Secrets In Plain Sight ~ Vivian, Rabastan & Theo

[THEODORE JACOB NOTT]

Vivian apologized and then vanished into the forest before Theo could say another word, not that there was anything to say, really. His father and his best friend had slept together. And what? Now they wanted to be together? Theo stared at the dirt and broken orange leaves beneath his foot, his eyes narrow. What did they expect him to say? What did they expect him to think?

He and Rabastan were alone now, and Theo let out a heavy sigh as Rabastan began talking about how it didn’t happen like Theo thought.

”Shagging is pretty self-explanatory,” he said with another sigh, running a hand through his messy curls. He was trying to become less angry, less shocked. But it was anything but easy. And then Rabastan began talking about Vivian again and Theo gritted his teeth. Of course.

”Right because naturally she’s the injured party here, not me. Not the person who was lied to and betrayed by his own best friend and father,” his voice was almost a low growl as he spoke, anger filling up every part of him. How did everything get turned so quickly on its head? How did this situation arise? Maybe he should have never told Vivian about Rabastan, maybe he should have truly kept it all to himself, his own personal secret. Then none of this would have happened. He lifted his eyes from the ground to stare at Rabastan for a second. He saw the guilt in his eyes, and Theo sighed, closing his eyes for a moment. Rabastan said if he wanted it to stop, it stopped. Well of bloody course he wanted it to stop. And yet… at the same time, there was a part of him that thought that wasn’t very fair.

It was almost like Rabastan and Vivian trying to tell him not to tell Daphne. He wouldn’t tell him how to live their lives, no matter how uncomfortable it might make him… He would accept it in time. He opened his eyes again and stared at his father for a moment, suddenly becoming very sad though he wasn’t sure why.

”I’m not going to tell you guys what to do. That’s your choice. Just… Don’t… Don’t expect me to like it right away. It’s weird, alright?” he said before walking over to Rabastan and hugging him tightly for a moment. He released him before he turned away from his father and walked slowly in the direction Vivian had run off in. He found her by the tree, her lip bloody, her face distraught. Guilt replaced the anger he had felt, and he frowned has he hugged her tight.

”I’m sorry,” he whispered quietly, his arms still squeezed tightly around it, and then the realization hit him harder than any other. ”You deserve to be happy.” His voice was still quiet as he released her , wiping away a few of the tears that were still rolling down her cheeks.

”This isn’t…It’s still weird, but… I’ll get over it,” he said, smiling at her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. ”And just because you’re…. with my dad, doesn’t mean I’m going to listen to you anymore than I did before, got it?” he asked with a raised brow, trying his damndest to just move past this whole huge mess, trying to accept it the best he could.

[/blockquote]

[RABASTAN RORICK LESTRANGE]

& Vivian

Rabastan breathed a sigh of relief as Theo hugged him, and hugged him back. That was more than he deserved, more than he expected. But he knew that his son was a good person, and that he wouldn't want to hurt his friend, especially.

He watched in silence as Theo went after Vivian, not following, deciding to give the two of them time alone first.

Vivian turned as she heard footsteps approaching, and saw Theo walking towards her. She forced herself to stand up straight and braced, defiant as he walked towards her, thinking he was going to shout at her or say what she had done was wrong, disgusting... but instead Theo hugged her, and relief flooded her like nothing she'd ever felt before. She relaxed into her best friends arms, and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his shoulder. He smelt familiar, and safe, and she calmed down almost immediately. Vivian vowed silently that she would never, no matter what, risk her friendship with Theo again. Not for anything. It seemed like this time it had worked out, but next time she may not be so lucky.

"I'm sorry," she said, apologising both for what she had done, and for breaking like she had, not being able to tackle the situation head on. Theo should have been allowed to be angry if that was what he needed. "It was all too much, I... this is why I shouldn't feel things, none of this would have happened if I was how I was before..."

Theo wiped the tears off her face, and Vivian did her best at attempting a smile. He put his arm around her shoulder, and said that just because she was with his dad, didn't mean he'd listen to her.
"You listen to me anyway," she said, in response to his eyebrow raise. "And I'm not with him... I don't know what this is. It was one night." Theo knew better than to think that Vivian would attach herself so easily to anyone, or that she would be able to handle so much emotional upheaval all in one go. She needed time to adjust as much as he did. "This doesn't change anything, with us," she said, resting her head on his shoulder. "You're still first with me, always." The world could go the hell in a hand-basket around them, and Vivian would still stand resolutely by Theo's side. She was loyal to him, to a fault; there was nothing Theo could do that would turn Vivian against him. Right or wrong, good or bad, she'd be there. And in a way it was all thanks to her parents, and how they'd treated her.

[THEODORE JACOB NOTT]

Vivian began to say that this was the reason she shouldn't feel things and he smirked, letting out a small laugh and shaking his head immediately her. He wasnt about to let her get away with that kind of talk.

"Wrong again. This is why you should feel things. You deserve to be happy, Viv... if... Rabastan is what makes you happy, then you should have him," he said, almost disbelieving his words himself. The sentence was still hard to say, and even harder to believe... but he would believe it for now. Vivian insisted she wasn't with him and Theo smirked slightly. Oh yes, this could actually turn out to be a lot more fun than he originally thought, but he was thankful to hear Vivian admit that he never listened to her anyway; it was completely and utterly true.

She said that this wouldn't change things between them and for that Theo was incredibly thankful. He was glad that this changed nothing between them, and the fact that she said he still came first with her had him grinning. So maybe they weren't going to gang up on him after all. At least... that's what he hoped.

"I know kid. I'll be fine, but let's go reunite you with your prince charming, shall we?" Theo said with the cockiest grin he was sure he'd ever smiled as he headed back to where he'd left Rabastan standing.

[/blockquote]

[RABASTAN RORICK LESTRANGE]

& Vivian

Vivian grimaced as Theo used the phrase 'prince charming'. That was just sickening.
"Is that was Daph-Daph calls you?" she said, sarcastically, just to let Theo know he wasn't getting a free pass because of all this.

She shook her head slightly, before following Theo back to Rabastan. Honestly, even for her it was beyond weird that she was sleeping with Theo's dad. And Theo being seemingly okay with it, talking about it normally, just drew attention to the weirdness even more. It helped that Theo referred to him as 'Rabastan' and not 'dad' for now, although she knew that he did indeed call him 'dad' most of the time. Well, Vivian had always known she was messed up. Theo seemed to regard finding a partner as one of the ultimate goals in life, now that he had a girlfriend, and if he had wanted Vivian to follow in his footsteps then he should really have known that she wasn't exactly going to pick a boy from the Quidditch team.

They re-entered the clearing where Rabastan stood, waiting.
"Everything okay?" he asked, although Vivian knew he could tell it was. He glanced down at his watch, frowning slightly. "Listen you two, I should really get going," he said, "its getting late, if I keep you out for two long people will start to wonder what exactly the two of you were doing in the forest." He stood slightly awkwardly for a moment, not sure how to work this new dynamic.

[THEODORE JACOB NOTT]

Theo smirked as Vivian sarcastically mocked him, and shoved her shoulder lightly, narrowing his eyes as at her. Still, there was a smile on his face. She was joking around again which was more than she’d been doing five minutes ago, so he’d take it.

”Oh shove off. You know exactly what she calls me. If my memory serves me correct you enjoy openly mocking it whenever possible,” he said with a smirk. The pair of them made their way back to Rabastan. He asked if everything was okay, and Theo nodded. Everything was far from good, but it was okay, for now… Rabastan stood awkwardly and Theo couldn’t help but smirk. They were so fine with it before, and now that he’d chosen to accept it they all decided to stand about awkwardly? That made no sense.

He walked over to Rabastan and hugged him, squeezing him tightly for a second to show that everything was indeed okay. And things would be good, in time. That’s all any of them needed right now was time. Time to adjust, time to get to know each other, well… tiem to get to know Rabastan.

”See you soon?” Theo asked a he released his father from the hug. He looked back toward Vivian and shrugged slightly. ”I’ll see you in a few minutes,” he said with a laugh before he headed away from the pair of them, to give them the alone time they probably wanted to say goodbye.

[/blockquote]

[RABASTAN RORICK LESTRANGE]

& Vivian

Rabastan hugged Theo back, grinning as he did so. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted, now that he was no longer faced with the prospect of lying to his son. He had underestimated Theo, and he wouldn't make the same mistake again.
"Yes," he said, in response to Theo's questioning tone. "I'll see you very soon. Next time you can come by the house."

He needed to talk to Rodolphus about it first, make sure he wouldn't do or say anything out of line... Rodolphus had always been a little bit unsteady, but usually he was okay. He'd be glad to see Theo, Rabastan thought. He would have taken him there today, rather than sit in the cold, dank forest, but he had wanted to be sure that he could vanish for a little while without being missed. And, if he was honest with himself, he had wanted to see Vivian. He wouldn't have been able to tell Theo to bring her by the house.

Rabastan smirked slightly self-consciously as Theo left him and Vivian alone to say their goodbyes. He was glad, because he would have felt far too strange about giving Vivian a proper goodbye with Theo there watching.

Theo vanished from sight, and Rabastan turned his attention to Vivian. He walked over to her, pulled her to him, and kissed her. Rabastan felt her arms slide around his neck as she pressed herself against him, kissing him back, and felt that same desire for her rise up again. He let out a low growl against her lips, and crushed her to him. What was he going to do about her? Vivian Blackwell had him going weak at the knees.

Vivian wrapped her arms around Rabastan as he kissed her, sinking into him, letting herself become wrapped up in the way he tasted and smelled, and the feel of him. His low growl against her lips encouraged her, and she started kissing him almost as desperately as she had that first time at the Hogs Head.

She felt him pull away, and reluctantly let him. Rabastan had his eyes tightly shut as though trying to muster up some self control.

"I want you to come to the house," he said, once he finally opened them. "Sneak away for the night." He wanted to have her in his own bed, in his own territory, so to speak. Vivian smiled and nodded, and the two of them arranged a time and a day to meet back here again. Rabastan gave Vivian one last hard kiss, before disentangling himself from her arms, grinning.

"Until later, then," he said, before turning and walking away into the forest. Vivian turned in the direction Theo had walked in, to rejoin him so the two of them could walk back up to the castle.