Closed Conflicted Feelings

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë had been struggling with how to feel about the valentine's dance throughout the process of getting ready for it and when the moment had come to step out of her dorm she still felt unsure. On the one hand she wanted to just shrug it all off and have some careless fun, enjoy her time with Sully at the school while she could. Whilst he was still right there with her. On the other hand, the realization that this really was the last dance they'd attend together had hit her harder than she would've liked to admit and there was this nagging feeling she couldn't seem to shake off. The feeling that maybe she shouldn't have tried to ignore the fact that he was graduating for so long, that maybe that was something they should've discussed way earlier. She didn't want to spend the night worrying though and so she had decided that if she had managed to ignore that feeling untill now, one extra night wouldn't make a difference. Right? She just wanted to spend the night in their own little bubble instead. One in which they could eat and dance and laugh like they always did. But bubbles were fragile and there was no way of telling when one would pop.

Just for the sake of it, Chloë had decided that they would meet downstairs instead of meeting in the common room and heading down together. Sure, it would take her a little longer to get down the stairs on her heels without Sully to help keep her steady but there was just something about having to spot each other in the crowded entrance hall. It was like a classic moment any of the students attending the school's dances had experienced at least once and she thought it would be fun to meet up like that a final time. When Chloë finally reached the bottom of the stairs she got sidetracked by having to fix her cousin's tie for a second before getting a chance to look around and see if she could find her boyfriend.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully had had a lot on his mind this semester already. First Aisa had blindsided him with some sudden growth on conscience, and then there'd been all the prep for the Quidditch cup, and his NEWTs, and not to mention Sully had spent half the night last night trying to charm his favourite tennis shoes the perfect shade of red for the dance. How anyone expected him to get anything done or do anything boring like talk about his feelings or whatever else Aisa kept pressing was beyond him. Aisa had set him an ultimatum for tonight though, and Sully tried not to look too obviously for her as well as Chloë in the crowd as he entered the hall. He'd had a lot on his mind, the last thing he wanted was to ruin things with Chloë right now, one way or the other.

His thoughts were briefly eased though when he spotted Chloë across the hall, making a show of doing a little dancing walk over to her before moving to pull her towards him as he reached her. "Hey, you," he said, slipping an arm around her and once again glancing around to check for Aisa lurking somewhere waiting for the shoe to drop. Surely he and Chloë could enjoy a little time together before talking about other stuff. "Oh, check it, voila," he said, pulling out his wand to conjure a single rose before handing it over to her, feeling rather smug. "No flamingos this year, promise," he added gravely, crossing a finger over his chest and grinning.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë enjoyed watching the other students roam around the entrance hall to meet up. Friends, couples, happy people most of all. She chuckled when she suddenly noticed Sully coming towards her in a way that only he would. "Hi." She greeted him with a peck on his lips, pushing all of the thoughts that had made her feel uneasy before as far away as possible into the depths of her mind in the hopes that they wouldn't come floating up anytime soon. Chloë was about to comment on Sully's shoes, wondering if he just had shoes that red lying around, when he conjured up a rose. "What, no note?" She joked when he handed her the rose, letting out a soft laugh when he mentioned last year's flamingos. "Or any other kind of birds." She added to Sully's words, just to be clear. Who knew, maybe he had been planning some form of redemption by actually conjuring up the birds he had meant to conjure up. Although she didn't think he would risk another feathery situation for their last dance.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully smiled against Chloë's lips as she pressed a brief kiss to his, unable to resist following her for a quick follow up. It was Valentine's after all and he was gearing up for an annoying conversation. Sully reminded himself it would probably be fine, Chloë didn't care about stuff like this anyway. "Okay, okay, no birds full stop," he agreed with a fond smile, tucking his wand back into his pocket and shifting slightly. "I did wanna tell you something though," Sully started, glancing around the hall again before looking back at Chloë. "It's not a big deal or anything, but at the end of last year, Aisa kissed me and stuff. I kept telling her you wouldn't care but she wanted you to know," he said, shrugging again to emphasize how little of a big deal the whole thing was to him, and hopefully Chloë agreed.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë nodded approvingly when Sully agreed that there would be no birds this year whatsoever. In all honesty, she just wanted to get through the night without letting her own thoughts ruin it. She looked at the rose in her hand with a smile, feeling like maybe, just maybe, they would be able to really live inside that worriless bubble she imagined for the rest of the night. That was untill Sully spoke up and her smile faltered. Chloë blankly stared at him as she tried to process exactly what he had said. Aisa kissed him. Him. Her boyfriend. At the end of last year. Which meant he had been sitting on this for months. They had been sitting on this for months and didn't care to tell her. "I'm sorry, what now?" Was the only thing she managed to choke out as her brain was working overtime to figure out what to think or do.

 

[Solomon Tofilau]

Sully felt his smile turn strained at Chloë's reaction. He'd been banking pretty hard on her being cool enough not to care but he wondered if maybe that had been over optimistic. "It's not a big, serious. She was upset about her break up and stuff. It didn't mean anything," he reiterated, waving a hand vaguely in the hopes that it would stop Chloë from yelling at him. "Besides, it was ages ago, aye. Who cares," he added, giving Chloë another smile though it probably came out more like a grimace. "She just thought you should know before we like... Graduate and stuff." Sully hadn't want to bring up the G-word, but with Chloë looking a bit like she'd swallowed a lemon he figured maybe reminding her how little time they still had left might get her off his case, if only for tonight.

 

[Chloe Thompson]

Chloë tried to get a grip on her feelings as she processed what Sully was saying, unsure of what mix of emotions she was feeling right now. It wasn't as much anger as it was bitterness and hurt. Slight bitterness towards Aisa for kissing her boyfriend in dealing with her own break up. Hurt that neither one of them had told her before. "I care." She responded bluntly, unable to understand Sully's thought process on the matter. If it hadn't been a big deal then why hadn't he told her? Did he not trust her judgement? Maybe if she had been told right away she wouldn't have thought it was a big deal either, but it was the fact that he had kept it from her for so long that made her feel betrayed in some way. "I mean I don't even care that much that it happened, but it happened last year. And somehow you didn't feel the need to tell me untill what, Aisa pressured you to?" Chloë continued, her tone a mix of hurt and confusion. That was what it sounded like after all and it almost made her wonder whether he would've ever told her if that hadn't been the case. Sully mentioning graduating threw her off though and she clenched her hands together in an attempt to stop them from trembling, every thought and uneasy feeling she had tried to ignore that year coming right back to her. "Which is another thing we probably should've talked about ages ago." She grimaced, trying to keep her voice steady as she was suddenly extremely aware that they were still surrounded by other students. Couples even. Ones who were having a good time, which made her feel a pang of jealousy. "I- We- Can we just.. step outside or something..?"