Closed Heart to Heart

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily was glad to have the chance to see Elliot- he was coming over for a sleepover after he was done with his shift. She had spent the day making them all sorts of treats, turning her room into a giant fort. She was eager for him to get back, they hadn't really spent much time together since he had broken up with Lars. She knew why, and she had warned everyone to leave them alone tonight. She didn't know how it was going to go, but it was time for her and Elliot to clear the air between them. She needed her best friend, greatly, and she couldn't stand how they had been tiptoeing around each other without Lars. She sat in her fort, waiting for him to arrive.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Working at Ollivander's was.. A lot. Elliot had been finding learning the different way wand woods and cores all worked together fascinating, but it was still busy and a lot of time on his feet and by the end of the day he was ready to just lie down and not move for the next 12 hours. It didn't help that he was dreading hanging out with Lily tonight. Not that he didn't want to see her, it wouldn't have been too hard to make some excuse about work or his dad so he didn't have to, but he hadn't expected to be so tired either. Things with Lily had been tense last year. There were clearly things Lily wanted to say and Elliot couldn't push her to say them without feeling like he was being a jerk. So they just traded bland small talk most of the year, talking about Quidditch or classes, all while Elliot could feel things with Lars or even something else just hanging over both their heads.

Grateful for the convenience of the floo network, Elliot made his way to Lily's place, sending a quick hello to her parents before being directed upstairs. He found it a touch suspicious he didn't spot Ren or Rose lurking about, but he wasn't about to complain. "Hey, Lils," He said, knocking gently on the door before pushing it open, smiling at the fort she's put together. "Perfect, I'm just going to lie right here and not move forever," He said, dropping face down onto one of the cushions.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily smiled as Elliot came in, scooting closer and running her fingers through his hair. "El?" She asked softly. She scooted closer, giving him her biggest blue eyes. "I can't take this anymore. Can we talk?" She ran her fingers down his arm. "I don't like having things between us..." She bit her lip. "We haven't talked since... Since before you broke up with Lars. I didn't even know you were going to..." She sighed. "Please?" She asked softly. "Talk to me."

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot pressed his face into the pillow, hoping that if he closed his eyes tight enough maybe Lily wouldn't make him have to have an uncomfortable conversation right now. "That tickles," He defeatedly, mumbling into the pillow before rolling enough to squint at her and sigh. "We talk.. We talk all the time," He said defensively, knowing full well what she was talking about. Elliot thought about his conversation with Alice before the year had ended and how much it had felt like that had helped things before sighing again. "What specifically did you wanna talk about?" He asked, rolling over onto his back and pulling a spare pillow into his arms to fuss with. He was pretty sure the answer would be 'Lars', but maybe she just wanted to talk about Clifton for a bit again and he could pretend things were normal again.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily smiled softly, brushing his hair back. She had thought about this question a lot. "You." She responded gently. "You're my best friend, El. You started dating Lars without talking about it, and then out of nowhere you broke up with him without talking about it either. Not why you did, or how you feel now." She played with the fringe on his pillow, eyes searching his face. "What's going on, El?" She inquired softly.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot scrunched his eyes closed as Lily fussed with his hair, feeling her fingers brush over his forehead. He sighing, knowing the Lars stuff was coming. It wasn't like he'd been hiding anything from her. Or like she had said anything about her crush on Clifton until they were already dating. Sometimes he just got so in his head it was hard to bring anything up. "I don't know, the Lars stuff- It happened so fast when we got together, and then it was kind of weird cause he's your friend too and Katy kept telling me I had to be honest and it was easier to just. Not think about it for awhile. Until I couldn't. And then I could tell it was bothering you too and I didn't want to sit around complaining about something that I did because it would upset everyone else especially when you clearly didn't want to talk about it either. It was just easier to not say anything," Elliot said, stopping to catch his breath, eyes trained on Lily's ceiling and not her face.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily listened quietly as he went on, understanding what he was saying. She curled up against him. "Yeah... I do miss him. I didn't want you to feel guilty. It isn't your fault. But he was right about one thing. You are my best friend." She ran her fingers over his side. "It's okay. If you want to complain, or cry, or yell, I'm always going to listen. I don't care if you did it or not. You're my best friend," she repeated, smiling softly. "I will always support everything you do, Elliot. Even if I don't understand, I'll be right here." She looked up at him. "Do you want to talk about it?"

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot sighed again, pulling the cushion in his hands over his face and scrunches his eyes shut tightly. This was what he'd wanted, in theory. The okay to just complain and feel sorry for himself that he'd managed to screw things up bad enough that he'd not only wrecked things between him and Lars, but Lars and Lily too. But it just didn't sit right. He'd done something crappy and besides classes being awkward and uncomfortable, life had just continued on. Everyone was just endlessly understanding and encouraging all the time and Elliot didn't see how that was fair. At least Lars had the decency to seem mad at him, but he wouldn't speak to Elliot either. "Don't you ever get upset at anyone?" He asked Lily miserably, pulling the cushion away from his face when it came out muffled. "I was awful to Lars, I- I lied to him for almost a year and then just dumped him. And now you can't talk to either of your friends about it cause I messed it all up. Why aren't you mad about it?" He asked her, propping himself up his elbows to look at her.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily chuckled a little as Elliot asked why she wasn't mad. "My sister is angry enough about everything for both of us." She poked his cheek. "If you want someone to yell at you because you think you deserve it, I'm sure she would be happy to help." She smiled. "I think the entire thing was a mess, but I also think we're kids and still trying to figure life out. If I'm going to be mad at something, it's going to be Lars for punishing me for something you did." She leaned her head on Elliot's shoulder. "Or I'll be mad that you haven't talked to me. I'm your best friend, Elliot, I will always have your back." She sat up, taking a pillow and smacking him with it with each word to enunciate her point. "Talk. To. Me." She smacked him again. "I can't understand what you don't tell me." She pouted.

 

[Elliot Briar]

Elliot batted Lily's hand away from his face with an aggravated huff. He was starting to think if maybe Lars was the only one properly upset about what he'd done. "When did you get so wise and collected," He asked her dejectedly dropping back onto cushions below. For a petty moment, Elliot almost wished things were more like they were in their first year, with Lily being so scared and anxious that Elliot could feel more in control when he could help her. He wasn't sure he liked the feeling when it was reversed now. He couldn't help when Lily accused him of not talking to her though, grabbing at the pillow she was smacking him with. "You're one to talk," He said sourly, shoving the pillow away. "I could tell you weren't saying things to me the whole semester. It's like no one wants to tell me that I'm being a jerk so I just get to spend months telling it to myself and it sucks," Elliot said, lowering his voice some when he realized he'd gotten too loud. It was so hard to believe Lily was just swallowing all this, how badly he'd treated Lars. How unpleasant the last semester had been for both of them, and now here she was acting like nothing was wrong.

 

[Lillian Lockwood]

Lily smiled at his first comment, though when he grabbed the pillow and half yelled at her, her brow furrowed. She didn't like it when he yelled. "I didn't know what to do," She shot back. "You weren't telling me anything, and Lars wasn't telling me anything, so I couldn't be mad at anyone," She scolded him. "It was months before I even realized why you two broke up," She poked his cheek. "Next time you want me to be mad at you, El, you have to give me enough information so that I can be mad at you." She stretched out on the blankets again. "Now, enough is enough, stop feeling sorry for yourself and cuddle with me, meanie," She pouted, opening up her arms.