She opened her eyes, but she couldn't look at him. Not in the eye. Instead she focused on his chin, which was easy enough given the difference in height. "Yes," she said just loud enough to hear over the crowd around them, which was louder than she would have been if they were alone. She wished it was socially acceptable to apparate away, or maybe to conjure a rock around her body and hide inside it. "He's—lucky to have you." Merlin help her.

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August still felt that nagging guilt in his gut, but — there was nothing to be done about it, right? He needed to protect Lysander. He shrugged at her comment, unsure what else to say — and if there was nothing else to be done about it, maybe there was nothing else to say, too. This might be the end of it — whatever it really was.

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set by Bree

Having never developed the ability to handle awkwardness with grace (no pun intended?), Grace lowered her gaze to the ground and clamped her lips shut, feeling awfully silly and as though she'd never be able to look him in the eye again.

"I... I should go find my family now," she said, managing a smile that didn't reach her eyes, "Have a good... rest of your time."

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