Cael had been pacing the yard for the last hour or so, looking like a crazy person with the way he kept fidgeting with the box that was in his pocket; not to mention the way he had been talking to his dog as though she was going to be able to give him some piece of mind. He sure as hell hadn't been able to talk to anyone else about the decision he had made about a week or two ago, when he had first started looking at rings. It wasn't even that he didn't have people to talk to - he had his friends, and Charlie and Delilah, but they had way too much shit going on to deal with him having a panic attack about what he was planning on doing that night.

He was nervous. He was extremely nervous, which is why he kept going over the worst case scenarios with the confused looking pup who kept watching him move from one side of the yard to the other, her head tilted to display her confusion.

"What if she says no? What the hell am I gonna do?"

He groaned, his hand coming up to scratch at the back of his neck, swallowing thickly as he waited for Cecilia to get home. She had gone out shopping, which had given him enough time to set things up before she returned. He had made her dinner, which was being kept warm on the table outside - he had placed a simple charm on it to prevent the heat from escaping, and to make sure that the bugs stayed away. It was a beautiful night, with a ton of stars overhead.

"She's gonna know something is up. What if she starts freaking out before I even get the chance to say what I wanna say?"

He groaned, and eventually plopped down to sit on the edge of the deck next to the dog, who placed her head in his lap, allowing him to rub behind her ears.

"You think I'm doing the right thing, don't you girl?" He stopped petting her for a moment, and watched as she lifted her head and licked his face. It was a good enough answer for him, and he smirked before he gave her another scratch behind the ears. He heard the front door open, and he swallowed thickly. God, he was so bloody nervous. He had to keep cool though, or else she'd know something was up for sure. He rose to his feet, making his way inside in order to greet her, his eyes focusing in on the shopping bags she had brought back with her.

"Had a successful run, I see." He knew she was used to carrying home a dozen more bags than the few she had come back home with back before she had started living with him - back before her family had cut her off. Still, he wanted her to have whatever she wanted - or whatever he could afford to give her. He lived above middle class, but he wasn't as well off as her family and family friends had been - not by a long shot.

This was quite out of her sphere of comfort.

To be fair, since coming to live with a certain halfblood, pretty much every single part of life had been out of Cecilia Hooke's sphere of comfort, but this--this was going a whole other step further. For although she--if she did say so herself--had become quite skilled in the meanial tasks of cooking, cleaning and generally playing house without the benefit of servants to order around, what she had never done was take care of a sick person.

Specifically, a sick boyfriend. As in, the type of person who was sick and one could not simply ignore because they may or may not be offended at one's total lack of compassion in their time of need, which could or could not cause a fair stumbling point in one's relationship with that person which was one's only way of surviving as one's parents did not currently speak to them and they had nowhere else to live and no personal income.

Yes, that was about how the situation went. Except---well, of course Cecilia wanted to help him, and of course she cared, but it was so... It was just that she didn't know what she was supposed to do. Growing up, it had never been her parent's problem when she or Nick or Addy had gotten sick, it was always the house elves. Beyond that, all she knew how to do was sit in her own bedroom--which she hadn't used for over a year--and continue to feel useless while Cael was in their bedroom half-dying. She had been desperate.

So maybe she had hired a house elf.

Honestly speaking, Cecilia did not know how he would feel about this development, but she did know one thing for certain: it was definitely not something that she was going to bring up while walking into the bedroom with a tray of bread, hot soup and cup of tea that she had certainly not made on her own. She did hope, though, that he was just out of it enough to not realize the overt pretentiousness of the way it had all been laid out and garnished. Heavens, she hadn't even known halfbloods owned butter knives--

"Hey," she greeted him quietly, setting the food down on the nightstand. "Doing any better this afternoon?"

1983 was supposed to be a new year – he had it set in his mind that it would be different than 1982, seeing how the tail end of that year had been far crazier than he ever could have imagined. Ever since he had come back from Sweden, his days went from being mundane and boring to slightly overwhelming; all because of a beautiful girl he had met at a bar one night, who thought he was just another jackass who was trying to get into her pants. Truthfully he had been intrigued by her since the first moment his eyes landed on her, sitting all by herself on a stool, and that interest only intensified when he finally dared to buy her a drink and start a conversation with her.

If Cael had to be honest with himself, he had never imagined being so drawn to someone like her – someone who was so completely opposite, who had such different interests and points of view. In theory, they should have been disastrous together, especially when looking at their previous relationships, but somehow they just…worked. They worked better than he could have hoped.

Only she was engaged, and her family was chock full of elitist purebloods who spat (sometimes literally) at those who with even a drop of muggle blood in their system. If her parents knew, that despite being promised to another man she was living with him, they probably would have died of a heart attack. Cae felt the weight of the decision Cecilia had to make on his own shoulders, fearing that one day she was going to walk in the front door and tell him that she had made up her mind, and that she would be leaving in the morning to stay with her fiancé.

If he told anyone that he was living with an engaged woman, they would have called him crazy – that was why he hadn’t been to see Charlie, Delilah, or any of his friends since she announced her engagement. How was he supposed to explain that he was seeing this amazing, beautiful girl, but they couldn’t meet her because she might be married to some other guy at the end of the month? Maybe he was crazy, but he didn’t want to believe it. He needed to have faith that he had done everything to prove that he was the right choice, but in the end, it would all come down to Cecilia.

Squeezing the tennis ball that he had picked up from the ground, he tossed it across his backyard so that Karma could chase after it, pouncing on the little green ball before placing it between her teeth to bring back to her owner, so he could do it again. It was getting cold, but he had been home for a while, waiting for Cecilia to return from wherever she had run off to. He didn’t ask too many questions, since most of the time he was certain he didn’t want to know where she was going, or who she was talking to. He threw the ball again, slipping his hands into his pockets once they were both empty, letting out a breath that he could see in the cold air that surrounded him.

This was always the worst part of his nights – wondering when she was going to come back, if she would at all.

Cael couldn’t remember the last time he wanted a drink so badly. He had been out of the house while he was talking to Cecilia, needing to pull himself away from the blueprints he had been going over just so he could finish the conversation and figure out some sort of excuse to tell his boss so he could get out of work. He wound up going with some bullshit excuse about how he felt like he was getting sick from lunch, and despite the glare of death he got, he packed up his things and headed home.

She was engaged. Her parents had arranged for her to be married, and now she was engaged…

He wound up taking a cab, instead of just apparating, needing time to himself to sort through what he was going to say when he finally got there – when he finally saw her, and the reality of the situation really sunk in.

When the vehicle finally stopped in front of his house, Cael hesitated before finally climbing out of the car, paying the driver, watching him drive off, leaving him standing in the bitter cold autumn weather.

He couldn’t remember the last time he wanted a drink so badly.

Stepping to his front door, he pulled it open, expecting to be greeted by Karma as he usually was when he came home from work. But she never came. His brows stitched together in confusion, but it wasn’t until he hung up his coat and walked upstairs to his room, where Cecilia had been sleeping since a few days after she had arrived, did he understand why the dog hadn’t given him her usual greeting.

Instead, she was seated outside of the closed door, whimpering and nudging her nose against the doorknob. She could sense something was wrong with the girl who was sitting inside. She turned to look at him over her shoulder, and Cael let out a sigh, stepping forward to rub her behind the ears.

“Good girl.”

He spoke quietly to his canine companion, and then finally braved reaching for the doorknob to open the door. Karma trotted in first, lifting her front paws up onto the bed. Cael stepped forward, bringing himself closer to the bed. He didn’t know what to say, so he said the first thing that came to his mind.

“…she’s taken a liking to you.”

Cael wasn’t used to having anyone be at his house after a day of work, but for the last day or two, his dog hadn’t been the only female he had seen when he arrived home. He woke up in the mornings and wouldn’t even get to see Cecilia, seeing how she was usually still sleeping when he was out the door at 7 am. He would be gone all day, and would come home completely shot, just to help unpack some more of his new house guest’s things.

Tonight would be the first night she would officially be settled in, though as he walked through the door, he didn’t think about that – he was still getting used to having her there, so when he stepped into the house, he momentarily forgot that there was someone else inside as he tossed his briefcase onto the chair, and then pretty much collapsed onto the couch. He would stare up at the ceiling, eventually letting out a long breath before he closed his eyes, lifting his hands to rub at his face.

He heard the sound of skidding claws along the smooth wood floors, right before a familiar ‘thud’ let him know that his dog had just slid into the wall again. It was only a matter of time before he felt her cold, wet nose against his arm, nudging it so that he would pay her some attention.

“Alright, Karma, alright…”

He absently scratched her behind the ears, but found that Karma’s attention was captured by something else. She would turn away from him completely, making Cael sit up a bit on the couch to try and figure out what it was that had peaked her interest. That was when his eyes fell on Cecilia – his new roommate, and his….well, he wasn’t sure what else she was. Even still, he wasn’t allowed to talk about her to anyone, so it was hard to put a name to what it was they were.

“Hey.”

He swung his legs over the couch, though he remained hunched forward, watching how the dog still sniffed at her and canted her head as though saying ‘who the hell are you?’, not quite sure what to make of this new woman.

Things between Cael Gray and Cecilia Hooke had been a little…well, rocky to say the least. They went from being ‘friends with benefits’ without ever really classifying themselves as friends, to not knowing what to think about the other, all because of things neither one of them could change, even if they wanted to – his bloodline, and her past relationships. He didn’t know what word existed, if any, to classify what it was they used to be, so it was even harder now to find a way to describe what they were now. All he knew was that despite himself, he thought about her constantly – enough that he had decided to offer an invitation to some job function that he had told his boss he would attend, since it was one he actually wanted to go to.

Not once did he ever use the word ‘date’ to describe the outing, but he had managed to talk her into going with him after explaining how no one from her social circle would be there, and how she could either keep herself holed away, or at least get out of her flat for a day --- even if it was hanging around a group of people she didn’t want anything to do with.

From what he could tell, there weren’t many people left in Cecilia’s life who she could be around who weren’t going to scold her, or talk down to her all because of some friendship/indescribable relationship she had with him. He figured having a conversation with someone who wasn’t going to turn their nose up at her might be a nice change of pace.

It was ironic, how quickly the tables had turned for someone who had done a great deal of turning up her nose in the past.

They had arrived maybe 5 minutes ago, and would walk side by side, along a pathway in the grass, Cael dressed much more casually than he ever had been while at an event with her in the past, when he had usually been in his best dress robes. Instead, tonight, he wore a pair of lived in jeans, and a powder blue t-shirt that made his eyes seem like cuts of diamonds. There were a few tents set up, as well as some picnic tables – kids and adults alike running around on the grass, since there was so much wide open space. This was much more Cael’s environment – relaxed, fun, and friendly.

“Was I wrong to assume you wouldn’t know many people here?”

The question was directed down at her with a barely there smirk - he wouldn't deny that this was definitely a bit strange, actually being around her again, but he figured if they didn't meet in an open, neutral area, than it was just going to be more awkward as they tried to figure out where it was they stood.

What was she doing, what was she doing, what was she doing?

Pinned down in-between the fluffy upholstery of her couch and a warm body, Cecilia Hooke could not help but to wonder what chain of events had lead her into this situation she was in now.

It wasn't like she was complaining by any means, of course. She liked Cael Gray enough, he kissed more than well enough, and certainly she had been enjoying the last few weeks being filled with his company. She just wanted to know how somehow, despite all of her walls and aversion to men in general as of late, that someone had managed to get her into anything resembling a snog... much less many times over.

Many, many, many times over.

Breaking out of a long kiss, she slowly opened her eyes and sent him a sultry smile, all the while reminding herself that this was just for play. Whatever he might have thought this was--which, honestly, worried her more than she cared to admit--, to her this was just a... what? A game? A release of pent-up sexual tension?

Yes, it was something like that. Whatever it was, it was not anything having to do with a legitimate relationship, no matter how much she enjoyed the time spent with him. After all, she absolutely couldn't do that again.

Cael scowled as he stared into the bathroom mirror, adjusting the tie of his dress robes before he stepped back to look at himself in the mirror. The blonde haired blue eyed architect cleaned up well – hell, he could almost pass for a member of high society, while in that get up – but he never felt comfortable in this kind of attire. He didn’t like ties, because he felt like they were always too tight around his neck, but he also knew that he was going to get a lot of attention that night, seeing how he was one of the designers who had worked on the building he was standing in.

A new theater that had opened up in downtown London, and invited were the elite members of the wizarding world, attending the first showing of an opera that was to take place on the new stage.

Sighing, he once again pulled at the collar of his shirt, before he turned to exit the bathroom, right back into the bustling crowd who were just starting to head inside to take their seats. He wasn’t ready to sit yet, since he was a little antsy, and felt like he needed a drink before he had to sit through a 3 hour opera, sung in a language he didn’t understand.

Really, he was all about being worldly, but he also liked knowing what the fuck was going on.

He made his way towards the bar, ordering himself a Scotch before he swiped his hand through his hair, and glanced to his side – though he did a double take when he was certain he had seen-

“…Cecilia Hooke?”

It was utterly pathetic to come to a bar alone. This was a fact of life to which Cecilia had subscribed fiercely for much of her existence... that was, until she had become pathetic herself. Now, such entertainment was a passable way to spend an evening, even if dwelling upon the idea of how she must have looked was less than desirable.

Either way, she had to get her fix. And who did she have left to accompany her? Between having either disgraced or chased off most of her family, the love of her life being killed, his memory driving her away from spending time near his sister, her closest friends otherwise being locked up in prison, and the man she was supposed to marry to get over all of it run off and engaged to a disgusting halfblood, really Cecilia did not have much left. It was her own fault, maybe, for having made the decisions she had. Maybe it was a string of terrible luck.

All she knew was that it left her becoming a woman that just a year before she would have despised--the lonely girl at the end of the bar.

Well, if anything, at least she had come out of it a little less judgemental.

Tilting her head back, she finished off the glass and pursed her lips together, setting the empty vessel back atop the wood. Without having to say a word, Albert--the bartender, that was.. she knew this one by name--refilled it instantly. It was still quite early in the evening, but she knew that the faster she drank, the quicker it would pass. With that in her head, she began on her second...