We Need to Talk

After his sister's wedding, Payton had been worrying about anything and everything. One of the things was his and Adela's future, he knew it was no use worrying about things but he just couldn't help it. Him and Sawyer had made plans to live together once they graduated, but a something was missing from that. Adela. He needed to talk to Adela about this and what the future held for them. He really hoped he didn't scare her off by asking this and her hoped she understood what he was saying. He sat on one of the common room couches and waited for her to show up.

He knew that him and Sawyer were going to live together, but what about when Adela graduated? He needed to stop being such a worry wart, but he just continued to worry. He also didn't know what was going to happen once him and Sawyer moved into a flat together, he hoped they talked more.

He stood up when she entered the common room. "Hey," he smiled. "I wanna talk, nothing bad though."

Payton seemed worried about something when Adela last talked to him. He said that they 'needed to talk.' Those are words you never want to hear from your boyfriend. The girl hoped everything was alright. She was starting to get a little worried herself. She tried to think of something that could have upset Payton. Was it something she did? Or was he just upset and needing someone to talk to about it? Adela was hoping it was the second one, not that she wanted to see him sad about anything, but she really didn't want him to be sad or angry because of something. She began to become anxious to find out what was going on and picked up her speed as she headed toward the common room.

Adela stood in the open door way of the common room. The prefect looked her boyfriend over, trying to get an idea of how he was feeling before he noticed her. She didn't have a long enough chance to figure him out though. He noticed her almost immediately. Her bright hair made it extremely hard for her to go unnoticed in any situation. Maybe she should dye it. No one would probably recognize her if she did... Payton's soft smile reassured her that it was safe to come in. "Whew," she said wiping off the nonexistent sweat from her forehead. "I thought I was in trouble or something." Adela hugged Payton and sat down on the couch next to him. "So what's up?"

"Hey," he repeated softly, he hugged her back and placed a gentle kiss on her head. He sat down and pulled his leg up and leaned his head against it. "Well," he started. What was he supposed to say? He wasn't sure what he was going to say or do, talking just seemed like the best thing to do. But no words were coming to his mouth or his brain, all he could do was look at his girlfriend. "Well," he repeated after a moment. "I just wanted to talk a bit."

He cleared his throat and continued, "So, Cherry got married over the summer and it got me thinking about things." His wording wasn't right, it came out wrong. "Not that I want to get married," he quickly covered up. Did that sound too harsh? He wasn't sure but he kept going anyways. "I mean, I'm just thinking about the future, you know? I'm graduating next year and Sawyer and I are planning on getting a flat together. But I was just wondering about us.." He bit his lip and looked at her once more before looking away. "I feel like this is coming out wrong, do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Adela stared at her boyfriend as he spoke... or tried tried to at least. He seemed really nervous, which made her nervous too. He said he didn't want to talk about anything bad. If that were true, why was he so nervous? The girl's nervousness intensified and her heart skipped a beat when he brought up marriage. Her eyes grew wide and she became tense. Was he really wanting to get married? Adela relaxed when Payton reassured her he didn't want to get married. She laughed a little. She had always thought it was cute when a boy trips over his own words.

"I think I understand what you're saying... maybe. Your sister got married and it got you thinking about what you are going to do when you grow up and are out of school." The prefect hoped she was getting what her boyfriend was trying to say. "Oh, and don't worry. I'm not thinking about marriage right now either." She smiled to reassure Payton that his wording didn't give her the wrong impression. "So what exactly are you wondering about us?"

He nodded in agreement, that is what he was to say. He had been thinking about for a while. "I'm wondering a lot of things," Payton admitted, but he didn't know what to say. How do people talk about the future? The future was unknown but there were somethings you could to to control your future. What he said today would control his future, for better or for worse. He wasn't quite sure what was going to happen, if it was going to be bad or good. One could only hope that it would be good.

"I..." He started, but then shut his mouth. He couldn't quite say what he felt. "I guess I'm just wondering about the future. I'm graduating soon and I'm leaving and I just wanted to know what you're going to be doing. If you're going to come with me or something, am I making sense? I just wanna know what you want to do."

Adela listened to Payton as he struggled to get his words out. He must have been really nervous about this conversation. She could understand why though. The future is uncertain and can be a scary topic at times, especially when you get to thinking about it too much. "I get what you're trying to say." The future is a strange place. No matter how much you plan things out, they can always end up differently than you thought they would. "I've never really been one for planning very far in advance. I guess I should probably start since I will graduate in just a couple years." Adela tried thinking about what she would do after Beauxbatons.

"I'm not really sure what I'm going to do after graduation. I should really start figuring that stuff out, Huh? As for after you graduate," She paused. She didn't really think much about that either. What would she do when her boyfriend was off taking on the world while she was stuck in school. "I'm not really sure about that either. I know I'll miss you a lot, and I'll write you all the time. Sorry, but you're not getting rid of me that easy." She smiled and poked Payton on the shoulder.

"Planning ahead can really help, but if all depends on how life wants to treat you." Maybe you planned a vacation, but the weather wasn't agreeing with you. That was life. "It sometimes makes things easier," There was no telling how life was going to be, what the future held, or if things will go planned. But it was all about the experience. "Don't plan too much, you still want a surprise or two for your future," he teased.

He grinned at his girlfriend, there was no way he'd consider getting rid of her. He was stuck like glue and there was no way of coming undone. "I'll look forward to your letters and I'll miss you too." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her head. "Like I'd ever want to get rid of you," he said softly. "Only an idiot would do that."

Payton seemed to settle down and not be so nervous anymore. Adela was glad she was able to comfort him and reassure him that she wouldn't let them grow apart, even if they weren't able to be together all the time after he graduated. "That's what I always say. If you plan things out too much, they never go how you plan them. Then you're stuck not knowing what to do. Surprises are always better, unless it's something important of course. Like, you should at least have an idea about what you want to do with your life before entering the real world.

The girl leaned her head on Payton's chest and listened to his heartbeat. "So. Do you have any idea what you want to do after school?, other than getting a flat with Sawyer, that is."

Payton wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do, but he was probably going to go with something that involved quidditch. It was one thing he was good and he liked it a lot . But maybe he should try something else, he wasn't sure yet. But he would figure it out when the time came. "Not sure yet actually, I'll probably join a quidditch team." He wasn't sure what team yet, maybe he'd talk to Marie-Laure about it since they were both in the Students Appreciating Quidditch club.

"I think that if I do go into quidditch that I need to actually know some teams. But getting information about famous teams shouldn't be hard, I'll just ask Marie-Laure about them." Ever since they had had coffee together, things were okay between them. "Have you decided what you want to do?"

"Ooh, quidditch. Too good for a regular job I see," Adela teased. "I'm joking. You should chase after your dreams. You love quidditch and I think it's good that you want to continue with it after school. I love cheering you on while you play here. You're really good and any professional team would be lucky to have you." The girl smiled and kissed her boyfriend lightly on the cheek.

"I'm not completely sure what I want to do yet. I mean, I know I want to continue painting. Maybe one day I'll be able to open my own studio or something. But I also want to help people, you know? I want to make a difference in other people's lives. Painting isn't going to make a big difference unless I get good enough to have people pay big money for my work. Then I can donate the proceeds to those in need. But for now, that's just not going to cut it. I need to do something else while I prefect my skills."

Payton stuck out his tongue at his girlfriend then laughed. "This year I haven't been doing so hot, last year too." His seeker skills hadn't been the best lately so he made sure to practice a lot, but not too much because if he did he'd hurt himself and that wouldn't be good. "I haven't been catching the snitch lately, but I'm trying so that counts as something. But Marie-Laure likes to yell a lot but I think she's going to cool it since we talked about it." Though it would be weird if she quit yelling altogether.

"Helping people is good, it's a nice thing to do. It's a sweet thing to do." Since Adela wanted to continue painting and help people, Payton knew the perfect job for her. "Ever heard of art therapy? My brother, Zion, does that for a living."

"Your game has been a little off here lately. Don't sweat it though, practice makes perfect. If you keep thinking about doing poorly, you will continue doing poorly. Don't look at past, just keep moving forward and doing the best you can. That's how you'll get better." Adela had always thought of herself as being pretty motivational, or at least she hoped she was. She enjoyed seeing other people be happy, it always made her feel happier too.

"I've actually thought about going into a psychology major and becoming a therapist of sorts. I think I'm pretty good at helping people. Plus I'm a really good listener." Whatever the girl ended up doing in life, she wanted to help people. "I've never heard of art therapy though. What's that?"

"I'm trying not to think about doing poorly but everyone likes to remind you if you do something wrong." Not matter what it was, even if it was something teeny tiny. It was no fair to hold something against someone but he couldn't blame the quidditch fans or his teammates, quidditch was important to them. "At least I'm doing my best." That's all that counts.

"Sounds like a great field to try," he grinned. "Art therapy is when you use art as therapy. This one time Zion made me keep a drawing journal for a week and told me to draw in it whenever I liked but had to draw at least once a day. I'm not entirely sure what else he does, but it sounds interesting."

"Just ignore anyone who is getting mad at you." Adela understood ignoring people could be hard, especially when you have a bunch of them all yelling at you for the same reason. "I know that can be pretty hard to do at times. Just tell them that you are doing your best. If they continue to get mad, just walk away from them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your last couple of years, and your last few games." It was hard to believe that Pay would be graduating soon. It seemed like just yesterday she was hiding from her parents in the pub and decided to sit down and talk to the friendly second year.

"Really? Did the journal help you any? It certainly sounds like an interesting field of study." How could Adela use art to help people? The concept seemed interesting, but she was unclear of what it really was. "I'll have to look into it."

The people that usually get mad at him were the fans, his team hardly ever got mad at him. But he didn't really mind all too much, he knew what it was like to love quidditch and want to win. "I usually ignore people but your advice is great." Sometimes it was hard to ignore people but he could do it. "They seem to understand that I'm doing my best."

"It helped, I guess. It was fun to help him out when it, he's always trying new things." It was cool to watch him get new ideas, he got really into his work.

Adela was glad Payton seemed to loose all nervousness he had at the start of their conversation. It made her feel more at ease too. "I'm glad I could help," she said with a cheeky smile. She stretched her head up from it's prior position on his chest and gave him a kiss on the cheek. It was crazy to think how far they had come since five years ago when they first met.

"Remember when we first met? I was trying to get away from my parents because they were acting like a couple of tourists and I was embarrassed. I'm really glad I decided to hide from them by sitting down across from you." She paused for a moment. "I love you."