Spin the Fun! ((Seth))

[chace]

"What do you want to do?" Lara asked again.

Chace looked at his girlfriend with his eyes and shrugged. He smiled as she let out an exasperated sigh. Lara had been asking him want he wanted to do all evening. It was the first night all four of them were back together since the Winter Holidays and they were also informally celebrating Chace's birthday. Chace and Seth had already celebrated on his actual birthday so this was really more for Lara and Willow than it was for Chace or Seth. Although they hadn't gotten very far. When the Express got back the entire school had a feast in the Great Hall and then were told to return to their common rooms as tomorrow would start the spring term. There was only so much that they could do. They could sneak off to the kitchens but as they just had dinner none of them were really keen on the idea. Chace was content just to play wizard's chess for the rest of the night but Lara had never really liked the game and would hate it if he spent the entire night playing the game with Seth. "You spent the entire holidays with him!" she cried earlier. "Don't you want to spend some time with me?"

Really she was worried about him and wanted to know how his holiday went. It was the first one without Bruce. Chace didn't really want to talk about it. At least, not right now. The most exciting thing that happened was he got to take Riley to a party. A party where she most likely got drunk or who knows what and saw that Slytherin boy. The thought of Riley dating someone like Jack Reid turned Chace's stomach. He could see Riley dating a Hufflepuff, a Ravenclaw, or even another Gryffindor but a Slytherin? He didn't want to be the disapproving older brother but he disapproved. Maybe Lara could talk to Riley for him. Although, she would probably be all for it. Women's rights and all that that jazz. Plus, Lara would probably be angry at Chace for thinking that he could disapprove of his little sister's boyfriend. But she wasn't an older brother. That was his right. Especially now that Bruce was gone...

The four of them sat on the long couch in front of the fire. Lara was next to Chace who was next to Seth and on the other side of Seth was Willow. Chace held his girlfriends hand within his but he was also very aware of his best friends frame very close to his own on the other side. It was comforting to know that Chace and Seth were close enough that personal space was a thing of the past. Sometimes it wasn't such a good thing such as right after a Quidditch game when they both were sweaty and smelled. But you take the good with the bad. "Why don't we..." he began. Why did he have to come up with an idea? Just because it was his birthday. Shouldn't he be able to sit back and do nothing? And then a crazy idea entered his mind as if from no where. "...play spin the bottle?" he looked questioningly at his girlfriend.

"Spin the... bottle?" Lara repeated. "But we've already kissed..."
"I've never kissed Willow," Chace retorted giving a wink at Seth. He was feeling playful.
"Isn't it a bit childish?" Lara continued her disbelief.
"I guess it is," Chace agreed. "But I still want to play it."
"All right..." she looked questioningly at Willow for support. "I have an almost empty firewhisky bottle in my room that we could use. I guess..."
"We'll be waiting," Chace said as he released his grip on his girlfriends hand. She stood up and looked for support from Seth and Willow as if this was a mad idea and she needed help to convince Chace. Receiving none she started toward the girls rooms. "C'mon Willow."

[Seth Wright]

It was Chace's birthday and Seth had been rather clueless as to what to get his best friend for a long, long time. He'd been thinking about it for months beforehand, and not a single genius idea had entered his head in that lengthy space of time. First: Seth was not innovative like that. Second: although Seth knew Chace better than maybe even his own family, Chace was the most difficult person to buy for. Third: Seth was limited by money. Money money money. It was always money. Seth knew Chace didn't care if Seth bought him something extremely cheap in comparison to an elaborate gift - heck, he probably wouldn't even hold it against Seth if he didn't buy him anything at all. Still, Seth wanted to make that effort; he wanted to see that look of delight on Chace's face because of his present (and not Lara's, dear goodness, no); he wanted to make his best friend happy, the way Chace did each time it was Seth's birthday. He wanted to give something back for everything he'd ever done. And this birthday was the most important since it was Chace's eighteenth. For wizards it was the seventeenth that supplied adulthood, but in Seth's muggle life it was eighteen. But, whatever he bought would never match up to what Chace's family would give him. His father had died, but the Coxens were still loaded.

Eventually, Seth had decided to give Chace a box. Yes, a box; wrapped (rather shoddily at first, but Eva had helped neaten it considerably) in shiny gold paper so it wasn't just a plain shoebox Seth had taken from under the stairs at home. Then, he'd filled it with all sorts; things of the past - the past of Seth and Chace. The first time they'd met - the broken glasses the boys who had tried to bully Seth; their Fourth Year - Seth's first bowtie that Chace's mum had bought for him to attend a Coxen party. Memories filled the box - from vast amounts of photos to little objects of no significance to anyone but the two of them. That was something, Seth was sure, no one - not Lara, not the Coxens - could give Chace. No one but him.

Now they were sat in the Common Room with nothing better to do. Seth had yet to give Chace his present; he wanted to give it to him later, when the girls weren't present. But they were completely clueless as to how to spend their time. When Chace finally mentioned Spin the Bottle, Seth looked at him with an odd expression. "Dude, you sure you're all right?" he asked dryly. Seth had never played the game before. He knew what it was, though, but he couldn't see the pros of it. Especially not when playing with Lara... Seth was obviously fine with kissing Willow, but Lara? No. Just no. And what about Chace? Before Seth could even contemplate such a notion, Chace's wink caused his dubious expression into a grin. He nudged Chace gently in the side, faking his annoyance. "Oi! That's my girlfriend you're talking about," he pouted playfully, his arm extracting from round Willow's waist and taking her hand in a joking protective gesture.

Willow's hand was taken from his as she stood up to accompany Lara to their dorm. "This'll be a first, you playing Spin the Bottle," Willow smirked as her hand fell from Seth's. "You up for it, chuck?" Seth merely laughed, and the two girls left. He then looked at Chace in amusement.
"You sure this is a good idea, dude?" Seth was perfectly okay with indulging his best friend in playing this game... but only if he really wanted to do this. "I might end up kissing Lara." Seth wriggled his eyebrows suggestively and prodded Chace in the arm. Then he frowned. "But I don't really want to. Even if it makes you angrier than anyone has ever seen you," he continued, joking. "I'd rather not kiss her." Seth had never said directly to Chace that he disliked Lara, but it was rather obvious the two of them had little good feeling between them. "And you had better not lay more than a lip on Willow," he warned, looking at Chace pointedly even though he trusted his best friend with Willow. "She's miiine," he sang, then grinned and, swivelling his hips around, propped his long legs along the sofa edge that Willow had left unoccupied. His head fell from its position beside Chace's to rest on his knees, looking up at him cheekily. "Aren't you curious about what I've got you for your birthday?" he asked in a teasing, goading voice, his brown curls crushing against Chace's leg.

A few minutes later, the girls returned. Seth watched as Lara set the bottle of Firewhiskey on the floor. Seth moved from the sofa to sit with his back resting on it. "Who wants to go first?" Willow asked, looking round the group. Seth shrugged and pointed at Chace with a grin. "He should. It's his birthday."

[chace]

A shrug seized his shoulders at his friend's question. Did he really want to play Spin the Bottle? Not really. But Lara wanted to do something so he had suggested something. It was something different and so maybe the game would hold his attention. Maybe. "I never thought they would agree to it," Chace confessed to Seth. "I guess it's too late to back out now." Chace looked sideways at Seth and raised his eyebrow. It was no secret that Lara and Seth were not the best of friends but seeing as how they were in this love square, they had no choice but to spend time together. Even if Chace was not dating her, Lara was still best friends with Willow. Some days Chace wished that they were not in a love square. If you tried to tell a secret to one, it wasn't long before the other two knew.

Chace unconsciously twisted Seth's hair in his hand when Seth rested his head on his lap. The new position from Seth didn't surprise him one bit as the two of them were often seen leaning on one another. When they fought, Lara would often bring this very fact up. Chace leaned more on Seth than he did on her. What could he say? Seth got him better than anyone else in the world. There were things that could only be shared with your best mate not with your girlfriend. Why couldn't she just understand that? Chace finally made eye contact with Seth at his question. Birthday present? They had already celebrated his birthday previously. Why didn't Seth give it to him then? "You know I don't need anything. And why didn't you give it to me earlier, goofball?" Chace curled his lips into a smile.

When the girls returned they positioned themselves to start the game. Seth sat with his back against the couch and Chace sat opposite him with his back to the fire. Lara sat on Chace's right and Willow opposite her. The empty firewhisky bottle was in the middle. At Seth's suggestion, Chace gripped the bottle and gave it a spin. The flooring of the Common Room was smooth so that the bottle could easily spin. It landed on Lara and the two shared a peck. She then spun the bottle and it landed back on Chace. Lara seemed satisfied but Chace thought, This isn't going to be much fun, as the two kissed. Chace gave the bottle a whirl and watched it spin round and round before picking the next victim. Finally it stopped and following the neck of the bottle, Chace glanced up to see it pointing right at, Seth! "I guess, that means..." Chace mumbled. This was unexpected.

[Seth Wright]

Seth cracked a grin at Chace's confession. "Yep. You'd better not chicken out now." He felt Chace's fingers through his hair and muttered, "I need to get it cut, don't I? It grows so quickly..." He made a face, before grinning sheepishly at Chace's smile. "Because. Well." He paused, searching for the words. "I wanted to be... I wanted my present to be special." He twisted in embarrassment on Chace's leg, eventually sitting up again and sitting beside his best friend once more, shoulders touching. "I didn't want it to get lost in the rest... You always get such glamorous presents from your family." Seth gave an awkward grin he knew Chace would understand. "They always say best till last, don't they?" he added with a smile.

The game began. Seth watched as Chace took the bottle of firewhiskey and spun it. Unexpectedly, it landed on Lara. As Chace leaned over to kiss his girlfriend, Willow caught Seth's eye. "Aren't you going to be annoyed if I get Chace or if he gets me?" she asked, smirking.

Seth shrugged as Chace withdrew from Lara. "Not really," he answered honestly, not even the slightest hint of concern showing on his boyish face. "I trust Chace. And you. It wouldn't mean anything. It's just a kiss, right?" He smiled reassuringly at Willow, ignorant to the fact that she actually wanted him to be protective over her, coddle her, not treat her so nicely! Seth had never been a jealous, possessive boyfriend because it wasn't in his personality, and it annoyed Willow to no end when he didn't come and stand up for her, or showed no emotion when she flirted shamelessly with other boys.

Lara's spin landed on Chace and again they kissed. Willow rolled her eyes through it all, complaining about their luck and such, and that it would be very boring if this kept happening, and that Spin The Bottle was such a stupid idea, when Chace's deft flick of the hand sent the firewhiskey rotating, eventually landing on... Seth. The subject matter blinked in surprise, not digesting the situation until Chace began mumbling. Seth looked up at his best friend, eyes wide and round and completely innocent. "W-Wait a second," he demanded, frowning from confusion. "Does this mean I have to kiss Chace?" The bottle had got to be kidding, right?

"Duh, dumbass," Willow snorted, her glare having magnified tenfold after intense angry staring at the doomed bottle. "What the bottle says. You're not blind."

Her scathing comments came to a halt when Seth said, "Oh. Um... Do I have to?"

Willow gave an awkward, uncomfortable shrug. "It's the rules of the game," she replied bluntly. She didn't want Seth to do it. Not at all. But she didn't want to think her boyfriend was a wimp either.

Seth squirmed uncomfortably. "Oh... okay. Since it's Chace's birthday... Only once, right?" He quirked a nervous smile, then, with a quick look round the Common Room to make sure no one was watching, he leaned forward across the bottle, between Lara and Willow, so his and Chace's faces were almost touching. "Um... is this really such a good idea?" Seth whispered, blushing hotly and a hand vice-like around his ankle. What was wrong with a kiss? As best friends they had been very close with each other. He decided they had to get it over and done with anyway, and their girlfriends were watching rather intently. "Sorry Chace," Seth mumbled, before closing the final gap between them in a quick movement and pressing their lips together.

It was brief and chaste - contact was brief. After only two seconds, Seth was already moving away hurriedly, his face completely bright red. Chace didn't look much better. After coughing in embarrassment, Seth looked at Willow's face. She looked like she had drunk pure vinegar. Cracking an awkward smile again, Seth remained silent. He could still feel the burn of Chace's lips on his, even though it had been quick. It was foreign, different, hot... Seth didn't know what to think. He felt butterflies flitter in his stomach uncomfortably and tried to forced them away. He wanted to be sick... but he was also excited. Eh?

Still thoroughly disorientated, a jerky nudge from an annoyed Willow made Seth remember he was meant to be spinning the bottle. "Oh, sorry," he mumbled, still blushing, and took the bottle between his slightly trembling fingers. Taking a deep breath and avoiding Chace's eyes, Seth spun the firewhiskey. It landed, eventually, on Willow. Inside, Seth breathed a sigh of relief. Grinning triumphantly, Willow grabbed him by the collar and pressed their mouths together. Seth felt her insistent lips and responded as he normally did, but it wasn't the same - not the way it had been with Chace. He closed his eyes and kissed his girlfriend obediently. It didn't matter who was watching now. This was normal. This was who Seth should be kissing.