Scratches (Fred Weasley)

(177) Halloween in April

"You don't have to babysit me." Xander huffed, slipping a stack of papers in to one of his folders, "I've told you, I'm fine."

"And I've told you, I'm not babysitting you." Florence said, a hint of annoyance in her voice as she took another bite out of her sandwich. It was weird, coming to work with packed lunch. However Fred had ambushed her with it before she left for work that morning, telling her that he worked really hard on it. Seeing as Fred could barely boil water successfully, she thought it was very sweet of him to attempt to make her lunch. And as far as first attempts go, it was a pretty good sandwich, which Florence decided to eat at Xander's cubicle office, as Hadley wasn't at work that day and she was lonely.

She was sat on top of his desk, legs dangling as he watched the blond man scowl as he flipped through one of the several logbooks he had in his office. "You don't have to be here though?"

"You're right. I don't. But I want to. I need companionship." Florence said, "And why are you so annoyed? Do you not want me to be in your office?"

He sighed, turning to her, "You know its not that. You're welcome here anytime. Its just you and Nic have been on me like a mother hen for the past few days and its just getting a bit suffocating..."

"Well, she and I care about you. And you haven't exactly had the healthiest record of dealing with a break up." She pointed out, "Remember Jillian? You didn't come out of your room for days?"

"I was sixteen and thought that she was the only girl I will ever love..." Xander mumbled, "You feel everything a little bit too intensely when you're sixteen. But its different now."

"But not really though, right?" Florence said, after finishing the last of her sandwich, "You've been with Olivia for almost two years. That's a long time. And knowing you, I'm pretty sure you thought she was the one you were going to marry."

"Yes, of course I thought that," Xander confessed, "I mean, she was amazing. She and I were amazing together. My parents love her, she gets along with Asher, Adrianna adores her, probably loves her more than she loves me. It just felt like... it fit right, you know? Right now I'm just thinking how she could even walk away from something that fit so right?" He sighed, plopping down on to his chair, "But then I realized, maybe it only felt like it fit right to me, but it didn't feel like that at all for her."

"Xan..." she said, putting a hand on his shoulder, "I don't know her as well as you do but... I'm sure she really did love you."

"I don't doubt that." he said, "I just wish she loved me enough to see me in her future..." Xander sighed sadly, before looking to one of his best friends, "The universe hasn't been kind to love for us these past couple of years, yeah? I mean, at least you and Fred are together again. Nic and I, well, we got the shorter end of the stick."

"Hey," she chastised, "Don't worry about love. It will come to you, whether you look for it or not. It might be Olivia, it might not be, you know?"

"I know you're just trying to comfort me, Flo, but its kinda hard to hear from someone who's happy and engaged."

Florence's eyes widened, looking to Alexander surprisingly, "How did you...?"

"Its not subtle." He chuckled, "That rock might not be as big but it shines so bright when the light catches it. Also, because we've been friends for ages now I know you're not a big ring person; so I am automatically left to assume that it is an engagement ring."

Florence took a few seconds to gather her bearings, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you... and Nic... I swear I was looking for the right time but then Jillian passed, and now this thing with you and Olivia... It didn't seem right to."