[RC. Room] Back from skating

[Russell Parkhurst]

Russell opened the door for Andie and beckoned her in. Inside it was considerably warmer then on the ice. Even so Rus walked to the fire place and added another log to the fire. It crackled noisily as the fire consumed the log. He watched it for a second then looked at Andie, "you just going to stand there?"

[rileybabe]

Andie laughed as she sat down by the fire, she conjured up two steaming mugs of hot chocolate and looked up expectantly at Russell. "Care to join me?"

[Russell Parkhurst]

Russell nodded and sat down next to Andie, spreading his legs and leaning forward, grasping the mug of hot chocolate and sipping the hot liquid slowly. "Nice," he commented over his shoulder at Andie, referring to the hot chocolate. Suddenly he felt uncomfortable, as though Andie wanted something from him that he wouldn't and couldn't give. So he concentrated on the fire and his hot chocolate.

[rileybabe]

Andie smiled at Russell as he sat down, then noticed that he seemed uncomfortable. "Hey, everything okay?" she asked in a whisper not realizing that with each word she inched closer and closer to him until the point that if she had moved an inch more she could've sat in his lap. Not that that would be a bad thing of course... she thought to herself.

[Russell Parkhurst]

Russell, noticing her edging, moved a little farther down the sofa. He didn't want to be that close. He sipped his hot chocolate for a moments thought then said, "yeah, I'm great!" He smiled broadly and sat up straighter, pretending to stretch. "I'm just a little tired! It's been quite a day!" He stretched a tad more and smiled down at Andie.

[rileybabe]

Andie smiled up at Russell. "Yeah it's been a long day for me too... hey you wanna go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend? We can make it sort of a date..."

[Russell Parkhurst]

Russell thought quickly about what he had planned for following weekend. "Erm," he coughed, "I think I ... " then Rus looked at Andie's hopeful face. He sighed, relaxing, but accidentally split his hot hot chocolate all over Andie's pants. He jumped up and started trying to help. "O, I'm SO sorry! I didn't ... O, I'm sorry!''

[rileybabe]

"It's okay." Andie replied calmly. "Nothing a little cleaning spell won't fix..." Pointing her wand at her pants she uttered Scourgify! "There, all better!" she smiled up at Russell. "Now about that date...?"

[Russell Parkhurst]

Rus always forgot about that spell. He was standing now, looking at the fire. He didn't want to take this too fast, I thought I made that clear! He had to set things straight. His father had once told him the story about how his mother tricked him into marrying her. And after almost twenty years of being together, it seemed to have worked.

But Russell knew there were no tricks. He couldn't imagine being with Andie. She was pushy and he had only known her for a few hours. This was freaking him out. He turned and faced Andie, a determined look on his face. "Look, Andie," he said slowly, running a hand through his hair, "I though we agreed to give it time. And a few hour isn't time. I was referring to a few weeks to get to know each other. I don't want to get involved with anything, I told you that. I'm sorry I can't-" he held up his hands in defense "-I can't!"

[rileybabe]

Andie nodded slowly,a look of hurt on her face. "I understand Russell. I didn't mean to push you. I didn't mean it like that, I just thought maybe you'd like to hang out... I guess not... now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to the library. I hope we can still be friends." she said these last few words in whipser, trying to keep her voice from cracking. A few tears ran down her cheek and she quickly turned away from Russell to try to wipe them way with her sleeve to prevent Russell from seeing them. She didn't want him thinking she was over emotional. But she couldn't help it, she had been in love many times, and each time the relationship had fallen apart, she wasn't going to let that happen with Russell.

[Russell Parkhurst]

Russell sighed. "Phew!" he said, slapping the back of his hand to his forehead, "I thought you were going to freak out! I thought there were going to be tears ... but no!" He gave her a light tap with his fist, "you're cool with this! That's very cool!" He smiled his skew smile at her, "the library, he thought aloud, "sounds good to me but I actually have an essay due monday that I should probably do."

[rileybabe]

Andie now looked Russel in the face. Tears of hurt and anger falling freely. "Don't you get it!?" she cried. "All my life, I've never had anyone and now that I might have finally found someone, I don't want this relationship to fall apart before it's even started. I don't want to push you away, but it seems that no matter what I do, you pull farther away." She pulled in a shaky breath. "Russell, you are the first person to see me for who I really am, you're the only person that I can be myself- my real self and not have to worry about being judged. Russell, please don't push me away!" she finished in a whipser, a strangled sob escaping from her lips. She sighed. "Russell, please you have to understand, I'm not trying to suffocate you, it's just that I'm so afraid of losing you before the relationship even gets started, that I don't know what to do. And it's making me act all weird. Maybe we should just take a break from eachother. Besides, you're too good for me. I don't deserve you." she said these last few words in a whisper. She looked into Russell's eyes trying to read the message hidden in them.

[Russell Parkhurst]

Russell was just about to agree that they needed some space when Andie went overboard with a canon ball tied to her ankle. Don't deserve me!? he thought. Russell knelt in front of Andie and clapped his hands on her arms, shaking her slightly. "Andie, listen to me," he said almost urgently, "you are a rare jewel, a precious stone that is only found once every million years. You are worth so much more then you'll ever know and trust me when I say that if anyone ever tells you differently, they're trying to sell themselves to the highest bidder. You are so much better then that!"

[rileybabe]

Andie smiled, drew in a shaky breath, wiped a tear from her eye, and replied, "Thank you Russell. You are incredibly sweet. Think we can still go to Hogsmeade together? As friends?" she looked hopefully into his eyes. please, please say 'yes' she thought urgently to herself.

[Russell Parkhurst]

Russell smiled and took a warm hand to brush Andie's cheek. Gently he wiped away a tear and nodded. "Sure," he whispered, "we can do that!"

((ooc: sorry it's so short, I can't think of anything else to say))