I Don't Want To Be a Bride—
Tonight, she was just a girl sitting in a bar.
She sat alone, twirling her finger around the rim of her glass before balling her hand into a fist and smacking the counter. She grabbed the glass forcefully, tilted her head back and chugged her drink, ignoring the liquor burning her throat. She slammed the glass down again, motioning for the bartender to get her another.
The man beside her glanced at her warily from the corner of his eye before shifting right, away from her. He didn't want to give up his seat at the counter but he didn't exactly want to sit any closer to the angry woman either. Surely he wasn't frightened of her, she thought to herself amusedly, fighting back a smirk.
The man on her other side laughed loudly at whatever the bottle-blond to his right was saying, in an obvious way of trying to get some. The music was playing lowly but the jazzy undertones were definitely a way of sending subliminal sexy messages to everyone in the pub.
Several drinks later, she was starting to feel the effect of the alcohol running through her veins and the bartender officially cut her off, telling her that he would not be responsible for her inability to apparate and that he was hoping she would at least sober up a little by the time that closing time came.
She blubbered and protested and he asked her if she had anyone he could call to pick her up.
"Albus." She muttered sulkily. "He'll pick me up. He loveessss me! Yesss he doesss! Have you ever realized how funny s's sound? Ssssss! I sound like I'm speaking parseltongue!"
"Does Albus have any way of getting ahold of him?" The bartender asked tiredly, not wanting to send another girl home alone and actually quite tired of his job and wanting desperately to go home and sleep.
"He lives just upstairsss!"
"Right."
Her drunken mind wandered back to the reason that brought her to the pub underneath Albus' flat, drinking herself into oblivion. It had been none other than her now ex-boyfriend Warren and his complete arsehole reason for breaking up with her, the bastard. Her mind flashed back to not only two hours ago when…
"I'm not asking you for anything, really."
Warren studied her carefully, cautiously.
"You're not asking me for anything? You're asking me to give up everything for you!"
"I am not!" She protested vehemently. She had only asked him to go away with her for the weekend, just to Cornwall, for a romantic little getaway for the two of them. She really didn't see what the problem was, but he started freaking out.
"Trust me, you will. You will. It may not be now, but eventually you're going to want more than just me."
"I swear!" Her voice broke as she felt like crying. Did he not want to go with her? True, they had been dating for about three months now, but she thought they were ready to take the next step in her relationship. She didn't know what was going on with him.
"No." He pushed away from her. "I know you, Rose. You're going to want more. You're the kind of girl that marries; you're the kind of girl who dresses up in the big white dress, surrounded by roses and her family and commits herself for life. You're the kind of girl who has three kids with names that rhyme, and cries and waves them off when they finally go to school. And I'm not your guy. I'm not that guy."
"What are you on about? I didn't propose or anything! I just thought that perhaps we could go away for the weekend together! You're acting like I asked to carry your babies!"
He looked horrified at the thought.
"Warren!"
"Sorry, Rose, I gotta go. Say hello to Albus and Scorpius for me though, yeah?"
And then he was gone; he apparated into the thin air and left her all alone to pay the bill at the restaurant they were eating at. What a swell guy, her drunken self thought sarcastically. What a brill human being! She was so glad that she had the pleasure of going out with the bloke!
"Rose?"
The familiar voice behind her made her turn around and giggle with delight.
"Scorpsie!" She flung her arms around the man's neck and inhaled his manly scent.
"Merlin, Rose, you're totally smashed." The blonde man looked worriedly down at her. "C'mon, you can crash at ours tonight." He gathered her purse from the table, nodded at the bartender and left a spot of cash on the bar, hoping it would be enough to cover for all of the alcohol she had consumed.
He didn't think he had ever seen Rose this drunk. Sure, she drank (didn't everyone?) but it was more of a social drinking—a glass of wine at dinner with friends, a firewhiskey when James and Al told her she was too chicken shit in fifth year, that sort of thing. Rose wasn't the type to run out and get herself plastered just for the sake of it.
He helped her off her stool, throwing her arm around his shoulders and helped her walk out of the pub unsteadily. She really had had too much to drink, he thought. She stumbled on a crack in the pavement and his other arm shot around her waist to make sure she didn't fall.
"Godric, how much have you had to drink?"
"Too much!" She cried gleefully, throwing her arms up in the air. "Isn't it wonderful? Isn't it magnificent?"
Only Rose would be able to say the word magnificent while drunk and not even stutter.
He "Hmm"ed in response to her drunken babbles.
"It makes me want to sing! Whee! Scorpsie oh Scorpsie you are so very fun! Scorpsie oh Scorpsie you have a great buummm!" She warbled.
He chuckled.
Rose beamed up at him with pride. Her face reddened from the alcohol she had downed and her eyes bright and the slightest bit crazy as they made their way to the stairs.
Scorpius looked ahead concernedly, knowing all too well what a pain in the arse walking up stairs while drunk could be as he'd done it several times himself. He studied Rose for a minute before making his decision and then picked her up and carried her bridal style up the steps.
"Whee!" She crowed in delight. "Scorpsie oh Scorpsie you are so strong! Scorpsie or Scorpsie take me to Hong Kong!" She giggled and then hiccupped in delight.
Well, he couldn't say that she was an angry drunk. He set her down as they reached the top step and opened the door with caution, trying not to wake the sleeping Al who had come home from work exhausted and fallen asleep within minutes of his arrival; not even bothering to shower or eat anything. It was a rare occurrence, as Al was a complete nutter about staying up as late as possible. So when Velma, the waitress at Lucky Clovers, the pub just below them, had come up and said that a Rose was down at the bar asking for Albus, Scorpius had only glanced at his mate's closed door before quickly deciding that waking Albus was not worth the pain it would be.
So that's how he ended up dragging his best mate's cousin out of a pub at nearly four in the morning, whilst she was completely wasted, calling him 'Scorpsie' (which she never, ever does) and singing songs (another thing that she never does). He and Rose had actually got on quite well since they left Hogwarts (after an admittedly rough start) but they weren't quite at this level yet. Albus definitely owed him.
"All right, Rose. Let's get you settled. You can take my bed—"
He looked over to see Rose curled up on the couch, her head settled on top of her arms.
"Sleepy," she mumbled.
He cracked a smile at the childish tone and reached over to pluck the afghan and throw it over her, just in case she got cold. She mumbled something unintelligible and he snickered again and then headed towards his bedroom, exhausted.
"Scorp…"
He turned around and saw that she had lifted her head and was looking at him blearily.
"Yeah?"
"Warren broke up with me."
He blinked and watched her settle herself back down on the couch, nestling herself into the cushions with her head on the armrest. He hadn't known Warren well; they had been introduced once or twice, but to be honest the aspiring sports editor for the Daily Prophet hadn't exactly struck him as the type of bloke who would stay with one girl for long.
But Rose looked sort of…adorable sleeping there on his sofa. He had never really thought of her that way before, but she looked like a little kid, needing only a teddy bear to complete the perfect picture.
"Oh…er…sorry," he said awkwardly, having no idea what to do in this sort of situation.
But Rose only breathed deeply, already asleep.
"Is there something wrong with me?"
Scorpius looked up at me as I barged into our flat that we shared with my cousin Albus, my hands filled with grocery bags. I had moved in with them a few months ago, after my roommate booted me out of the flat we shared together because she wanted to live with her boyfriend and apparently they needed both bedrooms to live comfortably. Originally, it was just going to be a temporary thing, but soon we all just kind of grew accustomed to it and now they've cleared out most of their crap from the third bedroom that they had originally used as a storage room that I am now staying in.
"No...?"
I unloaded all of the groceries on the counter, taking care to put the ill-used spices back in the spice cabinet in alphabetical order-something Scorpius always forgets to do. He was looking at me curiously, probably wondering why I even bought groceries when none of us could cook worth a niffler and instead frequently attended the small pub downstairs.
"Thanks, your hesitance in that statement was really assuring."
He continued to watch me curiously, finally setting his book down on the side table next to his favourite armchair and taking off his black reading glasses. He stood up and wandered over to the kitchen and began helping me unload all the groceries.
"What happened?" He asked nonchalantly.
"He broke up with me!" My voice held only anger and maybe the slightest bit of self-pity. Scorpius had proved to be quite the listener. We had really bonded because both of us are morning people (unlike Albus, who can rarely wake up before eleven) and we oftentimes found ourselves being the only ones up and bored out of our cute little minds, thus we were kind of forced to bond. He had become quite the confidant.
He frowned, pulling a box of licorice wands out and opening it, taking one for himself and offering it to me. I took one gratefully as he chewed on his and looked at me thoughtfully.
"I though you went to a Quidditch game."
I gave up and slumped against the counter, shoving the licorice wand in my mouth all at once while Scorpius finally caught on and looked at me in horror.
"He didn't."
"Oh, yes, he did."
And my mind flashed back to just over an hour and a half ago, while I was on my date with Julian, until something had gone horribly terribly wrong….
"It's not you, it's me."
He could not be doing this now. Surely not now, after we had just watched the Chudley Canons get raped in the butt out there, one of my favourite teams in all of the Quidditch playing world. No, he could not be saying this now, while he was decked out in a Puddlemere United shirt and face paint, grinning cheekily at the blond behind me who I just knew was flaunting her too-big-to-not-be-magically-enhanced boobies at him.
"Are you kidding me? You're seriously doing this? Now?"
He ignored me and continued on.
"You're a great girl. You're just looking for something serious and I'm not that guy."
I was fuming, absolutely fuming. See, this hadn't been the first guy to break up with me like this. All of my boyfriends (or casual flirting partners) had done the same thing. They all thought that I was looking for The One, or marriage or something when all I wanted was a fling! I don't know why they were under some misguided impression!
"Seriously?"
At least he had had the grace to look bashful, whilst totally checking out boob girl behind me. Then, he patted me on the arm.
"Look, it's been great Rose. Really. You're alright, yeah? Maybe in a few years, if I'm into that sort of thing, I'll look you up."
Then he smiled at me and gave his full attentions to boob girl.
"Wait, were her breasts really that big?" Scorpius stared at me in wonderment.
I socked him in the shoulder, causing him to curse under his breath.
"That is what you get from this story? I tell you that yet another one of my boyfriends dumps me because he thinks I want something long term and your reaction is to ask if the girls' breasts were really that big?" I fumed.
He chuckled, nudging me in the shoulder.
"Sorry. Bad joke. What a tosser; I can't believe he broke things off with you at a Quidditch game!"
Now he had the right kind of reaction. Embarrassingly, I found myself tearing up. I looked away, grabbing another licorice wand shoving it down my throat, hoping it would puncture the lump that had settled there sometime during in the conversation and make my tears go away.
"I know."
"Rose," he said quietly, hearing the change in my voice. "You know he wasn't worth it; especially if he dumped you like that."
"I know." I wiped at my face with my hands hurriedly, but the tears just seemed to start leaking out.
"C'mere." He pulled me close to him, holding me in his arms and rested his chin on my head comfortably as I cried into his neck.
"I just," sob "thought" sob, sob "he was" sniffle "different!"
I really had. I thought that perhaps this would be something that would be different from all my past relationships. I thought we could have fun and take things easy. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of being a stress-free, relaxing girlfriend who didn't leave a guy worried that she might want something more out of the relationship. Obviously I had failed.
"Is there something wrong with me?"
I sounded pathetic, even to my own ears.
"There's nothing wrong with you, Rose." He murmured.
"Do I really look like a girl who wants to get married?" I whined.
I hadn't even mentioned marriage to Julian. I know that guys shy away from that sort of thing. I mean, it's not like I haven't thought about it. I have. I do want to get married someday, but that day could be very far away! It wasn't like every guy that I went out with I thought was my future husband! I hadn't imagined our future together, complete with kids and a big house and their children's children or growing old together with our great grandchildren gathered around us on our front porch or anything. Apparently I just seem to give off "Marry me!" or "Impregnate me!" vibes.
"Erm…" Scorpius shifted uncomfortably, loosening his hold on me.
"I do, don't I?" I wailed unattractively. "Oh God, nobody wants to get married at twenty one!"
Scorpius looked quite alarmed at my sudden dramatics; he grew up an only child so he was not so accustomed to displays of dramatics like I was.
"Some guys do Rosie. You've just got to find the right one." He patted me awkwardly on the back, trying to be reassuring.
"What is it?" I questioned wildly. "What makes me look like I wanted to be a housewife with three kids and another one on the way?"
"Morning mum, dad," Al said cheerfully, bursting into the kitchen.
For some reason, Albus says that we remind him of parents. It might have something to do with our "childish" sleeping patterns and how we prefer to actually be responsible with how we spend our money (i.e. bills, furniture, etc. instead of buying the last round of shots at Lucky Clovers on a Saturday night) or maybe it was even that we both liked reading and occasionally spend some Friday nights holed up in the flat by ourselves doing just that. So because we remind him of middle aged folk, he has taken to calling us Mum and Dad.
I think it has something to do with having an older brother, because I think Albus learned most of his ways of "having fun" from James whilst Scorpius and I were sort of on our own in that department. Well, not that I couldn't have been influenced by James and other various cousins, but I've been told I'm much too like my mum to put up with that sort of thing. Also, my dad would kill me if he even caught whiff of me doing some of the things Al does…
"Lovely day, innit? Whoa…" Albus finally seemed to realise that something more significant was going on other than him just waking up.
"Who went grocery shopping?" he cried gleefully.
Or…not.
"Albus! What is it about me that makes all the idiots I go out with think that I'm only looking for marriage from them?"
He considered it for a moment, his tongue poking out of his mouth in concentration. Then he put on his serious face which I know means trouble.
"Okay, Rosie. First off, I'm gonna say that being called 'marriage material' is not the worst thing that can happen in a breakup. You could be 'too clingy' or 'not good enough in bed' or 'boring' or 'ridiculously happy' or even 'I hate the way you look in the morning' Merlin, those are the worst…"
"Albus!"
"Right." His serious face that had managed to get chased away by his disgusted face while naming all of the girls I should be glad that I'm not was not back in place. "Okay, Rose. Don't change. It's stupid. If they don't like you for who you are they aren't worth it."
"Sorry," he said to my crinkled face. "Had to say it or else my Protective Male Relative card would get confiscated. Right okay Reason Number One why Rose Weasley is Marriage Material: you can do household spells. It's true, Scorp can testify to this. When it was just us living here the flat looked like a disaster. But this was remedied as soon as you stepped into our flat and took over with your amazing cleaning abilities!" He swept his hand out in the direction of the newly cleaned sitting room as if showing me proof.
He was getting way to in to this. I looked at Scorp warily and saw him smirking lightly at Al and then glancing back at me with a look of amusement on his face.
"Reason Number Two!" Al exclaims. "You know what you want in a bloke. Most people date to try and figure out what they want in relationships, but you already know. It can be mighty intimidating as a guy who's just looking for a fun romp when you already have your life all sorted out because said guy in question probably doesn't and most guys hate it when the girls they're dating have it together more than they do."
I was about to open my mouth in protest when Al waved his arm and cut me off again and I decided it wasn't even worth it to argue with him. The truth is I don't already know what I want in a relationship. Well, I do, I mean I want a guy who's funny and kind etc. etc. but I don't have a checklist of qualities that a guys has to be before I go out with him, unlike this girl Rebecca I knew in school. Talk about intimidating. Guys would practically piss themselves each time she brought out the list. I wonder what she's doing now…
"Reason Number Three! You are bloody good with kids. It's kind of frightening, you know. You know how to stop crying, when they need to be burped, fed, changed, that sort of thing. You can stop temper tantrums, you can make them laugh. You like practically like glow when you see them, it's freaky. It's like an aura of motherliness surrounds you in that moment. And if I had to bet, I would say that Julian saw you with a kid just before he broke it off."
I stared at him in awe. Albus really can talk out of his hat a lot, but there are sometimes when his knowledge amazes me. How had he known that I had had a good long conversation with Zach, the six year old who had sat in front of me at the Quidditch game about how great the Chudley Cannons were? It was just plain frightening.
"And judging from your expression right now I'm going to say that I guessed correctly." He took a swig of water from the glass he held in his hand. "Okay well I'm off to get ready. I'm meeting the gang at Lucky Clovers for happy hour. By the way, Rosie, those are just some of the reasons. I can think of a few other reasons that I shouldn't be the one to tell you because I'm your cousin and your best friend and it would just be weird for me to notice things like that. But like I said Rose, don't you go changing. There are plenty of guys who are looking to settle down. Scorp, for example."
Then he walked out of the room, but not two seconds later he poked his head back in.
"Hey Scorp, mate, you want to go to happy hour tonight?"
Scorpius looked at him, then back at me, then back at Al again. "No thanks, I'm good. I'm almost done with my book."
"Next time then," Al said as he left again, even though they had been having the same conversation almost every weekend since Scorpius had broken up with his long term girlfriend Harper almost a month and a half ago.
Scorpius shook his head, patted my arm and went back to his armchair, picking up his book and reading glasses and beginning to read again. Instead of shoving my face with the rest of the licorice wands I decided to flex my powers of self control and followed Scorpius's lead by sitting the armchair across the room from him and curling up with a good mystery novel.
Albus left pretty soon after that, waving us goodbye and informing us not to wait up for him, if we got what he meant. Like it wasn't he most obvious thing in the world anyway.
We sat there in silence, Scorp and me, for a bit while Scorp read his book and I attempted to read mine but instead I just kept getting sidetracked about Albus's reasons. Were those really the sorts of things that guys thought made future wife potential? And what of these mysterious other reasons that Al couldn't tell me about because he it was un-cousinly? As soon as Scorpius closed his book and sighed, I pounced.
"Scorp?"
"Yeah?" he answered tiredly.
"What was Al talking about when he said that there were other reasons as to why I was marriage material but he couldn't tell me because he was my cousin?"
He rubbed his eyes tiredly and took off his reading glasses.
"I haven't the slightest. I think he was just talking through his hat, personally. I mean, he was spot on about his reasons because those things describe you pretty well. But every guy looks for different things in a girl so really, who's to say why they break up with you?"
I used up all my Gryffindor courage and voiced something that I had been worried about for awhile.
"It's because I'm not sexy, isn't it?"
He spluttered and dropped his glasses and book, both of which he had in his hand before looking back at me, horrified.
"What?"
"Well, guys have told me that I'm cute and adorable, but they've never called me sexy. I mean, isn't that what wives are like? They're cute and adorable and there for you, but not really sexy, like honest-to-God she's so sexy I have to have her right now, you know?"
He just gaped at me, openmouthed.
"Rose, you can be sexy." He said in a strained voice. "You just don't know it. That's what makes you adorable." He blushed. "And if you ever tell any of your cousins that I said that to you, I will be dead within an hour so please refrain from repeating that."
I glanced at Scorpius with new eyes. Here was this nice, intelligent man who found me sexy. He liked to read and stay home on the weekends. He enjoyed life's simple pleasures with me like licorice wands, and discussing good novels. His reading glasses kind of made me want to jump him and on occasion the thought had crossed my mind that if we were both single sometime in the far away future that perhaps we could get married, just so that we wouldn't end up being alone.
That was when the stupid idea formed into my head. I got up cautiously and made my way across the room until I was right in front of him. I took the book and glasses from his hand and placed them on the table beside the chair before making complete eye contact with him.
"Really?" I whispered.
"What?"
"You find me sexy?"
I flushed at my own forwardness, breaking eye contact finally.
"Yeah," he sounded strangled.
"Prove it."
It was a stupid thing to do, I remember thinking immediately. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Stupid to put him in that position; stupid to even think that I could have any kind of effect on someone. It was stupid and senseless and—
"Okay."
His stormy grey eyes met mine and him arm wrapped round my waist, bringing me closer to him. He leaned down slowly, his eyes still open and brushed his lips lightly against mine. My eyes fluttered closed and my arms wrapped themselves around his neck on their own accord. His hand flexed against my waist, enclosing me to him in a vice-like grip.
The kisses soon became heated and passionate and I began to lose all sense of self and time. Somehow we managed to make it to his bed but I really can't remember what happened. All that I know was that I was so wrapped up in the intoxicating sense of him that I didn't care about anything anymore other than him holding me just a little bit tighter, kissing me just a little more fiercely, and putting just a little more pressure there, yes there that I completely forgot about all my little insecurities.
…..
"Hey, Scorp, have you seen Rose? It's weird that I'm even up before either of you to because—"
The door banged open and I blinked blearily, trying to adjust to the bright light and my surroundings.
"Shit!" I heard Albus yell before slamming the door loudly.
"Shit!" I heard beside me.
I looked to see Scorpius, in his full morning glory lying beside me.
"Shit, shit, shit!"
He jumped out of bed, threw on some boxers and ran out of the room, again slamming the door. I winced at the sound of the pictures on the wall shaking, almost in danger of falling off the wall.
I got up, wrapped the sheet around me and opened the door, closing it gently behind me instead of slamming it, like my idiot flatmates had. I winced as I made my way into the kitchen, reminding myself that having sex copious amounts of time does, in fact, make you sore in the morning.
"What were you doing?"
"Albus, listen mate, really, it just sort of happened."
I rolled my eyes and entered the kitchen.
"Good Godric, Rose! Put some clothes on!"
I rolled my eyes at Albus's dramatics because, in fact, I had seen him in much, much less not even a few months ago. Boys are always hypocrites.
"Albus relax. Don't kill Scorpius, it wasn't his fault. I propositioned him."
"And I suppose he said no, yeah?" Albus said scornfully, running a hand through is hair.
"Well, obviously not Albus otherwise you wouldn't have walked in on me naked in his bed." I rolled my eyes.
"Rose," Scorpius put a hand on my elbow warningly.
"Oh relax both of you, it was just a onetime thing anyway, he just proved a point to me."
Scorpius hand immediately flew off my elbow and busied itself with rubbing the back of his neck, a habit that he always does when he's embarrassed.
"Erm…yeah, mate. Won't happen again." He said.
Albus eyes us critically before shaking his head.
"Now that's just bullshit. If you two want to start something, just come right out and tell me. Then I'll yell at you, then I'll give you my blessing and then I'll remind you too keep the sex safe and not to hurt each other. And finally, I'll tell you that I saw this coming all along and threaten to dismember the both of you if I ever have to witness the morning glory of my cousin and my best mate in bed together." He thought for a second. "And we'll have to initiate some kind of code, like a sock on the door handle or something to make sure this kind of thing never happens again."
I blushed heavily, not making eye contact with Scorpius. Albus could be so embarrassing! He thought just because I've never had a one night stand before (I don't believe in them, strictly speaking) that I could never have on now, with his best friend! That would be so unfair to Scorpius, trapping him into a relationship like that. All I wanted to know if he thought I was sexy, that's all he signed up for after all. Merlin, then he'd really think that my one goal in life was to get married, no matter who was the groom!"
"Al, seriously, this was a onetime thing." I pleaded with him.
"Wait, you were serious?" His green eyes widened.
Scorpius mumbled something that I couldn't hear, but apparently Albus did. He looked at him with a shocked look on his face and said nothing for a good couple minutes which caused me to shift uncomfortably and switch the bundle of covers to my other hand.
"Okay right. We're never talking about this again. It was just a one-off, yeah? And no one was hurt by it and everything worked out in the end, so we're all good. This officially never happened." Then he left the kitchen and went back into his room.
"I'll bring your sheets back after I've cleaned up." I mumbled, to Scorpius, still not making eye contact with him. Then I left the kitchen too.
That night Scorpius went to Lucky Clovers with Albus.
I spent the next few months proud of myself for actually having a one night stand. It was a new experience for me. Except, I couldn't help thinking sometimes when I passed Scorpius without a shirt on, or when his bare feet brushed mine on his way to the bathroom that maybe, just maybe, we could give it another go. Things weren't exactly awkward between us. We weren't as close as we had been a few months ago, before this whole mess, but we weren't outwardly hostile or awkward to each other or anything.
We both had fun, we were both adults. We both liked sex. I didn't see how it couldn't work out. So I cornered him one morning and propositioned him again.
"I want to have sex with you again."
He spluttered and coughed on his tea, which incidentally he had been drinking when I went up and propositioned him before I realised that perhaps I should of waited until he was not consuming anything.
Once he got passed the danger of dying he replied.
"No."
"C'mon Scorp, please? We both liked it last time!" I tried my infamous puppy dog eyes.
He looked vaguely uncomfortable.
"Look Rose. I like you. I did have a good time with you last time. The sex was incredible. But I think I'm looking for something serious now and I think that if we were to start something that I would be the one who wants too much from you. Sorry."
His face was completely red as he went back into his room, mumbling to himself.
I was in shock for a good long while as I recognized that for the first time I was not rejected because I wanted too much, but because I wanted too less. I'm not sure which I preferred, if any and I knew that this conversation with Scorpius would be on my mind for a long while…until I started thinking about his arms and his eyes and those oh so sexy reading glasses that still made me want to jump him.
…
It took me a week to realise that I wanted to start something long term with Scorpius. To be completely honest with myself, I think I kind of figured it out the day Scorpius rejected my proposal of having no strings attached sex, but I wanted to be absolutely certain that this was what I wanted before I changed things forever.
He had started ignoring me and it was driving me insane. I couldn't seem to catch him alone. He went out with Al on the weekends, and he was always up before me and out the door to god knows where so I couldn't stop him them. That's when I decided to enlist Albus's help.
"I need to talk to Scorpius."
"So talk to him," Al said, annoyed.
"He's ignoring me."
Albus looked at me curiously.
"Is that why he always says yes to going out to Lucky Clovers with me and then instead sits on a bench at the park and reads and talks to little old ladies?"
"You mean he hasn't been going out with you?" I asked, way more excited than I should be.
"Right."
"Okay, thanks Al! You've been a big help!"
"Wait, Rose! What is going—on?"
I practically flew down to the park across the street, running (something that I rarely ever do) quickly until I saw him sitting on a park bench with a book. I took a deep breath and sidled up to him nonchalantly.
"Hey."
He jumped about ten feet in the air before seeing that it was me and shifting uncomfortable. I sat down beside him.
"Rose," he nodded, setting his book aside.
"Look, Scorp, I'm really sorry if I put you in a difficult situation earlier this week. I just…every guy I've gone out with has told me that I'm wife material and whatever and I thought that maybe if I pretended I wasn't wife material that I would be able to keep a relationship. I know it was stupid propositioning you."
He sighed. "Rose…"
"I'm not done!" I argued and took his silence as permission to go on. "I mean, Albus even told me that you're the marrying type of guy. Until a few months ago, I hadn't thought of you in that way seriously I mean, I thought every once in a while 'he looks really sexy with those reading glasses of his' or even 'his bare feet are really cute' or that kind of thing, but I didn't think that it would ever actually go anywhere! And then you told me I was sexy and I was a complete girl about it and I realised this past week, with you ignoring me and all, that I really wouldn't mind going steady with you."
I took a deep breath and avoided eye contact with him again.
"So, yeah, that's it." I muttered, getting up from the bench, ready to leave him alone in peace. Also, I was sort of hoping he would run after me.
But he didn't.
At least, I thought he didn't until…
"Rose!"
I turned around to see Scorpius Malfoy walking quickly towards me, breathing labouredly.
"Merlin, you walk fast." He said before me closed the distance between us and kissed me.
I kissed him back with all I had, our mouths moved together as passionately as they had that one night that we had together and I wondered what kind of heaven I could possibly have gotten myself into.
"Rose," he whispered, breaking away from me and leaning his forehead against mine.
I smiled lightly at hearing my name on his lips.
"Rose, you can do household spells like no other woman I know, you know exactly what you want in a relationship, which is kind of intimidating, you're great with kids, which is awesome because I love kids." He took a deep breath. "I know you've been hurt before by tossers who think that you want something more out of the relationship than you really do, but listen to me. I think you're sexy, I think you're adorable, I don't care that most likely your entire family is going to murder me for this, because I kind of hope that you're going to stop them before they seriously maim me.
You're a great friend, and person who can listen to me. I know that you swear up and down that you don't want to get married but I also know that you secretly do. I can't promise you forever, but I can promise you that I won't break up with you because I'm scared. I can see myself going long-term with you Rose and I like you because of that. So, what I'm really trying to say is: will you go steady with me?"
I felt myself break into this huge grin and then squealed in delight, launching myself at him and kissing him all over his face.
"Yes!"
He chuckled and pulled me in tighter to him and I sighed in contentment.
I had sworn to myself again and again that I didn't want to be a bride, but honestly, standing here in Scorpius's arms, I couldn't help but think that maybe, one day, I would put on the big white dress, stress out over ridiculous things like colour schemes and floral arrangements and quite possibly get married to the bloke standing next to me telling me that being with me forever didn't scare him one bit. Maybe, if you found the right man, being a bride wasn't so bad after all.
A/N: I do believe that this is the longest one-shot I have written to date. I'm kind of proud of this baby. This was majorly inspired by the song I Don't Want to Be a Bride by Vanessa Carlton. I originally was going to make it pretty similar to the song, but Rose just kind of wrote her own character and I went with it. Also, I'm really sorry for spamming all of your e-mails with my constant updates and such. I know you guys probably all check your emails and are like "great, another story," but I simply cannot help myself. Occasionally my muse likes to be cooperative. I've been meaning to write a longer one-shot for awhile now but my muse had been frustratingly uncooperative until I wrote this.
If you want a full playlist for this chapter or to hear my other ramblings, feel free to check out my blog. The link is on my profile.
As always, let me know what you think!
~wwccd