catch me, please [frank]

[alice josephine logan]

It didn't much matter who had won. After the match, everyone, winners and losers alike had agreed it was a swell time. There was laughter and commontion surrounding the older students as they mingled out on the Quidditch pitch or on the way back to the achool. The only one not involved in such tomfoolery, was one Alice Logan. She had owed it to her friends to show up, even though she didn't want too. Why poor Lily seemed terrified. She never would have believed it if someone had told her a month ago that' she'd stop caring, she'd call them crazy. But it was true, Alice didn't give a damn about who won or lost tonight, and now that it was over, she cared even less, if that were possible. For awhile tonight, Alice was flying on a broomstick without a care in the world. And then she remember everything, about the night with Sirius, about how for the second time when it came to almost losing Emma she was completely helpless. How could she be happy knowing all this? Escaping the post-euphoric high, she crept off to the gryffindor changing rooms as soon as the game had ended.

She couldn't stand seeing her friends' faces knowing that she was lying to them. Alice was breaking down and she didn't know what to do. She would tell Lily about the baby, but she already felt so dirty. And Frank...boy she was sure he'd let her have it. He'd already had a lot to say to her after he found out that she had slept with Sirius in the first place. And what would he think of her now? She'd picked out her biggest sweater, the cold weather a perfect excuse, though Kyndrick had called her out on it anyway. She was beginning to show, and if Kyndrie noticed, it wouldn't take much longer for everyone else to notice it too.

Alice couldn't help herself, and just then was when she really broke down and began to cry, right there. This was happening all too often she desperately prayed everyone would stay away. Once you got labeled as the weird and depressing crying girl, there was no going back. At least, that's what Emma had said during Ali's last "crisis" The golden snitch she had won as her prize lay on the ground beside her, wings not extracted. Suddenly, she heard footsteps and tensed up, rubbing at her eyes hurriedly "Please don't be Sirius she pleaded silently. "Or Lily...Or Frank...god, I don't want them all to hate me. She really was starting to hate this game. She didn't want to lie anymore. She was so sick and tired of hiding everything. Of feeling alone and scared. She just wanted it all to go away.

[frank alexander longbottom]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; border: #311419 1px solid; background-color: ffffff;] { words , } infinity { tags , } ace logan { status , } complete { love is not a victory march } They’d won the match. They’d kicked Hufflepuffs arses and Callie Moran had left the field arm in arm with Frank and their friend Marlene. But now things were shifting awkwardly. The changing rooms were emptying out and all the girls from the Gryffindor were leaving except one. Alice Logan seemed to be holed up inside and Frank couldn’t help but obsess over what was going on. Maybe there was some kind of stupid girl crises? Lily or someone had snuck in to go on and on gossiping to her? No, that didn’t sound right. And Ace had been looking really down in the dumps lately. What was going on? Eager for answers, Frank wandered into the changing rooms idly. He still had his broomstick slung over his shoulder to bring up to his trunk. He almost missed her at first, believe it or not, because seemed to almost disappear among the quidditch supplies and such. It wasn’t like Alice Logan to turn invisible. Maybe her freak Slytherin sister, but not her! This was troublesome. And she looked completely and utterly depressed to boot! Another Emma Logan quality. Not knowing hot best handle this situation, Frank moved slowly and scratched at the back of his head with his left hand. He approached her in the same way as he might a wounded animal. ”Hey Ace. Some match, ay? Ludo’s never gonna forgive us.” Frank started, trying to keep to a subject that would hopefully not be too touchy for her moody look. Please don’t kill me. Frank begged in his head. He knew that Alice could sometimes be a little temperamental.

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[alice josephine logan]

Alice sniffled loudly and wiped her face on the sleeve of her sweater. "Yeah, probably." she mumbled, not daring to look at him. She had the strangest impulse to reach out and pull him beside her. She wanted him to hold her and stroke her hair as she sobbed into his chest. She wanted him to tell her everything was going to be okay, even though it wasn't ever going to be. Instead, she met his gaze in the dark with swollen and red eyes. She'd screwed up. No, that was wrong, Ali had fucked up colossally. And all those stupid thoughts were nothing more than irrational wishes. He'd probably laugh at her, or maybe not, but he would definitely think she was some kind of harlot to be stupid enough to sleep with Sirius and get pregnant. Ali was not a good girl anymore. She was starting to think she really was a slut. Bet or no bet she didn't have to get wasted and sleep away her virginity. That choice was hers, and she had fucked that up.

Alice looked up at him, a fresh stream of tears streaming from her eyes. It was as if she just couldn't stop. "Merlin, I'm sorry Frank...I probably look like a mental case right now." she said, laughing sadly and rubbing at her eyes. She felt so foolish and a little upset at being so vulnerable right now. Ali, while usually sweet and optimistic was guarded. She was friendly to people, but few knew her secrets. There was no one who knew everything about her, though Emma and Lily came the closest. But being here, sunken on the floor of the Gryffindor changing room in front of Frank Longbottom, she found herself wanting comfort more than anything else.

[frank alexander longbottom]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 500px; border: #311419 1px solid; background-color: ffffff;] { words , } infinity { tags , } ace logan { status , } complete { love is not a victory march } Something about seeing her this way brought an ache to Frank’s chest. What was killing her like this? Obviously, something was really wrong. He’d assumed that she’d spoken to one of her many friends about it. That was what girls did, right? They hauled themselves up in bathroom stalls or dormitories and spilled their guts to each other so that they wouldn’t have to carry whatever weight it was they were carrying? Guys just punched each other in the arm and said whatever needed saying in as few words as possible. Well, normal guys did. Frank was a bit of an exception. He’d always been the oddball with the organizational needs, quick banter, and soft spots that made others wonder if he had a secret boyfriend somewhere. No, Frank was comfortable with his sexuality. He liked women. It was something he was entirely certain of. And, more than anything, he liked Alice. She was different than the rest of them and Frank knew that. He stepped toward her gently, slowly, carefully. He reached a hand to her cheek, his brows knit together as if studying her slightly. With his index finger, Frank wiped one of those stray tears away as they poured from this girl who he thought the world of. It was a somewhat intimate gesture, but he figured it was lost on Ace. They’d spent so much time in the thick of their banter, he knew that they’d been shamelessly flirting since before they understood what dating even really was. A small thing like a touch, no matter how gentle, meant nothing when each moment had only been building up to the next between the two of them. ”I’m not going to lie to you Ace. I’m not gonna be some cheesy asshole and say that you’re still gorgeous, even with the tears and red cheeks and flushed out face. I’ll tell you this though. I’ve never seen you this vulnerable before, this raw. And there’s something kind of amazing in that. You don’t look like a mental case. You look like a human being.” He murmured those last words with sympathy and care. He moved forward quickly this time. He wrapped his arms around this small, fragile girl, unsure if she would return the gesture at all. He held her not as if she would break though, but as if he was grounding her, keeping her anchored to the world. ”Tell me what’s going on with you?” He asked her, a whisper in her ear as a stray tuft of her blond hair flitted about his cheek.

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[alice josephine logan]

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It was like she was truly being cared for in that moment. It was stupid, how'd she'd acted. But she found herself falling into Frank's arms, each gentle touch slowly melting away her insecurities. But not quite enough, no, there was still the likelihood that he'd hate her forever, but with her head on his chest, she took deep, laborious breaths, and began to tell him everything. "It was that night, with the dare. I just got really mad and...kind of drank." Alice sniffled, the worlds flowing, she was rambling freely now though she wished that she would just shut up. "Okay, so. I was completely trashed. And I got worse after I kissed Lily..and I was just so mad. I mean. Everyone thinks I'm so dull and this little pure thing who doesn't...and your bet, and..." She took a breath "I broke my rule." she mumbled with a sad smile, knowing Frank would understand. It was common knowledge that Alice was just too good of friends with him and wouldn't be another of Sirius' sluts. She wouldn't sleep with him. "I slept with him. I don't hardly remember it and now..I'm pregnant and I haven't told anyone besides you. Not him. Not Em. Not Lily. Just you. " her throat felt sore from all of her crying and ranting.

She clung to him desperately, as if there were nothing else. He'd gone silent, maybe because he'd been trying to listen, but she feared that by this point it was out of disgust. She'd never been good with the silence, and found herself quick to break it. "I understand if you hate me and you think I'm some horrible person for letting this happen, and it's my fault and you shouldn't pity me or anything and I'm just rotten for being upset about it and you never want to speak to me again." She peered up at him. "Just please. Don't leave me. Not yet. Not now. I need you."

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