Though Frank might not have been the most observant person all the time, he definitely could tell the temperature in the room was dropping. He scratched the back of his head absentmindedly at the singular response from Laney; she was looking rather jovial, wasn’t she? Sarcasm was unwelcome in his brain at that moment. Why would she act like that?

Perhaps he had underestimated her confidence level. She had to know that Akiva was just his best mate. She was married! Even if her husband wasn’t... here... at the moment. Nonsense was the perfect word for what was going on. Maybe she should owl before coming over. Frank bit his tongue to keep from adding to the tangled mess that was already unfolding in his living room.

Hadn’t he recently finished opening up to Akiva, getting feelings out he’d been keeping in? Maybe the room needed some sage. Clear out some negative energy. It certainly wasn’t helping his mood, and from the look on Laney’s face (or lack of one), she wasn’t too thrilled. Instead of opening his mouth in front of Akiva, Frank eyed Laney, taking in slow breaths to keep his temper in check.

This was the problem with being close to the full moon (even though it had passed). He was still grumpy and on edge, the werewolf still sulking in his head, waiting to pounce. If he was more confrontational than he’d ever been, it was obviously a direct byproduct of his transformation. When Akiva excused herself, he waited until she was gone down the hall to turn his gaze back to Laney.

A finger of warning came up to waggle at her. His voice was whispered disbelief. “What is wrong with you? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?” As they battled back and forth in hushed and heated words, it was apparent that things weren’t going to settle any time soon.

When Akiva came back, Frank grit his teeth and stood up straighter, giving her a tight lipped small smile. “Look at that sleepy head.” It was true enough; Gabriel looked like he was still grumpy. That made all men in the apartment moody. Frank kept his hands on his hips, hoping Akiva got the nonverbal cues that there was going to be a disagreement in the living room; if she didn't want to be part of it, it was wise to leave ASAP.

Akiva’s kindness and awkward disappearance were not met with the friendliest of faces. The wailing continued even as the other woman excused herself to tend to the baby. It seemed a fitting backdrop for the look Laney gave Frank… and the look he gave her back.

In strained voices, like shouts being muffled, they exchanged words. “With me?” Tawny eyes narrowed. Her mouth bore a look of sour distaste. She gestured to the couch, a quick but somehow, afflicted flourish. “What? Do you spoon all of your friends like that?”

She dared him with her eyes to tell her he’d ever cuddled up with her brother like that.

Nevermind that if it had been Laney with George, or some other male friend of hers, she might have brushed off any concern. She was at point in a relationship where she had never been before, and it had certainly taken a while to get there. How long had it taken to even get him to touch her?

Walking in on this sort of thing meant more than it might have with another guy, which only fueled Laney’s annoyance and anger. She hated feeling this way, the inconvenience of insecurity. She would not call it that, not aloud.

Akiva returned before she could hit him with more biting accusations. Laney had almost not registered the sudden quiet, the end of the wailing, however sharp her senses. It rushed at her now, a kind of grogginess that both suited and clashed with her mood. Her face became mellow, if not pleasant. There was still a hint of a frown there.

The tension in the air was palpable as Akiva reentered.  Frank was attempting to be pleasant, but she could see from his body language that he was just about as content as the restless and wriggly Gabriel. 

Looking at Laney, it appeared she was in a similar mood – though it came more from her eyes and the wavelike vibrations coming off of her.  Akiva had never been one for divination with waves and nonsense, but you’d have to have lost all of the feeling in your body not to get that feeling from her. 

Gabriel was still fussing though, and wriggling in Kiv’s arms – the diaper bag on her shoulder weighing at her.  “I think we’re going to head out,” Akiva shuffled toward their outerwear, wanting to get Gabriel situated and then she would walk outside as she was if it meant leaving the two of them with the heavy atmosphere to sort out whatever it was. 

Akiva’s life, at this point, was too burdened with things to do this.  If Frank wanted to talk about it later, he could owl her.  “Thank you, Frank, and,” she looked to Laney as she gently tugged Gabriel’s coat around him as best she could with one hand, “and it was nice to see you again, Laney, even if just for a little bit.”

She looked between the two of them, fumbling with her son’s coat – cursing inwardly at the dumb coat and wondering what she’d done to make this coat seem cursed.  “Have a good night, you both,” she said through clenched teeth, setting Gabriel to be able to zip his coat before throwing hers over her shoulder with the bag – she’d be home soon and wouldn’t worry about getting sick, before she headed toward the door.  “I’ll show myself out – goodbye!”

Exit. 

Her accusation both caught him off guard and further sunk in that feeling that she was behaving like a child over nothing. “Spoon? It wasn’t as if my-” A rather high pitch cry enunciated his words. “-was deep in her ass.” Not at all like when they spooned. Still, she was one to talk. His face said as much before he had to cover it, turning as friendly a face as he could muster to Akiva.

It was short of freezing over a puddle.

“Oh, you shouldn’t.” His voice was flat; it was obvious he was just saying that to be polite. Once Akiva left, there would be something magnificent in his apartment. His hands rested on his hips as she worked at getting Gabriel ready for the weather outside. A foot lightly tapped the flooring before he realized it was audible; then it stopped. He walked a couple of steps after Akiva as she made her way to the door.

His head nodded, smile not evident as he watched her. “Good night.” Fingers drummed on his hips before the door shut; once it did, he turned on his heel and faced off with Laney. “What the hell was that?” A hand came off as he gestured to the empty space next to him, behind him, anywhere but at her. “She’s my best friend, Lorraine.” A finger came up and pointed at her once again.

“I remember you letting an old friend stay with you at your apartment. George, right? I didn’t mind! Should I have? Should I have been concerned? No. Because it wasn’t as if you two had slept with each other before!” That was what Frank thought, anyway. “Akiva and I are like siblings! She was defending you earlier.” And his hand found its way back to his waist with a stuttered breath. Frank stood up straight, looking down his nose at her. What could she really have to say to all of that?

Laney’s eyes narrowed further still at Frank’s… frank (and yet, somewhat awkwardly made) point. She thought she believed him, but she was hardly going to give him a pass for being dense enough to think it didn’t look bad.

The tension that waited and built as Akiva and the baby appeared— and then prepared to leave— was visible. By now there was hardly a pretense of niceness from Laney, who simply watched them depart, her arms folding loosely in front of her.

When they were gone and Frank rounded on her, Laney felt hot and cold at once, her skin tingling. Lorraine. The word was acidic to her ears coming from his mouth.  She dropped her arms and furrowed her brow, bringing her own hand up again to make a similarly accusing gesture, if one more pointed, sharp. “Your best friend with the missing husband and new baby. How sweet.”

She was on the verge of asking, 'and did you see us cuddled up like that?' when the irony of his statement hit her, full force. For a wild moment, Laney wanted to laugh. Banging each other had been the centerpiece of her relationship with George for quite a long time, the thing that kept them coming back. “Would you want to walk in on us like that, whether or not we’ve slept together?” She shot back, working around the sticky little detail.

If it was similar with Frank, she did not want to think about it in those terms. He was at fault here, had committed the serious crime of not even realizing that what he was doing looked bad from her vantage point.

Laney was close with her older brother, but couldn’t imagine cuddling up quite like that with him. “So you’d cozy up to your sister like that, then?” But the last bit was like boiling water; Laney seemed to recoil. “Defending me?” Her expression was one of someone who had bit into a lemon, involuntary discomfort. “From what? You?” The word slipped out with less control, more weakness than she would have liked, and she straightened up, lifting her face, trying to make up for the slight height difference.

So Frank had been what, pouring his heart out? Discussing his problems? Their problems? The problem that was Laney? Was it that he couldn’t sleep with her without wanting to scream? Were the dreams on her now? She felt her heart jump into her throat, fueling everything.

His face screwed up at her words, ignoring her pointed gesture. “That’s uncalled for. He is missing!” That really ate Akiva up in a way that Frank could never understand. Out of all the crap she had to deal with, and that on top of it... it just wasn’t fair. “Jesus, you never think beyond what you want to see.” His hand fell back to his hip, gripping tightly for a moment before he tried to steady himself.

Jaw tight with anger, he took in a slow and unsteady breath. Her comment about George had him at first confused, and then... wait. Whether or not...? Eyebrows rose before he frowned a little more, hand coming back up to motion between them. “Whether or not? If you have fucked him, then it would be different. If you haven’t, and you’ve just been platonic friends your entire relationship, then I am secure enough in myself to not mind.”

Was she getting at something? Had that sleep over not been as innocent as she’d made it out to be at the time? Hadn’t Laney just blown it off?

His face contorted as he scoffed. “I have, yes.” His hand grasped the back of his head as he paced back and forth in front of her. Molly and Isabelle, as a matter of fact. It had been a little bit for either sister, perhaps, but both had happened since adulthood. “Especially if they need the comfort.” His brows came together as he frowned at Laney.

Frank really didn’t understand what the big deal was. And then he realized the huge hole he’d suddenly dropped himself into. A groan escaped as his eyes shut, hand moving over the top of his head to over his eyes. “That... came out wrong.” Did it ever. His hand dropped and he frowned at her. “She was... being my backboard. I was bouncing concerns off of her and ... you know. I shouldn’t have to explain any of this to you. I have been nothing but loyal to you.”

Come to think of it, could his problems all be solved if they weren’t together? All his concerns that related to Laney... maybe the fact that they fought all the time was answer enough. Arms crossed over his chest before he puffed it out, standing up straight. “What’s next? You’re jealous of my best friend and a girl in a magazine. My boss? The landlady? How about the little girl who lives downstairs?” His voice was dripping with condescending tones.

Laney didn’t point out that stating a fact wasn’t uncalled for. She simply continued to stare back stormily. His gibberish muggle phrase reinvigorated her anger (not that it was hard). “You apparently don’t think,” she shot back coolly.

She wouldn’t think twice about cuddling up on a couch with George or anyone else, in truth, but she hadn’t… not recently… not since they’d patched up and started a new round of fantasies, introductions, and confessions. Something had changed the last time they had fought; Laney wasn’t a stranger to petty fights had had questionable rows with George and others before, but she had never let something like a lover’s porn habits bother her so much. She had eventually laughed it off, but not without the feeling that they had reached a slightly more serious point in their relationship, which neither of them had acknowledged, even in the softness of Laney’s apology. The night of Frank’s nightmare had seemed to confirm it. Despite knowing that he was apprehensive about sleeping with her, she thought he cared in the same way she did. Had George been wrong when he’d suggested a year ago that maybe it meant more to him, to sleep with someone? If she was coming to realize that the sting of jealousy meant something else, now was hardly the time. It excited, annoyed, and scared her in a way that Laney was not used to. She had hated the idea of codependency, an anchor, for as long as she could remember.

She took a deep breath, blinked heavily, eyes flickering away and back, as if it were a chore to explain it to him. “We used to. We’re just friends now.” It was as simple as that. “It was never serious. I haven’t touched him in ages,” she elaborated for his benefit, thinking she should get the confession over with, but also feeling she sounded quite reasonable. Laney felt she was on higher ground at the moment, even if the argument was making her feel irritatingly small. Frank’s impact on her was quite impressive for such a sweet person.

She rolled her eyes at the idea of him cuddling up with his sisters. Of course. Laney might have rested her head on Clinton’s shoulder a few times, but this was different.

She wasn’t rolling her eyes as her mind raced through the possibilities of Frank had meant. It had come out wrong? She raised her brows. That was an understatement. His defensiveness only made her heart pound harder. “You think I haven’t been? I’m not the one bitching to other people about you. What are your concerns?” If he thought she was supposed to know…

Laney felt like she had been hexed, her feet rooted to the ground. She opened her mouth in disbelief and hurt, and closed it again, slowly. She felt her face burning, a rare thing, a foreign feeling. But she couldn’t come up with the words, couldn’t bring them to the surface, couldn’t say that she cared. “I guess I should just be the girl you shag, who leaves in the morning before you wake up. Is that better? Is that what you want?” She was jealous, but it was justified. She wasn’t being unreasonable. “I can do that. Easily.” She often preferred it. With Frank, it was different. But Laney ignored that, or tried to, for him, for herself, this argument. "There’s no need to talk to me about anything important. We know how that turns out,” she said with dark sarcasm. With Frank wary of falling asleep beside her.

M for language, do not read further if foul language upsets you

“Oh!” His laugh was anything but full of joy. It was clipped, short, and obviously annoyed. What a childish reaction to his statement. She was such a child! Frank could feel his blood boiling as he stood there, reminding himself how much he disliked being locked up behind bars. The hair on the back of his neck was raised and the temperature in the room was near sweltering, considering his already running-warm body heat.

And then her confession - it had him eyes wide and mouth open. Just like that. We used to. As if it was common knowledge. As if it wasn’t a big deal! The body language mixed with her words nearly set him on fire! His face turned a wonderful shade of red as he pursed his lips, body straight as he considered the best response. She had played him for a fool. Why was she mad at him again? Because he hadn’t done anything with someone who he had only ever been friends with except take a nap?!

“Oh, hah!” He shook a finger at her and narrowed his eyes; he was nearly seeing red. “Are you fucking kidding me?! You screwed him, and it was never serious. And what’s ages? The holidays? Summer? Last week?” Frank was nearly spitting with his words. His mind was blown; what he had thought was innocent, friendly help suddenly seemed more twisted. In fact, his stomach was in knots.

Frank felt a little sick. He knew she had slept with other guys. That had always been obvious. But... Ugh. It just didn’t feel good. His fingers ran through his hair, meeting in the back of his head and interlacing. “I’m so relieved that you haven’t touched him in ages. I haven’t been with another woman since long before you ever came along.” Feet started to move him again, pacing slowly. Keep the popcorn down... don’t throw up the butterbeer.

When loyalty came up, he eyed her and frowned. Or, he supposed he had brought it up. He grit his teeth and took a slow breath in through his nose. What were his concerns... “You’re just-” He swallowed and rolled his eyes before looking above her head. “You’re so young. I feel guilty. I just needed her to... I don’t know.”

Things turned ugly quickly, as arguments were apt to do. “Have I ever-” Punctuated with an arm in the air, hand waving. “-wanted you to leave in the morning? Have I ever asked that you just be a shag?” He pushed his lower lip out with his tongue, eyes closed as he took another deep breath.

“Yeah. Because you’re just the cute little fuck doll, right?” Where had that come from? He made a face and shook his head. “Don’t go feeling sorry for yourself, don’t try the guilt trip thing. You know I think more of you than that.”

What, exactly, was he accusing her of? Laney felt her knuckles hardening, fingers bending, claw-like. “Before we ever slept together,” she shot back in a hiss, gritted teeth, a loud whisper. It was true; if there were minor details, like a Valentine’s hookup cut short, it did not contradict what Laney was saying. Failed attempts with George were the last thing on her mind, didn’t count. She was staring so hard, so thoroughly pissed off Frank-turned-morality-auror that Laney could hardly spare a moment to think of herself as anything but innocent and in need of vindication. “What does that have to do with anything? What I did before is none of your business.” Was he on some higher ground because he hadn’t banged anyone for a while before he stopped feeling guilty enough to bang her? She wanted to push him into the wall, all the energy swirling in her, but she didn’t.

“You’re just- You’re so young. I feel guilty. I just needed her to... I don’t know.”

A delirious laugh escaped her. Like someone who had lost everything, had nothing else to worry about. It was dark, sharp, fed up. If she knew that he had held off for a while in part because of her age, if she knew that it still sometimes bothered him, if she liked to exploit it in their games, found it attractive, it didn’t mean that she didn’t also find it ridiculous. His conscious was so unlike hers. He was earnest, Laney ferocious. Two very different kinds of ambition that had landed them in opposite houses at different times. She had as much experience as Frank, or so she thought.

Laney felt guilt, too. She was in no hurry to share it. She could manage it. Didn’t need to let it out. When it did come out, it was like a fire spell, pent up self-conciousness that she tried to deny, a shout and not plea. Again, the George thing surfaced, and again she blinked it away. “What? Like I’m your quarter-life crisis? I can take care of myself. If you think you’re going to hurt me because I’m young—“ She stopped, crossed her arms. She thought she might be able to destroy him, but it was true, too, that this hurt, that his words had a kind of pull, a chain, whiplash. “You don’t care when we’re going at it,” she pointed out, darkly. Hadn’t Akiva busted in on them roleplaying? She knew he liked it.

That didn’t mean there wasn’t doubt there. She didn’t justify him with a no when he pointed out the truth, asked her for an answer. He hadn’t ever kicked her out after they fulfilled each other’s kinks, but Laney only stared now, a burnt gaze eating up his words.

Laney hated this feeling. She hated having to justify anything she did, hated having to have Frank justify things for her. In the past, hooking up, breaking up, making up, it had been an easy cycle. Her most complicated relationship had been with George, and that was hardly complicated. Unless you threw in the girlfriend. She’d never been self-conscious, had only ever tried to make him feel that way. But jokingly, without effort. If he did, he did, if not, she moved on, or waited. Now she was feeling the burn of something… jealousy or shame or dirtiness. The pain that came with feeling more than just strong friendship and attraction. Something she couldn’t wash off.

It was like a sponge, it grew heavier, the feeling. She absorbed and absorbed. His words washed over her, sunk in, threatened to flatten her out. She almost flinched at the savage cynicism.

To hear such words on Frank’s tongue— outside of the confines of pillows and sweaty limbs— was too much. The spongey feeling extended to her legs, but threatened to turn into something else. He hadn’t called her that, but it didn’t prevent the wild look in Laney’s eyes, the untamed thing realizing it was a target and retaliating. She was left speechless for a few moments.

She wanted to believe what he was saying, did, deep down, know that he cared for her more than as just a passing shag. She lifted her wand, pointed it at him accusingly. “Guilt-trip you? You think you’re some kind of sinless bleeding heart. You’re a werewolf sleeping with jailbait and trying to replace your best friend’s husband.” Direwolf, whatever, she didn’t care. If she didn't even believe what she was saying, it didn't matter. As soon as the word doll left his lips, Laney could only spit fire. She wanted to hurt him. "You can cop a feel, but you’re not that kid’s dad.”  Her hands moved, fueled by disbelief and dark sarcasm. “If you think more of me, then don’t go crying to someone else about it.”

Suddenly Laney was the untouchable one in the room? Oh, hey, I slept with someone that you didn’t realize and he stayed at my place, but you’re the one at fault. Obviously that was not how things worked. Whatever she was trying to jam down that reality-hole did not fit. Frank’s face was screwed up as he looked at her, head finally shaking in complete disagreement. Complete disagreement.

“Oh, trust me, I’ll make sure it’s never my business.” Isn’t that what she wanted? Just someone to hook up with on a regular basis, who played into her kinks with ease? Maybe someone who took her out on dates and made her feel special now and again. Not an actual serious relationship full of honesty and past mistakes.

Clearly that was why he should never have told her about how he was feeling. Her laugh was not encouraging; mixed with the facial expression and the almost palpable heat coming off her skin, it was any wonder he hadn’t spontaneously combusted. “Why is it always about you? Why can’t it just be that that is how I feel,” his fingers thumped against his chest, “-and now that my family knows about you, I am trying to not come off as some creepy asshole hooking up with some cute little thing fresh out of Hogwarts?”

His jaw tightened; there was a definite difference between Bedroom-Frank and the Frank everyone else saw. She should know better than anyone, considering how long it took until they got to that point. Frank liked her; he also felt guilt for that, considering his issues. She deserved a normal relationship with someone who wanted to show her off on their arm. His name was not the cleanest one out there.

If he was a smarter man, he would’ve stopped while he was ahead. He would have noticed the look on Laney’s face and shut up. It was too late now.

“Did I say I was sin-” Her words hit him like a rock to the chest. Frank’s eyebrows came together as his mouth hung open. “What?!” It slipped out a lot louder than expected. Frank felt a weird twist in his chest. He rocked back on his heels and closed his mouth, frowning hard in Laney’s direction. Her words hurt. Each one was like a stab in his chest. Frank felt nauseous. Literally way too much butterbeer to then go and get all upset and loud and argumentative. Fingers ran through his hair, grabbing the back of his head as he stared at her in disbelief.


It took a bit of silence for things to work in his head. Finally he found the words. “You’re just a child playing at being an adult. You don’t know half the things you think you do.” Jailbait, copping a feel?! Shaking his head, still unable to believe the words she’d said, Frank wondered at the potential truth behind her words. Surely Akiva didn’t think he was trying to replace her missing husband... He was just... trying to be helpful. His stomach twisted painfully before he pointed at Laney.

“This isn’t going to work. Get out.”

As if Frank’s family would actually see him as a creepy asshole. As if anyone would actually see him as a creepy asshole. Akiva hadn’t, surely, or Laney wouldn’t have found them in such a cuddly position. She let a breath out through her nose, obviously frustrated, as her lips pursed and her eyes threatened to roll up. “You’re not a creepy asshole if you’re worried about being one,” she pointed out— and it might have been a compliment if it weren’t for her tone of voice.

She wasn’t making it just about her! He was being dense.

She ignored his disbelief and outrage, or appeared to. But what came next had her swallowing her words. Hard. Again.

They were on a carousel of accusations, but she was still going to argue that she wasn’t a child, hadn’t been one for a very long time, had probably seen more than him, the direwolf, but then he told her to get out. Laney’s feet prickled, as if her shoes were full of nails. Her mouth opened, closed, opened again.

It wasn’t going to work. Laney wasn’t going to work. Not for him.

“What— no,” she began, an automatic response, as if they were continuing their arguing, still flinging counterpoints; but it was hollow, a kind of plea whose begging was well-hidden in dissent. She knitted her brows, and her mouth followed suit, frown lines forming, teeth just visible as her tongue figured out what to say. “Just... wait,” she continued. Now it sounded more like a plea.

She could feel her blood running cold, the chill seeping under her skin. She’d said the wrong thing. He was infuriating, but Laney knew she’d overstepped now. Even her ego couldn’t blockade her from that truth.

She was hard-pressed to admit it. Her eyes searched his face, looking for a weak spot, something she could exploit and use to keep her footing. But if there was pain there, it was pain she had caused, the kind that repelled. She felt it, too. She’d rather take a bludger to the gut than this.

He was supposed to arghhh, then give in, admit he was wrong, then push her against the wall.

He wasn’t supposed to break up with her. That was her job, and she didn’t want it to happen. She just wanted him to see what a prat he was being, what an asshole, how infuriating… Not this. But she couldn’t say it, not like that.

Her wand seemed to heat under her touch as she brought it down to her side, her fist turning to stone around it. She’d walked out last time, on her grounds. Then she’d walked back in, a few weeks later, also on her grounds. Now he was telling her how it would be, when the reason Laney was shouting from the rooftops, raining acid in his apartment, was because she wanted him, all of him, and she didn’t know how to say it. “You could grow a pair and tell me that an instant kid and your best friend are easier for your family to swallow,” was what came out instead, provocative and stinging, even as she turned a bit on her heel, took a few backward steps toward the door, weighing her options. The plan to get him so mad that he gave up on trying to kick her out was something only a quidditch player would employ.

But what if he was something he wasn’t worried about? Every possible negative term he could think of to pair with himself made his guilt twist deeper. To be completely fair, he had not been home as much as he had been before the transformation. When he wasn’t working, he was with Laney or... working out of home. Or he was stuck at the Ministry for his full moon. Honestly, when he finally got time to himself, he tried to cherish it.

And in that, his family was last on his list of people to bother with his problems, even though they should been number one. His mum sent him letters and packages and called him all the time. It wasn’t as easy for her, since she wasn’t the one with the wand.

Now, he was done. He was done with this entire immature little game they were playing. Frank couldn’t even find any excitement in the fact that he had caught her completely off guard. His head dipped down in a very obvious uh, yes while his hands rested on his hips, gripping lightly. What did she want him to wait for? Another insult? Another dig at his relationship that had been perfectly fine? Now he was going to worry that Akiva felt the same way that Laney did.

As if he could ever fill the shoes of her husband. Frank didn’t want that responsibility. All he wanted to do was be a friend and help out when he could. If Laney saw something there that wasn’t... he was tired of trying to show it to her. Shoulders rolled as he leaned back, standing up straighter. Frank stared past her as she analyzed him, mouth a thin line of irritation.

He could grow a pair?! His face showed how much he thought about that. “Oh yes Laney. Because my family can’t swallow anything that is different or difficult. It’s not like my older sister was an accident before my parents marriage. Or that my other sister is your age. Or that I’m a goddamn MONSTER! No, Laney, You’re way too much for my family to swallow. You’re too much for me to handle. That’s obvious."

Now he was fuming. He huffed as he paced, hands flying out to accentuate his words, fingers pointing pointedly towards her. "You can walk all over me whenever it pleases you, but you can’t see anything else as wrong. I’m DONE WITH IT! So GO!” He grabbed the nearest thing (a pillow, really?) and chucked it towards the front door, the yell accompanying it bouncing around the otherwise quiet room. "Go find your perfect person and stop PRETENDING it's me! Go fuck your ex! A teammate, I don't care ANY more!" Of all the examples she had given in an argument before... those were the things to pick up on.

Laney flinched at the words goddamn monster. The rest of what he was yelling poured over her, a sticky truth. But it was what he thought of himself… and what he had concluded about her… that seemed to pool in her heart. She couldn’t control her face any longer, and it took all of her will power to not to tremble. Her fist was sheet-white around her wand.

She couldn’t coolly back away now, make him think twice about kicking her out as she threatened to leave. She couldn’t anger him into exhaustion, say something so ridiculous that he laughed. It only took a few lines for her to realize it. The problem was that Laney didn’t have another tactic. Even if she was still pissed off at him, even if she still needed reassurance about what had gone on— even if there was a part of her that was as self-concious as any twenty year old, or anyone who had never properly felt this way about someone else— she was more afraid of what was happening now.

Her eyes darted after the pillow before sweeping back to Frank. He didn’t care anymore. She wanted so badly to not believe him.

She wanted to force out words, to scream back that she hadn’t touched her ex or a teammate in over a year. That she hadn’t ever thought him perfect. That she might have thought him perfect for her. If the logical part of her brain told her that he, too, was throwing out everything he could, trying to rile her up, the stupid part controlled by her emotions was tipping the scales. And whatever Frank felt, he did sound done.

Laney said nothing, but her wand hand seemed to relax after a little shake. She stared at him because if she looked away, she thought she might faint or burst into flames. Her parted lips closed, softly, and she swallowed, giving a kind of involuntary half nod downward. She turned around properly, now, and walked toward the pillow, slipping around it quietly to open the door. There wasn’t even a bang, however hard her wand threatened to take over her.

In the hallway, she rounded a corner quietly but determinedly, and yet as if she were somehow detached from the scene. As soon as she was out of view of his door, she pawed at a tear. She angry at herself for the wet inconvenience, but it didn’t seem to want to stop, even with Laney cursing inwardly.