Open You're the only one of you

[Rowan Baros]

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Rowan had elected to wear something simple tonight. Given the effort she'd gone to for Yule she figured she had somewhat of a free pass. As much as she loved make up, she was getting tired of caking her face all the time, especially when there wasn't much she was actually hiding with the products. Still, simple and natural was the theme of today, especially when she had something very important that she needed to do and it was making her incredibly nervous. She wasn't sure that was something she could deal with right now, but she had to tell him at some point and she'd already sent him a rose, not that it had helped her actually get her point across if anything about tonight was supposed to point to that for her. "Elio!" She called as she noticed him, pulling him quickly into a hug so he couldn't see the nerves she was trying to beat down.​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

After Elio had received Rowan's rose, he had been trying to meet up with her to hang out but for some reason things just kept getting in the way. That wouldn't be the case today however, tonight he was going to spend as much time as he could with his best friend, and after excitedly running down to the Great Hall, he'd been on the look out for the blonde for a short while when he finally found her, "Ro!," he wrapped his arms round her, lifting her very slightly off the floor for a moment in a bear hug, "Hey look, we match," he said once her feet were back on the floor, stepping back to admire the fact they were dressed both in all black for the occasion. ​

 

[Rowan Baros]

The grin on Rowan's face was just wrong, but she hoped the strained smile didn't give her away because she didn't actually want him to ask her about anything out right. She had to get to this on her own. His rose had meant a lot to her of course, but, well, one didn't just come out like that right? She was sure the rose wasn't meant to fuel anything, she didn't think Elio was that kind of person, but what if he was and that was his way of telling her how he felt? After all, it had been a red rose after all, and she'd sent him a pink rose, so, perhaps they'd been communicating in like flower language or something, Rowan didn't know. "Great minds, right?" She asked, once her feet were firmly planted back on the ground again and she checked her dress to make sure she was accidentally flashing anyone. "Maybe don't do that when I'm wearing a short dress," she suggested. "I'm not actually wearing shorts under this."​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio instantly looked alarmed at her warning, "Oh right, sure, sorry," he backed off a bit more, shoving his hands into his pockets. "So do you wanna dance?" he flashed her a toothy smile, hoping to change the atmosphere a bit. He wasn't sure if he was just imagining it but something seemed off. They'd only met up for a few seconds but there was a level of awkwardness between them that he'd never noticed before, and wanting to break that down, the easiest thing he could think of was to go and make the most of the time they had on the dance floor. Some couples had already started dancing of course, and it would be fun to show the others up on what they could do. The Gryffindor waited for her response, believing it was perhaps better for her to lead the way. ​

 

[Rowan Baros]

“In a sec, uhm,” Rowan looked over her shoulder at the other couples some of them she’d seen at previous dances and some were people she hadn’t known were together at all. She was usually quite observant and she had her camera hanging over her shoulder as she twisted her hands together trying to ward off the anxiety she was starting to feel rush over her. “C-can we just... like chat for a sec?” She asked, gesturing him to move with her a bit closer to the wall so they weren’t really standing until he middle of the doors or potentially anyone’s path. No one was looking at them, but she suddenly felt as if all eyes were on her, waiting for her to fess up.​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

See, Elio knew something was up. "What's going on?" he asked, his heart beat suddenly racing in his chest. Had he done something wrong? Maybe she was about to tell him she didn't want to be friend anymore, was that why they'd been so "busy" lately? He glanced down, and it was impossible to miss the fact Rowan seemed on edge. She was fidgeting all over the place and maybe she did need to get something off her chest. Then Elio could fix it and they could enjoy the rest of their evening together. So many thoughts were rushing through the Gryffindors mind. He certainly hadn't expected to have a serious talk on a night like this. With any luck it wasn't anything to do with him at all, and the blonde had her own problems that she wanted advice on. Perhaps she was torn up over a boy, and wanted to ask for tips on how to get to know him. He waited patiently, his eyes searching hers for answers and hoping that she trusted him enough to get the words out.​

 

[Rowan Baros]

Rowan was glad that she atleast knew Elio, he was her bestfriend, she knew everything about him, well, she thought she did anyway, if you ignored the biggest aspect she seemed to have become oblivious to. “El, I,” she bit her lip, shaking her head to keep herself calm. Her breath was coming out in little huffs now, though she wasn’t sure if that was nerves or asthma. “Uhm,” merlin this was difficult. She couldn’t see anyone around particularly that she recognised and so she didn’t even have moral support. She sighed to herself before sucking in a breath and looking Elio in the eye, plucking up some of that Gryffindor courage she’d always heard so much about but never been able to access until right at the moment. “I really, really, really, like you.”​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

It took her a moment, but when Elio felt Rowan's eyes reflect back to his, he listened as she began to talk to him. He was still waiting for her to get to her point though, and it did confuse him a little why she felt the need to reiterate their friendship before she did so, "I really like you too," he replied, in case she needed the reassurance he was there to listen. Whatever was going on with her he would do everything he could to help. Feeling like they were making progress, although still a little nervous about what the actual problem was, he continued to stand and let Rowan speak, not wanting to interrupt her unless he had to. ​

 

[Rowan Baros]

She could see he didn’t get it. She supposed she wasn’t too surprised by that, this was Elio after all, but she had atleast thought her pink rose had helped. “No, that’s not quite what I meant.” She told him, folding her arms around herself, but keeping her eyes on him. “I meant like... you know like for beyond friendship.” She started saying, trying to make him understand what she was telling him. She reached out to him then, holding his hands in hers. “Elio, I like like you,” she finally admitted, leaning up on her toes to kiss him.​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio frowned slightly, trying to work out what she was talking about. He didn't have to wonder for long though, as before he could say anything else, she's taken his hands and planted her lips on his. The Gryffindor had never kissed anyone before, but this was not how he'd imagined it in any sense. An electrical shock ran through his body, and it took every part of him not to just jolt his whole body away. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but suddenly it had hit him what she meant by liking him, how could he have been so stupid? Had he not seen any signs? Had she even given any? They'd barely kissed for a second before he pulled away, eyes slightly wider than he'd anticipated. "Oh, you meant like that," he said, still in a state of shock from what on earth had just happened. the boy was frozen to the spot, unsure to say anything in case it made her feel worse. Did she not know that he didn't like her like that? That he didn't like any girl like that? It wasn't like he'd done anything to hide the fact he had a preference for guys, especially in a school as open in this one. Then again maybe she did know but was just testing that like a theory. Either way, he had to clarify, "Rowan." he began softly, trying to keep his own nerves out of his voice, "You know I'm gay, right?"​

 

[Rowan Baros]

Rowan was... well, to say she was feeling a little upset about this was probably the understatement of the century. Rowan was absolutely devestated. Like that. He’d said, as if he didn’t like her the same way, as if she’d just beared her soul to him and he cared about her less than she cared about him. She’d sent him a pink rose and he’d sent her a red one, didnt he know what those meant? Didn’t he think she’d get that rose and assume he returned her feelings? Didn’t he know what her pink rose had meant? Was he just toying with her? Waiting for her to tell him how she felt so he could throw her to the ground and just stomp on her feelings like that? Had he just been stringing her along so he could play around with her only to drop his preference on her like that and think that justified they way he’d treated her? They were so affectionate with each other, he was affectionate with her! They’d shared a blanket and gone to the Yule ball! Did they all mean nothing to him? “You... you, but, your rose,” she said, sniffing back the tears she was trying so very hard to contain. She couldn’t cry now in front of everyone. Her mind was spinning at a thousand miles an hour and her heart beat quickened so much she thought Elio might be able to see it. “I sent you a pink rose, Elio!” She yelled at him. So humiliated that she couldn’t contain herself. “You sent me a red one!”​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

He'd done everything he could to be understanding, and now suddenly Rowan was in front of him, shouting that it was his fault she'd misunderstood. He didn't know where to begin, "Because we're in Gryffindor," he explained feebly. His rose had been quite out there he supposed, but that didn't make it any less true. It occurred to him however that if she had never known his preference, that his actions may have perhaps made it seem like he was interested in her in that way too. "I thought you knew! Everybody knows!" Even Elsie seemed to, and they'd only spent a few minutes together. "You're my best friend. I do love you, I think you're bloody amazing, I love hanging out with you but I never meant for this to happen," he was talking fiercely now in his own defence, but he was also trying not to draw a crowd. The last thing they needed was a public audience. "Please, please don't cry," he said, approaching to give her a hug. This had all been a huge mistake and he hadn't meant to confuse her. He'd been open from the start and even if he'd never explicitly told her so, he'd never hidden who he was.​

 

[Rowan Baros]

What he was saying was reasonable, perfectly reasonable, to the point she now felt incredibly stupid and moronic for ever thinking he’d even be remotely interested in her. But it also meant she was incredibly, irreversibly humiliated and the tears she’d been trying to keep at bay began to slip free of her barriers and fall down her face. She moved to cover her face with her hands, visibly shaking as she did so with the amount of self control she was exerting to keep herself from turning on her heel and racing away from the hall. But as he stepped towards her, clearly intent on hugging her, whatever had been holding her in place broke and she pushed her hands out in front of her to get him to stop. “No! Don’t touch me!” She yelled at him, shaking her head fiercely. “Leave me alone, I can’t be here.” She turned then and ran away from him. She didn’t know where she was going to go, but anywhere that wasn’t where Elio was right now, was a bloody good start. She was extremely humiliated and she could feel that everyone was watching her as she ran. She didn’t know what to do. She’d just yelled at Elio for nothing other than being gay and not liking her back. How could he ever forgive her.​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

For the second time that evening, Elio took a step back from Rowan, watching as anger was thrown at him and he was shown a side of the Gryffindor he'd not seen before. It was more than a little startling and it took a moment for Elio to get a grip on the situation. Rowan quickly ran out, but the fourth year wasn't just going to let his best friend run away especially if he was part of the reason for her being upset. He moved through the crowd after her, doing his best not to let the girl escape his sight, and eventually he followed her outside. "Rowan, stop," he called out. She was still way up ahead of him, but even if he was running after her she had the led. He came to a stand still himself, watching to see if she was really just going to leave him standing out there on his own. Of course he'd still see her around in lessons, but he didn't know how he was meant to have fun now when his best friend was mad at him. ​

 

[Rowan Baros]

Rowan wasn’t a particularly fit person, but she was surprised by how easily she’d managed to get from the great hall to the edge of the forbidden forest. Of course now she was doubled over and dry heaving into the shrubbery, but she’d managed to get away from Elio and that had been the important thing. Out here on her own, she could let the tears fall freely as she started crying, crouching to the ground and picking her knees up to lay her head on. She’d been so sure that Elio felt the same, that he liked her as much as she liked him and to just have that thought forced to change so rapidly, it was worse than ripping off a bandaid, becuase they also needed to find the right time to do it and she now didn’t think that had been the best time. Her absolutely worst fears were just unleashed by someone who was supposed to be her bestfriend and although this really wasn’t Elio’s fault at all, Rowan’s adrenaline rush ensured she would remeber this moment at the wrong times and only think about how she felt after the fact. She didn’t think she looked very dignified sitting in the dirt, but she certainly didn’t feel it either, after what had happened. She couldn’t ever look at Elio again. She just couldn’t. ​