Closed Don't Let Me Go

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava hadn't been dressing carefully. At all. She didn't want to be too dressed up. This wasnt a date. He'd probably forget and she'd spend a few hours alone at the cliffs lamenting her own stupidity. Still, she had one sandwhich cut into two triangles, perfect for sharing. A book she'd pretend to read. And a blanket to sit on.

She made it to the cliffs and settled in, opening her book and nibbling on her half of the sandwhich. This was just a regular lunch. Nothing to be worried about. Now if she could say that enough times, maybe she would believe it.

 

[Philip Maxwell]

Philip prepared very well. He had a basket on hand filled with Ava's favorite food and drink. He took another tablet for his allergies as he wanted to bring her pink roses. As soon as everything was set, he quickly left the kitchens abd hurried outside. He could already spot the Ravenclaw from afar. Perfect. She did not see him coming. Quickening his steps, he reached the spot and seto down the basket before gazing at her. "Hi.", he was breathless.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava was so caught up pretending she didnt care she didnt hear him coming. She nearly jumped out of her skin, almost dropping her book. She looked up to Philip, eyes wide. He actually came. She swallowed nervously, trying not to blush too badly. "Hi," she greeted softly, setting her book down. "How are you?" She questioned softly, trying to make small talk.

 

[Philip Maxwell]

Philip lightly chuckled at Avaria's reaction. Like she expected that he would not come. The rose colored cheeks suited her. With the pink roses, in hand, he slightly opened his arms. "Do I get a hug?" He hoped she would give him one.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava hesitated, moving to offer a quick, one armed hug before moving back to her seat. She tucked her legs underneath her, going back to eating her sandwich and looking out over the cliffs. Alright, he'd actually shown up. She hadn't expected that. She wasnt sure what to do now, though, so she left it up to him.

 

[Philip Maxwell]

Philip was a bit disappointed that the hug was brief. He perfectly understood since they were not on that stage yet. He looked at Ava eating a sandwich. "You call that lunch?", picking up the basket and knelt down across her. "I'm hubgry and ai know you are too." He started pulling out the containers of food, all of them her favorites.

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava shrugged at his question, glancing over in surprise. He was pulling food from the basket, and it did look really yummy. It was just... her favorite foods from a year or so ago, before her last growth spurt. She had adored the sweeter foods for a long time, cheesecakes and strawberry jellies. But lately she'd been favoring more... apple crumbles and plum jams. She gave him a small smile, trying to be happy that he'd at least remembered what she used to like. "You didnt need to bring lunch," she murmured, "but thank you."

 

[Philip Maxwell]

Philip noticed the lack of enthusiasm at what he brought. She was too polite. He could not help but sigh. "Ava? Sorry, Avaria.", he corrected himself. "Is something wrong? Don't you like them?" He checked the food, forgetting the pink roses. He was getting anxious, afraid that he had made a mistake that would cause him to lose her.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader had been invited by Ava to lunch on the cliff, it wasn’t something she did often, but it was enough that he was usually able to carve out enough time to do it. On this particular day, Vader had gotten a little caught up with his work, too focused on developing some of the pictures from valentines that he’d lost track of the time. But when he had noticed he’d grabbed what he needed, the camera and the coffee and headed outside. His sleep had been a little better that night, since after all of the business of the day he tended to sleep much better. But, he hadn’t gotten nearly as much sleeps as most others would. He approached the cliffs and noticed that Ava was not exactly alone, and it only took him one guess to figure out who it was. Philip. He knew that the boy had been reaching out, but this seemed different. Vader was suddenly a little nervous and he could feel his hands shaking. He approached tentatively, ”Hey Helene,” he greeted her nervously, ”hey Philip,” he added shyly. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava bit her lip at Philip's nervousness. Oh, lord, he was so cute. 'I do like them, it's very sweet of you," she reassured him. She heard a familiar voice then, and couldn't help the way her eyes lit up. "Timmy!" She hopped to her feet, feeling more relaxed. She hugged him, pulling back and taking his drink. She sipped it, sticking out her tongue and scrunching her nose in distaste. "Ew, I thought you were cutting back on coffee," she gave it back, taking his hand and pulling him down to sit with her. She dug in her bag, pulling out the muffin she had brought for Vader and offering it to him. She gave the other half of her sandwhich to Philip, trading it for a container. She opened it, surprised to see a small slice of strawberry cheesecake. It had been a while since she had one. She gave the boys a smile, glancing around for a fork.

 

[Philip Maxwell]

Before Avaria had the chance to answer, her attention was caught by someone coming. He did not need to turn to see who it was. Avaria's reaction alone told him. When the Gryffindor greeted him, he smiled. "Hello, Vader." He scooted to make room. He was not exactly seated yet but when he moved, he caught sight of the roses. Just as he was about to pick them up and hand them to Ava, he watched her take out a muffin and gave to the boy. His heart ached because Ava did not even care to offer something to him when he appeared. She gave me half of her sandwich though. He smiled his thanks and felt better when she took one of the containers. It had the strawberry cheesecake inside. Philip quickly dug for the fork he packed, taking it our and gave it to her. "Here." He got one more and picked another container before giving it to Vader. "Here. Good thing I packed a lot.", he smiled. He promised Ava he would try to get along with the boy. Surprisingly, it was not that hard.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader expected the reaction from Helene, and he wrapped his arms around her as she hugged him. He looked towards Philip as Ava pulled away, unable to help himself from looking at the other boy. He smiled a little, still feeling a little tense as Ava tried his coffee, ”I’m trying. Do you drink coffee Philip?” he told her, but let her drag him down to sit, he added a little question trying to hide behind it a little and pretend like he wasn't visibly nervous. He took back the coffee from her and then looked to the muffin she gave him. It was as he took a first small bite of this and glanced around the picnic that he noted the roses and the way they’d both packed food and Vader in theory only brought his coffee and his camera. He had thought it would just be him and Ava and he realised Philip had probably thought it would just be him and ava. He looked at Ava who seemed to be relaxed by him, and he knew that she felt a bit conflicted about Philip and maybe she wanted him there to counteract a little. He looked at the container and smiled. He took it but given he still had the muffin he didn’t open it. ”I can’t stay too long, there’s piles of pictures still needing to be developed,” he said, which would give him an out when he needed it. ”How are you both?” he asked, unsure what else to say, and being careful to never keep his gaze on philip too long and keep something in his hands so it wasn’t so obvious they were shaking. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava pouted a bit at Vader. "Well, as long as you're trying." She conceded. She took the fork from Philip with a quiet thank you, opening it up and taking a bite. It was still good, it had been a while since she'd even looked twice at a slice of cheesecake. "Do you need help with that?" She shot him a look, fully intending to take off whenever Vader did. She was still on edge. She considered his question a moment, wishing she had remembered something to drink. "My day's okay," She decided on. "I'm sorry I didn't have more prepared, I didn't really know who would be here, or if I'd eat alone," She explained. "I know how busy you are right after school events," She directed at Vader, not bothering to state the obvious that she hadn't trusted Philip to be there. Still, he was trying, so she decided she could give him a little bit to work with. "Philip, it's been a while since we've talked, how are things?" She decided on asking a more basic question.

 

[Philip Maxwell]

All Philip could do was watch Ava and Vader's interaction. Clearly, a lot has changed since they last spoke to each other. Philp could already see that with Vader, Ava was happier. Friend or more, he did not deserve her. Still, he had to stay put and masked his face with a smile. At Vader's statement about leaving soon, his heart rejoiced a bit although he was certain the Ravenclaw would follow suit. When asked about how their day was, he shrugged while he listened to Ava. Just then, Ava directed her question at him. "Nothing much. I guess.", not knowing how to answer that question. How could he tell her that he was sulking whenever he was alone and just tried to avoid her so she would not get hurt by him anymore while trying to get glimpses of her from afar.

 

[Vader Hume]

Vader looked at Ava when she asked him if he needed help with it, he knew she liked to spend time with him at the accio room, and he could figure that she was asking because of Philip, so he just nodded, ”I could use some help,” Vader told her, keeping his gaze on her for a little moment longer. He nodded, ”It’s fine Ava, it’s more than enough,” he assured her, since he didn’t ever tend to eat that much which she was aware of. He also didn’t want her to feel bad about things, especially since she did mention that he tended to be quite busy after the celebrations, ”I’ve always got time for you Helene,” he told her with a smile. He always tried to create time with her, knowing that she was always so calm and patient with him and she deserved the same back. He looked towards Philip as the boy replied to the question, if he was hoping to win Vader’s favour not answering much maybe wasn’t the way he’d go about it. ”I’m pretty nervous about these OWLs since the accio deadline is just after them, I don’t think I’ll sleep for a month,” there was a joking tone and a small smile on his face, but he knew that Ava was unlikely to enjoy the joke, but Vader just hoped to break the tension a little. ​

 

[Avaria Lockwood]

Ava smiled at Vader, squeezing his hand before going back to her cheesecake. She pouted a little at Philip's answer. She grimaced at Vader's entire sentence. "Dont remind me of the owls," she complained lightly, scrunching her nose. She took Vaders coffee again, thirsty, only to scrunch her nose again at the taste. "I'm terrible at studying," she grumbled, putting Vaders coffee back. "As for your sleep," she poked Vader's ribs. That just means you're napping during the day." She told him firmly, leaving no room for arguing. She looked back to Philip, appreciating the effort he had put into being here.

"So..." she thought a moment. "I'm not sure how much you've been paying attention." She started, folding her hands in her lap. "I have four siblings now," she announced, "Emily is a year younger and Arthur is a first year," she told Philip, "And the twins were born not long ago." She looked to Vader. "And my dad is getting married." She wasnt sure if she was inviting Philip yet, but she knew she was bringing Vader no matter what.

 

[Philip Maxwell]

Philip took out a container for himself, opened it to find sandwiches. He took one and gave it to Ava before giving one to Vader. "Atleast eat before you get drowned with your tasks.", he offered. The Slytheirn was not that involved in school but he could symphatize. That and Vader was Ava's best friend. He listened to Ava, talking about her siblings. That is why she was surrounded by young students at some point. He was an older brother himself but sad that Diana was in another school. "Wow, four siblings.And twins.", he was fascinated with twins, even envy them at times. "Are the twins boys or girls? What are their names?", he asked. "Congratulations then." he commented on her father getting married. "How...how do you feel about your dad's new bride?", he asked hesitantly. "Avaria, you don't need to answer that if you're bothered by it.I'm sorry."