Open When you know, you know

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou wasn't initially going to attend the dance after finding out that not only did did Wendall not know she was back at the school until recently, but she'd been trying to let him know that she liked him and all he could do was ask her if she'd had a good morning or if her classes were okay. How was she supposed to get him to understand she liked him? Well, she'd started by coming back to the school and now she had dyed her hair. She was hoping that this would be a good place for him to notice her and yet, as she'd answer, she'd noticed him with Jenna and she felt like nothing she did would make a difference and so she stood by the side and sighed deeply.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall was glad that he’d come to the ball with Jenna. She’d been his friend besides Lysander (who he already knew before he started so he didn’t count it) when he started school, so it felt appropriate that they attended the last proper event together too. It was a big thing for the seventh year to come to any events really these days, but he had been making an effort during the last few months, to reconnect with his old friends before graduation. He didn’t want to hurt anyone nor risk leaving on bad terms with anyone who didn't deserve it.

The Hufflepuff had mentioned to Jenna that he needed a break, some time to sit down and check out the rest of the goings on in the hall, and would catch up with his best friend later on in the evening. After picking up a small drink, he walked slowly between dancing students towards the outer edge of the hall, looking inwards instead. His eyes caught sight of a few students, boys and girls, that he was admiring from afar as he sipped his drink. Momentarily distracted however, some juice went down the wrong hole, and thankful for the sound of the music in the Great Hall, Wendall spent the next few minutes trying not to choke.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou noticed when Wendall left his date with Jenna and headed in the other direction. She was going to approach him, assuming he had noticed her and wanted to come and talk to her, but when he headed in the opposite direction from her, she realised that he hadn't noticed her at all. Apparently her pink hair and green dress were making her have some kind of camouflage effect. Or perhaps that was just her general appearance around him, because he certainly never noticed her ever. The one time he had he'd been smacked in the face with a book, was that what she needed to do? She didn't want to have to smack him with a book though, unfortunately, she enjoyed his face.

It did catch her notice though when she heard him choking. She decided that it was probably a good idea to help him, maybe then he would notice her! She quickly rushed to his side and tried to help. "Oh, Wendall! Are you okay!" she asked, trying to pat him on the back and get him to breath. Hopefully this would be helpful and she wasn't doing any damage to him. She didn't want him to be damaged.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall thought his days of getting embarrassed and caught out in public were over, but as he hacked away in the Great Hall and tried to regain his ability to breath, he guessed not. He felt someone lightly slap him between the shoulder blades, although he figured it was one of the youngest students because the force behind him wouldn’t have been hard enough to dislodge anything. He glanced over to see the face of someone he’s not talked to properly in years. What a way to reunite.

“Thank you,” Wendall said after a few more moments and a fresh sip of juice. His cheeks were a little flushed at this point, but he did his best to smile at the girl beside him in appreciation. “I think I’m okay,” he added, still taking more sips of his drink to calm his throat down. He squinted his eyes just a little at Mary Lou, trying to figure out what was different about her, although it was sort of hard to place. He realised he’d been staring at her for a little too long for what would have been considered normal, and in his panicked realisation, said the first thing that came into his small brain, “Have you grown?”​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou's face dropped, both into shock and then confusion. "Have I... have... I... grown?" she was genuinely surprised at how much her voice changed in those few little words. She had never in her life been so upset, and the weird thing was, this wasn't a sad kind of upset, this is a shouty kind of upset. But Mary Lou never shouted, it absolutely was not the done thing. She had always been told that you should never shout or raise your voice to anyone, and instead of shouting, or making any loud noises, she instead got very quiet, very still.

She stopped touching him, stepping away from him and running her fingers casually through her hair. The movement was actually not very casual at all, and anyone who had known her at all would have picked up on the sudden tension in her body. This was Wendall, he wasn't trying to hurt her on purpose, she was sure of that, but it had been three years and all he could think was to ask her if she was taller? Not even a hi mary lou? She honestly didn't know what to say.

Instead, she just... smiled. But it was a weird kind of smile. It wasn't a happy smile. It was a little twisted, unnatural, uncomfortable on a face that had always smiled easily. This was not natural for her, this was not common. "Why aah... yes, aah suppose aah am a teeny bit taller than aah was before." her southern drawl intensified as she looked at him, her body radiating tension and disapproval.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Despite not having seen her for a few years, Wendall did still recall how they used to interact with one another, and the conversations they’d once shared. As she moved away from him and he watched her demeanour intently, he almost felt the air around them suddenly change, and the guilt that he’d done something wrong flooded his body. The only problem was, he wasn’t entirely sure what he’d done wrong. Mary Lou did give him an answer to his awkward question, although if he thought his face was flushed before, it was nothing compared to the scarlet it was now. “Sorry, I mean, you look really nice.” He added swiftly, finally glancing away and giving himself a moment to calm down. He felt incredibly out of place in that moment, in a way that he’d never experienced before now. He felt Mary Lous eyes on him as though she was seeing parts of him that he wasn’t even aware of himself.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could tell that she was fiddling around with her hair more than usual, and it dawned on him then that it wasn’t the bright yellow blonde that he was accustomed to, instead it had another hue that was a little harder to see in the light of the Ball, but now that he glanced again to focus on it, could tell was different to how it had been previously. “Your hair, you’ve dyed it?” Wendall wasnt really asking her, so much as hoping that she would agree. “Pinks your favourite color.” He added quietly, “It suits you very well,” heck, it suited her so naturally he’d up until now missed it entirely. He turned his gaze back out towards the others in the room, feeling as though the large amount of energy radiating right now from the girl beside him was enough to make him say something else stupid. ​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou's fingers moved faster through her hair as he asked about it. To be honest she wasn't sure herself how she felt about it. After all, she'd initially done this for attention, and since she hadn't received the attention she had wanted or expected, she wasn't entirely sure how it felt now. Still, as her fingers moved through her hair, no doubt ruining the curls she had tried so hard to get to sit correctly, she didn't really know what to say either. She was a little surprised that he'd noticed it at all, after having spent weeks being completely oblivious to her. She hadn't expected it so suddenly.

"Ah, yes... pink is mah favourite colour... ahh didn't realise you'd remember that." she said quietly, her face going a little slack at the compliment to her hair. Maybe she thought he wouldn't like it after he hadn't commented on it, thinking maybe he was trying to spare her feelings. "Do ye really like it?" she asked, wanting so badly to receive his approval. All she wanted was for Wendall to like her.

The anger was still there, bubbling away, but... but she wasn't really upset with him, not really. It wasn't his fault if he didn't like her like she liked him. And clearly he didn't, if he didn't notice her like she wanted him to.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Was Wendall not supposed to have remembered her favourite color? He didn’t remember a lot of things about a lot of people, but then again he also didn’t know a lot of people. He was still unsure as to whether or not his guilt was justified, although at least Mary Lou still seemed to want to talk to him. Wendall looked back at the sixth year and let his eyes move over her whole outfit, getting a look at her properly despite the lighting. He did consider asking her if he could shine a light to her hair, but he didn’t think she’d appreciate him putting his wand in her face, especially while they were in the warm glow of the Valentines Ball lighting. “Yeah, I do. Pretty sure you’d look good with any color though,” he smiled, trying to keep the mood light now they were actually talking.

Wendall shuffled in his position for a moment, and found himself hoping he wasn’t about to be pulled away from this conversation by his date. What about Mary Lou? Was she here with someone? “Are you.. with anyone?” He asked, “I mean, at the ball, not with anyone, unless you are.. never mind.” Wendall had had his share of awkward situations before, but right now he felt like a fish out of water with no idea why his brain wasn’t cooperating with his mouth. It didn’t really matter to Wendall whether Mary Lou was seeing someone, or at least he didn’t think it did. She was just Mary Lou wasnt she? The bubbly little Hufflepuff he’d looked out for years ago, that was all. He tried to picture someone, anyone he knew, interrupting them to call Mary Lou back to the dance, maybe Connor, or Chloe, Ajax even, someone cool, being in her presence right now instead of him. It was strangely alienating and he felt his stomach churn at the image. Why was she even still talking to him now that he wasn’t choking on juice? It was the familiar feeling of jealousy that he’d been experiencing for a while now, and as time went on Wendall found the best way to deal with it was to just be open about it.

“I am glad you came back by the way,” he found himself saying out loud, repeating words from the other night. “It’s different when you’re around. It’s fun. I’ve missed that.”​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

"Do ye really believe that, Wendall? Do ye really think so?" Mary Lou was delighted that Wendall seemed to have finally taken notice of her, and enough that he could picture her in any other colour. She was sure he was right too, that most colours would look good on her, though she knew which colours worked for her better than others. Still, she was glad she hadn't decided to choose a pink dress because it would have looked really silly with her pink hair and now that he cheeks were beginning to tinge a bit too... though to be honest she wasn't sure if that was more to do with the fact she was a little frustrated or that she was shy. Though she had never been a particularly shy person, and she'd become use to people knowing who she was and staring at her, given what had happened in her early years at the school, getting such attention from Wendall specifically was thrilling and terrifying at the same time.

When he asked if she was with someone, she shook her head, glancing over at Jenna with a flicker of jealousy on her face, though she would never admit to it. She didn't dislike the Jenna girl... not really. Well, she barely knew her to be honest. "No, aah didn't get a chance to ask someone. Ye know, because aah was gone fer so long. Aah just wanted to be with the people aah liked and... well, ye know aah don't really know anyone here anymore, 'cept you." she said, watching him as she spoke. She wanted to spend time with him, he'd get that from what she said, right?

"Aah, don't really remember mah early days in the school bein' very fun, but aah appreciate that you had a good time yourself," she said, the smile slipping onto her face a little more genuinely. Whilst she'd had a pretty terrible first couple of years, she remembered Wendall with great fondness and was glad he'd been with her through some of her worst moments. "Ye know, aah never did get to thank you fer what you did in the courtyard that time in mah first year." she added, running her fingers through her hair at a slower pace.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall couldn’t help but giggle when Mary Lou asked if he really thought it suited her. It wasn’t out of being disrespectful, so much as he thought it was cute that she seemed to care so much that he liked what she wore. They were friends after all, and he too wouldn’t have wanted her to hate his outfits, even if they were usually pretty simple. He made a note to try an venture outside his comfort zone a little, maybe be a bit more like Mary Lou when it came to expressing himself. Mary Loud did look happier though than she did before, which made Wendall a little more relaxed, and he was happy to continue his compliments if this is where it got him. “It goes with your dress too,” he noted, remembering the same thing Leda said when she’d dyed her hair blonde a few years ago. Apparently that was important, whether ones hair matched the clothing. If it were up to Wendall he probably would have dyed his own bright red just to stand out, regardless of what else was on his body.

The seventh year followed his friends gaze across the hall towards Jenna, who he knew he should get back to soon but he was confident they still had some time. “Oh..” Wendalls face dropped when Mary Lou said that she wasn’t with someone, not because the news was disappointing, but because he believed he fell into the category of people she knew, instead of people she liked. If she had liked him, we’ll then she would have asked him. He sighed quietly to himself, slightly annoyed that he let himself believe there was more to what he was feeling. Mary Lou probably just didn’t want to be on her own. “It’s okay, you’ll make more friends,” he did his best to give her a confident smile, despite the shock of how his stomach was feeling in that moment.

It was even more disheartening to hear that Mary Lou hadn’t enjoyed her first few years at the school, and as she thanked him for trying to pull a student off her by the ankles in his second year, his smile turned into one much more genuine. “Just doin’ my duty sir!” He said loudly in a British accent. He was sure that if Lysander had heard his imitation he would have been very proud; it had been a while since they’d watched movies together. Pretty pleased with his own joke, he grinned at the Hufflepuff, temporarily forgetting himself and what he was doing.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

"Thank you!"​

Mary Lou was feeling a little more perky the more that she spoke to Wendall. She was always happiest when she was around him, despite the fact he clearly did not feel the same way about her. Still, she was glad that he was at least happy to see her, and they had been through a lot together, she wouldn't want to ruin that. Some of her best memories of the school had involved Wendall, like that day she'd met Thorgan Snyder and the day she'd met Chase as well. They'd all had a tea party together if she remembered correctly. He'd always been there for her when she was upset, honestly, she was surprised that he even knew she could smile the amount of times she'd felt comfortable around him enough to cry. He had just always been this amazing and strong person for her, and that was what she loved about him. The entire time she'd been in America, all she'd wanted to do was share the things she'd learned with Wendall. She hadn't even barely thought about anyone else in that whole time.

"Wendall, aah," she slammed her mouth shut as he told her she'd make more friends and then followed it up by calling her a man. She frowned, both concerned and confused about this situation. "Wendall, ahm not a man," she said, looking down at herself. Hadn't he just told her she looked good? That had been what he'd said right? She didn't understand how he could compliment her in one breath and then insult her in the other. "Wendall!" she said, a little more loudly than she'd expected, jumping at the sound of her voice and then looking around to make sure she hadn't invited anyone to watch. "Oh... oh ahm so sorry. Aah don't know what came over me." she said, stepping away from him slightly and tripping over a patch of absolutely nothing, reaching out to grab Wendall as she fell with a gasp and a small shriek.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Maybe if Wendall gave Mary Lou enough compliments, she would like him back in the way that he was realising he liked her. He liked her attention in a way that he didn’t really feel was necessary from anyone else, and that this conversation as awkward as it may have been, had the teenage boy feeling a particular way. She said his name a couple of times, although Wendall was still busy feeling pleased about his own joke to know why. “I didn’t call you a man?” He replied after a moment, confused, watching as Mary Lou looked herself up and down once more. “It’s a quote from a film,” he began, turning away to put his attention towards some of the snacks at their disposal as he relayed this story. “Pirates of the Caribbean, have you never seen it? It’s a good film, I watched it years ago before I even started here, it’s quite old now though. Probably even older than old Professor Monty.” He had liked that man. His eyes settled on a bowl of gummy wizards, and taking a handful, he quickly dropped seven or eight in his mouth at once, figuring he had a moment for Mary Lou to tell him her film experience before he would have to speak again.

Startled at her sudden announcement of his name, he thought little of it however as he began to munch on the chewy candy in his mouth, turning his head to face her once more. He didn’t see much more though than a flash of pink hair and the room jolt away from him, as her grip on his jacket yanked him down with her as they fell to the floor. Heavens knew what happened, but Wendall knew it didn’t take a lot for either of them to end up in an accident, something they didn’t seem to be able to get away from no matter whether they grew up. Wendall landed flat on top of Mary Lou, although he was quick to shift his weight onto the arm that was now touching the stone floor of the Great Hall, keen not to squash her. He wasn’t particularly large nor heavy, nor was he particularly athletic or held much strength at all, but it was enough it would probably be uncomfortable for her to be sandwiched between his his weight and the floor.

Wendalls face was mere inches away from Mary Lou’s, and it took the seventh year a second to register what had happened, and whether they were still in tact. He almost daren’t move in fear of hurting her more, nor did he dare trying to speak while facing down. The only thing that did continue to move in the following seconds was his jaw, as he continued to munch on the candy that he was just thankful he’d managed to keep in his mouth this time.​

 

[Chase Warrick]

Ever since Arihi had transferred to Ilvermorny Chase had been attending the various dances alone and seeing what opportunities presented themselves. For his final Valentine's dance Chase had scored a date who had vanished to talk to some friends leaving Chase to find a particularly good vantage point to watch his friend Wendall's conversation with Mary Lou. Throughout his time at Hogwarts Chase had been varying degrees of competent at talking to girls but he liked to think he'd improved in that area. Wendall seemed like he'd never spoken to a girl in his life despite the fact he and Mary Lou had known each other a long time, her time away from the school notwithstanding.

Some of the things that had been coming out of Wendall's mouth made Chase cringe and want to slap the boy. He could see what was going on from outside the conversation but Wendall who was standing in front of this stunning girl was completely clueless. Chase facepalmed himself when he heard the word 'Sir' coming from Wendall's mouth referring to Mary Lou. He may have been quoting a movie but it had to be the dumbest thing he had ever heard the boy say, and there was some competition for that title.

Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, Mary Lou loudly called Wendall's name and as she took a step back tripped and the pair stumbled and landed on the floor with him on top of her. Mary Lou's face had turned the brightest shade of red Chase had seen off the Quidditch pitch. Their faces were inches apart and Wendall couldn't have asked for a better opportunity, but knowing the Hufflepuff he would squander it. "Merlin's beard," He mumbled to himself. "Just kiss!" He yelled not caring who else in the hall would hear. It only mattered that the two Hufflepuff's heard it and acted accordingly. He couldn't watch them dance around each other any longer.

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall did his best to hurry up and swallow the candy before it became another awkward obstacle, still looking into Mary Lous face below him. Just as he managed to get rid of the gummy candy, he heard another voice shouting across the hall and Wendalls face lit up in delight. “You’ve seen it too!!” He exclaimed loudly, glancing up to see Chase hollering in their direction.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Everything happened so quickly and a moment Mary Lou had been waiting for... never actually came. She'd gone red when Wendall had fallen on top of her, and redder still when she'd realised she'd not been unseen. Chase Warrick, who Mary Lou had not seen in about the same length of time as Wendall, had decided to suddenly make his presence known to them both. Apparently sharing in on some joke that Mary Lou was not privy to, because they seemed to know what was going on a lot more than she did, and honestly, she didn't know what to think. Everything was just going so differently to how she had wanted and now she was on the ground again. Which apparently was just where she belonged since it seemed to happen to her more often than not.

Without even realising it, Mary Lou's eyes filled with tears, though they didn't fall down her face. Instead they stung at the corners of her eyes as she looked up at Wendall and then over at Chase, hurt that they would think this was funny for her. She was sure they both knew about what happened with Luxen and for them to think that making fun of her like this was funny, well, Mary Lou clearly just didn't know them at all.

Staying where she was, Mary Lou sniffed as she looked up at he ceiling, feeling completely alone. This was first year all over again. She felt like she was back out in the courtyard, people randomly piling on top of her, shoving her face in the dirt. At least the grass had made for a softer landing.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendalls grin was dismissed as he glanced back down to the situation at hand, Mary Lou still wedged underneath him and not saying a word. Should he kiss her? He had to admit he wanted to, and that was a new sensation for him, but in that second as he looked at the Hufflepuff he felt the similar pull in his stomach that he had at the beginning of their conversation. She wasn’t looking at him, she was looking past him, above him. Had he done something wrong? He wasn’t the one who had tripped, but maybe Mary Lou was hurting. “Are you all right?” He asked her only quietly enough for her to hear. It was only then that he realised the moment had passed, right now he was just squashing his friend in front of a room full of students. He shifted off her properly, putting out a hand for hers to help lift her into a sitting position, and knelt to the floor beside the Hufflepuff as he continued to search her face for answers of what was going through her head. “I didn’t mean to crush you, did you hurt anything?” He added, his eyes darting over her arms as the fresh waves of guilt overcame him as he believed he’d ruined her evening. “Do you want to go?” Wendall would just have to tell Jenna later that something came up, but he’d have done that if it meant being able to stay with Mary Lou and make up for the night so far.​

 

[Chase Warrick]

Wendall's response made Chase groan audibly as he had taken completely the wrong message from his words. He should have chosen his words better than something that could be taken as a movie quote, he had hoped Wendall would have taken the hint from his choice of quote and gone for it but that had clearly been an error in judgement on the Ravenclaw's part. He saw Mary Lou look over at him with tears in her eye and he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. Chase would need to clear the air with her at a later point, he hated to think he had done something to make her cry, he had only attempted to intervene for both of their benefits. Given that Wendall hadn't moved and Chase could no longer hear what they said to each other he took that as them working out whatever was going on between them. Hopefully, he had at least put the idea out there so Wendall's innocent brain could comprehend the idea. Chase backed away from the pair and decided to go and find his own date so Wendall wasn't the only one kissing a girl that night.

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou had thought that these people were her friends and all they'd done was make her cry on the ground. She felt like absolute crap. Still, she supposed the only thing worse than this situation would have been if Luxen was here to see it. She hadn't seen Luxen in years of course, but his words still haunted her. The name calling, the way he'd gotten away with torturing her all through second year, honestly, sometimes she was surprised she'd even agreed to come back.

And this was what she was greeted with. The one person she really wanted to see had apparently not only wanted nothing to do with her, but he'd thought it would be funny to upset her and then get his friend in on it. She wasn't sure what she'd done to deserve such unpleasantness, but all she wanted to do was leave the room and run away.

Unfortunately, she was currently stuck beneath a mean Hufflepuff, and he was making it difficult for her to move at all. Even with the things Kalif had taught her, that didn't mean she was a confident as she wanted to be. Still, she supposed he deserved to know just how upset she was. If that meant he would feel even a little bad, that could only be a good thing.

Tears still prickling her eyes, Mary Lou looked back at Wendall, her eyes red, but steady. With a final sniff, she bit. "Aah came back fer you, aah changed mah hair for you, aah waited here fer you... and you laugh in mah face." she said, her voice rough with the hurt of his actions. "Couldn't ye have pretended, even fer just a second? Aah like you Wendall, aah would have done anything fer you if you'd asked. So what did aah do wrong fer you to hurt me like this?"​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Mary Lou was barely moving, barely talking, and it made Wendall very uncomfortable indeed. Had he hurt her that badly that she didn’t want to talk anymore? Was he meant to just leave her alone? Social skills had never been a highlight for Wendall, but even more so in the last few years when he’d distanced himself away from everyone in an effort to control how he was feeling. He didn’t understand what he was meant to do in this situation and as he saw Chase wander off it only made him feel like he was even more alone, that he was losing people in his life again. Because that’s what people always did. They left.

Wendall was finding himself growing angry at the silence, angry at himself for believing that he could let other people back into his life again, to try and be more open and spontaneous and trusting. It was all too easy for friends to cut him out when it pleased them, and as Mary Lou refused to tell him what was wrong, he grew increasingly frustrated.

What came next out of the girls mouth though caught Wendall by surprise, more so than even tripping over usually did. His brow softened a little as he listened to Mary Lou confess why she’d really come back, and what she’d done for him. What if that was all part of the trick to make him feel worse when she left? Wendall had to remind himself that Mary Lou had no reason to make him feel bad though, she wouldn’t have gained anything from it. “You.. like me?” He repeated, just making completely sure that he was hearing her correctly. “I don’t pretend. And I wasn’t laughing in your face. Well, I was, but I mean I wasn’t laughing at you. That was just a film joke.” Wendall felt guiltier still, that Mary Lou had been feeling this way the whole time and here he was, oblivious to it all. It was a lot of information to take in all at once.

“You’ve never done anything wrong.” Wendall remained knelt on the floor but he was beginning to lose the feeling in his feet, a sensation he was partly focusing on now in order to work out what to say next. Jenna had told him he needed to be truthful and open if he wanted to keep his relationships. “You’ve always been sweet to me and looked out for me and I thought I did that too, but” Wendall hadn’t really been there for anyone but himself in the last few years, “I’m sorry.” He was talking very quietly now, sheepishly and defeated. He wanted nothing more than to hide under the table that was just a few feet away and not have to face the shame. Wendall wasn’t brave like Lysander or confident like Chase. It didn’t escape Wendalls notice that Mary Lou spoke about some things in the last tense, and that it was clear he’d blown or was close to blowing any chance he had with her. “You don’t have to pretend with me either, and you don’t have to change anything. I like you too, I just like who you are.”​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

In all honesty, Mary Lou just didn't know what to say. The amount of times she'd sort of played this out in her head, this was far from the way it had gone in those encounters and in fact, she couldn't recall ever having been crying in them. Still, she supposed this was a a step in the right direction if she could get past the fact that they were surrounded on all sides by people who could probably see she was crying and had been underneath an older boy. It wasn't a great position to be in and as she realised the implication, she immediately tried to stand to leap away from Wendall, pushing him away slightly, smacking her head against his and wincing at the pain of it.

"Ouch, oh my stars, Wendall, aah am so sorry about that," she said looking at him as she rubbed her head. She wasn't sure what to say at this point. They'd both kind of confessed their feelings to each other, and it had kind of been awkward and weird, and she was a mess and crying and all red faced and blotchy. She really couldn't be letting no men seeing her like this. What would Wendall be thinking seeing her like this? She felt like she looked like the most disgusting thing in the room right now.

Covering her face with her hands, she shook her head. "Don't look at me, Wendall, aah need to clean mah face!" she could address what else he'd said when she didn't look like an evil witch.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall was still dazed and confused when he was suddenly pushed and then had his forehead smacked. It was a good job he had grown accustomed to injuries if he was to stand being around Mary Lou, which was saying something given his own experience. The seventh year stood up beside her, his eyes still fixed on Mary Lou who seemed intent to hide her face away. He was still feeling a bit disheartened himself, but with nothing else left to lose he took another step closer. He was about a head or so taller than Mary Lou, and fancy jacket or not he knew he had a job to do. “Your face is beautiful.” He said quietly and honestly, doing his best to gently pull her hands away and dry off any remaining tears with his sleeve. “I’m sorry I ruined your night.” Wendall was glad this wasn’t the last event Mary Lou had the chance to attend, it wouldn’t have been a great one to end on. If he had the confidence of a Gryffindor he might have done or said more than he did in that moment, but alas Wendall just did his best to keep her calm and keep her company.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

"Wendall, ye can't say that!" Mary Lou sort of quietly whispered yelled at him. Not because she didn't want him to, but because now, along with her tears and likely snot, she was red under it. She wasn't appreciating this appearance at all right now and though she had the thought to kind of worm herself into him, she was refraining, unsure of where he wanted this to go. She'd made the initial gesture, did she need to take this thing home too? Something to her she did, because there was something about Wendall that was preventing him from actually doing the thing she wanted him to do and if she had to do it herself, so be it. "You didn't ruin mah night, Wendall, not yet, we can still salvage this, if you'll allow me?" she asked, looking up at him from where he was patting down her face. She felt very much like a little kid standing against him as she stepped closer, but she found that she kind of didn't mind it, not when it was with Wendall. "Did you get taller, or am aah rememberin' incorrectly?" she asked, smiling lightly up at him.

When he didn't immediately move, she frowned. "Wendall Layton, if you ain't kiss me right now, this the last chance you're ever gonna get."​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Wendall wasn’t sure why he couldn’t say that, especially because Mary Lou liked compliments, but he stayed quiet for now as he didn’t want to make her any more upset than he already had for one night. He nodded when she mentioned the night could be salvaged but what that consisted of, he wasn’t quite sure but was more than happy to just follow along with what she had in mind. A small smile appeared on his face when Mary Lou asked whether he’d grown, quite the question given his first one of the night, although this time he refrained from making a joke out of fear that he’d upset her again.

It wasn’t that it was completely unexpected, but it felt as though he needed the push to actually make a move and being given instruction out Wendall completely on the spot. And maybe she was right and he did. Up until this point he’d blantantly missed the signals and even Chase had given up and gone home. He wasn’t quite sure what to do with his hands in such a scenario either. The only other time he’d kissed people had been during Spin the Bottle and while on his hands and knees so this was quite different from a game when he was 12. Pushing away the feeling that he was being awkward, Wendall leant forward, closing his eyes at the last second to make sure he didn’t kiss her nose or something.

It was only a small kiss, barely more than a peck at best, but as Wendall realised that the biggest hurdles were already behind him, he moved his hands ups to rest on her hips and kissed her again. Properly. Like a man. This wasn’t like anything he’d experienced before, and as nervous as he was, he didn’t break contact with Mary Lou but just went with the flow and held her closely.​

 

[Mary Lou Layton]

Mary Lou hadn't ever had a proper kiss with a boy. She hadn't really ever had a proper kiss with anyone, let alone someone she actually liked. Knowing that this was something that she'd thought about for a while, she was incredibly nervous. She wasn't sure if you were supposed to prepare for something like this and if you were, she hadn't done it. Still, it was nice. It wasn't much at first, just a soft little wisp of a kiss on the lips and she would have been happy with that. For a moment, she had thought that was all she would get. But then, a moment or two later, she felt his hands come down around her waist and she felt his lips against hers again. This felt different to the first one, probably covered in both of their nerves. The second kiss, if that was what she could even cal it, felt more like something people who liked each other would do. It was scary and amazing and terrible all at the same time. It was clear neither had any practice at this, but even still, Mary Lou appreciated it for all that it meant and she moved her arms up to rest on his shoulders, not too terribly sure what to do with her body. It wasn't like she'd spent the time to google this, she'd always just kind of taken it for granted that she would know what to do.

"Wendall," she said, stepping back. She didn't break out of his hold though, burying her face into his chest and wrapping her arms around him. He wasn't very big, he was taller than her, and lanky, but this was of no consequence to her, because she just liked Wendall and everything he'd ever meant to her. "Ahm sorry aah ever thought you wanted to hurt me," she said, looking up at him, overwhelmed at the fact that this had happened and still caught up in the emotions she'd had tensed inside her for the last month or so. This had not go to plan at all, but it didn't matter, because Wendall knew how she felt now... and he felt the same.​

 

[Wendall Layton]

Whatever Wendall imagined kissing a girl properly would be like, it definitely wasn't like this. This was even better than anything the seventh year could have come up with, and it will a little bit sad when Mary Lou pulled away and broke their contact. Maybe it was because they'd been friends for a very long time too, but kissing Mary Lou didn't feel awkward, even though they should probably have a bit more practise before they considered themselves proficient in this area. He trusted her and that was what was important, because she'd always been a comfort to Wendall and that didn't change now either. Wendall gave her a squeeze when she buried her face into his chest, glad that she hadn't broken the kiss in order to move away; he hoped he wasn't that bad. "Of course I didn't," he smiled at her, glad that she didn't seem mad or sad at him anymore. He really had only been making a joke with Chase, although maybe he also would have redeemed himself in Chase's eyes once he got a chance to tell him what happened after he left. In all honesty in that moment though, Wendall was pretty damn happy where he was with what he was doing, hugging Mary Lou at the valentines ball seemed like a good night to him. He kissed her forehead lightly, just in case she wasn't sure how he was feeling. He would have to do a better job of expressing himself, he thought. Wendall didn't know what Mary Lou wanted now, but if she wanted to be his girlfriend then he certainly would have liked that too. Was he meant to ask? Was he meant to wait for a few minutes? Wendall had no idea when it came to this area. Maybe it was just assumed because they'd kissed? In movies it certainly seemed the case until a couple got married. If he didn't ask now, he'd definitely have to ask a friend to see what they thought. "Did you want to dance?" Wendall said after a few moments of silence, figuring it would be a good chance to enjoy the rest of their evening together.​