If You're Not The One – Daniel Bedingfield
Cedric stared at Sofia, hearing the words she had just spoken. He wanted to argue against what she said out of fear but he knew in his heart she was right. They both had been fighting against the power of their obvious attraction and feelings for each other and it was only driving a wedge between them. With a sigh, he swung his legs out of bed and stood up.
"Why don't we get some tea to go with these fly cakes first?" He finally responded nervously.
Sofia agreed and followed him into the kitchen. It would probably be easier to talk anywhere other than in the bedroom anyway. Once the tea was ready they carried it into the living room and sat in front of the fire setting the fly cakes down on the table.
"These really are delicious. I can't believe you were at my mother's house baking all night." Cedric said, still avoiding the impending conversation. "Did you two do something different? They taste even better than usual." He added taking another fly cake.
Giggling uneasily as she helped herself to another fly cake, Sofia responded, "I needed someone to talk to besides you so I went to her house and she offered to teach me how to bake them with her recipe. I'm not sure if she did anything different than usual. But they really are delicious, aren't they?"
Crumbs littered the chest of Cedric's night shirt as he leaned back with his cup of tea. Sofia reached out to brush them aside, causing him to tense slightly as his eyes met hers when her fingers made contact with his chest. His eyes flared with intensity, when suddenly he reached up catching her hand in his.
"What are you doing?" He asked in a strained voice.
"Y-you had… uh, crumbs on your shirt… I was brushing them off…" Sofia stuttered nervously as her face flushed.
He looked down and said, "Oh right…" chuckling nervously, letting go of her hand slowly. Sofia realized she missed the feel of his hand touching hers, it felt nice.
"Your touch feels so nice, I miss your warmth against my skin when you take your hand away." Sofia confessed almost without thinking. As soon as she said it, her hand flew to her mouth as her eyes darted to his wide with alarm. "I-I didn't mean to tell you that!" She exclaimed, burying her face in her hands in embarrassment as Cedric looked at her with his mouth agape.
"Sofia, it's okay…" Cedric reassured her reaching out to take hold of her hand. Sofia looked up at his face realizing he was making a very strange face as if he was struggling against some internal battle. "I… I… ummm…. I…. uuuggghhhh…." He fought to say against himself.
"Are you alright Cedric?" She asked.
"I-I find it very difficult to resist reaching out to touch you sometimes!" Cedric shouted as if it were painful to admit, "Oh Merlin's mushrooms… Why couldn't I stop myself from telling you that? This is so humiliating…" He added sounding dejected.
"That's strange, I felt the same urge, to tell you the truth as well." Sofia said as she took a sip of her tea thinking to herself before taking another fly cake. "I'm going to need more comfort food to deal with all this." She muttered.
"Me, too." Cedric added dryly taking the last fly cake off the plate and stuffing it into his mouth. As soon as he finished it, his eyes went wide and he turned toward Sofia. "No…."
"What?" Sofia asked.
"What did you tell my mother about you and I while you were at her house?" Cedric asked as realization was beginning to dawn on him and a very dreadful feeling was settling over him.
Unable to stop, Sofia felt an impulse to tell him everything, "Well, I told her the truth about everything. I told her how we had kissed and how frustrated I've been since then and we haven't been talking and then she told me to bring you these fly cakes. Why do you ask?"
"I think my mother took matters into her own hands and put a magic spell on these fly cakes to make us tell each other the truth." Cedric explained.
As she listened to Cedric's explanation it all made sense, the way Winifred had been so mischievous and adamant about her bringing these fly cakes right away to Cedric and how they couldn't resist the urge to tell the truth no matter how had they tried or how embarrassing it was. However, it could work out in her favor, Sofia suddenly realized as she looked toward Cedric with a grin.
Noticing her mischievous smirk Cedric became instantly wary and on guard. "I don't know what little devious ideas you have going on in your mind but you can put them to rest right now. I mean it…" Cedric warned.
Completely ignoring him, Sofia scooted closer taking hold of one of Cedric's hands before asking, "What was your first impression of me?"
With a tug, Cedric tried to pry his hand away from Sofia as he attempted to bury his face in the sofa and scream. She could hear muffled shouts. "What was that darling? I didn't hear your answer, what was your first impression of me?" She asked again laughing. Sitting upright to glare at her, Cedric fought again against the urge to answer her.
"Aarrggghhh I-I uuuuhhhh…. I-… I thought you were irritating and I despised you because you were always so happy and everybody loved you." Cedric looked as if the answer physically hurt him as he fell to the floor. He looked up into Sofia's eyes, waiting for her to be hurt by his answer, instead she began to giggle.
"Aren't you angry at me?" He asked, stunned.
"No! I already knew you found me irritating, you told me so frequently! And the depth of those feelings makes sense because you weren't shown love the way I was until I came skipping along merrily and shoved my friendship down your throat by force." Sofia answered with a laugh, causing Cedric to relax. "So, next question…" She began.
"Oh no, I don't think so… It's my turn!" Cedric interrupted. Before she had a chance to ask him another question Cedric asked her, "What was your first impression of me?"
"That is easy, I don't even need the truth potion to force me to tell you. I was fascinated by you. I thought your magic was sensational! Although, I did wonder about your irritation towards me in the beginning; most everyone adored me. So, I've been curious all these years… what was so appealing about Sascha anyhow?" Sofia added her question quickly before Cedric could interrupt her with his own.
He began shaking his head no while holding his mouth closed as tightly as he could. With his wand Cedric conjured a piece of adhesive to apply to his mouth so he wouldn't be able to speak. Laughing, Sofia reached up and ripped it off his mouth.
"No cheating, now answer the question!"
One of Cedric's hands reached out and grabbed a scarf that had been left on the table and he shoved as much as he could in his mouth, leaving most of it dangling out while still shaking his head vigorously with fear in his eyes. Mumbling incoherently with a mouth full of scarf, Cedric tried to get out of answering the question. Out smarting him, Sofia jumped on his lap, tackling him and removing the scarf from his mouth while holding his arms down to his sides. "Now answer the question and no cheating!" She demanded through her peals of laughter.
With a groan of defeat, Cedric turned his face away from Sofia before answering her in a quiet shameful voice, "She was very beautiful and she appeared to be a fellow sorceress who admired me. It was all very shallow, really. I'm so sorry."
"You don't have to apologize Cedric." Sofia said kindly to comfort him. "I was merely curious, and…" her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to stop herself from speaking the rest of that sentence.
A wicked grin appeared on Cedric's face as he realized Sofia was about to admit something she didn't want to. He reached up and took her hands from her face and demanded, "Uh-uh, you must continue that sentence…"
Still sitting atop Cedric, Sofia blushed furiously as she was forced by the spell to continue the sentence, "I-I was jealous… of your attraction towards Sascha…" She admitted.
Shocked, Cedric looked at her for a moment. His young apprentice had been jealous of him even back then over him showing attention towards another female? Sofia moved to sit on the couch while Cedric sat up normally as well and they faced each other.
"That's interesting you were jealous, my dear. I never knew you felt that way; but it's good to know. Because now it's my turn again to ask you questions. Do you find Baileywick attractive?"
"Are you kidding me? You are wasting a question on that? No, I don't find him attractive. I think of Baileywick as an uncle or an older brother of sorts." She told him. "Although if you're asking if he's an attractive man, then yes he is very handsome, however I do not find him appealing for me." Sofia added on as an afterthought.
"Well then who do you find attractive?" Cedric asked quickly.
She stared at him as if he were dense for a moment before answering him, "There is this man, and I've found him attractive for a while now. He has brown eyes, kind of shaggy brown hair with a little gray, he's on the thin side and is fairly tall. He gives me butterflies and makes me feel things I've never felt before. Especially when he kisses me…" At this last part, Sofia noticed Cedric tense up and look furious; his hands clenched in a fist. Deciding to end the tease she continued on, "I'm messing with you Cedric… I'm talking about YOU!"
Taking advantage of Cedric's stunned silence, Sofia asked her own question, "Cedric, did our kiss mean anything to you?"
He gasped, of all the questions, she had to ask him that. He was in so much trouble. "Yes." He finally answered unable to stop himself as a very visible red flush covered his cheeks making Sofia giggle softly.
"My turn, now. Did the kiss mean anything to you?" Cedric turned the question around on her.
Now it was Sofia's turn to blush. Looking away, she nodded slightly and answered in a quiet voice, "Yes."
With a smile Sofia asked, "Do you want to kiss me again?"
This was not going to go well for him Cedric realized. He was going to get back at his mother somehow. Sinking down on the couch he covered his face with his hands and groaned as he muttered, "Yeeeess…" When he uncovered his face, Sofia was inches away.
"And where would you kiss me, Cedric?" She asked in a sultry, teasing voice.
This time Cedric didn't cover his face or try and hide, he stared her straight in the eyes. He knew he couldn't stop himself from telling her everything he truly felt even if he tried and he didn't want to anymore, "Sofia, I would kiss you from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes… I want to kiss every… single… inch of your body." He reached out caressing her cheek softly causing her eyes to close.
Leaning forward he caught her lips with his and pulled her down onto his lap. Warmth spread through her whole body as Sofia wrapped her arms around Cedric's neck, tangling her fingers through his hair. His smooth fingers were climbing up her back sending shivers across her skin. Pulling back to look into his eyes tenderly, Sofia smiled before saying, "You're amazing."
Cedric smiled back at Sofia still sitting in his lap, "Sofia, I'd… I'd like to court you… if… well, if you'd have me…?" Cedric asked nervously.
With a bright smile and a squeak, Sofia threw her arms back around Cedric's neck tightly, "Yes!" She kissed him hard on the mouth before pulling back to add, "Yes, there is nobody else for me Cedric. Of course I'd have you."
Maybe he'd have to thank his mother for the tainted fly cakes instead of getting back at her. Looking relieved Cedric went back to kissing the young woman in his lap.