Cliff walked nervously through the hallway, running a hand through his hair every so often. It was scary, to say the least, to be so, so alone. He used to have Ace to run back to, but Ace wasn't there anymore. If he saw Dan-
What a coincidence! He turned the corner and ran straight into his former friend, falling onto his ass. Dan managed to stay standing upright, his expression softening when he saw that it was Cliff who he had bumped into. He stuck out a hand to help him up, smiling a little.
"Hey, Cliff. Long time no see," he said.
Cliff was startled, to say the least. He stared up at Dan for a good thirty seconds, trying to get his thoughts in order. Last time he had seen the boy, he was trying to kill him. What a horrible night that had been.
Hesitantly, he took Dan's hand, hoisting himself up. Instead of letting go, Dan used his grip on Cliff's hand to pull him into a tight hug. Cliff didn't like it. This wasn't right. This wasn't Dan. He had tried to *kill* him. Murder. A legal offense. But Dan was hugging him..? Had he really changed?
"Who are you and what have you done to Daniel?" Cliff said with a small laugh, furrowing his brows. Dan pulled back, letting go of Cliff.
"Me, I hope. I've... done a lot of changing over the past few weeks. Can we talk?" He asked, looking a tad bit nervous. Cliff searched his eyes for any sign that he was lying, but there was nothing. So, slowly, he nodded.
Dan let out a relieved sigh, pulling Cliff up to the Gryffindor common room quickly. Cliff didn't protest, still trying to process everything. It was... troubling. It was troubling how he had spent the past few weeks loathing Dan but now he was falling back into their old friendly pattern. Cliff didn't like how comforting being back with Daniel felt.
They arrived quickly, sitting next to each other on the couch. Dan took a moment to think over his words, swallowing hard. Finally, he spoke.
"Cliff. We've been- we were friends for almost seven years. All that time, I was horrible to you. I did the *worst* things and never realized. I hurt you so horribly... I just.. I wanted to say: I'm sorry."
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
The words... they repeated in Cliff's head over and over. He stared at Dan in shock, scanning over his features to find *something*. Something other than remorse, sadness, or.. guilt. There was nothing. No menace.
Slowly, *very* slowly, Cliff pulled Dan into a hug. He probably would never be able to forgive Dan, but the apology was enough to show him that he had indeed changed.
"Thank you. I've had a hard time recently. This.. this makes me so happy," he said. Dan squeezed him back, smiling slightly.
"You wanna tell me about it?" He asked. Cliff nodded, glad to have another ear to talk to.
"Ace and I... we haven't been working so well. I hid a bunch of really serious stuff from him and it hurt him. Badly. When he tried to leave... I.. I manipulated him. Or, at least tried to. And we're on a break now because of it.." he sighed. Dan nodded as he listened, leaning against his knees with his elbows.
"You tried to manipulate him?" He asked. "How so?"
"We.. we were fighting. And he said he was going to leave. So I told him he'd only make me feel worse if he did." Dan had said that exact phrase to Cliff before. Many times.
"So you're just as bad as me," Dan said, looking back at the coffee table with a small laugh. Cliff blinked, a little confused. That wasn't the reply he was expecting. Most people told him he could get through it.
"I mean.. Yeah, I guess," he sighed. It was... oddly comforting to be told exactly what he thought. "But I'm trying to fix things now. I still want to be with him."
"You do? But he put you through so much. You put *him* through so much. You think he wants to be with you still?" Dan asked, raising an eyebrow. Cliff searched for an answer. He never really... did he ask Ace what he wanted? He was blanking. He just decided he didn't.
"I mean.. No, probably not." He nodded, running a hand through his hair.
"I don't mean to be the bringer of bad news... but have you considered he's just taking pity on you? Ace.. people like that can get so deep into a relationship that when they realize they don't like it anymore they can't say anything. You might just be trapping him," Dan said with a small shrug. "Like... *all* your friends. I'm sorry, Cliff, but I think they don't like you."
Cliff looked at him, trying to get a grip on his thoughts. There was so much happening that he couldn't even tell *what* he was thinking. Everything Dan was saying made sense, though. They were all nice. None of them would ever have the guts to give it to him straight.
"You're probably right-" he cut himself off, quickly grabbing Dan's shoulder and turning him. He looked deep into the boy's now fearful eyes. "What the fuck?"
He had *seen* it. His expression- it had faltered. It had to have faltered. That wasn't a trick of the light, was it?
"Cliff- what?" Dan tried to pull away, confused.
"You- you're doing it again. You're fucking doing it again!" He said, holding Dan in place firmly. Dan looked at where Cliff's fingers were pressing into his arms, wincing slightly.
"What am I doing?" He asked, bringing his gaze back up.
"You're fucking- you're isolating me again- you are *doing it again*." Tears had formed in Cliff's eyes as he tried to get a grip on himself.
"I'm not, Cliff. I'm not telling you to drop your friends. I'm giving you advice- you don't even have to listen to me! Please- you're just trying to find something wrong. Your body thinks I'm still a threat- it's trying to convince you that I'm a threat," he said, glancing over to Cliff's balled up fist. It was aimed directly at Daniel's face. Cliff hadn't even known he was doing it.
"But you're *face* it- it- it changed I-" he stuttered, his eyes wide.
"I wasn't even looking at you!" Dan said, trying to scoot away. Cliff let go, his whole body tensed. Dan was right- he was going crazy. He turned away and pulled his knees up to his chest, starting to cry. There was so much wrong with him. Dan had *apologized*. What the fuck was he doing?
Dan stared, fear still plastered on his face, unsure of what to do. He couldn't tell what had provoked Cliff to start breaking down. It was all going so well. He just- awkwardly patted the boy on the back, hoping that would be enough to comfort him.
