Closed Second Choice, Second Chance

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole would be lying if she said she wasn't disappointed she hadn't been paired up with Ajax for blind dates. A lie she had already repeated several times over to her friends when they asked her about going with Noel. There was nothing wrong with Noel or anything. If anything, he was the ideal date. Brotherhood co-president, on the Quidditch team, prefect, and from what Nicole had heard, a perfect gentlemen. In fact, the more Nicole focused on that, the more her lingering disappointment had begun to recede over the lead up to the actual ball.

Smoothing out her dress, Nicole smiled when she spotted Noel, clattering her way over to him before pausing awkwardly. "Uh, hi. You look very dashing," she managed, giving him a smile. She hadn't had the nerve to properly coordinate colours with Noel or anything, but she was pleased how nicely Noel had cleaned up. It was a stark contrast to her date with Eric last and she tried not to outwardly cringe at the mere memory. And speaking of Eric, they had barely stepped into the hall together before Nicole had spotted him, wearing the same suit as last year and with his own date no less. "Ugh, don't look now but I just spotted my ex," she groaned to Noel, swiftly turning and looking at him instead of Eric and apparently his date, Minnie Calida.

 

[Professor Noel Waldgrave]

Noel had been hoping to go with an date to the Yule Ball. He wanted to make it easier to himself to sign up for the blind dates and got paired with Nicole Fisk. He kind of was curious to the girl, she was pretty for sure and he was excited for some company. Noel had been working on himself and as he grew older he got taller and got more of an athletic build. In comparison with Eric he was the hulk and Eric an pencil in his mind. As he waited for his date to arrive he took an moment to look inside of the Great Hall. He waited inside of the girl. They didn't had spoken before so this was kind of an introduction, but he had been knowing how she looked. Since he knew she had some drama with Eric.

As he waited he than suddenly heard an female voice. Smiling as she appeared looking for an moment at how she showed up. She complimented him directly and he smiled charmingly back. '' Hi Nicole. Thank you.'' He responded with an smile. He had been putting on an blue suit and was glad with it. The one thing his brother had been good for was in taste of clothes. So Liam had been doing an good job. '' You look beautiful yourself . I hope you-'' Noel than responded back and wanted to give the girl an compliment back to make her feel at ease with him, and it was no lie she looked pretty. But than as they had been moving into the hall, Nicole mentioned seeing her ex. Noel knew who that was, and as he slowly looked around the room ignoring her sign to not look he spotted Eric first, but than he spotted his own ex.. Minnie. As he saw the two together and they kind of seemed happy and Minnie holding his arm. Noel felt sadness and some anger. How was this possible he asked himself? This was the worst scenario there was, and ofcourse they weren't together anymore but that didn't ment he forgot about it and the way Minnie hurted him very much. And Eric was the worst person ever. He than remembered Nicole next to him and they were in the same boat. '' Well I spot mine too.. with him.'' Noel than said with an sight and looked at Nicole, speaking the word him like it was something very disgusting. He didn't want this to ruin the night but he wanted to punch Eric very much right now. But he knew that was not helping anything.​

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole flushed, pleased that Noel returned the compliment. She had rather hoped that she could spend the night enjoying the fact that she had a date with a cute, popular guy on a house quidditch team, and ignore the fact that the only reason she did was because she got lucky and signed up because no one else had asked her. It was a struggle to focus on one and not the other, but Noel being sweet was definitely helping.

Seeing Eric and Minnie was decidedly not helping. “Oh of course he’s dating your ex. That is so typical of him,” Nicole said, lip curling in annoyance. “I don’t know how Minnie can stand him. I thought she was smart,” she added with a sniff. The sniff turned into a noise of indignation though as the other pair walked out onto the dance floor. “What- He’s- Ugh!” Nicole crossed her arms, uncrossing them quickly and then again, unable to decide if she wanted to be mad or just ignore Eric. She’d all but begged Eric to dance with her last year and he’d ignored her. Minnie however didn’t seem to have that problem at all. “Let’s dance,” she said, grabbing Noel’s arm, fueled by the need to prove to Eric she was just as unbothered by his presence as he seemed with her's.

 

[Professor Noel Waldgrave]

Noel felt so many emotions at the same time and if he didn't cared about his future or what people would think of him he was sure he would have spoken to Eric right away. But he knew that had no point, Minnie would hate him also. If she didn't already, but he had no clue why she was the one who broke up and he had nothing but an gentleman to hers. But she wanted to badguy in this story he figured. Standing next to Nicole he watched her. And he kind of felt an ally in this all of sudden. '' Ofcourse he is. I'm hoping that it isn't only to irritate me. He is unbelieveable!'' He said with an sight. '' If he hurts her...'' He than said with an sight. He wondered why he even cared about what happend to Minnie anymore, but he was just protective over others and deepdown he cared of Minnie but not anymore as he had before. He than nodded to Nicole. '' I don't understand it either.. I'm so done with all of this.. Just ignoring like I'm not even here.. '' He than said with an sigh but than remembered he wanted to move on. They could have eachother. Minnie was not worthy of him. Noel was completly done with both of them. As Nicole grabbed his arm to continue he nodded. '' Your right. Let's not ruin this evening by those two.'' He than said to her with an sweet smile. And led her to the dancefloor. '' You like dancing?'' He than asked her and was ready to take an dance position. He had learned a lot in the past years from an no dancer to an person who could dance an bit.

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole glanced away from Eric and Minnie when Noel spoke, giving him a quizzical look. "You really like her, huh," she said, voice softer than it had been before. It almost made Nicole angrier, that Minnie got both Noel and Eric falling over themselves over her and all Nicole got was Eric and Connor destroying her reputation in front of the whole school. It was so unfair and in that moment Nicole really hated both them.

She attempted a shrug, eyes trained somewhere on Noel's chest when he asked her if she liked dancing, but she placed her hand in his like she was meant it, letting them start to sway quietly. Nicole had always wanted to have a grand romantic night like this, with a gorgeous boy out on the dance floor, but all she could think about was how angry she was with Eric. She couldn't help but look over at Eric and Minnie again, going still as she saw Minnie lean forward to kiss Eric.

Something solid formed in her throat and for a moment Nicole almost wanted to cry at the unfairness and the hurt of it all. That she really just hadn't been good enough. Determined, Nicole whipped her head back to face Noel, not giving herself a chance to second guess things as she placed her hand on his cheek, stepping on her tippy-toes and pressing her lips to his. It wasn't a magical moment, Nicole didn't feel sparks or butterflies or anything like she'd always imagined kissing someone would go when it wasn't something quick and silly like spin the bottle. Instead, all Nicole could think was she hoped that Eric saw. That anyone else saw and could see how little she cared about Eric Holland.

 

[Professor Noel Waldgrave]

As they were dancing Noel tried to stand with his back towards Minnie and Eric. He tried to shake away the thought because he didn't felt that was fair to Nicole. But they both seemed to be struggeling with seeing their exes. And he understood the anger Nicole had against Eric, because he had been so mean to her from what he had heard or saw. Minnie had been mean to him without words after the broke up. She hadn't said anything to him and ignored him. Which was even more painfull. As he had done nothing wrong. He had been an distraction she said, so why was Eric not now? It were all lies now, he figured. Perhaps she was even jealous of him making it to prefect and she not. He had been angry at everyone but Minnie, but perhaps now he saw the truth. He smiled shortly to Nicole as they were dancing, she could follow the dance and placed her hand in the right position as he did the same. He as more tall than she was, but she could keep up. He sighed as she said that he liked Minnie a lot. '' I did. But I can see clearly now, that I deserve better.'' He than replied to her. After this ball he would speak only once with his ex to end things for good. '' And so do you Nicole. Be glad your done with Eric.'' He than spoke to her sweet. He hoped he could let her show that not every boy was like him.

As they continued dancing he saw Nicole looking past him to the side. He couldn't blame her for the desperate urge to look at Eric and Minnie. So he followed her look in that way. And noticed Minnie kissing Eric. Noel almost felt getting sick and got slower with the dancing. It was painfull to watch and he quickly looked back at Nicole. Who seemed to be having an hard time. She suddenly placed her hand on his cheek and he watched her. He felt her lips touching his and before he knew what happend he got kissed. It was out of nowhere and if he would take action he would do it more romantically but he wasn't complaining to be kissed. Perhaps it was exactly what he needed. And in a way he wanted to join her in this, hoping Minnie would spot it. He touched her hand for an moment and kissed her back. He deserved this, and although he didn't felt sparkles or anything he had felt before it was nice.

 

[Nicole Fisk]

Nicole felt her anger lessen some at Noel's comment. She wanted to believe him, really, and he seemed like he'd meant it, but Nicole wasn't sure she was ready to let go of the hurt just yet. She'd known Eric was bad news when she'd gotten involved with him. But she'd just been so sure she could fix him somehow. Make it different. It had made her feel special, but now, looking at Eric and Minnie dancing and kissing, she had never felt more unimportant.

She was almost surprised when Noel kissed her back, half-forgetting she was actually kissing another living human being for a split second and feeling a moment of guilt. At least it was a nice kiss, she thought, feeling her face flush as she pulled back, slowly dropping her hand and at a loss where to put it now. "Um. Sorry," she offered him. "I just-" Nicole made a vague hand motion, unsure how to put into words why she'd just done that, "I'm ruining all this, aren't I? Merlin, what a mess," she added miserably, deciding the best place for her free hand was covering her eyes for a blissful moment of darkness, hiding her face and the view of both Minnie and Eric and Noel.

 

[Professor Noel Waldgrave]

Noel hoped that Nicole was feeling better and that they both would let go of their exes and focus on what they deserved. Which was happiness. As he had kissed her back he was kind of suprised by himself but it just happend. He watched Nicole as she apologized. It was unexpected ofcourse her kiss and he smiled sweet. He put her hand on her shoulder to comfort her. '' Don't worry Nicole.'' He than said friendly. '' It's okay. You are not ruining anything.'' He than comfort her. And looked at her, to make sure she was ok. He smiled for an moment. '' It was an suprise. But an nice one.'' Noel than said to her with an smile. He than hold out his hand and waited to see what she wanted. '' It's an emotional evening. But please let me try and make this evening something better for you.'' The brown haired boy said and was ready to have this last dance. He found it hard to continue as well but he had to he had to be the strong one.​