Closed Crushing Curiosity

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot had managed to keep his questions to himself for a moment as he and Lily left the arts room, trying to give her a chance to bring it up on her own. She'd run out to find him for a reason he figured, but they'd barely made it to the 3rd floor before he had to bring it up himself. "So.. someone sent you a rose?" He said lightly, pretending to look through his own remaining deliveries as a distraction. "Did they send you a note, too?" Elliot knew he was being nosy, and he wouldn't push if Lily really didn't want to talk about it.. But he really hoped she did.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily kept a light hold of the hem of Elliot's shirt as they walked, watching her feet as they moved. She went over how to bring it up in her head a hundred times over. She just... couldn't figure out what to say. 'Oh, El, the boy I like sent me a rose! A pink one! And now I'm panicking!' She bit her lip. No, that wasn't right. She jumped a little, startled as he spoke. She paused, her arm following as he kept moving. "I-i... yes." She managed softly. she put her free hand into her bag and pulled out the rose and the note, offering them to Elliot without a word. She kept her eyes on the flower, brow furrowed. She bit her lip. Would El be able to tell how nervous she was?

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot tried to give Lily a comforting smile when she passed him the note, making a point to walk slow enough that she could keep her grip on his shirt if she needed it. Clearly this rose/note stuff had gotten her pretty worked up. "Well, MS is Mihail, right? That's at least one mystery we don't need to stress about," He joked trying to keep his face neutral as he read the note. "This is good though right?" He jostled Lily encouragingly, "He clearly likes you, and you still like him...right?" Lily had seemed pretty over the moon about Mihail after the dance, and Elliot figured things probably hadn't changed yet. Out of all his roommates, Elliot knew Mihail the least, and he tried not to let it bother him too much that he was the guy Lily had ended up crushing on somehow. "So... does this mean you two are dating now..?" He asked, keeping his voice light.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily smiled tremulously at El as he joked with her. She wasn't sure if it would be better or worse if she didn't know the rose was from Mihail. She unthinkingly tightened her grip when he asked if she still liked Mihail. "Y-yes," She answered slowly. "He's really nice, and he's sweet, and he's a-always telling me nice things," She managed softly.

She froze completely as he asked if they were dating, her sky blue eyes going wide. "WHAT?!" She squeaked loudly before shaking her head. "I-i-i, n-no, we, um, we- I mean, I- me, I can't- I'm only 12!" She shook her head more, stepping back and wrapping her arms around her torso. She stuttered violently. "I-it's just- ah, I mean, I don't- I mean, I-i do, but n-not, I," She groaned and crouched down, tangling both hands in her hair as she panicked. She didn't know why she was reacting this way, but she couldn't calm down enough to stop.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot nodded encouragingly when Lily admitted she stilled liked Mihail. That was good then, right? "Okay, that's good.. I'm glad he says nice things," Elliot wasn't much like Rose, or maybe even Ren when it came to well, threatening anyone, but he'd definitely have some thing to say if Mihail upset Lily. Though he hoped that wouldn't happen.

Elliot almost kept walking when Lily froze beside him, turning back when she squeaked out a response to his question. He knew Lily's stutter got worse when she was upset or nervous, and Elliot felt terrible for asking something that so clearly made her panic like this. "Shh, hey it's okay," He said, crouching down next to her with his hands raised trying to calm her. "Uh, if you don't want to call it that that's fine, I'm sorry," He said, trying to decide if touching Lily would make her more or less upset. He settled for awkwardly patting her head, trying to untangle her hands from where she was pulling at her hair. "We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to.."

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily froze, looking up at Elliot with wide eyes as he crouched down in front of her. Slowly her breathing evened out, her eyes not leaving his as he detangled her hands from her hair. She sighed, leaning forward and pressing her face into his shoulder. "No, I- I'm sorry," She muttered. "I-i just, I get so, um, so scared, I think?" She spoke softly. "I mean, look at me," She sat back, pressing up against the wall and drawing her knees against her chest. Her hair fell forward to cover her face. "I'm just... shy, and awkward. I'm not good at school. I can't play guitar like Rose or draw such pretty things like Ren. I'm a mess. I'm not... good enough for that sorta stuff." She admitted slowly. How could she be in a relationship? It was okay for her to like someone, but for someone to like her? It was... hard to imagine, to say the least.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot let Lily move away with a frown. He knew Lily wasn't the most confident, and in a lot of ways he could relate, but it bothered him to hear how little Lily clear thought of herself. Cautiously, he settled down next to her, tucking his own knees up to his chin and thinking carefully before speaking. "Well.. I don't think people like you for playing the guitar or drawing.." He said slowly. "But you're really kind, and you're a good listener, and you care a lot about your friends and family," Elliot rested his chin on his knee and tried to catch Lily's eye. "I think that's plenty good enough," He said, looking away and shrugging. Elliot wasn't always good with words, and it was kind of embarrassing to say something so honest, but Lily was his best friend, and he hated seeing her so upset, especially about herself. "Besides," He added, knocking his shoulder against Lily's, "You're really good at baking too. That's definitely worth sticking around for." He smiled, hoping Lily could tell her was joking. She really was his best friend here, and she would be even if she was terrible at baking.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily peeked up at Elliot as he sat next to her, blushing and looking away as their eyes met. She paused as he started to speak, eyes widening at his words. Did... did he really think that? Her heart did a funny little skip in her chest, but she chalked it up to someone actually saying something so nice to her. She was startled out of her thoughts as he bumped his shoulder into hers. She gave him a small smile and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Thanks, El." She murmured softly. "I... still don't think I'm ready for... any of that," She swallowed nervously. "But... I do feel a little bit better. You're a really good friend."