He stomach turned over. The guilt sunk in. Frustration and self-loathing began to pour over his brain. Fuck. He caught himself and attempted to settle down. Fletcher had become used to not having to worry about these things as he and Wendy rarely occupied space since their uncoupling months ago (while they were together he never felt the need to be so guarded, he felt comfortable around her). Projecting his angst onto her wasn’t fair to either of them. “I don’t know what mercurial means.” He repeated solemnly. He was an idiot. Fletcher had never claimed to be anything else. Smart, clever, a schemer, chess player. He was all of those. An idiot though, he was one of those too. So he took her words as they came, because while he was a liar, she was not. She deserved to yell at him for as long as she liked. He could take it.
He knew this would happen and his growing fondness for Lucy was some bullshit only his mind could cook up. He had tried staying away from Lu. And he succeeded at first. Fletcher had become quite good at avoiding people. He learned schedules, observed patterns, and the created an opposite version to fit his own needs. He had done it with Wendy. Irregular dining hours? A different route to class? A new nap spot? Check. Check. Check. But Lucy kept popping up and-right. Right. He tried to move his mind away from it, those feelings would just hurt her more. He tried to grasp on to any other emotion. Anger? Anger didn’t work because he wasn’t angry with her. For what? Being angry that he cheated on her with some faceless Slytherin? For doing it in public? For then berating her about he could do whatever he wanted because they weren’t really together? Calling her childish for being upset? For yelling at her the common room where everyone could hear? She deserved to be angry with him
Whatever it was with Lucy it was fucked up. He knew that. But they weren’t together. He had learned his lesson from near titles and supposed commitment and allowing someone completely in. He had learned that it was all bullshit.
“I don’t know what you know.” Or anyone. He didn’t want to talk to anyone. Ever. He pined for the loneliness that he both wanted and felt like he deserved nowadays. “But that’s- I don’t know what you know. But it’s probably not what you think.”
No matter how many times she’d told herself that he didn’t deserve her compassion -- she still gave some of it. Wendy told herself she wasn’t being irrational as he repeated himself, because this was ridiculous. How they’d gotten to this was beyond ridiculous and if someone had told her a year ago that her and Fletcher would be this -- she’d LAUGH at them. It was frustrating, his denial, simply because she knew that this facade he held up was one he held for other people. Not her. She’d BROKEN THROUGH, but he had a funny way of making her doubt e v e r y t h i n g she’d ever learned about him. Doubting that she’d ever known him at all.
How dare he try to lie to her, try to deny THIS.
It was her fault, her fault for thinking he was better when from day one he’d tried to convince her otherwise. How many times had Fletcher told her point blank p e r i o d that he wasn’t good? That he wasn’t worthy? How many times had she pushed against him and not listened to him? Some of this was her fault too, she realized, that the yelling didn’t do a thing but that’s not why she was still talking to him then. To figure out where she’d gone wrong, how she’d helped to fracture who they were, her part in their RUINATION. Him and Lucy. That’s why.
“BOLLOCKS, I know and if you hurt her, I’ll hurt you,” Wendy said, her voice strong, sure & true. The wall she’d tried to maintain was f i n a l l y back up -- she didn’t feel the emotions stirring underneath, the confusion, the regret that seemed to hit her as if it was her own ( it easily could’ve been ). The Ravenclaw focused, because this was business -- whatever feelings she felt towards Lucy about the coupling between her and Fletcher, she felt love for her cousin that was stronger and infinitely more lasting than whatever hurt Fletcher inflicted upon her. Love, as always, would be louder -- she forced herself to believe that.
“I’ll hurt you more than you’ve EVER hurt me. All of us will.” Wendy felt selfish then, this had been about Fletcher & Lucy -- not her feelings. Still, if it nailed in the point of not hurting Lucy, it had to be worth it. Besides, he’d had the luxury of BREAKING her into more pieces than she could ever pick up. Wendy had forced herself whole again, while she was still mending ( it was painful, but she felt it ), she knew Lucy wouldn’t deal well with having to do the same. “You’ll wish you’d never met me, more than you probably do now.”