Brighten My Day (Dustin)

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Evelyn was bored. So, so bored. She and Rocco got back from Africa about a week ago and she missed spending all her time with him. She was still seeing him more frequently than she expected, but it was still an adjustment that she wasn't really enjoying. It didn't help that Dustin still wasn't back. It would be a whole lot easier for her to not be thinking about Rocco if her best friend was here. She was sitting in her apartment, trying to distract herself with a book. Normally it was the perfect thing for her, reading, but today it wasn't working, to her annoyance. It was rare that books couldn't entertain her and pull her out of her environment, but apparently today was one of those days and Ev was itching for something to do. Anything, really.

@dustin

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Dustin had returned from the French Alps. He did not feel good. The two things were definitely, definitely related. After the way things had ended with Viovinnia - explosively, and with a lot of hurt feelings - Dustin felt like he was entitled to not feeling good. Normally when he wanted to visit Evelyn, Dustin scaled the side of her building or threw rocks at her window until she came down to meet him. But this was not a normal situation. Dustin had climbed the stairs to Evelyn's apartment, and knocked on the door. He really hoped that Ev was in, because he needed someone to remind him how to be happy when he was low. It sucked, because since he hadn't ever told Evelyn about Viovinnia, he couldn't complain to her about his now-ex-girlfriend. Really, all Dustin needed was one of Evelyn's hugs. Maybe then he'd feel better.

@evelyn

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Evelyn stared at the page absently. In fact, she'd been looking at the same page for the last ten minutes, at least, but she didn't realize it. Her thoughts were back in Africa, back anywhere that wasn't here. She couldn't help but wish Dustin was back, but at the same time she was mad at herself for wishing that. He was on break in France, enjoying herself and she shouldn't want that to stop just for her. When she heard a knock on her door, Ev jumped to her feet and moved to open it, wondering who it would be. Very few people ever came to visit her apartment, and even less people actually knocked on her door. She opened the door and her mouth fell open when she realized who it was. "Dustin!" Her voice was full of excitement and Ev jumped forward and gave him a big hug. This was one of the things she wouldn't feel comfortable doing with anyone else, but it was Dustin. He was like a brother to her. She pulled away from the hug and moved to grab his hand so she could pull him into the apartment. "Do you need anything? Are you hungry?" Evelyn looked around herself, glad when she realized everything was in order. Not that Dustin would care. 

@dustin

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It didn’t take long for Evelyn to open the door, and even seeing her made the fist clamped around Dustin’s heart loosen a little. She threw her arms around him in a hug, and Dustin wrapped his arms around Evelyn in an automatic response, burying his head in her hair. Yes, he felt a little bit better. But he also felt a little bit worse, and in that moment, Dustin wanted to tell her everything, from Vi to the breakup to everything that happened in between. Deep breaths, Bainbridge. “Can I have a glass of water?” Dustin suggested meekly. His voice sounded strange to his own ears – kind of tight. Like he was about to cry. When he pulled back from Evelyn, Dustin realized that his cheeks were indeed wet. He was…crying? That was something new, Dustin thought at the apartment door swung shut behind him. He wiped at a few of the tears that were already on his cheeks, but they just kept coming. When was the last time he had cried? More importantly, when was the last time he had cried over something as stupid as a girl dumping him?

@evelyn

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Something felt ... different about this hug. Ev had no idea what it was. Maybe Dustin just missed her while he was on vacation? Maybe it was nice to be back home? She wasn't good at feelings so she didn't know. What she did know was that she was glad he was back. When he spoke, something was wrong with his voice. At least, he sounded tense about something and Ev was instantly curious about it, but figured she would be polite first. "Of course you can, Dus," Ev told him simply, pulling away from the hug and turning immediately to go get him a glass of water. She came back, holding the glass out to him and looking up at him, a smile on her face, when she finally realized that he was crying. "What's wrong?" She asked immediately, reaching forward to touch his arm. She'd never seen him like this before. Dustin wasn't one to get overly emotional, which was honestly one of the reasons he and Ev got along so well- because she didn't understand the way emotions worked, for the most part. She was getting better, but it was still a struggle. "I don't know what to do," she admitted, hating the fact that she had to actually say the words out loud. Normally she would assume that Dustin would know she was useless in a situation like this, but with him so emotional ... she had no idea if he'd remember or not. She did know that when most people got emotional, their brains didn't seem to work as well as normal. Was Dustin one of them?

@dustin

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Evelyn left to go get him a glass of water, and Dustin tried to use the time to calm himself down and stop the tears. It seemed he was caught in a paradox, though, because the more he tried to calm down the faster the tears came. He had forgotten what it felt like to cry, and the entire thing was just…strange. Evelyn returned, and obviously noticed the tears on his cheeks. She’d have to be pretty stupid or pretty blind not to notice them, and she was neither of those things. When Ev asked what was wrong, Dustin shrugged his shoulders and shook his head sadly. He knew what was wrong, but there was so much to explain, and he wasn’t sure if he was in any state to explain it. When the Ravenclaw admitted she didn’t know what to do, the Gryffindor just nodded. “I know.” Dustin answered. Evelyn wasn’t emotional, and most of the time, that was something that he liked about her. “It’s fine.” He added, in case she was wondering if he resented her for not being able to know what to do when he was crying. Dustin didn’t know what to do, so they could just be confused together. Dustin opened his mouth again, not sure what he intended to say but knowing he had to say something, and found the words spilling out. “I was in love with a girl, and she was in love with me, and I don’t think either of those things changed, but now we can’t be together.” Dustin blinked and rubbed at his eyes again. “And it hurts.”

@evelyn

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This was new territory for Evelyn. She never really cared about how others were feeling or about what she could do to help them. No one had ever come to her when they were upset before. Sure, she occasionally witnessed people comforting one another at school, but she never took part in it. She didn't even pay attention to what they did. But this was Dustin. He was family and even though Evelyn didn't know what she could do that would help, she would try to help just because it was him. When she asked what was wrong, he didn't say anything. Maybe he was just too sad to talk? Ev couldn't decide what to do for him. Why did he come to her like this? Didn't he know that she wouldn't be able to help? Ev felt so frustrated at her inability to assist him. She hated seeing him like this. Her only comfort was that he didn't seem to blame her. He said he knew she didn't know what to do and that it was fine. Well, he was wrong about that. It wasn't fine and she was going to try and find a way to help. Then he finally told her what was wrong. Ev's mouth fell open in surprise. Dustin was in love? A million questions started firing through her mind, questions that she normally would have asked him, but she bit her tongue. He wasn't in the state to answer questions. "I'm so sorry Dustin," she said, moving closer and wrapping her arms around his waist to give him another hug. Maybe he just needed a chance to get his emotions out. Ev didn't say anything for what felt like ages. Then, when she couldn't hold it in anymore, "Do you want to talk about it?" She didn't know if he'd want to, but she was willing to do anything he wanted to right now.

@dustin

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Dustin finally realized that he now had the glass of water that he had asked Evelyn for, and he gulped it all down at once, trying to calm his mind and his body. Drinking that fast hadn’t been helpful, though, and too late Dustin realized that sipping the water probably would have been more beneficial. Oh well. What was done…was done. Everything that was done was done, not just the stupid glass of water. Dustin tried to chastise himself for being rude about the water, especially since Ev had been the one to give it to him, but he wasn’t much good at self-awareness at the moment, and he was worried that the moment he started berating himself about something small, he would begin to go on a long tangent about how he should have known better, how he should have seen this coming, how he –

Evelyn was hugging him again, and while it didn’t feel as good as the first time, it did stop that toxic train of thought in its tracks. Ev was apologizing, and Dustin didn’t know whether to insist it wasn’t her fault or just accept the apology. Instead of doing either of those things, he just hugged her tighter, acknowledging what she had said without having to form an appropriate response to it. When Ev asked if he wanted to talk about it, Dustin shrugged his shoulders. “I just – it’s so stupid, and I should have seen this all coming, and I thought she knew who I was, but…” But Vi hadn’t known who he was at all. She had loved him when he was a pureblood but as soon as he wasn’t anymore, nothing else mattered. And that was frustrating, because he was so much more than his parentage, and so was she, and being apart because she couldn’t see that was killing him a little inside. “But I thought that I was her exception. And I guess I should learn that people don’t make exceptions, even when they’re in love.”

@evelyn

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This was all so confusing. They were still hugging, which Ev hoped was helpful to Dustin, but she really wasn't sure if it was helping him feel any better or not. His hug tightened around her, which made her glad she started it, but then he started talking and his words made absolutely no sense to her. What was he talking about? How could he fall in love with someone- and she with him- and not know who the other person was. "What do you mean?" She slowly pulled back from the hug, taking his hand and leading him over to the couch. It seemed like he wanted to talk about it- either that or he couldn't help himself- so she was going to ask a few small questions. "How does she not know who you are?" Ev clarified, looking at him carefully. She'd never seen Dustin so emotional before and she still didn't know what to do, but she was trying. "You thought you were an exception to what?" Ev didn't know how else to word her questions or even if he wanted to answer them, but she had to ask.

@dustin

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Evelyn was confused by what he was saying, which said two things to Dustin: he wasn’t being clear enough, and this was really, really messed up. His world was already turned upside down without adding the fact that Evelyn, the smartest person he knew, was confused by him. Dustin tried to find the words to explain better, but they took a while to form and to come out in the right order. “She’s a pureblood.” Dustin said with a sigh. “And she’s betrothed to someone else, and she thought I was a pureblood, and then she found out that I wasn’t, and…” And then things had become messy and upsetting and now he was here, with Evelyn, telling her everything even though the entire thing – was it an affair, technically, since she was already promised to someone else? – was supposed to have been a secret. Dustin wondered if Ev would ask him who it was, and if he would have enough self-control not to tell her. Dustin was certain that saying Vi’s name would hurt, though, since thinking it did – maybe that would be his last line of defense, his last little bit of secrecy.

@evelyn

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He didn't say anything for a while and Ev was getting nervous. She wasn't good at this whole talking-to-people-who-were-having-a-hard-time thing and she was worried that she was doing it all wrong. What if she was making things worse for Dustin? Maybe he should have gone to someone else for this. She didn't know who else, but she didn't want to mess things up for him even more. Then he finally explained a little more and Ev's eyes widened. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, not even able to imagine how that would feel. Her mind flitted to Rocco, but this wasn't about her and him. This was about Dustin and the girl who dumped him because he wasn't a pureblood. Which was an idiotic thing to do, really. Dustin was amazing, and his blood didn't matter. "She's wrong, Dus. I don't even know who she is, but if she thinks that you're not good enough just because you're not a pureblood ..." Ev didn't know how to express herself, how to tell him how amazing he was. "You're wonderful. Blood aside, you are a great person and anyone who won't accept you for who you are just because of your blood status is missing the point. You are great." She was angry at this girl, the girl who broke Dustin's heart. A part of her wanted to find out who it was, but that probably wasn't a good decision. If she knew who this girl was, she might find her and attack her. Probably best not to ask.

@dustin

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Ev said that she was sorry, and Dustin had to resist the reflex reaction to insist that it wasn’t her fault. He knew that she was just saying that because there was nothing else that she could say, and he didn’t want to take that little comfort away from her. Just because he was feeling like absolute crap didn’t mean that he wanted Evelyn to feel the same way. Evelyn then began to say something more substantial, and it brought a fresh wave of tears to Dustin’s eyes, because he didn’t think he’d ever seen Ev this passionate about anything before, other than learning. She cared. She cared, and that meant more to him than any words that she could ever say. At least now, after losing the first real love he had known, he had someone’s arms to go back to. When Ev finished with her comforting, Dustin forced himself to speak, taking a deep breath so that he wouldn’t start crying again. “I – I know that.” Dustin stumbled out. It could have sounded cocky, but it didn’t. It just sounded broken. He knew he was no less because he was a half-blood, but he just wished that Vi could see that, too, because then he wouldn’t be aching like someone had taken a sledgehammer to his sternum. “I know that, but it doesn’t hurt less.” Right now, Dustin just wanted to sit down, and breathe.

@evelyn

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Dustin seemed to be speechless, at least for a few seconds, and that was new to Ev. She knew he was hurting, but this was just more evidence of how much this Pure-blood girl hurt him. She nodded when he finally did speak, saying that he knew she was right, but that it didn't stop him from hurting. That made sense, but it also brought her back to the original problem. She didn't know if there was anything she could do to help her best friend or not. Which was annoying because she wanted to. "What can I do for you, Dustin? Do you want to watch a movie or talk or ...?" She trailed off, waiting for him to tell her something.

@dustin

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Evelyn asking what she could do to him was overwhelming for a moment, because even when he was so awful and selfish, she was still just thinking of how to make him feel better, and he really didn’t deserve that. He really didn’t deserve her. And Vi hadn’t deserved him. That triumphant, rebellious thought flared in Dustin for just a moment before sputtering out like a candle in the wind, and Dustin took a deep breath to recover from the hope that he had just felt. “Can I just…stay here?” Dustin asked Ev. “You can keep doing whatever, but I just…don’t want to be alone.” Being alone was terrifying, and at least Ev knew a part of the story now. He couldn’t find a way to tell his parents what had happened, so if he sulked, they would ask questions…but hopefully Ev wouldn’t ask more questions than she had already.

@evelyn

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He asked if he could stay and Ev smiled. "Of course you can. You can stay here for as long as you want. And we can do things together or you can have some alone-time if you want. Would you like me to put on a movie or something?" She suggested, then realized he probably thought he interrupted something. "I wasn't doing anything. Pretending to read, but I can't seem to focus today. So let's do something together." If he wanted to. If not, she wouldn't push it, but it was obvious that Dustin needed support right now and if she could, Ev was definitely wanting to give it to him. After all, he was like a brother to her. At least, what she imagined it would be like to have a brother.

@dustin