Are We Out Of The Woods Yet?

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli had given Viviana very simple instructions. Give a note to Reuben that said the meeting place by the edge of the forbidden forest and dress comfortably. The blonde had a gift basket prepared, but wrapped in a large box was the biggest surprise. Being that Saveli hadn't grown up super spoiled, the money she had never went to herself - instead she loved to buy others gifts. In this case "other" was her boyfriend Reuben. The occasion? She didn't need one but him being a prefect was perfect to excuse the amount of money she'd spent. Perhaps this was overcompensation for her low self-worth, believing she wasn't nearly good enough for the sweet Hufflepuff. Especially since after they'd kiss (though before they'd gotten together) she'd almost had a thing with another guy.

However since getting with Reuben Sav was determined to make him happy, which is why she bought the Amethyst streak, why she'd bought the candies and varnish. Why she was dressed in a nice dress and tennis shoes on the edge of the woods. A picnic, some sweets and gifts. A reward for him being him. Saveli waited patiently, though wondered if he was perhaps nerovus to show up - or regretting dating her. After all she was keeping him out of bed late - hopefully he wasn't cranky.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben was thinking about heading to bed when Viviana had approached him in the library with a note. He was already fairly comfortably dressed, in a plain white shirt and jeans, so he postponed his reading and simply fetched a jacket from his dormitory before heading down to the grounds.

The night was clear and chilly, but tolerable for a short while. Reuben wondered as he walked along the darkened path what this was all about. And why the edge of the forbidden forest, of all places? He couldn't see Saveli immediately, but when her figure became discernible he grinned without hesitation. He hardly noticed the picnic blanket or anything else around them, her presence consuming his entire attention. Closing the last metres between them, he shivered and said, "Hey! It's cold as a snowman's butt out here. What are you doing?" Kissing her or calling her beautiful might have been a more standard way to greet one's girlfriend, but truth be told, Reuben still couldn't quite believe he could call her that. In fact, he half expected to wake up from a very long dream at any second. It just didn't make any sense; she was beautiful, and smart, and funny, and he was just a kid who worked on a farm and sucked at everything. One day soon she was going to realise that and dump him faster than he could blink, and in a sad sort of way, he was already prepared for it.

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli smiled when she saw Reuben and rolled her eyes. "Should I offer you my jacket? It's like forty five out not too bad." The blonde smiled and approached her boyfriend, before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I am congratulation you on making prefect. Turns out they accept dorks too huh?" She asked, before turning and standing by his side, putting an arm around the teen's shoulder. With her free arm she made a sweeping motion of the basket which held all his small gifts. She hoped she hadn't gone too overboard, but Saveli honestly couldn't have cared less as long as it didn't send him running. She loved to spoil her loved ones - and when Viviana let her she did it for her as well. She couldn't help it - it might have even lent to show her mildly possessive nature. If the things people had were bought by her their relation to her whether family, friends, or more, was evident.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben shivered, laughing. "Aren't I supposed to be offering you my jacket?" he asked, skirting the question so that he wouldn't impulsively say yes and make Saveli cold. He turned his cheek to accept the kiss, blushing despite the weather. "Aww," he said, looking at the blanket for the first time and noticing the basket of gifts atop it. "Y.. you bought all these gifts for me?" For a moment he stood still, struggling to comprehend what was going on. It wasn't even his birthday, or anything - he'd only gotten a badge. Not that it wasn't a lovely gesture, but how would he ever repay her? He couldn't afford to treat her like this, when the time came to it. "Wow..."

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

SAveli raised an eyebrow. "If I was a wimp yeah." She teased playfully, looking at the younger boy with an almost chiding glance. She meant well though, she truly did. The blonde watched her boyfriend eye the gifts, but seeing he wasn't moving she moved instead and grabbed the basket first, that was wrapped in pretty colors - thanks to Viviana's help. Saveli wrapped like an orc with two left hands, but Viv was fairly good at making things look pretty, so shed allowed her friend to help. Saveli thrust the basket in front of her. "Open this first!" She spoke eagerly, hoping he liked everything in it. After all they'd been friends for less than a year and dating for maybe a month - there was still a lot she needed to learn about him.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben smiled nervously, glancing between Saveli and the gifts. Not wanting to appear ungrateful, he took the present and forced excitement onto his face. "You really... shouldn't have done this!" he said, changing his tone half way through the sentence. For a moment there, he'd sounded as if he'd meant it. The Hufflepuff sat down on the picnic blanket and tore away the wrapping paper, finding beneath it a gift basket. Lifting the lid, his jaw dropped. It was stuffed full of his favourite candy - cauldron cakes, chocolate frogs, Bertie Bott's Every Flavoured Beans. There was some anti-jinx broom varnish, too, which he'd forgotten to get while he'd been in Brightstone. Suddenly his guilt and anxiety floated away. "Oh Merlin, Saveli," he said, his face lit with gratitude and joy. "This is amazing. You're amazing. Thank you so much." He left the basket on the ground and got to his feet to kiss her, his palms resting on her cheeks.

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli was concerned by the initial reaction. perhaps it was too much - but when it came to afection Saveli never had known what too much meant. She felt her hopes sinking until he sat and began opening the basket. She smiled at the look on his face, genuinely happy to be the cause. The blonde was surprised to say the least when he stood to kiss her. Saveli put her hands over his and kissed back, then she realized he hadn't seen the grand finally. The slytherin pulled back. "Don't thank me yet, you might hate your next present. I tried to wrack my brain and remember what you'd really wanted - I think I got it right." Saveli moved and listed the long box and handed it to him, the wrapping paper already tearing slightly from her trip out to the spot they were. "Open it!" She spoke eagerly.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

Reuben frowned as his face withdrew from Saveli's. The gift basket was a wonderful gift in itself. What else could she possibly have got him? The Hufflepuff's eyes travelled back to the blanket, whereupon through the darkness he spotted the very long, rectangular box. It was almost the right shape for... a broom. No. No way. It was a good thing it was dark, because all the colour had drained from Reuben's face. Why had he gone on and on about that stupid broom? If he hadn't been so wistful, Saveli would never have bought it, and then he wouldn't have to feel guilty about anything. He swallowed, taking the present and kneeling down before tentatively peeling off the wrapping paper. He knew before he opened the box what he was going to see, but even so his heart gave a sickening jolt. "Sav..." he said slowly, shaking his head. "I... I can't take this. This is too much. It's... it's the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me, but I can't."

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Sav waited for what felt like an eternity for Reuben to open it. "Is it the wrong color?" She asked, before he explained he couldn't take it. Saveli rolled her eyes, and moved to his level, before wrapping her arms around him and tugging him, hoping he'd fall back so she'd be laying beside him arms around his neck, he on his back. "Listen here, you marshmallow." She spoke with a laugh. "You're my boyfriend now. You are not gonna be a quidditch captain without the best broom, or a prefect without sweets in his pockets. Besides I'll eat some of your gift basket too." The blonde shook her head a little. "Reuben I've not always had friends or people I trust. and I want to thank you for just being honest with me. And giving me a chance." Then no matter how hard she tried she couldn't hold the words back. "Gabe said no one ever would." Did he say those exact words, no, but it was the way Gabriel had made her feel that manifested with those thoughts.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

As Saveli came to kneel beside him, Reuben's shoulders went stiff. Not even being called a marshmallow could soften the guilt, ease the tension a gift of this value placed between them. For a moment he ignored her pull, remaining upright as she wrapped her arms around him. But when she confessed the motivation behind her gift-giving - or at least part of it - he felt his heart crumble, and he pulled away to swivel around where he sat. "Sav," he said, taking her face in his hands so that she had to look him in the eye. "I love you." Was it too soon to say that? Who cared? "Being honest with someone is just what you do when you love them. It's not a gift. You don't have to thank me. It's just... it's normal." He didn't know much about Gabriel, but it was clear he had led Saveli to believe otherwise. "I don't need the best broom to be a good Quidditch captain. I just need you, believing in me. Like I believe in you. These gifts... they just make me feel like I'll never be good enough. I can't do this stuff for you. I can't afford it. And I'm just gonna feel like I'm indebted to you for the rest of my life, and I don't want that. I just want..." He'd been about to say 'you,' but then another thought struck him. "You know what I want? I want you to feel like you're the one giving me the chance. I want you to feel so smart and funny and beautiful that you wouldn't even look at me twice. 'Cause that's the way it should be. That's the way it is. You just don't see it."

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli was taken a back by what was said. He... loved her. Saveli looked back on the times she'd said it back, the times it'd been said to her - who it was by. Gabriel... Monty. Those were the only two she'd ever said it to. The only two whom had said it to her. The blonde blinked once. Twice. Three times. She had no response so she listened to what he had to say past that. "Reuben I do feel smart when I'm with you because sometimes you say the dumbest things, like that I shouldn't even look at you twice. I like looking at you." Saveli kissed his cheeks, and then propped herself up a bit. She kissed his lips. "Reuben, I love you too." she spoke, inches from his face when she did. "I can't believe I'm saying this to this kid who called me babe and offered me candy, and then said he thought I wanted him because I was playing hard to get." The blonde laughed. "Now, you wanna pay me back for all these gifts, I think I've got an idea." She spoke, before whispering in Reuben's ear.

 

[Reuben Pendleton]

When Saveli told him she loved him too, Reuben's heart fluttered, the warmth of her words spreading so quickly through him that suddenly he stopped noticing the cold. He kissed her back, grinning at the memory once more. "Are you sure that wasn't Rudolf? I mean, it could have been Rudolf. Sounds like Rudolf." Before the Hufflepuff could protest any more, Saveli leaned in to whisper something in his ear. For a moment he panicked, but then he laughed. "That's an expensive backrub. I should start a business," he said, getting behind her so that he could massage her shoulders. "But Sav," he said after a moment, wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin beside her face. "I really can't take the broom. Seriously. It'd make me feel so bad. Pleaaase don't make me take it. Please?"

 

[Saveli Pendleton]

Saveli laughed. "We'll see if it's worth the price." She spoke with a heavy air of sarcasm. The blonde moved to et comfortable and sighed at the feeling of a back rub. Her shoulders were tense from years of stress, but just having Reuben's hands on her shoulders, nice and cold, she felt a hundred percent better. Saveli gave a small whine when he moved, but followed it with a laugh. "Roo, what if i promise not to buy you another gift for five years?" She asked, though the implications of her sentence was more than about the broom. It was the idea that they would stay together for at least that long, that Sav wanted to see them long term - perhaps that was the adult in her though.