Open Not Quite The Right Words

[Louis Alcott]

Louis had given up any pretense of doing his homework. Ever since his conversation with René last year, he hadn't been able to stop thinking about Caleb. Did he... like him? It seemed likely, though Louis had never really focused his attention on one person like thatat before. Caleb wasn't just a friend to him, though, and he wasn't just a hookup either. So it had to be something more fundamental. Something that tied his insides up in knots made it even more impossible for him to focus. He had sworn René to secrecy, convinced he could win over Caleb in a heartbeat. But that had been wrong. Caleb seemed to have no interest in getting wooed, he seemed strangely immune to Louis' charms in a way he hadn't been before. It was annoying. So after abandoning any plans of doing his homework outside in the sunshine, Louis had changed his tactic to writing a love note to Caleb. Something so mind-blowingly beautiful that Caleb would immediately fall for him. The one problem was, Louis wasn't a writer. He could usually think of the right thing to say, but that didn't translate to words. He was lying on the grass on his front, his parchment propped up on his textbook. There were a few failed attempts littered around him, crumpled up in frustration. Louis focused on his best handwriting as he wrote.

Dear Caleb,

You're very handsome.

He stared at his words on the page, wondering where to even go from there. It didn't sound charming at all. It just sounded like a statement. He cursed under his breath, there was no salvaging this. He ripped a piece off the parchment and tossed it behind him. Trying again with a blank piece.


Some failed attempts lying around him:

Dear Caleb,

You are such a wonderful, nice, cool person and that's why I want to date you

Dear Caleb,

Your hair is very shiny

Dear Caleb,

Kiss me?

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria was excited for her final year at Hogwarts. She had never imagined that she would be at the school this long. She had only supposed to be there a year, but she was now in her fourth year at the school (seventh year) and she couldn't wait to be a Hogwarts graduate. she had finished most of her portfolio for an art school in auckland and was so ready to do that step. Her mum was taking care of the paper work and translating her grades. it helped that Val had good grades - not the best but good.

Valeria was outside, she had spent time in Portugal with her father, and had missed the warm summer sun. The ground were nice and she was making sure that she was getting a little fresh air, and as she did she explored the great lawn, a piece of parchment fluttered to her feet and she noted Louis setting not too far away. She picked up the paper and read it with a little giggle slipping out of her lips. "Louis, are you in love?" she teased lightly as she offered the paper back to him, moving to sit down next to him.

 

[Louis Alcott]

This new attempt was cursed before Louis even properly started, the ink blotting on Caleb's name. Maybe it was a sign from the universe or something. Louis frowned when he heard a giggle, his face flushing as he spotted Valeria and noticed she was holding one of his attempts. How had he not heard her approaching? Louis' cheeks were hot. "Shut up, of course not." He said, snatching the paper from her hand. But he knew Valeria wouldn't be easily fooled. He also knew she wouldn't really make fun of him. Louis sighed deeply. "Maybe?" He mumbled, putting his head on Valeria's shoulder. "It's terrible."

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria giggled lightly as he snatched the paper out of her hand. She just sat down and nudged his knee with her, since she was certainly not fooled. She glanced over at his attempts and was wondering what exactly the papers and the notes were for. Val also thought it was almost sweet how much the flirt was being, like he was usually so confident and right now he just wasn't. "Yeah, I don't doubt that," she said, her mind briefly going to Charlie before focusing on him. "Who are they? Tell me everything about them,"

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis sighed deeply, glad Valeria seemed to understand. He stared over at the pitiful attempts at writing. "I figured putting my feelings into words would make it feel more real for him." He admitted. "But turns out, I suck at putting anything into words. I'm terrible." He glanced at Valeria as she asked about him. He hesitated for a moment. "Well, he's one of my best friends." he started. "He's very stupid and stubborn sometimes. Doesn't even care about Quidditch. He's like, weirdly into plants." Louis scrunched up his nose. "I want to make him laugh so badly."

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria might tease Louis over some things, and she was still a little but she knew this was serious. Val like Louis, he was a good friend, and she knew that this had to be serious enough if this was his reaction. "Doesn't care about quidditch? The horror," she said lightly with a little smile. "Oh, Louis, you are down so bad for this boy," she said lightly. "Why do you need to write anything, are you just telling him how you feel?" she asked, since depending on this answer she might be able to suggest a few things to possibly help him. "If words aren't your forte, then there are other ways of saying 'hey i really like you',"

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis nodded in agreement when Valeria said it was kind of horrible that Caleb didn't care about Quidditch, not really picking up on her sarcasm. He groaned pitifully when she said he was down bad. "Is it that obvious?" He asked, looking up at her for a moment. "I'm writing it down because I think he won't believe me if I say it. I've- I've flirted with him a bunch before. We even kissed and stuff." He sighed. "But then he got feelings and we stopped, and now I have feelings and he no longer seems to care about me." Louis let out a deep dramatic sigh. "It's absolutely horrible." He mumbled. He perked up a bit when Valeria said there were other ways to say that. He looked at her, sitting up. "Like what?"

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria listened to Louis and the path her and this boy had gone on. She had to admit it wasn't a great situation that Louis found himself in. She gave a little hum as if she was thinking. "Well, this is quite a situation you've gotten yourself into, Louis," she said. "but, if you know he likes plants, you could get him one, maybe a kind he likes," Val said, "One that maybe has meaning to you and have a little note, like "saw this little cutey, made me think of you. Meet me at x place at y time, I'd love to catch up'." she wasn't sure it would work, but rather than putting all those feelings into words, a kind gesture and an opportunity to catch up was how Val would approach it. ​

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis nodded sadly as Valeria rightly summarized he had gotten himself into a weird situation. He wished he hadn’t freaked out when Caleb had basically confessed to him and had intead taken a moment to reflect on his own feelings. He had been scared and practically run away, and here he was. He listened to Valeria’s suggestion, a small smile on his face. “It’s a cute idea.” He admitted. “But I just… don’t know if he’d get what I was trying to do.” He said with a sigh. “I took him to my cousin’s wedding as a date and he just acted like my friend the whole time. I don’t think he gets what I’m trying to do, but I’m afraid if I try my usual stuff he’ll get mad that I’m trying to flirt with him again after I agreed not to.”

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria listened to what he said. "Oh Louis," she said with a sympathetic tone. She couldn't imagine letting herself get into such a position, but wasn't really for her to think about what she wouldn't have done. "You know, you might actually just have to talk to him, no gimmicks, no notes, no gestures, but...just sit down and talk, put yourself out there by telling him," She couldn't really see how a note would make things better. It might warm him up to it, but clearly this needed to be an actual conversation. "I know that probably sounds horrible, but it might be all you have to do,"

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis knew from Valeria's tone that he wouldn't really enjoy what she said next. He groaned theatrically when she mentioned that he might just have to talk to him. The idea of just sitting Caleb down and being open and honest about his feelings was mortifying. Especially when Louis wasn't completely and utterly sure he was in love. He hadn't known the feeling before. Maybe he was just coming down with something. He huffed out a sigh. "It sounds more than horrible." He muttered, slouching down. "I might as well just give up and walk into the lake." He said, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria gave a sympathetic smile, squeezing his hand gently, knowing that it was probably just about the worst thing ever. She couldn't imagine at this point if she had fallen for Charlie, after what she'd done, not dissimilar to him, trying to rekindle it. "I'd give a great eulogy," she joked a little, but then sighed. "Putting yourself out there is hard, it's probably going to feel horrible and there's a very real chance that he says no. But, do you like him enough that the rejection would be okay?" she asked. "do you want to be with him or just pine from afar?"

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis sighed and squeezed Valeria's hand back. He was really lucky to have a friend like her, someone who knew him so well. He snorted when she said she'd give a great eulogy. Her words made him sigh again, and he looked up at the sky. "I don't know. I don't think I can handle rejection." He said, thinking back to his talk with Celia where he had sort of admitted to hating not being liked. "And there's our friendship to consider. If he rejects me, can we still be friends? It'd be weird, with René too." He sighed again. "Can't I just marry you when we're older?" He asked her, only half-joking. "We'd make a gorgeous couple and we can just have our flirtations on the side, no problem." He said, smiling a bit.

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria had to sympathize, she wasn't exactly good at rejection either. And there was a friendship to think about, but she knew, and she knew that he knew, that talking to this boy about it would be the only way to fix things. She giggled softly at his offer. ”Sure Louis, we can get married when we're older,” she joked back with a little smile, but she nudged him, leaning in towards him. ”We would make a gorgeous couple, and we could have extras on the side, but, maybe first, give this whole, love thing, a chance,” she said giving a little twirl of her hand at the word love. ”Maybe it works out, and if not, you'll always have me, as a friend, or as a wife-in-name-only,”​

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis couldn't help grinning slightly as Valeria went along with his wild idea. He knew she was joking, but it wouldn't be all that bad. He leaned on her, ignoring how she nudged him. "I don't wanna give it a chance anymore." He whined. "Not now you told me it involves talking about feelings." He reached up and twirled a lock of her hair around his finger. "I vote we do the marriage pact thing instead. Imagine the envy." He said with a slight smile. He knew many people liked Valeria and many people liked him. How lucky for them that they both also liked many people in return. "Would you take my name?" He asked, raising one eyebrow.

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria could see him ignoring it, wanting to ignore it, and was hardly surprised when he said as much. But she knew that he probably couldn't. He was twirling her hair and she just let him, always enjoying the attention, even if it was a distraction. "I would look just stunning in white," she boasted with a little giggle, going along with what he was saying before giving a loud scoff. "For our sham of a wedding, not at all, I like my name," She said with a laugh. "Would you take mine?" Val knew she'd let this go on a little and then try to bring him back to what the actual issue at hand was.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis was glad Valeria was indulging his little distraction. She was really perfect. Maybe she would make a good wife. She understood him better than almost anyone he knew, including Caleb. He nodded in agreement. "And I look sharp in a suit." He said with a grin. Louis nodded as she said she wouldn't take his name, not offended. He considered her question back. "While I think Louis Iglesias has a certain ring to it, I think I'd keep my own name too." He admitted. "But that's fine, we can do that." He said, still playing idly with her hair. "It would be a lovely wedding." He mused though he couldn't really imagine himself getting married.

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria giggled softly, thinking that his name with her surname had a good ring to it. She let him play with her hair and imagine a world in which that was happening. "It's a pity we won't though," Valeria said softly, nudging him with her knee. "Our sham wedding or us getting together in any capacity is not going to change that there's a boy who you desperately want to make laugh," Val spoke with a soft and kind tone. She knew it was difficult to put oneself out there but she didn't think him ignoring it would erase any of his feelings.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis grumbled when Valeria nudged him with her knee, then grumbled again when she reminded him of Caleb and what he had said about it. It sounded romantic when she said it, but Louis knew it was mostly just a headache. "It might happen if he laughs at me and hates me forever." He muttered instead. "You'll marry me out of sheer pity."

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria squeezed his arm lightly. Knowing it would be hard but you didn't get things like this without trying. "Come on now, not sheer pity, some pity and also attraction," She told him. "I'm sure you've heard this before, but you are a handsome young man," Valeria giggled softly, not wanting to inflate his ego, but telling him the truth.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis laughed a little and preened, hoping to make Valeria laugh too. "Oh yes, keep complimenting me. I feel better already." He said, running a hand through his hair and winking at her. He hesitated. "You really think I should go for it?" He asked hesitantly. "What if I lose him as a friend, you know?"

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria giggled softly and then smiled. "Yes," she said. "Because if you don't, maybe he'll move on and you never get a chance. And sure you might lose a friend but maybe he says no, and you can just move on and even stay friends" this was perhaps a situation she could claim to know given that she didn't know the boy that Louis liked. But she didn't think it was impossible.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis thought Valeria had kind of an optimistic view of things, but it was kind of nice to buy into it for a moment. He nodded. "Sounds... hopeful, though I don't think you know Caleb all that well." He told her with a shrug. But then he leaned on her. "Oh well, as long as I have you as my backup wife I'll be fine." He joked again, but there was a melancholy tone to it. "Thanks for listening."

 

[Valeria Iglesias]

Valeria let him lean upon her. She put her arm around him. "Always," she said. "I might mostly come to you to flirt and for kisses, but I do care about you," she assured him. She hoped it would go okay, she hoped that it would go in his favour even if it meant there were two less boys available for her to flirt and kiss.

 

[Louis Alcott]

Louis leaned against Valeria more fully, sighing softly. He kissed her cheek, then stared ahead, happy to sit in comfortable silence for now. If nothing else, he knew he had a good friend in Valeria, though he also did really enjoy kissing her. The two things could work together well, but she was probably right. He needed to do something about this whole Caleb situation, scary as it was.