Closed Sweaty Hands

[Eric Holland]

Eric had been unable to sleep lately and he knew why. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about Minnie. The two of them had spent more time together, just talking and being friends. He supposed that was what they were now, friends. But he also knew that wasn't enough for him. He liked her, and he thought he had probably liked her for a long time. It was nothing like what he had felt with Nicole, but he was starting to doubt that had ever been a real relationship for either of them. Eric didn't honestly know what that looked like, what it would look like even if he ever managed to ask Minnie out. His mother had had partners, but she had always kept Eric and Connor pretty separate from her dating life, which Eric was grateful for. He didn't really remember enough about his dad to know what he had been like with his mother, another thing he could be angry at him about.

At first Eric had decided to just ignore his feelings until they went away. The problem as, they weren't going away. So while Eric knew it was extremely unlikely that Minnie would even consider dating someone like him, he felt like he had to do something. With the yule ball coming up Eric worried he'd miss his chance. What if Noel swooped back in and she said yes? Or what if she signed up for the stupid blind date idea and got matched with some handsome Quidditch player? He knew he had to ask her, even if it might ruin the tentative friendship they had built up together. Eric knew where he could find Minnie around this time of day and made his way to the library, heading to the spot he knew she preferred. He saw her there and took a deep breath before approaching. He hadn't really done this before. He'd gone out with Nicole, but she had always sort of told him what to do before he did it. This time, Eric just hoped he could get out of this without making Minnie laugh at him. That would probably be the worst outcome. Eric took a seat on the opposite side of the table from Minnie and gently tapped the back of her book, as if knocking on a door. "Hey." He said, and even that single word sounded nervous to his own ears.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie had been studying, her life had become her studies, with her exams in this semester she was pushing herself a lot to be able to do well in them. She wasn’t going to be going home for the holidays, so the amount of work that she was doing was a good distraction. She knew that the yuleball was coming up, but she had been so focused on her exams that she hadn’t thought about it. After her last experience of the blind dating had not been good, so she wasn’t interested in that, but she was still thinking about going to the celebration, but she didn’t know who she would go with. Hattie was doing the blind dating, and she thought about Eric but she didn’t want to ask him in case he didn’t want to go, or if he had plans. She knew that she liked him, she the time that they spent together was the best parts of her day.

Minnie was in the library concentrating on the piece of work that she needed to. She was redoing her work on a charms lesson, working on some of the essays for the spells they had learnt about. Minnie needed to keep working, the exams were right around the corner, nothing else mattered until these exams were over. She was focused on the book in front of her, reading things over. She jumped a little startled by the sudden noise. She looked up and her expression immediately softened at seeing who it was. ”Hey,” Minnie greeted, ”Are you here to study with me?” she asked her voice quiet and she was smiling at him.​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric felt his heart do a funny thing at the sight of Minnie's expression. He was pretty sure she had no idea how beautiful she was, which almost made him want to say it out loud. What a stupid idea. Instead, he grunted. "You know I try not to study if I can help it." He muttered, though he wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. But for now, he had other things to do. "Maybe later. I want to ask you something." He said, his mouth going dry immediately after. He hid his shaky hands under the table so Minnie couldn't see how nervous he was.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie gave a little knowing smile as he said that he didn’t study. She knew that if ever he wanted to study then she’d be happy to help him. She gave a little nodded. ”Sure,” she said. She purposefully closed the books she had open over, and let herself focus on him. She was a little unsure of what he would ask, the thought of the yuleball entered her mind of course, but it didn’t really linger. She knew he wasn’t a big fan of those things and didn’t think he would want to go. Though he said he was avoiding studying, she was certain that the question would be about that, or maybe he was looking for some general advice. She focused herself, not letting her mind get too ahead of her as she just waited for him to speak.​

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric wished he had said something else, anything else. Because now that he'd said that he couldn't change his mind anymore, nor could he put it off. Eric took a deep breath, deciding that he could only just go for it. "I want to go to the yule ball with you." He said, realizing as soon as he'd said it that this wasn't what he had wanted to say. It was true, but he had meant to actually ask. This was more an announcement. "I mean, do you want to?" He added quickly, feeling his cheeks heat up. Merlin, he was terrible at this. Eric fought the urge to run off, he could do that once she turned him down. He needed to hear her answer first.

 

[Professor Minnie Calida]

Minnie froze a little at the statement, her brain catching up to what he said, and thinking a little fondly that of course that was how Eric asked. Straight to the point. Not even much of a question. She watched him follow it up with a question, and she gave a little smile. She’d been tossing up whether she should go, working twice as hard to ensure she wouldn’t fail her exams and have no reason to go. Minnie nodded, ”Yeah, I’d like to go with you,” she told him with a smile. ”I want to go with you,” she echoed his first statement to try show she really was as interested in going with him as he was in going with her.​