Closed A Little Talk

[Derek Tahana]

Derek had sent the rose. He had gone against what his mind was really telling him and he’d sent the rose to Emilia. He knew that time had passed and that as his feelings for Athena developed, he couldn’t continue to let it be a thing. So, he’d sent her a rose, knowing she wouldn’t speak to him otherwise and had asked her to come. It was the exact time and date of when he’d asked her to meet him, and Derek was sitting in the courtyard feeling a little nervous. He didn’t often get nervous, but he certainly felt it now. He didn’t know what she would be like, how she would react to him, if she would even come. It was hard to know. He knew he hadn’t exactly done right by her, he’d acted in a manner that was not particularly kind towards her and he knew that his actions with Athena was hurting, so he had to try now, he had to try to do right by her. It was just exceedingly nerve wracking. He didn’t want it to go badly, but there was going to be so many chances for it to do so. ​

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia had been surprised by all of the roses she had received. Many of them had been from her friends, but two stood out to her. One was an anonymous pink one, which had given Emilia a little more confidence. The other one was from Derek, which was making her nervous. For some reason, he had decided that the best way to reach out to her was in the way he used to show his love for her, by sending her a rose. Emilia was wary, and she wondered if this was some sort of symbolic gesture. She had absolutely no idea what the two of them suddenly had to talk about, but she decided to head tot the place he had indicated anyway. If she wouldn't go, she would just be curious forever. To her chagrin, Derk was already there. Emilia had hoped to be a bit earlier, but he was waiting for her. She crossed her arms in front of herself protectively as she approached him. "What is it you want to talk about?" She asked him bluntly and without preamble.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek had half expected her to not come, he wouldn’t have been annoyed if she didn’t, but there she was, and she seemed defensive and he knew that he would need to do this right. He had imagined that reaching out to her via a note or trying to speak to her with others around would only result if being thrown back. ”I wanted to talk about us, and what happened,” he told her honestly, he wasn’t sure whether to launch straight into what had happened or why or the things leading up to it, or any of it, but he was just keen to talk about it with her. To maybe help him feel a little better about things and clear the air a little with her. The teen wasn’t sure it would really help but he was more than willing to try it. ”First, I wanted to apologise for how it happened, I shouldn’t have done it like I did. I shouldn’t have done it in front of anyone. That was wrong of me,” he said, he knew this was a huge fault of his, something he shouldn’t have done in the slightest, but it was only after the fact that he’d really decided that. ​

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia stayed back a little, keeping distance between her and Derek. She didn't want to let him too close, both literally and figuratively. She sighed. "Why now?" She asked quietly, it had been so long now, and he'd never reached out to her. But she listened as he apologized, then nodded. "You shouldn't have. It was." She agreed. But then after a pause, she sighed. "Thank you." She added reluctantly. "Was that what you wanted to say?" Maybe he'd been feeling guilty, and this was needed to relieve that feeling. Emilia did think he had been wrong, and it was nice to hear him admit it, even so many months later.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek sighed a little, ”I was angry first, that wouldn’t have been helpful and then I was just upset about us,” he said, thinking that until now any conversation they might’ve had would’ve probably been pretty unproductive. He nodded as she agreed with him, and at least accepted the thanks. He didn’t expect to be forgiven, not at all, but it being accepted was the start of something. ”Not really,” he told her, ”Things between us before we broke up were weird Emilia, you changed and I changed, we were growing apart. The thing with Diana, was really that she was a friend you know,” he told her, ”You didn’t trust me and I wasn’t bothering with you,” he said. He was perhaps making some grand assumptions about them at that moment, but that was what he believed had gone wrong. That was what he thought. ”I know I should’ve tried harder with you, I know I should’ve been more receptive to how you were changing, but I wasn’t and that just made things worse between us.” ​

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia frowned. "You were angry for that long?" She asked him skeptically. "I didn't accuse you of anything. I was just..." She shook her head. "Derek, you didn't give me any time to talk. in that moment with Diana" She told him firmly. "Yes, we were growing apart. Things were weird. But neither you or I acknowledged it." She said, crossing her arms and looking away. "And the thing with Diana wasn't that I didn't trust you," not entirely, anyway. "It... just hurt to see you more affectionate with a friend than you had been with me in weeks." She said, her voice growing quieter. "And Diana Holland is not a good person." She added, unable to resist adding that. She knew the girl was his friend, but thought it was a rather bad choice. She sighed, not really feeling better because he was now taking all the blame. "I just wish you would have talked to me back then." She added quietly. "But... I can admit I also should have talked to you." She said. "I was trying very hard to be... better, partly for you. But I suppose it got away from me a little."

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek shook his head, ”well, no, but I was sad after, you know,” the teen told her. It didn’t really matter now, the time had past everything had moved on and they were not in the same position as they once were. He nodded, he knew that he hadn’t given her much time to talk, he knew that the actions he had taken with Diana were not particularly kind, but there had been just a moment in all of it where he’d been too frustrated to think straight. He knew he had done wrong, ”I am sorry about how I treated you then, in that moment,” he knew it was too little too late, that he had already now said sorry but it felt like it was the right thing to say. He shrugged a little and then had to shake his head, ”Diana is not a bad person, this isn’t about her,” he said, it wouldn’t have mattered who it was. He shook his head a little. ”Emilia you know I never needed you to be anything other than you,” he sighed and shook his head, ”But, it’s all said and done, I can admit too that I should’ve reached out more, but I didn’t. We were young and clueless,” he said, making a few assumptions about it. ”I know you’ve been having issues with Athena,”​

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at Derek's words, something she rarely ever did. But he had been sad? How did he think she felt? She just nodded in acknowledgement at his apology, not sure what else there was to be said. She sighed as Derek defended Diana again. "I'm sure she told everyone about it." She argued, but it was weak. His next words made her a little angry, she didn't need to hear them from him now. She had needed them back then. "Yes, well." She said a little more tensely. "We were young. Now it's over, so if there's nothing else..." She wanted to end the conversation, but then Derek mentioned Athena. Emilia tensed. "That is none of your business, though I'm sure she told you all about it" She said coldly. "She talked to you about our breakup before ever coming to me, never asking me if I'm okay. I guess you two are friends now? You seemed cozy at the dance." Emilia took a step back, ready to leave. "But I don't care. This is between her and me, it's a family matter."

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek shrugged, he wouldn’t have much cared if Diana had told everyone about it, to him it wasn’t something he minded others knowing things about. At the agreement, though it didn’t seem like much of one, he knew he should’ve ended it there, they wouldn’t have left on good terms, but perhaps they might’ve understood each other. The problem was Derek felt like he needed to. He needed to get in the middle of it, because he liked Athena a whole lot and wanted to ask her out, but it seemed like a mistake to get between Athena and Emilia. But, she immediately got annoy, immediately her tone was colder, he felt himself shake his head. ”Emilia,” he said in an almost pleading tone. ”You know we didn’t even talk about it really, she was just being a friend,” he returned, ”I like her, Emilia, and I need you to get over whatever problem you have with her and I hanging out.” he was almost certain it was the wrong thing to say, he knew that Athena had told him to not bother getting in the middle of it, but he cared about her, hated that she was so sad because of something that did relate to him. ​

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia felt on edge, and she glared when Derek said he hadn't even talked to it about Athena. She knew that was a lie. "Don't lie to me." She told him coldly. "She told me herself you guys talked about it, when I confronted her about not talking to me." She snapped. "But like I said, this is between us." She added, her voice growing colder. But as he said he needed her to get over what her problem was, she actually stared at him in disbelief for a moment. She tapped her arm with her nails, anxiously, even as she let out a small disbelieving laugh. "Oh, you need me to?" She asked him, clearly angry. "Good thing I no longer have to care about what you need. Why do you care so much, anyway?" She asked him, though even as she asked the question, she didn't know if she wanted to hear the answer. "It's Athena's business, and mine." She added. "It's between family. Or did she ask you to talk to me?" She added, tensing as the thought occurred to her.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek shrugged, he didn’t remember going into great detail but he had said somethings to Athena, they hadn’t really talked in specifics. He had known that Athena was Emilia’s cousin and he knew that it would be getting between them. But, he could tell that she was growing colder and he could see that his words frustrated Emilia but it was very evident in her tone. He sighed a little, ”Actually she specifically told me not to, but she's been so upset about it,” Derek told her, ”You are right though, you don’t need to care about what I need, so why do you care so much about what I do, or who I spend time with?” Derek said to her, ”Athena was just being a good friend and I’ve developed feelings for her. It wasn't some back stabbing move or some betrayal,” the slytherin said to Emilia with a bit of a sigh. The slytherin knew he was probably making this worse and he was likely going to need to grovel to Athena in apology but he hadn’t been able to help himself, he wanted her to feel better, to not be so down about it. ​

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia wanted to get out of here, but something kept her rooted to the spot. "Derek, you asked me here." She said with a frown. "I have been leaving you alone, all this time. I was hurt my cousin took your side in our breakup, instead of her family. It has nothing to do with you." She told him coolly. "I don't care what you do." But when Derek let slip that he had developed feelings for Athena, Emilia froze. "What?" She asked, shocked. "You... what?" She had considered it, the fact that they were so close now, but hadn't really thought there was anything going on between Derek and Athena. She clenched her fists. "Are you two... together? Is that why you are suddenly apologizing?" She asked him, accusation in her tone. If Derek liked Athena now, that just confirmed to Emilia that she was the lesser cousin, the one who was easily overlooked. As always. She wanted to scream, but held it inside. She had just told Derek that she didn't care what he did, but it had been a lie, she saw now. At least as far as this went.

 

[Derek Tahana]

Derek was beginning to think his grand idea wasn’t playing out all that well. He wasn’t sure what he had hoped to achieve but it certainly wasn’t this. He was a little surprised that Emilia felt so strongly about the betrayal. He had known it probably was fairly deep, but if Athena had been just a friend would it have been as deep, if Athena was a distant relative would it have mattered. He wondered about all the other people he’d spoken to who were on her side being friendly towards him. Did she know that Sapphire was his friend too despite it all. He sighed a little at her tone, ”No, that’s not why, I treated you badly in our break up and I wanted to apologise for it, that’s why I apologised,” he said firmly, though he was a little spurred on by his feelings towards Athena and her problems with Emilia, it had been sitting on his mind a while too. ”We aren’t together, but I’m going to ask her out. I’m not looking for your blessing or your permission even, I just want you to not hate your cousin because of me.” Derek got to his feet. ”Truly Emilia, I’m sorry about what happened between us,” he sighed and began walking away. ​

 

[Emilia Manning]

The longer this went on, the more irritated Emilia was getting. "Yes, you apologized." She said, shaking her head. "But then you told me to get over my argument with Athena, which isn't even your business." She clenched her fists angrily when Derek said hew as going to ask her out, and she took a step back. "Good! I'm glad you're not looking for my blessing or permission, because you won't get it! And my feelings on my cousin are none of your business." She snapped. "I but I can tell you that you are not helping matters." She shook her head. "Tell Athena that if she wants to fix this between us, she needs to talk to me herself and not send you." She spat, not believing that she wasn't aware of this if she was honest. "believe it or not, you're not actually a knight in shining armor. You're just a selfish jerk." With that, she turned around and walked away, hoping he couldn't see her shaking with anger.