September 22nd, 1890 — St. Mungo's

Despite her excitement to celebrate Jesse's birthday preemptively, Fallon was still somewhat thrown by Lachlan's behavior last night. She had lain awake for a few hours after his departure trying to make sense of it all, but still came up with more questions than answers. The way he left proved she had offended him somehow, likely with her awkwardly phrased question, but why hadn't he said anything, then? Why had he felt the immediate urge to leave? If they were only friends then any touch shared was inconsequential in the end, wasn't it?

Fallon carried her basket throughout the hospital, its enchanted belongings rattling within the confines, with a determination to put Lachlan and her confusion out of mind. Jesse would be going home sooner or later, and once there she wouldn't be able to see him at all. Not with his mother hovering about as he claimed she would be. Fallon didn't blame Mrs. Hatchitt, of course. Any sane and kind mother would do the same. She just selfishly wished for more time with her beau.

"Happy birthday," Fallon announced brightly as she let herself into his hospital room without knocking. Her plan wasn't as well thought out as she might've liked, but having only days to arrange it rather than her usual weeks Fallon had to make do. She dropped the basket on the nightstand and leant down to kiss his unbruised cheek. "How was your day today?"

Without waiting for his response, Fallon used her wand to first lock the door to his hospital room, then to charm the ceiling into becoming a star filled night. The walls were charmed as well to become tall trees set with a fake bonfire on the wall opposite his bed. They couldn't explore the wilderness scape like she might've wished to, but it had to be something better to look at than hospital walls. "Figured you must be going stir crazy," she offered with a grin. There was dinner, snacks, juice (that would've been wine were he not on pain potions), and cocoa remaining in the basket still.

  

Jess hadn't really known what to expect from Fallon for his birthday, but he was innately curious. Birthdays were her expertise apparently and he was simply along for the ride. His mother was coming tomorrow with her own celebratory somethingerother and all he could do was sit there. Normally he'd be fine with family dinner or something along those lines, but as that was out of the question this year, he was at their mercy.

He'd been dozing when he heard the door open, announcing Fallon's arrival. The irony of her arriving with a basket and an idea of how to spend an evening in at the hospital was not lost on him, as he'd done the same not too long ago. Hopefully it would end better this time.

"Hey Stranger," He chuckled, reaching out with his good hand, as she immediately took charge of the space. "Thank you," It was tomorrow after all, but without the need for their relationship to cross paths with his mother for the time being, an early celebration it was.

"Going, going, gone." He was so antsy sitting in the damn bed all day, he was starting to draft up his early escape plan. Once his ribs were a little better and he could walk more than ten feet without being winded he was getting out of here. "What's on the agenda?" There was no doubt his curiosity was piqued.

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With the walls and ceiling adequately charmed, Fallon sat on the edge of the bed with a grin. Unpacking the basket could wait for a minute or two as they exchanged greetings. Besides, assuming no nurse thought to check in on him, they had a decent while yet. "Well, I figured since you haven't spent any time outside since your accident I'd bring outside to you." Fallon gestured towards the enchantments as she spoke. If he listened close enough he might even hear an owl hooting in the background.

Once the explanation was out of the way, Fallon pulled the basket into her lap and spread its contents onto his small dinner table. The meatpies weren't anything to write home about, but they had to be better than hospital food. "Malou made us cookies again, the angel that she is. We have cocoa and some grape juice. I would've brought wine but with the pain potions it didn't seem a good idea..." Fallon rambled, an unexpected display of her nervous tic. "I'd have done better if you weren't in the hospital, obviously. That was just a tad non-negotiable."

  

Quite impressed with her outside view, Jess took a moment to look around. It was intricate and well thought out and he was grateful for the effort. Staring at the same four walls for an extended amount of time was not good for one's sanity. The addition of the fire did not go unnoticed either and he eyed her carefully, but she had already moved on.

"Ahh, bless her." Jess was not one to turn away cookies. "Wine would have been fine." He chuckled again. It certainly couldn't interfere with the pain potions too badly. He wasn't even taking that many today. Jess had a fairly high pain tolerance and he was doing alright without them as long as he didn't move too much.

Investigating her spread, he wished he could lean forward and take a closer look, but it was still out of the question. "The expectations were very low and I appreciate the effort." He assured her with a wide smile. "Like I said, we don't typically do much for birthdays." He did like cake though. "How was your day?"

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"Next time, then." Truth be told, wine wasn't her drink of choice, mainly because it was usually out of her budget. Beer and ale didn't quite go with a spread like this though, and firewhiskey felt like too hard a liquor for something so casual. (That she drank a variant of whiskey every time she saw Lachlan wasn't lost upon Fallon, but she was decidedly not thinking of the diaster that was last night.)

She handed him a cookie — dessert was always best before dinner — and shrugged. "Went by quick. I had to practice some of these charms and do some shopping." Years had passed since Fallon had last attempted anything of the sort, and even then it wasn't as intricate as what she had arranged for Jesse. "It's even better now, though. You look better today."

  

Accepting the cookie, Jess took a bite if only to give him a moment to think. He had an inkling that something was off, just had a strange feeling that something was amiss, but he wasn't sure what to do with that. Bringing it up probably wouldn't go well, so he was just going to have to wait and see.

"I'm impressed." He gestured gently with his good arm. "Yeah bruising has gotten better, looking quite yellow today. Was able to get out of bed today for a little bit too. Can't go far, but I do feel better. " His arm was still bound to his side, but the healers were confident that the collarbone and ribs were on track to heal up soon enough and then he could get out. Between the two of them, they'd spent far too much time in the hospital over the last two months. "And how are you?" He was hesitant to ask, but felt it necessary.

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Yellowing bruises were a far better sight than the dark blues and purples he sported a few days ago. Fallon never would've guessed farm equipment capable of such damage, then again she had only a rudimentary knowledge of muggle inventions. Perhaps they did have more nefarious purposes than she knew.

"I'm alright," she insisted. Between forcing herself to sit and watch the fireplace until she no longer flinched and Lachlan's abrupt departure her nerves were a little fried, but she was mostly okay. Nothing a little time and a hopeful explanation from her friend couldn't heal. "My fitness test is next week, I did some prep work for it yesterday." She added as a roundabout explanation. This was his birthday celebration, Fallon wouldn't ruin it with whatever feelings she was having.

Taking a bite of her own cookie, Fallon pulled one of her legs up under her and settled more onto the edge of the bed. She didn't think his legs were too badly damaged, so Fallon didn't think twice of squirming until she was comfortable. "Enough about that. Tell me why you don't like birthdays."

  

He didn't quite believe her and he didn't know how to say that without upsetting her. "I'm sure you'll do fine." Maybe it was the fire she'd included that was keeping her nerves on edge. She'd positioned herself just out of his reach and without the ability to lean forward, he couldn't reach out again like he wanted to.

Alright was not a satisfactory answer either. Maybe she had a different categorization of "alright", but for him it wasn't what he would have expected. She'd been so excited to do the whole birthday thing and now he wasn't so sure she was in the mindset she would have hoped for. "Enough about birthdays, tell me why you don't think that's important to discuss?" Birthdays came and went every year, an annual thing. Plus Jess hated being the center of attention.

"Not looking to pick a fight-" He said softly, wanting her to know that fighting was the last thing he wanted to do today. He may have been the one in the hospital, but it seemed she was the one who still had some healing to do. "Just seems like something's off." Maybe he was wrong, maybe he was reading into it too much, but Jess didn't do well with not knowing either.

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Merlin. Her plans for his birthday — however minor — must've truly missed the mark if he was this adamant not to indulge her. Fallon frowned slightly, the disappointment impossible to ignore. The forest scenery wasn't her best work, she knew, but it had still taken her most of the morning to perfect the constellations in the sky and the leaves on the trees. Hours of effort wasted, apparently.

"I'm fine, JP, really. Yesterday was a long day, is all." She hadn't had the chance to visit him, either. Was that why he was so willing to ignore her birthday plans for him? Because she had missed a day of visitation? It was him who stressed about their reputations last time, and yet he was igniting sparks when they could've just had a quiet, enjoyable time together.

Fallon knew her brief explanation wouldn't be enough for him, and so after another bite of her cookie she continued, "I got the news about the test and sat in front of my fireplace for a few hours. Didn't sleep well last night but I think I'll manage the text alright. Really, I'm okay."

  

Jess knew he was pushing it and that he should ease up, but he'd never been very good at stopping until he had the whole answer. Maybe it was the Ravenclaw in him, maybe it was the big brother, maybe it was the fact that he'd been bored to tears until she'd arrived, but he was concerned about her.

Damning the fact that it was really, really going to hurt, Jess used his good arm to push himself off the pillows to lean closer to her. He gritted his teeth against his protesting ribs and sucked in a deep breath, finally stopping once he was close enough get a better read on her. "Would you tell me if you weren't alright?" A fight really was the last thing he wanted, but it would be hard for him to relax if she had something going on that was also preventing her from enjoying her visit.

The hardest part was supporting himself without his arm holding himself up, but he managed anyway, briefly, just long enough to reach out and brush his fingers along her cheek. "I'm just concerned."

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The immediate answer to pop in her head was no. It wasn't a trust issue or that she didn't feel comfortable sharing details with him. Fallon thought herself content enough around Jesse to trust him implicitly. However, when push came to shove he hadn't been in the tundra with her. Yes, he worried and searched for her, but it wasn't him she felt truly comfortable discussing the experience with. Not even Malou had that title. In fact, when Fallon had relayed the worst of the details to her best friend she had become detached. Only Lachlan understood what it was, and, somehow, Fallon knew their relationship was ruined.

To admit to that, though, would certainly cause a fight, which Fallon was eager to avoid. She shifted forward as he did, her hand brushing his on her cheek softly before dropping back down to his chest. There, she urged him back into a comfortable position. Her hand remained soft on his chest, a barely noticeable touch to prevent from upsetting his countless injuries. "Yes, I would." A white lie, one she hoped would turn to truth in time.

  

Jess frowned and stayed stubbornly where he was, despite her best intentions to get him to relax again. He couldn't now, even though he knew it was going to ruin the night if he persisted. Stubborn was one of his many character flaws and now that he'd started, it was hard to stop.

Every muscle in his abdomen screamed at him to change positions, to find a different support for the shattered bones in his ribcage, but he was trying to prove a point now. He certainly couldn't put together the words he wanted to say into some coherent sentence that wouldn't blow this out of the water and so he simply stayed where he was and watched her carefully, eyebrows raised expectantly, willfully ignoring the ache in his chest and limbs from the strain he was putting on his body.

He couldn't string together the words, but he could still say something without actually having to say it, too.

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If he wasn't already so severely injured Fallon would've pushed back against his stubbornness without a second's hesitation. Having experienced the brutal nature of broken ribs before, she knew firsthand his position couldn't be comfortable to maintain. Bones only grew back so fast, after all. Jesse would be lucky to avoid popping a lung too if he wasn't careful.

More than that, the look he gave her proved he didn't buy her lie. Fallon kept her gaze steady on his and tried to keep her expression soft. "Jess," she sighed, her hand once again urging him backwards. Only, this time as the pressure of her touch increased Fallon inched closer towards the head of the bed. Perhaps if she was within reach he would allow himself to be comfortable.

"There are some things about the tundra — some fears — that I'm never going to be able to adequately explain to you," Fallon stated after a minute. "It's not that I don't trust you or anything of the sort. It just won't make sense to someone who wasn't there." Another roundabout explanation. Merlin, she hoped it didn't lead to a fight. "I found out about the test and sat within a foot of my fireplace until I could watch the flames without needing to reassure myself that I wasn't back there. Last night was nightmare after nightmare, and, truthfully, I'm still a bit unnerved." It was a miracle she hadn't woken Malou up with her tossing and turning.

Shifting forward again, Fallon moved until there was only a few inches between them. "I've been looking forward to seeing you all day. Please don't ruin it." An earnest statement and plea, one she ardently hoped he'd hear.

  

What he wanted to say, was "See, that wasn't so hard," but knew that was crossing a line— and he had no intention of getting himself even more injured today. The information, though it was what he'd wanted out of her, still caused a deep frown to form on his lips. He hated that she had gone through that, hated that she needed to re-train her brain not to be afraid of fire, that it all brought back flashbacks and most of all that she was right; there were things about her experience in the tundra that he would never fully understand about her.

She had him at the last line; a successful guilt trip, but he was nothing if not persistent. As a way to apologize for being a stubborn ass, instead of leaning back like she wanted, he leaned in like he wanted, free hand reaching up behind her neck so that she couldn't move away when he kissed her. There was a tiny hint of desperation to it, maybe a little frustration that had built up over the last few minutes, but at least it was easy to ignore the pain in his ribs when he had much better things to focus on.

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Fallon was about to pull away from him altogether and relocate to the chair so that he'd cease injuring himself when he closed the distance between them. A surprised gasp from her further deepened the kiss, and while she was vastly inexperienced Jesse was anything but. This time when her hand urged him backwards she followed the motion, her chest lightly grazing his in the process. Fallon would've began practicing kissing years ago if she had only known how wonderful it could be.

A kiss could only last so long, though, and Fallon reluctantly pulled away. One hand resided as a brace besides him on the bed, the other moved to rest lightly on his shoulder. "That's one way to not ruin it," she chuckled.

  

Thoroughly pleased with her reaction, Jess wasted no time in using it to his advantage. This time, he allowed himself to be eased backward only because she came with him. He was oblivious to any jostling or discomfort until after the fact. Though he clearly had more experience than her, he was rusty at best and so kept the intensity low for the moment. Once she moved back, he frowned again, but for an entirely different reason. Her remark only resulted in a smug smirk replacing the frown however. "Yes, well, I'm perfectly capable of realizing I'm being a stubborn mule. Seemed like a good way to make up for it."

He laid his head back completely now, taking a moment to asses the pains in his body before coming to the conclusion that no, he wasn't dying and yes, it was worth it. He blew out a slow breath and looked up at her enchanted ceiling for a moment. "Reminds me of the Great Hall at Hogwarts." He said after a moment of letting everything settle again.

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