It was two days since the big duel, and Kyle and Nicola had barely spoken. Of course Kyle had gotten into a little argument with Gavin the night before, it was sad that he had spoken to his enemy about things before his dearest friend. It really, really sucked. He was worried that he might've lost Nic, as the last time he saw her he was walking away to the infirmary with a broken bone sticking out of arm and a scowl on his face. There were so many things that were on Kyle's mind. From why she was with Gavin in the first place to those two dreadful kisses. Why, oh why did it have to be Gavin? Kyle wasn't sure, but there was a good chance that that was Nicola's first kiss which drove him even more insane. He didn't like to admit it, and wouldn't ever to Nicola unless she was wise to his game but he really liked her. It was a sort of building thing, and it wasn't in some sexual way like most people their age but he just liked her for her. This was becoming a pretty complicated situation.

The duel with Gavin was another story in itself. Kyle was just too aggressive, very unfocused. He cursed himself for not concentrating more. Gavin got him so pissed off with those kisses and remarks... he wasn't focusing and it resulted in a broken arm. If Gavin hadn't hurt his ankle, and Nicola hadn't stepped in there was a big chance that he would have won. Kyle could only take so much pain, and doing aerial attacks wouldn't fly. Kyle groaned at the thought of the pathetic duel, and tried to push it away from his mind. He would graduate in two months... just two months. It could not be sooner.

So Kyle looked for her everywhere. The Great Hall, and library, random classrooms on random floors and he hadn't found her yet. He had been working up from the first and was now on the sixth floor. Kyle walked up to the door, sighed and opened it expecting it to be just another empty room. Would he ever find Nicola?

Nicola had purposefully kept away from Kyle these past few days just because of her stubborn side and her anger. The duel had been pointless and without result, mainly because Nicola had stepped in to stop it. Kyle was a lot easier to avoid than Gavin because Kyle was in a completely different house. Her anger was more fueled towards Kyle because the duel would not have happened if it were not for his snap judgment of the situation or his temper. Nicola wondered if Gavin would have done anything given the chance. Of course when he had been given the chance he just egged him on especially by kissing her. Nicola still needed to talk to Gavin about that one, she had left any interaction with her fellow housemate to casual and polite conversation.

Gavin was one of the reasons she was not in the library or the common room, but the major reason was she wanted to get some studying done. Nicola usually found an empty classroom somewhere to study in as she found she had more focus away from others. Nicola had a bunch of books open on a couple desks she had pushed together. She was studying hard for her NEWTS not to mention a few class projects she had. Potions was where she was struggling most but her focus was on making sure she got her highest marks in the area of Charms, Transfiguration, and DADA. She had dreams of the Ministry and she wasn’t going to let her social problems affect her. She couldn’t let it eat away at her, plus she was just plain angry and she had nothing better to do than study.

Nicola heard the door and expected the person to leave right away but when they didn’t she turned to look at who it was. Kyle had to come looking at her didn’t she. Nicola looked away and back to her papers, “What do you want?” She just wanted to study but apparently Kyle was going to put a stop to that.

“What do you want?”

Kyle was a little startled to see that he had actually found Nicola. He'd been debating with himself on what to say to her over the last couple days, but now that he had the chance he found that he was short of words. "Uh.." He said hesitantly, trying to make sure not to piss her off any more than she already was. Nicola was a little volatile at times, but she never got mad unreasonably and Kyle was just outright too concerned about her. He didn't think she understood that, and if he told her it was because he really liked her then it would close one pandora's box and open another. This whole situation was just no good. No good at all.

"Yeah. I just wanted to talk..." He said, sounding like a complete doofus for struggling so much. He hoped she didn't judge him for that. But Kyle was overreacting. Nicola was his best friend, and had been for two years. She was the closest person he had, and he didn't have many friends. If he lined up the people who hated him with the people who didn't, the odds wouldn't be very good. Doesn't matter how good you are with a wand, if you have stacks of people against you, you're gonna get your ass handed to you. Kyle knew this, but if the situation presented itself he'd probably fight anyways. It was just how he was.

"Nicola I'm sorry." He said plainly, hopeing she'd understand everything he wanted to say but was having trouble to. "I ruined your night, I shouldn't have done what I did... no matter what Gavin said or did." Kyle visibly winced a little as he said the last word, thinking back to the two kisses Gavin had given her. He still hated him for it, but he wasn't about to start a war with someone. Nicola wasn't Helen. This wasn't that. Things like this just took time. But Kyle didn't want it to. If only he could tell her. But Kyle's only real skill involved a wand and blowing things up. Everything else he lacked in, and had to put actual effort into.

With her eyes still on her homework she listened to him, she didn’t want to listen to him but she couldn’t focus on her homework. Nicola was being stubborn and pigheaded she knew but it was who she was and she couldn’t change that. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to say it seemed and she knew that she could have helped out by giving her focus to him but she was angry. Nicola new she had a right to be angry but she also knew she was acting childish in the way that she was handling the situation. Nobody said you had to be completely grown and matured by eighteen.

“Mhmm,” she sounded as she glanced at him before focusing on the pages of her potions textbook. Nicola was getting sick of the fights she had to see Kyle get into, his enemies truly out numbered his friends. She found it had to find a friend he didn’t seem to hate. She and Gavin we friends and Kyle was going to have to get use to that. Nicola doubted it would be anything more than friends truthfully but she really had liked that kiss. Those darn kisses were on her mind and she hated how curious she was to kiss him again.

Sorry slipped from Kyle’s lips and she looked up at him again this time for longer. “No you shouldn’t have reacted the way you did,” Nicola said gruffly but continued to look at him. “You need to get it that I will make friends with people you don’t like, it is a lot easier than you think.” Nicola racked her fingers through her hair in frustration as she usually did with both hands. “I like Gavin he is my friend.” She let her hands rest linked on her neck for a moment fore letting them drop to the desk. “I am sick of you being so protective especially over things you think are so bad when they aren’t to me. Gavin is not a bad guy, and you know he wouldn’t have kissed me if it weren’t for you.” Nicola hated how that made her feel, that Gavin had only kissed her because of Kyle. “You need to understand I can handle myself, and that I don’t need your protection. I’m a big girl and capable.”

Looking at her papers again she thought of what else she needed to say, she was surprised she had been so calm in what she had said. “Kyle you need to stop being so angry all the time, I know you have your reasons but you need to stop attacking everything. You need to stop hurting yourself.” Nicola heard the tone starting  in her voice.

“I am sick of you being so protective especially over things you think are so bad when they aren’t to me. Gavin is not a bad guy, and you know he wouldn’t have kissed me if it weren’t for you.”

Kyle nodded, knowing full well that Nicola was right. Kyle was always raising flags at the people she hung out with, or the things she did. It wasn't that he was some goody goody, he just wanted her to be safe. It was Kyle's job to do the stupid reckless things, not Nicola's. Not that she was reckless, but everything was amplified in Kyle's eyes and all he did was worry. The comment about kissing her if it wasn't for Kyle really stung, because he knew that it was probably her first kiss and he brought that upon himself/her. Argh!

“You need to understand I can handle myself, and that I don’t need your protection. I’m a big girl and capable.”

"You're right. I'm sorry." Kyle said simply, he didn't know how else to put it. She was right, though his apology probably sounded stupid. It was a very rare occasion that Kyle would ever apologize to anyone for anything he did, but Nicola was too important to him to not.

“Kyle you need to stop being so angry all the time, I know you have your reasons but you need to stop attacking everything. You need to stop hurting yourself.”

Kyle nodded, agreeing with this point too. Nicola may have not spoken to him since the night of the duel but she was completely right. She wasn't blinded by her stubbornness, she wasn't blinded by the kisses from Gavin, she was absolutely right. It was a sort of epiphany for Kyle. Truth be told, he didn't have that many friends. The number against him so vastly outweighed the number with him, it was ridiculous. One couldn't attribute it to society's growing lack of morals either. People like Gavin and Devlin would always be there, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. "I know." He said quietly, now looking at the ground. He had no idea what he could say to Nicola to make this better, she was pissed off and doing homework. "Maybe we should just talk later." He stated, taking a step back as he strongly considered just leaving her along.

All he had to say was sorry and I know that was not enough. Nicola looked at Kyle a little stunned he had nothing more to say; didn’t he always have something to say? “Why don’t you have anything more to say?” She appreciated that he was apologizing but was it because he actually felt bad or thought what he did was wrong. Nicola knew that things were never going to quiet between Gavin and Kyle and she hoped that something like this would not happen again but Nicola had little faith they could contain themselves.

Nicola closed her textbook and looked up at Kyle. “Don’t go,” she said quietly as she looked up at him. Brushing a few strands of her hair from her face she bit her lower lip. She had no idea what to tell him but the figured they should talk no rather than let it linger. “We should talk now,” Nicola didn’t know if she should stand up and go talk to him or not. “I don’t like getting angry with you,” Kyle was her best friend and she felt she could tell him everything and she didn’t want to loose that. “We need to find a way to work with this wont we?” Nicola shrugged her shoulders.

Stacking her things on top of one another she got it ready to carry or put in her bag. She was trying to keep herself from getting annoyed or sounding angry, she felt like this conversation needed to be done calmly.

“Why don’t you have anything more to say?”

Kyle, still turned, wasn't sure what to make of the statement. Was she telling him what he said wasn't good enough, or was she surprised at how brief he was in his statement? "Uh, I don't know what else to say..." He trailed off, angry at himself for not being able to think of anything better to tell Nic. He was still confused about things and thinking something up wasn't very possible at this point.

“Don’t go,”

Kyle turned around, running his hand through his air nervously as Nicola told him to stop. He listened closely, and agreed that they really needed to work things out. He certainly didn't want to lose the only person who really understood the way he worked in the world. Kris never really talked about anything important, he hadn't seen Isaac in person for years, Ian was always gone somewhere off in his own head and Ciarra... well he hadn't seen her in ages and they weren't especially close to begin with. Kyle felt like when the world came crashing down Nicola would be there. He was a little bit dramatic with that sort of thing.

“We need to find a way to work with this wont we?”

"Yeah." He said briefly, glad that Nicola wanted to work things out. "I just... you know me Nic and how I am. I don't want to lose you." He said calmly, "I really don't. And when I saw you with Gavin I didn't really think. Next to Devlin, he's the biggest enemy I've got in this school. I didn't know what to think." He said a little hurriedly, his mind bouncing in all different sorts of places. He groaned quietly to himself. He was so mad that he had gotten himself into this. "I just don't wanna lose you." He added redundantly, not aware of it until he said it. Why did he have to be so dramatic? It's only Gavin Snark. He may be a prat but he wouldn't to hurt Nicola... would he?

Why did he have nothing else to say? He had to have something to say about this. Kyle had plenty of words to say on the night of the duel, but that might have been his anger towards Gavin. “Why do you hate Gavin?” She had to ask especially if the strange feelings she felt were something real like a crush. What if what she felt due to that kiss was something more than curiosity at the kiss? Nicola doubted she actually had a crush on Gavin it had to be the after affect of getting one’s first kiss in not the most opportune way. You were supposed to feel something for the person who kissed you right? Nicola didn’t want to think about it right now but she would at least like to know why Kyle hated Gavin it was a question she had never asked before.

“Kyle why do you think you are going to lose me?” That was kind of sweet when she thought about it. Kyle was strangely sweet at times and sometimes Nicola caught it. “I doubt you are going to get rid of me easily.” She weakly laughed as she looked at him. “Even if I were to date someone you would still be my friend, and let’s be honest who wants to date me.” Nicola always figured she would just be the friend, which is why her first kiss had to happen in hopes to piss Kyle off more than he already was.

“I cannot make any promises that I wont hang out with Devlin or Gavin. Since Gavin is my friend I am bound to spend a bit of time with Devlin.” Nicola rubbed the back of her neck hoping not to anger Kyle. “I intend to spend more time with Gavin because I like him.” Nicola didn’t really how that could sound.

“Why do you hate Gavin?”

That question was loaded. Kyle didn't even know where to begin, especially if he wanted to make sure not to piss Nicola off again. This conversation wasn't going to be easy. "Well... there's a lot of reasons Nic. I'm not a complete nutter, I see things how they are... and I think past his smooth talking veil he is a very twisted individual. It's not like I care that you're hanging out with guys or anything it's just... him." Kyle said gritting his teeth a little hoping he hadn't struck a wrong chord. "We've had this feud since he began Hogwarts."

“Even if I were to date someone you would still be my friend, and let’s be honest who wants to date me.”

Kyle sighed with relief. "You're just important to me Cola." He said in a relieved tone of voice. "I'd probably go completely insane if I didn't have someone to vent and chill with like yourself" He added with a smile, the first one he'd had in the conversation. Kyle chuckled a little, it was sad that Nicola didn't think that anyone would ever want to date her. "I think you're a little loony if you think that Nicola. Trust me eh?" He said cracking a crooked smile. "Once you're past your tad rough exterior, its hard not to want to. Why else would Gavin have kissed you? You can't attribute it all to trying to piss me off..." He said trailing off a little, his smile fading slightly as he brought Gavin up, and the kissing in general. But it was whatever, if it got Nicola thinking more positively that was for the good.

“I cannot make any promises that I wont hang out with Devlin or Gavin. Since Gavin is my friend I am bound to spend a bit of time with Devlin.”

Kyle frowned. The two worst enemies of Kyle were not consorting with his best friend. Irony tailed Kyle like it was a shadow. "Yeah, okay. Sure." He said in the most casual and pleasant tone he could muster. "I'll be fine, I'll read a book." He added to try to lighten the atmosphere, even if it did not make sense. Kyle did that too often.

“If you are worried I am going to be tricked by him I wont,” Nicola looked at him with a look of disbelief. “I know he is a smooth talker, and he has tried to charm me but it isn’t going to work. I am just his friend.” Nicola shrugged her shoulders as she curled some of her brown hair behind her ear. “I just don’t see why that makes you hate him so much? Why do you have such a feud?” Nicola wondered if it was over something silly.

Kyle was the only one ever to get away with calling her Cola, it was a rare thing but it did come out. “I know I am, and you are important to me. You know the most about me.” He was still in the dark about the squib thing though, which she was going to rectify eventually. “I think you would go insane if I wasn’t around and might lack a limb.” Nicola joked as she grinned at him.

“I think you are just saying that, you got past my rough exterior and you don’t want to date me.” A soft laugh left her lips with a sweet smile; it was rare thing to see that smile or the soft laugh. Her soft laugh was a little grittier than most but it was softer in comparison to the other. “I think the kiss was fueled by you not me,” rolling her eyes, “Some first kiss, all because of you.”

“Read a book? Really?” Nicola really doubted that Kyle would contain himself if he saw her with Devlin or the pair of them.

"I just don’t see why that makes you hate him so much? Why do you have such a feud?”

To this Kyle had no answer. It just was. Some things you just didn't ask questions about because it was how it always was. "I don't really know. The catalyst isn't in my memory, but things build off one another and it becomes one giant screwed up situation. Neither of us can ever back down because we each have too much pride. I mean if you've spoken to him you know what I mean."

“I think you would go insane if I wasn’t around and might lack a limb.”

Kyle's grin widened as he saw Nicola grin. At least some of the tension was releasing. "Or two." He added with a wink. "You always get me out of crazy stuff Nic, that's the great thing about you."

"I think you are just saying that, you got past my rough exterior and you don't want to date me."

Kyle froze for a second, looking a little awkward. Merlin's beard the situations he got himself into were just ridiculous. Kyle was a fast thinking, but coming up with an excuse for this one wasn't going to be easy because he did fact want to date her. "Er -- well. I -- uh. I did a little last year, but now I don't because I don't want a chance to ruin our friendship -- yeah." Kyle hurriedly said, sounding like a complete buffoon in the process and likely giving away his real thoughts. Kyle normally did very well under pressure but when it came to Nicola things were differently.

“Read a book? Really?”

Trying to return things back to normal, Kyle gave a weak smile. "Yes, a book. Perhaps on manners..." He joked.

“I guess I know what you mean,” she shrugged her shoulders. “Well just don’t duel him over me again.” Nicola felt odd saying it but some where inside of her was a little happy they had. Maybe it was an ego boost, or the only chance she got for someone to fight over her.

“I know! Where would you be without me?” Nicola gave him a smirk as she started to shove some books in her bag. She carefully put her quills away carefully with the start of her essay. She would just carry a few of her books.

It was a good thing she had not stood up or put her books into her arms because she would have dropped them. Kyle liked her? Last year? Well the way he finished that sentence sounded like he wasn’t exactly over her. “Oh?” Nicola looked at Kyle trying to keep the shock from her features. “You liked me?” Nicola couldn’t exactly comprehend this fact that he actually liked her.  If he did still then that was going to put a little damper on the whole friendship thing. It was Kyle her friend and nothing more, well actually she had never thought about the potential.

He liked her? That was not going to be an easy thought to get rid of. She had that feeling of being in a small enclosed space and she nervously ran her fingers through her hair. She had to think of something else, “Yes a book on manners might do the trick,” she nervously said. She felt like her mind was elsewhere.

“I know! Where would you be without me?”

"Generally speaking... I was thinking if being a wizard failed me I could always be a professional kite flyer. You know those muggle devices they fly in the air... yeah, I could totally see that." Kyle said jokingly, though he was not sure if she knew what a kite was. He was raised doing as many muggle things as not, and when he was very young it was a silly dream he had.

“You liked me?”

Kyle nodded quietly, reading the shock on Nicola's face and registering it as a bad sign. Damnit! Why did he have to be such a fool sometimes? Times like these just reinforce Kyle's disliking of socializing with girls. Nic was different of course, she was his best friend. But what happened when one got too involved... ugh. Kyle was screaming at himself from inside his head for saying what he said. It had huge potential to create a schism in their friendship and things wouldn't be the same. This was exactly what Kyle feared. His expression was badly hidden as he was freaking out about what Nicola was hiding. Times like these he wish he inherited his older brother's skill for legillimens. Why the hell did he have to be so stupid? "Uh... yeah. But don't like... freak out or anything it wasn't some intense love or something. I like it the way we are?" He said, his last sentence sounding more like a question than a statement. His face was flushed red and he was leaning uncomfortable to one side as he spoke with Nic.

“Yes a book on manners might do the trick,”

"Heh. I'll get on tha'..." He said quietly, his anger at himself surprisingly well controlled.

“A kite flyer?” Yes the concept of a kite was lost on her, what the hell was a kite. “You know I really don’t know what a kite is, just like I don’t know a lot of muggle things.” She gave an awkward smile as she looked at him not really finding the humour in it. “You know growing up in a magical family, well sort of.” She shrugged her shoulders, “I never told you but my ma is a squib.” A look of some embarrassment washed over her features. “I don’t talk about that, my whole family doesn’t actually.” Nicola shrugged her shoulders, “Don’t tell anyone.” She knew Kyle wouldn’t but she just felt she had to say it.

Anything to get her mind off the fact he liked her, and the fact her mother was a squib was the only thing she could think of. Not some intense love? What the hell was that supposed to mean? “So you just liked me because you mistook what this was?” She hoped what that is, but even that made her feel uncomfortable. The fact her mother was a squib was not keeping her mind clear of this whole Kyle liking her thing. “I don’t know I just didn’t picture being your type, or anyone’s for that matter.”

Kyle frowned, his attempt at humor had failed. But he didn't really expect her to know anyways, he didn't know why he said it. Kyle's eyes widened as Nicola told him her mother was a squib. That was... shocking. A pureblood slytherin girl had a squib mother? Kyle didn't judge or care about it whatsoever, but that was a very personal thing that likely nobody outside her family knew about. "Oh wow... really? I never would have guessed." He said awkwardly. How does one even respond to something like that? With a hug? A smile? Telling her it is interesting? This conversation was going south, and fast. He felt a little bad for her though, it was clearly something personal and his mind was swimming with so many other things he couldn't take a break to really listen. "I won't tell." He assured her.

“So you just liked me because you mistook what this was?”

"No... no no no." He said quickly. "Don't take this wrong it was silly you know you get close to someone they mean a lot to you... I don't know but it's fine I don't anymore, I don't. We're friends." He rambled on.

“I don’t know I just didn’t picture being your type, or anyone’s for that matter.”

Kyle in spite of himself chuckled a little. "I don't have a type, so don't worry. I'm too different." He said, looking at her for the first time in minutes. "You however, you're just too down on yourself. You'll find your guy..." He said kindly, "I know it."