beautiful

[Jayden Flynn]

Jayden had woken up that morning to four other sleeping boys, several pieces of formal wear strewn across the room from when they’d all crashed late and exhausted after the Yule Ball.

It had been five thirty, and he’d gotten two hours of sleep.

It was now midday, and the Hogwarts Express was leaving to take the students that had stayed for the ball (fourth years and above) home for Christmas. And Jayden, as happy as he was to be able to see his family again, because he’d missed their insanity despite everything and it was Christmas tonight and they always went to church together and had dinner and talked about their year, especially with Ry and him, since they’d been gone the furthest away—but he had a nagging feeling in his gut, still. Last night, something had happened that had left him feeling a little sick to the stomach. It had all been that stupid mistletoe’s fault, because up until then, the night had been wonderful, and he’d been having the time of his life with Ambrosia, and watching Gabby win Yule Duchess and dancing with her and it had all been amazing and he’d been having fun until that stupid plant had put the charm on them. Him and Gabby. Forced them to kiss. And of course he’d freaked out because it was asking him to kiss Gabby, and Gabby was his best friend in the world, and he couldn’t kiss her for many, many reasons. First and foremost was the fact that she was his friend as he was hers; they were not together, nor in the process of getting together, and there really was absolutely no reason for them to kiss. They didn’t even like each other like that. Because Gabby was Gabby and Jayden was pretty sure she was still hung up on that stupid Snape bloke who was way too old for her and looked like he’d swallowed something sour every time he’d actually caught a glimpse of him. Not that Jayden had ever told Gabby any of this—he couldn’t very well go around saying bad things about the guy she had a crush on—even if it was ridiculous. She’d come to him telling him all her friends said she could get over him and he’d had to hold her and comfort her and tell her there was always a chance with love like a good best friend would do.

And anyway, okay, apart from the fact that Gabby wasn’t his girl in the sense of the word that they weren’t dating, Jayden had been caught by surprise. And he’d gone to the ball with Ambrosia, and Gabby had gone with Fabian, and something in the back of his mind had told him that kissing another girl that wasn’t your date at a party was a big no-no and he just didn’t want to be that guy. He never wanted to be that guy. And, finally, he just didn’t want to make Gabby uncomfortable. Gabby, who was fifteen, and adorable, and beautiful, and the sweetest girl he’d ever met—he hadn’t wanted to kiss her because if he’d kissed her, their friendship would have been ruined. She would have recoiled and she wouldn’t have liked that because she only saw him as a friend and Jayden would have done anything—would do anything to keep Gabby’s friendship and trust over anything else in the world. Except that was now lost, apparently. Because Gabby had said something about her being sorry he’d gotten stuck there, and she’d sounded hurt over anything—something that of course, he’d realized when he was lying awake in his bed later that night, and not when she’d ran away looking like she was about to cry. He should have gone after her. He should have pulled away from Gisele and gone to find Gabby and apologize for being a jerk because he knew that it was just a kiss. And even if a kiss meant nothing to a lot of people, it meant a lot to him. But it wasn’t the end of the world if he had to press his lips to his best friend’s. He could have not made a big deal out of it, and if his intuition and years of growing up with three sisters had taught him anything about girls, he had the feeling that Gabby thought that he didn’t want to kiss her because he was repulsed by her or something. And that wasn’t right. He had to fix it. So once his trunk was properly settled in a compartment with Luke—who’d apparently kissed Emmeline last night and Ambrosia (oh, the irony) had told him he was in love with him; Jayden had almost laughed in his best friend’s face if he hadn’t noticed the state he was in—he picked up his guitar from where he’d packed it aside after having been composing all morning.

It was the best, most heartfelt way that Jayden knew how to convey feelings. Through song. So he’d written one; for Gabby. Quickly and unpolished, that morning, but it had a good rhythm, and he felt that the lyrics were good for what he wanted to say. “I’m gonna go sort out my mess,” he told Luke, clapping him on the back as he pushed the compartment door open once the train had started rolling, and walked down the middle, peering into different compartments as he went, trying to find the head of dark hair that would indicate his best friend’s presence. There weren’t that many students on the train, since it had been limited to only three years instead of the usual seven, and most compartments had two or three people in them; he finally found Gabby sitting with Emmeline in a compartment towards the back and took a deep breath before knocking lightly, sliding their compartment door open carefully, pressing his lips together and pushing his glasses up his nose as he looked at the two girls, turning to Emmeline first, who’d looked up, glaring at him immediately, accusingly, and Jayden didn’t have a doubt that she’d heard about last night, and ducked his head a little. “Hi. Um...Emmeline, do you think I could...I could talk to Gabby?

[/color]” he asked her sheepishly, quietly. “Uh, Luke’s in our compartment alone, if you want to go there or something...[/color]” he added after a second thought, watching as she blushed a little before standing up, glaring at him once more for good measure before squeezing Gabby’s hand and leaving without another word. Glancing after her for a moment, Jayden bit down on his lip as he stepped in, closing the door behind him and taking a seat in front of Gabby, balancing his guitar properly on his knee as he looked up at her, and took a deep breath. “I was a complete arse to you last night,[/color]” he started quietly, looking up at her with remorse. “And I think I know what you thought I was thinking—sorry, that came out weird. I mean...I just...look, I wrote you something, alright?[/color]” he blurted out, blushing a little and licking his lips, nodding to himself without really waiting for her to say anything further, and positioned his hands over the guitar.

Pulling out a crumbled piece of paper from his front pocket, he laid out the lyrics carefully over his other knee and strummed his guitar slowly, the song soft and sweet, before starting in, eyes glued to the paper as he read from it. “Come on, you got it wrong. To prove I’m right, I put it in a song,[/color]” he sang quietly, strumming his guitar to the same tempo. “I don’t know why, you’re being shy. And turn away when I look into your eyes.[/color]” He licked his lips and switched chords for the chorus. “Everyone else in the room can see it, everyone else but you. Gabby, you light up my world like nobody else. The way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed. But when you smile at the ground, it ain’t hard to tell. You don’t know you’re beautiful.[/color]” Jayden managed to flick his eyes up to look at her, remembering the rest of the chorus in his mind, he’d read it over and over that morning. “If only you saw what I can see. You’ll understand why I like you so desperately. Right now I’m looking at you and I can’t believe you don’t know, you don’t know you’re beautiful.[/color]” It was short, and he trailed off, letting his fingers fall slack against the chords of his guitar, taking a deep breath as he finished, looking at Gabby in front of him, and waited.[/color][/blockquote]

` gabby

[Gabriella Rivera]

Normally, Gabriella was over the moon about going home for Christmas. This year, she had even more reason to be excited; for the first time in her life, she was going to New York. And it would be with her best friend, and her best friend's boyfriend, and her father and the person who could very well become her step mum soon, making her best friend also her brother (from another mother, but that was an irrelevant technicality -- if technicalities could be irrelevant, she wasn't quite sure)! Anyhow, so she had a lot to look forward to. But ever since what had happened last night, she'd found herself packing with a heavy heart this morning. If there was anything she hated most in the world (besides the fact that trees were being cruelly chopped down all over the world), it was having a falling out with her friends. And not just any of her friends, but her closest friends. For some reason, though, she was having them everywhere! First, with Gideon and Fabian. And then kind-of-but-not-really-but-still-kind-of with Emmeline. And now with Jayden! Except, it wasn't so much of a falling out as it was...well, she didn't know how to explain it. She'd stayed up last night in bed, staring up at the canopy of her four-poster bed and mulling over the night's events, wondering over her reactions. Since she'd had some time to calm down (and Fabian had significantly cheered her up, to be honest, but that was no surprise since he could be such a big goof), she figured she could think about this more rationally. Okay, so what had happened exactly: A mistletoe had ambushed them, and wouldn't go away until they kissed. Jayden had made it completely clear that he absolutely did not want to kiss her, making it clear that he found her quite unappealing in that sense. She'd been hurt and kissed him (even though he obviously didn't want to) and then she had run off and burst into tears in the bathroom. Thinking back on it, she had to wonder whether she had blown it completely out of proportion. Gideon would have probably reacted the same way, and she wouldn't have blamed him, because they were best friends and they weren't supposed to kiss. Then again, maybe he wouldn't. Maybe Gideon would have laughed it off and been okay with it. Actually, he probably would have. So they would've just giggled a bit about it, kissed and then moved on - he'd go back to Jezebel and she'd go back to Fabian. But not Jayden. Jayden had been the one to overreact, she thought defensively. He'd been completely freaking out about it. And just when she'd started to sum up a small amount of annoyance, it left her as suddenly as it came, because it just wasn't in her nature to blame someone like that. Jayden had reacted differently because he was different. He didn't give away kisses, and he was definitely a lot more awkward about physical stuff than Gideon. At least, with girls who weren't his girlfriends. And, besides, it was unfair to assume that Gideon would react to it any better, wasn't it?

It was the middle of the night when Gabriella gave up on trying to figure out her feelings and rolled over and made an honest attempt to sleep. Since she was so exhausted from dancing all night (and, admittedly, weeping took a lot out of you), she was out like a light. The next morning, she wasn't any less confused and devastated, hence the whole packing-with-a-heavy-heart. While she appreciated Emmeline's attempts to cheer her up, and she really did try her best to bring back the holiday cheer, even managing a couple of genuine smiles, but her heart wasn't in it. The fact that there was a bit of tension in the dorm room to begin with, what with what happened between Emmeline and Vanessa (Goodness, the Yule Ball was just full of drama, wasn't it?), it was a little more difficult to keep it up. But it was like this black cloud hanging over her head and it wasn't just the kiss now, to be honest. Actually, that hardly mattered at all when she realised that she was about to leave for the Christmas holidays and she was going to go to New York and she was leaving things between her and Jayden like this and she just didn't feel comfortable with that at all. He was one of her best friends, she didn't want to leave for a week and a half without fixing this! The problem was, she didn't know how to fix it, because she didn't know what to say to him. "I'm sorry I kissed you, but I had to"? "I'm sorry I'm not prettier"? "I'm sorry I left so quickly"? "Can we forget it ever happened"? Everything she thought of sounded so silly and weak and maybe she was being over dramatic now, too, but this was important. And she hated how she had purposefully seated herself between Gideon and Milo at the last breakfast before the holidays so that she wouldn't have to look at Jayden because she found that looking at him made her heart pang painfully in her chest, and then she felt even worse about herself for avoiding him so obviously, and she knew she should do something about it soon, but the minutes just seemed to slip by like water through her fingers and, before she knew it, she was boarding the train with Emmeline and they were getting a compartment alone.

Honestly, Gabby had been considering getting up and finding him when the devil (er, angel? She didn't quite like referring Jayden to a devil, but wasn't that how the saying went?) himself showed up and she felt her stomach clench uncomfortably, her fingers lacing together tightly in her lap. When he asked to talk to her alone, she felt the clenching in her stomach increase significantly and it was on the tip of her tongue to ask Emmeline to stay, but she tamped down on the urge and gave Emmeline a tiny nod to let her know that it was okay for her to leave. As soon as they were alone, Gabby dropped her gaze to her lap, pretending to be fixing her skirt while she took a moment to compose herself. When he said he wrote her something, she looked up quickly, genuinely surprised. Already? Had he really been thinking about it so much that it had been enough to write a song for her? Gabby felt her stomach twist again, but this time it was more of a pleasant feeling because she was...well, she was kinda flattered. Still, she said nothing, although she straightened up a little, tucking her hands under her legs and waiting anxiously for him to start. As soon as he started, she felt her muscles melt and her eyes begin to tear up, the way it always did when Jayden was singing because, honestly, his voice was just so beautiful. And then she started paying attention to the words and, oh Dios, just the way he was singing it and the tune and it was a surprise she managed to keep herself from actually shedding a few tears because it was just so gorgeous, and he was singing it to her, for her because he felt bad about hurting her and oh goodness could he get more perfect? As soon as he was done, she sniffled quietly and rubbed lightly at her eyes, her voice thick with emotion when she spoke. She really couldn't help it, though. The song had touched her, had hit just the right part of her heart strings because, even though she wasn't sure if Jayden was aware or not of how she felt about herself, he'd somehow correctly guessed it. "¡Qué bonito fue! That was absolutely beautiful, Jayden. Really. I loved it." She stood up and crossed the small distance between them, kneeling over the seat next to his so that she could hug him, mindful of the guitar. Once she'd gotten her fill of the hug, she pulled away and sat down next to him, one leg tucked beneath her, her hand seeking out one of his to hold. "I'm really sorry I left so suddenly. I overreacted last night. I think we both kind-of...reacted wrong. Maybe we can just...forget it happened? I don't want something like that to come between us. You're one of my best friends, Jayden, and I don't want to lose that."

[/color] She squeezed his fingers lightly. "I was so worried I'd go off to New York and we still wouldn't be talking."[/color]


[/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

[Jayden Flynn]

The first thing Jayden registered when Gabby finally spoke was that he had no idea what words were coming out of her mouth, until it dawned on him that it was Spanish, and was rather relieved, he admitted, when she switched back to English for the rest of her sentence, because she could have been saying she wanted to stuff him in a pitful of fire-breathing frogs for all he understood of the language. But she was standing up to sit next to him and awkwardly embrace him around the guitar, and Jayden let out a whoosh of breath, in relief. Tightening his hand around hers automatically, Jayden pulled back enough to be able to wedge the guitar off his knees and settle it carefully next to him, out of the way. “Yes!” he agreed immediately, nodding along to her words. “I shouldn’t have overreacted like that, I didn’t know what I was thinking—I wasn’t thinking,

[/color]” he rushed out before nodding at her words, licking his lips and squeezing her hand back, his heart warming as Gabby said he was one of her best friends—which, of course they were—and smiled a little despite everything at her last sentence. Because it was easy like this, with Gabby. He never had to worry about what she thought of him, or if she would think he was stupid, and up until now they had never had a fall-out; he supposed it made for good experience, if anything. He couldn’t imagine kissing her because it wasn’t something they did—because with Gabby, things were never complicated like that, and it had scared him that they would be and things wouldn’t be the same again. But they were here, and she was happy again, and the smile on her face was enough to make his posture relax and feel accomplished, relieved, because he had his best girl back. Letting out a soft chuckle under his breath, Jayden let go off her hand only to lean over and wrap his arms around her, scooting back into the corner of the compartment and bringing her along with him, against his chest, cuddling like they did so often, so normal for them, all of the time, and buried his nose into the top of her head. “I couldn’t have let you stay cheesed off at me for being a dolt.[/color]”

“I’m going to you miss you when you go off to New York.[/color]”[/color][/blockquote]

[Gabriella Rivera]

"It's okay," she reassured him hastily, matching his nod with one of her own and giving his hand another squeeze. "It's all in the past now,"

[/color] she added firmly. She didn't much like to dwell on the past anymore. It just wasn't worth it, especially considering how many things had happened in the past now. If she hung onto it too hard, she'd never be able to move forward, and being stuck in the past was something no one should endure. So, she and Jayden were going to move past this. Perhaps she shouldn't have said that they ought to forget all about it, because denial was never the best option. Still, it didn't matter much. They were okay now and that was all that really mattered. Smiling when he moved them so that they could cuddle more effectively, Gabriella tucked her head into his chest and wrapped her arms around his skinny torso, sighing happily at how natural it felt. How right it felt, to be cuddling with Jayden like this. This was normal. Her and Jayden, just being best friends, consoling each other with snuggles. It was pure, simple, friendly. It was them. They didn't need the complications of a kiss. A kiss that didn't even really mean anything. Because they were friends. Good friends, but that was all they were, and she liked it that way. Relationships only complicated things. Besides, she didn't think she felt that way about him anyway. She couldn't, she was still hung up on Severus. Although, suspiciously enough, her heart hadn't thumped nearly as hard as it normally did when she saw him at the Yule Ball, but it was entirely possible that that was because she'd been with Fabian at the time, and she didn't want him to tease her about it like he often did about things (especially Severus). And then, well, after that she was distracted by the excitement of getting Duchess (She couldn't wait to tell her Papi and Tia Inez about that!), and then everything that happened with Jayden, and then she'd left early with Emmeline because she'd had something important to tell her and there hadn't been nearly enough time to even think about him. Even now, all she could think about was how happy she was to be in Jayden's arms. It was like...like eating a bunch of roasted marshmallows that're melting in your mouth. Or drinking warm butterbeer on a cold, winter day at Hogsmeade. Or waking up on Christmas morning. It just felt that good.

Giggling at what he said, she turned her head to rest her chin on his chest, blinking up at him. "I could never be cheesed off at you for long,"[/color] she told him, copying his wording because she thought it was hilarious. She never could get over his Irish sayings. "I just didn't want to go off to New York with all this wierdness between us,"[/color] she admitted, nuzzling her nose against his neck comfortably. "And I promise, when I'm there I'll buy you something special and I'll write to you as soon as I come back. I don't think I can write to you from there since it's such a long distance and the mail would take ages to reach you, but I'll definitely send a post card or something! And I'll tell you all about it when I come back, I promise."[/color] It was going to be weird, not seeing Jayden, and especially Gideon. The last time she'd been away from Gideon for a week had been very difficult. But she figured that at least she'd have Stefan and Lyle with her to distract her. Plus, they would be in New York, so that was enough to take her mind off anything in and of itself.


[/blockquote][/blockquote][/color]

[Jayden Flynn]

Jayden arched an eyebrow at her, squeezing at her sides with the purpose of tickling her a little and bit down on his lip through a smile, chuckling. Her nose at his neck tickle a little but he pressed her closer to him anyway, loving the feel of another body against his and the comfort and warmth it provided, and smiled. "I will be expecting to hear every detail," he informed her, running his fingertips down her side a little. "And we'll get together before we're back at school so you can gush as much as you want about New York and I can sit there and pretend I didn't miss you like a puppy all the holidays.

[/color]"

Yeah. They were going to be very okay.[/color][/blockquote]

finito.