Hit Me With Your Best Shot (Grey)

[Deleted]

Edmund was sitting in the Great Hall, waiting. It had been a week since the big fall out between Grey and Addi, since Addi decided to cut herself off from the world. While he worried about her constantly, he'd taken a little bit of time to watch her older brother during meal times. He didn't stay long, he was probably nervous that Addi would confront him again but what he didn't know was that Addi didn't come to every meal anymore. She came to one, maybe two a day, which was part of the problem. After his conversation- oh all right, it was an argument- with her earlier today, he couldn't stand it any longer. He had to figure out what the crap Grey thought he was doing.

So, once he saw the older student enter the Great Hall, Edmund rose to his feet. He wasn't that hungry anyway. He walked casually across the hall and then leaned against the doors. He didn't care what he had to do, once Grey was ready to leave this Hall, Edmund was going to find a way to have some type of a conversation with him about Addi. He couldn't stand this anymore, but maybe if he talked to Grey he'd find some way to help her. If not, he could punch him. At least that would give him a feeling of satisfaction.

When Grey started leaving the Great Hall, Edmund stepped away from the wall. Trying to stay calm and not think about how much Grey had upset Addi, he tried to be polite. At least, he'd be polite to start with. "Grey, I need to talk to you. It's about Addilyn," he said, wondering if Grey would even care. After what he'd done, trading his relationship with her for his own protection, Edmund was half-expecting him to try and walk away. Go ahead and try Ed thought. He didn't care what he had to do, he was going to have his conversation with Addi's older brother.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

It had been a week. Only one week since Addilyn had confronted and punched him in the face. One week since he had finally talked to Claire, things were said, some that he still wasn’t sure of, others that he was positive would help everything going on, whether he realized it yet or not. One week from when he was terrified that the deal he had struck with Theodosia may have been broken because of Addi trying to interact with him. And one week from when he got up and walked away from his sister without any explanation or reasoning for his actions. He had caught a lot of flak from the whole thing. For one thing, he was now the asshole that walked away from his sister, who was clearly in need of his help and in distress, and on the other, he was the guy who got punched in the face by his little sister. Both were equally horrible, and while it didn’t bother him having people whispering behind his back and mocking him for it, the mental toll the situation had put on him was starting to hurt like hell. He thought talking to Claire would help, and while it did initially, he was unsure whether or not she could actually help him and Addi out. She had a job to do, and dealing with a squabble between a group of teenagers wasn’t her responsibility.

For the most part, his head had become numb to all of the thoughts. Going to class and eating was the best way to get over it, and he had started wandering around at night again, somehow avoiding more trouble thus far. Grey knew he couldn’t keep the charade up forever, and eventually he was going to have to cave in and tell Addi what was going on, but it was still too soon. He had to show Theodosia, prove to her, that he was serious about the deal. The girl was smart, but she would get bored of the game eventually, and when she did, he would strike back and save his sister. But it had still only been one week, and there were things that needed to be figured out first so that everything would go according to plan once the chance presented itself.

Today was one of those days where he hadn’t really thought about it too much. Eating at the Great Hall was like opening up a fresh wound every single time he sat down at the Gryffindor table. Grey had started to grow accustomed to it now, but the food still had no taste to it. It was hard to enjoy food, no matter how wonderful it was, when going through tough times. Frustrated that eating was going nowhere, like usual, Grey stood up and left the Great Hall. As he was walking out, he heard a voice call out to him. He froze. He knew it was Edmund. Grey had distinctly tried to avoid him, similarly to how he had with Addi, even though he had been worked out of the deal with Theodosia. “Listen, Edmund. I think I’ve done enough damage as is. I’m sure little Theodosia has told you what she wanted, and that’s why we’re all like this right now.” Grey was about to step away, but decided against it. “How is she?” Grey struggled out, his knuckles turning white as he gripped onto his bag harder.

grey xavier slater & @edmund
574
Ran before The Storm by Roo Panes

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Edmund's decision to try and stay calm was wavering. Grey didn't even have the courtesy to turn around and look at him while he openly admitted his deal with Theodosia. Edmund was seething. He hoped that somehow the whole thing had been a big misunderstanding, but no! Here Grey was, not even trying to seem sorry. Granted, he didn't seem particularly happy as he spoke, but Edmund didn't care about that. All he really cared about right now was Addi and she was going through the worst time of her life, most of which had to do with her brother. Her brother who obviously had no heart.

Even though Grey wasn't looking at him, Edmund glared in his direction, practically growling his response. He couldn't speak in a civilized manner at the moment. "You're right, you have done enough damage. My issue with you is that Addi's just getting worse. If she wasn't, I wouldn't even bother talking to you. Why would you make such a selfish deal with Theodosia anyway? Couldn't you figure something else to get them off your back? I would never sell Addi out the way you did, no matter what Theodosia offered me. Man, I really thought you cared more about Addi than that." He shook his head repeatedly as he looked away from Grey. His body was tense, ready for a physical fight, though he was trying really hard to keep it from coming to that. For Addi. He knew she wouldn't want him fighting with Grey. At least, he knew his Addi wouldn't want him to fight Grey. He actually had no idea what Zombie Addi would want. He didn't want to think about it.

Then Grey asked how Addi was doing and Edmund snapped. He didn't attack, the way he so wanted to, but his voice became dangerously quiet, seething in anger when he responded to the question. How dare Grey ask that? After what he purposefully inflicted on his own little sister. Edmund knew what it was like to not be close with family, but shutting them out entirely, ignoring them completely the way Grey was doing ... it was wrong. "How is she? I'd tell you to just look at her and see, but I don't think you will, or that you'd even want to right now, so I guess I'll tell you. She's not eating, not sleeping, she looks like a zombie and to top it all off, she started smoking! She wouldn't let me near her all week either so there was nothing I could do to try and help until today. I hope your precious safety is worth all that to you. You happy now?" By the time he was done speaking, Edmund was actually shaking in anger. His jaw and fists were clenched and he was sure he looked like he was about to explode. He also knew he was being cruel and judgmental, but Edmund didn't care. He wasn't going to hold back for Grey. He had no intention of trying to cater to him in any manner. He didn't even care that Grey was older than him and would probably win if it came to a duel or a physical fight. What he was doing was wrong and- if nothing else- Edmund was going to make sure he felt sorry for it. One way or another.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

Edmund was starting to piss him off. It had nothing to do with Edmund as a person, but what he was saying was true. Grey was keeping away and all it was doing was making things worse. Why did he ever think that was a good idea? Why didn’t he go to someone immediately and have them deliver a message to Addi from him, explaining everything? Oh that’s right, because Theodosia would have noticed. If Addi was still the happy, giggly girl she always was and not talking to her brother at the same time, then obviously they had communicated somehow. He had needed some time to build up before he went to her, hoping that Theodosia would take her eye off of them for a while. But everything had happened so fast, and now this is where they were. And it pissed him off that everything Edmund said was true. Could Grey have struck a different deal? Probably not. It had been a losing battle the minute Addilyn had told him about Theodosia. Grey had let his anger and ego get the better of him, and he confronted the other Slytherin without a game plan. That plan apparently never came to fruition either, because here he was, talking to Edmund while he let his sister fall deeper into whatever hole he had just sent her down. Grey was pathetic.

He still hadn’t turned around to face his accuser. It was embarrassing to do that. Grey needed to acknowledge he was wrong, but he couldn’t find the words to do that. Instead he listened to Edmund’s grievances silently, each word sending another pang of guilt through Grey’s body. He didn’t know how he could explain it to Edmund without making it sound like an excuse. Grey wasn’t sure what was worse; Edmund standing here yelling at him for everything, or Addi punching him in the eye. The answer was neither of them, Grey striking the deal with Theodosia was a thousand times more awful, since he had accepted the terms. Everything got worse as Edmund started to tell Grey how Addi was doing. She wasn’t eating or sleeping. At least that made two of them. What was worse though, was that she had apparently picked up smoking and refused to talk to anyone, even Edmund. What the hell had he done?

There was one problem Grey had with some of the things Edmund was telling him. It was exactly what he had expected Theodosia to do as well: she told them lies. Was the deal he made selfish? Sure, Grey had never taken into account what Addi would do during all of this, and he had only cared about separating himself from her as much as possible to keep her safe. But he would never say that he was selling his own sister out for his safety. At this Grey finally turned around to face Edmund, seeing exactly how angry the boy was. He couldn’t bring himself to make eye contact with him, so he looked slightly down, thinking about what to say. The first step was to tell Edmund exactly what had happened. Maybe that would clear the confusion up. Swallowing, Grey started to talk slowly. “I would never sell Addi out. My safety means nothing to me. I thought you’d be a little smarter than that Edmund, blindly believing everything Theodosia, or whomever, told you.” Grey shook his head. Placing blame on Edmund for this wasn’t right. It was still his fault for most of it. Quickly looking around to make sure Theodosia wasn’t nearby, Grey took a few steps towards Edmund, hoping that it didn’t look like he was about to punch him. Whispering now, Grey continued. “I don’t know what you’ve been told, but the deal I struck with Theodosia was to not talk to Addi, and she would do the same. My only goal in all of this was to keep my sister from being tortured, ok?”

He needed to make that seem as aggressive as possible, so he backed off of Edmund, now looking him straight in the eyes. Grey knew they were both worried about Addi, it was inevitable. He should have turned to Edmund in the first place, instead of playing along with Theodosia’s stupid game. Now they had a lot of things they needed to fix, and from the way it sounded, Addi was far more than gone at this point. It hurt him even to think about it. “So it’s up to you Edmund. Believe either me, or Theodosia. Personally, I probably wouldn’t take my word at this point either if I were you. It’s completely up to you. Let’s just hope that me talking to you doesn’t break the deal. Because if Theodosia even thinks about touching Addi again, I’m going to kill her.”

grey xavier slater & @edmund
805
Emit Remmus by Red Hot Chili Peppers

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Edmund felt slightly satisfied when Grey finally turned around and looked at him. At least he cared enough about his sister to want to address the situation. However, the fact that Grey wouldn't even look at him while he spoke made Edmund angrier. Why wouldn't he just own up to what he did? Was he really going to pretend like this hurt him just like it was hurting Addi? Edmund wouldn't believe that for a second. He heard Grey's wimpy defense, that he'd never sell Addi out and that his safety meant nothing. Obviously not. Then he accused Edmund of blindly believing Theodosia. Edmund smarted at the suggestion. "I didn't blindly believe her," he snarled back in an angry tone. This was ridiculous. "I thought she was playing me. I was convinced that you would never ignore your sister, not after you two finally started building a relationship. I ignored Theodosia's accusation, until Addi told me you weren't talking to her, that you wouldn't even look at her. I believed what I saw," Edmund snapped his mouth shut. Why was he explaining all this? It wasn't like Grey even cared. When Grey took a step towards him, Edmund held his ground. If Grey wanted to start a fight, he would be only too happy to join in. He refused to look like a coward.

When Grey told him his side of what the deal was, Edmund watched him closely, but said nothing. He wasn't sure what to think. Could he believe that Grey was doing this for Addi's sake? Honestly, he could. But he didn't want to. It was so much easier to think of Grey as a bad person, that he was doing this for himself than that he was doing it for the sister he loved. Still, Edmund felt like he knew Grey, like he understood him. This seemed more in character with what Edmund believed Grey to be. He didn't say that though. Then Grey finally looked him in the eye and told him it was up to him to decide who he believed. Like there was any question there. The story that made more sense was Grey's. Besides, Edmund would rarely take Theodosia's word over someone else's. He was going with Grey. "I believe you Grey, but that's not really what's important now," he said bluntly, not responding to any of Grey's other comments. Why hold back? He'd already gotten furious at Grey, who took it with amazing finesse. Now it was time to discuss what really mattered. "How are we going to help Addi? I can tell her what you just told me, but I'm not really sure if she'll believe me. She might think I made it up to help her. Is there anything ... anything I could tell her that would make her believe I truly spoke with you about this? Something maybe that only the two of you know? We need to help her." He waited, hoping that Grey would come up with something because this was torture. Finally he knew the truth, but he didn't know what to do about it. 

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

Grey knew he was going to be pushing buttons during this conversation, it was inevitable. He also had a feeling that Edmund wasn’t going to back down simply by words. It probably wouldn’t take much to provoke him more than he already was, and Grey had taken quite a few hits recently, both by his own doing, and from others. Another one wouldn’t be that bad but he’d prefer to keep his face intact enough for it to see another day. So when Edmund snapped back at him almost immediately upon finishing, Grey wasn’t that surprised. This was just another thing that he had to add to the list of things he deserved, which was starting to become pretty hefty considering everything he had gone through in the past few weeks. All Grey did was stand there, taking all of it in. It was the only thing he could do anymore, he had become numb to the criticism and the yelling, as well as every single thought that had been running through his head. If anything, he was tired of all of it, ready for it to be over with.

He didn’t give Edmund enough credit. Grey had liked him since their first meeting, he understood why Addi was into him too, so why had he thrown him under the bus so easily when talking to Theodosia? He surely hadn’t thought Edmund would care this much about Addi, but this encounter was enough to prove Grey wrong. He figured that most people would try to deal with personal problems on their own, or just walk away from them. But not Edmund. Here he was, standing in front of Grey, giving him another chance. If that meant breaking the deal so soon, Grey was sure to take it. Addi was probably in worse shape than what Edmund had explained, there was no denying that. “I can’t think of anything off the top of my head…” He hadn’t been that close to Addi until the end of summer. And even then, she had surely told Edmund all about it, with the broken nose in the book store, and everything that followed. “I could send her an owl…maybe that would work? At least that way she’d know it was from me.” Grey took a deep breath and sighed. “I’m sorry about all of this. I went in thinking I could beat Theodosia at her game, and here we are. Pathetic right? If she figures out about this and goes after Addi again, we’ll take it straight to the headmaster. I’m done screwing around. Personally, I think killing her would solve more than just our problem, but I’d rather not get sent to Azkaban before I graduate.”

grey xavier slater & @edmund
435
An Epic Of Time Wasted by Avenged Sevenfold

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

What kind of an answer was that? Really, Edmund wasn't completely mad at Grey anymore. He realized they both made mistakes in the whole situation. Grey's mistake was making that stupid, ridiculous deal with Theodosia and Edmund's was believing Theodosia when she told him about the deal. He should have gone straight to Grey and demanded to know what was going on, much like he was now, actually. Still, didn't Grey and Addi have anything that was just between the two of them. Edmund wasn't particularly close, but there were connections he could make with each of his siblings that no one else knew about. With Will, how well their lunch went this summer and some of the things they talked about, Susan, giving him relationship advice even though she didn't know he was in a relationship, Lucy, conversations by their pond at home. Maybe Grey had an even worse relationships with his sisters than Ed did with his family. Sad.

"Hmm ..." Edmund was trying to think. "Yeah, you can send and owl and I can just see if she'll believe me." Yeah right. Sure, he and Addi were close, but this wasn't the Addilyn Joy Slater that he was used to. Zombie Addi (as he called her in his mind) was a completely different person and he had a hard time thinking that she'd believe him about this unless he had proof, which he didn't. Maybe an owl would work. "So maybe I should talk to her tomorrow and you can send an owl tomorrow afternoon or something so that I can give her the idea and you can confirm it?" This was weird, plotting an idea to convince Addi he was telling her the truth. But he had to do it. Just in case she didn't believe him.

Then Grey started to apologize and Edmund listened, sure that the Gryffindor needed to get this off his chest. Really, Edmund was past the whole thing. Nothing could be done to change what happened or fix it, all they could do now was worry about the present and future and how to put this right. Still, he knew that most people needed to say they were sorry and explain themselves to find peace of mind. And he liked Grey, so he decided to listen.

He nodded at what Grey said at first, "Both of us are to blame, to a point," he said, trying to make Grey feel maybe a little bit better. "I should never have believed Theodosia. I know who she is. It's not all your fault. And Addi ..." Edmund trailed off. Hopefully Grey wouldn't get mad at him for what he was about to say, but he felt like it needed to be said. "Addi should have found a different way to release her feelings. Not taking care of herself and avoiding those who want to help her isn't the way. So we all have a part to play in this mess." He grinned when Grey started talking about what he was going to do if Theodosia went after Addi again. "I'm with you on that. I don't want her near Addi again. However, I think going to the headmaster would probably be the better choice. I don't know if Addi would ever forgive you if you got yourself sent to Azkaban over her," Edmund teased. He knew it might not be the best situation to make jokes, but he didn't want their conversation to end angry. He was trying to lighten the mood before leaving to try and find Addi.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

Edmund’s hesitation when Grey suggested sending the owl was concerning. Was Addilyn really in that bad of a state? He had said she wasn’t really eating or sleeping, and the smoking, well, he’d talk to her about that later. But could she have gotten that bad in just a week? He’d know from the condition of the response he hoped to get back from her. First though, Grey needed to figure out what to say in the letter. He was scared, knowing that all of this had stemmed from something he could have avoided, whether it was by refusing the deal with Theodosia, or going straight to a professor with what had been done to Addi. But no. Grey had thought he was strong enough to take it all on his own. That was the first mistake he had made, only leading them all to now. “I can definitely do that. I hope we’re able to get her back to normal. I knew not talking to her was going to hurt her, but it was better than being attacked by Theodosia.” Even admitting that he understood what he had done was painful. It was better to get it all out there though. Keeping it bottled up any longer wasn’t a choice.

“Should I use my owl though? If Theodosia doesn’t already know about this, the last thing I want to do is tip her off when my owl comes flying down on to the Slytherin table, excited to see Addi.” Grey didn’t really use his owl, Zero, all that much. He didn’t have a lot to talk to his parents about, so the little guy sat in the owlery all the time, Grey letting him out to stretch a couple times a week. He had always felt bad about that, and had planned on using him more when he graduated. Zero also loved Addilyn for some reason, and was always bugging her when they were home, so having him come gliding in to the Great Hall the next day during mail time was going to be a telltale sign that Grey was attempting to contact his sister. To top it all off, Addi’s punch the week before had definitively caught Theodosia’s attention. The little Slytherin probably had all eyes on Grey when he didn’t know it.

Grey didn’t want Edmund blaming himself for this, especially because it wasn’t his fault, at all. He hadn’t meant to blame the boy by saying he shouldn’t have listened to Theodosia; that was just a smart rule to follow no matter what, and it was clear that Edmund knew that. “She probably should have, but she’s having problems right now that we probably only half understand. I think making her realize exactly what happened will bring her back immediately. You know how she is.” The bright, bubbly, happy Addilyn was the end-goal of the plan, something that Grey felt he hadn’t seen in ages, and he was sure Edmund was the same way. “By the way Edmund, you wouldn’t happen to know who Theodosia hangs around, do you? She mentioned something about her people meeting me for tea or something equally stupid like that.” This had been bothering Grey for a while now. He had initially thought it was her just trying to intimidate him by making it sound like a lot of people were watching his every move, or it was a figure of speech that pompous assholes used. Whatever it was, it had still sat there, in the corner of all of his jumbled up thoughts, dragging itself to the front every time Grey thought about breaking the deal. The idea that more people like Theodosia existed somewhere in the dark scared him. Especially since she apparently wanted to set up a date for him to meet all of them.

grey xavier slater & @edmund
637
Different Child by Roo Panes

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Edmund nodded, "I hope so. It's- it's really bad. I've never seen her like this before." He hoped Addi would let them help her, but there was also the wondering whether or not she would believe this story. With this new Addi, he didn't know. The old Addi would believe him.

He shook his head instantly, "I know we can't keep this from Theodosia long, but we should try to as long as we can. I would use a school owl. Also, I'm not sure if Addi would open the letter if she knew it came from you." It hurt Edmund to tell Grey this, but he was trying to prepare the Gryffindor for the changes in his sister. If that was possible. If someone told Edmund that Addi would ever act the way she was acting now, he wouldn't have believed them. Not until he saw it.

"Are you sure she'll believe us?" Edmund asked when Grey said all she needed was to know the truth and that that would bring her back. Edmund shrugged at Greys next question, "Yeah, lots of the Slytherin girls a year older than her. Like Ondina and Lucy Weasley. I can't remember the other names though ..." He trailed off, thinking hard but coming up with nothing. Hopefully that would help Grey.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

The Monsters

walk among us

“I hope she’ll believe us.” Grey responded. The more he thought about the condition Addilyn was in that Edmund had described, the more worried he was getting. Her punching him was a sign that she had already snapped. That was completely out of the ordinary from her normal demeanor. What Grey had done was seriously damaging her, so there was a good chance that his letter wasn’t going to solve anything. “She probably wouldn’t. But I’m still following through with it. Like I said, if Theodosia finds out, I don’t care. You’ll need to make sure you’re around Addilyn as much as possible to keep an eye out, even if she doesn’t want you there.” Grey was a dead giveaway if he wandered up to his sister, mostly because of their vast height difference and the fact that he didn’t belong anywhere close to the Slytherins other than in classes. Edmund fit right in, because well, that’s where he was supposed to be.

Grey listened intently to the names of the other Slytherin girls Theodosia was friends with. If those types actually had friends, that is. He wasn’t sure if friendship existed in such a toxic environment. And from his experience with Theodosia, Grey found it impossible that anyone could actually deal with that level of entitlement, even if they were carbon copies of one another. To say he was shocked to hear that two of these “friends” were Weasleys was an understatement. He knew a handful of Weasleys, maybe it was a little more than that, and they were all normal people. The only one that stuck out among that clan was Lily Potter, and Grey didn’t think he needed to describe her antics, if he was even able to do that in the first place. “Interesting…I don’t know either of them, but I’m friends with enough of their relatives that I could do a little digging.”

Talking to Edmund had drained Grey. That didn’t happen too often, but it was a lot of new information to take on top of what he had already been thinking about. He could feel the start of a headache coming on, and decided that this was enough for him today. “Thanks for letting me know Edmund. I was planning on doing something soon, but you pushed me in the right direction. Talk to her tomorrow and I’ll get that letter out as well. Let’s go save Addilyn.” Grey nodded at Edmund one last time before leaving the entrance to the Great Hall. He had no idea what to write in his letter, but he’d have to figure it out fast. There wasn’t much time left.

grey xavier slater & @edmund
443
Where I Want To Go by Roo Panes
Grey out!

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

Edmund nodded. Grey was bringing up some pretty valid points. "You know I'm not going to leave her on her own. Even if she doesn't want me there, I will be. Especially for the next while, so she'll be safe when Theodosia finds out." Yes. He said when. There wasn't really a question of "if". Theodosia was too smart for that, as much as he hated to admit it.

"Yeah, but they aren't anything like their cousins, just so you know. I actually don't know if they even talk with their cousins," he commented, thinking that he'd never seen either near another Weasley. 

Edmund nodded when Grey told him to talk to Addi tomorrow. "Good luck," he said as Grey turned away. Edmund turned back to face the Great Hall, his eyes searching for Addi. Was she in there yet? If not, he needed to find her. Maybe he'd be able to get her to eat something again.

---end---

grey xavier slater