.shake it out.

[Julien Cross]

I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around

The night before the Hogwarts Express brought everyone home for the holidays, students were usually packing up their trunks at the last minute. Or celebrating. Or concocting plans for the break. Or even partying. Julien had spent the earlier part of the day throwing his belongings into his trunk. Literally. He was still in a foul mood from the Yule Ball. Usually, he thought people who told stories about dramatics that unfolded during the Yule Ball were immature and a bit pathetic. Some people got worked up over stupid shit like that girl wore the same dress as me! or the guy I like didn't dance with me! and other dumb shit. This was his third time attending the Yule Ball, and up until then he had gotten through the dance unscathed. So he was pretty ticked off that he could now officially contribute to the mass of dramatic stories that happened this year. He was also still pissed at Cal and avoiding Gracie. Which was difficult. Since they were two of his best friends. Cal was at least in a different house, so there was no chance of running into him in the common room. Gracie, on the other hand, was in Gryffindor, so Julien had quarantined himself in his dorm room with the hope that Gracie wouldn't resort to barging in (it was still some bullshit that guys couldn't go into the girl's dorm, but girls could just waltz into the guys' dorm whenever they pleased). Avoiding the two of them also meant that he had to skip breakfast and lunch. Now, it was dinner time, but Julien still refused to go to the dining hall. Luckily, he had kept some granola bars in his quidditch gear bag, but his stomach was still growling. So then he tried dousing it with the various bottles of unfinished liquor he hid behind his headboard. The vodka made him feel like he wanted to puke, but the tequila, on the other hand, had a bit of a warming effect and actually got his stomach to shut up for a minute.

So now, he was in his abandoned dorm room, drinking and packing. He had been sitting on his bed, rolling up his last pair of socks and chucking them into his trunk. He closed it with a snap and scowled. He had literally run out of things to do. He was hungry, his head was starting to swim and he had nothing left to amuse himself with (because he sure as shit wasn't resort to doing homework). Julien flopped back onto his bed and glared at his ceiling. He didn't like this one bit. He was still furious with Cal and he was even more pissed that their little confrontation had broken down the wall he had carefully constructed to keep the vivid memories and thoughts of his father from polluting his mind. He'd done a damn good job and shoving it all down and keeping himself busy and distracted enough so the only time he really had to deal with thinking about his dad was when he was in his bed at night, about to fall asleep. All Julien wanted to do was forget. He was going to be home by this time tomorrow, just him and his mom and he couldn't disappoint her by showing he was upset. Julien let out a frustrated growl and threw his pillow across the room at the wall. Fuck. He sat up and looked at his trunk. Then he moved to sit on the edge of his bed and buried his hands into his head. He closed his eyes, willing the image of his father's dead body sprawled across the sidewalk in Hogsmeade to disappear. His eyes were closed and pressed into the heels of his palms when the toe of his shoe knocked into something. Julien looked down to see the handle of his beater club sticking out from under his bed. His borrowed club. That he was supposed to put back into the quidditch locker room three days ago.

Julien cussed. It was already nearing 10pm, but if he didn't bring it back to the locker room now, he wouldn't be able to tomorrow. And he was already on both May and McGonagall's shit list for almost getting Gracie's head knocked off. Julien muttered under his breath, scooped up his club under one arm and grabbed the handle of tequila before stumbling to his feet. He started to leave but stopped short. He was about to go strolling through the castle in the middle of then night to sneak off to the quidditch pitch with a half full bottle of tequila in his hand? Even he knew that was a bad idea. So he stooped down, grabbed his backpack, shoved the bottle in side and draped it over his shoulder. Then went ahead and tossed in another bottle of whiskey while he was at it, just to be prepared. There. Much better. He went quickly through the common room, as to not draw attention to himself, even though he tripped over the leg of a chair and apologized to it. It took a moment for him to focus enough to make it down the stairwell, but after that obstacle it was just getting through the corridors without getting caught and making it to the pitch. The locker room was, of course, abandoned because normal people didn't wander off in the middle of the night to drink by themselves in an empty locker room. Julien sat heavily down on one of the benches and took another swig of amber liquid. Technically, he didn't count as an alcoholic. Alcoholics drank on school nights. And it was not a school night, ergo Julien Cross was not an alcoholic. He explained the situation to his bottle. He took its silence as agreement and swigged back the last drop of it. It was nice to be in the locker room. Julien looked around, swaying slightly where he sat. Sure, it smelled a bit funny, but it was quiet and vacant of back-stabbing best friends and concerned Gracie Marlow's.

Julien stood up from the bench, leaned over to reach for his bag -- stumbled -- reached again and pulled out the club. There was a bin he was supposed to deposit it in. Somewhere. He held the club in one hand and the empty bottle by the neck in his other. He weighed the both of them in his grasp for a moment, considering the two of them. And then had a brilliant idea. Lobbing the bottle in the air underhand, he switched both of his hands over to the club and on the bottle's descent, he smashed it to bits. Even drunk, Julien had good aim and the club collided perfectly in the middle of the broken bottle. however what he didn't retain was balance. The force of his swing knocked him over, causing him to fall very ungracefully to the floor and banging the back of his head against the lockers. The broken glass made pinging noises as they fell to the floor. He was sitting in some of the shards while others sprayed over his lap. At first, the fall and knock to the back of his head surprised him. But then he quickly broke out into a gurgled laugh. That was kind of awesome. And very satisfying. Julien needed to break some more shit. That would turn this night around. What else around here would make a good baseball?

tagged::

[Gracie Marlow]

Things had not ended well at the Yule Ball last night. Yeah, that statement? Vastly underrated. Things had ended horribly from where Gracie was concerned. Julien had walked out and she still didn’t have the closure she had wanted to get from Cal… although she supposed their talk after Julien stormed out had gone a little better than she had thought it would. The biggest problem, in Gracie’s opinion, was that she still wasn’t sure if she was over Cal- and that thought alone was driving her up a wall. Gracie had taken the liberty of sleeping in the morning after Yule and was currently rolling around in her four-post bed like a rollie-pollie bug. You know, the ones that curl up into a ball when you touch them? Smiling and thinking about the adorable little bugs, Gracie finally pulled herself out of bed and changed into a pair of faded jeans and an old tank top under a brightly colored plaid flannel shirt. She quickly brushed through her hair and ran downstairs to eat a bit of breakfast before deciding that it was, in fact, time to start packing for the train ride home. Once she had everything packed, Gracie sat down in front of her trunk and let her cat Momo climb into her lap. She cuddled with him for a moment, thinking about the previous night. Why couldn’t everything just be fine for one night? She wondered as she pet Momo absentmindedly. Would it have killed Merlin to let me be happy for one night? Shaking her head, she thought about how Julien looked before he had stormed off. She felt terrible for not running after him, but he had looked… well, murderous. Normally, Julien didn’t scare her. She didn’t like the fact that he picked fights every so often, but last night had been different. He had picked a fight with Cal- his best friend. And had looked like he was ready to beat the snot out of him at any given moment…

And the way he had jerked his arm away from her; as if she was the one who was hurting him... That had taken her aback; mainly because Jules didn’t usually pull away from her touch. The guilt she was feeling for not having made sure he was alright began to bubble up inside of her until she stood suddenly, sending Momo flying. She needed to check up on Jules. It was all Gracie could do not to run to his dorm room (she tended to do that from time to time. It was always awkward when he wasn’t in there and she caught a few sights of other guys she didn’t necessarily want to see…). She approached his room calmly and gave a few raps on the doorframe with her knuckles. When no one answered, she let her curiosity get the best of her and poked her head in- just a little. Thankfully, she didn’t see any sights she didn’t want to, but she didn’t see Jules in there, either. Frowning, Gracie ran down the stairs to the common room; he wasn’t there either. And there were only a couple of people in the common room, both of whom Gracie didn’t know very well… She doubted that they would know where Jules had gone off to. Sitting in one of the plush chairs for a moment, she tried to figure out where her best friend would’ve gone. Well, he was upset. Where would he go to make himself feel better when he’s upset…? Finally, the answer came to her- the Quidditch Pitch! He must be down there, practicing beating before the Holiday Break! Again she ran; this time through the castle and down the front steps, not stopping until she got to the Pitch. Dang, it was cold outside! In all her excitement, Gracie had forgotten her coat in her dorm room… Hopefully, I won’t need it, she thought, looking around for her best friend. When she didn’t see him in the air, Gracie became worried. She was certain he would’ve come out here! However, the equipment wasn’t out, so she assumed he actually hadn’t come out there at all. Maybe he’s inside eating dinner with everyone else, she thought, and here you are worrying about him when he’s perfectly fine! But somehow, she couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off-kilter; something definitely wasn’t right.

Trying one last spot, Gracie made her way through the heavy snow that lay all around and pushed open the door to the boys’ locker room. Normally she didn’t even go near there (because she was scared of what she might see, much like the dorms) but if Jules was out here and he wasn’t in the air, she figured that was her last chance to find him. The locker room looked empty at first, until she heard a muffled voice in the corner of the room. Walking in as quietly as she could, Gracie found Jules sitting on the floor. He was covered in something… were those pieces of… glass? His beater stick was lying next to him and he was looking around as if he had lost something. Now, Gracie didn’t have much experience with alcohol, but she was almost certain that her best friend was drunk off his arse. Shaking her head, Gracie walked fully into the room and waited until her noticed her. Waving awkwardly, she smiled slightly and whispered, ”Hey Jules… What’cha up to?” Of course, she figured she knew the answer, but she wanted to let him explain, nonetheless. She walked over to him and sat down on the bench in front of him. Yep, those were glass shards, she determined upon closer inspection. ”Jules, you look like a mess. Why do you have glass shards all over you?” What she really couldn’t figure out was why she had the strange urge to just throw her arms around his neck and hug him… It was a truly odd feeling; one she wasn’t sure she wanted to experience. ”Come on, Jules. Let’s get you cleaned up and we’ll head back inside to talk, okay?” Gracie leaned down to grab his arm with all the strength she had (which was basically nonexistent) and tried to help him up. Why couldn’t anything just be easy around here?

[/color]

[Julien Cross]

I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around

You know, the kitchens would be a good place to unleash some anger with his beater's club. He was supposed to be returning it right now, but honestly, smashing his way through some jam jars and bottles of olive oil was all too appealing. Those silly little house elves would either freak out and run about like a bunch of chickens or be so eager to please a student, maybe they'd bring him some more things to smash. Or maybe the trophy room. Oh ho ho, now that would be a beautiful array of broken bits. Luckily for the house elves and trophies, Julien's train of thought was interrupted by a voice. Someone said his name. A girl, at that. His first reaction probably should've been to be horrified. If May, McGonagall, or sweet god forbid Madam Hooch, had come in and caught him inebriated, with a school club in his hand and sitting in a pile of glass that smelled suspiciously like tequila, he would so oh so fucked. But it was Gracie. He wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. So, he just frowned at her for a moment. Well, maybe she was just the lesser of... four evils. She wasn't an authority figure that would get him into trouble, but she was one of the two people he was working very hard to sneak away from. He looked down at his lap again. Okay, so, maybe he wasn't very good at sneaking around quietly. Another laughed jumped up the back of his throat and a lazy grin settled onto his face. Wait. He was supposed to be mad. Or something. He looked back up to Gracie.

Oh yah, he was mad at her. Or at least not happy with her. So, again, he frowned and shrugged his shoulders. "Not much,"

[/color] he grumbled petulantly and he picked a couple of pieces of glass from his lap. He inspected his palms for a moment. Being a beater, Julien's hands were normally in pretty bad shape with callouses and blisters and the like, but now they had a few tiny little cuts here and there. For some reason, this seemed pretty funny at the moment, so he laughed again and dropped his head back against the lockers again, causing them to rattle with another bang. When she asked what he had been doing, he wiped his hands off on his jeans before lifting up the club. He waved it back and forth a little bit and wiggled his eyebrows at Gracie. "Practin'."[/color] This, obviously, was another brilliantly joke. A lopsided smirk tugged at his mouth. Spotting his backpack, Julien was just close enough to be able to hook his finger around the strap and pull it to him. He took out the bottle of whiskey, screwed the cap off with a flick of his thumb and brought it to his lips. Julien's face screwed up as the drink sloshed into his mouth. "Urgh."[/color] He didn't much like the the taste of whiskey. As soon as he swallowed the mouth full, his stomach gave a displeased lurch. When Gracie asked why he was covered in glass, Julien rolled a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. "Because I have good aim."[/color] That was clever. He chuckled to himself and leaned his head back again. He closed his eyes, but the moment he did, the ground felt like it started to spin and he got hit with a wave of nausea. Nope. Bad idea. Need to keep your eyes open.

Suddenly, Gracie stood and offered an arm to help him up. "Nooo, no no,"[/color] Julien objected vehemently. He grasped her waist and tugged her back down onto the bench and gave her what he hoped was a stern look, swaying back and forth very slightly where he sat. "No. I'm not going and we definitely aren't going to 'talk'."[/color] He pointed the bottle at her and scowled. "Why do girls want to talk all the time, anyways?"[/color] he asked, more to himself than to Gracie. He closed one eye and peaked into the whiskey bottle. "People are always trying to get me to talk."[/color] Especially after what had happened to his father. But who in their right mind would even want to talk about that, anyways? That was the last god damn thing he wanted to do. He didn't want to talk about that and he didn't want to talk about Cal, so there was obviously nothing they needed to go talk about. "I'll stay here with my bat and my bottle."[/color] He tilted his head back to look up at Gracie again. He inspected her for a moment, shutting on eye because then her image became more stable. Every time he looked at her, he felt a churn in his stomach. He was positive that it was because he was still mad at her. He wasn't exactly sure why he was mad at her, but he definitely was. He knew for certain he was mad at Cal, though. Julien scowled. "You need to stop liking Cal, yah?"[/color] he told her sternly. That was complicating matters and needed to be dealt with. He pointed the bottle at her again. "You just need to not stop liking anyone period,"[/color] he said. Julien muttered, "That would be best,"[/color] before taking another swig. "And you need to stop..."[/color] Stop what? There was a word that went there but he didn't know what. She needed to stop making him feel jealous all of the time. Not that he was jealous jealous. "I don't share well,"[/color] he said firmly, which was also very true. Julien didn't like sharing the attention of his friends, especially one of his best friends like Gracie. And this whole Cal business sure as shit was distracting her form him and that just wasn't acceptable.

His stomach -- only containing a granola bar and three types of alcohol right now -- gave another lurch. Julien set the bottle down noisily and made a groan at the back of his throat. The room gave another lurch to the side. He gripped her legs for just something to hold onto to keep himself from toppling over and pressed his forehead against her knees. Julien squeezed his eyes shut and mumbled against her legs, "Just... stop."[/color][/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Gracie Marlow]

Gracie’s heart started pounding when he looked up and lazily smiled at her. Why her heart was doing that she had no idea, but perhaps it was because she was happy to see him relatively unharmed? Shrugging off the weird feeling, Gracie frowned as Jules did. Why was he frowning at her? Had she done something wrong? Other than the fact that she hadn’t chased after him, of course. Really, she felt guilty enough for that, he shouldn’t be sitting there trying to make her feel worse about it! Oh, the nerve of people, honestly… Her heart dropped into her stomach when Julien began laughing uncontrollably at his hands; this was not a side of Julien that she saw often. Actually, Gracie wasn’t sure that she’d ever seen this side to Julien… And she was beginning to think that she didn’t want to. But she couldn’t help laughing when he wiggled his eyebrows at her; that was just classic Julien, drunk or not. ”Oh, I’m sure you were practicing. I believe you one hundred percent,” She replied sarcastically, not being able to completely squash the grin still on her face. Suddenly, her best friend was pulling out a bottle of… whiskey (she determined) out of his backpack. Where he had gotten it Gracie could only imagine and she had the sudden urge to rip it out of his hand and pour the entire bottle down the shower drain. Of course, she did nothing of the sort because, 1. Drunk Julien, although she couldn’t be sure, might be violent and she really didn’t want that, and 2. She wasn’t his mother. If he wanted to get completely wasted, he must’ve had a good reason.

She supposed talking about his father last night for the first time in ages must’ve brought this whole ‘getting drunk’ thing about. She felt terribly bad for him, but if she knew Julien (and she knew Julien) then he wouldn’t want her to show any sympathy for it. He wouldn’t want to see that she felt even the least bit sorry for him. So, she would just be there for him, whenever he wanted to talk about it; if he ever wanted to talk about it. However, she wasn’t just going to sit there and let him drink the entire bottle. That would just be plain stupid. This was why she had decided to help him up so that they could get back to the dorms; it was getting to be past curfew and she really didn’t want to get in trouble the night before they went home if she could help it. However, it seemed Julien had other ideas. Or, maybe the alcohol was taking over what he really felt… Either way, he remained where he was sitting in the broken pieces of glass. ”Well, if we’re not going to talk, then what are we going to do, Jules?” She asked, an eyebrow raised in his direction, looking straight into his eyes. She wondered if he planned on staying out here all night. ”Maybe people are always trying to get you to talk because they care about you.” She wasn’t looking directly at him anymore, so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear his comment about staying in the locker room with his bat and bottle. Or rather, she did hear it, she just didn’t care enough to comment on it.

At his next statement, however, Gracie couldn’t help but lash out towards him. ”Don’t you think I’ve tried to stop liking him, Jules? That I am trying? Geez, you don’t give me any credit at all!” She needed to stop liking people? What did he mean by that? Rolling her eyes, Gracie could feel her ears starting to turn pink, a sign that she was slightly embarrassed that she couldn’t control thanks to her metamorphmagus. Hopefully, Julien was too drunk to notice her ability changing the color of her ears and eyes. She just knew that if her ears were turning pink that meant her eyes were as well. They kind of came hand-in-hand; maybe it would go away after a minute… ”What do you mean you don’t share well Jules? I’m not yours- you don’t own me. I mean, it’s not like I’m your girlfriend, or anything…” Now her ears and eyes were a bright pink. She hadn’t ever had a conversation like this with her best friend, especially when he was drunk. Maybe this was the only way she would actually get him to talk about these kinds of things with her. And was that… jealousy she saw clouding his eyes? She had always teased Jules about being jealous of the guys she had crushes on, but she had never really thought that he might seriously be jealous of them… The idea of Julien wanting her for himself made Gracie’s heart pound even harder and it gave her stomach a weird jolt. What the hell? She wondered, as her stomach churned again and her breathing began to quicken. Why was there a ringing in her ears as she waited for his answer to what she had just said? This was so weird… She was just talking to Jules! He was her best friend- why was this talk any different from the other talks they had had!? Ugh! What was going on with her?

Suddenly, his forehead was on her knees and, rather than immediately push him off like she normally would have, Gracie just let him lay there for a moment. Not quite knowing what to do, but knowing that she didn’t want him to look up (because her ears were as bright pink as they could get and her mind was still racing with unanswered questions), Gracie hesitantly lifted her right arm from the bench and ran her fingers through Julien’s hair. She had done this only a couple times before while they were teasing each other, but this time was… different, somehow. The feeling of Julien’s soft brown hair on her hands helped calm her racing heart slightly and she closed her eyes. Honestly, if every moment could be like this one they were sharing right now, Gracie would be happy for life. Seriously. She couldn’t think of anything to say, so she just waited in silence for Julien to do something. Anything, really.

[/color]

[Julien Cross]

I've been a fool and I've been blind
I can never leave the past behind
I can see no way, I can see no way
I'm always dragging that horse around

Gracie claimed that she believed him when he said he was practicing, but Julien wasn't sure he believed her. It could've been the alcohol talking, but he was quite certain that she was being sarcastic right now. Julien held his hands at his sides, palms facing up. Have I ever gave you reason to not trust me?"

[/color] in a feigned, albeit slurred, tone of earnest. The correct answer to that question, of course, was yes. This point could be further researched and proven by looking at the instance when Gracie caught Julien sneaking back into the dorm after curfew two months ago with only one shoe, the last time she asked him "Where did you get that black eye from?" and, of course, The Great Blast ended Skrewt Debacle of 1976. Either way, her response wasn't to be trusted and he would need to keep a sharp ear out for further sarcasm or double entendres. Julien averted his eyes and begam brushes more bit of glass from his jeans and away from him on the cool cement floor. This wasn't the best of ideas since it caused a few more scratches on the edge of his palms, but he was drunk and could hardly feel it,let alone realized what the small red smudges were. When Gracie asked what they would do instead of talking, an all too cocky and smary grin curled the edges of his lips. Honestly, his sober mind knew this was nor the time or place for immature innuendos, but his sober mind was way louder and much more forceful. "What did you have in mind?"[/color] he asked, raising his eyebrows at her suggestively before promptly breaking into a new round of chuckles that bubble up from the back of his throat. Good one. she was bound to be wooed by that.

Julien made an unattractive scoff/gurgle in the back of his throat. ”Blah blah blah…”[/color] he grumbled under his breath -- in a tone he thought was quiet – before reaching out for the bottle again and tipping it to his lips. Julien hated “talking”. Especially when it was about feelings. Any vaguely related topic being brought up make him physically uncomfortable and his skin would start to crawl. Luckily for Gracie, the amount of alcohol in his system was keeping Julien from bolting at of there right now since his brain was working slowly and his legs would mostly likely send him careening into a bench. So, he would need to just sit there and mutter darkly under his breath for a bit. Julien make a tequila laced spluttering noise. ”I’m not going to give you credit. Getting over some idiot doesn’t count as an accomplishment,”[/color] he growled. Okay, so, maybe that was a bit grumpier than it needed to be. And Cal was still his friend – the bloke was supposed to be his best friend – but Julien couldn’t condone his current behavior. A deep frown was on his face as he scowled up at her from his seat on the glass littered floor (it was part petulance part concentration since he was trying to figure out if her ears and eyes were turning a pinky red color or he was imagining it). ”We could go do some more beater practice. Beat the feelings out of you.”[/color] He was still trying to be stern with her, and while the idea in his head seemed like it’d be a really good line, out loud it just sounded silly and now he had to clamp his mouth shut to keep from busting out loud. Drunk Julien tended to be a bit volatile and jump back on forth on the angry/uncontrollably laughing scale. ”Might work,”[/color] he managed before another laugh burst from his mouth.

And then he thunked his head onto her knees, his shoulder shaking momentarily from his own amused laughter. Everything was swaying back and forth slightly and he closed her eyes. He sat there for a moment, trying to mentally will the world around him to stop spinning. Julien was concentrating on slowly breathing in and out and not puking his brains out when suddenly he felt her fingers push through his hair. His eyes opened right up, staring down at his feet next to hers. There was heat spreading in the pit of his stomach and his already hot skin prickled. It felt better than he was willing to admit. His shoulders relaxed a bit and he closed his eyes again. See. This was why Gracie couldn't have a boyfriend. Julien would snap a dude's spine in half if he ever saw her doing this to someone else. It was an innocent enough gesture, sure, but Julien got irked whenever he saw a guy with his arm over her shoulder. Which brought another question bobbing to the surface of his alcohol flooded head and spilled past his lips before he could properly censor himself. "Have you kissed another guy before?"[/color] Let's not draw attention to the fact that he said another guy instead of just a guy, shall we?[/blockquote][/blockquote]

[Gracie Marlow]

Gracie could think of a few times Julien had given her a reason not to trust him. For example, every time she asked him what was wrong and he replied with a tight smile and a ‘nothing, don’t worry about it,’ which of course, caused her to worry more than she already had been. Jules had never been very honest with her, so why he would ask her that question seemed so incredibly stupid, all she could do was snort a sarcastic laugh in return. There, let him determine what that answer meant. She noticed he started to brush off the glass shards on his pants, leaving scratches on his palms that began to bubble up with blood. It was enough to make Gracie reach out and grab his hands to make him stop. When their hands made contact, Gracie noticed that his were calloused and rough, but still soft and the heat coming off of them felt really nice… When he looked up at her and answered her question suggestively , Gracie flushed a light shade of pink, retracting her hands from his. Why am I getting so flustered around him? It’s just Jules! He does this all the time! Get a hold of yourself, Gracie!

She just rolled her eyes when he began to mutter under his breath, looking around the room to distract herself from the weird things she was beginning to feel. She just couldn’t shake the fact that Jules was acting strangely- even if he was drunk- and the fact that she wanted to hug him. Which was something she had never wanted to randomly do with Julien. Never. Well, maybe she had thought about it once or twice, but she had never acted upon it. She came to the realization that her mind must just be confused about everything that had happened the previous night with Cal. Yeah, that was it, she decided, although the odd sensation in the pit of her stomach was still trying to fight against that conclusion. Her thoughts were shaken when Jules began to speak again. What he was saying about Cal being an idiot and not giving her credit for trying to get over him was insulting. Gracie balled her fists at her side, but held her tongue. Keeping in mind the fact that Jules was drunk, she knew he would never say these things to her if he was sober; He wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings like that. Sure, he would make fun of the fact that she still like Cal and he might even call Cal a couple of names- but never in an ill-mannered way. He just wouldn’t.

“Or we could beat some sense into you,” She retorted, embarrassed that her ears and eyes were still bright pink. ”Looks like you need it more than I do, Jules.” Of course, she was talking about his current predicament but she didn’t know if her words would have any other kind of effect on him. Gracie let him lay in her lap as she stroked his hair, hoping that would calm him down enough that they could talk civilly, instead of talking about all of this relationship stuff. When she heard a little sigh escape his throat as he realized she was stroking his hair, her ears and eyes (which had started to fade back to normal in the silence) sprung right back to bright pink. Although, she wasn’t necessarily embarrassed this time- more like… satisfied that he liked what she was doing, she supposed. But, she was still a little embarrassed that he had sighed like that. Her mind was reeling and she shut her eyes to make the room stop spinning. Why was she feeling so weird around Jules tonight? She just couldn’t place an answer to the question that had been on her mind since she found her best friend. Suddenly, Julien was speaking again, and Gracie’s eyes snapped open at his question. She looked down at the top of his head, not sure exactly what he was trying to get out of her by asking that. She tried to ignore her pounding heart, and answered. “No. I’ve never kissed anyone, Jules. Happy now?” For a split second she wondered if maybe, just maybe, Jules would be compelled to sit up and kiss her himself. Her ears and eyes couldn’t possibly get any pinker at her thought, but if they could, she suspected they would be turning that way right now. She averted her gaze and continued, “But it’s on the top of my to-do list, don't you worry...” She licked her lips slightly, thinking about who she would kiss if she had the chance. Certainly not Cal now, since she was trying to get over him… Any of her guy friends would be willing, she was sure, but she really didn’t see any of them as more than just a friend. The only person she could see herself kissing at the moment would be Jules- but she tried to convince herself that it was only because she was talking to him about it at the moment...

[/blockquote][/blockquote]