#as soon as i finished the sweater i just. took a break yknow

[ghostriesmoved]

“Dude, you use all of this just for your face?”   Felt like drawing smthin pastel and cartoony/cute..and ofc with Welkin  Sweater is from this post ! x

[fredweesleyismyslut]

It was always you- Fred Weasley x male!Ravenclaw reader

A/N: Here’s the requested male Ravenclaw reader x Fred Weasley!!  Random bit of information I managed to scratch my face on my left brow with my glasses as I was taking them off and it didn’t leave a scar but now I have a new wrinkle next to my left eyebrow when I crease them from stress while screaming over summer classes.  Anywho, bye!   I hope you enjoy and I’m not going to ramble as much today because I haven’t had coffee and I don’t have the energy to ramble.

You were sitting in class, staring at nothing as Snape prepared the potion for that day’s lesson.  Looking around you spotted Fred and George your two friends from Gryffindor who liked to include you in their pranks because you were the perfect scapegoat, just a Ravenclaw who was studying nobody ever suspected that you were part of their plans.  They were whispering about something to each other as Snape finished up, “Now can someone tell me what this is?”  Raising your hand you answered, “Amortentia, sir.”  He nodded, approvingly, “Yes, it is indeed, Mr. y/l/n.  Now can you tell me what it does.”  “Well, it’s strong love potion that produces infatuation to the drinker.  Usually, if you smell it, it smells like the person you love.”  You sniffed the air, taking a waft of the potion, “It smells like chocolate, fireworks, and…something else.”  You said cutting yourself off, as the other students also took a sniff of the potion.  “Good job, Mr. y/l/n.” Snape continued as he explained the rest of the properties in detail before saying, “Now, everyone will be assigned a partner to work with and write an essay.”  Everyone in the class groaned as soon as the words essay escaped Snape’s mouth as he continued before assigning partners, “Weasley and Y/l/n.”  Both the twins turned, “Which one, sir?”  they replied in sync.  Professor Snape sighed heavily before saying, “Whichever one, the other one can go work with Johnson.”  

Fred came forward, giving you a silent reply with his eyes, as he sat next to you.  “I can’t stand that smug…”  you cut him off, seeing Snape come in your direction, “Okay, so for the essay we’re gonna need to do some research so we can meet in the library tomorrow morning?”  Fred nodded, before leaning in closer to whisper, as you could smell the scent of his shampoo.  The realization hit as you smelled his hair, it was the smell you couldn’t place in the love potion.  “Oh, shit.” you mumbled, dumbstruck you blanked out for a second before feeling Fred’s hand on your shoulder shaking you, “Hey, mate, you alright?”  His face seemed slightly concerned but he had an amused smile playing across his lips, “Did you hear what I said?”  “Ummmmm…”  He sighed slightly, “I’ll take that as a rightful no.  Well, to recap George and I were planning on doing a surprise for that smug little Slytherin with a stick up his arse, yknow, Malfoy.”  You were confused for a second, “Why…?”  Fred ran his hand through his hair, causing you to follow his hand running through his red tresses, “Well, I don’t know.  He just kinda deserves it and did you hear what he said about Ron?  He may be annoying but no one talks to my little brother like that…”  You watched him continue rambling, he always seemed to get quite protective when it involved his family which you thought was cute, Wait cute?  Did I just think that Fred Weasley was cute?.  You exhaled slowly trying to empty your thoughts, “Yeah, I’ll join.”  Fred smiled enthusiastically.  

As soon as class was over you packed your bag and left the room, practically running, as you heard a soft call, “Hey, y/n!”  Continuing, you were left with your thoughts for the rest of the day, not able to focus on your classes as you kept replaying the smell from the love potion, There’s no way, right?  I mean I like Fred, he’s nice we’ve been friends since first year, but...he’s just a friend...right?  Trying to convince yourself that you must’ve smelled him in the love potion due to platonic love you calmed your thoughts but continued to avoid the twins, not able to meet Fred’s eyes.  You knew in your gut that you didn’t just like Fred platonically, so why was it so hard to accept?  Was it the possible rejection Fred would give?  You knew he never showed interest in you and had even gone to the Yule Ball with Angelina.  

You were mindlessly walking the corridors heading to the Ravenclaw common room, as you heard hushed whispers in the corner.  Curious you walked towards the whispers, peeking around the corner you saw two bright red sets of hair, whisper shouting at each other.  “Are you stupid?  I mean honestly, you carelessly ask out Angelina to the ball but you can’t admit your feelings?”  Your heart sank slightly, Of course he liked her...she was pretty and seemed to get along fine with him…  You were about to turn when you heard your name, “I can’t just ask him out, it’s different.  Angelina is just a friend but him...I don’t know it’s just different.”  You heard a loud huff, “I’ll tell him since you can’t.  I’ll tell him that you smelled the scent of his sweaters in the stupid potion.”  You heard footsteps coming in your direction, looking around for a place to hide, you bumped into George.  Sheepishly looking up you muttered, “Ummm...hey fancy seeing you around here?”  “George!” said, Fred coming around the corner before seeing you, “Hey, y/n.”  A mischievous smile placed itself upon George’s lips as he said, “Well, I’m going to head up to bed, I’m quite tired for some odd reason.”  

Leaving before Fred could even say anything he left, footsteps receding past the corridor.  Fred leaned down, helping you up, “Did you hear anything?”  Looking at the ground, picking your nails, you replied, “If you mean the part where you said you smelled me in the love potion...yeah I did.”  Fred’s face turned as red as his hair as he seemed to lose words, mouth opening, and closing to find the correct reply.  “I-I can explain-” he started before you cut him off stammering, “I...ummm...I smelled you in the potion too.  Well, specifically your hair.”  You looked up meeting his eyes, “It took me a bit to come to terms with it...I thought maybe I loved you as just a friend but seeing you now...I know I don’t love you as just a friend.”  A smile seemed to spread across Fred’s lips as you seemed to be shrinking, mumbling out incoherent sentences, “I’m madly in love with you, y/n.”  He leaned in slowly, the scent of his hair washing over you, “It’s always been you, y/n, since first year.”  His lips brushed yours, stopping your mumbling, as he pressed them gently against yours.  Testing the waters, he started to move his lips against yours, as you could taste the candy he had earlier.  Pulling away he whispered, almost afraid to break the moment, “George is going to freak out when I tell him later.”  Snorting you punched his shoulder softly, “Way to break the moment, Weasley.”  His laughter echoed along the corridors as he placed his hand out.  Taking his hand as he walked up with you to the Ravenclaw common room you said softly, before walking, “I love you too, Fred.”  Placing a chaste kiss on his cheek you quickly squeaked out a “good night” before racing inside.  Fred stood there smiling to himself, “Now, come on you big buffoon, you’ve got a lot to spill.”  said a voice from the corner, George appeared from the staircase, “Stop smiling like an idiot.  We need to hurry to the common room before we get in trouble.”

[madistidious-blog]

adventure awaits | averison

WHO: Madison McCarthy & Avery Pearce ( @averypearces ) WHAT: Avery asked Madison out on an adventure. They break the law, a little bit. WHERE: Avery’s car, his former place of residence, a restaurant, McCarthy house. WHEN: 3/8 evening. We’re very late and very sorry. WARNINGS: Nah. We did accidentally lose the first couple of tags, so if it feels like it starts in the middle, that’s why. WC: 5.3k. YIKES.

Madison stretched out in the seat of Avery’s car; he’d picked her up right on time, a few minutes early even, and avoided Mason by texting her to let her know he was there. Smart on every count. He’d just turned on the radio and she was absently tapping along--as soon-to-be-overplayed music went, the new Ed Sheeran wasn’t bad at all. She'd been listening to it on repeat. "Cheer was tiring," Madison admitted, answering the question he’d just posed. "But not really worse than it usually is. Coach didn't make us do the really hard stuff yet cause nobody's been dumb enough to complain about the schedule yet." Madison shook her head fondly - a nice shower had cured her body of most of the familiar aches, but in no way was she looking forward to Nationals season, when everything hurt and was literally the worst. "What about you? What've you been up to?"

Avery shook his head lightly. It was nice seeing Madison like this - it almost felt like she was lighter, in a way. Or more free. He wasn't sure, but she was adorable. "That sounds almost wise. It'd be a shame to burn out already," he shrugged. Being Avery meant having been with quite a few cheerleaders and at McKinley, a lot of them seemed to go down to the tough schedule. It also meant being proud over Madison for not seeming to give up. "Not too much, actually. Been hanging with my boy Spencer. I'm semi-planning a trip to Chicago with my boy Shane, and..." his voice trailed off as he spotted a familiar street and he decided turn there. "And now I'm taking my girl Madison on an adventure. You ready?"

Madison grinned in spite of herself. She liked that; being his girl. "Bring it on," Madison said, peering out the window. This, she thought, was why she loved spending time with her boys - adventure. Being just Madison, instead of Madison McCarthy, or even Madison the Cheerleader, or Madison, Mason's sister. Her jeans and sweater were more comfortable than her cheer uniform, in moments like this, and if they were going on an adventure, Madison was immensely glad that she'd opted for her Converse instead of the fancier shoes she'd been considering. It was easy to relax in moments like this, and Madison was not a girl to which relaxation came easily. "The Windy city won't know what's blowing through with you two," Madison teased, shaking her head fondly as she looked back at him. She was glad Spencer and Avery were spending time together - the more her boys got along with each other, the easier her life was.

Avery decided to ignore the general thought that Madison was going to hate what he was doing, but moments later, the car was parked and he had turned in his seat to face her. How had he been lucky enough to get her to be part of his life? He found himself slowly leaning closer until their foreheads were almost touching. "Madison McCarthy," he whispered and tilted his head slightly, his lips twisting into a smirk. "You're a fucking nerd."He blew some air in her face before pulling back and quickly exiting the car.

Madison felt her eyes go wide as the distance between them closed; her brain fritzed on the thought that oh god he was going to kiss her oh god oh god and then--"Hey!" Madison squawked, scrambling out of the car to chase him. "Avery Pearce, you are such a ​jerk​!" But it came out with a laugh as she playfully shoved at him, and she was smiling. "A big mean jerk, is what you are." She knew she was probably pink in the cheeks, and she made a point of pulling her jacket more securely around her - just the cold. She glanced around them - once she was past the indignation, she got to curiosity. "Where are we?"

Avery had a lot of fun watching Madison's eyes widen. Maybe in another world he wouldn't find it so amusing to watch Madison freak out, but in this world, it was one of the more entertaining things he had ever seen and he couldn't help himself but laugh as she chased him. "Oh my god, Madison McCarthy," he got out between his laughs and he placed his hands on her shoulders to keep balance. "You so wanted to kiss me!" he teased, wrinkling his nose at her before nodding towards the yellow house that he soon after started walking towards. "Lima, Ohio obviously. Come on, I wanna show you something."

Madison huffed at him, shaking her head resolutely. "Shut up. I did ​not​," she insisted, quickening her place to keep up with him. "I just thought ​you​ wanted to kiss ​me​ and I was ​not prepared​," she added, fixing him with a glare that somehow lacked its usual ferocity. She only held it for a moment before her curiosity won out and she looked ahead of them. A house? Had he taken her to a literal den of iniquity? Were dens of iniquity usually so...cute? "You've piqued my curiosity, so I ​guess​ I might as well see this through," she said as she followed him, playfully begrudging. "What sorta something?"

Avery turned to face Madison for a moment, but it was mostly just to wink at her. "And I'd totally believe you... if you weren't blushing," he raised his eyebrows at her for a moment before turning around a corner, entering the garden through a hole in the fence. The garden - like most of the house - was over-all not looking too well, but he couldn't say it surprised him. It had been for sale a long time and he hadn't been here in what felt like forever. "You'll see in just a moment," he assured her as he walked along the side until he reached the window to the basement. Moments later, he had pushed it open with his foot. "Want me to jump down first?"

Madison just huffed at him again, deciding for the moment to let it go. She raised her eyebrows as he jimmied the window open. "Ave, Avery, wait," Madison said, a frown creasing her brow. "We're--we're breaking and entering? That's the adventure?" Madison asked incredulously, looking from him to the open window. Some part of her - the wild, careless part of her she never let herself listen to - was tempted to just nudge past him and slide down first, just to prove that she could, or would. The utterly logical part of her said it was time to go back to the car. She didn't listen to either; she crossed her arms around her chest and worried at the edge of her lip as she weighed her options. "Whose house is this?"

Avery found it oddly relieving when Madison finally started to worry about his plans. Unless he had somehow gotten the wrong Madison with him, this was bound to happen at some point, but it didn't really stop him from getting on his knees to budge the window open further. "It's not really breaking in. This place has been empty for years," he shrugged and sent her a final smile before sliding down, soon after reaching a hand up as a sign for her to follow. "Eh, used to be my mom's. Are you coming or not?"

Madison cast a glance around them, still uneasy--she was pretty sure it was still at least a little illegal to do this sort of thing. She'd never let Mason do it. She chewed on the edge of her lip for another doubtful, uneasy moment, then let out a sigh and rested her hands on her hips. "You are a terrible influence," she announced, shaking her head. She stepped forward and took his hand, managing to scoot through the window with minimal awkwardness. "And if we get arrested, I'll let Carter kick your butt." Madison smoothed her shirt and looked around the room--the basement. This had been Avery's mother's place? A flood of questions swam in her mind, but she kept her mouth firmly shut as she stepped away from the window. Getting back out was going to be a pain. "Do you come here a lot?" She asked, figuring that to be one of the more harmless questions she could ask - the follow up question, why, would either become self explanatory or avoided altogether, but...one thing at a time.

Avery took a quick look around in the room while he waited for the brunette to make up her mind. "You'll be fine, don't worry about it," he assured her. His money was on Madison following him rather soon - she was careful, but she wasn't going to let him do something stupid (and he suspected she might secretly enjoy doing dumb things). And sure, she was soon standing in the basement next to him. Of course he couldn't bring anyone here without there being questions. He didn't know why he hadn't thought about it yet, but he figured it wouldn't be too bad. "Not too often, no," he admitted, closing his hand around Madison's and pulling her towards the stairs.

Madison let Avery lead her - he knew where he was going, and she wasn't entirely convinced that if she stepped wrong something wouldn't jump out at her. He didn't offer further information, and Madison decided not to push him by asking too many questions - the place felt sort of spooky, sort of nostalgic, like a photo found in a forgotten attic box. If this had been a random abandoned house, Madison didn't know how she would've felt, but as it was, this was part of Avery's story somehow, and she resolved to shut up and let him show her whatever he wanted to. "It's nice," Madison offered into the quiet that had settled around them. She shifted a little closer as they finished the stairs, though her eyes kept wandering around the room. She wanted to touch and study and examine, but her hand was still in Avery's, and that was probably for the best. "It's...I mean, you can tell this was a home, yknow?" Madison shrugged and looked back at him, a little smile on her face. "So we've broken and entered. What now?"

Avery knew that perhaps it was a bit weird, but he hoped Madison didn't mind. It felt kind of nice bringing someone and not just going alone, but he could imagine that it was weird for the other seeing that it was weird for him too, even if he had been so many times over the years. "It's not, not really," he gave her a small smile in return. "But I appreciate it." He pushed open a door and pulled her with him. The walls were blue, floor filled with toys and to top it all off, there was a Lightning McQueen bed next to the window. "So, um.. I don't actually have a plan."

Madison followed him, raising her eyebrows as she took in the room, and Avery's lack of a plan. Hesitantly she stepped a little further into the room. The mess sort of made her skin crawl, and she didn't even want to think about what sort of creatures may have made their home here, but this was clearly important to Avery, and the only way to find out why was to ask. She turned back to him and offered a little smile. "Then how 'bout you tell me why you wanted to show me this?"

Avery avoided Madison's gaze for a while as he pulled the curtains aside and pushed open the window, allowing fresh air to enter the room. Everything about the house was kind of a mess and the garden didn't look much prettier, but he was convinced that the view over the city was kind of soothing - almost beautiful. "Well," he sighed, finally turning to face her, "part of it was to see if I could actually get you to break into a house - and I have to say, you really impressed me on that one," he offered a small smile back. "Other than that... I guess I just wanted not to be alone with it, even just for a moment, you know? A lot of things in the world sucks, but you're pretty great and I wouldn't mind having at least one happy memory from this place."

Madison watched him carefully, moving to join him at the window. "I'm very impressive," she agreed, sounding playfully haughty. "But thank you." Madison said, looking from the view to him, her small smile growing just a little bit. She wanted to ask about the other memories - the apparently unhappy ones - but the moment felt tender and vulnerable. She just took his hand again and gave it a gentle squeeze, because nobody wanted to be alone. "So," she said, voice soft and a little teasing, "Avery Pearce, a Lightning McQueen fan, huh?"

Avery looked down, letting out a small laugh. Right now, there was no regrets in bringing Madison here. And yes... she was very impressive. His hand closed around her's the moment she put it in his and he squeezed right back. "Would you have done it if I hadn't told you it used to be my mom's?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her and pulled her slightly closer to press a small kiss to the side of her forehead. "Wish I could tell you an embarrassing story about how I was big into Lightning McQueen when I was fourteen, but sadly the bed was already part of the room when I moved in. Same with all that is left here. My mom thought it'd make me happy and I appreciate how much thought she put into it."

Madison smiled in spite of herself, shifting closer to wrap her arm loosely around his waist. It felt like a museum, except it was Avery's life they were studying. "Probably not," Madison admitted. "If it were just some random act of chaos or disobedience it wouldn't be worth it. And, like, if it were a stranger, that stranger could totally be a murderer or something." Madison chuckled softly. "Plus I'm a sucker for mysteries." Madison glanced up at him a little smile. "Your mom sounds sweet." There was a little hint of wistfulness; she didn't know the circumstances that would make him have to ​move in​ with his mother at 14--that meant he'd been somewhere else before that--but she wasn't even sure if her own mother would notice if she and Mason moved out and came back, never mind try to set up a whole bedroom for them.

Avery let Madison move closer and even loosely wrapped his arm around her. "Hm, boring. But I guess it doesn't matter since it wasn't somewhere else and you're here now," he shrugged and took a short look around the room again. Being back was always weird but somehow, not being back alone was less suffocating. Even if Madison was here for the mysteries. He was alright with that. "She was sweet. I mean... everyone makes mistakes. She was trying her best and I try not to blame her too much." He leaned in to rest his head against hers and sighed deeply. Avery usually did well getting out of conversations about his or other people's parents, but now with Madison, it wasn't too bad.

Madison rolled her eyes goodnaturedly--she was not boring, thank you very much, but she couldn't afford the risk associated with doing all the dumb stuff the guys got up to. Not with Mason to consider, and her parents; but that was too much to explain, and it wasn't other people's business anyway, so she let it slide. Madison let out a soft sigh of her own, in sympathy. "Parents aren't perfect," she offered, a statement of fact - she frequently thought that her own never should have been parents in the first place, except for the part where that meant that she wouldn't exist. "But at least she tried." Madison wondered what that was like. Having a mother who actually cared enough to try. She pushed that thought away; she hadn't missed the past-tense references Avery was making, and that brought a whole new level of complication to the situation. She had no room to complain - even if her parents didn't try in the way she wanted them to, at least they kept a roof over her head, and kept the lights on. At least they were still...present-tense, even if they weren't present. "What was she like?" Madison asked, a little hesitant. After a beat, she added, "We don't have to--I mean, if you don't want to, we can just..." Madison waved her hand. "I don't mean to pry." But she was in his childhood bedroom with more questions than answers. The downside of being a McCarthy was that they were completely self-absorbed; she hadn't paid any amount of attention to anyone except Mason and herself for most of her life, and she had a feeling that if she'd been a little more aware growing up, this all might make a little more sense.

Avery didn't miss her eye-rolling and it caused him to bump his hips into hers, very lightly. He liked pushing boundaries - both his own and the ones of others, but Madison was his friend and there was no use in being a complete dick. Still. It was nice bringing her outside her comfort zone and it was both stressful and reliving being outside his own. He realized, he didn't know a lot about the McCarthys. Maybe because he didn't ask and because she wasn't always busy telling their stories. "Parents are the fucking worst," he huffed, squeezing her shoulder. He had always wanted to say that. She didn't sound too optimistic and he had never had a chance to say that, but he took what he got. Maybe one day they'd hang out in her room and he'd listen to her and things would be okay. "Uh, she had a lot of issues of her own. I had to move out when I was six because she wasn't really fit to take care of a kid or whatever, and I don't really remember that much. We didn't talk until I moved back in and.. I don't know, I didn't live here for long. She was nice, I think. It was a weird time," he laughed. Not because anything was funny, but because he never really spoke so much about him and it felt weird - he needed something to lighten the situation. "I don't mind. We can leave, if you want to. I do vaguely remember having reserved a table and that's in..." he grabbed his phone from his pocket to check the time, "... twenty-five minutes."

Madison nodded her agreement - parents were the fucking worst. It seemed to be the most miserable of universal truths. Her brow furrowed slightly as Avery spoke--having to leave due to parental screw-up was number one on Madison's fear list. She tightened her grip on him, just a little. "I'm sorry," Madison said, voice a little softer. She wanted to say more, but she didn't even know where to begin. "You didn't deserve something like that." Madison settled on with a soft sigh. "Especially being so young." At least he didn't remember it. That was sort of a blessing. As he checked his phone, her smile returned, just a little. "You made reservations?" Madison shook her head fondly, stepping away from him to look at the room again; she leaned down to pick up a toy, an action figure from a cartoon she vaguely remembered Mason watching when they were kids. Definitely not a room for a fourteen year old. Maybe a room for a six year old. She held the toy up and gestured with it; in a playful imitation of the character's voice, she said, "I'm good with whatever you are, Avery." She held it for a moment, then giggled and shook her head. "Really though. This was..." Madison didn't want to say fun. With a little smile, she tilted her head at him. "Enlightening? Definitely an adventure."

Avery found himself surprisingly satisfied with his decision to bring her hair. His other plans had been quite shitty and even if this wasn't exactly the ideal place or way to hang out with anyone, he felt like they were at least somewhat closer after this. And what was certainly a plus. There was a soft smile on his lips as he shrugged. He appreciated her concern, but it wasn't as if there was anything to be done about it now. Three years ago, maybe, but three years felt like forever. "It's okay. I don't think anybody out there has had a life that didn't suck at one point or another." He believed everyone was shaped to deal with whatever shit they had in their childhood and having had a lot of shit, at least he knew how to deal with it. Madison's imitation was adorable and there was no way Avery could hold back his smile. Who had allowed her to be this cute? "I made reservations. Figured you'd be into that," he winked at her and stepped closer again, nodding and listening to what she was saying. And when she paused, he took his chance and pressed a soft but short kiss to her lips. Was it dumb? Definitely, but so was most other things he did because much like all those things, he didn't really think it through. She was pretty and there for him and if he got to watch Madison freak out, he'd say it was successful enough.

Madison couldn't remember what she'd been about to say--something else in the action figure's voice, maybe--because then he was kissing her. It was over too quick for her to be anything other than stunned, her eyes wide and confused. Oh. "Oh," Madison said, dumbly, blinking rapidly. Color flooded her cheeks again and she let out a soft chuckle, dropping her gaze to the toy in her hand. Her brain felt like it had scattered, and she couldn't quite form sentences yet. She cleared her throat and spoke sharply to herself: get a grip. She took a breath and peeked back up at him, a tiny little smile on her face. "So. Um. I guess--I guess this is a date, then?" That was about all she could get out--she knew she had about a million questions, but she couldn't remember them, because she'd just gotten kissed and Avery was still looking at her like that, and he'd made reservations, and...gosh. ​Gosh.​

Avery turned out to be right. Madison reaction turned out to be quite satisfying to watch and after hearing her soft chuckle, he decided there was nothing wrong with letting a small smile rest on his face. Of all the things that had already happened, kissing Madison McCarty was the least planned of them all, but it could have gone a whole lot worse. "Aw, Madison. I knew you wanted to go on a date with me. But maybe just ask another time so I don't end up dragging you weird places like this one, yeah?" His tone was teasing and he soon after grabbed he hand, slowly walking towards the door.

Madison let out an offended huff. "Wh--you are literally the worst!" Madison decided, playfully petulant. "You're the one who--" Madison cut herself off with a frustrated groan, just shaking her head at him. "I don't think this was a date. It's only a date if both people know it's a date. You can't just--just dive bomb a kiss and then be all..." Madison huffed at him. "It's cheating. And it means that I'll have to get my vengeance," she added, flashing him an impish smile. "Where's dinner?"

Avery chuckled at Madison's attempts to form full sentences. This whole thing has just gone from satisfying to very satisfying. "Well, then we'll just have to agree the date starts once we get out of here, yeah?" he gave her hand a small squeeze and rolled his eyes at her. "And obviously I can," he assured her as they reentered the basement. Part of him wanted to kiss her again - partly to prove his point, partly because he didn't mind and she didn't seem to either. However, he decided not to. Not right now anyway. "You're cute," was what he ended up going with instead. "I'll be looking forward to it. Casa Lu Al. So nowhere too fancy. Hope that's alright."

Madison pouted. "Calling me cute won't negate the fact that you totally cheated," Madison huffed, eying the window they'd entered through somewhat doubtfully. "That's super alright. Breaking and entering and deep childhood trauma would be an odd way to start a fancy date," she decided, stopping as they approached the window. She hesitated for a moment, then straightened her shoulders. "So, my rule is that first dates end in kisses, not start with them." Madison announced - it wasn't actually a rule, she'd just decided it, given that she'd never been on a first date before--she'd never been on ​any​ date before, but that was besides the point. "So. Before we get out there and the date starts, officially..." Madison leaned up and kissed him; one hand on his cheek and the other still caught in his hand.

Avery ran his free hand through his hair and threw a quick look at the window when she did. He had crawled out of it before and Madison was shorter and, to his knowledge, somewhat athletic. They were gonna make it. "I did not cheat. You totally cheated," he made a face at her, hoping she wouldn't ask as he had no explanation as to why or how she could have cheated. He nodded along when she explained her rule and a smug smile formed on his lips as she leaned in. Her body was soft against his and not wanting to push her against the potentially gross walls, Avery pulled her closer by placing his free hand on the side of her neck.

Madison smiled into the kiss, pulling away after another long moment. "Mm, see how nice that was? 'Cause I gave you warning! Granted, it's hard to divebomb from below, but..." Madison let out a breath and shook her head, brushing her free hand through her hair. "Okay. Now that that's out of the way." Madison approached the window and rested her hands on her hips for a moment, studying the way out. "Here we go." She stepped forward and pulled herself through the window, rolling at least somewhat gracefully to her feet as she successfully disembarked the basement.

Avery quickly decided that kissing Madison was great - he'd make a note to try and do that more often. When it ended, he was quick to run a hand through his hair and send her a small smile. "It was alright," he agreed, nearing the window with her. He'd offer to help, but he was sure Madison could get up on her own. And while he attempted not to look up under her skirt, she did, and he followed her soon after. He looked around while he straightened his clothes. "So I don't really know the rules of dating Madison, but I didn't get you flowers, so..." he hummed, grabbing a few wild flowers from the garden, handing it to her. "Pretend these are prettier and let's get going, yeah?"

Madison blinked in surprise, the grin lighting her face bright and simple as she took the flowers. "They're beautiful," Madison said honestly. They weren't, but they were the only flowers she'd ever gotten from a boy, so they were perfect. "I don't know the rules of dating, period," Madison said as they made their way to the car. "But I think this is a pretty good start," she said, looking back at him with a wide smile. He not only asked her out on a date, but actually wanted to date her. That was a -ing ending, wasn't it? "Are...is there anything I should know about dating Avery?"

Avery concluded that Madison did actually look pretty satisfied with them, so even if they weren't perfect, he'd say it was good enough. "I'm not sure there are rules," he found his car keys in his pocket and unlocked the car, holding the door open for her. If he was really on a date with Madison McCarthy, he'd make sure to at least be somewhat a gentleman. "Well, probably. But it's not exciting if you don't get to figure it out along the way, is it?"

Madison smiled brightly again as she slid into the car; the wildflowers weren't the prettiest, and they weren't the ginormous, thoughtful bouquet Parker had given her for Valentine's, but they smelled good and it was a tiny piece of this place. Madison looked out the window at the yellow house, unassuming and uninviting; she felt a strange sense of nostalgia for it. She could almost imagine it--what it was, what it could have been. "Maybe you're right," Madison answered as Avery got in the car. Usually, Madison likes to have everything figured out ahead of time; she liked to have plans and know what was going on. But she'd been consistently surprised so far, and maybe that wasn't so bad.

Avery closed the door when she had gotten in and proceeded to climb into the driver's seat himself, moments later pulling onto the streets. "Oh, probably. I'm usually always right," he stated, although knowing perfectly well that wasn't the case. It was probably for the best that they were leaving they yellow house. Things had gone alright and if they didn't get unlucky, the rest of the night couldn't turn completely disastrous. "How do you rate the night so far?"

Madison scoffed doubtfully. "You got lucky," Madison teased, shaking her head fondly. "I'd give it a solid B+," Madison said after a moment or two of thought. "Like, a for-sure 7 7.5 out of ten," she decided, looking back at him. "What about you? Are you having fun?"

Avery rolled his eyes as he pulled into the parking lot. "That's definitely not bad," he nodded to himself as he turned off the engine, throwing Madison a quick look. "I'm having fun. You're not the worst person I've been around," he nudged her side gently before exiting the car, locking it when she had closed the door. "Ready?"

Madison nodded, falling into step with him. "You're not the worst person I've been around either," Madison confessed, her voice a play-whisper. It was surprisingly easy to be like this; flirtatious and sort of silly. But she was really having a good time, and she liked being surprised--which seemed to be Avery's specialty. As they entered the restaurant, Madison was suddenly very glad she hadn't eaten beforehand, because everything smelled amazing.

Avery had been smiling when they entered the restaurant and he was smiling when they left again. It was hard not to - flirtatious Madison was fun to be around. And of course, when he pulled into her driveway and they slowly made their way to her door, he sent her a small smile again. "Hey, thanks for tonight," he started. "It was nice."

Madison smiled, ducking her head as Avery spoke. "It was," Madison agreed. She glanced to the door, aware that if Mason figured out she was back he'd have a million questions. "Thank you," Madison said, looking back to him, smile widening slightly. She leaned up and kissed him quickly, chastely--because that was supposed to happen at the end of a date, right? She caught his hand and squeezed it, then unlocked the door as quietly as she could. "G'night, Avery," Madison said, keeping her voice low. She gave him a little wave and waited until he got back to his car, and then crept up to her room and flopped in bed, covering her face with her pillow. She'd just gone on a date! Successfully! With Avery! Maybe there was hope for her yet.