This is part 2 of Chapter 1
In which we see how Teddy is dealing...
JK Rowling and her minion still own all of this i am just messing with them for a while.
Thank you to those who have taken the time to read this,
oOo
The door to Teddy Lupin's flat almost came off its hinges as he stormed inside; shoving the door so hard that it hit the entrance wall with a resounding thud. Ted did not hear it. Victoire followed behind, keeping a safe distance between them.
"James! You here?" He called, obviously not impressed by the situation. "You wanted to talk well, now's your chance, I'm all ears."
When he got no response from the younger man, he stormed off towards the bedroom, "This isn't funny, I know your here so come out and we can talk about it." Several minutes passed and still James did not appear. When Teddy returned to the living room, it was evident that he was losing control of his patience, his hair showing signs of the vibrant red it had turned in his youth when he was extremely upset about something. Victoire had not witnessed Teddy morphing for years now, and it was then that she understood the seriousness of the situation.
As soon as he realised that James had been serious about leaving, he began throwing his possessions across the living room not giving any thought at all to their worth or his sleeping neighbours.
"Teddy, try to calm down, your scaring me," Victoire whimpered, tears rolling down her cheeks despite her determination not to let her best friends torment affect her so. She really didn't want to admit she had any idea what had gone on outside the bar earlier in the evening, but she is a smart girl, and it didn't take a genius to work out that Jamie had offered Teddy some kind of ultimatum in regards to their relationship.
Teddy ignored her pleas as he continued to throw things. Once he had thrown a very heavy book at the wall causing the plaster to crack, Victoire took action.
"Teddy Remus Lupin, you calm down this instant, or I will be forced to stun you! Don't think that I won't."
Ted stopped dead in his tracks, blinking rapidly before spinning around to face her. His eyes were moist with unshed tears and he looked lost. Taking a few tentative steps towards her dearest friend, she closed the gap between them and gently ran her hand up his arm until it rested on his shoulder.
"Shh," she soothed, "It'll be OK, that's it breathe, we'll find him. He won't have gone far."
"I really messed things up this time didn't I?" Teddy asked, his face sullen, shoulders slumped.
"Probably, but you can make things right. You're no good to anyone right now though, so why don't you go take a shower. I'll make us both some tea, and we can sit down and figure out how you can win him back."
"Tea won't fix this, Vic, it's gone well beyond tea." He replied, his anger beginning to rise again.
"Well it can't hurt. Now off you go and take a nice hot shower then we will work on a plan. Don't argue with me Teddy, right now I'm the only hope you've got so you best do as I say." When Victoire set her mind to something she was to be a force not to be reckoned with, thankfully Teddy had the sense to listen and headed off to the bathroom.
Twenty minutes later, he returned looking a lot calmer and more relaxed than he had before his shower. He was dressed in worn jeans and one of James's old practice t-shirts. His hair had returned to its natural shade of golden brown, his grey eyes sad. Victoire handed him a large mug of steaming sweet tea, and he muttered his thanks.
After a few minutes, Victoire decided if she was going to be of any help at all to her oldest friend that she needed some information, so squaring her shoulders and sitting up a bit straighter in her chair she asked.
"Now you will probably tell me this is none of my business but I need to know, what exactly happened tonight that made James leave?"
"Which part?" Teddy huffed. "The part of the evening when we all just sitting around laughing and joking like any other Friday after work get together, or the part where he dragged me outside into the pouring rain to issue me with his crazy ultimatum?"
"Why don't you start with the ultimatum and work your way back from there," Victoire suggested gently.
Teddy relayed the scene outside the pub to her, trying to remember everything James had said verbatim. He was a bit fuzzy on some of the details because this was not the first time James had pulled something like this, only all the other times he had come back within a few hours. Teddy would explain that he couldn't risk losing everything, James would say he understood, and they would literally kiss and make up. Tonight, James had not returned and Teddy was beginning to wonder what had happened to upset James so badly. As far as he knew, nothing out of the ordinary had provoked James's outburst.
"Oh, I see," was all Victoire said, frowning deeply, once he was finished talking.
"What!" He demanded to know, "What do you see? Because I have absolutely no idea what is going on in that pretty little head of his."
"Oh Teddy, you can be so clueless sometimes." The blonde shook her head. "Jamie loves you with every fibre of his being, and all he wants to do is scream it from the rooftops. He wants you to acknowledge that he isn't just a mate or worse, your little brother, which when you think about it is pretty disturbing considering what you two get up to behind closed doors. He wants to be treated as an equal for a start, and for you to show him that you're not ashamed of him, or how you feel about him."
"Don't you think I know that?" He asked in a voice barely above a whisper, "Of course I do its just..."
"Just that you're afraid, maybe. What exactly are you afraid of?" Now she was getting angry, "You have to step up and be a man at some point in your life, Ted, you're almost thirty years old. Your Grandmother can't have control over your life forever and if it's Uncle Harry, Aunt Ginny and the rest of us Weasley's you're afraid of alienating, then you need to think again because we all love you Teddy. We are your family and nothing is ever going to change that no matter what!"
"How can you be so sure? Look at what happened when you and I split up, your Dad was after my blood. He, still to this day, won't look me in eye. He hates me."
"Don't be silly, he doesn't hate you. When you and I broke up, I was devastated, if you recall, at the time I had no idea you were gay, and I didn't understand what I had done to stop you from loving me as much as I love you. Dad was just being a protective father. No one hurts his baby girl and all that. He got over it and if you bothered to pay attention to the world around you now and again you would have realised years ago that he doesn't look at anyone outside of his immediate family directly in the eyes," Victoire assured him squeezing his hand tightly.
Teddy looked down at his feet, contemplating all the things she had just said to him. He didn't feel any closer to a solution than he had an hour ago, and now he had a headache on top of his misery. He rubbed gingerly at his temples trying to dull the ache.
Sensing that now was not the time to force the issue, Victoire stood and walked around the table pulling Teddy up from his chair and into a warm hug,
"How about we leave the plan for the morning and try and get some sleep? Do you want me to stay?"
"Please, I really don't want to be alone right now," Teddy begged, speaking into her shoulder.
"OK, then come on, things will look better in the morning."
"I doubt it," Teddy sighed, as they turned off the lights and headed to bed.