Closed Drawing A Line

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah was used to feeling worried about one thing or another. Usually it whether or not her friends liked her, or how her lessons were going, or even what would be the next thing to tip her family into social ruin. But for this afternoon she felt fine. She had finished her studying ahead of time and wasn't due for patrols with Lysander for a few more hours. She had even managed to turn off her brain and enjoy the quite corner of the student lounge she had carved out for herself. She sat in a large chair next to a window and pulled out a book she had checked out from the library at the beginning of the semester but was just finding the time to crack it open now. She doubted she would have time to finish it before it had to be returned but she brushed that thought aside and held firm, wanting to enjoy herself.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer liked to think he'd been perfectly suave and cool when Finn had asked him to the ball but the more he thought about it the more he was sure he'd flubbed it somehow. He'd been repeating the conversation in his head as he headed down the corridor, pausing and sticking his head back in the student lounge when he spotted Delilah tucked away by a window. "Delilah, good, listen, I need you to listen to this conversation I just had and tell me if I was an idiot or not," Sawyer started, dragging over another chair to face her and flopping over the arms, his feet propped on the opposite arm as he got comfortable enough to recount the situation.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah hadn't made it past the first page in her book when she heard a familiar voice call her name. She was tempted to pretend she didn't hear and she was just too focused on her book to notice, but when he pulled up a chair beside her she knew it was useless. She didn't smile but she also didn't tell him to get lost. Her fear of offending was winning out against her fear of Ivy potentially seeing them being friendly. She had tried to keep her distance but it was hard considering they were in the same house. She still felt so confused about him. With a sigh she put done her book and didn't bother marking her page, she could remember the number. "Well I'd wager it was a fifty fifty chance." she said dryly and waited for him to explain.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer clicked his tongue at Delilah's response, figuring he should have seen that one coming. "Yeah, yeah, very funny. Please, I'm a man in distress," he said flatly, moving on recount the encounter with Finn, tracing shapes in the air with his hand as he talked. "You'd think him asking is a good sign right? Like he's definitely been flirting with me in practice and stuff but I don't really know if he date-dates anyone, you know?" Sawyer posited after finishing detailing what he'd said to Finn, rolling his head along the armrest to look at Delilah. "Are you going to the ball with anyone? Maybe we could like, double-date it up? Or would that make it more awkward..." Sawyer trailed off, blowing some of his hair out of his face with a huff. He'd never been very good at the whole dating thing, that was nothing new to anyone, but after how badly things had gone after Sawyer's last Ball date, he was fairly invested in not completely screwing this one up.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah sighed but finally cracked a hit of a smile when pleaded for her attention. She hated that she appreciated the times she felt like he needed her. It didn’t take long for her to feel silly again. Why was she surprised he had come to her with relationship questions? “Well if you’re not sure you could always ask.” she suggested feeling like a fraud, as if she had ever been direct with her feelings. She softened a little when he looked at her but that quickly went away when he brought up the ball. A year ago Sawyer asking about her ball plans would have made her heart soar only to be crushed again when he planned to take someone else. But now it just made her stomach hurt. She tightened the grip on her book. Sawyer mentioning potential awkwardness made her cheeks flush, knowing that he was thinking about Ivy and not her own feelings. "No. I don't have a date." she said quietly.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy was in a pretty good mood lately. The conversation with Flynn in the Trophy Room had been surreal but also strangely wonderful. She kept thinking about it and smiling to herself. The girl was humming softly on her way to the student lounge, a book under her arm. She smiled at the sight of Delilah, ready to join her when she suddenly realized who Delilah was talking to. Ivy's face fell, all happy thoughts were immediately forgotten. Almost on auto-pilot, Ivy walked over to the two and glowered at Sawyer before turning her attention to Delilah. "Is he bothering you?" She asked, her tone icy. It didn't look like it, it looked like a friendly conversation. But Ivy knew Delilah wouldn't still be friends with Sawyer after what he did, right?

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer rolled his eyes fondly at Delilah’s suggestion, stretching out a leg so he could nudge her with a toe in retaliation. “Gee, ask, why didn’t I think of that,” he said flatly. The idea of just asking Finn about his feelings make Sawyer want to crawl into the lake. He’d much rather talk in circles with Delilah if giving the choice. Or just live in perpetual suspense. He could handle it. He shrugged when Delilah mentioned not having a date, not wanting her to think it was a big deal and clam up when he had bigger fish to fry right now. He knew she wasn’t really on the dating scene but he hoped it didn’t bug her. “Maybe I could ask Theia for you-“ He started, freezing when Ivy appeared in his peripheral vision.

“Just. Two friends chatting. Normal stuff. No bothering here,” he said quickly before shutting his mouth closed with a click at the cold look on Ivy’s face. He wished she didn’t scare him so badly but he couldn’t resist the urge to sink down more in his chair to hide.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah felt her ears grow hot with embarrassment as Sawyer laughed off her suggestion. She couldn’t exactly blame him. It wasn’t very good advice and it was something she had never been able to follow through with herself. She had never told him how she had felt when she had the chance and she just had to live with it, so maybe he had to just carry around whatever was bothering him too. So they were even. "That's a good question." she said sarcastically and pulled her face into a weak smile when he nudged her with his toe and shrugged it off, like she did with everything else.

She tried to seem relaxed as they talked about plans for the dance but when Sawyer mentioned asking his sister Delilah froze. “No! Don’t!” she said quickly as if her life depended on it. She wasn’t sure why she felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest but it did. She liked Theia and even considered her a friend but the thought of going to the dance together made her face burn even brighter than before. She had been so distracted she hardly noticed when Ivy approached them. Her friend's icy words cut through her panic and she took a deep breath. Her eyes flicked between the two of them for a moment before she turned to Sawyer with her jaw set. “I don’t need you to ask someone to the dance for me. I don’t need your pity. Besides I’m not sure what you’d even say. It’s not like you’ve always been honest.” she said finally and was surprised by her words. They were harsh but she felt lighter now that they were out.

 

[Ivy Ashworth]

Ivy frowned at Sawyer as he said they were just two friends chatting. Her gaze moved to Delilah, torn between being hurt and being confused. Surely Delilah wasn't still friends with Sawyer? After everything? Ivy stared at her friend again, wondering what she would say. Her shoulders relaxed slightly as Delilah spoke, as it was clear she didn't like Sawyer any more than Ivy did. "Is he trying to get you a date?" She asked, raising her eyebrow. "I didn't think that was your strong point, Sawyer. I remember you running away from me." She said, smiling slightly.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer raised an eyebrow when Delilah hurriedly objected, raising his hands in a placating gesture. He had only been spitballing but Delilah's strong reaction was unexpected. Even more unexpected was what she said next, causing Sawyer to shut his mouth with a quick click, eyebrows furrowed in hurt confusion. It didn't help they had Ivy leering over them either, the whole situation forcing Sawyer to right himself in the chair he'd been lounging, swinging his legs down onto the ground. If he was going to get ganged up on here, he wanted to be at least upright for it.

"What's that supposed to mean? Are you just saying cause she's here?" He asked Delilah pointedly, jerking his head towards Ivy. Partly because he didn't want to really acknowledge Ivy, and maybe partly cause he was still a little scared of her. "I was trying to be a friend," he said shortly, chancing a look at Ivy before quickly looking back at Delilah. Had she just been hanging out with him to get dirt to send back to Ivy or something? It seemed uncharacteristically petty for Delilah, but then again so did what she'd just said to him.

 

[Delilah Thorne]

Delilah felt like her head was spinning and it might float off without her. She had never been one for confrontation but now that she started there was no way to really turn back. The whole thing with Sawyer asking Ivy to the dance and lying about kissing her had happened almost a year ago but the hurt of it all still felt fresh, especially right now. She felt a bit more grounded as she felt Ivy next to her, backing her up. She had always admired her friend's boldness and right now she needed it. “It means, I don’t trust you. Not anymore.” she started. “And maybe if you stopped talking about yourself for once I could have told you that.” Delilah said as she balled her fists in her lap to hide the fact that her hands were probably shaking. She was so tired of trying to play nice and keep the peace. She wanted to have her dramatic moment. She wanted to feel her feelings for once.

“Yeah well friends don’t lie.” she added sharply when he tried to use that word against her. There had been a time when all she had wanted was to be his friend but right now she couldn’t be around him. Delilah tried to collect her things as quickly as she could but her hands were shaking and a million thoughts swirled in her mind. “I can’t believe I liked you. I can’t believe I wanted you to like me.” The words spilled out before she could stop them and she thought she might be sick. She really had to leave now and she tried to move even faster. “Don’t talk to me anymore.” she said with surprising firmness as she shoved the last thing into her bag and stood up quickly.