It was the evening of the Yule Ball. With only about half an hour left until the event was set to start, Victorie, Maya and Delilah were crowding their dorm bathroom with make-up products tightly packed on their sink, almost spilling over the edge of it. They were moving in a circle in front of the mirror, taking turns using it.
The girls had spent most of the day in their dorm, snacking on a big bag of treats Maya had acquired from Honeydukes the week earlier, especially for the occasion. About half of the bag was gone by the time the day of the Yule Ball actually rolled around, but the other half was more than enough.
Delilah and Maya had made it their personal mission to get Victorie excited for the ball by the time it started. And after a lot of sugar as well as jokes made at the teachers' expense (imagining every funny scenario that might occur, and making predictions on various ways they might make a fool of themselves) she had to admit that she felt a flicker of excitement.
Victorie squeezed her way out of the small bathroom once finished with the last touches on her make-up. But despite leaving the claustrophobic room, she somehow felt a rush of distress now that she could no longer focus on anything to do with preparation for the event.
The blush on her cheeks was perfectly matched with the peachy shade on her eyelids, nothing to be done there. Her hair was ready to go in big but messy curls and she couldn't possibly get her fringe any straighter. She was already in the dress her mother had sent her too.
Now that all of that was done, and she also cared, suddenly nothing stopped her from getting utterly beside herself with nerves.
What if she wouldn't have anyone to talk to for the entire night? What if she would just be stood there all by herself? She sure couldn't count on getting any help from her newfound crutch, since he would probably be busy with his 50 or so dates.
Victorie grabbed the skirt of her dress on either side and lifted it to look at her shoes. It was one of those floor length dresses, the same silvery grey one her mother had worn when she attended the Yule Ball at Hogwarts. It fitted her well, but the length of it worried her. What if she tripped on it?
She dropped the skirt. It bounced down and stilled in line with the floor. She took a small step in it, then a large one. Then a small one, and then another large one. She spun around with long awkward steps, weighing from side to side as if testing the probability or her tripping over it.
A moment passed like that before she looked up to see Delilah in her purple dress and Maya in her black suit, staring at her from the entrance of the bathroom.
Victorie's distress became immediately apparent to them when she looked up at their staring faces with her own. When it did, they soon snapped out of their confusion and began bombarding her with compliments.
"You look amazing."
"That dress is perfect on you."
"Your hair looks really good like that."
"That's a gorgeous colour on you."
Victorie placed her feet together again and smiled until the point of almost welling up. When her dorm mates saw this in turn, they went straight into de-escalation tactics. They rushed up to her with plastered on wide grins.
"Everything is great!" Maya cheered as she bounced up and down.
"No need to cry! We're all going to have so much fun!" Delilah chimed in. Both of them in fear that Victorie would besmudge her make-up with her tears and make them even later than they already were.
Victorie did manage to hold back her tears, and the girls relaxed when they saw the redness in her face dissipate. But what they couldn't see was the gratitude and overall warmth radiating inside her, to have such sweet intentions directed at her.
"Are we friends?" The question flew out of her like it was in the spur of the moment. But in truth it was something she had been unable to decipher for a while then, and been too afraid to ask. Yet the question dug away at her and she just had to know.
Maya's eyes widened simultaneously as her eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment.
Delilah looked deadpan at her. "We've been friends since first year, Vicky." She explained as though unable to believe that Victorie didn't already have the answer, and the redhead let out a breath that felt like one she'd been holding for years.
The girls then left to make haste toward the party. But Victorie hung behind. She was hovering by her nightstand, and opened the topmost draw tentatively. Inside she found her trusted tarot deck, and called out to it to give her some advice on how she should manoeuvre the coming evening. She picked up the first card and looked at it.
The card had a woman depicted on it, stroking a lion with her hands. It was the Strength Tarot, upright.
She felt a little displeased, and a sense of obligation welled up in her. After putting the card back she shut the draw and breathed out, then left the dorm to catch up with her friends.
She stopped worrying about tripping. If she did, at least she'd have people to laugh about it with.
The corridors were quite desolate on their way down to the Great Hall, but eventually they caught up to several dressed up students who were also 'fashionably' late to the ball.
The three girls became increasingly thrilled the closer they got to the event. By the time they could hear the Celtic fiddle strings of festive music coming from the entrance they were giggling messes all three of them, holding onto each other to cope as they stumbled in through the doors.
But after coming out on the other side of them their giggles stopped instantly, and they all breathed in as they took in the change of scenery.
The usual tables had been cleared off. The ceiling and the walls were covered in everlasting icicles, dropping down toward them like an icy wonderland. Enchanted snow fell from the ceiling, to disappear about halfway before hitting the already dancing students. Pearly white sheets adorned a long table of snacks and drinks and round tables set out for students to sit at when not dancing. Where the teachers' table would usually be, on the second level, stood instead a large snow-clad pine tree, towering above everything else.
Despite all of the ice, the room was comfortably warm as a result of the collective heat of all the whirling students (along with a spell or two if Victorie were to guess).
They spotted the boys and made their way over, still with expressions of absolute adoration for the visuals. Victorie was the only one who ended up making it over however, as she had soon lost Delilah and Maya to the drinks table.
Just before reaching them though, she found herself slowing down so that she could admire Teddy before he would spot her. He was modestly dressed compared to everyone else. His hair was black, with matching coloured jeans and a necktie around the collar of his red and black plaid flannel.
She shot him a smile when he turned, and when she went on to greet Ethan and Jamie it was his turn to admire her in secret. Before long though, she looked back to see his hand fly up to scratch the back of his neck as he met her eyes.
"So, who did you end up going with?" She asked curiously.
Teddy looked a little shaken at the mention of his many date-offers. "I had to turn down about 15 people yesterday." He mumbled into her ear so the others wouldn't hear as they carried on with a conversation of their own.
When he came back into her vision he shuddered a little.
"But who did you go with?" She pressed.
Confusion flashed by in Teddy's eyes, and he had just opened his mouth to reply when Delilah finally made it over to them with some fruit punch in a cocktail glass.
"Nice party, huh?" She expressed enthusiastically to the group.
Before anyone could give a reply, Teddy pushed his already rolled up sleeves higher on his arms. "I was expecting something grander." He asserted casually.
Everyone gave him equally bewildered looks.
Maya came in a close third behind Delilah. "I love this music. Would you guys like to dance?"
"I can't stand this music." Teddy then muttered jadedly, to Maya's shock at his candour.
Jamie shuffled his feet. Delilah looked anywhere but at the boy. But the silence didn't last long.
A caterer came up behind them with a shiny silver plate of appetisers. "Dragon tartare?" He offered the group.
Teddy immediately huffed and without an ounce of delicacy said, "That's vile. No thanks." To everyone else's internal groans.
As the stumped caterer left Victorie took it upon herself to grab Teddy's arm and pull him off to the side. "Okay, love the new persona. But unless you want to offend 15 people as well, you better tone it down." She whispered heatedly.
Teddy sighed. The trauma of the day before had mauled him, and he no longer had it in him to care. But he grudgingly agreed. After plastering on a big smile he turned to the group once more.
"Let's dance." He announced flatly.
Everyone relaxed and made it over to the middle of the room. When Teddy brought no one over with him, Victorie made the conclusion that he had, despite all the offers, come dateless.
On their way over Victorie spotted Sir Nicholas. He beamed at her, and she was just about to go over and greet him when something about his expression told her that he'd be all the more satisfied if she stayed with her friends, whose souls had not-yet departed, now that she had some. So instead she followed her group into the crowd.
Delilah was dancing even before they'd made it through to the middle. She twirled through the crowd, apologising whenever she bumped into someone, which happened approximately once every two metres on her way.
They laughed heartily at the sight, but soon found themselves going along with her. The six of them all began twirling around like directionless tornadoes until finding themselves too dizzy to have a sense of direction. They got lost from each other, dispersing into different directions through the crowd.
Only every now and again Victorie would bump into another of her fellow tornadoes, and her giggle would break into a laugh when making eye contact. Then a moment later she'd lose track of them again, but never for long.
When she bumped into Ethan he stopped twirling, grabbed her hand and spun her around instead to the fast paced string arrangements on the track playing. "Didn't you say you play the fiddle?" He teased between exhilarated breaths from moving around so much.
When Victorie landed back face to face with him, she wore a big grin at the memory. "I've retired." She explained away.
Roxanne then knocked on her shoulder and dragged the now quite dizzy girl away from Ethan, out of the crowd. Once her cousin's face had stopped wobbling and Victorie could keep upright without exerting a tremendous amount of effort, she noticed her panicked expression.
"They're just about to start." Roxanne whispered.
Victorie looked up toward where the pine tree was on the second level. She noticed that Maya and Teddy had also left the dance floor. They were now up there setting up the equipment for their gig along with Thomas and another guy.
"Don't you mean that you are just about to start?" Victorie questioned jokily. But when she saw Roxanne cower at the prospect and let out a distressed sob, she changed her approach.
She placed her hands on Roxanne's shoulders and looked her dead in the eye. "You can do this, do you know why?"
When Roxanne did nothing but shake her head, either as an argument or as an answer to her question, Victorie went on, "Because this time everyone knows you're planning to, so there's a lot more to lose."
Roxanne's breathing quickened. "That really doesn't help the nerves, Victorie." Her voice got increasingly more high-pitched as the sentence went on.
"True. But it's the push you need." Victorie asserted. "And remember, first of all the music will drown a lot of you out. And second of all these guys picked you because you're good. You beat everyone else in that audition."
Roxanne expelled a shaky breath and nodded. "Okay. I have to go now." She declared and scurried off to the stage.
Victorie looked after the girl apprehensively at first, then went to go and see if she could locate her friends in the dancing crowd.
But soon after finding Delilah and Ethan, it was time for the band to play. They both ran off to the front of the stage, not long after followed by the other dancers until almost everyone at the ball was stood in front of the stage, cheering excitedly for what was to come.
But something about watching Teddy perform again scared her. Perhaps it was the excitement she felt in her stomach at the thought of seeing him up there again and hearing him sing that was so daunting to feel. All she knew was that she really didn't want to stand with the rest of the crowd.
Thankfully Victorie spotted Jamie at the snacks table, so she went to meet him instead. He was conversing with Ciaran while using a ladle to fill up his pumpkin juice.
She hadn't really spoken to Ciaran since their date. Every time she'd attended the W.P.S. meetings they had avoided one another, but she figured that it was her best option at the moment.
"Hi Victorie, how come you're not in the audience?" Jamie asked and nodded toward the stage.
"I can hear it fine from here without having to be crushed by a horde of people." She replied and stuffed her mouth with a pumpkin pasty.
Her eyes briefly met with Ciaran's and she tried to smile as best she could with a mouthful of food. He looked on, amused.
Then the music came on, and it was very loud. Victorie looked over at the stage and saw Roxanne swaying to the music as she sang at the top of her lungs. A wave of relief washed over her when she saw how unbelievably happy her cousin looked up there.
Before her eyes could trail over to where Teddy was on the stage, she thought better of it. She took a plate and loaded it with tons of snacks, then dove under the table to escape the loud noise. Ciaran and Jamie gave each other a quizzical look, yet followed in her footsteps.
The tablecloth was fairly noise cancelling, and once the three of them were underneath it, it became easier to converse. For the rest of the show they stayed there, chatting and giggling and making stupid jokes to pass the time.
Every once in a while Jamie got up to get them some more snacks, leaving her alone with Ciaran. But it proved to be less of a problem. Now that she was no longer on a date with the boy, interacting with him was as easy as it had been prior to it, and she found herself laughing a lot, without ever having to force it. She wondered for a brief moment if she could add Ciaran to her list of friends now too.
When the gig had gone on for quite a while and there was a dip in conversation, Jamie looked over at Victorie and asked, "Should we do it now?"
Victorie knew exactly what he was referring to, and bit her lip excitedly. They both scrambled to their feet and up from under the table. Jamie waved Ciaran along with them.
The three scurried across the floor to the other side of the room. Victorie let her eyes briefly skim the stage as she did, and she caught sight of Teddy Lupin grabbing the microphone. "This song is called, Su... ...ale Dea..." But loud cheers from the audience drowned out a lot of his words. Something small tugged at Victorie's heartstrings. Perhaps she felt somewhat disappointed that she was missing the whole show.
But she didn't have time to stay and watch now, she'd planned a whole thing with Jamie, and she had to see it through.
Just as the band started playing, and the melody echoed out across the room, Victoire turned and made her way over to Jamie and Ciaran to the backdrop of Teddy's voice...
In the other room I hear you speak
It's 3 a.m. but I can't go to sleep...
Jamie looked around to make sure that all the students and teachers were still over by the stage and couldn't see them.
Then he tapped a simple pattern on the bricks on the wall, and a small Quaffle-sized hole appeared in it. Out of the hole he retrieved a box of little rockets, some of which he handed over to Victorie.
"Here you go." He said.
But the lyrics of the song had begun to catch Victorie's attention, and she was too focused on them to hear him.
I laugh along to every joke of yours
A wall between us but a stronger force...
Her mouth fell open, and she turned to look at the stage in a state of utter amazement.
Pulls me toward you like an open door
Shining bright, it's like a metaphor...
"You guys go ahead without me. I need to see something." She mumbled at Jamie. And without taking what was being handed to her, she sauntered toward the stage, only stopping when she was two metres or so behind the audience.
Telling me I should tear down this wall
Or simply talk to you more overall...
Then Teddy suddenly caught her eye. She wasn't sure if he could actually see her, but it sure seemed like he was looking straight at her as he sang. They continued looking at each other between the stage and the crowd.
She could hear every beat of the drum and every lyric sung out as if it was playing in slow motion. It all irradiated through her.
When the first sizzle of a rocket came over the crowd Victorie knew exactly what was coming, but she let it shrink into the back of her mind. She kept focusing instead on the boy at the stage, and their binding eye contact.
Around her a loud bang erupted, and out came golden rays of light, shining upon everything. The crowd cheered gleefully, and soon after three more fireworks flew over them and erupted in an array of different coloured sparks. The fireworks kept popping, and one after the other they caused a smoky fog to settle over the audience.
Teddy was being lit up in shifting colours as he played the last bit of instrumentals of the song. Then as the fireworks stopped, and he finished the last strum on his guitar, the two smiled adoringly at one another.
But not for very long.
As soon as the song finished, Teddy grabbed the microphone to hastily thank the audience, while in the same movement removing his guitar. He went over to his band mates and excused himself, before leaving the stage.
Victorie eyed him quizzically as he descended the stairs and passed the still cheering crowd. Before long he was standing right before her. It felt oddly jarring now that she was used to having a horde of people in between them. He gently grabbed her wrist and asked her to come along with him. She let herself be guided off.
They exited the Great Hall together, and Teddy didn't stop until they were a few doors down from where the ball was taking place. He let go of her wrist and sat down on a staircase. Victorie sat down next to him, feeling a little nervous. But mostly she was curious as to why he had dragged her out into the corridor so suddenly.
Teddy breathed out deeply, still buzzing from having just performed in front of an audience. She watched his eyes as they closed, watched him concentrate on all his thoughts colliding in his mind. Once he had managed to string them together in a coherent way, he shifted in his seat and opened his mouth...
"That song..." He began, then opened his eyes and faced her. "I was pretty shy back when I wrote it." He explained while fiddling with his fingers. "Now I'm grown up. I'm more confident. And I'm not afraid to go after what I want anymore."
He'd stopped fiddling with his hands by now, and was looking at her without restraint. "...Not afraid to approach a girl I like."
Despite his speech about confidence, he still couldn't help a little shiver on the breath he let out. "So here I am... approaching you."
Once his words had fully sunk in, the first thing she thought was,
Oh, no...
But then she felt herself wanting to smile. One of those big grins she wasn't commonly known for. This was followed by a feeble attempt at looking around to find possible escape routes away from her present company. She went from looking him intently in the eye, to refusing to meet his gaze. She fixed her gaze on the floor underneath the stairs they were sat on and visibly gulped. But a whirlwind of strong feelings went on inside her — good and bad ones.
Mainly it was distressing her that she was completely lost for possible ways to escape having to have this conversation, and actually having it was surely not an option.
"I suggest that you approach one of the girls in there, you'll have much better luck." She replied with bitter wit, while motioning in the same direction they had come from. It was the only thing she could think to say.
Teddy's expression hardened and he clenched his jaw shut. She knew that her reply wasn't what he wanted to hear, but she hadn't expected him to get annoyed with her because of it. "I knew you'd do this." He snarled.
"Do what?"
"Pretend!" He erupted. "You can 'practise' kissing me all those times and you can pretend to not like me but the fact still stands — if I kissed you right now you'd kiss me back." He stopped to catch his breath, and Victorie was forced to look at him. He stared at her as though willing her to speak the truth.
"You like me." He announced.
Victorie puffed out a lot of air, and debated whether she should just get up and leave. Ultimately she didn't, as she figured that it probably wouldn't help her case.
"I don't." She stuttered.
"You have the hots for me!" He exclaimed heatedly.
Victoire couldn't help but burst out laughing then. "I have the hots for you?" She repeated.
But Teddy refused to be discouraged. "Do you know why you can't have a successful date?" He asked.
Before she could even begin to think of a reply, he went on, "It's because of the moment in the date when you actually have a connection. Whenever it happens, you get uncomfortable and pull away. It happened with Ciaran, it happened with Ethan-"
"Ethan got me into detention!" Victorie interjected, a little louder than necessary, and her voice echoed down the hallway.
Undeterred, Teddy raised his eyebrows to let her know precisely how stupid he thought she was being. "And when has detention ever stopped you before?" He questioned.
Victorie fell silent at that, which seemed to only allow Teddy to push his agenda.
"And what about Jamie?" He asked.
"I never liked Jamie in that way." She explained with increasing annoyance.
"But you could have tried to talk to him at any point and at least made up, instead you chose to let him freeze you out."
"I thought this was about my romantic relationships." She snapped.
"It's about all your relationships." He said and swivelled on the step so that he was fully facing her. "Why do they make you so uncomfortable?"
Victorie shrugged. "It just stresses me out, okay?" She fiddled with the fabric of her dress in her hand. It felt smooth against her skin. "Knowing me I'm just going to say something stupid and fuck it up and..." She trailed off, unsure of exactly where her point went next. Thankfully Teddy kept silent long enough for her to figure it out.
The two stared at the material of her dress as she collected her final thoughts. "...And believe it or not, but I don't actually feel like hanging around long enough to be there the moment when I, without fail, ruin it."
Teddy tore his gaze from her dress and gave her an understanding nod.
"I'd like to keep my streak, you know?" She added light-heartedly.
"Okay." He replied. Then a small smile threatened to reveal itself. "But will you hang around long enough for me to tell you something?"
Victorie cocked her head to the side, ready to listen. She watched him take a deep breath, and she knew that whatever was coming, she should listen carefully.
"I've liked you since we were kids. I loved listening to your late night conversations with Roxanne through the walls whenever I was visiting. I also liked you way back in September, before I taught you the basics of human interaction." He smirked cheekily and Victorie had to jab him in his side to let him know that she was not okay with the way that he was painting her. Still she let him go on with only mild punishment.
"...And I promise that I will still like you even if you say something stupid every now and again. Heck, I even liked you when I found out that you didn't know some of your classmates' names. Or when I found out that you couldn't pay attention to Roxanne for long enough to know that she was in the Frog Choir."
"Please keep listing things. It's doing wonders for my confidence." Victorie said monotonously.
Teddy rolled his eyes. "My point is that even if you fuck up every now and again, I'll still be here. And if you say that you don't like me in the same way, I'll still be your friend. I might not be in the best mood in the next coming days, and I hope you'll forgive me for it, but I'll definitely still be your friend." He finished with a warm smile, which Victoire returned.
"Now will you go back in with me?" He asked while standing up and dusting himself off. "Preferably while also holding my hand, because I think I need to send a message." He quickly added, a little flustered at that.
Victorie stood along with him, but when he presented his hand she hesitated.
Teddy noticed the look on her face and said, "What if I told you that it's just another one of the modules?"
She looked away from his hand, up at him. "I'm no longer taking your class."
"But it's such a good class!" He joked. "How can you give that up?"
"I just don't really think I need it. It's like you said. You like me right? You liked me even before I started trying." She paused to let Teddy confirm it for her. It was vital that he did if she was going to have the courage to go on with the rest of her point.
But when he nodded she kind of wished he could have taken longer in getting back to her. She shuffled her feet. "And I liked you back when you were shy and reserved."
Her finally admitting it made him smile, and she broke their eye contact to keep herself from returning it.
"Here we are, still just you and I." She gestured between them. "Nothing has changed. So perhaps it doesn't make much of a difference how hard we try to be different."
"Probably not." Teddy agreed. Still smiling from her confession. "But at least now you've opened yourself up enough to get closer with the people who already liked you."
Victorie had to nod in agreement. Apparently she'd had friends since first year, she just didn't realise.
"And you have to admit," Teddy went on, "interacting with them has gotten easier since I started giving you some advice on it."
"Perhaps." She divulged, though it took a lot out of her and she had to do so with a defiant tone.
The two went back to the entrance. Just before they stepped inside, Victorie slipped her hand into Teddy's. She wanted to simultaneously squeal out in glee as she did so, but kept her façade cool for the moment.
Teddy wasted no time in walking through those doors, and Victorie fell behind him slightly. Perhaps it was a good thing, because then she could look at him and their interlaced hands leading the way, instead of at the staring faces around her.
When they got closer to the round table that their friend group was now sitting at, she could see that they were having a lively conversation. She made out snippets of a few of the words, and it didn't take her long to figure out that they were discussing the firework-show.
Just before reaching them the pair broke off their adjoined hands.
"Victorie!" Jamie announced when he caught sight of her and Teddy. He gave her an accusatory look before demanding an answer to the question, "How could you leave me right when we were about to fire off the goods?"
"I'm sorry Jamie. I figured you'd be fine since you had Ciaran with you." Victorie explained.
Jamie sighed, but ultimately didn't look too upset about it. The others at the table, including Maya, Ethan and Delilah, didn't seem to think too much of the fact that they had gone off to themselves for a bit. They were too busy discussing how amazing the fireworks had been to even really notice it.
"Wait..." Teddy began, and gave Victorie a once over. "Was that the prank?"
Jamie and Victorie looked at one another, then back at Teddy and shrugged.
"That's not even a prank!" He exclaimed, and Jamie and Victorie tried not to be offended. Teddy squinted at her. "Have you lost your touch?" He teased with a smug smile.
"No!" Victorie asserted. "I guess we wanted to do something that wasn't just fun for us for once." She walked around the table and grabbed a handful of popcorn from a bowl that had been set out. "Besides, it made your set all the more exciting."
While picking the popcorn out of her hand and plopping them into her mouth she sat down at a chair. She glanced at Teddy, who was now wearing a hopeful smile. "So you liked our set?" He asked.
Victorie averted her gaze and began shuffling the popcorn around in her hand with her finger. "It was pretty good." She said, then ended up stuffing her whole mouth with what was left in her hand.
"Pretty good?" Teddy imitated while walking around the table in the same path Victorie had taken. He swivelled the chair next to her around so that it was facing her and sat down. "Finally a girl I want to impress and she doesn't care that I'm in a band!"
The remark didn't go unnoticed by their friends, and they all began to discreetly behold the pair.
Victorie smirked at the compliment, and figured she ought to add fuel to the fire. "I would have been impressed had you actually been a good band." She casually stated while grabbing more popcorn.
Teddy's eyebrows shot up, and she wasn't sure if she had gone too far. "I'll be honest, that hurts." He said. But she still wasn't sure if he was just being funny.
He was leaning in toward her, looking at her intently. Victorie felt a little flustered by the proximity. After only very little proper consideration she decided to keep teasing him. "Sorry, it's just, how do you expect me to take you seriously when you have a song called Trouble Trouble Bubble-gum?" It was one of the few songs she had heard them announce during their set.
She had leaned in toward him as she'd spoken, and they were now exchanging a fiery look, one slightly dejected, the other smiling in all her naiveté.
A moment passed before they realised that everyone was staring at them. They had to break eye contact and look over at all their friends, some of whom seemed to be realising the nature of their relationship right there and then, some others having had their suspicions for some time, only to have them be confirmed in that moment — while seeing Teddy so devoted to Victorie's opinion, and Victorie so unable to contain a smile while gazing back at him.
Delilah cleared her throat, snapping everyone out of their moment of realisation. Everyone's stares became less intent then, and Delilah mounted enough attention from the group to ask the question that was on no one's mind, but still served to do its job of diffusing the tension, "What's wrong with Trouble Trouble Bubble-gum?"
"Well for starters, trouble and bubble-gum doesn't even rhyme." Victorie trilled.
"Does it need to?" Teddy argued.
"Only if you want it to be catchy." Victorie fired back.
Teddy sat back and stared at her disbelievingly, and that was the moment when Victorie realised she had gone too far.
Her eyes went wide and she instantly dropped the superior façade. She glanced sideways at nothing in particular and mumbled, "Shit." under her breath, which had gotten more rapid suddenly.
When she next looked up at Teddy again, her expression was panicked. But the boy only rolled his eyes and took her hand again.
He dragged her away from the others, to the dance floor, and she followed along confusedly. They soon fell into step with each other, and when Teddy turned to face her his hand had found the small of her back and her hand had found his shoulder. Pressed against each other they swayed in tune with the patient hums of the song that played for them.
"Try again." He ordered once her eyes found his. Then with an amused expression he went on, "I'm not going to renounce you or anything. You just need to try again. Preferably kinder this time."
She looked at him as if waiting to see if he would randomly combust. When he didn't, she took a deep breath and unleashed all her thoughts on the matter, "Trouble Trouble Bubble-gum is lyrically quite bland. It's an amalgamation of formulaic metaphors and a much too repetitive structure."
Teddy opened his mouth to intervene, but Victorie quickened the pace with which she was speaking so as to not let him.
"Sudden Whale Death on the other hand is more nuanced. The lyrics use complex imagery, and they explore an earnest theme. The different sections blend together well and I love the way that the instrumentals transition with the different verses." Victorie smiled when reminiscing over what it had been like to listen to it. "It's a lovely song..."
Teddy had closed his mouth now. He didn't just look content, but also quite startled by her compliments.
She went on, "And honestly, I'm not entirely opposed to Short Poem Boy either. Stylistically it's simple but resonant."
When Victorie finally stopped Teddy smiled fondly at her. "See, I'm still here." He announced self-assuredly. "You can say stupid shit but I'm still going to be here to give you a second chance." He dragged a hand through his hair, which messed it up in the most flattering way.
"You're really hot, did you know that?" She blurted.
Teddy leaned back slightly, unsure if he'd heard her correctly. "I'm sorry, what?"
But instead of replying, she kissed him right on the lips, and he immediately returned her affections.
...
"Could you do that again next time Thomas looks over?"
THE END
Published: 30 April 2022
A/N:
If you've made it this far, thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed.
If you did enjoy this story, please let me know by leaving a review (big or small).
Whether you are here five minutes from now, five years from now or beyond — I will see it.
If you have any criticisms, I'd like to hear it, though try and be nice about it.
I began this story in September of 2020, I've been writing it over the course of 1.5 years,
then editing for the last few months while simultaneously uploading bit by bit.
I've been working on this project during some of the worst times of my life,
largely due to how negatively the pandemic has affected my mental health.
I am now coming out at the other end of it, feeling slowly better.
And I am so incredibly proud that I have made this thing to show from this time in my life.
Even though so much of the time was horrendous, I accomplished something that I'm proud of with it.