Felicity was glad he found her easy to talk to. She'd honestly always struggled to talk to him. Simply because she was so smitten by him that she made an utter fool of herself whenever she was around him and opened her mouth. But, apparently, all it took was nearly an entire bottle of firewhiskey and she could talk to him as if it was nothing. Of course, she was far too forward and saying things she would never have said otherwise.

"An awkward teenage I fell in love with upon meeting," she said. But this time, she heard her voice before it was too late to stop. She stared, in shock, and quickly placed the bottle back to her lips to finish off what was left of it and to avoid looking at him.

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   Quincey Honeyduke

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Lost in his own thoughts for a moment, Quin nearly missed what she said. He filtered it through his foggy brain before coming to the realization that he certainly had not misheard.

He sputtered a little, sitting forward to let out a cough before looking at her, tentative blue eyes on hers. Of all the things she could have said, he had not been expecting that.

Percy would kill him.

"You can't... you must be joking. What about what's-his-face?" He kept his tone as even as the alcohol would let him, not wanting for it to sound like an accusation or anything. How he'd never noticed was astounding. Then again he had just admitted obliviousness was a major character flaw of his... Quin was also well aware of her fiance's name, but the bloke had never been a stellar choice in his opinion. Maybe it was that feeling akin to brotherly affection that he felt for her, but he'd never said anything because she seemed outwardly alright.

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Felicity's bottle was empty and it was a damned shame. She no longer had something she could distract herself with or stop her from speaking. In the morning, she'd realize that her thought process was truly skewed but clearly it was too late to go back.

"Mr. Lancing came far after I met you and his proposal was nothing short of a surprise," she admitted perhaps a bit too easily. Her eyes remained focused on the empty bottle in her hands, fearful of what she'd see from him if she were to look at him. "I panicked and said yes and then..." she shrugged as if to say, that was that.

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Even Quin found it odd that she didn't call what's-his-face by his first name. Wasn't that a perk of being engaged? It had been two years too!

"Do you actually want to marry him?" Despite her previous admission, Quin wasn't so sure she still harbored any real romantic feelings toward him, that was decades ago at this point. He pushed forward in his seat so he was perched more on the edge of the couch than slouching back. She wasn't looking at him now and though he could be absentminded, if he paid close attention, which apparently whiskey helped him do at a certain point in the bottle, Quin wanted to make sure she was being honest with him. If not he'd... well he'd figure something out, but if she didn't want to marry him the whole engagement was absurd.

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Felicity finally dared to look up at him Abbas quickly realized how big of a mistake it was. He was no longer sitting idly there as if I'm his own world. He was wholly and truly focused on her. Her face turned a bright shade of red along with a shock of electricity shooting through her body. She didn't think he'd ever looked at her in such a way and it was very confusing for her.

"No," she answered him honestly but eventually couldn't help but to look away again, "If I wanted to we'd have we'd long ago. My father have me his blessing even if he couldn't be there." She shook Her head as she sighed.

"But it isn't fair to wed a man you don't love," she continued with a shrug as she stood up and began to move about the sitting room in search of any sort of alcohol she could put to her lips before adding quietly, "Not if your heart longs for another."

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Well shit.

What was he supposed to do now? She'd admitted she had- still had, feelings for him and that she didn't want to marry what's-his-face, that she didn't care for him.

Quin was at a loss.

Though he loved her, sure, it was like a sibling. It was at a level of fondness one saved for a little sister and no more. Right? He'd never thought about it! She was Percy's little sister for crying out loud, he wasn't allowed to think of her as anything else, right? Right. That was right. He was not supposed to think the way she blushed was endearing or be overly concerned about the state of her engagement. He felt guilty, like this was somehow his fault. If he'd paid more attention, hadn't been such a dunderhead and he'd noticed before maybe she wouldn't be in this situation? He had no idea the what-ifs of the situation, but the guilt pressed down on him nevertheless.

"What can I do?"

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Felicity stopped dead in her tracks when he asked her what he could do. There was absolutely nothing he could do. Not anymore. He probably never could have. Not workout sacrificing his own thoughts and feelings and she'd never allow that. Hadn't she just said it wasn't right to marry someone if you didn't love them? No, she'd never have asked him to do that for her. It wasn't fair.

"Nothing," she responded, turning to face with with a feeble smile and blushed cheeks, "If you could have, if you'd had wanted to, it would have been done long ago." And that was really are there was to it. He didn't love her, not in the way she longed for him to And she was already engaged to another.

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Frowning, Quin felt like he was incredibly late to an even more important party. What could he do now? He couldn't say not to marry the guy, not when he wasn't in a place to be able to step up and be what she wanted. Quin didn't even know if his life wasn't in shambles if he'd have been able to. He could certainly think of worse things than marrying somebody he cared a lot about and already thought of as family.

"I'm sorry Lis, I never knew, honestly." Even if he had, he had absolutely no idea what he'd have done about it back then, either. Dragging his hands through his hair and over his face, he sighed slowly before looking back up at her.  The helplessness and frustration were clear on his face as he looked at her. "I feel like this is my fault," Quin was rarely this straightforward, maybe it was the whiskey talking or the seriousness of the situation weighing down on him, but he felt like he had to say something. "You deserve better than this."

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Felicity's heart sank to her feet at the expression on his face and the tone of his voice. She hadn't meant to make him feel bad. She didn't even want him feeling bad or like it was his fault. If it was anyone's fault, it was hers. If she hadn't been so Damn terrified of his reaction, she would have told him years ago. But even then, who knew how he would have reacted.

Without really thinking, she stepped around the couch and moved to stand in front of him. She put a gentle hand to his cheek and mustered the best smile she could. "It isn't your fault and I'll survive," she said softly, "And I know you'll make some lucky girl so incredibly happy one day." And though it would likely break get heart to see it, She had to believe it. She'd be happy for him, no matter what happened.

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Quin watched her quietly as she got up and crossed around the table to stand before him. As she put a hand on his cheek he stood to meet her, realizing he didn't tower over her by too much like he did many others. The booze had him swaying every so slightly, head spinning at the sheer amount of alcohol flowing through his blood. For once in his life, he was honestly at a loss for what to say. He wanted to be able to reassure her that things would be okay, that she too would find somebody who loved her the way she deserved, but he couldn't possibly know that for sure. Right now he couldn't do that for her and it was harder than he wanted to admit.

Mimicking her movements, Quin raised his opposite hand to run his thumb over her cheek. "Don't marry him." He pleaded quietly. Maybe if he had enough time to wrap his head around the situation he could get his shit together enough to make her happy. She deserved more than just surviving.

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Felicity gulped as he stood up with her and followed her own movements. His thumb blazed a trail across her skin and if she could, if she was have enough, she'd have stood on her toes to close the distance and kiss him. But, as it was, the firewhiskey had only made her lips loose with truths and not true bravery.

"I have to," she said softly but managed to keep her eyes on his, "I can't disappoint everyone." It was yr only reason she'd dragged it as long as she had. Everyone in the family had seemed so happy for her so she'd simply played along.

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"Screw everyone else," Quin didn't say that lightly as her family was practically his own, but this was more important than disappointing people. "You can't make yourself miserable because of everyone else, how is that fair?" He supposed that society would have something to say about it, but he would feel guilty for the rest of his life if she went through with it. Knowing what he knew now would forever make him an accomplice in her misery.

With his eyes trained on hers he silently begged her to change her mind. He couldn't give her what she wanted right now (he could barely handle himself at the moment) but the booze was telling him that someday he might be able to.

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All Felicity could do was smile weakly at him. She wished she could. She really wished it could be different. But if anything had been learned that night, it was that he couldn't give her what she longed for And she wasn't fling to ask him to.

"It's better to have something than nothing at all, Quin," she said even if she didn't believe it herself, not in the slightest. Then she did dare to step up on her tiptoe and give him a sweet and chaste kiss..on the cheek. "I think I should go," she needed to before any more happened or something else was said.

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That once sentence knocked the wind out of his sails. He wanted to argue with her, to have something more realistic, more valiant to say, but couldn't find the right words. He had no right to ask anything of her, despite his previous attempts and so he had to let it go.

Feeling her lips on his cheek left him blushing a little, though he hoped she either wouldn't notice or that he could blame it on the booze coloring his cheeks. He continued to frown regardless, a small sigh escaping as he let his hand fall. "I don't think you should walk home, you can take my bed, I'll sleep on the couch." And polish off that bottle on the floor to get him to pass out without hating himself too much.

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Felicity was too far lost in her own thoughts and embarrassments to realize he'd blushed from that kiss. Settling back to her feet, she gave him a simple nod and withdrew her hand from his cheek.

"Goodnight Quin," she said softly as she took a step backwards. She turned on her heel shortly afterwards then left the room. It wasn't until she reached the stairs that she felt the tears falling down her face. Oh was she going to hate herself in the morning. Turning into the first room she found, which happened to be her brother's and not Quin's, she threw herself into the bed and waited for the tears to stop and for sleep to take her.

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