Autumn 2018
Teddy smiled as the meaty aroma of steak wafted from the cast iron pan. He poked at one of the cuts of meat a few times and, deciding that it was sufficiently cooked for his taste, lifted it out of the pan and onto a plate. The other one still needed some more time in the fire.
Teddy hummed as he stir fried some asparagus and carrots to pair with the steak. A few moments later, he plated the meat and vegetables and stood back to admire his handiwork.
Knock knock. Teddy briskly turned off the range hood on his way to the door.
"Sienna," Teddy said pleasantly as he opened the door, standing aside to let her in.
"That smells wonderful," Sienna said as she slid her feet out of her sneakers and into the slippers that Teddy set out for her every time she visited. "You made steak again?"
Teddy nodded and smiled. "You know me, when the craving hits I have to eat steak until the urge goes away."
"Lucky me," Sienna said. "Your cravings have fed me well."
"You're welcome," Teddy said, leading the way into the kitchen. "I'm almost done, just have to go grab the wine."
Sienna nodded silently as she observed the steak on the counter.
"I don't know much about wine," Teddy said from inside the pantry, "so if you have any requests please let me know. Otherwise I'm just going to pick something random."
"Pick whatever you want," Sienna called back.
Teddy emerged from the pantry with a bottle of red wine and two glasses and set it on the dining table. "You wanna eat now, or?"
"Yeah, now's good," Sienna said excitedly, "I'm starving." She scooped up the two plates on the counter and joined Teddy at the dining table.
"I don't know how you can stomach that," Sienna said, crinkling her nose and pointing at Teddy's steak. "The raw meat smell is so strong."
"Yeah, so everyone always reminds me," Teddy said, popping the cork off the wine and pouring a glass for Sienna.
"Thank you."
A long silence fell over the room as the couple ate their dinner. Teddy didn't mind, as it allowed him to focus his energy on eating and enjoying the taste of the meat in front of him. He could tell that Sienna seemed a bit irritated but if she had something to say, she could say it.
As if reading his mind, Sienna put her fork down on her half-finished plate and tried to make conversation. "How were your first week of classes, Ted?
Teddy shrugged as he continued cutting his steak. "Oh you know. Last year of uni and taking all the advanced level classes with the same people and same professors," he smiled. "Helps that we don't have to do those stupid ice breakers all the time anymore."
Sienna hummed in agreement.
"Professor Watson was in a right state this morning, don't know if you heard, but he was-"
"I was there," Sienna interrupted him. "In the class with you this morning when Watson stormed into the classroom yelling expletives to someone outside."
"Oh, right," Teddy said. "Yeah, we're in the same class."
"Yeah, we are." Sienna jabbed at her asparagus but didn't put it in her mouth. Teddy stared at her for a moment before returning to his food. That seemed to irritate Sienna because she put her fork down again and said, "Ted - are you just gonna ignore the fact that you completely forgot that we were in the same class this morning?"
Teddy's eyes darted between Sienna and his plate. "Was I supposed to say something?" Teddy asked.
Sienna let out a small hmph. "I feel like we don't see each other anymore. You're always so busy with this and that,"
"I invite you over every time I make steak," Teddy interjected.
"Yeah, but even when I'm here I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. I ask you questions about your day and you hardly tell me anything. It's almost as if you're keeping secrets."
Teddy blinked. He wasn't sure where that was suddenly coming from. He could understand her being upset that he forgot she was in class with him that morning, but where did this thing about secrets come from?
"I'm not keeping any secrets from you. If you want to know something, just ask. I'm an open book."
"Okay, fine," Sienna challenged. "What did you have for lunch today?"
Teddy placed a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Umm, I might've grabbed a yogurt from the refectory but I don't think I ate much of anything."
"That's it?"
"What else is there to say?"
"Who'd you eat it with? What did you talk about? Any funny stories or anecdotes to share?"
Teddy shrugged. "Not really. Like I said, I just grabbed a yogurt. I think I ate it on my way to the next class."
"Fine, I'll be more direct. Do you have any interesting stories or anecdotes about your day today?"
Teddy scrunched his eyebrows in thought. "Not really. That incident with Watson was the most exciting thing all day, but you were there for it."
"This is what I mean, Teddy."
"I don't get it. Literally nothing happened today. I went to class. I came home. I cooked dinner. What do you want to know?"
"Never mind," Sienna said. "Actually, no. I want to say my peace. I feel like lately we're drifting apart. We don't hang out much, and when we do, we don't talk much. You say that your life is boring and yet, the Ted I've known for the past two years had lots of friends and was spontaneous and did exciting things."
"That was really only when we were in San Francisco. When you're abroad you want to go do all the things before you leave and lose the chance to do it again."
"Yes well, be that as it may, when I ask about the things you did in San Francisco when you were off on your super secret assignments but you won't tell me anything."
"Oh, that."
"Yes, that."
"I've already told you, Sienna. I really can't talk to you about that."
"What could you have possibly been doing that is so secret that you can't even tell your girlfriend? Do you expect me to believe you were working on some top secret classified government project? I'm not asking for any details, I just want to know, something…when you don't share anything about your life I feel like you're being distant."
"I'm not doing it on purpose, I promise," Teddy sighed. "I really am trying to be an open book with you…I guess I just don't really know what to say sometimes."
"That's fine," Sienna said, picking up her fork and returning to playing with her food. "I don't like being the bad guy who keeps on pushing you to share things when you clearly don't know what to say."
Teddy bit back a retort. This wasn't the time for that. Teddy was immensely grateful for the sound of the front door opening as Tom's jovial voice cut through the awkward silence.
"Hey fam, I'm back! Smells like Ted's delicious steak!" Tom walked around the corner and greeted Teddy and Sienna. "Is it alright if I bring Mia in? We were gonna watch that new movie, you know, the one with the superheroes?"
"Uhh yeah, that's fine," Teddy said.
Sienna pushed her chair back and stood up. "I'm heading out now anyway, so you're not interrupting anything."
Tom glanced skeptically at Sienna's half finished plate and nearly full wine glass. "Already? It doesn't look like you two-"
"It's getting late and I need to be up early tomorrow," Sienna responded. "Hi, Mia," she waved pleasantly as Mia walked into the room.
"Oh, are you leaving already?" Mia asked.
"She has an early morning tomorrow," Teddy repeated.
Sienna gave him a weak smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, dear," she said, giving him a quick hug and a peck on the lips. "Good evening everyone!"
Victoire
"Hey there Teddy," Victoire said as she plopped herself on the grass next to Teddy.
"Victoire!" Teddy exclaimed, closing the book he was reading and pushing himself up to a sitting position. "You're early!"
"Didn't want to keep you waiting," Victoire smiled. "Besides, I've never been to a muggle uni before so I'm actually kinda excited for you to show me around."
"I can tell, you're giving off a jittery energy, I didn't think you'd be this excited," Teddy said with a hint of disbelief.
Victoire shrugged. "Nothing can beat Hogwarts obviously, but among muggles the uni campuses have some of the most beautiful buildings so I wanted to come see for myself. Thanks again, for agreeing to show me around."
"Of course," Teddy replied, sliding his book in his bag and standing up. He held out a hand for Victoire, which she took, and pulled her up. "The first and most important place that you'll see today is the refectory."
Victoire smiled. "Can't argue with that, food is important."
"It sure is," Teddy replied, rubbing his stomach dramatically. "I actually haven't eaten yet, care to join me for lunch?"
"Oh!" Victoire said in surprise. Sienna was going to be expecting her and Teddy soon and she didn't factor in any time to have a meal.
"I was actually thinking…err…"
"It's fine if you've already eaten," Teddy shrugged, looking at Victoire inquisitively. "But I'm going to grab a quick bite anyway."
Teddy led Victoire to a drab and boxy shaped concrete building that housed the refectory. "Not much to look at," Teddy said, "so it probably won't interest you much since you said you wanted to look at pretty buildings. Nevertheless, a guy's gotta eat."
Victoire nodded absently and looked around.
"You alright, Victoire?" Teddy asked as the two of them walked inside. "Something bothering you?"
"No, nothing like that," Victoire shook her head.
"...Okay, if you say so."
Silence fell over the pair as Teddy led Victoire around the buffet tables, before he settled on a tuna sandwich.
"Something easy to carry around while I continue the tour," Teddy said before waving his student ID card against a machine to register his payment. It was the first time Victoire had seen something like that.
"That seems more efficient than carrying a pouch of heavy coins around," Victoire commented, nodding her head at his id card.
Teddy looked down at the card in his hand. "Oh absolutely. One could get used to living as a muggle nowadays…" He handed his card over to Victoire for her to look, and she absently reached out to grab it.
Victoire ran her thumb over the front of the card as she examined the picture of Teddy's smiling face. Like all muggle photos, he wasn't moving in it, but based on the way his eyes were looking at a point just above the camera lens, Victoire assumed that he had still been talking to the photographer when the photo was taken.
"It looks like you were caught unaware when this photo was taken," Victoire said, pointing at his face.
Teddy briefly glanced over before turning forward again, already focused on heading to the next destination. "Hah, I remember when that was taken. I was gonna ask the photographer if I could look at the photo before deciding on which one to keep, and the guy said no. Didn't know he snapped the picture just as I was talking to him."
"I think it looks cute…I mean-" Victoire froze for a moment and Teddy stopped walking and turned to look at her.
"I mean, most id photos just look so bland and fake, but your expression here looks very natural. It's kinda interesting."
"I suppose so," Teddy said in confusion. "That was random."
Victoire blushed. "Sorry, I don't know why I said that."
"It's alright. I'm sure if you had an id photo taken you'd look cute in it too - you always do in photos."
Victoire's head snapped up and saw Teddy's grinning face looking at her expectantly. Victoire felt a blush creeping up her neck.
"That's not true," Victoire protested. "Don't you remember that Christmas photo from 2007?"
"Jeez, Twa, you still remember the exact year when it was taken?"
"You jabbed my sides with your elbow the second your grandma pressed the shutter. If it was a magical photo, the evidence would be there plain as day," Victoire scoffed. "But no, it was a muggle photo and it recorded me - frozen - with the most ridiculous expression on my face."
"Tom bumped into me in his rush to photobomb and it was an accident, I swear," Teddy replied, something that he'd said many times over the years. "Besides, the fact that you still remember the one non-photogenic picture you've ever taken is clear evidence that you look amazing in all your other ones."
"I guess you have a point," Victoire rolled her eyes. "But I'm sure there are other terrible photos of me out there in the world. Your grandma probably has a few."
"Why are you being so humble, Twa? Cameras love you, it's just a fact."
Victoire smiled but didn't say anything further. Teddy didn't seem to notice, but Victoire caught the fact that he'd called her Twa just now. Twice. She hadn't heard that nickname in over a year and, for the first time, it sounded very nice.
She may have protested in the past how annoying that nickname was, but at this moment, she was just glad that things were progressing well between the two of them. They were moving past whatever had happened between them before and easing back into the comfortable friendship that had characterized their most of their lives together.
Victoire abruptly remembered with a pang that she wasn't here to just spend time with Teddy. She was on a mission that she suddenly realized that she didn't want to fulfill. But she made a promise, and well, it would be awkward if she didn't carry it out.
If she wanted to stay friends with Teddy, deliberately getting on his girlfriend's bad side was probably not a good idea.
"Hey Teddy, can you take me up to the bell tower?" Victoire asked. "We could see the whole campus from up there and you can point out all the different buildings for me."
"That's a pretty good idea," Teddy said. "Students aren't technically supposed to be up there, but I've figured out some tricks to sneak up there."
"Do any of them involve saying alohamora?" Victoire asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Uhm…yeah they do," Teddy said sheepishly. "No one's actually seen me do it though. And I've been up there loads of times."
"Why were you up there loads of times?" Victoire blurted out before she could stop herself. She knew what the answer was, and didn't want to hear Teddy say the answer, but her stupid brain was on auto-pilot.
"Oh well," Teddy said awkwardly. "Just…you know, hanging out with Sienna."
"Of course," Victoire said sardonically. "That makes sense."
"Yeah it does," Teddy grinned. "When a guy and a girl hang out at the top of a bell tower…"
Victoire swatted him on the arm. "Please don't illustrate the scene any further."
"...they typically-"
Victoire plugged her fingers in her ears. "Alright, I really don't need to hear what you get on with on the tops of bell towers with girls."
Teddy bellowed with laughter. "It's so easy to push your buttons."
The pair continued their bantering as they crossed the quad and walked towards the bell tower. Sure, their bantering and laughter was a bit loud, and more than one annoyed student glared at them over the tops of their books, but Victoire didn't care. She hadn't had the opportunity to spend much quality time with Teddy after they'd made up, even if they were neighbors. And after spending a whole year apart, spending time like this with her oldest friend was nice.
Her feelings of contentment changed when they approached the bell tower and Victoire remembered what they were here to do. Teddy seemed to notice her shift in demeanor and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing," Victoire lied, plastering a light smile on her face. "Just a bit tired."
"Okay," Teddy said. "Make sure to get enough sleep! I'm not a Healer but my classmates who went through the training all tell me that the first year is the worst."
The pair climbed the tower silently, but Victoire's headspace was a whirlwind of emotions that she couldn't quite process at the moment. She could work those feelings out later, for now just had to put on a nice smile and get through it.
"Oh Victoire, you're gonna love this," Teddy suddenly said. "Remember how when we were kids and you tried to drag Tom and Olivia to Buttermarket Square with you?"
"Yeah," Victoire replied in confusion.
"I was out with Tom the other day and this guy accosted us, spouting off some conspiracy about two brothers called Buttermarket. Tom said it reminded him of when we were younger."
"Good to know that I'm being compared to a nutty conspiracy theorist on the street," Victoire said dryly, but a smile was playing on her lips.
"Gosh, we were such idiots back then weren't we?" Teddy said, placing his hands on the back of his head and looking up at the sky.
"I was a pretty stupid child," Victoire agreed. "But you, as the older one, was supposed to watch me. But you were just an enabler."
Teddy shrugged. "Hard to say no to you-"
"SURPRISE!"
Both Teddy and Victoire yelped in unison. She was so engrossed in their conversation that she didn't notice that they had reached the top of the tower already.
"Woah, what's going on here?" Teddy asked, frantically looking around, his eyes finally settling on Victoire.
Victoire's eyes were still wide in shock, but she noticed Sienna walking towards the pair and pointed her out to him.
"Hi Teddy," Sienna smiled as she walked towards him.
"What's this about?" Teddy asked. "It's not my birthday…"
Teddy turned to look at Victoire with wide eyes. "Wait, it's not yours, is it?" Before Victoire could respond with indignation, he shook his head and said, "No, of course it isn't."
"It's no one's birthday, silly," Sienna said, hooking her arms around his and leading him towards the bell at the center of the room. By Victoire's rough count, there were half a dozen other people gathered there that she didn't know, but she presumed they were Teddy's and Sienna's classmates.
"So what's going on then?" Teddy asked, scratching his head in confusion.
"I found this in your flat the other night when I was looking for another tube of toothpaste," Sienna said, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a ring box. Teddy raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I know you must've prepared this for me," Sienna continued, smiling. "So I wanted to gather everyone here to let them all know that my answer is yes."
Victoire didn't remember Sienna telling her that. She thought Sienna was just going to propose…
Teddy's reaction looked similarly surprised, which surprised Victoire. But he also stayed composed, not wishing to make a scene in front of everyone.
Teddy reached out to take the ring box in his hands and opened it. He stared absently at the ring inside the box as Sienna lifted her hands and expectantly placed it in front of Teddy.
"Wear the ring, wear the ring!" Teddy's and Victoire's classmates started chanting rhythmically and in encouragement.
This was an odd proposal, Victoire couldn't help thinking how she would have done something completely different if it was her proposing to Teddy. This whole proposal, with all the people and fanfare, felt like Sienna was purposely putting Teddy on the spot - or backing him into a corner. It was just weird.
Teddy glanced at Victoire briefly, and Victoire returned the look with a smile. Teddy seemed to take that as encouragement because in the next moment, he took the ring out of the box and gingerly slid it onto Sienna's ring finger.
Victoire's heart dropped despite all the mental preparation she had made, knowing that this was going to happen.
The crowd burst into cheers. Victoire played the part of being Teddy's happy friend, clapping her hands cheerily even though she felt like her insides were about to explode.
"Thanks so much for coming to help out today," Vince said as he ushered Teddy and Sienna into the kitchen. The pair of them were at Vince's steakhouse to pose for pictures to use on the restaurant's marketing materials.
"We'll first take a few shots of the two of you in chef outfits 'working' in the kitchen, and then we'll take a few of you two enjoying our steak in the dining area."
"Won't it be weird if people see that we're simultaneously cooks and patrons?" Sienna asked.
"We'll pick and choose which ones to print out," Vince shrugged. "Just trying to cover our bases by taking as many photos as possible." He pulled some restaurant-branded aprons, shirts, and pants out of a closet and tossed them over to Teddy and Sienna. "Here, try these on!"
Teddy and Sienna stepped out into the restrooms to change, and when they returned, Vince was in the middle of organizing the pots and pans so that their kitchen would look neat and tidy in the photos.
"Oh shoot," Vince suddenly exclaimed. "I left my camera at home, lemme run and grab it, it should be pretty quick! Just hold tight!"
"Sure!" Teddy responded, but Vince had already rushed out of the room.
"We look pretty good like this," Sienna grinned as she examined Teddy. "Maybe we should make a switch into culinary school," she joked.
Teddy smiled. "You look good in this, but I think this shirt is too big and it makes me look scrawny."
Sienna reached out a hand to smooth out the front of Teddy's apron. "I think you look very handsome," she smiled. "But I agree, a tighter shirt would look better on you, we can ask when Vince gets back." She turned around and walked towards the hallway. "Gotta use the loo, be back soon!"
"Okay," Teddy responded. He stared blankly at the door that Sienna just exited from. The last few days since Sienna basically forced him to propose to her had been a whirlwind of activity. He'd gone to visit her family to share the news, and Teddy had taken Sienna to Godric's Hollow to meet the Potters. But amidst all the hubbub, Teddy hadn't had a quiet moment to actually stop and think about what was going on.
Sienna had ambushed him at the clocktower that day. And he'd kinda just gone along with it because he didn't really know what to do. On one hand, he really did like Sienna - but was he ready for marriage? Teddy wasn't sure about that. They'd only been dating for a year and they were both still so young. It was also really weird that she made up the story about finding a ring in his room. He really should confront her about that, they shouldn't start off married life on a lie.
Teddy let his mind wander to Victoire. He hadn't seen her at all since that day, but he had this nagging thought in the back of his mind that he'd buried until now. What was Victoire's role in all of this? Why did she bring him up to the clocktower? Did she know what Sienna had planned? Did she approve?
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the front door swing open. He ducked his head and looked through the serving hatch separating the kitchen from the dining room, expecting to see Vincent. Instead, he saw Victoire.
Teddy quickly turned around - he didn't know why exactly, he just knew that he wasn't sure he could face Victoire right now. He didn't think Victoire saw him but -
"Hey Vincent, is that you?" Victoire called out.
Teddy grabbed a pan and set it on the stove top, quickly turning the knob to start a fire, even though he wasn't cooking anything. He glanced over at the serving hatch and saw Victoire's torso, leaning against the wall on the other side.
"Sorry to bother you, sounds like you're busy right now … but I needed to tell you something."
Teddy didn't say anything, and Victoire seemed to take the silence as a cue to continue talking.
"Don't let a good thing slip through your hands because you're worried about losing face."
Teddy poured some vegetable oil on the pan and sloshed it around to create sizzling noises.
"Your pride means nothing if you lose everything for it," Victoire continued.
Teddy continued to absently make various cooking noises but otherwise stayed silent. What was Victoire talking about?
"You know…not a single day has gone by since I broke up with Teddy that I haven't regretted doing so."
Teddy's eyes shot towards Victoire, but she hadn't moved from her place leaning against the wall.
"I was just like you - so sure of myself that I convinced myself that what I was doing was right for both of us. But I was just covering for my own insecurities. Covering up the fact that I was still so young, and in school, and didn't want to be a burden on Teddy."
Victoire sighed heavily.
"What you're doing to Olivia right now, it's not fair to her and for what? You're only torturing yourself! It's okay to admit to yourself that things aren't working out in London. So what if you failed at living in the big city? You don't always have to be successful in order to show Olivia that you can love and protect her."
Teddy was carefully listening to every word that he didn't notice that the oil had dried up and his pan started smoking. He hurriedly poured more oil, but Victoire continued talking, unaware that anything was amiss.
"Have you stopped to think about what Olivia wants? Maybe she just wants to live out in the country and not in the big city. Maybe she wants to have a boyfriend who isn't constantly stressed and trying to achieve a dream that neither of you actually want?"
Teddy saw a figure move in the corner of his eye. He looked over and saw Sienna standing quietly in the doorway, looking very solemn. Teddy didn't know how much she'd heard.
"We're pretty similar, you and I. Too afraid that our partners were walking down a different path than we are so we overcompensate. And in the process, we forgot to ask and to actually understand what our partners felt, what they wanted."
Sienna made a move to walk towards Victoire, but Teddy held out an arm to stop her. Sienna's eyes flitted between Teddy's, as if trying to read his mind.
"It's too late for me now, Vince," Victoire said. "But it's not too late for you. Swallow your pride and go communicate with your girlfriend. Hear what she actually wants. Do it before you end up pushing her away. Treasure what the two of you have, because once you let it go…well, sometimes a good thing only comes along once in a lifetime."
Sienna reached over and turned off the fire. Teddy let out a breath that he hadn't realized he was holding.
Teddy heard the door open and shut again. "Victoire! What are you doing here? Did you want to join the photoshoot?"
Through the server hatch, Teddy saw Victoire stand up straight in response. He imagined she was probably surprised to see that Vince wasn't in the kitchen the whole time after all. He closed his eyes. It wouldn't take long for her to figure out who she had just poured her heart out to.
"Ted and Sienna are helping pose for some of the shots, they should be around back. Ted! Sienna! You there?" Vincent yelled.
Victoire's figure disappeared before Vince finished yelling Teddy's name. He walked up to the hatch and peeked out just in time to catch a glimpse of Victoire dashing out the door.
"There you are!" Vince said, seeing Teddy's head poking through the hatch, before glancing back towards where Victoire had run out moments earlier. "Do you know what's up with her?"
Teddy shook his head silently, still looking at the door where Victoire stood moments ago.
Vince shrugged his shoulders. "That was weird," he said as he walked towards the kitchen. He paused and sniffed the room and scrunched his eyes. "Were you cooking something back here? Next time if you need something just ask me, we can't have people using the equipment here for liability reasons you see…"
Teddy spent the next two hours at the restaurant, posing in various spots as directed, but his was preoccupied. He needed to speak to Sienna. He needed to talk to Victoire. But he was being held hostage by this damn photoshoot and he didn't have a polite reason to drop everything and leave.
Besides, Sienna was right here next to him, looking very much like she didn't want to say anything to him.
Besides, Vince was in the way and Teddy didn't feel like having an audience for the conversation that needed to be had with Sienna.
When the pair finally managed to convince Vince that the photos they'd taken were plenty for their brochures and ads, Teddy found himself walking out the door with nothing to say to Sienna, even though he'd spent the past two hours going through in his head every possible permutation of things he could say and how she'd respond to them.
"We should talk," Teddy finally breathed out.
"Yeah," Sienna said, looking at him expectantly.
"I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore," Teddy sighed, running his hand through his hair.
"It's because of Victoire, isn't it?" Sienna said quietly. Teddy nodded.
The pair walked down the street in silence for a minute or two. Teddy's mind was blank. He knew he had to break up with Sienna, and it wasn't just because of Victoire. What Sienna had done, well, it wasn't a quality that he wanted in a future wife. But he didn't really know how to communicate that politely.
"I'm the one who should be sorry," Sienna said, breaking the silence. Teddy looked at Sienna in surprise, but she continued speaking without breaking eye contact.
"When I first started liking you two years ago, back when you and Victoire were still together, it was just a simple crush. I knew that nothing would come of it, so I just enjoyed spending time with you when I could. That's all I really wanted."
Sienna stopped walking and looked up at the sky. "Being friends with you was all I really expected would ever happen, and that was okay," she sighed. "But then you and Victoire broke up, and we ended up living in a foreign country together, and I thought maybe you showed signs of liking me back, so I started getting greedy. I started wanting more."
Sienna bit her lip and it looked like she was carefully choosing her next words.
"When Victoire came back into the picture a few months ago, and the two of you easily fell back into a close friendship, I couldn't help but feel jealous. I tried to push those feelings away, but-" Sienna shook her head. "I thought if I married you, then I wouldn't lose you to her. I also knew that you would probably freak out, so I enlisted Victoire to be a part of the proposal. If I made it seem like I had her approval, I figured you might actually agree."
Teddy blinked. Sienna was right. The only reason why he had said yes that afternoon on the clock tower was because Victoire had brought him there to be proposed to, and given him a nod of encouragement during the crucial moment. Since Victoire had moved on, he figured, why not?
"I even made up that stupid lie about the ring because I knew you'd be too embarrassed to call me out on it in front of all of our friends," Sienna continued. "I took advantage of you and it was wrong of me to trap you like that. I'd gotten so wrapped up in my own nonsense that I'd forgotten how to simply love someone. What started out as a simple, healthy crush, had morphed into something that I couldn't control. And I hate the way I acted because of it."
"I should've been more upfront about my feelings about Victoire. No matter how much I denied it, deep inside I know that I still have feelings for her," Teddy said.
"That wouldn't have changed anything," Sienna looked at him with a sad smile. "Except maybe it would've made me do something even more stupid and drastic," she laughed.
"But I should've been truthful. It was wrong of me to lie to you about my feelings, wrong of me to make you feel insecure about our relationship," Teddy continued.
"That's sweet of you to admit, Ted," Sienna said. "And I don't think you're wrong, but my actions were way out of line. Forcing you to marry me? Dragging you ex into the whole thing? Thinking back on that whole episode, I feel like that was a completely different person doing it all. In what world did I think that plan would work out well for anyone?"
Sienna grinned at Teddy, and Teddy felt himself automatically smiling back.
"I was dumb, you were dumb, we were all being dumb. Let's just put this whole thing behind us."
"For the record, I don't regret the time we spent together," Teddy said. Sienna raised a skeptical eyebrow at him. "Well, maybe I regret saying 'yes' when you proposed to me," he laughed. "But I really enjoyed the time we spent together in San Francisco. You're an amazing girl, and if I'd met you before I met Victoire, well-"
"Victoire's a lucky girl," Sienna interjected. "If I were to beat her, I'd have to have found you before she was even born."
"You're a catch, Sienna, and I mean it." Teddy said earnestly. "I didn't agree to start dating you because I was rebounding on Victoire. I really mean it when I say that I really cherished your friendship and I will continue to remember fondly the memories we made together."
"Thanks Ted," Sienna said. "I really appreciate you saying that, but don't let Victoire hear you say that. Now, go get her. From the sounds of it, she's not nearly as over you as you thought."
"Thanks Sienna."
"I'll see you around, Ted," Sienna said, flashing him a small smile before turning around and walking away.
A/N: Thank you so much for making it so far into my little story haha. If you're reading this and enjoying it, I want to let you know that I appreciate you! I just have one more chapter left to close out this saga that I will be releasing this weekend.
