Closed More Than You Could Ever Know

[Sawyer Carnahan]

Sawyer fixed his collar, wondering not for the first time he should have worn a tie. Estella was a lot better at this fashion stuff than he was and Sawyer had no idea if no tie was cooler or if he just looked like an idiot. He'd probably be having the exactly mental conversation if he had worn a tie, so maybe it was better to just force his hands away from his shirt for more than 30 seconds and he could try to relax. After all, he'd actually made it this far, properly here with Essie. All he had to do was relax, have a good time, and pointedly not think about what had happened last time they had been near each other at a school dance. As difficult as that was.

"Hall's a little different this year, it's nice," he said, figuring it'd probably been just slightly too long without him speaking now that his mini tie crisis had been mostly abated. The large tree in the center of the hall was quite a statement, though Sawyer rather liked how it broke up the hall. And made an excellent hiding spot if he wanted to avoid certain Gryffindor keepers. "Do you maybe wanna.. Dance?" He offered, gathering enough courage to glance back over to Essie. He'd figured the less he looked at her, the less he was likely to sweat, but it would make this evening extremely difficult. And besides, he wasn't kidding anyone by pretending he hadn't spent half the year already sappily staring at her anyway.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

The last time Essie went on a date with someone to one of the school's events, it didn't turn out very well, and so admittedly Essie was a little hesitant to be going with Sawyer to the Yule Ball. But if she had to go with someone, Sawyer was the most perfect person. He had been nice to her, even after everything that had happened, and somehow she felt them growing closer with every passing day, which made Essie happier than she had been for a while.

At Sawyer's comment about the hall, Essie nodded. "Yeah, I like it." she said honestly, glad that it was different. It made the whole vibe different, and that was what she wanted so she could have a special night with him. She took his hand as he asked her to dance. "Of course." She couldn't help the smile on her face as she led them onto the dance floor and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Thanks for, you know, being my date." she told him softly, thankful to have someone like him.

 

[Sawyer Carnahan]

It wasn't like Sawyer hadn't been expecting Essie to turn him down on the offer to dance but he still let out a sigh of relief when she did, letting her tow her along to the dance floor. This close to her though, her arms around his neck, he was sure she could somehow hear how fast his heart was beating, gingerly resting his hands on her waist as they started a slow, circular pattern. Sawyer wouldn't call himself much of a dancer, but he could suffer through it for this. Heck, he'd take a bludger if it meant getting to stuff like this with Essie more often.

"I feel like I should be thanking you," he said sheepishly. "You look a lot nicer all dressed up at least." Merlin she had pretty eyes, had she always had such pretty eyes or was it just the lighting in here? "Is that what this is though? A date, I mean? I just- Wasn't sure..." Sawyer tried to stop himself from ruining the moment but the question had been on his mind too long the past few weeks. He'd been trying and apparently failing to ask Estella out, unable to bring himself to state outright that he was interested romantically, and now apparently he was ready to start saying things he was going to regret. "I just feel like I've been getting mixed signals since- you know-" Sawyer needed to stop talking. He'd pointedly not brought up the kiss or Nikko or anything ever, even he could tell Essie didn't want to talk about it, but with it hanging over their heads he was sure he was never going to get the guts to ask her out properly until he figured out what was going on in her head.

 

[Estella Fuentes]

Estella blushed when Sawyer complimented her outfit. She always did try her best, and knew that she was looking good, but hearing it from Sawyer gave it a whole new meaning, especially since it sounded so genuine. "Well, I like to think it's a date." she said, dancing along to the music with him. She felt a little guilty as he said she'd been giving him mixed signals. She knew that was true, and really had no excuse for it, but with Sawyer being honest to her right now, Essie knew that she had to be honest back to him. She had learnt a lot during the past year, and one of those things was to always be as honest as she could. "Sawyer... I-I really like you... I always have." She was suddenly feeling nervous and hoped it wouldn't scare him away. Perhaps if she finally said it out loud she would stop feeling so tense around him all of the time. "I'm sorry that things happened and I sort of dragged you into it. But I like you Sawyer... and I mean more than just friends."