Let's Give This a Chance }{ Kayleigh :: Tristain

[Tristain Hayden]

Right now every bone in my body is telling me to be with you. My heart says to be with you. Her words had been ringing through his head all night. This wasn't the first all nighter he had pulled, and the lack of sleep didn't bother him. He had too much adreneline from the flying and the kissing. Mostly because of the kissing. He hadn't properly slept in the past week. Not since before the night they almost... well he didn't want to think about that. He wanted to think about Kayleigh, and what she had said. Thinking about Kay and thinking about Dio had to be hand in hand tonight though. Kissing Kayleigh had been... well it had been perfect. Being with Kayleigh made him happier then any other person, except perhaps Allison. It wasn't like being with Dio though. When he was with Dio he felt almost like he was hypnotized. Like he had to have her to survive. That was all part of her spell though. Part of her game. She was manipulative and he hated that. It couldn't change the way he felt though. She had drug him in. She had made him care, and there was nothing he could do to change that now. He still cared about Dio far too much. Far more then he should.

What about Kayleigh though? He cared about her too. He cared about her a lot. She was one of his best friends, and he could count his best friends on two fingers. Their friendship meant so much to him. She had accepted him for who he truly was from the beginning. She was smart, beautiful, funny, and caring. She wasn't like other girls. She wasn't obsessed with having a boyfriend, the latest fashions, or how she looked. She just wanted to play Quidditch and have fune. She was everything that Tristain could possibly want in a girl. If someone were to make the ideal girl for Tristain, Kayleigh would be that girl. If it hadn't been for Dio their friendship probably would have stopped being platonic ages ago. Perhaps he could understand some of Dio's jealousy now. Sure, they had never been romantic before, but they flirted a lot and personal space had become practically non-existant. Being with Kayleigh felt so natural... so right. He didn't want to hurt her though. Her saying she wanted to be with him weren't the only words running through his head. I’m not going to be your rebound. He didn't want her to be either. She wasn't, it didn't feel like rebound. The only time he felt whole anymore was with Kayleigh. He looked forward to every moment he spent with her. He didn't feel like he'd never really be happy in his life when he was with her. It felt so natural. It just felt right. He wanted to give this a try, and it had nothing to do with Dio. It was about how he felt about Kayleigh.

He was sure of this. Yet, he knew that he wasn't over Dio. She was still in his head. He still couldn't help remembering the feeling of her lips on his. Her lips on his skin, his lips on her skin. The way he felt like he was the only one who truly knew her. How they understood each other, and they accepted what was wrong with one another. How he brought out the best in her. That was wrong though of course. He thought he was bringing out the best in her, yet she was still manipulating people and ruining their lives for her own sick enjoyment. He couldn't live with that. That was why he had broken it off, even though it killed him to do so. He felt so crushed, so broken, except when he was with Kayleigh. Not because she replaced Dio, not at all. Kayleigh and Dio were nothing alike. Dio and Tristain had been lovers. (Well, they hadn't actually made love, but that wasn't the point.) Kayleigh and Tristain were friends. Friends that could be something more. A friendship that could turn into a relationship that would make him happy for the rest of his life if he would let it.

He wanted to give it a shot. He had finally come to the decision. He knew there was a very good chance that it wouldn't work. That was always what had stopped him from coming any where near a relationship before. With Dio it had felt like he almost had no choice in the matter. He had to be with her, neither one of them had any say. With Kayleigh he had a choice. He could walk away now and pretend nothing had ever happened. They'd probably keep their friendship still. Though he imagined the flirting would be toned down. Their was very much the possibility of getting hurt, or worse, hurting someone. Now that he knew what that hurt felt like, worse then he had ever imagined, it should have made him more resistant. He didn't care though. Well he did, but he wanted Kayleigh more. He wanted a chance at happiness with her. He'd have to be honest with her of course. Explain that he didn't think he was over Dio, but she wasn't rebound. He wanted to give them a chance. Even if it didn't work, they wouldn't spend their whole lives thinking 'What if?' She wasn't just the most convinient girl to kiss. (Really she wasn't, he could have found someone who just wanted a good snog, or more then that, rather easily.) If she'd still have him, despite everything, he wanted to give them a chance.

He had been laying on the Quidditch field as he thought this. He had been laying there for hours thinking about everything she had said, and thinking about how he felt. He had reached his desicion, but it was still very early in the morning. No person would be awake yet. Except for the crazy super early morning people, and their were probably only a small handful of them in the castle. If he waited for her outside the Gryffindor common room, it would he hours before she woke up, dressed, and went down for breakfast. He didn't have the patience for that. He needed to talk to her now. He knew where the Gryffindor tower was from the outside of the castle. He picked up his broom and flew up into the air. He'd just go get her now. She could crawl through the window. Right? He flew in the air and circled the Gryffindor tower peaking through the windows until he finally found the sixth year girls' dorm. Good, she was close to the window. Perhaps he wouldn't wake one of the others up. He tapped on the window as his broom hovered in midair holding him up. He really hoped she'd wake up.

[Kayleigh Murphy]

KAYLEIGH MURPHY

I like her because she smiles at me and means it. ~Anonymous

Kayleigh walked slowly back up to the school. She was praying that Tristain would follow her; she wanted him to come after her. By the time she reached the Castle doors, she realized that he wasn’t coming. After a deep breath, she pulled open the door. How could she have made such a fool of herself? How could she have told him all of that? She must look like an idiot, no wonder that he hadn’t followed her. She walked slowly back up to her dorm, not even bothering trying to avoid detection, but somehow the whole castle seemed to be working in her favor and no one stopped her.

She should have been happy. Kissing Tristain had felt amazing; it had felt so right, but now she felt like she had made a fool of herself. Perhaps she was just the most convenient girl to kiss and she had turned it into something more, something that meant more. If it had been so right, why hadn’t he come after her? If it really had been the next step for them, why hadn’t he stopped her from leaving? She felt like a fool now as she walked through the portrait hole. Kayleigh climbed through and tired to figure out what had gone wrong.

It must have been that he didn’t feel the same. Though Kayleigh hated to think that, there was no other option. Tristain simply didn’t feel the same way about her that she felt about him. That was a blow to Kayleigh’s ego. She had told him that he had until the morning so he could have been thinking things over, but Kayleigh hadn’t dreamed that he wouldn’t come after her. He still had until the morning though; Kayleigh couldn’t say that he wasn’t going to come after her. They both had a lot to thing about.

Kayleigh had always been the type that runs on emotion; she didn’t always think things through. Her heart certainly led her, no matter how hard she tried to remember to consult her head first. It was her heart that had prompted her words to Tristain after their kiss. Now she had to think about what she had said, what they had done. Whatever she said, they couldn’t just pretend that nothing had happened. This night would forever change their relationship.

If they decided to remain friends, it couldn’t be the way it had been before. The flirting would probably be toned down a lot. As much as Kayleigh hated to admit it, it might be awkward for a short while. She had no doubt that they could go back to being friends, but for a time it would be understandable for Tristain to wonder if that would satisfy Kayleigh. It would have only been natural for him to wonder that, she couldn’t hold it against him; it would likely take some time to go back to the way things had been before.

Still, things could go further. Tristain still had time to come after her. Maybe he didn’t follow after her because he had to think things over. It was a risk, one that Kayleigh was willing to take, and hopefully Tristain was willing to take it too. Likely he had needed that time to think things over, see what he was feeling. While Kayleigh would have rathered that he had come after her right away, perhaps it was better that he hadn’t. Maybe this way she knew that he really wanted to be with her and wasn’t simply being led by his hormones to follow her. As she tried to figure out what was going on in Tristain’s head, she ascended the steps to her dorm room.

The other girls were already asleep, not that she was surprised. Contrary to popular belief, there wasn’t a party every night in Gryffindor Tower (The parties were just every other night). Kayleigh took off her clothes and pulled on an old rugby shirt and a pair of cotton shorts. The blonde crawled into bed and tried to sleep but instead lay staring at her ceiling, still lost in thought.

It was so unusual for Kayleigh Murphy to be awake and quiet; still, she was quiet that night as she thought. She thought about Tristain, how much she had loved kissing him and how scared she was that this would ruin there friendship. Kissing Tristain had consequences, it wasn’t like she had kissed so random boy in her year; there was much to consider. Yet, Kayleigh wanted him to come after her. She wanted to give them a chance. Tonight, they had taken steps in that direction. Kayleigh wanted to keep moving forward, she didn’t want to step back, but with each passing moment, the chance of him coming after her lessened. Besides, he couldn’t very well get to her in the Tower. Kayleigh needed to sleep, it would bring morning faster and with morning would come certainty, but she couldn’t. Instead, she simply lay in bed, her eyes staring up into the ceiling.

Then, she heard a tapping sound at the window. Bloody owl. she muttered assuming one of her room mates had a post from a lover or parent, but it was Tristain. Shock covered Kayleigh’s face for a moment before a look of confusion spread across her face. He had come after her after all or had he? Perhaps he was just coming to tell her that it had all been a mistake. She sighed and cautiously opened the window and leaned out. Tristain, what are you doing up here? she asked.

[Tristain Hayden]

Some of the girls rustled at his tap, but none actually woke up except the one he had intended to wake up. That was good, he didn't exactly want to explain why he couldn't wait a few more hours for her to be getting ready for class and come out on her own. He couldn't help but smile at her pajamas. They were simple and comfortable. He had no idea how girls could wear the tight, little, lacy things and still sleep. Not that he had a problem with that of course, he rather liked them in fact. He just didn't know why they would do that.

That's what he liked about Kayleigh though. She wasn't one of those girls. Which made her much easier to just be friends with then most girls. She looked confused. Which was understandable. It was a little strange. "We need to talk," he said offering a hand to help her on to his broom. He was being cautious. He wanted to try this, but he had to be honest with her. The thing with Dio hadn't just gone away, and he didn't want to hurt her. He had to be honest, and accept rejection if she had a problem with it. (Which would be more then understandable. He would have a problem with it.)

[Kayleigh Murphy]

KAYLEIGH MURPHY

I like her because she smiles at me and means it. ~Anonymous

Kayleigh watched Tristain smile as he looked at her clothing. It wasn’t exactly out of the typical guy fantasy book and she had no idea why he found it so amusing. Still, he was smiling, that had to be a good sign, didn’t it. Tonight, Kayleigh couldn’t puzzle Tristain out. They had always seemed to be on the same wave length in the past, but now Kayleigh found herself unable to decipher his thoughts. Typically smiles were a good thing, but Kayleigh had no idea what was going on in Tristain’s head and she hated the feeling.

He held out a hand to her. We need to talk as all he said and Kayleigh took his hand and climbed onto the broom in front of him. This was new to her. She had certainly flown down from her dorm window before but she had never flown on some one else’s broom until tonight; now she had done that twice. It was an interesting experience but some how she managed to climb onto the broom through the window and look somewhat graceful in her opinion. She didn’t stumble or fall into his arms, a fact that she was grateful for. It would have added insult to injury if she had simply fallen into his arms.

Okay, Let’s go. she said as she pulled the window shut behind her. Kayleigh didn’t know what would happen next, but she knew what she wanted to happen. He had come after her; hopefully that meant that he wanted her. Normally, Kayleigh wouldn’t have cared if a guy wanted her back or not, but tonight she did. This was Tristain and If he didn’t want her back, she would have risked losing a close friend and potentially have wrecked their relationship. She was praying that he had only the best things to tell her, but she couldn’t be sure.

[Tristain Hayden]

To his relief she took his hand and climbed out of her window and on to his broom. (Without falling or stumbling once, it was quite impressive.) He flew them away from the castle and landed in a big, open grassy area on the grounds. It was well lit due to the moonlight, but you couldn't see it by looking out the window either. Which was his intention when he selected this spot.

Once they both had their feet firmly planted on the ground he turned around to face her and grabbed her hands. "I have to be completely honest with you Kay," he said very seriously for once around her. "I like you. I like you a lot, but I don't want to hurt you either. This thing with Dio, my relationship with her just ended. You know that. Emotionally I had got really close with her. She was the first real relationship I've ever had, and I cared for her. I still do. I can't make that go away." This was very hard for him. He didn't want to say all this. He tried to pretend like it wasn't true, but he couldn't do that if it meant Kayleigh would get hurt. "I can't pretend like I'm completely over her, or that I ever will be. I honestly don't know if I can move on."

He lifted her hands and pressed his lips against them. "This thing with us though Kayleigh, I want to give it a try. Not because of Dio. It's a seperate thing entirely. It really doesn't feel like rebound. We've been friends for awhile, and if it weren't for her this would have already happened. Me and you Kay, it feels so natural. It might not work out. We can't pretend any different, but for right now, I want you. I really want to be with you." Telling her how he felt about her was so much easier then talking about Dio. "I'm happier around you then anyone else. When I'm not with you I'm miserable and I want to be with you." He paused before continuing. "So I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want you Kay. I want to give this a try, but I want you to understand that I'm not over Dio yet either. You aren't rebound and you certainly weren't the most convienent girl to kiss. If all I was looking for was someone to snog I wouldn't have gone after you. I value are friendship far too much for that. I don't want you to get hurt, and I'm worried if we do this, we both might." He paused again. "I'm up for giving this a try if you are. Feel free to walk away now. I definitely won't hold it against you. I'd probably want to walk away myself. Hopefully we could still be friends like we used to." He lifted her hands and kissed them again and waited for her reply.