To Build A Home

[Lexy Fletcher]

The loo was not the most appropriate place for a lady to be thinking about her life, but there Lexy sat, at least for three minutes she would. The mixed blood sat next to the toilet, staring at the wall and wondering how exactly it was that she'd gotten into a situation such as this. She and Mr. Fletcher hadn't exactly spoken openly about what it was they intended to feel for each other, but still she thought too much that he might be in love with her, and that she might be the same. The day he'd kissed her before she could leave had at least sealed that they were more than enemies. Her bear backpack had been hanging on that hook in his house for months now, wands returned to Zero whom had worried too much for her safety. Obviously Gabriel had worried as well as he let her continue to stay here. And then even past when she was supposed to leave she stayed. Lexy's forget-me-not blue eyes were slowly covered by her lids as she thought, as if to make sense of her current situation.

The brunette remembered standing their in the archway of the house, bag on her shoulder, leaving so slowly it was easy to see she wasn't quite ready to stop bothering her newest friend. The hand she placed on the frame left almost too quickly when Gabriel had said her name. Only moments before the most invigorating, gentle and passionate kiss she'd ever had. Lexy chuckled to herself how sweaty his hands had been on her cheeks, both so nervous as the tangled their souls together. Lexy heard a faint beeping from her little watch, and looked to the material reaching up to grab it from next to the sink. She switched it off, and then looked to the tile floor where her response sat. Lexy might as well tell Gabriel.

The brunette exited the bathroom, out into the living room where the TV was playing. It was a weekend, they'd been so lazy around the house, Lexy insisting on using her magic to clean to spend a little more time huddled up on the couch. "Hope you're looking forward to me getting chunky." She spoke nervously, her scottish accented voice shaking. She couldn't force much more out though, as she felt nauseated. After all, it wasn't as if she and Gabriel were married and had been planning everything that had happened.

 

[Gabriel Fletcher]

God, Gabriel had missed TV. He'd left school nearly two years ago, now, but his appreciation for Muggle technology never dwindled. It wouldn't have been so bad if he could at least have used his mobile phone in the castle, but no - of course it didn't work! Gabe wasn't even sure what the point of his life was without a mobile phone and a television. It beat owl post and radios, that was for sure.

Sprawled out on the sofa, Gabriel munched from a can of Pringles, watching a repeat of some show he'd already seen twice before, but that only got better with time. He'd laid out a veritable picnic on the coffee table in front of him; bowls of crisps, a plate of sausage rolls, some cold pizza, and a few bottles of fizzy drink. Leftovers from his birthday. Unfortunately, they'd already eaten all the cake, but there was plenty enough left to sustain them for a few days. Hearing Lexy come in, Gabriel looked up lazily. "You don't have to eat all of it today," he said, reaching for another Pringle. "Want one?"

 

[Lexy Fletcher]

Lexy breathed slowly, laughing at his comment and shaking her head. Her round cheeks upturned ever so slightly when she smiled, before she finally moved forward and sat down with Gabriel. Reaching across him she shut off the television, leaving the two of them in the comfortable silence of each other's company for a moment before she began talking. "I hated you so much when I met you, just thought you should know." She spoke, before yanking the chips away playfully. "I suppose I need to get over that real fast." She laughed, munching happily on the chips. She couldn't recall Gabriel talking about his childhood too much, and Lexy hadn't been open about hers either. "When I was sixteen my mom died you know, and my dad was in jail. Still is. I kinda raised myself from that point on." She scratched at the back of her head, mussing up the ponytail she'd put her hair into. She looked at her own hands before speaking her mind finally, the climax of her short history lessons being this sentence; "So what I'm saying is don't do anything to get put in jail alright? I don't want our kid ending up like me." She finally met with the warm oceans of Gabriel's eyes, waiting for a reaction to her statement. To the fact that they were expectantly going to be parents. It wasn't something Lexy was prepared for, she was sure Gabriel wasn't either, but they didn't have a choice. She only hoped she wouldn't have to outright say it, and that her statement was enough to get through to her thick, whatever-he-was.

 

[Gabriel Fletcher]

"I was watching that," Gabe protested as Lexy switched the television off. He watched defencelessly as the Pringles were yanked away from him, staring in awe at her absolute audacity. Then he frowned. Where was this coming from? What had suddenly made her decide to share her childhood story with him? Things were getting weird, and serious, fast, and Gabriel didn't like it. He predicted she was about to drop some kind of bombshell, but when she did, its impact was ten times more shattering than he'd imagined. "What?" he said. "Lex, are you pregnant? Nah..." It had to be some kind of joke. She was playing a joke on him, winding him up. Because if she was really pregnant... No. No, it was definitely a joke.

 

[Lexy Fletcher]

"Not a positive reaction." She mumbled between chewing her chips. She and Gabriel were not meant to end up like this. Lexy had felt for him of course, angry and lonely he reminded her of herself when she'd first been angry at the world for taking her mom away, for leaving her alone. She'd only stopped being angry when she'd started being around Zero, whom had been shot down so much by the world but was still cheerful. It didn't take long for the two to become friends, and Lexy learned from that, that any situation could be positive. "Listen, if you want me to get rid of it, I'll give it to Zed when it's born, and I'll leave tonight." She offered. "But it's there, and it can't be un... there'd." She spoke awkwardly, looking down at her stomach. Gabriel was going to have to manage with the fact that he and Lexy had a child coming into the world to live in one way or another. Regardless on if they were ready, or wanted it, the beanstalk was planted and growing by the second soon to be a fully formed witch or wizard causing it's only little trouble around it's own little world. Perhaps it was better it didn't have Lexy as a mom anyways, as she was not exactly the best influence of all time.

 

[Gabriel Fletcher]

She was serious. Completely serious. "S**t," Gabe murmured, rubbing his face with his hands. It was too much to process. How could this have happened? They'd be careful - careful enough, anyway. It wasn't even that he didn't love Lexy. In the short time he'd known her, he'd grown to love her in ways he'd hardly known himself able to love. Without her, he was cold, and empty. She illuminated his life from every angle; of course he loved her. But a baby? How the hell was he supposed to deal with that? He wasn't ready to be a dad. He wasn't cut out to be a dad. What if he turned into his own father? What if he was so useless as him? He'd hardly had the greatest role model growing up. Nobody had taught him how to be a dad. So what was he supposed to do?

Gabe stood up and started to pace, running a hand through his dark curls. "You're definitely pregnant, yeah? Definitely?" He knew the answer before he received it. "This is... I mean... S**t, Lexy." Suddenly he stopped and sat back down, taking her hands in his and looking her very seriously in the eyes. "I love you, OK? I know now isn't the best time, but whatever. I do. I f***ing love you a lot, Lex. But this is... this is way beyond anything I know how to deal with. I wouldn't be a good dad. Look at me. Look; I can barely look after myself. Look at me." Gabriel searched Lexy for a sign she understood - a sign that she saw in him what he saw in himself. A total failure. "I don't know what to do. Just... don't leave. Please, don't leave me. M-maybe we can figure it out. But I dunno, Lex. You deserve more than this. The kid deserves more."

 

[Lexy Fletcher]

Lexy was just as anxious all of her energy built up into the pit of her stomach, rising into here throat a heart beat like the thundering hooves of horses making her eyes throb. She felt like she was going to cry, something she rarely ever did - and hadn't done in years. Not since she sat with Zero after her last boyfriend left with no trace of why or how. The water that brimmed on her lash line sucked backwards quickly by fluttering eyelids. Her quick blinking was hidden as she tilted her head downward, listening to Gabriel, nodding as he questioned her accuracy. "Gabriel." She whispered. "Gabriel." She spoke louder, his speaking continued. "Gabriel!" She finally spoke loud at the end of his self depreciating rant.

Lexy reached out and grabbed the man by his face drawing him into a long, hard kiss, eyes closed as she did so. She didn't know what to say for a moment, so instead she kissed him to silence him. "I... I love you too." She breathed upon breaking the kiss. Her chapped lips suddenly felt warm and brought to life. He breathed into her new, and confusing emotions. "I know you are not ready for this and neither am I." Lexy held his face firm in place, her forehead against his breathing as steadily as she could force herself to do so. "I am terrified that I'm going to f*** up one day and you're going to run away from me because I'm a nut case with a nut case past. You're afraid that you're not good enough. We're both losers. But we can do this. Somehow." She spoke so gently she almost didn't recognize her own voice. Finally she pulled back, hands still on his cheeks. "You're going to be a great dad. Just the fact that you are so afraid of ending up like your father proves that." Lexy moved to wrap her arms around him, pushing weight against him, wanting to feel close to his heart beat, and wanting to make him feel close to hers.

 

[Gabriel Fletcher]

Gabriel was bordering on the hysterical, and hardly noticed Lexy's attempts to interrupt until she took hold of his face and silenced him with a kiss. He felt the chaos in him calm almost at once, the fear and the doubt shrinking at her touch. Nobody had been able to make him feel so much by doing so little. It was the kind of magic nobody could have taught him at school, no matter how clever they were, or how hard Gabriel had tried. And it was the only kind of magic he needed.

His eyes glistened with tears as Lexy pressed her forehead against his. Did she really worry he'd run away from her? It wasn't Lexy who needed to be worried. No darkness of past could have turned him away now. He, on the other hand, had failed most of his NEWTs, and now had a poorly-paid job and lived in a poky one-bedroom flat eating Pringles and watching TV. Lexy could do better than him. He'd never been successful at anything in his life, and one day, he knew she was going to realise it - the same way Saveli had, and his dad had, and everybody else he hadn't manipulated into believing he was amazing. But he'd never tried to fool Lexy. She'd seen the real Gabriel right from the start, vulnerable, unsuccessful, alone. And yet she still wanted him. Did that mean she always would? Things could only get better from here - right? He could hardly become any more unsuccessful, or live in a smaller flat. So maybe... maybe she really did love him.

Gabriel put his arms around Lexy and held her gently, wishing what she'd said was true - and starting to believe that it might be. "I'm never gonna leave you," he said. "I'm gonna try harder. I'll do better. I'm gonna do better than my dad." His voice by now was thick with the tears that fell down his cheeks. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Lexy. Even if it's not that much, I'm always gonna be there for you. I promise."