Closed Would You Have Me?

[Isadora Novak]

Isadora had been very angry at Cameron for a very long time. She was good at keeping grudges. But now, months after their fight, even her fire was running out. She no longer felt rage when she looked at him, just a distant sadness. She wanted to go back to being friends, for Margo's sake as well as her own. It wasn't fair to Margo to be stuck in the middle of them. Isadora decided to hang around the Slytherin common room, hoping to run into him. She tried to lean casually against a wall, but knew she wasn't entirely selling it.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron didn't think it was possible to have missed Isadora more than he did last year but now that she was back at school and barely speaking to him it was all somehow worse. The distance was so much bigger sitting in classes and trying to ignore her when all he wanted to do was turn and make a catty comment when the professor said something stupid. Honestly, he probably preferred her being stuck in Bolivia or Russia or wherever she was than this.

She was on his mind enough he nearly missed her loitering awkwardly near the common room door, double taking and only getting away with nearly flattening a second year by glowering pointedly at his prefect badge until they dropped it. It gave him a few precious seconds to gather his thoughts at least before approaching her, eying her warily for a moment before speaking. "What, you hear to yell at me in my own home now too?" He asked defensively, crossing his arms.

 

[Isadora Novak]

Isadora watched the interaction between Cameron and a younger student and couldn't help it, she smiled. "Glad to see you're using that badge for good." She told him. But her smile disappeared when he spoke to her, and she frowned as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. "I'm not here to yell at you." She said shortly, but she couldn't quite bring herself to say what she was here to do instead. She just stared at him, frowning slightly.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron rolled his eyes, feeling a fond twist at his mouth at the comment quickly trying to stifle it. "I dunno what else they expected giving it to me," he muttered, barely biting back a nastier comment about Isadora having her own if she'd stuck around. Instead he simply raised his eyebrows at her dubiously. If she wasn't planning on yelling at him for once, he wasn't going to encourage her to. Not yet at least. "First time for everything, I guess," he said instead, watching her guardedly.

 

[Isadora Novak]

Isadora shrugged a little at Cameron's comment. "Maybe they thought you could do something good with it." She said, not even sure where that comment came from. Cameron wasn't really prefect material, but there was no reason professors couldn't see some potential in him. She scoffed when he implied she always yelled at him, crossing her arms. "You were a jerk too- and... and I don't want to do that anymore. Can we just stop?"

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron simply shrugged back at Isadora, exaggerating the gesture to be sure she could tell he found that explanation about as likely as she did. There was another stilted moment as he waited for her to speak and he winced when she started talking, bracing himself for another tirade about how much he sucked except the blow never came.

It was tempting to turn Isadora down, he'd been minding his own business when she'd come after him. After all, he'd decided to forgive her for abandoning them for a whole year and just pretend it didn't happen until she'd started yelling at him, but even Cameron had to admit he missed having her around like an ache. It'd been bad enough last year, and now having her here and feeling like they couldn't talk was even worse. It wasn't the apology he wanted, but he'd take it. "Truce?" He offered, pausing for a second before uncrossing his arms and holding out his hand.

 

[Isadora Novak]

There was a part of Isadora that didn't want to just accept the truce Cameron offered. She wanted him to at least look a little guilty for how he had made her feel, but she knew it was a chlidish impulse. She had made him feel bad too, even if not all of it had been her fault. Isadora took a deep breath, then took his hand and shook it. "Truce." She said, though it still felt a little awkward. "Just stop being a butt." She added in a mutter, mostly to break the tension.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron had never known holding your hand out like this could feel so vulnerable until he was stood there, waiting for Isadora to accept it, a swooping feeling in his stomach like missing a phantom step in his stomach when her hand finally touched his and they shook hands stilted for a few moments.

Rolling his eyes again, Cameron couldn't help but tug Isadora forward, wrapping his free arm around and her and squeezing tightly, hoping maybe even just a fraction of everything he'd felt missing her last year could somehow be exorcised by it and he'd never have to say anything out loud. "Only if you stop first," he muttered in response instead, hiding his grin in her hair for a moment before pulling back, hands still clasped between the two of them.

 

[Isadora Novak]

Isadora was relieved when Cameron pulled her in for a hug. She had wanted to hug him too, but she hadn't known if he would push her away .It was nice that he took the initiative. She stepped back when he let her go, rolling her eyes. "I already stopped, I came here first." She told him. Then she grinned. "You're always more of a butt anyway." She told him teasingly before sticking her tongue out at him.

 

[Cameron Roswell]

Cameron rolled his eyes but he could tell his lips were doing their best to smile despite his attempts to keep his annoyed face on as they pulled apart. "I'll believe it when I see it," he said gruffly, punching Isadora gently on the shoulder as she stuck out her tongue at him. It was like a piece of him had clicked back into place. Things still weren't totally back to normal he was sure, but Cameron was hopeful he didn't have to spend the rest of the year walking around with an ache in his chest every time he saw her. "You wanna... Hang out? Common room's boring anyway," he said, already moving to follow Isadora back upstairs.