it's time to begin, isn't it? [neil]

[Adé Lamoureux]

It's been over a month was all Adé could think as she stepped out of the lift onto the floor where Neil's flat was located. She hadn't seen him for a long, long time. Of course they owled each other all the time, but really, that wasn't anything compared to seeing each other in person. She wouldn't ever say it to him, but she'd missed him terribly. Recently, work had been so crazy - especially with the Hogwarts vacations going on - that she rarely even got her day off on Sunday. Finally, she'd managed to get one day off, and so, after sending off owls to her sister and parents, she'd come to visit him in the afternoon. Hopefully he was at home, because she was simply too tired to go out looking for him at the moment.

She hoped Neil was alone at home, because she didn't think his sister liked her all that much yet, and she was a little afraid of facing her. Anyway, what she wanted to do the most right now was just talk and talk and talk, quite contrary to her usual self. She felt like she was bursting with news and questions for Neil, and she hoped he was in a mood to answer her.

As she neared the door of his flat, her face broke out into an involuntary smile and her cheeks flushed a little bit - probably with the excitement of seeing him. If he had opened the door just then, she might have almost screamed, or hugged him, or had some sort of an overreaction when she saw him. Knowing that that kind of behaviour from her was completely undignified and silly, she took a few deep breaths and composed herself before ringing the doorbell, her heart still beating at an inhumanly fast rate.

(OOC: I'm assuming this is set after the Bri/Neil you have going currently, yeah?)

[Neil Pereira]

Neil lay in bed, his eyes boring deep into the ceiling of his room. He hadn't come out of his room the entire weekend, despite the attempts of Jade and Will to smack him out of his daze. But he'd kept the door magically shut and told them to sincerely leave him alone. It had been exactly three days since the fateful run in with Brianna and he still wasn't over the entire incident, let alone anything they might have talked about. He was pretty sure that his mind was, in fact, blocking out part of the entire thing because he didn't want to deal with it any time soon, or even in the future. The last he'd seen Brianna was that horrendous fight they'd had, after she'd returned, and since then he'd vowed to never see her again. Yet, he had. Closing his eyes, which felt ridiculously warm from sleeplessness and a mix of anger and hurt, he sighed.

The faint ringing of the doorbell snapped him out of the half awareness and he groaned. He didn't budge for a couple of seconds, until he realized the lack of activity outside the room. Clearly, he'd mistaken the lack of disturbance for his sister and best friend giving him space, in place of the truth: them not being at home. He got out of bed, brushing his fingers through his hair, not even bothering to clean up with a wand. He was in an old t-shirt, and boxers, and his hair was a mess, his stubble unshaven. His eyes were probably red. He squinted against the brightness of the apartment as he finally opened his door and went to the front door, opening it, ready to shoo away whoever was on the other side. He didn't expect it to be his girlfriend, though.

"Adé?" he exclaimed in surprise, his eyes widening a little. He frowned and then opened the door wider. "What're you doing here?" he asked, stepping back, leaving her to invite herself in as he dropped on the sofa in the living room. He didn't know she'd had an off today - and if he had, it had slipped his mind. He snapped at himself on the inside. Already, Brianna's one presence was wreaking havoc in his mind. He felt instantly as he turned to look at the girl he loved. "Come here," he said, patting the spot next to him.

[Adé Lamoureux]

As her boyfriend opened the door, Adé's eyes flew up to meet his and she immediately recoiled on seeing his state. Shit - he looked like, well, shit. Scruffy appearance, bloodshot eyes, unshaven, hell, he wasn't even wearing anything proper. What had he done to himself this time? "Neil," she said worriedly, "you look absolutely awful. What the hell happened and who did it?" She hadn't seen him in such a state for a long, long time and she suspected he'd been up to his self-destructive behaviour again. There were only three reasons he could look as awful as he did, and it was more likely to be his usual drinking and passing-out habits than it was lack of sleep or even crying. Merlin knew she'd never seen him crying.

She followed him into the living room and sat down on the sofa, not talking for the moment, just taking a few seconds to take in his presence. She didn't think of him much at work or when she didn't get to see him, but when they were together again, she suddenly felt like a part of her that was missing had returned to her. Even when they'd got together, she really hadn't expected that they would last - or even become so serious. Hell, their first few months dating had been crazy awkward and it had left her wondering whether they weren't better off when they hated each other. But now, seeing Neil felt like.. like home. He was a constant in her life, and it was nice to know that he was always there, whether they actually talked or not.

She blinked, snapping out of the slight daze into which she'd fallen to take another glance at him. He didn't look any less pitiful the second time around. She reached out a hand to smooth down his hair, and then placed it on his face, running her thumb across his cheek. "Are you all right?" she asked softly. "I mean... I mean, obviously you aren't, but... but is there anything we need to talk about?" Her voice shook slightly as she said it. "Please, Neil... I really can't see you like this."

[Neil Pereira]

"Yes, I'm aware," he said, but in the least rude way he could think of. His voice was deadpan and expressionless, but not cold in any way. He instantly felt miserable about making her worry - of course, she was worried. She cared about him. If the situation was reversed, he'd be going ballistic. But how could he explain to his current girlfriend that his previous girlfriend had run into him and had been the reason he was such an emotional mess? Surely that wouldn't go down well. "Nobody did anything," he said, after a moment of consideration, and then he sighed. "Just...nobody did anything. You don't have anything to be worried about. I'm just being a lazy asshole," Neil provided as an explanation, twisting his neck to stretch and pop the muscles. It was a habit he had to kick but he'd be lying if he said it didn't feel good after lying stiff on his mattress for hours on end.

He eyed her warily as she sat beside him quietly, and he automatically reached out a hand to pull her closer. He was glad she was here. Even if he was upset by her worry, and shocked by her suddenly turning up, it didn't reduce how comforting it felt for her to be around at the moment. He briefly wondered if Jade would be particularly warmed by the idea that it was Ade who finally got him to get out of his room. Using his fingers to tuck back a strand of her dark hair, he rested his head on her shoulder for a second or two before pulling back again.

"I'm fine," he said, and he meant it, in that second. He felt fine. He felt tired, but he otherwise felt fine. Lies. "Stop worrying so much. You don't...there's nothing that's happened that you need to worry about, alright? I just - hey," he said, squeezing the hand on his cheek. "Don't worry. Okay? It's just been a long few days." He didn't even question himself why he was hesitating to tell her about Brianna, because he knew damn well why. Seeing her was a crack on the locked up memories. But actually talking about it would break down a dam which only took too long to build; a dam he intended to keep closed forever.

[Adé Lamoureux]

Adé laughed slightly at his deadpan reply. Of course he had to respond with sarcasm. But really, she'd thought he had mostly settled down okay. There really was no reason for him to be to exhausted... well of course, apart from work. But considering the way he stretched himself, he hadn't even moved in a day or so. What on earth could it be? She definitely didn't believe his lie. "That's not it," she said. "You are a lazy asshole anyway. This is something abnormal." Maybe her awful attempt at the usual banter they shared would ease the tension in the room a little bit.

She awkwardly put her arms around his neck as he rested his forehead on her shoulder. In truth, she was feeling kind of hurt. They usually didn't keep any secrets from each other; why was he being so evasive all of a sudden today? Of course his outward appearance wasn't much of an indicator of anything, but she could see it in his face. He just looked like he'd given up. And giving up was not a very Neil thing; she knew that. Maybe he didn't want to tell her because he knew she wasn't good with handling emotions. She decided to stop wondering why he wasn't telling her whatever it was, and start trying to figure out what 'it' was. Maybe that would lead her somewhere.

"You and I both know you aren't," she countered. "Look, I'm usually the one worrying and you're the one who's calming me down. If I don't try to help you through whatever you're going through, that makes me a shit girlfriend." She realised how self-centered her words sounded and winced. "I mean.. I don't mean it in that way. You know what I mean," she hastily covered up. "Is it something to do with your family again?" She knew Neil had never shared the best of relations with his parents, so maybe they'd had some sort of a falling-out again... though she couldn't even remember if he was actually still in touch with them. It couldn't have been work that was wearing him down; he wouldn't have looked so despondent then.

[Neil Pereira]

He smiled a little at her masked insult, used to her jabs by now. It's not like he had any less of his own. Their entire relationship had been built on them being enemies and two individuals who could've made hoards of galleons if they got a knut for every time they argued. Anybody who said that the best partners were found in best friends had it wrong. The best partners were found in those who were once your enemies. The logic was simple: best friends had a tendency to get used to your faults, and eventually overlook them and excuse-slash-defend them. Enemies already knew the ugly side of you. Neil was glad that he didn't have to hide his true personality from his girlfriend, simply because she already knew what he was like at his worst. But he couldn't help but wonder if she'd hate him when she finally found out that not only had he very unhealthily moved past Brianna, but also what had led to the downfall of his previous relationship.

He winced at the comment about the shit girlfriend, because right now she was being anything but. A shit girlfriend would probably be offended that he was in the dumps and jabber at him about not being prepared to see her after so long. But here she was comforting him instead. He wondered what he'd done to deserve her. He hadn't exactly been the best of people on the planet. "I know what you mean. It's okay, I get it. You're not being a shit girlfriend. I just - I'll tell you when I'm ready to talk about it," he evaded, though he knew that the more he delayed this conversation, the longer duration she'd have to look back and resent him for. The I wanted to tell you, but didn't get a chance to bullshit wouldn't fly here. He had many chances to tell, and he didn't want to. He had to. As much as he had a right to his past, she had a right to anything in his present which affected her and her relationship with him.

"My family?" he asked, a little confused by the leap she'd made. It wasn't a very far off leap, but he hadn't talked to his family (minus Jade) for a very long time. He had no reason to, especially now that he was no longer dependent on their money. Shaking his head, almost wishing that this was the reason, he shrugged. "Forget it, it's not them. Tell me about yourself. Let's talk about something else. That'll help. Tell me how your days have been...I haven't seen you in so long."

[Adé Lamoureux]

Honestly, Adé was feeling kind of conflicted. On one hand, she knew that it was probably something really serious he had been going through, and he couldn't talk about it, and she had no right to ask him. But a small part of her wanted to throw a childlike fit and demand that he tell her, because it was her right to know. But she knew it wasn't, so she didn't press it. "Okay," she said. "But... will you ever be ready to talk about it? Because... I don't want any secrets between us. I don't want anything to happen that could ruin this... us." She was completely blanking on what it could be, to be honest. Nothing she could think of seemed to justify Neil's current mood.

"Yeah... your family, I mean, your parents," she said. "I thought maybe you might have run into them somewhere or maybe got an owl or something..." She trailed off, realising that she sounded lame. Noticing the lack of sound or activity from the rest of the house, she asked, "Where's Jade and Will? If they were here, they'd have interrupted us by now, I'm sure." She had nothing against either of them, but she had no idea what they thought of her. They'd been perfectly civil of course, and Will had always been friendly to her, but whether they liked her as a person or not, she had no idea. Not important, her brain chided her. It was right; this wasn't important right now.

"Well, I'm sorry about not seeing you, but it's not like I could help it," she said, shrugging. "It's just... now that the Hogwarts vacations are on, all the cases that the nurse would normally handle come to us, so we have to deal with every halfway serious problem that parents can't." In the same breath, she brought her legs up to the sofa and lay down on it with her head in his lap. She knew this was an uncharacteristically playful gesture from her, but she had a sudden impulse to do it, and she figured he wouldn't have a problem. "And I'm meeting Lottie for lunch today! I haven't seen her in a long time, either. Really, I haven't seen much of civilisation apart from the other Healers and patients."

[Neil Pereira]

Her words made him wince, more visibly this time. He hated secrets too, perhaps just as much as she did. He particularly hated secrets which had the potential to create a rift between somebody he loved and himself - and this secret of his was exactly that sort of thing. Only Will and Jade knew his side of the story, and he knew he'd had to tell Ade someday. He just didn't think that day would arrive so fast. But even he knew that he had to spill up and tell her, because if she found out later, or worse, from somewhere else...than nothing he could ever say would reverse the damage it would cause to their relationship. If he had to choose between facing the heat now instead of built up heat later, he'd choose to get it over with. But the courage to summon the words would just not present itself.

"I actually have no idea. They were both gone when I woke up," he said, completely dodging the bullet about his family. He didn't even want to discuss them, since the topic was irrelevant altogether. Besides, he'd long moved past the stage where he moped and acted out against his parents. He wasn't a sixteen year old anymore. He didn't want them to have that sort of control over his actions. Besides, he wasn't entirely even lying when he said that Will and Jade had gone before he'd woken up. He just didn't mention the fact that he hadn't come out of his room for three days so it was logical to assume that he had no idea where they were.

"You mean whiny children in the pediatric ward?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. He lifted his arms from his lap so that she could lay down comfortable, and his fingers automatically moved to stroke her hair very gently. He felt the shadow of a smile on his face as she mentioned meeting Lottie, and he immediately felt guilty for shutting out Jade and Will. Here Ade was, finally finding time to catch up, and here he was with all the time in the world, choosing to box himself. He once again felt guilt bubble in him at the mention of pediatric wards and he shifted uncomfortable before he softly whispered - or choked, really:

"Babe? There's something I need to tell you."

[Adé Lamoureux]

"Yeah, whiny children, I guess," she said, a slight laugh coming out. She'd never liked children very much, and dealing with them honestly just stressed her out more than with adults. She didn't really know how to deal with them or calm them down when they were in their moods and such. Maybe she shouldn't have become a Healer; she really wasn't great with people, she thought. Oh well. She was one now, and she had to deal with everything that came with it. It was her dream job, and she couldn't possibly complain just because of a few problems dealing with people. That was silly, and selfish. Interaction with people was almost a guaranteed necessity in every job. Shoving that thought aside, she was about to drift off into other, more pleasant thoughts when suddenly, Neil spoke up again.

As soon as he said that, her brain went into overdrive. He had something to tell her? What was it? Could it possibly be related to why he was so upset? It probably was. She was glad he wasn't trying to keep it from her any more, but truth be told, she didn't know if she would be able to handle it. They'd never kept secrets from each other, so this must have been something really huge, or something he knew she wouldn't take well. "Well, what is it?" she asked, not unkindly, just curious. "Is it related to... your current state of looking like you haven't been out of bed in a week?" Are you all right? she wanted to ask, but that question was pretty much implied. Closing her eyes, she waited for him to start talking, a little apprehensive of what he was going to say.