we got the party with us [julian + caleb + addie]

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley stood outside the entrance to the Muggle restaurant of Addie's choice, giggling with her best friend as they discussed Leo and his snogging skills. Addie had demanded to know almost every detail, and Ainsley was fine with telling her, although her cheeks were growing warm as she recalled what she'd done with the older boy that afternoon in the park several days ago and the previous night in his bedroom. She hadn't gone all the way with him either time, but they had still been two rather memorable experiences, which was why she found herself going on excitedly about him to Addie as they waited for Caleb and Julian to arrive (neither of them trusted that the boys would find them if they stepped inside the restaurant to wait, and they didn't want to waste time with them getting lost).

Twenty-four hours ago, she hadn't been particularly thrilled at the prospect of this group dinner, even if it was an early birthday dinner of sorts for her best friend, because despite what she'd told Addie and Caleb and even Julian himself, she didn't know if she could bear to be in the same room as Julian without losing her cool and saying something she'd end up regretting - it was far different talking in-person rather than via letters, she was well aware, and she hadn't been lying when she'd said she didn't want to lose him as a friend. The thought of interacting with him again after they'd hung out at his house and then finding out about him sleeping with Astraia Yaxley had gotten her more nervous than she'd admit, which had prompted her to impulsively write to Leo to see if he was free to meet up, and, well -

"No, no, listen - then he got his hand up my skirt," she explained in-between laughs, clutching closer to herself the light coat she was wearing over her black and red dress that stopped mid-thigh, as the evening breeze was getting chilly on the bare skin of her legs, even if the coat was long and covered up more of her legs than her dress did. She had followed Addie's instructions to dress fancy, though she'd let her curls simply fall loose around her shoulders, as she liked the look of her recent haircut too much to even consider pinning her hair up. Seeing Leo the previous night had loosened her up considerably, and she wasn't dreading seeing Julian as much as she had been before, a bright smile on her face as she continued to chat away to Addie.

[Julian Delaire]

Julian couldn't deny being just a bit nervous as he and Caleb walked across the street to the muggle restaurant Addie had told them to come to. It was a remarkably nice night out, with light evening breezes and stars glittering up above, and everything seemed a lot prettier in the soft glow of the street lamps. This normally would have put him a bit more at ease, but he was quite honestly terrified to see Ainsley for the first time since she'd been over at his house, especially after everything that had happened since then. Their letters had gotten progressively easier and less anxiety-inducing as of late, but that still didn't mean she would be totally happy to see him, no matter what she said. Julian was well versed in people lying to cover up their real feelings -- he'd done it often enough himself, after all.

Still, he'd promised her he'd come, and here he was, walking up to the brightly-lit restaurant that did, in fact, seem ridiculously fancy. Addie had expensive taste, he noted, chancing a glance over at his best friend upon thinking of Addie. He couldn't quite tell Caleb's emotions in the dim lighting out here, but he was reasonably certain his friend was likely just as nervous as him, only for a different reason. Or, maybe, Caleb was bursting with confidence. You never knew with Hufflepuffs, really.

As they got closer to the girls, who were standing outside the restaurant all wrapped in coats and chattering away excitedly, his hands found their way into his pockets -- he'd worn jeans, because he refused to wear dress pants, but he'd at least put on a nice white button-down shirt and a suit jacket, as apparently they had to dress fancy for this place. The jeans were dark enough that he was pretty sure Addie wouldn't mind. Her present was buried deep in his pockets, neatly wrapped and, if he said so himself, rather thoughtfully picked out, considering how little thought he gave to most of his classmates, including Addie, on a daily basis. If he weren't in the habit of lying to himself, he might have said it was to impress Ainsley, as well.

The two of them neared the girls, who didn't seem to notice them, absorbed in their own conversation. Julian was going to let Caleb say hi to announce their presence, when the tail end of Ainsley's statement caught his ear. Then he got his hand up my skirt. He froze in his steps, feeling the prepared smile fade from his face. Who was she talking about? It certainly wasn't him, he would have definitely remembered that, and it couldn't have been Caleb, who was the other main guy in her life, because Caleb wouldn't do that, and -- was there anyone else?

The memory of the guy he'd walked in on her flirting with at the Tamarisk Tree popped unbidden into his mind and his insides suddenly felt like they were made of lead. Whether it was this guy or not, it was definitely some other guy and how far had she gone with him and it was suddenly really hot out here. Fuck. 

[Caleb Blackwood]

Caleb had most certainly not been rehearsing in his mind since that afternoon precisely what he was going to say to Addie Beaumont when he saw her, because Addie was simply Ainsley's best friend. Ainsley's best friend who he'd been talking to a bit as of recent, admittedly, even if most of their written conversations had revolved around their best friends. That was all it was, he reminded himself, and there was no need to be nervous about seeing her tonight. Addie was pretty, but he'd been around his fair share of pretty girls before. He could handle dinner with her and Julian and Ainsley without embarrassing himself too much, right? The truth was that he still thought that Addie was mad at him for something, though he couldn't put his finger on what, regardless of how she herself had written back to him saying she wasn't upset, and then Julian had told him that Ainsley said he had nothing to worry about.

Perhaps the gift he'd gotten Addie for her early birthday would make up for anything he'd unknowingly done to irritate her, he thought absent-mindedly as he and Julian crossed the street, the highly lit-up restaurant in clear view as they strolled closer to it. He reached a hand into his blazer pocket for what seemed like the hundredth time - probably because it was - to check to make sure the small, wrapped box was still there. He snuck a glance over at Julian, then, about to say something to him when they neared the girls in order to distract himself from imagining how gorgeous Addie would probably look when she turned around, and then he heard it. He'd been too preoccupied with his own thoughts a few moments ago to note that Ainsley and Addie were both laughing, but he definitely heard it now, along with the statement Then he got his hand up my skirt in Ainsley's unmistakeable voice. Oh, fuck.

Luckily catching every change of expression on his best friend's face despite the dim lighting of the street, Caleb halted in his tracks as well, suddenly frozen in place. He knew he should have told Julian about his limited knowledge (but knowledge, nonetheless) of The Leo Thing, but he still hadn't, continuously putting it off with the mental excuse that he'd wait and see how Julian and Ainsley got on at this dinner and then fill Julian in, preferring to leave him in the dark for a little while for his own benefit. He hadn't predicted, of course, that he and Julian would overhear snippets of such a conversation about Leo. At least, Caleb was assuming that the girls were referring to Leo, as Addie had confirmed that he and Ainsley had gone on a date, and he couldn't think of any other explanation or any other guy that would fit this role. How had this Leo guy already gotten his hand up Ainsley's skirt, anyway?

Very obviously clearing his throat in an attempt to save the situation, as in his judgment, Julian looked like he could soon fall over or something equally as disastrous, Caleb announced their presence from behind the girls with a loud and overly cheerful, even for him, "Hey," nervously shoving his hands into his khaki trouser pockets, though he found himself smiling when the girls whirled around. He hoped that Julian would do his Slytherin thing and put on a better face soon, or else this whole situation had the potential to get really ridiculous, really fast. "You two look great," he told Ainsley and Addie for good measure to allow Julian a few more seconds to compose himself, "Should we go inside?"

[Addie Beaumont]

Addie had been quite enjoying herself, standing out in the open chill of the fresh evening air with her best friend, listening to all the juicy details of Ainsley's date. She still wasn't entirely sure how Ainsley, who had never had much drama in the way of boys in all the five years she'd known her, had managed to not only score two (and a half) dates with a handsome older guy, but end up in his bed half-naked just the night before. Usually, Addie was the one with those kinds of stories, but she definitely didn't mind hearing about it from the other side. Ainsley was beaming and giggling as she divulged the details to her, so as long as this Leo guy was making her best friend happy, she was cool with it.

"Up your skirt, oh my god, Ainsley," she laughed, nudging Ainsley with her shoulder teasingly as she wrapped her coat tighter around herself in protection from the evening breezes. The dress she's chosen for the occasion, though definitely pretty in her favorite shade of blue, was not exactly adequate for the London weather tonight, especially given how high up on her legs it ended. "Exactly how far up your skirt did you let him go?" She wasn't entirely sure she needed to hear the answer, but apparently, she wasn't going to, because a voice spoke from behind them, vaguely familiar and extra bright and happy.

She turned around at the same time as Ainsley to see their other two guests for the evening, Julian Delaire and Caleb Blackwood, standing there. It was Caleb who had spoken, obviously, as she doubted Julian could ever make his voice quite that cheerful. He seemed a little nervous as he looked between the two of them with his hands in his pockets, but it was Julian's expression that was more interesting -- he seemed unusually tense, almost frozen, as he stared at her and Ainsley.

Addie wasn't stupid -- she could guess what had happened, even as she put on a smile to greet the two of them. The boys were standing close enough to have overheard Ainsley's previous statement about letting Leo (did Julian know about Leo? She knew Caleb did, but from the looks of it, Julian had not) get his hand up her skirt, which had exactly one implication, as far as she was aware, and it must not have been a very happy implication for Julian, at the very least.

"Hi!" she chirped, not wanting to let the tension get the better of them, not tonight. She wanted a nice, relaxing dinner with her friends with good food and good company. "Thanks, so do you guys," she directed at Caleb, inclining her head with a smile. He really was sweet, in his own way. "Yes, let's go inside, it'll be much warmer in there." She shot Ainsley a significant glance as she said this, already having been filled in on the extra details of Ainsley's rendezvous with Leo the night before and wondering exactly how Julian would react if he saw what was on Ainsley's neck tonight.

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley had opened her mouth to respond to Addie’s question about how far up her skirt she’d let Leo’s hands wander (though she didn’t think she needed to explain herself, really) when she heard a familiar voice from behind them that caught her entirely by surprise, because she hadn’t been anticipating Caleb and Julian to walk up behind them and overhear what they were discussing - and there was no way they hadn’t heard, she realized as she spotted Caleb, who looked like he was attempting to be more energetic than usual, and Julian, whose presence she registered but made a point to carefully avert her eyes towards the ground before she could properly look at him. Come to think of it, she and Addie probably should have paid more attention to their surroundings and actually watched for the boys rather than get so into their own conversation, but they couldn’t go back and change things now.

Glancing up only to watch Addie speak, Ainsley crossed her arms anxiously, feeling automatically defensive for some reason. No matter what it had looked or sounded like and despite her slight lingering feelings of anger for Julian, she really hadn’t wanted him to walk in on her talking about what she’d done with Leo. “Hi, Caleb,” she forced herself to say finally, just in time so she wouldn’t appear too lost for words, and speaking of which, why was Julian not saying anything? He didn’t care, did he? Aside from it maybe being a bit embarrassing to walk in on one of your girl friends talking about whose hand had recently been up her skirt, there shouldn’t have been any other feelings that were stopping him from greeting them, right? Going against the mantra-like chant that had formulated in her mind in the past minute - don’t look at him don’t look at him don’t look at him don’t - she found her gaze traitorously moving from Caleb to him, unsure of what to say. Like always, she couldn’t tell exactly what he was thinking, nor could she confidently claim that he appeared tense, because perhaps she was just imagining that. To say that Julian Delaire was frustrating would be a severe understatement.

“Hi, Julian,” she managed as an after-thought, trying to keep her tone absolutely neutral. Treat him the same way you treat Caleb, her brain instructed, but she knew it wasn’t that easy, because he wasn’t like Caleb at all, nor was her friendship with him anything like her friendship with Caleb. Ignoring the look Addie shot her - it was so pointed, everyone had probably seen it - she nodded in agreement that they go inside, following Addie into the restaurant and paying the least attention possible to her best friend announcing their dinner reservation of a table for four under Beaumont. When they were led in to hang up their coats, Ainsley was suddenly right next to Julian somehow, regardless of her efforts thus far to stick to Addie’s side to lessen any potential awkwardness. She shot him a small smile out of habit - what was she supposed to do? what was she supposed to say? - and then pulled her coat off, moving to hang it up and tossing her hair back over her shoulders as she did.

[Julian Delaire]

Julian didn't think he'd ever been quite so grateful for his best friend as when Caleb spoke up and diverted the girls' attention towards himself. He definitely didn't want to look like an idiot, standing there frozen, but he needed a minute to gather his composure and remind himself of what was going on. He was here, as Ainsley's friend, to have a nice, friendly dinner for Addie. He was not here to get jealous over what Ainsley may or may not have been doing with some other guy. He was definitely not supposed to care who she saw on her own time or what she did with other guys.

He still had to swallow before he spoke. "Hi," he managed, his voice feeling a little dry. He hadn't the missed the pause between Ainsley's greeting of Caleb and her greeting him, or the way she was studiously avoiding his gaze, and it was hard not to feel the sting. He had tried not to harbor delusions of her being totally fine with him once again, but he had also hoped she wouldn't still be so upset. "Happy birthday, Addie," he added quickly, as Caleb seemed to have totally forgotten to say that, and offered the girls a smile. It probably wasn't the most genuine of his efforts, but at least he'd tried.

His mind was still filled with thoughts of Ainsley and some other guy who must have been really nice and smart and handsome and not him and she'd let him put his hands up her skirt and god knows what else and -- Julian took a breath to calm himself down as their group of four began moving inside. There was no point to any of this. It was none of his business, and he wasn't supposed to care. For god's sake, he'd seen Astraia just the other day to finish their project, and things between them were fine. Why wasn't everything going back to normal with Ainsley, then?

He'd ended up next to Ainsley in the shuffle inside the restaurant, which didn't help matters any because suddenly the smell of her sweet, citrus-y shampoo was all around him and wow, she'd gotten a haircut and it looked really pretty and this wasn't helping him concentrate. She was looking at him now, and she was smiling and, okay, he might have forgotten how nice it felt to have her smile at him. He could feel his lips start to return the smile, when she took her coat off to hang it up, her hair falling back over her shoulder as she did so.

She had a hickey. The lead-like feeling in his stomach suddenly jumped and churned uncomfortably. That was some guy's lips on her neck and his hands, well, elsewhere and jesus christ, how far had she gone? Julian averted his gaze quickly, not wanting to stare, but reasonably certain she'd caught his gaze before he'd looked away. Damn it, he wasn't supposed to care and he definitely wasn't supposed to start thinking about whether or not she'd let him give her a hickey or put his hands up her skirt or -- that definitely wasn't the best train of thought, either, because her dress ended ridiculously high on her really long legs, and fuck, when were they going to be seated?

[Caleb Blackwood]

Caleb wasn’t the most observant person ever, but as he quickly took in Ainsley and Julian’s behavior towards one another - Ainsley was barely even looking at him, shit - he had a feeling that he was going to be spending a large part of this dinner attempting to save the evening from getting too awkward or tense. Nonetheless, he grinned at Addie, partly to maintain that this was fine, everything was normal, and Julian would come around eventually - and partly because, as predicted, she looked stunning. His reaction to how she answered his question about going inside, as a result, was rather delayed, but he pulled himself together, summoning up the willpower to take his eyes off her and not make a complete fool of himself as he followed the girls inside, Julian trailing behind him.

Addie removing her coat didn’t help matters much, though, only distracting him more when he realized that he’d ended up next to her as she hung up her coat. Her blue dress clung perfectly to every curve of her body, stopping so high up her legs that he had to take a deep breath to compose himself again before telling her, “You look really good,” which probably wasn’t subtle at all. Normally, to any other pretty girl, the compliment would have slipped out naturally and easily in the blink of an eye, but Addie wasn’t just any other girl. His gaze fell upon the silver accents of her dress, which were catching against the bright lights of the restaurant, and she looked way too pretty and angelic to be real. That dress on her should not have even been a thing allowed in this world, he thought, as it was verging on really unfair.

Casually glancing to his other side, where Ainsley was hanging up her coat a little distance away and Julian’s gaze was fixed on her - Julian, who in Caleb’s humble opinion shouldn’t have given himself as much credit as he did for playing things cool, because from where Caleb was standing, it certainly didn’t look like he was playing things cool right now - he straightened down the white button-down shirt he’d worn under his navy blue blazer, still absolutely disgruntled with Julian’s decision to wear jeans, because Addie had told them to dress fancy, dammit. It wasn’t as though he’d done much better, but he happened to really like this blazer. And his khakis. He looked far more put together than Julian, at the very least, and had reminded his best friend of this several times on their way here. He almost wanted to say something to distract Ainsley from the look on Julian’s face again - what was Julian even doing? - but he was positive that by this point, she must have already seen it, so it was no use.

[Addie Beaumont]

Addie kept a careful eye on her friend as they walked inside, a little unsure of what Julian might do or how Ainsley would actually react to his presence. So far, things seemed okay, if a bit awkward, as Ainsley was barely looking at him and Julian looked...well, he looked like some mixture of annoyed and confused and not entirely happy, though she did appreciate that he tried to smile at the two of them. "Thank you," she added over her shoulder to him as the four of them entered the building, shooting him a smile she didn't entirely mean, because she couldn't deny still being irritated with him for upsetting her best friend, but he had wished her a happy birthday.

Once inside, she hung up her coat while waiting for a waiter to come guide them to their table, not missing the way Caleb's eyes lingered on her once she was no longer covered up by the coat. His gaze was soft as he surveyed her, and she busied herself with smoothing back the curls falling out of her elegantly casual updo and into her eyes. Caleb's voice, when he spoke, seemed much quieter than she was used to from him, though it may have just been because he was up against the chatter in the background. Addie glanced over at him and smiled, willing herself to remain calm and collected.

"You don't look half-bad either," she told him lightly, giving him a once-over -- he definitely had dressed nicely for the restaurant, which was good. The waiter interrupted their fledgling conversation to lead them over to their table before anyone else could say anything. Addie looked over, a little worried that she might have missed something important with Julian and Ainsley while she was looking at Caleb, but everything seemed mostly normal, though Julian still seemed less than joyous. Not that she'd expected much, given how much of a sarcastic dick he was normally, but she'd thought being around Ainsley in such a nice restaurant might have loosened him up some.

Unless...had he seen the hickey? Addie bit her lip in thought, part of her rather amused that Julian might be jealous, as she led the group behind the waiter to a table in a more secluded area of the restaurant, where there was much less background chatter and it was filled with the sweet melodies of the classical music playing nearby. There was a smoking area a little ways off but almost no people were seated here, which made it much nicer than the more crowded main section. Here, she found it easier to be less concerned over what the fuck Julian Delaire was thinking or how he was making her best friend feel. Here, hopefully, she'd get to have the nice quiet dinner she wanted.

"All right," she announced cheerfully, taking a seat at one end of the square table and gesturing for Ainsley to take the side on her left, "let me tell you, all the food here is delicious, and my parents have put it all on their tab, so feel free to go crazy! But save some room for dessert, because they also ordered a cake, okay? And no singing," she finished firmly, then beamed at the three of them in the hopes of easing the tension she could still feel around them, even as they all took their seats at the table.

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley’s smile faltered when she met Julian’s gaze after hanging up her coat, because he was looking at her like - well, she didn’t know exactly how to describe it, but she was fairly certain that he’d never looked at her like this before. More specifically, he was looking at her neck, and she lifted a hand up instinctively to where his gaze had fell, thinking there might be dirt there or something that she could wipe off, but then quickly remembered that she had a hickey from the previous evening. She hadn’t intended on Julian overhearing her talking to Addie about what she’d done with Leo, but she would be lying if she said she hadn’t purposely not even tried to hide the hickey with a bit of make-up in preparation for this dinner, because she might have sort of wanted him to see it.

“Are you okay?” she found herself asking nonetheless, tone genuine as she gave Julian the benefit of the doubt for a moment - which she seemed to have a bad habit of doing, apparently, because she’d planned on keeping her guard up with him following the knowledge she’d gained of him and Astraia sleeping together, but of course that notion had fallen apart already. Maybe something else was wrong with him? All she knew was that she couldn’t focus when he looked at her like that, and she couldn’t stop herself from being concerned at the way he’d immediately shifted his stare away from her when she’d caught him looking at the hickey. If he didn’t care, then what had that look been for? He had no right whatsoever to judge her, she mused, none at all. If they were friends and he could sleep with whoever he wanted, then she could do things with whoever she wanted without any judgment, too.

She’d managed to lose track of Caleb and Addie, even though they hadn’t been too far off, until a waiter arrived to finally lead the four of them to their table. She realized as the four of them made their way to a more secluded area of the restaurant that Caleb and Addie had been talking, which had escaped her notice due to her paying more attention than she likely should have to Julian, who she had now fallen into step next to. Glancing down at her black heels that Addie had insisted she wear, which probably made her legs look longer than they were (but still, she didn’t know if she was entirely comfortable with them, as she much preferred flats), she was glad to have the distraction of arriving at their square table, with room for one of them to sit at each side. She allowed herself to let out a laugh at Addie’s small speech as she took the seat to her left, regardless of how she was already aware of everything she’d said. She recognized that Addie was trying to lessen the tension slightly, and she hoped it would work - not just for her own sake, but for Addie’s, as well. She didn’t want her and Julian edging around one another to ruin her best friend’s early birthday dinner.

[Julian Delaire]

Julian coughed, lifting one hand to absently pop the first two closed buttons on his shirt. He'd already left the first one open because why would he want to button it all the way up in the summer, but it felt stupidly hot and stuffy in the restaurant all of a sudden, especially after he knew Ainsley had seen the way he was looking at her, judging by how her hand jumped to her neck. And how had he been looking at her? He was usually pretty good at controlling the emotions on his face, but it was like all his Slytherin-trained coldness faded around her entirely. Hopefully he wasn't quite at the open book level that Caleb was, though.

"I'm fine," he muttered, knowing his voice was pitched entirely too low for the setting -- that is, for a very non-intimate conversation between two friends at a group dinner -- and clearing his throat quickly to get it back to normal. He darted a glance back at her, a burst of hope settling inside him because she didn't seem too upset when she spoke to him. And -- fuck, now he was looking at her and god, she looked even prettier as they began to move away from the coats, practically haloed with light from the chandeliers that caught on the bits of jewelry she was wearing and in the shine of her hair. Very deliberately, he stopped himself from letting his gaze wander too far down her body, knowing he'd turn the same shade of red as her dress (which, incidentally, happened to look fucking fantastic on her, great) if she caught him staring again.

He exhaled a breath he hadn't known he was holding as the four of them began to walk, unconsciously falling into step beside her. Refusing to let himself linger any longer on thoughts of who the guy who'd given her that hickey was and how far she'd gone with him and fuck, what if she was dating him now and -- Julian swallowed and screwed up his courage. "You look beautiful," he told her honestly, this time keeping his voice deliberately low so that Caleb and Addie, just a few steps ahead of them, wouldn't hear him. His hand brushed against hers involuntarily as they walked, and he didn't let it stay, not wanting to do anything that Caleb would yell at him again for later, but he'd be lying if he said the slightest touch didn't give him goosebumps.

They reached the table pretty quickly, and Julian moved around as Ainsley sat down next to Addie, knowing Caleb would instinctively want to sit on Addie's other side, which only left one spot open for him, between Ainsley and Caleb. At least, the area was set up nicely, with candles and a vase of roses at the center, which seemed to be the norm for a place this fancy. There was a smoking area nearby, too, which reminded him, he needed to ask Caleb for a cigarette at some point if he wanted to get through this dinner with his sanity intact, especially when Ainsley's bare legs were close enough to his that he might accidentally end up touching her, which wouldn't be good for anyone involved, least of all his pulse rate. He took his seat and raised an eyebrow across the table at Addie as they all settled in, reaching out to pick up his menu.

"Really, they ordered a cake for your birthday dinner?" he murmured, gaze focused on his menu, loud enough for the four of them to hear, given that there was less background noise now. "Never would have guessed." Probably, Caleb would yell at him anyway for being sarcastic to the girl of his dreams (not that he'd put it in those terms), but he figured Addie could handle him, or she wouldn't have invited him, anyway. Plus, it was much easier to forget about Ainsley and whats-his-face when he was being a sarcastic asshole, funnily enough. Absently, he reached up to open another button. Maybe it was the candles making him feel hot.

[Caleb Blackwood]

Caleb beamed when Addie complimented him in return on his appearance, and again, this wasn’t something he’d normally get worked up about if it was coming from anyone else, but this was Addie Beaumont and for some reason it felt nice to have her approval. Pushing aside the thought of what Julian would have to say about that, he followed Addie and the waiter to their square table for four, Julian’s reaction to Ainsley and Addie’s conversation that they’d initially walked in on still at the back of his mind. Once they sat down, he hoped to gauge Julian’s reaction a bit more, to see if he had fully recovered - he doubted it, but he supposed that maybe Julian would calm down as the evening progressed.

He noted the smoking area a little off to the side from where their table was, which reminded him that he needed to ask Julian for a cigarette after dinner, as he unfortunately didn’t have a pack on him. He was the last of them to sit down, the only vacant seat being between Julian and Addie, which suited him perfectly, because that meant he also got to sit right across from Ainsley. Things couldn’t have worked out any better, he thought cheerfully - if only they hadn’t overheard Ainsley saying what she had outside the restaurant, of course, because he knew that that must have crushed Julian, whether his best friend was willing to admit to it or not.

Caleb smiled in Addie’s direction again, a lot more excited for this birthday dinner on her behalf, because cake was always a great thing. He therefore shot Julian a disapproving, what the hell do you think you’re doing glance when he began to be sarcastic about the cake, not taking this lightly in the least because a) it was cake and b) it was Addie. The only good thing that came from Julian’s remarks was that he was starting to be a bit of a dick, and that attitude assured Caleb that he was alright now. Or at least, pretending to be alright. “Happy birthday, Addie,” he said brightly, having been too caught up in how pretty she looked to have remembered why they were actually here earlier.

He glanced directly across the table to throw a grin at Ainsley after this (Julian could wait a little longer for an actual verbal response from him, as nothing that currently came to mind to say would be considered appropriate conversation to have in front of the girls), hesitating for the briefest of moments and squinting slightly as he glanced at her. And then, before he could properly register what he was thinking or saying, “Ainsley, do you have a hickey?” had slipped out of his mouth, tone shocked and gaze lingering confusedly on her neck. He realized exactly what he’d done approximately three seconds later, eyes now falling down to the menu that was on the table in front of him, and then immediately back up to Julian with a knowing look as he put two and two together, the way Julian had been looking at Ainsley before suddenly making a whole lot more sense.

[Addie Beaumont]

Addie shot Julian a glare across the table, but his attention seemed entirely focused on the menu, even though she was pretty sure he was smirking. Her glare was likely half-hearted at best, so it was probably good he didn't see it -- she was too used to dealing with Faye to not be able to handle Julian Delaire, especially when he was sitting next to her best friend who, for some reason (Addie knew the reason), seemed to make him inordinately nervous, even when he was acting like a dick. She hadn't planned the seating arrangement purposely, but it had worked out pretty well, she thought in satisfaction, picking up her own menu.

She could feel Caleb's smile on her but by the time she'd looked up, he was already frowning over at Julian. Good for him, Julian needed some disapproval in his life. "Thanks," she said cheerfully in reply, looking up from her perusal of the dinner section of the menu to catch his eye and return his earlier smile. "No pressure or anything, but I'm definitely looking forward to the gifts," she told him, half teasingly but mostly not. Addie took gift-giving very seriously, and she expected everyone else to do the same.

She might have added more to continue the conversation, or ask if anyone wanted to split the chicken linguini dish with her, but Caleb's next words stopped her before she could even open her mouth. Ainsley, do you have a hickey? Fucking hell, these boys were idiots. Addie had to cover her mouth to surpress a laugh, not even daring to look at Ainsley's reaction because she knew how mortified her friend would be that Caleb had just blurted it out. For Ainsley's sake, she couldn't laugh about it, but admittedly, it was pretty funny.

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley had felt her breath catch at the pitch of Julian’s voice when he told her he was fine - he really needed to stop doing that, and she really needed to stop letting herself be affected by it - and he honestly wasn’t making it easy for her to stay poised by undoing two of the buttons on his shirt, which she noticed when she snuck a glance over at him as they’d walked. And then there’d been the unexpected You look beautiful in the same low voice that sent a shiver down her spine involuntarily, and she’d gaped at him in surprise and had only managed a shaky, “Thanks,” before the moment had passed and the four of them were finally sitting together at the table, Addie and Julian on either side of her.

What did Julian mean she looked beautiful? Her mind immediately went into intense analysis mode over this as she tuned out the conversation taking place between the other three around her, predicting that Addie would nudge her or something if she missed out on something terribly important being said. Julian had sounded very genuine about it, but they were supposed to be friends, and he was doing a fantastic fucking job at blurring the line, especially when he’d made her feel half the things that Leo had though he’d barely even touched her, aside from their hands brushing momentarily, which she believed had been an accident. She had an unwanted flashback to Leo calling her beautiful in-between kisses and her pointedly thinking of Julian even then, because Julian didn’t think she was beautiful, and even if he by some miracle did, he would never have the courage to say it to her face. Except for how he just had and now she didn’t think she could ever stop replaying the way it had sounded in her mind.

Also flustering her was the fact that Julian had managed to undo another one of the buttons of his shirt by the time she looked over at him again, and she could now see far more of his skin than she would have liked if she wanted to remain calm and composed like she’d told herself she would before she’d met up with Addie and they’d headed to this restaurant together. Having such a teasing view of his chest was making her mind jump to all sorts of things, especially because she’d been half-naked in bed with a boy who was not Julian last night and it was suddenly very difficult to not imagine doing the same with Julian and how it would feel to kiss him and see him shirtless and let him touch her and Merlin, was it too hot in here, or was it just her?

She crossed her legs in order to distract herself - focus, Ainsley, focus - however, she felt that she’d accidentally bumped someone’s leg with hers under the table in her rush to do something to change her thought process and their legs were still touching, so she looked up to meet Caleb’s gaze, thinking for a second that it might have been his legs, but of course it hadn’t, she realized in horror, because she was sitting next to Julian and bloody hell, this was embarrassing and she needed to get a grip. She uncrossed her legs anxiously, not meeting Julian’s eyes but managing to catch Caleb’s grin in her direction, and then his words immediately after, which literally came out of nowhere and began to echo in her mind, Ainsley, do you have a hickey?, replacing the previous You look beautiful.

Where had that come from, and why, and moreover, what was she supposed to say to that? It seemed like the tenth time she had to ask herself the question of what the hell to say since Julian and Caleb had arrived, and as she looked over to Addie for some help and found her best friend stifling a laugh, she glared very obviously at both her and Caleb, taking a deep breath and attempting to retain at least some of her dignity. She refused to be overly flustered about this, even if she could feel Julian’s gaze on her. She was so exhausted of these two boys and all their shit - although she knew that Caleb hadn’t meant it the way it had sounded (in fact, she knew him well enough to know that he probably hadn’t meant to say it at all) - but she blamed Julian for confusing her to begin with. He and Caleb were a package deal, after all, and she couldn’t help but take some of her frustration towards Julian out on Caleb.

“Yes, Caleb, it’s a hickey,” she confirmed, tone utterly condescending, “Thank you for pointing it out, I really don’t think anyone could’ve come to that conclusion on their own otherwise. I’m sure you’ve seen one before? Shouldn’t be too shocking.” She leaned back slightly in her chair, feeling a sudden burst of confidence now that she’d actually spoken her mind instead of trying to cover up the truth, and finally brought herself to glance over at Julian, her eyes trailing absent-mindedly down his unbuttoned shirt. Fuck. Suddenly realizing that she probably had nothing more to lose - which was a blatant lie she told herself, because there was still plenty to lose if she took a minute to think clearly about it - she outstretched a leg again, this time very purposely brushing it up against where she knew Julian’s leg was under the table, and left it there, her bare skin touching his jeans.

[Julian Delaire]

Julian had been intensely focusing on the menu he was definitely not reading as the others got settled, feeling but ignoring Addie's glare from across the table. She wasn't that annoyed, he was certain, and his mind was too busy replaying the way Ainsley had shivered at his words while they had been walking over to the table. If he weren't so hyper-aware of her every movement, he might not even have noticed, but he was, and he wished he was brave enough to let himself look up at her, but he really, really wasn't. And if he did look up, he might see that goddamned hickey on her neck again and that was the last thing he wanted.

He was about to make a snarky remark about Addie's no pressure gift-giving when something brushed his leg underneath the table and he nearly jumped. It only took him a second or two to process the fact that there was basically only one option for what it was, which was Ainsley's bare leg. Because it definitely wasn't Caleb, and Addie was sitting all prim and proper on the other side, and then the movement shifted and one quick glance to the right indicated that it was because Ainsley had moved her legs, presumably to not touch him anymore. His heartbeat began to slow as the feeling of her leg against his faded, but his palms were still unusually sweaty where he held the menu.

Julian moved to take a sip of the water that had already been set up for each of them, hoping to cool himself and what was undoubtedly a flush on his cheeks down, when Caleb spoke. Suddenly, the water in his throat was a really bad idea. He nearly choked at the words, unable to believe that his best friend would be stupid enough to just blurt something like that out. It was obviously a hickey and it was also equally obviously not something to discuss at a dinner table. For his part, he definitely didn't want to remind himself that she had had some other guy's lips on her neck and Merlin knows where else, although he couldn't deny being the slightest bit curious as to who this guy was that she'd let get that far with her. As far as he knew, Ainsley had never even kissed a boy prior to this summer (and if he was upset that he hadn't been her first kiss, well, there was no reason for anyone else to know that, was there?).

Slowly, pressing his forearm to his mouth to prevent himself from making any more noise, he looked up from his menu to take in everyone's faces. Addie was clearly trying very hard not to laugh, and Caleb looked absolutely befuddled. His gaze moved carefully to Ainsley's face, and he could tell she was struggling to regain composure, having clearly been caught off guard by the question. Granted, they'd all been caught off guard, but he couldn't imagine this was an incredibly comfortable topic for her. Not totally willing to look away from her face because god, she was so pretty, even when she wasn't smiling, he watched her take a breath and start to speak in a tone condescending enough to make the snottiest of Slytherins cower. Despite how much discussing her hickey made him want to never look her in the eye again, he couldn't help being impressed at how well she had handled that.

Julian glanced back down at his menu to hide his smile at the thought of what Caleb's reaction was likely to be, until he felt something touch his leg again. And this time, the pressure didn't move away almost instantly. In fact, it didn't move away at all. Suddenly, it felt like his heart was in his throat because holy fuck she was touching him and she wasn't moving and this was clearly intentional and fuck he didn't know what to do. What was she trying to do? He hadn't even said anything. His throat felt ridiculously dry as he chanced a glance back over at her, unsure of what she expected and what she wanted and what was going on why was she touching him what the fuck?

Was she trying to make him flustered? Because she was doing a pretty damn good job of it, judging by how warm his cheeks felt, but it wasn't like he'd completely missed feeling her gaze hot on his chest after he'd opened his fourth button. It wasn't like he could miss the ways he made her shiver. And even though it was getting a little hard to breathe with her skin bare and warm against his jean-clad leg, Julian was a Slytherin. And everyone was silent for a time, except maybe for Addie's muffled giggles, so he took advantage of the opportunity in front of him.

"Do we get to hear the story behind this?" he asked, keeping his voice as light and casual as he could manage, "or is it a secret unfit for such a lovely dinner?" And, okay, so maybe he was a little more than just curious about who this guy was that had given her a hickey. Maybe just a bit. Still, if she wasn't going to move her leg to let his heartbeat return to a healthy rate, he wasn't going to go out of his way to change such an interesting topic of conversation. Julian let himself lean back in his chair, not even bothering to adjust the amount of skin his shirt was showing, and lifted a hand off the menu to run through his hair, messing it up entirely and shooting her a smirk. This dinner might be more fun than he'd originally imagined after all.

[Caleb Blackwood]

Caleb already felt incredibly guilty about the question he’d blurted out as soon as it left his mouth, as it was clear to everyone - well, it had been clear to everyone except for him, as apparently he’d been the last to see it - that Ainsley had a hickey, and him mentioning this out loud in the form of a question probably sounded a little ridiculous. Perhaps more than a little ridiculous. He couldn’t help it, though, because he wanted to know if it had been Leo who had given it to her, and if so, how the hell had Ainsley let him get that far? He was pretty sure that she’d never even kissed a boy prior to this summer, and now she suddenly had a hickey after Addie said she’d been on one date? It was safe to say that this was a major source of confusion for him. He considered himself to be good friends with Ainsley, and this just didn’t seem like her.

When he heard Ainsley’s reply and her tone, which was a biting one he’d hardly heard her use in all the years that he’d known her, he felt even more terrible about his slip up of thoughts immediately turning into words that he couldn’t take back, and he stumbled over himself to apologize, trying not to take into account how Addie was sitting next to him and trying to hold back laughter. “Sorry, sorry, Ainsley - I didn’t mean - I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Really, I’m sorry.” He coughed, hoping she would accept his apology, because he couldn’t deal with Ainsley being genuinely angry with him twice in the span of a few weeks. He shot a look at Julian, then, attempting to take in his best friend’s reaction, and found that his cheeks were rather flushed, which, what the actual fuck was going on? Was there something he didn’t know? Had he missed anything significant? Julian never blushed. Also, why were most of his shirt buttons undone? Was this like an alternate reality or something? He could’ve sworn his shirt had been normally buttoned up the last time he’d checked.

He opened his mouth to pose questions about all these pressing issues, being careful to plan out how to phrase them in advance so he didn’t say something idiotic again, but then Julian spoke up in a voice that was very unlike him, because it was nonchalance disguised as flirtatiousness - borderline flirtatiousness, but still there under the surface - and Caleb could recognize a flirtatious tone anywhere. Most of the time. Sometimes not if it was directed at him and he wasn’t paying enough attention, though. Okay, so there were some exceptions to the recognizing-it-anywhere thing. But since he’d never heard Julian talk to, well, anyone like this before, it was pretty obvious to him what was going on. He promptly closed his mouth, glad for a moment that the entire group’s attention was no longer focused on him, and suddenly really curious as to how Ainsley would respond, especially because he wasn’t the one asking for details, so he wouldn’t be the one she reacted negatively to, depending on how she took it.