Closed A Lot to Tell You

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia's holidays had been wonderful, but also very strange. She still wasn't quite over the fact that she had been on a date, with Derek. But it was definitely reality, and she needed to talk about it with someone. She had already talked a little with Sapphire and Arvel about the situation, but then Derek himself had shown up and it had been a little embarrassing. Not that it was not wonderful to see Derek, but she didn't want him to overhear her gushing about him to her friends. It was strange to think that she had friends now, at least, she knew Sapphire was one. Arvel was quiet, much like herself, but she did like him a lot. But there was one friend Emilia really wanted to talk to now, and it was Jacob. The two of them had always shared their thoughts and feelings, ever since the first time they met. He made her feel safe, much like Derek did, but in a very different way. They had helped each other make sense of things in the past, and she felt like she needed that now. She had asked him to meet her in the student lounge, and now she was waiting at a table for him to appear. She looked around uncertainly every few moments, a little worried that someone else might try to sit down at the table. Emilia knew she would have a hard time sending anyone away, but she really was hoping for a private conversation with Jacob.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob had been glad to plan a time to meet up with Emilia. He'd never told her, but in some ways he considered her one of his better friends. Things were always just easy with her, even though he usually had some of his more difficult conversations and realizations when he was with her. It was just not as exhausting as some of his other friendships. He didn't have to pretend to be someone he wasn't around her, which was why he'd resolved that today would be the day he told her a lot of things he hadn't yet. Knowing that she might be uncomfortable if she had to wait too long, Jacob was jogging to the lounge. He'd left a little late, but he knew Emilia was sometimes shy and she'd be too nice to say no if another student wanted space wherever she was sitting whereas he would be more than fine to tell them no. They were different that way, but it was a good difference. Entering the lounge, Jacob spotted Emilia right away and grinned.

"Emilia!" he greeted as he took the empty seat she'd held. "Happy New Year!" he added. It had been a while since they'd had a catch up. "How were your holidays?"

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia was nervously tapping her fingers on the table as she waited, hoping no one else would come sit here. She looked up and smiled as she saw Jacob almost running into the student lounge. He spotted her and she smiled back at him, happy to see her friend. As Jacob took his seat, Emilia relaxed. She no longer had to be nervous about strangers taking his seat or trying to sit at the table. Jacob would tell them to go away if they tried. "Hi Jacob, Happy New Year!" She said back to him. "My holidays were amazing, Jacob I have so much to tell you." She said, blushing a little. She was excited to talk about it with him, but it was a little embarrassing too. "Oh, but first. How was your break?" She didn't want to launch right into her own story without asking Jacob about his break first.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob raised his eyebrows. He'd been expecting a certain level of enthusiasm, but Emilia's reaction was different from what he was expecting. Not in a bad way. Just in a different one, and his curiosity was piqued. Jacob waved a hand, not wanting to dim the mood by talking about his lousy holiday. He did want some advice from her, but it could wait. "We'll get to that. Now, spill" he added, full of curiosity. He wore an amused grin on his face as he waited for what he was about to hear. He didn't know what it was, but judging by Emilia's expression it was going to be good.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia was relieved when Jacob seemed interested in her story and told her to tell it. She was also a bit nervous, but really needed it off her chest. "I went on a date." She said softly, as if she was a little afraid to be overheard. "Derek asked me to the ball last semester, and while we were there he asked me to go on a date with him." She still looked like she could barely believe it. "And then... and then we went. During the holidays." She added, looking both pleased and embarrassed. "It was nice." She added shyly, glancing at Jacob nervously.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

"What?!" he exclaimed, a sound that probably drew the attention of everyone in the room. He hadn't meant to be so loud. He was just surprised. "Sorry" he murmured to the room before turning back to Emilia. "What?!" he asked again, this time in a stage whisper. Behind his glasses, Jacob's eyes were wide with excitement for his friend and some envy. He'd never been on a date before and he wanted to experience one too. "Was he a good dancer? Did you have fun at the ball? Where'd he take you on your date? Did he pay? Did. You. Kiss?" he ended the last question slowly, punctuating each word with a tap on the table, a look of amusement mixed with unbridled enthusiasm at this conversation on his face. The other questions had been in a rush, flung at Emilia as they had crossed his mind. Already more were entering it, but he bit them back, not wanting to overwhelm her. He just needed to know. "Merlin, Emilia. A date" he marvelled, still working hard to keep his voice down so he wouldn't embarrass her. He knew she was shy.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia shushed Jacob as he showed his surprise pretty loudly, she flushed as people turned to look at them. She shrugged helplessly as he repeated his surprised exclamation. She couldn't explain how this had happened to her any better than he could. Her eyes widened as Jacob started to ask questions, an embarrassed squeak escaping her as he asked if they kissed. She held up a hand to stop him from asking more, even though she was pretty sure he was done. "Uh, well... he is a great dancer..." She said slowly, trying to focus more on the less embarrassing questions. "We did have fun, we went to Madam Puddifoots and... uh, we didn't kiss." She murmured the last word, shrugging again. "At least... not yet, I think." She added quietly. "We already talked about a second date. Maybe... maybe then? I don't know... should we have?" She suddenly looked concerned, biting her lip. "I've never kissed anyone before." She admitted, her voice almost a whisper. "What if I'm horrible at it?"

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob was very impatiently waiting for answers so he was happy when she began to reply. He nodded, glad for the confirmation Derek was a good dancer. He'd guessed so. His eyebrows rose as Emilia continued and explained they'd gone to Madam Puddifoots. That's where the older students went on dates and they always seemed to be staring into each other's eyes or kissing. So he was very surprised to hear they hadn't kissed. Jacob could see that Emilia looked a bit worried so he shook his head. Maybe it was better to not kiss on the first date. He had no idea. "Emiliaaaa" he dragged the end of her name, "you will not be horrible at it." His first kiss had been pretty meh, but he wasn't going to share that just now. "He probably hasn't kissed anyone either. Almost no one in our year has had their first kiss" he added, remembering what Tristan had said. He hadn't believed it, but it was helpful in this case. "And he took you to Madam Puddifoots. That's so grown up!" he said, clearly very impressed by this.

 

[Emilia Manning]

It was gratifying to see how much Jacob wanted to know, even if it was also a little embarrassing to talk about these things. But Emilia trusted Jacob a lot, and knew he wouldn't go talk about her secrets to anyone else. She also thought he probably had some good insights, as he usually did in her experience. She blushed a little as Jacob said she wouldn't be horrible at it. "You don't know that." She muttered halfheartedly. His next words made her consider the boy in front of her carefully. He said it in a way that made her think he wasn't quite including himself. Otherwise, he would have said that, right? "Have... you?" She asked him hesitantly, hoping she wasn't overstepping. But she was curious, and if Jacob had kissed someone that perhaps meant he could give her some tips. "Madam Puddifoots was nice... it felt like a good place for it." She said, a little pleased by his reaction. "Like... where you're supposed to go on a date, you know?"

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob shrugged. It was true. He didn't know if she'd be a good kisser or not, but he figured most people weren't. It felt safe to say even if he couldn't be sure. When she asked him if he'd kissed anyone, Jacob could feel his cheeks heat up and he avoided answering her as she went on and spoke about Madam Puddifoots. The Gryffindor nodded, quite agreeing on it being a perfect date spot. He could only hope he'd be so lucky someday to get taken there, even if he had no plans on having a boyfriend any time soon. The thirteen year old knew that he should tell Emilia about his kiss. He wanted to, in fact. It just felt a little awkward now that it was here. "I have kissed someone" he admitted, his cheeks flushing. "At the last Brightstone weekend." Though there had been many shared kisses between him and Onyx since then, he figured sticking to the first one made more sense here. "It was someone in our year. You probably know him. Onyx...Michaels?" he stated quietly, figuring Emilia would know the surname if not the first. The Michaels twins had a way of making their presence known. "But we haven't gone on a date or anything" he rushed to add, making it clear he didn't have a boyfriend.

 

[Emilia Manning]

Emilia could tell her question made Jacob a little embarrassed, the blush was hard to miss. She gasped when he admitted he had kissed someone, leaning forward over the table to make sure she got all the details of what he would tell her. "Oh, wow." She said softly, listening intently as he explained it. She was a little surprised to hear him talk about another him, but quickly moved past it. It wasn't strange, she just hadn't known. She was more focused on the person he was mentioning, and she remembered the boy from the Quidditch stands. He had been very loud, and she wasn't sure if she had liked him. But she did really like Sapphire, who was his sister. She probably should give the boy a chance, especially if he was close to Jacob. "Wow." She said again, blinking. "What was it like? Do you want to go on a date with him?" She asked, now very curious about all this.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob found himself a little more embarrassed but also a little bit pleased at the fact that he'd caught Emilia so off guard. Perhaps Tristan had been right, and he'd been one of the first to actually kiss someone. Tristan had never steered him wrong before, and he added this to all of the other advice Tristan had given him. He'd never doubt his older friend again. Jacob glanced around, but didn't notice anyone looking at them. A pair of third years were hardly interesting, he supposed. Still, Jacob leaned in, not wanting to be over heard. "You can't tell anyone" he began, though he trusted Emilia whole heartedly. They'd shared some pretty deep stuff before, and she had never betrayed his confidence. "It was bad, like it happened and was over and I wasnyt even sure it had happened. But then we kissed again and it was like..." he paused, able to draw on the memory easily but still finding it difficult to explain all the emotions that had swirled within him at that moment. "it's hard to describe. It's not like kissing a family member." Not at all. Jacob didn't know how to answer her other question so he changed the subject slightly. "It doesn't bother you that I kissed another boy?" he finished quietly. Jacob didn't usually talk about this, but he found that he wanted Emilia to know, and he wanted her to be ok with it.

 

[Emilia Manning]

As Jacob looked around, Emilia remembered with a start that they were technically in public. She blushed and looked around too, alarmed that she had been so caught up in the story that she had forgotten. But it seemed like no one was listening to them, and they had been talking pretty quietly. Jacob told her she couldn't tell anyone, and Emilia quickly met his gaze earnestly as she nodded. "Of course not." She said softly. She was startled to hear the kiss had been bad. From her books and stories, she had always imagined a first kiss to be magical and wonderful. It hadn't even occurred to her that it could be bad. Immediately, she felt more anxious about her first kiss with Derek. Would she mess that up? She wished Jacob went into a bit more detail as he explained the kiss after it, as she had already figured out it would definitely be different than kissing a family member. She leaned forward slightly, to keep the conversation more private. His next question took her off guard, and she quickly shook her head. "It doesn't." She said firmly, giving him a small smile. "It surprised me for a moment, but it's not anything that would ever bother me." She hesitated, then reached over to lightly touch his arm in a show of solidarity. "I won't tell anyone, and you can always talk to me, okay?" She sighed softly. "I can't believe you kissed someone..." She murmured, still a bit amazed by all that.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob returned the smile, feeling a small weight lifting from his thin shoulders. It wasn't until Emilia continued that he considered why. The Gryffindor didn't feel like he kept this secret, but he realized that not discussing it more openly could lead people to believe it was. Onyx had certainly mentioned being more comfortable with his identity, which had bothered Jacob. He was still trying to figure out who he was in many respects, but as far as his sexuality was concerned, he was certain. Hearing from someone he considered a close friend that it didn't bother her made Jacob happy. He rested his free hand on top of hers. "I know you won't" he said with a small nod before letting her hand go. "More than once" he added with a more wicked grin. "Did you get a lot of presents then?" he asked, eager to hear more about Emilia's break.