Continued from We Don't Care Who Sees

A set of muddy footprints led from the front door in the Great Entrance down to the Slytherin Dorms in the dungeon. They were a little uneven and staggered at times due to the fact that the one responsible for making the marks had managed to nearly empty a bottle of whiskey during the trip. Liquid courage as it were, preparing him for the no doubt painful task ahead of them.

As Xavier entered the Common Room he placed the bottle down on the nearest flat surface he could find. The usual gloomy green atmosphere caused by being under the Black Lake was offset by the roaring fire blazing in the hearth. He narrowed his cold blue eyes to try and make out the figure sitting by it. In the time it had taken him to make his way back to the castle (which included dodging some fifth year Prefects, at least one Professor and a handful of castle ghosts) Jordyn had changed into nice warm pajamas and was now brushing her hair by the fireside.

He spent a long moment just staring at her. The excess alcohol in his system caused everything to have a warmer, cheerier glow than usual. There was a stupid smile plastered to his face as badly as his still drenched clothes were plastered to his skin. The (convenient, alluring, advantageous) side effect being that his well toned Beater's body - that he spent most nights working on - was on spectacular display.

He stepped deeper into the room, no doubt having announced his presence long before then, and threw his arms wide like he was asking for a great big hug, "Be honest. How much do you wanna hex me right now?" His smile was wide and his words were a bit slurred, stuck somewhere between his natural English Accent and his practised Brogue.

Jordyn counted each stroke of her brush through her hair, trying to distract herself from still being seething mad.  The towel she’d been using was discarded on the floor next to her.  It was nice and quiet, especially after she’d practically stomped into the common room and scared the younger years out of it by threatening detention to anyone who was out even a moment after curfew.  Perhaps hypocritical, but Jordyn had the upper hand and practically every single other seventh year Slytherin was out.  Thank Merlin. 

After the four hundred and twelfth stroke of her brush, she placed it own beside her and replaced it with a steaming hot mug.  She wrapped both of her hands around the cocoa and held it under her nose so the steam might possibly thaw her out.  Unfortunately, Jordyn felt like she would never be warm again, even seated cross-legged in front of the fireplace in her comfiest jumper and socks. 

On her walk back and through getting dressed, she had made a thousand and one plans for getting back at Tawse and Amherst.  They wouldn’t be able to breathe without losing points and getting detention.  She couldn’t punish them for the party without getting herself implicated.  It would just have to be sneakier than that.  She comforted herself with the thought that it would at least be easy though.  They were both clearly idiots.  They’d trip up and Jordyn would be allowed to remove all of the points and free time they had until the end of the year. 

Oh Godric.  The end of the year.  Even the thought made her blood run cold again.  Shuddering, she lifted her cup to her lips and took a long sip, smacking her lips together as the warmth spread over her.  Thank goodness for cocoa.  It was the only comforting thing she had to hold onto at the moment. 
 
Mostly because that moment was absolutely over. 

She turned her head slowly, glaring over her cup.  At least he looked cold.  Dripping wet and cold.  It was obviously different from last time at the lake.  This time he looked and sounded drunk.  It distracted her from the fact that he was totally wet – like one of those photo shoots in the teen magazines she and Neely would sometimes still read together.  She was too mad about everything else to even focus on that fact. 

Grabbing for her wand, she sighed.  “More and more every second,” she frowned.  The idea of hexing him anyway crossed her mind, it really did, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it.  Instead, she pointed her wand at him and muttered a spell that would dry him off.  “Fortunately, if we’re both lucky, the cold you’ll get will be worse than anything I could do to you.”  Unlikely. 

“What is your problem anyway?  You don't have to be such an ass in front of people all the time.  No one is going to die if you drop all of this,” she motioned to him as she snapped - the whole farce was just ludicrous, even the accent thing.  Jordyn slapped her wand on the ground next to her so she could hold onto her cocoa again.  She felt like she was vibrating with agitation.  It was a packed question with probably a lot of answers - Xavier Tawse was all kinds of messed up, but she thought... Oh right, she was the stupid one here.  She thought that maybe... Godric, even thinking about what she had been considering could possibly be true made her cheeks run hot.  It was probably just her being silly and romanticizing things like little girls could, but she had honestly started considering that Xavier Tawse was not as big of a twit as he portrayed himself as -- clearly, she was wrong. 

In a sense, he was actually disappointed she didn't hex him. He had been expecting it after all. He had been preparing himself for that exact thing the entire way back to the castle. It had been what all the bloody whiskey had been for. He gave her a look that clearly said, Seriously?! Come on! I actually deserved it this time! To make matters worse, when she finally did raise her wand to him, it was to dry him off. Well there goes that sympathy he had going for him.

He crossed over to the nearest plush sofa and flopped down on it. His feet rested on one arm while his head was on the other, "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with Xavier Francis Wentworth?" He turned to look at her, "Cause you know, since we're on the subject of farces,  Tawse technically isn't my actual name." He looked back at the green hued ceiling, "so what's wrong with me? How much time have you got?"

With a chuckle he looked to her again, "seriously though, you of all people should understand just how important it is to maintain an image," He flailed his hand around at her as if to illustrate his point, "You wouldn't have run off in such a huff if you didn't. Perfect Jordyn Dimbleby, can't let herself have even a little bit of fun."

He let the silence drag out between them. It was so quiet he was sure he could hear her glaring at him, "Did you know? Muggles consider alcohol a truth serum?" He closed his eyes and placed his hands behind his head on the arm of the couch, "if you want to know what a man really thinks all you need to do is get him good and sloshed."

Speaking of good and sloshed, Xavier took a brief moment to contemplate just how hung over he was going to be the next morning before adding, "you know the funniest part of all of this?" He had a feeling Jordyn wouldn't find it funny but feck it the whiskey thought it was and so the words continued to flow out of his mouth, "I didn't want to be that guy. I rathered be the bloody idiot who convinced his best friend to throw the hottest girl in school in the lake than be the wanker that got too drunk and did something she didn't want him to do."

Jordyn ignored the look on his face as she dried him off.  It was like he was asking for her to hex him.  Maybe he thought he deserved it?  That’d probably be the only thing they agreed on at this moment.  Her eyes trailed him as he moved around the common room and flopped on the chair like a drunk fish.  He wasn’t even making sense.  He just kept repeating the question and Jordyn could have pointed out that they could start with his flare for the dramatic.  First the accent, now his last name?!  Jordyn put her cup down and rubbed her eyes with the flats of her palms.  Wentworth?  Wasn’t the quidditch player who had been snogging Bevans Wentworth?  That was a question for another day though.  Lowering her hands, she let them fall to her knees fingers digging in just a little bit.  “As long as it takes you to get to the point,” she rolled her eyes at him and flexed her fingers again before swiveling to face him. 

It struck her suddenly that she was now becoming the person who knew things about Xavier Tawse Wentworth.  How did this happen?  And what did he think he knew about her?!  Curling her lip at him, her face and neck went hot.  “I was having fun!” she protested and then immediately stopped.  Her mouth hung open for a moment before she cleared her throat to be able to continue.  “I never drink and I never do… anything,” she gesticulated agitatedly, “against the rules and you just decided to ask Amherst to heave me into the lake!”  The disgusted sound that followed could only be described as a sort of clicking of her tongue mixed with an exasperated sigh. 

Needless to say, she wasn’t pleased with him.  She wasn’t just going to spill her entire life story to him though.  It was bad enough she admitted she had liked the whole stupid party.  Neely would have never let her live it down if she told her, but now she could play it off that she was miserable – evidenced by the story of the lake that everyone would inevitably be spreading around by everyone else who was there.  Ugh.  This was miserable.  No one would ever listen to her now!  It was hard enough when she had to look up to most of the fourth years and forget anyone older! 

And it was his entire fault.    His drunken idiot fault.  They sat in silence for a bit and Jordyn watched him – his eyes closed, draped over that chair and slurring in an accent that was otherwise completely ridiculous.  She couldn’t imagine finding any of it funny.  “What’s funny?” she sharply inquired.  Jordyn didn’t expect the answer he gave her though. 

She was so conflicted.  What did he honestly think he was going to do?  Did he really think that Jordyn’s fully sober mind and entirely capable wand was going to let him do something she didn’t want?  What did he think he was going to do in the first place?  There were so many questions swimming in her head.  But she couldn’t really do anything but focus on the fact that he called her – Jordyn Sage Dimbleby – the hottest girl in school.  That was clearly a joke.  This was all clearly a joke.  “You know, you’ve acted like this horrible person for so long – it’s like you just believe it,” Jordyn shook her head.  “You’re all bark – you’d never do a thing to me.  Even if you tried, I’m far more talented at charms than you,” she smiled a little.  When it registered that she was smiling, she cleared her throat and turned her cheek back toward the fire, “I think you just want to ruin things so you don't have to risk anything - being happy or sad... or anything.” 

Pot meet Kettle.  Notice, you are both cast iron and black.

Xavier ignored what she said about actually having fun. That way he didn't have to acknowledge the fact that she was actually right and having suggested otherwise had been a rather dick move on his part. However she could have acted differently. She could have played along, dunking Eli under as well or even pulling him into the lake. She didn't have to run off soaking wet, forcing herself to suffer. She was a witch for Merlin's sake! She obviously knew the right spells to have dried herself off so why bother leaving the party so early? She may have been having fun doing things she never did, but it clearly wasn't enough fun to have sticked around.

Xavier scoffed and sat up pointing rather forcefully at her, "No see, that's where you're wrong." There was a sort of twisted pleasure in telling her so, "I don't think I'm a horrible person, I actually think I'm rather awesome. Everyone else seems to think I'm horrible, like they're all just waiting for me to muck it all up." He bit his tongue before getting into even more of his family history. He may have been completely drunk but there were still a few things he kept closer to his chest. Since day one, everyone had expected horrible things of him. It didn't matter that he was a straight O student or that he had managed to secure ten OWLs - at an E or higher - and was set to get just as many NEWTS. All that people cared about was that he had been raised by one of the Ministry's Most Wanted.

"Even if you tried, I’m far more talented at charms than you,” He chuckled and rolled his eyes, "Don't flatter yourself darling." He leaned further, narrowing his eyes, the arctic blues glistened in the firelight, "But that does beg the question. How well can you cast a spell after drinking? If you had stayed and finished your glass, had another, or maybe one more would you still be so confident? Then again, maybe just maybe, you wouldn't have wanted to stop me. Which we both would regret."

He leaned back again going from serious to non chalant in one fluid movement, "But you know you are actually right about one thing. I didn't feel like taking any risks. I didn't want to risk that the girl I saw two years ago at Signature doesn't actually exist, I didn't want to risk that our conversation by the Lake had been a fluke and I sure as hell didn't want to risk acting on you wanting me to make you a drink while you teasingly touched my arm." He turned his eyes back to her, "I didn't want to risk anything on you, not when you so obviously don't feel the same way."

He was infuriating, absolutely infuriating. 

Obviously, he needed to stop drinking.  He was such an ass under the influence.  Maybe thinking he’d changed and was a bearable had been dumb.  Jordyn obviously struggled with her judgment from time to time, this was just one of those things. 

She would have disagreed with him, but it was pointless.  He believed himself and as much as she wanted to point out that she didn’t feel that way – not anymore, at least, she bit her tongue and fiddled with the sleeve of her jumper to distract herself.  It was better anyway, because he continued to spew nonsense, really.  Alcohol completely took all the best parts of him away.  Her cheeks turned scarlet.  It was just another thing to leave out of any spoken conversation. 

It was hard to remember the better parts right now anyway.  He was being so dramatic, and honestly?  Did he really think she was that out of control that she couldn’t choose how much she would drink or what choices she could make? “I’m a legal witch Xavier – I know when enough is enough.”  It seemed almost like a waste explaining that to him.  Honestly! She was an independent witch!  She could take care of herself; she’d been doing that for the better part of two years.  She maintained outstanding grades, spent her holidays virtually alone, and secured her own internships and work.  She’d felt like an adult witch since she was like fourteen.  Xavier Tawse – Wentworth – would have no idea about that though. 

The way he continued to describe her, it was like she wasn’t even a real person.  Jordyn rolled her eyes.  Men did this – Jai had done it and now… apparently Xavier was doing it too.  She was a person – she wasn’t some imagined idea of the perfect girl.  Se was completely real and completely screwed up.  While Xavier might have thought he was awesome, Jordyn could not claim the same.  Rolling her eyes at him, she sighed. 

“What about being a legal witch don’t you get?” Jordyn rested the flat of her palm against her temple while her elbow dug into her knee.  “I do what I want to do – nothing else.”  She wanted to be the best, she wanted to be a healer, this was all for her.  If Xavier thought he could convince her to do anything she didn’t want to do when she had complete control of herself, he really didn’t know her at all.  “I resent the fact that you think you can just decide what is good for me – or what I want.” Jordyn pushed herself up onto her knees and gripped at the roots of her hair with her hands, “Because this – this is the thing – you don’t know what I want,” she was so frustrated with him, “and you certainly don’t know how I feel!”  Then, there it was, tumbling out of her mouth in the fit of anger she didn’t anticipate spiraling into a disaster, “I don’t even know how I feel!”  Jordyn closed her eyes and breathed deep, still tugging at the roots of her hair.  Somehow, she felt lighter even though her chest felt like it might explode. 

Xavier's head was swimming.

He leaned back on the couch and put his arms up across the back of it. It looked like a completely casual position but it was purposeful. It was keeping him grounded. Even the slightest of movements was causing the room to spin. Jordyn's words weren't helping either. What the bloody hell did being a legal witch have to do with anything? These were clearly the words of a girl who didn't spend a lot of time inebriated. People did stupid things when they drank, he knew that all too well. If she seriously thought that she could maintain her control after a night of drinking and partying, well kudos to her. Mental note not to invite her to the next party. No one wanted to be in control when they went to those things, that had been the entire point!

He narrowed his eyes at her, trying to soak in her anger, frustration and the words it was causing her to say. Did she really just, was she trying to actually imply that she didn't hate him? The alcohol certainly wasn't helping him sort out his own feelings for her, be them as they may, but he was almost certain she was trying to say that she felt something back for him. Or at least she wasn't entirely sure she didn't feel something for him. He ran it through his head. He didn't know how she felt because she didn't know how she felt. Super, awesome, totally makes sense.

Something came to mind in that instant and he snapped his fingers and motioned for her to wait there. It was a miracle he managed to get up off the couch without falling or vomiting but once up he managed to move confidently enough. He made his way toward the male dorms and was gone for a few good minutes before returning. Thankfully almost every Seventh year Slytherin was out in the forest partying or he certainly would have woken someone. When he returned to the common room he handed her a folded Slytherin crested Handkerchief before resuming his comforting position on the couch.

"Admittedly my timing is ass but I didn't think you'd be coming to the party." Inside the folded silk was a single silver chain with an intricate pendant hanging off it. He closed his eyes once again trying to keep the room from spinning, "I may not think I'm a horrible person but I do know I'm a complete arse." He glanced over at where he had put down the bottle of Whiskey, there was only a few mouthfuls left, "I'm sorry for making you angry." He looked back at her, "And for getting Eli to throw you in the Lake and for babbling drunkenly at you." He didn't think either of them were able to fully comprehend what the other had been saying. At least he had no idea what she meant by any of her responses to his own idiocy. Surely he was giving her whiplash from this turn around. Intelligence and alcohol were not his best mix.

"Would you have stayed?" He narrowed his eyes only so as to be able to focus on her, "At the party, if you hadn't gotten wet, would you have stayed?"

She had a little surge of pride.  Even if he was drunk off of his head, she still liked to win in an argument and when someone didn’t have anything to say, Jordyn just interpreted that as her win.  This round went to her and Xavier had no idea what he was talking about so he was going to flee.  Probably to throw up or something. 

Maybe that would make him more coherent.  Jordyn sort of actually liked him when he was coherent… maybe more than sort of.  The thought made her uncomfortable and she scooted toward the fireplace, wrapping her arms around herself.  She’d put down her cocoa long ago, but decided it was appropriate to pick it up again.  All the ‘hot’ was gone and she was just left with lukewarm chocolate… She looked around where she was seated and leaned, stretching just far enough to roll her wand toward her with the tip of her fingers before grabbing it.  She stuck the tip in the cup and muttered a quick spell – steam rising off the top of the cup again. 

Another sip and she could calm herself before she heard uneven steps coming back.  Apparently Xavier had come back for the final word?  Looking up, she was surprised as he approached and extended something toward her, indicating that he had really bad timing.  Sure, that was an understatement, but what was he talking about specifically?  She accepted the wrapped mystery in her free hand and put the cup to the side, curious at the little parcel.  It had some heft to it and she weighed it in her hand.  She looked up at Xavier who deposited himself back on the couch and her eyebrows furrowed.  He was apologizing? 

Glancing down at the little parcel, she delicately picked at the handkerchief, seeing a glint of metal underneath as she lifted the corner.  Curiosity at a peak and anger now subsiding, Jordyn continued.  When she finally had the fabric unwrapped, nestled in the middle… Jordyn was surprised.  He had mentioned he did this sort of thing when they talked by the lake, but she never expected to have something he made given to her – as an apology no less.  Despite the fact that she wanted to be mad, Jordyn felt the tension leave her shoulders and they drooped.  “Thank you,” she blushed and traced with the coils of the snake with her pointer finger.  “I accept your apology,” she conceded.  The desire to fight was mostly gone and he sounded as earnest as one could when they were still completely drunk. 

“This is really pretty,” she lifted the pendant as an indicator while she continued to look at it.  “You never had to make me anything.”  Jordyn made a point to avoid his sharp eyes and licked her lips, really pondering his question.  Would she have stayed?  She lifted her eyes again and felt the flush rise over her as she admitted, “I don’t know.   I mean, I wanted to,” she anxiously fiddled with the handkerchief.   “The company wasn’t bad,” she smiled a little, trying to cushion truth with humor and downplay the fact that she had actually had a good time with him.  “I just… it’s humiliating,” she looked at him now, to explain her sudden departure. 

It was a thought that had struck her while he had disappeared.  “You were right, you know, about my image.  I do work hard to maintain how people see me,” her voice faltered and took a deep breath, “if I didn’t, everyone would just laugh at me.  Now they’re all definitely laughing at me,” she amended, fingers closing tight around the pendant, sharp edges digging into the flesh of her hand.  “Cat’s out of the bottomless bag now, though – Jordyn’s a joke and everyone knows.” 

She had accepted his apology. Excellent. He hadn't meant it to be so, but he was developing a habit of apologizing by giving girls jewelry. It certainly helped. Give a girl something shiny and pretty and they'll forgive you for anything. He was kind of hoping this would be the end of it, at least for tonight. He had said his piece, babbled incoherently and now perhaps they could continue to have fun. He doubted he could get her back to the party but that didn't mean they couldn't have fun just the two of them right here. And if he was lucky, she'd completely forget the fact that he might have just admitted that he might just have feelings for her. That was a can of flubberworms, they could open at a different time.

"I hadn't planned on giving it to you tonight. It was actually supposed to be a thank you." His cheeks turned a shade of crimson and he looked a little uncharacteristically sheepish, "I actually started studying, you know for the NEWTs and it . . . inspired me."

She had gone on to say that she likely would have stayed if he hadn't persuaded Eli to throw her in the lake. She explained her humiliation and tried to make light of it. Even in his drunken state he knew that wasn't like her and it definitely wasn't an appealing look on her, "No no no no no no." He half slid, half fell off the couch to sit down by her side, "You don't get to be self deprecating." He ran a hand through his tousled brown hair trying to tuck a stray lock out of the way, "No one can make a laughing stock of Jordyn Sage Dimbleby unless you let them." He had adopted a sort of regal tone when he spoke her full name, "Everyone here are idiots, we both know that. If they're going to laugh, it'll likely be at me and Eli. Besides with the amount of booze and gillyweed down there, they either won't remember, or didn't even notice."

He smirked, "Besides there's plenty of things down there that we can laugh at instead." Despite having looked as though he had been completely enraptured by her attentions, he had been able to get a good sense of what had been going on around them, "Like . . . Eli's glowing nipples, Asher trying alcohol, Elysia and Marco trying to flirt with each other, Zia's face when she found out Bevans plays for both teams, Eli's glowing nipples." He gave her a wink, "Give it another five minutes and someone else is going to do something even more stupid. Getting thrown in the lake will look like child's play."

Jordyn had a hard time not blushing when others were blushing around her.  Xavier’s admission, as sheepish as it was, was something that made her squirm in her seat a little bit.  Licking her lips, she trained her eyes on the pendant even harder, trying to will the flush on her cheeks to subside and bit on her bottom lip, still smiling just a little bit.  She closed her fingers around it the metal, warmed by her hand again, and released her lip, “I’m glad you’re studying,” she replied lamely, unsure of what to say. 

She especially didn’t know what to do when he was suddenly sitting on the floor next to her.  Jordyn’s heart sped up a little bit and she made sure to tuck her chin down and avoid all eye contact as he informed her that her that no one could make a joke of her.  Why did he always do this?  Why was he so insistent that it would all blow over so easily and no one would remember all the stupid things she did?  Jordyn couldn’t help but remember them – and then obsess about them later. 

But no, here he was, going on and on about how no one would remember or care and there were so many other things going on that hardly anyone would notice…Objectively, he was probably right.  That, of course, made Jordyn feel worse, because was she that self-centered on top of everything?   Probably, considering she was thinking about it.  He was so busy worrying about her and her self-pity and she was sitting her, wallowing in it.  Sure, it’d only really gotten brought up because he had her thrown in the lake, but still…

Lifting her head, the tip of her tongue swept between her lips before she humbled herself enough to say, “Thank you,” placing a hand on his leg.  Xavier was significantly taller than her, so she pressed against her palm to sit up higher and craned her neck, kissing him on the cheek.  She hadn’t even thought about it, but he was being so nice and even though he kind of smelled like alcohol and was tousled from slipping off the couch, Jordyn sank back to the sitting position and laughed awkwardly, “You are so good to me sometimes.”  Her eyes followed the dancing shadows on the floor and she stared into the fire, afraid that if she looked at him she might explode from embarrassment, “Just… thanks, really.” 

Xavier had lowered his eyes as she examined the pendant. He had caught a light blush on her cheeks and didn't want to stare. He was also aware of the flush that had filled his own cheeks and was trying to will it away. He could easily blame the alcohol for it, as he was pretty far gone at this point but he was more concerned that there was another cause behind it. After all he was having a hard time trying not to think of her lately. He couldn't pinpoint when his opinion of the Head Girl had shifted, it had been so gradual and so subtle. However he was certainly seeing and feeling about her differently than he had over the past seven years they had shared a house.

His attention was swiftly brought back to her when she placed a hand on his thigh. He swallowed hard and let out a strange noise, somewhere between a groan and a whine when she pressed down to give herself leverage to place a kiss on his cheek. He couldn't stop the redness from taking over his face, his pale eye staring at her a little wide. An almost uncomfortable warmth had spread through him from where her hand had been. The sensation was much more intense than when she had touched his arm at the party. He pushed through the thoughts that came bursting through on alcohol propelled lust in order to respond to her.

"Hey you deserve it." He didn't move his gaze away this time, regardless of how deep his blush had become, "I really mean that though. I mean I know I've pretty much made it my job to bug you since our first year." He rubbed nervously at the back of his neck slightly adjusting his position to lean a little more towards her, "But that's just me being a wanker. You deserve someone being good to you." His thoughts racing he tried to gauge if he should make a move or not. How would she even react to something like that? Then again he didn't want to miss out on any opportunities either. He doubted she'd be the kind of girl to make the first move and if he was reading the situation wrong he could very well end up getting hexed after all.

A look of confusion crossed his chiseled features and a light smirk touched his lips, "You kissed me . . ."

This was so weird.  Sitting on the floor of the common room and blushing with Xavier Tawse… never in all of their years did she imagine this would happen.  It was the sort of thing she and Neely would joke about after a long night of doing homework and drinking frozen hot chocolates – laguhing until their sides hurt at the ridiculousness of it.

But, this wasn’t really a joke was it?  Jordyn fiddled a little with her hands and giggled, despite herself.  “You’ve always been kind of a wanker, haven’t you?” she teased, ducking her chin, but still looking up through her eyelashes at him.  She ignored the second part of that – mostly because it made her feel guilty.  Jai’s warm brown eyes and wide, sweet smile flashed in her mind and her stomach clenched.  Gddric, she was a terrible person.  He’d been nothing but good to her… She’d repaid him by being the worst witch in the world. 

Xavier didn’t know any of that though, and she wasn’t going to tell him.  Jordyn was great at the secret things.  She’d made it her busienss to get good at it.  Clearly, it paid off.

But Xavier was so close to her now, she was dragged out of her thoughts and shook her head.  “Only on the cheek,” she defended weakly, heat building in her face and down her neck.  She hadn’t even thought about what she was doing when she did it… it just sort of felt like the right thing to do.  “Sorry,” she added quickly, “you know, if it was too much.”  Here it came, the word vomit, babbling like a moron or something, “I wouldn’t want to overstep, but the pendant was so nice… and I’ve never heard you apologize to anyone before…” Jordyn felt like she was getting smaller with every word and she looked down at the floor, embarrassed before finally settling: “I’m sorry.”

This was it, this was his moment.

His arctic blue eyes widened ever so slightly to drink her in. The blush on her cheeks, the way she had looked up at him through her eyelashes. His skin was on fire, every sensation was flaring. He could barely even hear what she was saying. Not that he really needed to hear the lame excuse she was trying to give him. None of that mattered. If he didn't seize this moment, this particular one right here, he wasn't likely to get a second chance.

As she lowered her head with yet another apology, Xavier let instincts take over. He reached forward, placing a hand on her cheek and lifting her face gently so as to look back at him. He didn't think he had ever touched her so intimately. In fact he hadn't done anything like this since the Summer Cruise and he had been far more wasted than he was right now.

He simply shook his head in response to her, "No it wasn't too much." He leaned forward and whispered, "I wasn't nearly enough." He closed the distance between them and placed his own lips on hers. The moment was brief, for now. He didn't want to be forceful, it was something he had been trying to avoid since the start but he knew this was a now or never moment.

For a person who was almost always in complete control and aware of everything going on around her, Jordyn felt completely lost in this moment.  She didn’t know what to do.  Xavier was looking at her – and though she’d seen that look before, for sure, but she’d never seen it on him.  The fact that it was directed at her?  Unthinkable. 

Her heart pounded against the back of her ribs and when he touched her face it was like an explosion of heat all over.  The sound of blood rushing through her ears made it impossible to register anything except the weight and roughness of his fingers on her cheek and the way they pushed her chin upward to look at him.  Her brown eyes went wide and Jordyn made a nervous, strangled sort of sound of surprise. 

Despite her better judgment, Jordyn leaned forward too and as their lips touched, her eyes fluttered shut.  Sure, in passing she maybe sort of wondered how his lips might feel, but never in her wildest imagination did she think it would ever happen and boy… even if she caught a taste the whiskey he had been drinking earlier,  that wasn’t her focus.  It was the lightness, kind of like… care he took in kissing her that made her chest constrict and tingles shoot up all over her skin. 

But, Jordyn didn’t want to be treated like some kind of icon or breakable thing… maybe that was why she put up with him – he never treated her softly.  He had enough sense to call her on her ridiculousness and push her.  So, shifting her weight toward her knees, Jordyn sat up a little taller and finally figuring out what to do with her hands, she pushed one into his dark hair and pulled him back into a deeper kiss while the other braced against his collar bone, twisting into the fabric of his shirt. 

Well he didn't get hexed, which he supposed was always a good thing.

In fact things had been completely flipped upside down for him. Not only had she accepted the soft tentative kiss he had given her she had returned it with something much deeper. He made a sound of approval as she twisted her fingers through his tousled hair. He placed his other hand on her hip and shifted his own weight to bring his whole body to face her. Bringing his knees up he placed a leg on either side of her and pulled on her hip guiding her into his lap, closing the gap between their chests as he continued the kiss.

This certainly wasn't how he imagined his night would go. Well perhaps he had imagined it, he almost always did when alcohol was involved. Though despite his imaginations there wasn't usually a face to go with the lips. He was still a hormone driven teenaged boy, despite how close he was to his eighteenth birthday. The goal, at this point, of any party was to hook up but this was . . . different somehow. This wasn't a hookup, not in the wham bam thank you ma'am sort of way. He was hoping, however unlikely it was, that this was only a first and not a last.

As he parted the kiss, with a soft gasp for breath he placed the hand he had on her cheek on her other hip, holding her in his lap. He looked down, averting her gaze, still unsure of how to proceed with someone like her, "Look, um, I know you've got your image and I certainly have mine. If you don't want to tell anyone, I understand."