Open Almost undelivered

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob had seen Abian a few times already in passing, and he could have easily stopped him to make his rose delivery but he didn't. Because it was pink, and every time he looked at the thing, it caused this weird feeling in his chest especially after he'd read it. It was unsigned. Of course. Jacob thought about asking someone else to do it but he knew that was frowned upon. He'd also entertained just chucking it in the bin, but in the end he marched up to the Hufflepuff, his knuckles pressing in on the left side of his chest, massaging the area. "Abian" he called out the guy's name as he approached.

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian had been puzzling over his two roses ever since he had gotten them. Mostly the second one, a pink one without a note. He had gotten one like that last year too, and he wondered if the same person had sent it to him. He had spent some time outside to get away from the biggest rose craze for a bit. He'd attempted to skateboard on the lawn again, though the grassy fields really didn't make for a very good terrain. Now he was sitting on the grass with his feet propped up on the skateboard, looking up at the clouds. He wondered if there was some way to find out who had sent him the rose, maybe something with magic. Surely, magic could fix everything, or what was the point? He noticed someone approach, and saw it was Jacob. Abian sat up straight, a nervous smile on his face as the older boy approached. Their last talk hadn't gone so well, and Abian had been anxious to make things okay between them again. The problem was that he had no real idea what had gone wrong, and he had started to fear that Jacob had been avoiding him. So he was glad to see his friend now, and scrambled to his feet when he came close. "Hi Jacob!" He said, smiling nervously. "Having a good day?"

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob didn't know what to expect, but Abian seemed to be acting like his normal. It made Jacob want to act like his normal self too, though his would not be entirely genuine. He was happy to see Abian, always was, but this was not the way he wanted to speak to him, handing over a rose from someone else, someone who sent pink roses and didn't sign their notes. "Here's a rose for you" he blurted out, pushing the rose in Abian's direction and ignoring his question. So much for being normal, Jacob sighed inwardly.

Spoiler

u r q t <3

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian noticed how Jacob didn't answer his question, and there was still something distant about how he was acting. He was a little disappointed to learn was just here to deliver a rose to him, and not here because he had sought him out specifically. But then Abian was distracted by the color of the rose, another pink one... like last year. He blushed and took the rose from him, not sure why he was embarrassed to get this in front of Jacob. "Thanks..." He said sheepishly, fumbling with the flower. The pink rose reminded him of how he had sent Jacob a pink rose as well, with a note but not his own name. He wondered if Jacob had gotten it yet. Had he figured out it was Abian who had sent it? Had it annoyed him? Abian looked at the note, not entirely surprised by the content. It sounded very similar to the note he had received last year with one of his pink roses, and it seemed like this year was a repeat of last year in many ways. Both times he had gotten two pink roses without a name, one without even a note. Were the same people responsible? It seemed likely, but Abian had no idea who it could be. Judging by Jacob's strange demeanor, it wasn't him, though Abian hadn't really expected that anyway. "Uh... Jacob, are you okay? Or... or are you mad at me?" He asked after a moment.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob felt bad and a bit ashamed too. He was behaving like a jerk, he knew. So it wasn't too surprising when Abian asked him about his behavior. He probably would have done the same. Jacob sighed and then shook his head. "No, I'm not mad at you Abian" he replied, running a hand through his hair and then taking a moment to readjust his glasses. "Listen, I owe you an apology for storming off the other day. What you said just kind of caught me off guard" he continued. He definitely wasn't going to admit to maybe having a small crush on Arvel. It was so small it was insignificant. So insignificant. And Jacob definitely wasn't going to go into anything else. "So, I'm sorry. We're still friends, yeah?" he asked.

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian waited nervously for Jacob to reply, fearing that he really had done something wrong without realizing it. But then Jacob told him he was not mad at him, and he smiled brightly in return. "Oh. Good." He said, clearly relieved. "It's okay, we all have bad days sometimes, right?" He added when Jacob apologized for storming off. He was at least glad that he wasn't mad anymore, and he nodded eagerly. "Yeah! Still friends!" He said, though there was a small twinge of regret at the words. Would it do any good to let Jacob know how deep down, he wanted more? No, it wouldn't. But Abian couldn't resist his next question. "Did... you get a rose too?" He asked innocently.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob couldn't quite look Abian in the eye, especially when he forgave him so easily. When he exclaimed that they were still friends, Jacob smiled though he didn't feel as happy as he'd expected to feel. He was happy to be back on good terms with Abian, so it confused him to not feel happier about it all. "Yeah, a couple" he nodded as the conversation moved forward. "A couple of yellow ones and a pink one" he smiled as he recalled the message. He wasn't one to judge, having sent two pink roses with no notes himself. "It wasn't signed though...but the person thinks I'm awesome" he bragged a little. "Who's that one from?" he asked, pretending he hadn't read it.

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian felt himself turn pink as Jacob described the rose he had gotten. He quickly averted his gaze, hoping that Jacob didn't notice anything weird. "Oh, uh..." He laughed nervously. "Well, you are pretty awesome." He said, attempting a casual tone. Jacob asked about the rose he had just received, and Abian glanced at the note even though he already knew it was unsigned. "I don't know... there's no name." He said hesitantly. "I got one similar to this last year, but I have no idea who sent it." He mumbled. But then he smiled a bit, glancing at Jacob. "But... they do think I'm cute." He said jokingly. "I think."

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob usually loved a mystery, but he found himself severely lacking in interest to uncover the person who'd delivered this rose. If whomever it was couldn't come up to Abian and tell him, they weren't good enough for him. Jacob didn't think the same was true for him. It was totally different. He was pretty glad Abian found him awesome too and beamed, listening as Abian continued to think about who had sent him his rose. "They should" Jacob stated without really thinking about what he was saying. His brain caught up to his mouth a moment later and he rushed to add, "if they're sending you roses, you know."

 

[Abian Hunter]

Abian's eyes widened at Jacob's words, and it took him a moment to comprehend what he was saying. For a moment he had thought Jacob was calling him cute, and he realized a small part of him had mentioned the content of the message just for that reason. But then Jacob clarified his words, and that made a lot more sense. Abian smiled a bit. "Right, uh. Thanks for delivering this." He told his friend. "And I'm glad things are cool... between us. You're a good friend." He said a little shyly.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob smiled at Abian and held out his fist for a fist bump. "You too, Abian" he added. The Gryffindor knew that he needed to get going. It wasn't because he was attending the party but because he wasn't. He wanted to be firmly in his room, not tempted to seek out anyone's company. Jacob was dedicating his year to studying and quidditch. Or trying to anyway.