My House

[Falon Urie]

Falon was frustrated. Everywhere she went, she couldn't find Cairo. Even in classes, it seemed as the two were opposite magnets, that fate kept pushing them apart no matter how hard she tried to catch up with him, or catch his eye. It was like over the break, she became invisible to him, someone that he'd never met before. Falon knew she hadn't done anything wrong. She couldn't have, she would've realized, or was sure he would have pulled her up on it. Something was going on with him, and she didn't know why he was taking it out on her, but she was going to find out.
They'd just finished a class together, and she rushed to catch up with Cairo. She followed the back of his blonde hair, feeling clumsy as she shoved her books into her bag, trying to not lose sight of him. This was just getting ridiculous. "Cairo! Stop!" Falon yelled at him. He paused, thank merlin, and the Gryffindor took the moment to catch up to him, grab his arm and pull him into the classroom next to them, which she was sure was the unused classroom. Thankfully, there was no one in there, so Falon turned around and glared at the boy. "What is going on?!"

Out of Character:

GM approved

 

[Cairo Savage]

The events of the holidays caused Cairo to realize his worst fear: That if someone knew about his family and who he really was they would use him. It had been a fear constantly on his mind as a child and the reason he and Rome put up so many walls and fabricated so many lies to keep themselves safe when they began school at Hogwarts. However it was a fear he had managed to forget throughout the years as he made genuine friends. But he now knew forgetting that fear and being his true self to others was stupid of him, and only lead him to be hurt in the end. Not wanting to be hurt again by people he cared about was the reason Cairo avoided his 'friends' upon returning to Hogwarts for his seventh year and why he was avoiding Falon the most out of everyone else he knew.

However it was just his luck that Falon, of all people, managed to catch up with him. Following him and even dragging him into the abandoned classroom after one of their shared lessons. Her persistence was one of the many things he liked about her but he would be lying to himself if he said he liked her persistence in pursuing him when he had gone out of his way to avoid her. In an ideal world she would have left him alone and he would have reverted to his studies not wanting to feel hurt or used again by someone else, but of course this was not ideal and he felt obliged to answer Falon as she asked what was going on with him, even if he answered with a lie. "Nothing is going on." Cairo said. "I am focusing on my studies this year." He added hoping it would be enough to get Falon off his back. He trusted her and liked her far more than he was willing to admit out loud but he also was not about to let himself get hurt again regardless of the fact Falon was a different person and someone that had been his friend even after getting to know him.​

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this is super late sorry!!

 

[Falon Urie]

At Cairo's reply, Falon narrowed her eyes, before whacking him on the arm. "Tell me the truth!" She demanded. It was a weak response, he had to know it. There was no way she'd let him off that easy; their relationship friendship meant more to her than that. There was no explanation from him prior to this; if he had previously told her that he wanted to focus on his studies, Falon would've been fine with that. She would have left him alone. But to just quit the friendship for no reason was not okay to Falon. She didn't want to admit that the real reason she felt so hurt was because she was beginning to hope that there could be something between them. The Gryffindor took a step back, bringing her hands to her head before folding her arms and staring at Cairo again. "So, focusing on studies means no 'hello'? No smiles, nothing?" Was she just imagining this?

 

[Cairo Savage]

Cairo blinked, surprised that Falon knew him well enough to distinguish between when he was honest or lying to keep himself safe from harm. He continued to stare at her, watching as she showed evident frustration while he considered the option of telling her why he was avoiding her. They knew each other well, having met in their earlier years of school and become what he considered to be close friends. Enough that Falon knew what he was truly like rather than a fabricated front he put up with others. But telling her the events of the holidays meant sharing with her why he put up walls around himself in the first place and that was a level of vulnerable he never wanted to be. The aftermath from being betrayed and his fear that no one truly saw him as a person and cared about him, only treating him like a means to an end was still fresh in his mind and any sense of being vulnerable felt one million times more terrifying than it had been during his previous school year. Cairo sighed and looked to the ceiling, before returning his gaze to Falon. "Do I need to tell you the complete truth?" He asked, trying to find a medium that he was comfortable with that would also give Falon what she wanted. "Can I just tell you part of it, and then we can go back to normal where I give you hellos, smiles and whatever else you want while you and pretend like there is nothing wrong with me?" He hoped his suggestion was enough for her and that he could deal with his issues alone because that was the only way he knew to handle things. That or letting Rome fight his battles for him.​

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[Falon Urie]

Falon's frown stayed evident on her face as Cairo took his time to reply, sighing and not looking at her. If asked, she'd deny the real reason on why this was bothering her so much, but she thought she had every right to ask as a friend why he was being lousy. When Cairo answered, Falon sighed and took a small step back, dropping her hands from their fold, and running one hand through her hair. Anger was always her go-to. It was always the easiest emotion for her, but it seemed that it wasn't the best one in this situation. It was interesting, that Cairo was the only one that she'd drop her anger for, even without good reason. Even Lyra and Felix had to have good reasons for her to calm down, but something about Cairo made her want him to like her, to be happy, and her yelling at him, or being cross with him didn't seem to get that result. "Cairo, I'm your friend. We don't have to pretend like there's nothing wrong, there's something wrong with all of us. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to but - it's not going to be back to normal if you're just pretending." Falon said, trying to be gentle.

 

[Cairo Savage]

Falon was right, things were not going to be back to normal if he was anything other than honest. But the problem was that Cairo arrived to school not wanting his life to be back to normal, instead wanting to keep to himself and Rome who was the only person he trusted in the world that would never use him. It was Falon who wanted things to be normal for them. Falon was someone he trusted too, and he had no reason not to trust her, but being betrayed had forced him to question everything he thought he knew about the friends he had made. Or in Falon's case, something more than friends. It was all too much to think about and it made him bring his hand to his face, pinching he bridge of his nose as he felt a headache come on from the stress. "I know. " He then admitted, taking another moment to think before asking, "What do you want me to do, then? What is normal to you?" The fact was obvious, Falon was not going to back down and let him push her away like he wanted to do with everyone else. She was a gryffindor who stopped at nothing and it was one of the many things he liked about her. He just never expected it to be the reason he finally decided to break the habit of withdrawing from his loved ones whenever something bad happened to him. Or at least begin to break the habit. All he could really do was give in and accept that she wanted to be around him regardless of how much he wanted to be alone.​

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[Falon Urie]

As Cairo paused, Falon stayed still. Concern started to brew in her stomach as she became aware that perhaps there was something actually going on, and it wasn't just to do with her. She watched as he pinched his nose, starting to feel bad that she was causing him more stress, but Falon knew that she probably never would have let this go. When he asked her what she wanted him to do, she took deep breath. What could she say? Admit that he's always loved her and wants to be with her forever? That was cheesy, way too cheesy for Falon. The Gryffindor girl sighed. "I just want to talk to you again." She said, before taking a small step closer again, placing her hands gently on either side of Cairo's arms. "You can talk to me, you know."

 

[Cairo Savage]

Hearing that Falon only wanted to talk to him again, the real him and not a front he put up, made Cairo relax slightly. It should have been obvious and logical for him to understand that someone he knew well, who had been around him for years and not run away or scrunched their nose at anything about him, would want to be around him. His sense of logic was different to what was expected or obvious, and it always had been. His admittedly hypocritical and self serving sense of logic told him everyone was out to get something from him, wanting what he could provide rather than wanting him as a person. Falon saying that she just wanted to talk to him was eye opening on one hand, although disappointing on another as whether he could admit it to her or if he should admit it at all, he did want more than just talking. It might have been dysfunctional of him to think in such a way, but knowing that she wanted to talk to him for no reason other than liking him as a person gave him butterflies in a way he had not experienced before. Not even in the holidays before the small ability he had developed to instill trust in other people had been shattered. Cairo relaxed further when she moved her hands, placing them on his arms. In turn he moved his hand from his face to look at her. "Right, you want to talk to me again." He repeated her words back to her. "Only talk?" He then asked, attempting to gauge whether Falon, too, wanted more than talking and friendship, or if he was delusional and everything he felt was one sided without wanting to make himself too vulnerable in the process. Considering his history, he expected the latter to be true. It would be typical of him to take a healthy friendship to be more than what it was given he had made few healthy friendships before. At least whatever a healthy friendship could be for him when he went out of his way to distance himself from other people.​

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[Falon Urie]

Falon kept her eyes on Cairo as he turned and looked at her. She never thought of herself as the type of girl to be putty in a man's hands but as their eyes connected, Falon couldn't help but understand how the other girls felt. The Gryffindor girl couldn't explain the feelings that she felt for Cairo, she had never experienced feeling so vulnerable before, but at the same time, completely trusted the boy in front of her. Why shouldn't she trusted him? They had been friends for so long, Falon harboring her feelings for so long, but he had never treated her badly. It was ridiculous how much she liked seeing his face, how much she enjoyed being in his company even if they didn't talk, Falon just wanted to be near him. It was ridiculous how she liked how sometimes he ran his hand through his hair when his fringe fell into his face, how his eyes were often brighter than the sky. When he asked if talking was the only thing she wanted to do, Falon's body made the decision before her brain did. She moved her face forward, placing a somewhat awkward but gentle kiss on Cairo's mouth for the briefest of brief seconds.
Falon suddenly took a step back, dropping one hand and putting the other on her mouth for a second, looking down. "Sorry - I -I shouldn't have." Merlin, now she was apologizing? He must have had some magical power over her.

 

[Cairo Savage]

Cairo's initial reaction to the closing of the space between them was one of shock, causing his body to freeze as he held his breath. Falon's hands on his arms were one thing but kissing was different. The bridging of a gap he wasn't entirely prepared for even if he wanted more than friendship with her. What he expected instead was for Falon to give him a straight answer in words, a simple confirmation of whether she wanted more than talking, and the unexpectedness of the kiss washed away any sense of relaxed he felt and caused him to feel claustrophobic in the otherwise empty room. Even if her actions were telling of what she wanted without words and it was too obvious for him to overthink or deny it, he felt a sense of dread to what would happen next - the last time he kissed someone being a preface to the reason he returned to school avoiding everyone he knew. Countless thoughts circled his mind and he could not settle on any particular thing to think let alone react to the kiss, keeping him from moving at all until Falon withdrew her touch and apologized. It was when she spoke that he finally breathed again, the distance allowing him to process what happened. "I-" He stopped himself from speaking, realizing he could not conjure words to say that seemed significant enough of a response. Several moments passed before he decided to follow Falon's lead, speaking with actions and running on adrenaline as he reached his hand forward to intertwine it with hers, pulling her closer again and kissing her back. An action that was telling enough of his own feelings and one he hoped would make up for being too shocked to kiss her properly the first time. ​

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[Falon Urie]

As Cairo stopped himself from speaking, Falon's heart sank. Now, she had not only ruined any chance of a relationship that she craved with the boy, she had also destroyed what chance there was at getting their friendship back. For the first time in her life, Falon wanted to run. She wasn't going to, it would only make things worse, but she understood what it was like to have that feeling. To not want to face the situation. Relationships were stupid, surely her brother had taught her that enough. Love was a myth! There was no point in falling for someone, in having feelings for anyone. As they both stayed in their spots, the moments stretching out longer for Falon than she thought was normal before Cairo pulled her towards him. In that second when their lips met, all her stress about running away and love disappeared. He was kissing her back! She needed to kiss him back too then, again. Falon let her hand that was not still holding his, move up his chest and rest on his shoulder, and she couldn't quite believe that this was happening. Falon didn't want to ruin the moment, but she couldn't help it, pulling back, only slightly, looking up into his eyes, which were very close, so she had to flick between the two. "You're kissing me." She stated softly, the only words that managed to come out.