Blood is thicker than water – Part Two
Scorpius was furious, outraged, fuming – however, you wanted to word it, he was downright pissed off. The nerve of Al, not to mention the secret-keeping so-called friend of his, Rose - 'backstabber' - Weasley. Okay, so he may be a tad mad and therefore, over-reacting, but she knew all along that Al was gay and didn't think to share such epic news with him.
'If she thinks I'll be her best man now, she can think again' Scorpius thought to himself as he dramatically strutted out of the bar.
A small part of him had hoped that Al, would come after him and try and explain. Once again he was disappointed and wished that the part of him that always hoped for these things would just shrivel up and fuck off to Romania, like, Al did.
He pulled his jacket off and threw it on his sofa. It was a good thing he couldn't see himself otherwise he would have laughed at how ridiculous and childish he was being.
His house phone rang and he picked it up, "I don't even want to hear one poorly pronounced word from your overly largemouth, Rose Weasley." He snapped.
"Good to know son, however, I am not Rose, and neither do I have a problem with diction or have an overly large mouth for that matter." His father coolly answered.
Scorpius winced, although he could hear a hint of amusement in his father's tone, "Sorry, father. How may I help you?" He politely enquired.
"I was just calling to remind you that it is your mother's birthday next week," he replied smoothly.
Scorpius rolled his eyes, "I know. I have her present already and I think she will like it. I'm going to sound rude, but I'm in no mood to do anything about it. I really cannot deal with talking with anyone right now. Can you call back tomorrow or something. Thanks bye." Scorpius ended the call before his father lectured him on manners.
Scorpius decided he didn't want to spend the remainder of his night in a bad mood and dwelling on his negative feelings. He knew the root of his anger and getting stressed about it wouldn't fix anything.
Before Al had returned he was afraid of acknowledging that Al had hurt him because he prefers to avoid confrontation/emotions. He was also disappointed in himself but admitting that was too painful. Now Al had returned and he had his little tantrum it meant it was time to get honest. Lashing out won't address the problems that are creating his unwanted feelings
During his internal reflection, he had changed into comfortable clothes, clothes he wouldn't dare wear outside the house – they were his, 'mooching around the house' clothes. He switched on his TV and turned to a channel playing cartoons – he was a big kid at heart and then proceeded to go to the kitchen in search of the most fattening ice cream he had in.
After half an hour of sitting around sulking, he got a fire-call from, Rose.
She was meant to be apologising and making him feel better, but in usual Rose style, she had to lecture him too, "Sometimes when you're down, it might feel like you have to stay there. But the truth is we can influence how we feel by choosing what we do. Sitting around sulking causes prolonged sadness. Doing something proactive will help you start to feel better." She pretentiously informed him.
"Sure, Rose." He knew his lacklustre response would annoy her.
She huffed, "You need to take action. That's the thing about feelings: you can't sit around waiting for them to change. You have to do something to change them." She continued her tone a little more irritated.
"You're right I need to take action. Starting with ending this call. Bye Rose. Oh, and next time try apologising first – you are officially demoted to friend status and no longer have the title of, best friend. You will need to get back into my good graces, Rosie." He dramatically said – both he and Rose were used to his behaviour by now.
She laughed and promised to start her, 'Get Scorpius to like me again' campaign tomorrow and wished him good night.
Looking down he realised he had eaten all the ice cream, yet he was still craving more. Knowing he would just sit around moodily wishing for more ice cream to appear, he decided to take, Rose's advice and take action. By going to the shop on the corner and purchasing more ice cream he would be taking a positive step to improve his mood. He was sure that wasn't what Rose had in mind – but screw Rose.
He debated going to the shop in his sweatpants but decided against it. After all, he could meet, 'Mr Perfect/ Mr Right' in the shop and he didn't want to meet him in his, slumming it, clothes. He changed into simple jeans and a white t-shirt. He knew he had calmed down somewhat, he was still pissed off but he could probably control himself better if he were to see Rose again.
It didn't take long to walk to the shop, and he was browsing the selection of ice cream when he heard, "Why are you bothering to look. We both know you will pick mint choc chip – you always do – or should I say, always did."
Scorpius raised one eyebrow at Al, "Well maybe I have changed since you last knew me. Maybe I will get raspberry ripple." He icily replied.
Al raised both his eyebrows challenging him, "Maybe you have changed -but I thought you hated raspberries."
Scorpius set his face in determination, opened the door and grabbed a massive tub of the raspberry flavoured ice cream and marched to the counter to pay. Al followed smiling at Scorpius' antics. Scorpius paid and then walked out of the shop, trying his level best to ignore the infuriating and smiling Al next to him.
"Pray tell what is so amusing?" He snapped.
Al chuckled, "You. I missed this – you're so entertaining."
"Piss off, Potter." He retorted lamely.
Al knew not to push his luck. When Scorpius truly flipped he went all out and he wasn't in the mood for a slanging match in the middle of the street.
After walking a bit further in silence Scorpius asked, "What are you doing? I could report you for stalking you know."
Al shrugged, "Just making sure you eat that ice cream is all – after all you made such a point of letting me know you've changed."
Scorpius glared at Al, "You're still as annoying as ever I see."
"Yes, and you're still as dramatic as ever." He said with amusement.
"Fine, come to mine and watch me eat a bucket-sized tub of my new favourite ice cream. Suit yourself." He snapped and continued walking.
He showed Al into his apartment and went in search of an alcoholic drink. He poured himself a large glass of strong wine.
"Um, where's mine?" Al asked upon seeing Scorpius' drink.
"You want wine, you go get it. I'm not waiting on you." He was secretly pleased that Al was in his home.
Al could deal with a stroppy Scorpius he had years of prior experience with him, plus he had many female relatives that could out sulk Scorpius. He believed he was adequately qualified to deal with his extremely attractive, yet high maintenance friend.
Al helped himself to an equally large glass of wine and joined Scorpius on the sofa. Taking the liberty of putting his feet up onto Scorpius' coffee table.
"I will count to five, Potter, if your large and smelly feet are still on my table I will not be responsible for my actions. One – Two -Three – Four – POTTER!"
"What?" Al said as he removed his feet, "You didn't get to five."
"Insufferable cocky..." Scorpius mumbled and Al couldn't hear all the colourful words Scorpius used to describe him. Al was enjoying himself. He missed the banter and unique personality of Scorpius.
"I didn't have you pegged as a cartoon watching kind of person," Al remarked, after observing what channel the TV was on.
"Like I said you don't know me anymore. A lot has changed, you would have known if you bothered to stick around, or at least stay in contact." He argued harshly.
"Fair point, Malfoy – fair point." Al conceded, "So are we going to talk about that or just you know eat ice cream, watch cartoons and tiptoe around the huge elephant in the room." Al replied gravely.
Scorpius frowned, "I see no elephant and I have nothing to say to you." He grabbed his ice cream and started to eat.
Al had to stop himself from laughing, Scorpius wasn't enjoying the ice cream. It was obvious he still didn't like raspberries but was eating the ice cream to make a point. Stubborn git!
After a few more mouthfuls, Scorpius gave in and pushed the ice cream to one side. He turned to look at Al, he had a knowing smug look on his face, "Not a word! I am merely full, it has nothing to do with the flavour."
Al continued to look smug, "Is that right? So if I happened to have a lovely mint double choc chip tub of ice cream on my person, and I happened to start eating it..." Al pulled out a tub of ice cream and took a big mouthful, continuing, "You wouldn't want any as you are full." He finished.
Scorpius hated, Al Fucking Potter. The wanker had him there – Mint choc chip was his favourite, he wasn't full and watching Al eating the very thing he wanted, was difficult.
"Correct. I am full, you are welcome to eat the whole tub. I hope you make yourself sick." He didn't sound very convincing and he was still eyeing the tub of ice cream.
"Okay, if you insist." Al continued to eat the ice cream in front of Scorpius – slowly.
"About this elephant..." Scorpius said after watching Al eat for a long time.
Al handed Scorpius the ice cream, only allowing a small smile to show on his face, "Ah yes, the rather large elephant in the room."
Scorpius took the ice cream and was pleased that Al had decided to let the moment pass without comment – he didn't feel like a, 'told you so' right now. He began eating the delicious ice cream as he listened to Al.
"Do you think we should maybe stop ignoring the fact that we have this huge unaddressed issue between us and just clear the air?" Al ventured. He wasn't looking forward to hearing how he had upset Scorpius, how selfish he was and just how stupid he was. He could have stayed and just been honest and who knows he could have been happily in a relationship with Scorpius.
"We can try." Scorpius conceded.
"Right. I know I am to blame for this whole mess. I ignored my problems and ran away from them, in the silent hope that they would disappear by themselves. On the contrary, because I was ignoring the problems, they snowballed into a major crisis." He admitted – tonight was about being open and honest. If Scorpius chose to never speak to him again so be it, he just needed to lay it all out in the open.
Scorpius was feeling a bit more charitable towards Al since he gave him the ice cream, "You're not entirely to blame. Your cousin had a very man-sized hand to play in it all."
Al sniggered, "She hates it when you take the piss out of her hands and mouth. Both you claim are large."
"They are. Although I am sure Scott isn't complaining – her mouth must be useful for some things." He teased.
"Ew, that's my cousin you are talking about," Al complained.
"Anyway, we digress. I will hear big mouths version of events another time, I want to hear yours." He encouraged, happy that they were at least trying to sort things out between them.
Al shifted so his body was facing Scorpius on the sofa, one arm stretched across the back of the sofa, casually sat watching Scorpius, "I'm not making excuses. How I behaved, what I did was...shitty. But it cannot be undone and I can only explain what was going on in my head at the time and hope you can find it in your huge, Malfoy sized heart to forgive a lowly, Potter." He joked.
Scorpius grinned, "We, Malfoys have huge hearts – some may say we have black hearts or something, but I say, nonsense." He mocked.
Al summoned another bottle of wine and topped up their glasses, "I'm just going to say it, no point avoiding it. I realised I was gay at school and even came to the realisation that I might have had a tiny crush on you."
Scorpius couldn't help smile at that confession, even though he knew it didn't end well at the time.
"Only a tiny crush?" He asked seriously.
Al saw the faint smile ghost Scorpius' lips when he mentioned the crush, "Maybe, a medium-sized crush..."
Scorpius arched an eyebrow, "I thought tonight was about being honest?"
"Fine, you win. It was a full-blown, massive – eat you up, heart-clenching crush okay. Happy, Malfoy! Fuck you'd do anything to boost your ego." He grumbled.
Scorpius did smile this time, "Just want to get the full picture is all. No need to get your knickers in a twist."
"Knickers? Prat I only wear knickers on special occasions." He deadpanned. "Tonight I am letting it all hang loose."
Scorpius gawked at him, blinked and said, "What?! Stop distracting me and get on with telling me how great you thought I was and how much of a twat you were."
Al nudged his knee against Scorpius' shaking his head he continued as requested, "As I was saying I only just discovered I was gay and had this crush on my best friend – who by the way I thought was straight. I also knew Rose had a crush on you and I didn't want to get tangled up in a love triangle." He rambled.
"Now I am older and hopefully wiser, I see I was being a bit naïve and a dramatic teenager, but still it was a huge thing in my life. I couldn't deal with it. I told Rose that I was gay and that I fancied you, and she punched me in the nose with her big hands and screamed at me with her big mouth and that was the start of the summer from hell." He ducked his head, remembering how horrid that summer was.
Scorpius could never deal with a sad-faced Al, he much proffered the happy go lucky – smiley Al.
"I'm not going to lie to you, what happened back then, how you started distancing yourself from me...it fucking hurt. It still hurts to think about it, but I'm definitely older and wiser and I can look back over the past from your point of view, and I can maybe understand why you acted the way you did." He kindly answered.
Al looked up with such hope in his eyes, "Really?"
"Sure. I mean you told one person you were gay and they punch you – that's got to suck big time. Why didn't you tell me?" He sincerely asked.
Al stared at him, "Because of the eat you up, massive crush that's why! Blimey, I had all these silly notions that if I told you I was gay you would be disgusted. I couldn't... I just really..."
"I get it. Sort of." Scorpius admitted, still unsure of how Al's confession was making him feel.
"I'm not trying to blame Rose, but her reaction didn't help matters. I thought of all the people to have my back it would be her. When she punched me and started acting that way, I thought your reaction would be worse. I told Rose that she was welcome to try and be with you, but I also told her she was delusional and she didn't stand a chance." He was grinning at the end.
Scorpius nodded, "You were right of course. She was delusional and she had no chance. I like men and as I told you at the time, I see her as a sister."
Al could feel the wine starting to work, "I knew you didn't like her that way, but I didn't know you liked men or even liked me in that way. You know, 'I'm gay and I fancy you' could be a real friendship ruiner."
"Yes but so can, 'I need to concentrate on my exams and I am fucking off to Romania'." Scorpius quipped.
"Yeah, I know. I was being selfish and running away. Mum and dad suggested I went to visit Uncle Charlie, assuming I would be home within weeks because I would miss mums cooking etc. That backfired though. Charlie is great and I did learn a lot about myself out there – I'm not saying it was the best decision I made, but I can't regret it. I did need that time away. But I should have at least explained things to you, or at least kept in contact with you." He hoped that reminding Scorpius about the lack of contact wouldn't get him angry again.
Scorpius was frowning, "Yes, you should have at least attempted to explain, or just kept in touch as friends. That did..." He trailed off unfinished.
"You can admit it – a Malfoy can feel. I won't tell anyone." Al pushed his luck, putting on a cheeky smile.
"I don't want to get into how your actions made me feel too much, it will only bring the mood down. One day I will tell you, but for now, let's just settle on the fact that what you did – it hurt. We were best friends and you just shut me out, left me and didn't offer any explanation." He wanted Al to know he had upset him, but he didn't want to upset Al too much. After all, Al was back and trying, and it seemed he still very much had a crush on Al.
"I fucked up – royally. I will forever regret how I handled things. I don't regret going – but I regret how I left and everything else. You know at my goodbye party, I was a bit drunk and decided I was going to say something, but when I found you, you were kissing Rose." He admitted.
Scorpius screwed up his face, "I most certainly was not kissing, Rose!" He sounded disgusted and outraged.
Al sat up straighter, "I may have been a bit drink but I wasn't completely out of it. I saw you and Rose kissing." He repeated.
"No. You. Did. Not. What you saw was your cousin sticking her large wet mouth over mine and attempting to kiss me. I did not kiss her back and if you stuck around you would have seen me push her away and pop her little, 'I'm going to marry, Scorpius and have babies' bubble." He sounded agitated.
Al frowned, "It doesn't matter now does it. At the time I mistook the situation and decided not to confess my feelings and the next day I left. I spent days thinking you and Rose were happily together. Until Rose wrote to tell me that she no longer had a crush on you and she begged me to return. But by that point, I was settled and was determined to try and make things work in Romania. I soon learnt that running away doesn't solve anything and I began to miss England, my family and you."
"No running away didn't help, in fact, it probably made things worse." He agreed with Al.
"Yeah – definitely worse. At least before we were great friends, now we're just...dunno in limbo I suppose. But I can't forget our friendship that easily. I know it probably seems like I can, what with ignoring you and not staying in contact. But I thought about you always. Would you at least be willing to try and see if we can be friends again?" He looked into Scorpius' face, his eyes pleading.
Scorpius remained silent, thoughtful but silent.
"I'll get you a lifetime supply of mint choc chip ice cream." He added.
Silence.
"I'll do anything. Please, Scorpius!" He begged.
After another long silence, Scorpius spoke, "No."
Al was shocked, "No! I guess that's your right." Al was gutted.
Scorpius reached out and took hold of Al's hand, "No, I don't want to try and be friends again. I want to try and be boyfriends. We both wasted so much time. I had a crush on you at school too and this all could have been avoided. I don't want to spend Merlin knows how long, acting as if we only want to be friends, making it awkward for when we decide to stop pussyfooting around each other. Let's just skip all that and admit what we both want."
Scorpius moved forwards, angling his body closer to Al's, "I want you, Al Potter and no matter how much of a twat you are I will always want you."
Al grinned, he really couldn't believe his luck, "I never stopped wanting you either. I just thought I had ruined every chance that I had."
"No, but you will do if you don't kiss me," Scorpius remarked.
Al wasted no time in finally kissing the man he had been dreaming about kissing since he was a young teenager. It was everything and more – better than he ever imagined. Pulling away Al knew he had a goofy grin on his face, but he didn't care.
"We really should have done this sooner." He stated.
Scorpius shook his head and pulled Al down and on top of him on the sofa,
"You have some making up to do." He smirked, as he began to unbutton Al's shirt.
- The End -