crash and break down [Albus]

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Dusti had been surprised when she found out Albus wanted to meet at the Leaky Cauldron. They'd been planning on going out today, meeting at a park near her house, when she'd received an owl changing the place to the Cauldron. But, she didn't think much of it. They never met at their own houses (he'd never been to hers, and she'd never been to his), so it wasn't that strange of a spot for them to meet. As of late, she'd had to be extremely careful when sneaking out of the house, to ensure that neither of her parents realized she was leaving so they could stop her. She didn't care about the consequences, or being caught sneaking back in. In her mind, she'd rather get away with what she wanted and get punished for it then get caught before she could even get into any trouble. And if her parents had known she was sneaking out to be with Albus Potter, well, they probably would have locked her in her room and enchanted it so she couldn't get out.

Appearing before the pub and inn, she quickly and silently strolled inside, throwing back the hood of her cloak as she went. She turned her head just a little to glance at the bar. She spotted her brother, Raleigh, working. She raised an eyebrow at him,... before offering the smallest of nods when she was sure he was looking. They weren't close, not in the least. But there was a... mutual understanding between them. Especially since Dusti had gone to him about what River and their father was up to. When she looked away, her gaze scanned the room for her boyfriend, finally spotting him in one of the booths by himself. Immediately she crossed the room to him, and slid onto the bench next to him. "Hey." She greeted softly as she slipped off her cloak.

@al

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@dusti

"Hey." al lifted his head from the table when he heard dusti's voice and he was grateful for it. he'd needed to see her since leaving his house yesteday but things had been crazy so he'd asked to meet her now. he still had a slight headache from the amount of alcohol he'd had the night before. that hadn't been a smart move, but he wasn't going to admit it to neville that he'd been right. he ran his hand through his hair as she took off her cloak and he stood up in that moment. not saying a word he just stepped to her and wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tight to his body. he lowered his head till it was resting on her shoulder and he buried his face into her neck slightly. it had been a hard twenty four hours. it wasn't every day that you fought with a parent bad enough, a parent who claimed to love you and be there for you, but it had all been a lie. he was sure of it now. he wouldn't complain about it to dusti though, however bad things were in his family they were nothing compared to what her family was like and he didn't even know the half of it. so he just held her in his arms, not wanting to let her go.

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Dusti hadn't seen that look on Albus' face since... Well, since the Tower explosion accident. He was obviously trying to hide it, but she had the same tells. It was easy to see past. He didn't say anything though. That wasn't exactly unusual. Words weren't always his thing, but when he had that look and silence? It was obvious that something had happened. He didn't want to talk about whatever it was that was bothering him. Dusti was okay with that. She kept plenty of her own secrets from him, and just like he never pushed her to share, she'd never push him. Instead she moved closer to him as he stood and offered a small smile. As his arms closed around her, she wrapped her own around his waist, holding him just as tightly as he held her.

After several silent moments, arms wrapped tightly around her boyfriend, his head against her shoulder, she finally opened her mouth. "Need to get your mind off things?" She asked softly even though she didn't pull away.

@al

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@dusti

"Need to get your mind off things?" he did but he didn't think he could. it had been a kind of sharing few days and he was over it. he didn't think he could tell her about what was going on. not yet anyway. talking about it would just send him into the same spiral he'd been on after talking to his mother and he didn't want to risk snapping at her. so he simply shook her head and hugged her tighter against his chest. he didn't know when things had gone so wrong. they'd been going better. he and his dad had finally started getting along .. his mother was starting to remember and him and james had finally stopped hating each other. then it had all fallen to pieces and he'd started to feel the same as he had for the last year and he hated it. he closed his eyes and took a deep breath in, trying to calm himself before risking letting her go.

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Albus just shook his head and held her tighter. Whatever had happened, it must have been pretty bad. Albus wasn't a big talker, but it took quite a bit to make him not want to share things with her and vice versa. She wouldn't push it. Just like if she'd been this way, Al wouldn't push her. Instead Dusti would stay here with him until he was ready to talk. Moving her arms, she kept one around his waist while the other wrapped around his shoulders and around the back of his neck. His chin was still on her shoulder and she turned her head to rest her temple against his own. She'd stay there as long as he needed, just holding him as tightly as he held her. As long as it took. She hated many things in her life. Her parents. Most people. Adults. But one of the strongest hatreds was seeing Albus hurting.

@al

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@dusti

he knew he should stop taking solace in the comfort of his girlfriends embrace and let her go but he didn't want to just yet. since the fight with his father he'd wanted nothing more than to just be around her but of course with moving out and getting things sorted it wasn't possible. plus he knew she had to plan her exits from home carefully, the last thing she needed was him owling her with a crisis and having her risk making her parents mad. she still hadn't told him how bad things were at home but he had an inkling. he was lucky in comparison. he rubbed his hand down her back and hugged her tighter for just a second as he started to let her go, kissing her cheek and then he nuzzled his nose against her neck just below her ear before he moved to take her hands into his. "so i moved out of home" he said, offering her some explanation of why their meeting place had changed.

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It took several more moments before Albus finally moved, pulling away from the embrace but stopping to kiss her cheek and nuzzle her neck just a little. It made her smile and squeeze his hand when his found hers. There were plenty of things they didn't talk about, about their personal lives. Bad things especially on her part. But it was easy to forget them when he was around. He didn't make her feel guarded or hesitant. For a girl that hated being touched, she had no problems with Albus. Only after did he offer an explanation to his behavior and the change in meeting spots. Dusti's eyes widened just a little with surprise. Moved out? What... exactly happened to drive him to that? Sure, moving it wasn't a foreign concept to her. Raleigh had moved out. Dusti probably would have too if she thought Rusti would come with her.

Squeezing his hands a little tighter, she moved to sit down at the table she'd found Albus at, sliding over to make room for him. "Are you okay?" She didn't demand answers as to why. It didn't matter why. What mattered was Albus and how he was doing.

@al

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@dusti

he moved with her when she sat down at the table he'd waited for her at. sliding into the seat next to her he rested his arms on the table before him, his elbows bent and his hands clasped together. "Are you okay?" he shrugged. he didn't know. he didn't know if he was okay or how he should answer that. it was strange. anyone else and he would have said yes straight away, the only other person he'd probably talk to about this was scorpius. or neville but it had taken some doing. with dusti though he didn't know if he should share it or keep it a secret. "i .. i will be." he said with a sight as he brought one of his hands up to rest his chin on it. "i mean i left. so things are already feeling better." he already felt less tense and he had slept better than he had in years the night before last, though that might have something to do with the half bottle of fire whiskey that was still pounding slightly between his eyes. "both my parents think i'm the problem so i figured the easiest way to resolve that was .. remove the problem." he said, a strained chuckle coming from him as he dropped his hand to the table again.

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It took Albus a few moments to muster up a response, and when he did she wasn't surprised. Obviously whatever had happened had been incredibly difficult for him. Do droce him to move out. She envied him in a way, to have the courage to do if. She wished she could, that she could leave her insane family behind. But she couldn't leave Rosaria. She leaned back against the booth as he slowly spoke, explaining at least a little of what had happened.

It still didn't surprise her. He'd always had problems with his dad. And with his mom's memory loss things had been difficult there too. Only once he finished speaking did she reach out to place a hand on his shoulder, a concerned but also sympathetic expression in her usually cold eyes. "I don't think you're a problem, Al. No matter what they think." was the only thing she could manage to say.

@al

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@dusti

"I don't think you're a problem, Al. No matter what they think." he smiled slightly at her as he reached his hand up to rest over the one she'd placed on his shoulder. anyone else and he would have shied away, shifted from the touch but dusti's was always welcome. it made him feel better just knowing she was there. "you're slightly biased." he teased her softly as he squeezed her hand before dropping his arm back down to the table and he looked at her. he wanted to know how her break had gone. he didn't think she'd tell him though so she wasn't going to mention it. like him, if she wanted to talk about it she would. "how's rusti?" he asked her, taking a sip of his drink as he asked about the one sibling she didn't have a problem talking about.

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Dusti rolled her eyes at his comment, his hand resting on hers. "What's wrong with being biased? Doesn't mean it isn't true." she retorted, the small pressure of his hand squeezing her own brought a small smile to her lips. When his hand dropped back to the table she brought her hand back to herself. Propping her elbow on the table she rested her chin in her hand, staring out of the booth and to the bar. Her brother, the oldest Flint, was no where in sight. He must have stepped away for a break or into the back room. "She's good. Apparently she and Gaius are getting along. I don't really know how or when that happened." Gaius. Rusti's intended. All the Flint children had one. Well, Raleigh didn't but his had died. Even Dusti has one, but both her and the boy gagged at the thought and Dusti had made it clear to Albus sometime ago that neither of them had any intention of listening to their parents on the matter. "So? What's the plan then? Are you staying here until school starts?"

@al

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@dusti

"She's good. Apparently she and Gaius are getting along. I don't really know how or when that happened." he nodded slightly. that was good. at least they didn't hate each other like braylynn and raleigh had seemed too. he hadn't been friends with either one of them but it had been known around the school. "probably when you were busy with me." he said with a slight smile and he ran his hand through his hair and rested it down on the table again. "So? What's the plan then? Are you staying here until school starts?" he nodded and folded his arms against the table. "yeah. uncle neville has said i can stay here as long as i want. he's offered for me to keep diesel and dexter here too. when school finishes i'll probably stay here for a few weeks at least .. while i try and sort out something of my own." he said as he chewed his lip and used his nail to pick at one of the knots in the wood on the table. "unless you .. want to look with me when school is finished?" he said as he looked up from the table at her.

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Dusti nodded as he spoke. It must be nice, having someone to turn to in this situation. Someone willing to take him in. Hell, even trusting an adult enough to turn to them. Dust had always been a little.. jealous of that. That even though Albus was like her he had so many people looking out for him, and willing to help him. She could imagine that he'd want to move out on his own after graduation, as he was hinting at. Albus wasn't the sort to just take advantage of someone's hospitality. He liked doing things on his own.

He stopped speaking for a moment, and when he continued she could hear the hesitation. Her eyes slowly widened as he finally looked up to meet her gaze. Look with him? As in... move out with him? Dusti didn't say anything, just stared wide eyed as she processed the suggestion. What was she supposed to say? She hoped they'd last that long, but that was a long way away. Could she give an answer to that? She knew she couldn't. So, she didn't. Instead she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, drowning out any sort of response in a kiss.

@al

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@dusti

she kissed him. that was going to be her answer apparently. he chuckled into the kiss and leaned forward across the table and he reached to rest his hand on the back of her neck. she might have shut him up about it for now but that wouldn't stop him asking her again. even if she said no he wanted to know if it was somewhere she could see them going. after all, he didn't want to not have her in his future and he hoped she felt the same way but if by some change she didn't he wanted to know. he mumbled against her lips that they should probably move somewhere more private in a few moments, but for the next few seconds he was quite content sitting in the cauldron making out with his girlfriend.

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