Ted thought he'd been afraid before, but he'd never felt anything like this. As the door swung open it was like every muscle in his body tensed up and sprang into action at the same time. He pulled Andromeda closer to him as their attackers stormed in.
He'd expected the black-haired angel of death that was Bellatrix Black. Or the dark, brooding form that was the pyscho Rodolphus. Even pretty boy Rabastan would have made sense.
What he didn't expect was the bouncing halo of black curls and blazing golden eyes of Olivia, followed closely by Jake and Lorie.
Andromeda, who had also been paralyzed with fear, suddenly sat up. The bemused expression on her face would have been hilarious if he wasn't wearing a matching one.
Liv's eyes traveled from Ted, to Meda, then back to Ted. He'd been so thrown off by her arrival, he'd forgotten he was ling in a bed, next to Andromeda.
Andromeda's face turned beet red, and she shuffled away from him. Despite her declarations of love, seeing her pull away still sent a jolt through his frame.
He wasn't going to deny this was awkward though, which was why he also slipped away from her and scrmabled to his feet.
His friends were staring at him with gaping mouths. Well, Lorie and Jake were gaping. Liv looked like she'd been forced to swallow stinksap.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" Liv spat, only without the word freaking. "You ran off? With her?"
The bright crimson left Ted's face as quickly as it had come, leaving his face a pale sheen of green. He'd seen Liv angry before, but never like this.
"Liv, what are you doing here?" Derailing her wouldn't work, but it was the only thing he could think to say.
"Looking for you." Her eyes flashed, but there was something underneath all the anger, something a little more brittle. "So I could give you your freaking birthday present." Once again, she did not say freaking. "We went to your house, but you weren't there. I met your mother. She's a peach. Even when she's worried sick about her son. Off helping a 'mystery friend' I should have known it was her."
His heart clenched at the thought of his mother, and he stole a glance at Andromeda. She was staring at Liv with a pinched expression, like it hurt to look but she couldn't look away. Sighing, he turned back to Liv. "How did you find us?"
"Followed the trail of weird stories about the girl in nighties who didn't know a pound from a coffee cake."
Jake pressed his lips together to keep from laughing, which Ted appreciated. Andromeda had dropped her head so he couldn't see her face, but he doubted that comment made her feel better.
Lorie had been uncharasterically silent during the whole exchange, staring at them like they were speaking another language. She took the moment of silence to smile and say, "Happy Birthday."
But Liv wasn't done. "How could you, Ted?"
Neither of them took their eyes off each other as he said, "Because I love her."
He saw Andromeda's head flash back up, and he wanted desperately to glance back at her, but he didn't dare break his staring contest with Liv.
"Why am I the only one who looks shocked by this?" Lorie glanced between Liv and Ted, then back to Jake, who was avoiding her gaze.
Her mouth dropped open again. "You knew this was happening? And you never told me?"
Jake continued trying to ignore Lorie's gaze, but when she stuck her hands on her hips and glared at him, he gave her a sheepish grin and shrugged.
Whatever form of betrayal Lorie was feeling had clearly not worked it's way out of her system as she turned and stalked toward Andromeda.
Ted tensed up, like he was preparing to spring between the two of them, but by the time Lorie reached Meda, she was smiling again.
"Hi!" She held out her hand. "I'm Lorie. Nice to meet you. Officially. I suppose I should properly thank you what you did all those months ago."
Andromeda stared at Lorie's hand, then at Lorie, then back to Lorie's hand. They all watched with baited breath as Andromeda slowly extended her hand as well. A warm smile spread over Andromeda's face. "It's nice to officially meet you to. I've heard a lot about you."
Lorie grinned brightly before turning back to Jake and giving him a pointed look.
"We've met." Jake waved awkwardly and gave her a half-smile. "But it's a— nice—to see you again."
Both Andromeda and Ted blushed, remembering the last time Jake had seen them, they'd also been together on a bed. Andromeda even cracked a half-smile before turning to Liv. Liv only raised an eyebrow, a clear indication she was not about to offer her own cheery greeting.
The smile slipped off Andromeda's face and she sighed, but she keep her eyes squarely on Liv.
"I understand your anger, I do." Andromeda took a tentative step forward. "I know I've hurt Ted, and I deserve every ounce of anomisty you feel. But I love, Ted," She glanced at him as she said this, and something seemed to pass between them. "And you know he loves me. And we are not going to pretend we can be apart anymore. We can't."
For a minute he forgot anyone else was in the room. It was just the two of them.
But then Liv had to bring their moment to an end.
"So now, you decide this?" She stalked forward, and Ted found himself tensing up again. "After how many months of you parading around with your fiance? Did you have any idea what it was like for him?"
Andromeda didn't flinch like he might have if Liv had come at him like that. Still, her voice shook as she said, "I know I've made mistakes."
Liv's nostrils flared as she glanced between the two of them. "Yeah, though this would have to be the biggest one."
"Liv!" Ted couldn't stop himself, he stalked forward until he was standing between the two of them.
"No, it's all right," Andromeda held out her hands like she was going to stop him.
"No, it's not." Ted didn't take his eyes off of Liv, and she did the same. He could practically see the vein bursting at her temple, and her breathing was deep and heavy like she was trying not to explode.
No one, not even Lorie, said anything as they stared at each other. There were several moments of stiff silence before Andromeda said:
"It's late. And if your day has been anything like ours then I'm sure your exhausted. Perhaps we should all get some rest."
"This isn't over," Liv snapped, "but she has a point."
"Should we request another room?" Andromeda's relief that Liv had agreed with her was apparent. "I doubt we'd all be comfortable in here."
"Agreed," Liv continued. "The last thing I want is a front row seat to whatever," she glanced between the two of them with, eyebrow raised, "this, is."
Andromeda blushed a deep crimson again, but continued, "Could you, I mean, would one of you be willing to request a room?"
"Is talking to muggles against your code of ethics?" Just like that, Liv's temper flared up again. "Because I'm pretty sure it's still a step above making out with a muggleborn."
Andromeda opened her mouth to respond, but Ted beat her to it.
"She accidentally—offended—the receptionist, so she probably wouldn't take to kindly to Andromeda as the requester."
Ted turned to glare at Liv, but she'd clearly had enough as she threw her hands in the air and stormed out of the room. The door slammed shut behind her, making them all wince.
After a few moments of more unbearable silence, Lorie piped up, "So... I'll admit I'm still processing everything. You two are..." she searched for the right word, "dating?"
Ted glanced at Andromeda, then laughed humouressly. "Something like that."
"And how long has this been going on?"
He bit his lip. When Andromeda didn't respond, he said, "It's complicated."
"Uh-huh." Lorie continued to stare between them. It was like they were a display she couldn't decide if she like dor not. "And sorry, weren't you engaged to Rabastan? Also known as, not Ted?"
She said as tactfully as was humanly possible, but they both flinched.
"I was." That was all Andromeda said.
Lorie stared at them for a moment longer, clearly still unsure of what she felt, before she said:
"Right, well, before I forget. Here."
She reached into her bag and tossed a wrapped package at Ted. He managed to catch it, which was lucky. It sounded breakable.
"Lorie, this really isn't necessary," he said, but he was grinning.
"Sure it is," she grinned. "Now open up."
She didn't need to tell him twice. His eyes were like saucers as he ripped off the packaging to reveal a large pack of Fillibuster's Firework's.
"Is this the newest pack?" he asked, turning it over eagerly in his hands.
She nodded, her high ponytail bouncing erratically. "Complete with the pigmy puffs."
Ted was still fawning over his gift when she asked, "What did, umm.. Andromeda, give you?"
Andromeda's head dropped, again.
Ted felt a stab in his chest. He wanted her to look up, so he could tell her it was no big deal, but she wouldn't. "We've been kind of busy," he said simply.
"Oh," Now it was Lorie's turn to blush. "Right, of course."
Liv chose that moment to reenter, though he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.
"We've got our room." Was all she said.
"Well, it was nice meeting you Andromeda," Lorie smiled again. "I'm sure we'll have more time to chat in the morning." With another long, confused look at them, she left.
"One of these days we'll meet under more proper circumstances," Jake said. His words made Andromeda chuckle. Then he too left.
Liv didn't say anything, just made sure to give them both a disgusted look, and then she too, left.
Finally, they were alone.
He wanted to pick up where they'd left off, but Andromeda was avoiding his gaze. He sighed, he'd thought they'd gotten past that, but clearly he was wrong.
"You didn't tell me it was your birthday," she said finally.
"Sorry," he sighed. "Guess it slipped my mind."
"I almost got married on your birthday." She still wasn't looking at him.
He shrugged. "I kind of figured that was intentional, to be honest. Not you." he added quickly when she tensed up. "Rabastan. Or someone."
Finally Andromeda looked at him, her eyes filled with tears.
He groaned. The last thing he wanted to do was make her cry, again. "Look, it's no big deal."
She shook her head. "It is. You left your mother, angered your friends, ignored your own birthday. All for me."
"Your worth it." He didn't even have to think about those words, they just came out. "And don't worry about Liv. She'll come around. She's just protective."
Andromeda laughed humouressly. "She's not wrong about protecting you from me."
"For the record, Andromeda," He stepped around the bed, moving closer to her. "I forgive you. For everything."
Her eyes brimmed with tears again, but it was different than before."Ted."
He moved so that he was standing next to her and took her hands in his. "I want this. I want us. More than I've wanted anything in my entire life."
The tears escaped from her eyes and slipped down her cheek, but she was smiling as she said, "Me too."
And then her lips were on his.
They'd had a lot of—memorable—kisses, in their tumultous relationship, but their was something different about this one. It was sweeter, less uncertain.
Andromeda pressed her body to him, her body arching as her hips slid against his. Tremors raced all through his body.
"Andromeda." He couldn't believe he was pulling away, but he was. He had too. "Remember what we said. No rush."
"I know." She trailed a finger down his chest. We don't have to go that far, but I owe you a birthday present." She licked her lips, and her voice turned husky as she said, "Would you rather I not give it to you?"
Those seductive eyes could have melted the Great Lake in the dead of winter.
"Hell, no," he exclaimed.
Her heavenly giggle was cut short by lips finding hers again.
They kissed for a long, long time that night.