Comments | road_ahead: RP: So let me know

rar_cho in road_ahead

RP: So let me know

Mar 18, 2009 19:25

Date: Wednesday, October 18, 1999
Characters: Cho Chang, Stephen Cornfoot
Location: 47 South Vinewood Avenue
Status: Private
Summary: Cho checks on Stephen.
Completion: Complete

( Just how to take this )

stephen cornfoot, october 1999, place: private residence, cho chang

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rar_stephen March 19 2009, 01:04:21 UTC

Stephen lifted his head. Was someone...knocking? He waited, but the knock sounded again. Fuck. If it was Liam or Joshua or Gretchen or anyone in his family, he was going to implode. He couldn't fucking take it. Not tonight.

He flung open the door. Cho stood in the hallway. Before he could properly process what she was doing knocking on his door so late, she stepped into his flat and reached for his hand. As though burned, he snatched his hand away and took a few steps back.

She wanted to help him? "I'm fine," he said and his frown deepened. He wondered what her idea of help would be. Would she make him trust her then betray him? Was she pretending? Had she been the whole time? After all, what did a bird like Cho want with an awkward antisocial bloke?

rar_cho March 19 2009, 01:59:21 UTC

She caught her breath in shock as Stephen jerked away from her. He backed away, clearly unhappy with her presence and not wanting her help. The feeling of nausea she felt from seeing him hurt was nothing compared to the twisting pain she felt now in her chest. After forcing herself to take a deep breath, she asked, "Stephen, what's wrong? What's happened?"

rar_stephen March 19 2009, 02:04:31 UTC

Cho looked shocked, and Stephen closed his eyes and inhaled. This isn't her fault. It isn't fair to her, one voice said. But can you trust her? another voice asked.

He opened his eyes and exhaled. "Cho," he said. "It's... it's been a long day." He swallowed. Merlin, this wasn't her fault. Don't be unkind, Cornfoot.

rar_cho March 19 2009, 02:47:04 UTC

She nodded slowly as she stared at him. His black eye looked bad but it was the expression on his face that worried her more. He was hurting and she didn't think it was because of his injuries.

"Yeah, I can see you've had a rough one." She looked around uncertain what to do or say next. As much as her instincts were to go to him, she now doubted them. "I'm sorry, Stephen."

She was sorry he'd had the kind of day that left him bruised and battered. She was sorry she couldn't do anything to help him. "I'm sorry I caught you at bad time." She tried not to dwell on the realization if he needed her, he would have already came to her.

"My offer still stands, if you change your mind." She managed a small smile as she tried to let him know she cared. "If you need someone to talk to or take a look at your injuries, it's one of the benefits of having a friend and Healer trainee next door."

rar_stephen March 19 2009, 02:59:10 UTC

He couldn't stand the look on her face, couldn't stand the pain he heard in her voice, and couldn't bloody stand the fact that she seemed uncomfortable around him. He wanted to ask her to leave, but he wanted to hold her tight and keep her safe. You can't trust women, the bitter voice quipped. Fuck that.

Stephen stepped forward and pulled Cho into a hug, possibly a bit too roughly. He held her tight, and he could feel his body trembling. Was it from anger? Relief? Or was he simply on the verge of exploding all over the place?

"You're more than a friend," he whispered against the top of her head. Throw her out. She'll just turn out like your mother, the voice said. Fuck off, Stephen thought in response. Stephen wondered if he was holding her too tightly. Could she breathe? He knew he should let her go, but what if she was holding him together?

rar_cho March 19 2009, 03:23:46 UTC

It hurt to see Stephen look so conflicted, not knowing how she could possibly help him when she didn't know what was wrong.

When he moved forward to envelop her in a hug, she almost cried in relief. She didn't know how badly she had needed this contact with him. She was finally able to follow through on her instincts to just hold onto him.

Her eyes did well up with tears when he said she was more than a friend. She held onto him tighter as she slowly rubbed his back, wanting to reassure him as well as herself. "You're more than a friend to me, Stephen." She blinked away her tears but couldn't bring herself to pull away from him. She smoothed her hands over his back in small circles, hoping to somehow ease the tension she felt emanating from him.

rar_stephen March 19 2009, 03:31:50 UTC

Stephen clenched his eyes closed. Half his body responded positively to her touch, to her small hands on his back. The other half of his body tensed because of the very same fact. He felt so conflicted it made him extremely nauseated. It was nearly maddening to want to hit something and hold someone at the same time.

When Cho said she cared for him as more than a friend, too, he clutched her tighter before easing his grip on her. "I-I need..." he clenched his jaw and relaxed it "...I need to know--this--this isn't some game. That I'm not--that I'm not just..." Just what, Cornfoot? "I need to know that you--that you're--that I can trust what you say--when you say--" He pulled away completely. "Shite. If I could bloody say what I want to say."

rar_cho March 19 2009, 03:57:19 UTC

Stephen finally drew back enough to look at her but she could tell he was still tense and on edge. He was trying to ask something and wanting reassurance. Whether this was a game to her? She tensed up herself as she realized he was questioning whether he could trust her word.

He let her go, evidently angry he couldn't just come out and say it. "I think you need to finish what you want to say, Stephen." She suddenly felt cold, dreading what might come next. "What have I done, Stephen? To make you think you can't trust me?"

rar_stephen March 19 2009, 04:07:41 UTC

"You?" he asked, feeling as though he'd been punched in the stomach. What had she done? Nothing. That's what she'd done. Absolutely nothing. "It's not you." He shook his head and laughed, but it was a dark sound. "That sounds so bloody cliche, but it's the truth."

And it was the truth, and just like that, he felt as though his emotions had finally sorted themselves into 'what was real and had actually happened' and then into the pile of what ifs. Cho hadn't broken his trust. She hadn't lied to him. She hadn't been cruel to him or suddenly left his side for some other bloke. She'd done nothingWhen he looked back at her, he could see the firm set to her jaw. Her stance was defensive, and her eyes were troubled. "I only meant to ask if you were being honest with me," he said, feeling like a complete jackass, "and that is completely offensive. I suppose I wanted confirmation on your feelings-that you--that your actions have been sincere. But you've done nothing...I care about you. Too much possibly. And outside circumstances caused me to ( ... )

rar_cho March 19 2009, 17:32:57 UTC

Stephen insisted it wasn't her and even though she believed him, his words didn't ease her tension. Stephen had always alluded to a darker side which he preferred not to discuss so she had known in a way to expect something like this. She had known, yet still wanted to get to know him better. To truly understand someone, she believed it required acceptance of the bad times along with the good. Still, it seemed these outside circumstances and things in his past could easily cause him to doubt her. Doubt them.

He was uncertain and needed to know he could trust her. Her indignation waned at the realization she was glad he felt he could ask such things if it was worrying him. "Stephen, I've always been honest with you. I care about you and would never hurt you like that. That’s not who I am at all ( ... )

rar_stephen March 19 2009, 18:07:38 UTC

Stephen had never experienced such extremes in emotions before. One second he was furious, then he was confused, then bitter, then cold... Now, he felt his chest tighten. Cho had always been sincere with him. He knew that. He'd known it since they'd first spoken. She was real, and she was honest. He could trust his heart, regardless of the later consequences.

Cho kissed his bruised hand before placing their joined hands over her heart. I trust you, Stephen. Her words struck him. Without thinking, he stepped to her, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her, hard and intensely. He needed it. He needed to know his feelings were real and based on fact.

Instantly his blood thickened, and he felt the heat pool in stomach. He'd never felt such intense passion. His mind blanked and he was lost to it. But then it was too much--his feelings were overwhelming, and when he pulled away, he was breathing heavy and fast. Fuck.

rar_cho March 19 2009, 22:22:07 UTC

Stephen's warring emotions were apparent in his manner and facial expressions. She wanted so badly to ease his mind about whatever concerns he might have. She wanted to help him through whatever was troubling him.

He moved closer and kissed her with such intensity it took her by surprise. She quickly responded and became lost in his passionate kiss. When he drew away, she was left weak in the knees and feeling thoroughly kissed. She stared up at him as she tried to catch her breath. His lips were swollen from kissing her so hard. She put a hand on his chest, feeling his rapidly beating heart and desperately wanted to kiss him again. "I love it when you do that." Even his black eye couldn't detract from how attractive she found him, especially when he looked at her like that.

She took a deep breath as she tried to regain her composure. "Can we sit down?" They needed to talk. She still needed to check his injuries. He just needed to stop looking so damn good. Her knees were weak enough as it was. "I really need to sit down."

rar_stephen March 19 2009, 22:36:07 UTC

Stephen swallowed. He could hear Cho's ragged breaths. She was so close. He felt he should apologise for his actions, but he wasn't sorry. Not really. What he felt for her was real. The raw passion he felt wasn't something he had fabricated in his head. He hadn't even been looking for a relationship with anyone--it had just happened.

Cho wanted to sit down and he nodded. She sat and he stood beside the couch. His body felt all over the place, pulled in too many directions. Finally, he gave in and sat on the other end of the couch, and he clasped his hands together to keep them from shaking. Then he stared down at the floor. Waiting for her to say something. Waiting for something else to happen.

rar_cho March 20 2009, 03:15:05 UTC

Cho sat down and was finally able to get better control of her emotions. It probably helped that Stephen had chosen to sit at the far end of the couch. Close proximity to him seemed to cloud her thinking.

She looked at him and knew he would wait as long as she needed. "Stephen?" His eye was rapidly blackening and she knew a healing spell tonight would work better to reverse the bruising. She scooted over next to him, hoping he would now agree to let her help. "I would still like to do what I can for your bruises. I'm willing to listen too, if you want to talk about your day." She knew he might refuse both offers, but he needed to know she wasn't going to turn away from him when things got rough.

rar_stephen March 20 2009, 03:43:55 UTC

Cho slid closer to him, and he glanced up at her. Stephen inhaled slowly. Logically he knew it would be best if he let her go ahead and heal his injuries. He nodded. "Okay," he said. As for hearing about his day, he wasn't exactly ready to tell her about his family's problems.

"I was attacked by a wizard we had to arrest due to domestic violence," Stephen explained. He tried not to sound as bitter as he felt. "He said I provoked him." Stephen shrugged. "But he'd nearly beaten his wife to death. He punched me in the eye," Stephen said as he pointed to his swollen face, "and I punched him back." He held up his hand. "All around bad day."

Stephen swallowed. Cho listened to him so calmly, and all he could think about was kissing her again. Shite his emotions were all tangled and confused. He also felt guilty. "I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to--to treat you--to be unkind." He shook his head. "Sometimes I-I don't know how to feel. It's new for me. And I'm not--I'm not very good at it. I just know that I want you."

rar_cho March 20 2009, 12:19:43 UTC

As soon as Stephen agreed she could heal his injuries, Cho got on her knees beside him on the couch and quickly went to work. She was relieved his eye and hand only required a few simple healing spells. She hated to see him hurt in any way and now, he should look much better in the morning ( ... )

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