Closed Too late for apologies?

[Lyra Potter]

It had been nearly a week since Lyra Potter had last seen Ezra Cade. It seemed as if they were officially done with whatever it was they had been doing. Whether or not Lyra enjoyed Ezra's company was not relevant after he claimed he loved her. A fact the blonde still wasn't sure she believed. James had told her Ezra was a master at manipulation, and even though he had never tried to manipulate Lyra, she couldn't trust that he wasn't trying to do so now.

Lyra had been off of work for the entirety of the last week, but practices resumed today. She had been dreading it for the past few days. The blonde hated to admit she was wrong, and she had a pretty big apology to give James Cade since she hadn't been on speaking terms with him since the Cade Christmas party fiasco. Not that she thought James had the right to be so nasty to her, but Lyra could see now that it really came from a place of love. At the end of practice, Lyra hurried to catch James before he could leave. "James? Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked, hesitantly.

 

[Professor James Cade]

James was still reeling from his conversation with Ezra just a few days ago. He had known that something was going on between him and Lyra ever since Christmas and James hadn't spoken to either his brother of his friend since. With practice resuming James wondered if he would hearing from Lyra following her 'breakup' with Ezra, or whatever she'd be calling it. James was in a strange situation, he had been the loudest voice warning Lyra away from his brother but having him open up to him the way he had, hearing everything Ezra had said, everything he felt, he wondered if he had judged the situation too harshly. Was James so blinded by his brothers teenage nature that he couldn't accept the fact he was perhaps capable of feeling something real for someone.

After a long and grueling practice, where James's interaction with his teammates had been limited due to him being removed from the action while he searched for the snitch, he returned to the ground and was making his way to the changing rooms he heard the all too familiar voice of Lyra. She wanted to talk, James wondered how Lyra's version of events would stack up with Ezra's and the curiosity alone was enough to keep him rooted to the spot. "Sure, what's up?" he asked though they both knew what she was going to say.

 

[Lyra Potter]

Lyra wondered briefly if James already knew that Ezra and Lyra were done with whatever it was they had been doing, but she put the thought out of her head. It seemed unlikely. James and Ezra weren't close, and Ezra especially wouldn't want to admit that Lyra had been sleeping with other people while he had caught feelings. The blonde took a deep breath. Apologies didn't come easily for her. "I wanted to apologize to you. I should have listened when you said Ezra was just using me and manipulating me. I..uh.. ended things with him last week, and I wanted to say I'm sorry that I put whatever it was I was doing with him ahead of my friendship with you...and with Maddie for that matter. Even after everything, you are still one of my best friends, and I realize now that you were speaking out of love even though your tactics might have been a little hurtful. Still, I don't have many people in my life I can trust, and I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. You know that's my default setting." she tried to joke. "Anyways, I am sorry. For whatever it's worth." she said, ending a little lamely. Lyra looked up at James, hoping he would forgive her and move past this.

 

[Professor James Cade]

It was clear from Lyra's words that she wasn't expecting James to have spoken to Ezra about the situation. It was true Lyra should have listened to him at the beginning but James wasn't sure that Lyra had ended things because he turned out to be right about his brother, in fact for once, James was beginning to think he might have been wrong. "It's worth a lot, but it would be worth even more if you told me the real reason you ended things," James said calmly moving to lean against his broom. Ezra was a lot of things, chief among them was proud, he'd never admitted to the things he had if they hadn't been true. Seeing Ezra so vulnerable felt so unnatural to James. He'd never be happy about the idea of his ex and current close friend dating his brother but for once he was disappointed something had ended badly for Ezra. "Ezra told me everything," James said watching for the slightest reaction from Lyra. "Did he really tell you he loved you?" James was still a little skeptical about that part, for all he knew Ezra was playing some long game on James as a way to get his bed buddy back but he was a little curious. Those three little words had never come out of Ezra's mouth, not to him, Jess or their parents and certainly not to anyone he'd been in any kind of relationship with. For the longest time James had wondered if Ezra was even capable of feeling such things. Maybe he'd been wrong.

 

[Lyra Potter]

Shock flashed across Lyra's face as James admitted that Ezra had already told him everything, and even went as far as to ask if Ezra really told her that he loved her. The blonde really hadn't thought Ezra would go to James over Lyra, especially when he was bluffing in the first place. Still, she wondered exactly what Ezra's version of the whole story was. "Okay. Fine. Yes. He did say that he loved me, but it was only after he walked in on me with Lanithro. I don't believe he meant it. He only wanted to manipulate me like you said he would." Lyra pointed out to James. "He was jealous and that was his way of trying to force my hand. I told him when we met that I wasn't looking for a relationship. I don't want anyone to love me." she said, defensively. It was probably unfair of her to say this to James, but he wanted the real reason of why she ended things and there it was.