea of actually having to break up with Lars seemed so much worse. "Can't I just live in denial forever instead?" He joked weakly, though he was more and more sure now that Katy was right. His stomach sank. This was going to suck. He was going to have to break up with Lars.