Finding Friends

[ALEXIS TESSA THRIF]

"Could you be any louder?!" Lexi hissed at him.

She wasn't in a mood for a lecture, especially not from Leo out of all people. Maybe there was some truth in what he was saying. But the whole being in a relationship didn't suit Alexis, she'd end up saying something and that would be the end of that. People and Alexis didn't meet well.

Maybe that was why she found happiness in things instead of people. Objects couldn't hurt you, she found comfort in them, more than she did with people. Lexi had been brought up with her parents' constantly buying things' for her. When they couldn't make a birthday, or christmas or a dance recital. They'd but her something to show that they cared and maybe that was why she gave objects higher value in life than people.

[LEO THOMAS DARKE]

Leo sighed and leaned back against the wall. He couldn't believe it, she was only bothered about being heard. Was that all there was to Alexis? If it was, it was a dissapointment for him. He wanted-needed-a reaction from her, something to prove that she human like the rest of them.

And he had an idea in his head, one which was completly ridiculous and would end up with him the Hospital Wing. He stepped forward quickly, grabbed Alexis' hands and before she could re-act, spoke.

"Alexis Thrif, please go to the Halloween Ball with me."

Now he was going to get the reaction. Defintly some sort of reaction anyway.

[ALEXIS TESSA THRIF]

Alexis stared at him wide eyed, it took a moment for her to grasp what he had just said. She took her hands away from him and stepped back. Was he asking to be hexed? Or was he really just this much of an idiot? Or-and this was possibly the most likely option-was it just a mixture of them both!

"You have to be joking me!" Alexis was fuming at him now! "You know what? Go ahead and mock me! See what I care! But I swear you tell anyone about this, and I will not be held responsible for slitting your throat open! Ok?" Why the hell would he even ask that if it weren't to mock her!

[LEO THOMAS DARKE]

Leo jumped back, expecting to be hit. OK, so dating and relationships were something Alexis took very seriously. And now he'd screwed up. He bit his lip, knowing that when this got out, which it would, it would ruin him. He was practically bullying her.

And she looked so fragile, stood there in her PJ's looking all angry and almost upset. And he was mocking her, without meaning to. But he didn't know how to recover the situation. Unless he lied.

"I-I'm being serious, I kinda hoped you and me would go. If-If that's alright with you, I mean, we have to wear masks so people won't know its us..." trailed off Leo.

Lies. But it would be fine. They could buy outfits and masks, go for the night and then afterwards he would spin a line about how 'I'm just not into you anymore' like he'd done with so many others.

It made him feel rotten, but he'd rather this than whatever fate would lie in store for him if Alexis stormed off now.

[ALEXIS TESSA THRIF]

Alexis was ready to punch Leo in the face, hexing wasn't an option since her wand was still in her bedroom.

"No! You're not! You're just like everyone else!" She was yelling now, at this point she didn't care if people came down, she could ruin him with a click of her fingers'. And she was very close to doing that now!

[LEO THOMAS DARKE]

Leo stepped forward, unsure what to do. Confidence. He needed it, though he always seemed to lack it with things concerning Alexis. She was just so intimadating.

"You want me to prove it to you? How?" said Leo, his voice very close to being angry.

And then, without warning, he closed the distance between them and pressed his mouth to hers. He hoped this was enough proof, though on the other hand, he guessed he only had seconds left to live.

[ALEXIS TESSA THRIF]

Alexis pushed herself off Leo, and took a step back. The anger was welling inside her now, it had been for a while. Forget about composure, that went out of the window!

She tried to control her anger, but it wasn't going to happen. She went to punch him on the left side of his face, with full on force in her hand!

[LEO THOMAS DARKE]

The anger was barely masked, and it wasn't the reaction Leo had hoped for. He bit his lip, glanced down and then sighed slightly. He was a brilliant actor, he knew it, and decided that maybe he could spin the doomed idea around.

In his mind, he thought of every little nasty thing ever said to him and used his acting skills to make his eyes water slightly. He glanced up, his face flushing pink.

"I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't of done that, I'm foolish and stupid, and-and...maybe we could just go as friends? I-If that's alright with you and everything." stammered Leo, sounding like an embarassed thirteen year old.

His voice was so good it even shocked him, but he doubted Alexis would believe him. She'd punch him, and then scream Hogwarts down and it would all end up with Leo being labelled as a perv.

[ALEXIS TESSA THRIF]

Alexis punched Leo in the face, not caring about whether she hurt him.

She was sick and tired of people mocking her, trying to make a joke out of her! Why the hell should she just stand there and take it! Leo wasn't going to do this to her, two minutes ago he hated her. And yet now he wanted to take her to the Ball. Whether it was as a friend or not it didn't matter. But Lexi knew one thing, when she puched Leo she felt slightly calmer.

[LEO THOMAS DARKE]

"Holy shiiii-what the hell is the matter with you!? For gods sake, you've broken my nose you mad woman! You need help! Serious help! You've broken my nose! I wasn't even joking around for god sake!" cried Leo, staggering away from Alexis and crashing into a table.

The table collapsed, and took Leo down with it, and he took in a sharp intake of breath as he almost impaled himself on a jagged table leg. His mouth was filled with the coppery taste of blood, which was pouring out of his broken nose and the split lip.

Alexis could punch hard. Very hard. He slowly propped himself up and glared at Alexis. You don't hit girls. He had to tell himself that so many times. He shifted his weight, and bit his lip to stop himself from yelling out as he slit open his palm.

Everything had gone wrong. Everything. Somebody hated him, and he was over-his-head with everything. His grades were slipping, as was his popularity and now his repuataion. He couldn't even impress some Fourth Year.

He must of looked a state. Blood was all over his upper lip and dribbling out of his mouth, he had blood down his shirt and he was sat in the ruins of a table. Not to mention the various cuts he'd gained from that.

He realiseid that even after being punched in the face, he was still lying. Apparently, he hadn't been joking. He glanced up at Alexis and hoped that his eyes weren't watering, because he couldn't handle another crying hit. Not now.

"You might aswell run off now and scream the place down, ruin my reputation once and for all. It seems to of been your mission tonight, besides, there's no point doing half a job." hissed Leo.

The hurt was hard to miss, and he hated it. Because unlike everything else about him, it wasn't fake.

[ALEXIS TESSA THRIF]

Alexis took a deep breath, "I need help, I wouldn't have needed it in the first place if you hadn't done...any of that!" The thought of what had happened had made Lexi even more angry, she tried to wipe it away.

She took another deep breath, she needed to calm down. She was over reacting again, her head was in a tangled spider web of thoughts. Lexi couldn't sort out her thoughts, she took a a moment to gather them.

What if Leo had actually meant what he had said? No! He didn't seem like that kind of person, and Alexis was not getting roped into lies by people. The time for that had long gone! Maybe she shouldn't have punched him though.

She took a look at Leo, he wasn't in a good state. She ran up to her room quickly and grabbed her wand, and then took a swift sprint back to the common room. She walked over to Leo and pointed her wand at his nose. "Episkey! she said clearly. She then pointed at his lip, "Episkey!" she said again

"Hope that make it better, sorry about that!" she apologized to Leo. She felt lighter now.

[LEO THOMAS DARKE]

Leo flinched as his nose cracked into place. The blood was still there, but at least nothing was broken anymore. He nodded at Alexis, and supposed that he should apologize aswell. Swallow your pride, Leo, he mentally told himself. She did it, so can you.

"I-Would I get another punch if I asked if we could give being friends a go?" said Leo, with a slightly flirty smile.

Oops, maybe not the best way to go. He quickly stood up, his eyes large.

"I-I-I mean if you want to, I didn't mean to offend, I just thought-that-er-you know, um, maybe being friends would be a good start. I mean, we could got to the Ball as friends. Or not go the Ball, and just, you know, try to be friends. If you want to." stammered Leo, going redder and redder.

Oh, now he'd made a real ass of himself.

[ALEXIS TESSA THRIF]

[blockquote[Alexis gave a silent sigh, somehow she needed to sort all this out. The whole punching Leo in the face thing, maybe she would just have to go to the ball with him. Grit her teeth and bare it.

Lexi looked at Leo and tried to smile at him, [color-green]"Yeah, that would be great...You know...Going as friends and that."

[/color] That wasn't probably the most convincing performance she could've given. But it was going to have to do now.[/blockquote][/blockquote[

[LEO THOMAS DARKE]

Leo tried not to curse and punch something. Oh typical, for once his lying and acting had come back on him. He pretended to like her to make up for something, only to find out that she wasn't too bothered. And if he owned up now, telling her it was all a joke, he'd probably never have kids.

He tried to think of something witty and funny, but failed. Instead, he stood in the dark Common Room, wondering if Alexis always looked so hot when she was calming down from a massive temper tantrum. And then he mentally slapped himself for thinking of that, and he half-scared he'd said it aloud and was about to get slapped in reality.

"W-We should go to bed, see you tomorrow. We should meet up, go to Hogsmeade together to get outifts." Leo said, using a bit of his old charm that to deserted him.

His words were still stammered and weak, but Alexis did something funny to him. He was certain it was fear. After all, what else could it be?

[ALEXIS TESSA THRIF]

"Um...ok then." Lexi said.

She possibly needed to get over what her friends were going to think, and Hogsmeade was proabaly be the best place. She couldn't believe she was doing this, but there she was, standing there, accepting an invitation to go to the Halloween Ball with none other that Leo Darke.