WHO: Cecilia Hooke & Evan Rosier
WHAT: Lily kicked his ass, and now he's all hurt. :[
WHERE: His apartment
WHEN: August '78
Cecilia had Apparated over the split second that she had gotten Kalista's owl. Well--maybe not the split second, she had to read it and go over her hair at least once and--anyway, she had come as fast as possible for her. Not like she really cared about Antonin (it was horrible, but it was kinda true), or had even paid attention to the parts in the letter about Antonin for that matter. All she cared about was that Evan was hurt--really hurt from what the owl said--and that had left a horrible feeling in her stomach and she knew that she had to see him. This wasn't a favor for a friend as Kalista might think, this felt like something she had to do, that she wanted to do. She wanted to take care of Evan because that's what you did when you cared about--
--yeah, she cared about him, so what? She was over it. She cared about the prick, and he wasn't even that much of a prick anymore so she didn't know why it mattered. It didn't. Over it.
"Kali!" Cecilia called into the apartment, having popped straight into the living room. She had to stop herself from calling to Evan instead, even that's the only person she really wanted to see. "Where are you?"
"IN HERE!" Kalista called out to Cecilia as she heard her voice at the door, kneeling beside the couch where her brother was laying. He was awake, but barely able to talk or move. She was lucky she was able to get an answer out of him when she asked about Antonin, and if he had seen him or not. When questioning where he had gotten all the cuts and bruises, he had replied with "There was an attack." Since Kal was well aware of her brother's 'status', she had gotten worried. She hadn't seen her boyfriend all day, and didn't know where he had gone. Had something happend to him? She hoped that he would come home right away and put her mind at ease, but of course he didn't. Her mind was clouded with thoughts of where he could be, and what could have happened to him if he was caught in the crossfire. She couldn't rest until she was sure that he was alright...but she couldn't leave Evan alone.
That was why she wrote to Cecilia. She was the only person she could trust enough to watch over her brother.
Rising to her feet once her best friend walked into the room, she wiped away the tears that had filled her eyes while trying to clean up the blood on Evan's cheek. Fuck, he was so stupid sometimes! Sighing, she turned to the brunette. "Thank you for coming. He's...he's fine, but he can't really talk too well." She glanced over her shoulder at Evan before returning her attention to Cecilia. "I should be back soon. If anything happens, I'll write to you. But I just..." she sighed. "Just make sure he doesn't move too much, alright? He keeps trying to get up." She rolled her eyes. "Stubborn, as always...okay, I'll be back later..." She threw her arms around Cecilia, hugging her. "I owe you big time." Releasing her, she walked past her and grabbed her bag and wand, exiting the apartment, before she apparated once she was out in the hallway
"No, I owe you," Cecilia muttered to herself as Kalista exited the room, truly thankful that her friend had thought to call on her. Letting her eyes rest upon the wounded man laying on the sofa, she knew this was where she wanted to be, not ignorant and sitting at home doing her nails. It would have been so much worse to find out later and not have been there to help him.
Not that... she was quite sure what she was supposed to do to help him, but--well, she would do her best.
She walked quietly over towards the blonde man, depositing her purse on the small table in front of the couch and went down to a kneeling position next to him. Merlin, he looked... absolutely bloody horrible. Cuts and bruises and she couldn't help the shock in her eyes because where in the world could he have gotten all of this? It looked like he'd picked a fight with a dragon or something of the like. Cecilia knitted her brow slightly as she looked him up and down; these weren't normal wounds to just acquire.
"What in the world hap--sorry, forgot you can't really talk," she apologized quickly. "I guess... just give me a sign if you need anything, then, I'll try to figure it out, I'll stay right here."
Evan had been watching the two girls talk, not in the best of spirits. He had told Kal not to get anyone, that he would be fine...but then again, seeing Cecilia did put him in a better mood. Not that he was about to get up and start breaking into song and dance, but he wasn't as miserable as he was before she got there.
When Kal left, he used his good arm to scoot himself back on the couch a little bit, propping himself up. He winced as he moved, watching Cecilia move beside him. What in the world hap-- He avoided her eye contact, glad that she didn't bother to continue on with her questioning. He sat there, listening to her, giving her an 'are you kidding me' look when she suggested that he try and mime what he needed. He swallowed with some effort and shook his head, his voice a bit raspy and strained. "I'm not going to play charades…” he sighed and tilted his head back, resting it on the back of the couch. “I don’t need anything…not right now, anyway.”
Cecilia felt a blush creep up on her cheeks as he spoke and attempted to cover it by looking to the floor and brushing her hair idly behind her ear. "Right. Kalista just said that you couldn't really speak," she said quietly, bringing her hand down and folding it over the other. "I'm just trying to help you."
Feeling the blush cool after a few moments of silence, she looked up again, but at the wall opposite rather than at Evan. She didn't really know if she wanted to look at him anymore, not--it was downright painful to see him in pain. Such a perplexing feeling for a girl that had never felt pain or sympathy for anyone but herself in her life, and she didn't like it much at all. The last time she had tried caring for someone, they had deserted her--bloody Nicholas, she had thought she had taught herself to disregard the well being of others long ago.
"I... I'll admit that I really don't know what to do," she said, clearing her throat. She sounded stupid, but the silence made her think and she didn't like the things she was thinking about.
He understood. He understood completely that that was all she was trying to do, and as soon as she saw her expression change into one he had never seen her make before, he felt like a complete ass. He thought about aplogizing, but that would probably just be a waste of energy, and only cause his already sore throat more pain. He'd save his voice for now.
Once she spoke again, he leaned back more and stared up at the ceiling fan. "Neither do I..." he admitted quietly. Silence came between them again until he decided to turn his head to her. He noticed how she was looking at him...worried, and maybe even a little bit scared for him. "It looks a lot worse than it is."
Okay, maybe he was lying, because it hurt like a fucking bitch, but the last thing he needed was for her to feel like she needed to do more than just be there.
"Yeah..." she agreed, although from another glance (that she knew she shouldn't have taken) at him, she could tell that it was a complete lie. She couldn't quite convince herself that it was nothing now that she had gone and reminded herself of the extent of his injuries--the question of what had happened arose in her throat again, seeing as he apparently could speak enough to answer it, but she decided not to ask. Truthfully, she probably didn't want to know because that would only make her more worried and--
--bloody man. She kinda felt obliged to hate him a little for this, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it. Just like she couldn't hate him after that night in the kitchen, and she hadn't been able to hate him since.
"You'll be fine, won't you?" Cecilia had meant that to come out as a reassurance and a statement, but then she looked at him again--fuck, it was a habit she had to drop--and it had turned into a question, and her voice had dropped a little and she was the one that needed the reassurance now.
She really had to stop looking at him like that...it was just making him feel guilty for being like this. And he had nothing to feel guilty about. But, he couldn't tell her what happened, could he? He couldn't just tell her why he was bloody and bruised, and even if he could, he'd feel like an idiot telling her that a girl about her age had done the damage. A fucking girl. Stupid fucking bitch Lily Potter...
Nodding, he moved his hand over to cover her own small hands that were folded on the couch, giving them a weak squeeze. "I'll be fine." He knew he wasn't going to die, and that the bruises and gashes would all heal in time. How soon, he didn't know, but he'd be fine.
He sat, staring at the wall with his hand still over hers, until he looked back to her. "Do me a favor...?" He asked with a raised brow. "Just get me a damp cloth. That's all I need. There should be something in the bathroom, down the hall." Knowing that she would oblige to his small request, he took the opportunity while she was gone to sit up on the couch. He couldn't move very well because his shirt kept on rubbing against the burns on his back. When his legs were finally swung around to the front, he had to stay a bit hunched over, his elbows resting on his legs as he closed his eyes, as though he was trying to block out the pain.
It sent a slight chill through her when he touched her hands, and the action coaxed a tiny smile to turn up the sides of her lips. That and his words of assurance and she felt scores better already, although it didn't stop the disappointment when she had to slip her hands away to get up and get him the cloth. She was happy to have him give her some task to help him, but that had been the most affectionate gesture she had ever had him give her, and she was a tad reluctant to end it.
Cecilia found a small white washcloth easily enough and walked to the bathroom. She turned on the faucet and held her hand under the water until she deemed it warm and then put the cloth under it, saturating and then ringing it out so as to keep it from dripping. It was a few moments later that she returned to the room he was in, and gave him a stern look from the doorway.
"I know one thing I'm supposed to do and that's to keep you from getting up," she said, walking inside the rest of the way. Cecilia took a seat on the couch next to him. "You're going to get me in trouble if Kalista decides to come home and sees you like this--come on, now lay back down."
He hadn't even heard her walking back into the room, so when she spoke, he furrowed his brows, raising his eyes to see where she had been standing for who knew how long. He rolled his eyes a little when she mentioned what she was supposed to do, having the sudden urge to just hex his sister so she wouldn't be able to stand up for an entire day, just to see how annoying it was to lay down for so long.
He didn't say anything to her, but instead just gave her a look that said exactly what he was thinking. 'She's not going to come home.' He hoped that would be enough to convince her to let him sit up. When she looked doubtful, he sighed and shook his head, swallowing to clear his throat so he could try and talk again. Fuck, it was starting to hurt really bad, and his voice was getting raspier. The bruise that was around his neck, looked very much like he had just been strangled. "I can't..." he said. "It hurts more to lay down than it does to sit up."
Cecilia pursed her lips and gave him a hard look, apparently having an internal struggle as to whether she should do as Kalista had asked, or let Evan do what he wanted. Well... he was a grown man, she supposed... Okay, so maybe for a little while, but if he looked like he was hurting himself, then he was going right back down whether she had to force him to or not.
"Fine," she conceded, rolling her eyes. She extended her hand with the washcloth in it to him. "But if Kalista comes back, you are going to tell her nothing of my approving of this." Cecilia's voice was stern, but she really didn't feel it that much. "And you don't have to talk to much, you sound bloody horrible. Nods and shakes of the head work just fine, you know."
When she told him not to say anything to Kalista, he nodded his head. "Won't say a word..." Thankfully, that wasn't the only thing he wouldn't be saying for a long time. Upon her telling her not to speak too much, he nodded his head again, and took the washcloth, bringing it up to his temple to wipe away the dried up blood that he could still feel. Kal had gotten it off of his cheek for the most part, but the wound itself hadn't been cleaned up too well.
He pulled the cloth away from him to look at it, seeing that it was more red than he had expected it to be. Was there really that much blood? Evan hadn't had the chance to even see how damaged he really was. Folding the cloth over again and tried to clean up the rest of it, his injured arm resting at his side.
"Here--let me."
She really hadn't thought about it as she raised her hands to take the cloth from his and started to dab softly at the wound. It just seemed like the right thing to do, as she held his cheek in one hand to steady his head and loosened away the remnants of dried blood on his opposite temple. And yet she felt the need to explain why she was suddenly touching him, as if it were something she shouldn't be doing. "You're missing the most of it doing it blindly."
Cecilia didn't work too quickly, but was as gentle as she could, because really, the last thing he looked like he needed was more pain to deal with. When she had finally finished, she sat back a little, letting him go, and folded the cloth over in her hands. "I'll go get this wet again if there's any others."
He watched her curiously as she took the cloth from him, but didn't fight against her. He couldn't help but instinctively back away from her ever so slightly as she cleaned him up, because the area around the cut was rather sensitive. Trying to stay still, he averted his eyes from her, feeling it was rather awkward to keep eye contact. At her explination, he managed to smirk the slightest bit, nodding to show he understood.
Once she was done, he was about to say 'thank you', but she got to talking before he got the change. If there's any others. Oh, she had no idea. He cleared his throat carefully, and avoided eye contact once more. He could take care of himself, he really didn't need her to fuss over him. The last time he was injured badly enough that he actually needed help, he went and looked for it. But, Cecilia was there, and he knew she wouldn't just leave. But the rest of his injuries were worse than the gash on his temple. That was just a scratch.
This time Cecilia did not fail at looking stern. In fact, she looked completely serious, because that clearing of his throat and aversion of her question were enough to tell her that there was quite a bit more than he was hiding. "Look. I'm not particularly squeamish and I'm not going to sit here and burst into tears like Kali," she said with a sigh. "If I were in your position, I'd use me while you've got me here and count yourself lucky for it."
She stood up and went to the doorframe. "I'll be back in a minute and you're going to let me clean you up, no arguments," Cecilia explained before returning to the bathroom.
God damn it, why was she looking at him like he had just done something wrong? He rolled his eyes again, and made a 'whatever you say' face. It was amazing how much expressions could say, when there was no other way for a person to communicate. As she went into the bathroom, a hand raising up to touch the now clean area that was once sticky and full of blood, before moving that same hand over to the dark mark that was on his opposite arm. He didn't even know if she had noticed it or not, but once she went to clean him up he was sure he wouldn't be able to hide it from her.
When she came back into the room, his eyes lifted to look at her, almost as though he was pleading with her to just let leave him as he was. But, she gave him that look again. Huffing, he rolled back his good shoulder, and scooted towards the end of the couch. 'You sure about this...?' he asked with his eyes, even though he knew there was no point. When she confirmed everything, he once again swallowed, sighed, and began to very carefully remove his shirt. Even as the slightest bit of it was lifted, his old scar from the Peace rally back in the Spring became visable, along with some burns that were wrapping around his front from his back and bruises on his stomach and chest. His shirt lifted higher, and he carefully moved his shirt over his good shoulder, wincing as he lifted his bad arm to remove the clothing completely. And, there it was...his shoulder was almost black from how badly it was bruised, and the cut on his right wrist was also bloody like his temple had been.
Good thing she wasn't squeamish, right?
Okay, so maybe this was a little beyond the limits of what she had been suspecting. Actually, take that back--as he finished removing his shirt, Cecilia was quite certain that this was way beyond the limits of what she had been expecting. She couldn't control the fact that her eyes widened at seeing the extent of his injuries, because holy Circe, she had thought he'd looked bad even without all this. Okay, she couldn't stand it anymore--"Where did you get--"
Cecilia was cut off immediately as her eyes trailed down to his exposed arms--specifically, his wrists. She had originally only been looking at the one with the cut when some blackness from the other caught her eye. She was shocked silent the further and further her eyes drifted up his forearm, to where this tattoo (it was a tattoo, that was ink) showed a skull and--and snake coming out of its mouth and there was no more question of what had happened to him.
It wasn't as if she disapproved, the shock was none of that, and honestly, the only son of a pureblood family--she should have suspected before this, but--no, she was still surprised somehow. Cecilia forced her mouth to close and she pursed her lips tightly, turning her eyes away from the marking and back to his other wrist and she began to work again in silence. The room stayed eerily quiet until she was done with his wrist and she moved up to his bad shoulder. She looked it over for a few moments before laying the cold cloth over it.
"You should be more careful next time," she finally said, daring to say it because it wasn't like he didn't know that she knew anyway. Cecilia turned her eyes from his as if nothing had happened and stood up again. "I'll go get some ice for your shoulder. It should make it feel better and cause the bruising to lighten."
He didn't understand what had caused her to stop asking about where he had gotten all of his injuries until he followed her eyes to figure out what she was looking at. Oh, but of course. He looked back at her, and tried to read her expression, his head tilting ever so slightly to the side, wondering if she was afraid of the marking or if it had no effect on her at all. No, that wasn't possible. It had some sort of effect on any one.
She didn't leave, though. And she didn't stop. She kept working, taking care of him even though she knew now what he was. As mentioned before, she was bound to find out sooner or later, so better late than never, right?
Neither of them said a word as her hand moved back and forth against his hand, around his sliced wrist. He hadn't been watching her for a while, having taken a sudden interest in a random spot on the floor, so when the cloth was placed on his shoulder, he was a little startled, and it caused him to flinch and then wince. "If I wasn't being careful, I'd probably be dead." He held the cold cloth against his shoulder once she stood up, to keep it there. "I just got lucky."
"I suppose," she conceded as she ventured into the kitchen. Cecilia gathered some ice from the freezer and found a small plastic bag in a cabinet to put it in. She tied up the top and returned to his side, taking the rag to wrap the bag in and setting the makeshift cold pack as carefully as she could over as much of the bruising as she could. "Here, hold it there. And maybe put your arm up on the arm of the couch, I think you're supposed to try and keep it elevated. I mean, I'm no Healer, but I do have an older brother that was a rowdy boy on--"
Cecilia realized late in the sentence that she had just spoken of Nick as if he were still her brother. He wasn't her brother, he had given up being a brother to herself and Adamina for his stupid Muggle slag. He didn't deserve for her to think of him.
"--anyway," she recovered herself, shaking her head a little to chase away the thoughts of her disgrace for a brother. Not brother. Her--whatever. "It wouldn't hurt to try and be a little more careful. Your sister doesn't like to see you like this, and neither do I."
He braced himself for the sting of the ice against his shoulder, and held it there like he was instructed to do. He listened to her suggestion about raising his arm, and stalled a second before he carefully leaned back, once again doing as he was told. He clenched his jaw as he had to move his shoulder to place his arm up on the back of the couch, letting his other hand drop down since the icepack was now holding itself in the area it needed to be.
Her sudden silence made him quirk a brow until her voice echoed through the room once again. For the second time that night, he smirked. "Kal worries when I get a scratch..." He explained.
"A few weeks ago you probably would have paid to do this to me, and now...well, here we are."
"Yeah, well," she laughed, pushing her hair back in an awkward gesture. "I guess life is just ironic like that."
Cecilia took a seat back on the couch next to him, careful when she leaned back so as not to disturb the cushion behind him because of the burns she had seen--well, she wouldn't want anything scratching on them if it were her.
The pair fell into awkward silence again, and she sighed quietly because she hated the awkwardness because this was so not how she was with men, ever. They weren't even... anything, at all, and she was still feeling awkward and it was driving her nutters. Or maybe it was awkward because they weren't anything? Oi, she had no idea, but it had to stop.
"You know, I'm pretty sure Kalista would murder me if I ever told her I liked you." Cecilia wasn't quite sure where that had come from, but it had been the first thing that popped into her head when she thought of ending the awkwardness. She wasn't even sure that she realized right away that she'd just admitted that she liked him.
"Apparently."
He once again too an interest in the ceiling, leaning his head back to watch the blades of the fan spin above him. Not that he knew this, but both of the Rosiers tended to do the very same thing whenever they had nothing better to do. His eyes travelled over to her as she spoke, and at first he didn't say anything at all. He just observed how careful she was being, before he tilted his head to the side ever so slightly.
"Than don't tell her." He said, shrugging with his good shoulder, as though this was the most obvious answer. "Although, I'm sure we can't keep...whatever this is, a secret forever."
"You think there's a 'whatever this is'?" she asked, turning her head to look at him in interest--and maybe a little hope. If he thought there was something, and she thought there was something, then there was obviously something, right? Didn't that kind of qualify it as something, if both parties agreed that it was something?
It took Cecilia a moment to grasp this idea that there might be the grounding for a, dare she say it, relationship going on here. For some reason or another, the idea seemed almost unreal; maybe because they had spent so long messing around and claiming that there was nothing going on.
"I can't just not tell her, anyway. Well, I mean, I suppose I could, but she'd just be angrier the longer I waited, don't you think?"
"It's a possibility." He said, even though the look he gave her told her that yes, he did think that there was a 'whatever this is'. The fact that she felt like she had to ask was a little bit rediculous, because why would he have said anything at all about it if he didn't think there was something between them?
"If I know my sister as well as I think I do, she'll be more upset with me than she will be with you. But, until we're sure of what this is, there's really nothing to tell, now is there?"
"And how, exactly, do you imagine we find out what it is?" she asked, arching an eyebrow. He had admitted that something might or might not be going on, and that had imbued her with a touch more courage in her words. "Forgive me, but I don't really have the time to sit around and philosophize, so if we could stop dancing around it and just--fucking around and being idiots, then--well, that'd be nice."
Cecilia ran a hand through her hair and closed her eyes. "Honestly, I'd rather there be something to tell and have her be upset with me now than to go to Hogwarts again and have felt like I wasted the whole summer on something I didn't do anything about."
Part of him really wished that they weren't having this discussion while he was in as much pain as he was, but...they were. And he really couldn't avoid it. So, when he had the chance, he carefully turned towards her, and lifted his good arm to take off the ice pack, knowing that it was bound to fall over when he moved. Next, he used the same hand to move some hair behind her ear, before he placed it behind her neck, extending his arm that was already around the back of the couch so he had better leverage. It hurt like a bitch, but he didn't say anything, or react much to it.
"I imagine we find out what it is the same way everyone else does, yeah?" He slowley leaned closer to her, pulling her towards him gently. Right before they were about to kiss, he pulled back the slightest bit to smirk, and speak once again. "No more fucking around." And finally, he was able to kiss her. Something he had wanted to do all night.
Cecilia's eyes followed Evan as he moved forward, and the thought came to her head that he was probably hurting himself quite a bit by moving like that, and she should probably stop him, and Kalista would probably be livid with her if she came home and saw him moving around, and--and all that washed away from her mind the second his lips pressed against hers and none of it mattered.
She closed her eyes and--carefully, of course--laid her hand on his shoulder, pressing back only minimally. The kiss itself was minimal, she thought, but it was quite possibly the sweetest kiss she had ever experienced. Hell, probably the first... she didn't know if she even understood before that a kiss could just feel nice. Just--
--a small pop! of Apparition sounded from the other room and Cecilia jumped away fast as a frightened cat as Kalista's footsteps sounded on the wooden floors. Standing up quickly, she looked back at Evan as if he was crazy. "Holy crap, hurry up and lay down!"
His sister had the worst timing. Ever. He tried to hang on for a moment longer, but she had already moved too far away from him. Sighing, he glanced over to where the footsteps were coming from, before he turned back to Cecilia, not helping but smirk as he rose a hand to his mouth and gestured to the corner of his own lip, trying to tell her to wipe away the smudged lipstick that there. He carefully laid himself back down, just in time.
Kalista looked like she was in a much better mood than when she left, but when she looked at her brother her face fell again, almost as though she had forgotten. But, now she saw even more injuries. "OH MY GOD, EVAN!" She cried, with her hand going to her cheek, stepping towards him. "Really, what the fuck did you get yourself into this time?" He shrugged with his good shoulder. She sighed and swept her hair back, now turning to Cecilia. "Thanks for looking after him....he really needs his rest though. You can go, if you want."
