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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 10, 2016 14:30:31 GMT -5
Mason was staring at her but she couldn't tell what he might have been thinking. If it weren't for the jewelry she wore she might have panicked, but she kept her poise as she looked at Mason for a few seconds then back to Julian.
"Have you...erm...talked to Mason lately?" she asked, her words slow and precise. "Because he's here."
Lyra and Julian hadn't mentioned Mason to each other since the night of her ball. They hadn't talked at all about her relationship with Julian's best friend or about the fallout that Lyra was certain she had caused. She glanced again to Mason then back to Julian and chewed on her lower lip.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 10, 2016 20:34:22 GMT -5
Julian's casual expression vanished when Lyra mentioned Mason. He turned when she said that he was there. Suddenly the staring was mutual between the two men.
Mason's was hard and angry, while Julian's was apologetic.
He turned back toward Lyra, "No. We haven't talked."
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 10, 2016 21:52:03 GMT -5
Lyra saw Mason's expression harden as Julian turned to look at him. This was her fault. Friends shouldn't look at each other like that. Lyra's hands began to fidget in her lap.
"Should we go?"
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 10, 2016 22:14:51 GMT -5
"We can if you're uncomfortable." he offered.
It was a confrontation that would happen eventually, and Julian didn't intend for Lyra to be there when it happened. She felt as though it were her fault, but Julian knew it was his. If he had been more vocal about his interest in the first place or if Mason had known who Lyra was to him this wouldn't have happened.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 11, 2016 1:33:31 GMT -5
Lyra was uncomfortable, but not for the reason Julian might have thought. She was tense being here with Julian with Mason looking on, and yes, she also felt awkward about the way things had ended with Mason. But Lyra's current sense of uneasiness was for the rift she had caused between the men.
They had apparently been very close before Lyra ruined everything. The fact that Lyra knew nothing of Mason before this fiasco proved how little she knew about the real Julian, she had fallen for his white knight persona but still loved his true self. He was raw, passionate, and sensitive, not to mention just as charming as he had always been with her. The layers were simply more to love.
"I was more thinking of your comfort," she said honestly. "I feel horrible that I've interfered with your friendship." That was a more than gentle way of saying that she had f*cked things up royally. Lyra sighed softly, this was not how she was wanting her last date with Julian to go.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 11, 2016 5:39:07 GMT -5
"It wasn't your fault." he said gently, though he knew that she would argue. He put a hand up, "Let's just enjoy our time together, and if it bothers you we'll leave. I have such wonderful company nothing could disturb me."
It would hurt to lose Mason if they couldn't patch things up, he had known the other man since they were young children and grew up together, but it wouldn't be the first relationship to fall apart because of a woman.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 11, 2016 16:05:37 GMT -5
Julian knew Lyra too well. She had already opened her mouth to argue against his ascertion that the tense looks between the men wasn't her fault. It was, but she kept her thoughts to herself as he silenced her with a simple gesture. She nodded and stretched her hand under the table to rest on his knee.
She gave one last glance to Mason, sorry written across her face, then turned to Julian. Lyra took a deep breath and smiled at his compliment. She would need to do more than just wait for them to patch things up, but tonight was about her and Julian. Mason could wait.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 13, 2016 1:06:18 GMT -5
Julian was distracted now, though he was with Lyra and she was ample reason to pay attention, he was still aware of the heat directed at him. He still had no idea how to smooth things over between them either.
He too would ignore it for now. He smiled at Lyra, "Would you like more wine?"
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 13, 2016 1:26:48 GMT -5
She gave an awkward laugh. "I think my dress has had plenty," she tried as a joke to lighten the mood. It fell flat. "Yes, more wine would be lovely," she said in a more somber tone.
Lyra too felt the heat radiating from Mason's intent stare. She tried to ignore it and rejoin their earlier conversation but for the life of her she couldn't remember what they had been talking about.
"Oh this is just ridiculous!" she said with a bit of heat. "He's got no reason to be looking at you that way. If anything, he should be scowling at me. I'm the one who was in the wrong. Not you!" Lyra stood up, her eyes fixed on Mason's as she prepared to cross the crowded room to speak to him.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 13, 2016 1:42:47 GMT -5
"Don't Lyra." Julian said firmly. It was the first time he had ever really spoken to her in a less than warm tone. Mason was due his sullen looks, which Julian knew were more from the lack of conversation rather than his relationship. They hadn't discussed the situation or really spoken at all since discovering the truth, and that had been hard on both men.
Mason for his part was utterly disgusted, shocked, and really quite angry. It was bad enough that the girl he had fallen for had cheated on him with his best friend. But that was before Julian knew she had been involved with Mason. Now they sat in public pleased as punch and flaunting their relationship for the tabloids and anyone else. Mason had acted honorably and kept the affair quiet, but what they were now doing was a blatant slap in the face to him. Worse than the media however was that Julian didn't even have the courage to talk to Mason about it at all. So yes he would stare his friend down. He would make him feel shame, and he did not feel sorry about it at all. Not even when Lyra began to look at him.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 13, 2016 1:56:45 GMT -5
The strength in his tone made Lyra stop suddenly. He had only ever spoken gently to her unless they were fighting and then she never really listened much to his tone so much as she spent the time whining about how unfair he was being by refusing to give her what she wanted. What they both had wanted. This firm tone in the middle of his tenderness was shocking and put her promptly back into her seat.
"Why haven't you talked to him, Julian? You've had the time. I've tried not take up every minute, you know I wanted to."
Since Julian had agreed to have a go at their relationship Lyra had done nothing but wish he was nearer to her. But she purposely gave him the space she knew he would need in the hopes that he would use the time to smooth things over with Mason. He certainly had plenty of time between the ball and her drunken escapades in the street with Samantha and Christine. And still he had done nothing to mend his relationship. Neither had Mason, apparently. Both men were idiots but then she wasn't one to talk.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 13, 2016 2:04:28 GMT -5
"I didn't know what to say. I still don't. "
Julian sighed and took a large sip of his drink.
"He lost you Lyra, to his best mate. And he hates me right now, possibly for a lot longer than right now. There aren't any words to make any of that alright."
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 13, 2016 2:24:47 GMT -5
Lyra reached across the table and took his glass, hers had not yet been refilled. She took a drink then set the glass down in the center of the table.
"Merlin, I love you Julian but sometimes you are too honorable for your own good. Saying anything would have to be better than nothing at all, wouldn't it? 'Witches be crazy,'" she offered in suggestion. "Blame me, talk sh*t about me, anything. You can't keep avoiding him."
But Julian seemed to be the master of avoidance. He avoided dealing with the death of his fiance. For months now he had successfully avoided a relationship with Lyra - she was just even more stubborn than he was, it was the only reason they were something closely related to a couple now. He had avoided talking with Lyra about anything uncomfortable, including her relationship with Mason or the foiled kidnapping attempt that he knew she was internalizing destructively. And now he was avoiding his strained relationship with Mason.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 13, 2016 22:31:36 GMT -5
Julian was the type that liked to have the answers. If he didn't have the answer to a problem, he avoided it until he could find an answer. If there was no answer, then he avoided it completely.
He looked away from her as she argued that he should do something. He knew he should have done something, he should have done many somethings, but he hadn't and now he didn't know if he could. He still didn't have the answers.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 13, 2016 22:46:40 GMT -5
Lyra was the complete opposite. She lacked the will power to stay clear of a problem until she had an answer in hand, preferring to jump straight in and work through the problem as it came to her. Clearly this was not the most successful strategy as she had caused more heartache in the past few months than most would ever encounter in their life time, but Lyra was impulsive and stubborn.
She did, however, care deeply for the people in her life. She felt instant regret at her words as Julian looked away from her. "I'm sorry," she said gently. "Julian, look at me. I know this is difficult. I should have never put you in this place to begin with and I'm sorry for making it worse now. I just want you to be happy."
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 13, 2016 22:53:55 GMT -5
He sighed, "I am happy Lyra. As much as I thought I ever might be. But you also want this to be clean and easy. Settling things with Mason, moving on from Belle, being with you. None of that is easy and it certainly isn't clean. I'm trying."
Julian was trying to make things work between them, but he couldn't ignore the problems that they had even as he avoided them they played over and over again in his mind.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 14, 2016 0:03:54 GMT -5
"I know," she said softly as she looked to her hands. She felt suddenly embarrassed by herself. "I know you're trying."
Lyra wondered if it wouldn't just be better to press pause on their relationship now, forget trying to have one last night of happiness. Mason was still glaring at them and Julian was sullen. They had had a nice start to their evening, she could look back on that much at least.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 14, 2016 0:13:45 GMT -5
Mason eventually gave up staring at them as he collected his things and left.
But the date wasn't the same. Mason's disturbing presence had tainted it with reality and Julian couldn't pretend anymore. He was cordial, polite, charming. Everything he was supposed to be. But it was a sham, a desperate sham to keep the woman he loved happy and give her a reason to live, because the alternative was much too depressing to fathom.
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Post by Lyra Newbury on Dec 14, 2016 0:27:48 GMT -5
"We should go," she said finally after a very pregnant silence. "I have a meeting in the morning anyway."
Her meeting was with a therapist that Samantha had referred her to. If she could see into Julian's thoughts at that moment she would have told him the therapy sessions she was starting. It might have eased his mind.
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Post by Julian Faust on Dec 14, 2016 0:34:53 GMT -5
Julian curbed the saucy comment he immediately thought of when she said they should go. Instead he nodded with a gentle sigh and stood up offering her his arm.
"I'm sorry today wasn't..." he didn't have the words. He was sorry that it wasn't a fairytale as he was so accustomed to giving her.
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