Bring Me Along? ((Chris))

[Weetzie O'Keeffe H7]

Weetzie tried as hard as she might to keep her mind from wandering back to Bryce. She couldn't stop it, though. His face kept circling into her head, and then that lead to his lips on hers, and her stomach would churn. She had to do something to keep her mind off him. She had to do anything. It was hard enough seeing him in the common room or at meal times, but she had…had to do something. And so, Weetzie had picked up her guitar; her hideous butterfly guitar that had too many memories connected to Bryce, traded it in for another electric guitar and was currently on her way to the courtyard. She had written plenty of songs over the past couple of months, but never had sung them out. It was her plan of diversion. She knew she wouldn't get anywhere with her music, but she also knew it would help her adjust. She reached the courtyard to find it was empty, surprisingly, and then found a bench beneath a tree that was remarkably not dead looking yet. Weetzie sat down, pulled her guitar onto her lap, and looked at it a moment to get reacquainted with the strings, and then began to play. The music was fast, and she knew it would sound better if she could get a whole band playing it, but this for now would have to do; "Back, would you please bring it back? My whole life is out of whack. I crack under pressure, measure the facts. My world is upside-down, when you're not around. I'm down, low down, come back now.

"Cut, the curtains have been cut. Feel the churning in your gut. The look, I've fallen but not out of love. The only cloud above, covering the sun. My sun, it's gone, it's gone yeah! Bring it back now, bring it back now, bring it back now…" Weetzie closed her eyes and continued to play, past the chorus which was a lot of vocal harmonizing until she got to the line, "'cos time's ticking you away…" By now she hadn't realised how cold it had gotten outside, she couldn't feel the wind nipping at her face, turning the porcelain skin pink, and she couldn't feel her fingers at all. She didn't care, though. This was helping, if only a little. "Break, bend you, bring it 'til it breaks. Just don't let it go to waste. You make, a move and prove that you miss the perpetual bliss. The feeling when we kiss. My lip, imprint, your hit man." Breathing in deeply, Weetzie dove into the chorus again, playing her guitar harder, tapping her foot as she opened her eyes and kept her tears back. She wasn't thinking about Bryce now, at least. She was thinking about what was next in this song she wrote so long ago. Of course, she didn't write it this exact way, it wasn't quite as dark as she was singing it – if you could even call it dark. Regardless… her mind was elsewhere as she looked up at the sky and continued to sing and play; "Slide, I slip into your mind. Finally, I will find my way, shifting on your other better side. Don't leave this love behind. One day you will be mine like old times, you'll be mine, you'll be mine, yeah!"

She didn’t know for how long she had been singing that song, but it soon came to a close and when it finished, she didn't tear her gaze away from the sky. She needed to get out of Hogwarts, but she couldn't drop out. Not because she legally couldn't, because she could, but because she couldn't leave. Hogwarts was her home for so long, she didn't know where she would go, or what she would do. Weetzie closed her eyes as a gust of wind blew past her, sweeping her hair and the pink it held in front of her face. Now she felt the wind. Now she wasn’t numb any longer. "Back to the real world, Weetz." She told herself as she turned to put her guitar away, but instead of finding her guitar case she found Chris Crawford standing beside the bench, watching her intently. She jumped slightly and stared up at him, "That's really creepy, Chris." She told him quietly as she reached for her guitar case and set her guitar inside, closing the lid and latching it shut. Chris merely smiled and sat down beside her, "I was looking for you… I have something to tell you, but now I've got something to ask as well."


(("Bring It Back" is by Skye Sweetnam. G-moding of Chris is obviously allowed since I play him. ))

[Chris Crawford R7]

Chris had been searching for Weetzie all over the place, but he just couldn't find her. That girl sure did know how to make herself scarce when she wanted to. It was one thing about her that he admired. Of course, there were quite a bit of things about Weetzie O'Keeffe that Chris admired. She was upbeat, spunky, independent, and creative as hell. Sure, she didn't show everyone those colours anymore – but Chris knew they were there. Why, just last weekend they had gone to Hogsmeade and she had randomly started dancing around the tree they were relaxing near, singing loudly and quite out of tune. Chris couldn't remember a time where he had laughed more than he had that day. Weetzie was constantly doing things that made him laugh to the point of crying. No one else could do that, especially since Chris was rather bitter since the whole Alyss thing. Weetzie had awoken a side of him that had been dormant for so many years. Which was why he was searching for her at this particular moment, there was something important he needed to talk to her about. It was quite odd to think that Chris was hunting down anyone because Chris didn't go to anyone, they came to him. It had always been that way, after Alyss left and then died… he had stopped going to people, stopped finding them to talk to them. If they wanted to talk, or if he had something he had to talk with them about, he would wait until they caught hold of him. Not with Weetz. No. He went to her.

Regardless, Chris was looking through the corridors now, having no idea where to check now that he had already checked the student lounge, the Hufflepuff common room, the Prefect's bathroom, the girl's washrooms, the Great Hall, the Library, and not to mention any random classroom he had passed on the way. He hadn't checked outside, though, because he didn’t think she'd go outside considering how cold it was. He was wrong, and he found this out soon enough because as he was passing the entrance to the Courtyard, he heard a voice singing and the sounds of a guitar being played. Chris paused in his step and listened to the voice, matching it to Weetzie instantly. He didn't hurry into the Courtyard, though, instead he reached the entrance and leaned against a pillar, facing her and watching her play and sing. The song wasn't a happy one, that was for sure. He knew it was one she probably wrote because of the whole thing with Bryce and Ash and her cousin dying, but he couldn't help but think of how good it sounded. It would sound even better with a backup band, but it wasn't like she could play three or four different instruments at once. The song neared an end and Chris walked over to the bench on which she sat slowly. She didn't seem to notice his presence, and he didn't make it known either. He waited as she finished her song, then spoke to herself, and then turned to put her guitar away. It was then that she noticed him standing there, and he smiled softly as she called him creepy. It was something she often did. There weren't many different things she called him. Creepy. Arrogant. Rude. Pigheaded. Those were only a few to describe Weetzie's colourful vocabulary.

He sat down beside her as she turned and put her guitar into its case, "I've been looking for you… I have something to tell you, and now something to ask as well." Weetzie looked up at him with a raised eyebrow as she set her guitar case on the ground, shoved her hands into her pockets, and then put all of her attention on him. That was another thing about Weetzie that Chris just loved. She didn't let her attention get pulled away in twenty different directions. If you were talking, she was listening and looking at you. Her blue eyes nearly bored into you, but you dealt with it because you had never felt so tuned into in your entire life. At least, Chris hadn’t. He stared at her a moment, drinking in her entire appearance. From the dark brown hair that had previously been black and now held bright pink, to the crisp blue of her eyes that shone brightly against her porcelain skin. "Well?" she asked rather impatiently when Chris didn't say anything. He jolted back slightly from his reverie and nodded, "Er, right. Well, you know how I've made some demos and such and how my dad runs, well okay… not runs, but he is in league with this record company, right?" Weetzie nodded slightly, apparently not patient enough for his overture, "Well, there's this band that wants me to go on tour with them as an opening act. It's all over England. Small, yeah, but they are a new band and all so their fan base isn't overly huge." Weetzie's eyes had gotten large when she heard this and now she looked away, "Wow, Chris, that's a really good opportunity. You're doing it right?" her eyes landed on him again and Chris shrugged nonchalantly, "That was my next part… I will go… if you go with me. So, what do you say? Want to tour with me for three months?"

[Weetzie O'Keeffe H7]

Weetzie really couldn't tolerate Chris Crawford as much as he must think she could. Sometimes he said something that just made her want to shove him down a well. Other times she could really enjoy his company. Those times were rare, though. At this moment, she was growing far too impatient for him to explain what he was going on about. But when he finally did get to his point, Weetzie felt like she was going to jump up and down for him. "Wow, Chris, that's a really good opportunity. You're doing it right?" She watched him expectantly, waiting for him to call her insane for thinking he might not do it, but instead all he said was; "That was my next part…I will go…if you go with me. So, what do you say? Want to tour with me for three months?" Weetzie felt her eyes go really wide and her head whirl. That wasn't something she was expecting to hear from him. Chris Crawford was asking her to go on tour with him? That was something completely different, something she had never seen coming. Chris obviously saw her shock and hesitation in her eyes, and so he pressed on; "The difference between wanna be and success is grabbing opportunity. Are you brave enough?" There was the Chris Crawford that Weetzie knew, the kind who would blackmail you into doing what he wanted you to do. Asking her if she was brave enough to go on tour with him around England was something that she expected out of Chris Crawford, now she had to answer him.

"I don't… I don't know, Chris." She finally muttered after a moment of silence. Chris looked frustrated and he stood from the bench to look at Weetzie. She stared up at him defiantly, her blue eyes staring into his blue eyes. They remained like that for a moment and then Chris, as if suddenly propelled forward, leaned and grabbed her by her arms, lifted her up and pulled her into a kiss. Weetzie's eyes got even wider if possible, and flashes of Bryce's kiss popped into her mind. She pushed Chris away from her and then when he was far enough away, she lifted her hand and slapped him across the face. Chris's cheek grew bright red as he rubbed it, his eyes showing shock, though they probably shouldn't considering he had gotten slapped plenty of times before. "What is with guys and kissing people to get what they want?!" Weetzie asked in a heated tone of voice as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared Chris down. Chris's eyes darkened as he rubbed his cheek and then let his hand drop, "Sorry. I'm sorry. I just… I don't know. I'm dumb. We know this." Weetzie scoffed as if to tell him that was an understatement, which it was, and then she sat back down and looked away. Bryce had gotten a yelling and Chris had gotten slapped. Somehow it didn't seem equal, but she couldn't just bring herself to yell at Chris. He had saved her in some ways. Weetzie put her head in her hands and Chris sat down beside her, wary to another slap.

"What aren't you telling me Weetzie O'Keeffe?" He asked in a tone that was quite unlike him. It was only around Weetzie when he used this tone. She had been through too much for him to be a complete jerk to and although he had his moments, Chris was rather good at watching how he acted around the Hufflepuff. Weetzie was shaking now and Chris slowly put a comforting arm around her, quite glad to see that she didn't curse him right there and then. She took a couple of shaky breaths and then looked up at Chris, tears in her eyes. It was different because Weetzie never let people see her cry anymore. She cried in secret, in isolation. Even Chris, who had seen her in so many different lights, hadn't seen her cry before. There was a heavy silence hanging over them, and then finally Weetzie spoke in barely a whisper, "Bryce kissed me the other day…"