(Courtyard) What can heal a broken heart?

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash sat on the hard, cold, stone bench staring into space. Maxi had broken up with him a few days ago, and now Ash felt as if nothing mattered anymore. His once vibrant, bright sapphire eyes, were now dull and glassy. His normal bright colors had been replaced by black. The color of mourning.

[Bradyn Reed]

Right after class, Bradyn decided to take a walk around the school and perhaps just skip going to his next class at all. Walking past the courtyard he saw a very sullen looking Ashton. 'Guess he's still not taking it well..' He thought before plopping himself down next to him. "Hey, Ash." Bray said, smiling brightly in hopes of cheering up the lad. 'Perhaps not taking it well is an understatement,' he thought, seeing his already angsty friend bring a new level to the word.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash was pulled from his dark thoughts by the voice of Bradyn. "Hey Bray. What brings you out here?" he asked quietly.

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity sighed and pushed some hair out of her eyes. Stupid wind. She had decided to take a walk, and she found herself assulted by leaves and such. So much for a relaxing walk right?

Fay overheard voices as she walked on. She picked them out almost immediately. Ash's voice sounded...off though. Felicity walked over to them and took a seat on the other side of Ash. "Hey guys."

She inspected Ash's expression, and felt her heart drop. Oh no. Felicity curled her hands into fists in her lap, and glanced back up at Ash. What had happened to him now?

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash turned at the sound of another voice, female this time. It was Felicity. He greeted her with a sad smile, but said nothing.

[Bradyn Reed]

"What brings me out here? There was a dark cloud for three corridors and it all led to you, of course." He said, sarcasm always being his first choice with any answer. "but man, you look worse than last time I saw you. It's Maxi, right? What'd he do to you this time?" He asked sincerely, knowing that he couldn't leave his friend like this. Bray had seen Maxi not to long ago, and he was just unaffected by it all, it was almost a nice break from the dramatic, and quite crushed, Ashton McLane.

Looking up, he spotted Fay. Ah, he almost felt bad for Ashy now. Fay didn't like sad people, and she'd make sure he was happy... no matter what it took. Bray was glad he was here to protect the poor sullen boy from any forceful means. "Hey." He said to her, leaving the conversation between them simple.

[Felicity Locke]

"Yea Ash, you don't look so good." Not even talking. Poor Ash was certainly down in the dumps. More Maxi trouble she presumed, and somehow she thought the worst. Maybe it was the sad looked on his face, or how his eyes no longer had that spark as he retorted to her sarcasm. This wasn't their Ash.

Felicity did hate seeing people sad, but she wasn't going to force happiness on Ash like she did to a lot of other people who really needed it. A heart was harder to fix than just a bad day.

With a sigh, Fay put a hand on Ash's shoulder. "I'm sorry for whatever happened to ya Ash. I'd say I know how it is, but I don't. But I do know that we don't like seeing you this way. So please tell us what happened." Her voice was soft as she spoke to him, different than her normal speaking voice.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash sighed, "What do you think happened?" he muttered testily, not even attempting to apologize.

[Mark Alméida]

((Hope you dont mind my intrusion )

Mark had been idly strolling around the grounds. It seemed as though two sides were forming, Mark and Ash stood on one side of the hate line, while Ari and Maxi resided on the other. Though right now, Mark really could care less about either of the two. They had made thier choice and he had made his.

He approached a group of people, he recognised instantly the crestfallen Ash. He went up behind him and gave him a hug, "You know you shouldnt let that arrogant little know it all perfect idiot stupid moron get to you" He said stepping infront of Ash, he smiled at them, "Besides, Ash, you dont need him. You're far too good for him" He was trying the sensitive approach but it wasnt working. "Max will want you before you want him, remember that"

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash stared up at Mark, "How do you know?" he asked. "He said that he hadn't loved me for a long time. I just don't understand why he never said anything before?" He sighed, "Sometimes I wonder if he ever really did love me. Or if I was just another pretty boy for him to mess with." he said bitterly.

[Bradyn Reed]

Bradyn raised an eyebrow when Mark showed up and hugged Ashton as if they had been close for ever. 'Huh, Mark ditches Maxi. Goes to Ash. And says bad things about Maxi behind his back.' He thought, knowing that defending Maxi would not be the thing to do right now. Instead, he just took on a look of shock. "He actually said that to you, that he'd been using you.. and for a while?"

Even if Bray still considered Maxi a close friend of his, he was still shocked that someone could be so cruel so someone that loved them so much. 'The bastard, he should've done it nicely.' Biting his lower lip, he tried to hide the fact that he was quite mad now, and leaned a bit to see Fay's reaction. 'I hope she doesn't hunt Maxi down and 'take care of him'.. maybe I should put a tracker on the girl.' Turning his attention back to the rightfully sad Ash, he put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I told you so, Maxi is an arse."

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash's eyes blazed with anger. "He's not an arse! He's just going through some things right now!" he cried. Wait a minute, why the hell am I defending him? Um, because you still love him? Ash groaned in frustration. "I'm never going to get over this!"

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity's eyes tightened as Ash snapped at her. She bit down on her lip, biting back whatever retort flashed into her mind. He was going through a rough time, snapping at him wouldn't help.

Her gaze flicked to Mark, and her eyes narrowed slightly. Wasn't he mad at Maxi? Obviously saying nasty things behind his back wouldn't really help Ash out at all. God, she really needed to smack someone.

Fay shot a glare at Bray and then turned back to Ash. "Excuse me for being rude Ash, but it looks like you're going through some things right now." She looked back down at her lap, her voice going quiet. "I don't think he used you. You both seemed generally happy together." Felicity looked back up at Ash, clutching the edge of her skirt. "It wasn't fake, I could tell." Of course she could tell, she was a veela. She could see fake affection a mile away. Atleast that was one good thing about what she could do, she could tell if someone's affections were true.

[Professor Ashton Laurent]

Ash stared at Lissie with confusion. "How do you know?" he asked, he hadn't yet realized that she was a Veela.

[Felicity Locke]

Felicity bit down on her lip again, and slid a glance toward Bray. She looked up at Mark too, then back down at her lap. "Well, I , er..." Fay pulled a stray piece of hair then released it, letting it bounce back into place. She did this a few more times, still looking down at her lap.

"Let's just say I know what false affection looks like." Her gaze hardened slightly and she didn't look back up at Ash. She hoped that he wouldn't ask her why again. She couldn't lie to him, Fay didn't lie to her friends.