Somehow, someway, he'd managed to pacify her, and it had only required him to thoroughly embarrass himself. He watched in disbelief as she wiped away her tears and thanked him—bloody thanked him!—for telling her the truth. Was she not going to poke fun at him? (He would have poked fun of him, if he was her. He supposed that was the difference between them, then.)

She never hated him and was sorry about the howler, which was great, only he had no idea what to do with himself or his body at the moment. He'd lost a year of friendship over fucking Divination and would likely flunk the OWL examination after stumbling through the last required year of it. He was really, very, truly pathetic—and somehow, she didn't seem to think so. Huh.

"It's fine. I'm sorry I was an arse," he mumbled, still unable to meet her eye. His gaze dropped back to her shoulder and then her hand, which was holding the handkerchief her bracelet had been wrapped him. His heart skipped a beat, and he reached into his back pocket.

"You probably don't want it anymore, and it will probably come with bad memories," he said, holding out his hand to reveal the bracelet, just as it was, in his palm, "but if you for some reason do, it's still yours." He'd planned on seeing if Denbright's would give him his knuts back for the broomstick charm, but he wouldn't tell her that. It was better on her wrist, if she would take it.

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The following 1 user Likes Cameron Gillenwater's post:1 user Likes Cameron Gillenwater's post
   Billie Farrow

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Feeling some of the tension finally leave her shoulders, Sloane blew out a shaky breath, feeling relieved and ridiculous all at the same time. What a whirlwind, was this why people always said boys and girls shouldn't be friends? Was it always going to be this complicated? Ugh.

She let out a breathless laugh when he pulled the bracelet from his pocket. She was surprised he had it on him. Gingerly she stepped toward him and reached out for the bracelet, but continued forward once she just it in hand, wrapping her arms around his middle and pressing her forehead against his shoulder. Squeezing tight she mumbled, "No more fighting, please."

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The following 1 user Likes Sloane Bixby's post:1 user Likes Sloane Bixby's post
   Billie Farrow

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Sloane had touched him in the past in the way friends touched each other—gentle shoving, arms brushing, poking, light smacking—but he couldn’t remember the last night time she’d hugged him. He immediately wrapped his arms around her shoulders and squeezed her in response, unable to avoid thoughts of how short she was or how nice her hair smelled. He was going mad, obviously.

“No promises,” he said, chuckling into her hair. He didn’t want to let go, maybe because this such a rare moment and maybe because it was easier it hug her than to part ways, but he knew it was already risky enough to be hugging a girl in public, even if they were just friends.

He pulled away and smiled down at her. “Still save me a seat at the banquet??”

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The following 1 user Likes Cameron Gillenwater's post:1 user Likes Cameron Gillenwater's post
   Sloane Bixby

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Sloane was very much a physical person, the hug did more to calm her down than anything else, as brief as it was. Maybe she'd just needed to get it all out of her system, but at least they were finally on the same page again, not trying some short-lived attempt to move past the problem, but sincerely honest with one another about the issue.

He leaned back before she was ready, but he probably had the right idea. She should probably not test her mother's ire any more than she already had this summer, either. "Of course." Sloane snuck in one last squeeze before letting go altogether. She heard her brother call her name from around the corner and winced slightly. "I'll see you soon." She added quickly as she scooted out of the alley, pink braid swinging behind her.

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The following 1 user Likes Sloane Bixby's post:1 user Likes Sloane Bixby's post
   Cameron Gillenwater

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