In My Veins

It was his birthday. So of course, it called for a celebration, didn't it? After all, you only turned sixteen once, and next year, he'd be of age.

Grinning at the thought, he slipped into one of the cafe booths. As much as he loved his friends, there was only one person he really wanted to spend his birthday with. 

Tessa Grey.

Grinning at the thought of his girlfriend, he let out a little sigh, leaning back against his chair. He loved her, he really, really did. Maybe even now more than he had before. 

Because her suicide attempt and his involvement with the mafia had him realize how important the people he cared with were. 

And Afonka had realized; he'd do anything for her.  

Tessa got an owl from Afonka to meet him there. She was excited about it because she knew that it was his birthday. She then walked in and seen that he was already there waiting for her. And this was excited because this was the first time that she didn't have to use Ariel to help her.

She was grinning when she seen him. It was her boyfriend, Afonka.

Tessa then sat down beside of him. “ Happy Birthday love.”

Humming softly, Afonka let out a little happy sigh, fingers drumming against the table as he waiting patiently. He didn't doubt that she'd be here, not in the slightest.

When his gaze fell on her, his entire face lit up. Beaming at her, he put his arm around her as she sat down beside him. "Thank you." Leaning towards her, he pressed a soft kiss to her lips.

Pulling away, his lips tingling, he grinned, "How's my favourite prefect doing?"

Tessa grinned as she seen Afonka. She felt bad that she had made him wait. But she was with Lena and she was walking Ariel. Tessa felt back that she didn't have to have her everywhere she went.

When she then saw them she knew that everything was going to be alright. That is when he put his arm as she sat down beside of him. She then kissed him back.

She then was still grinning. “ I am doing good.”

"Great," he grinned, keeping his arm around her, holding her close to him. He really did love this, spending time with her. There was no one else in the world who mattered more to him than her. "I'm glad you're a prefect. This way I can get away with anything." Afonka joked, tapping her softly on the nose.

"Having a good Christmas break so far?"

Tessa smiled. “ Yeah. “ She loved when Afonka would hold her close. She always loved spending time with him. There was no one that she would rather be with. “ Aww thank I am glad I am a prefect to.” He then said something that he could get by with anything now. “ You couldn't get away with anything Afonka.” He then tapped her nose and she started to giggle.

“ Well it is better now that I am with you.”

"Why not?" He pouted slightly, brown eyes sparkling. "You're not going to bend the rules for your favourite Hrabrost?" Though it was true that he wasn't planning anything, he had a feeling that a certain friend of his would be very happy to know that at least one prefect didn't plan on getting them in trouble.

"But I understand if you can't." Afonka let out a little dramatic sigh, grinning. "You have to set an example for all the little children who look up to you."

His grin widening, he leaned in to brush his lips against hers again, "Everything's always better when I'm with you," he muttered, blushing softly.

Tessa then seen him pout. “ I am sure that I can bend the rules just a little bit. I know Lena is also a prefect.” She knew that she would do anything for Afonka. He was there when she was blind and he stayed with her while she was in the hospital.

“ You know I would do anything for you.”

She then grinned as he brush his lips against hers. “ Well everything is better when I am with you.” Tessa loved it when he would blush.

Afonka's face lit up at her words. "Really? You'd actually - you know I'm not actually planning on doing anything crazy, right? Though," he paused, expression suddenly thoughtful, "I don't think I'd plan it. I'd just do it."

Shrugging a shoulder, he glanced back at her, "I'd do anything for you too." But her words, they only brought back those nagging thoughts that maybe, she deserved someone better. Someone who wasn't in the mafia, someone who was just - better than him.

Grinning back, Afonka glanced around them, almost startled to find them in a cafe. "Do you want anything?" he tilted his head up towards the counter.

Tessa then grinned. “ I know that you aren't planning anything. But you know that I would do anything for you. And I would think Lena would also help, since she is a prefect.” She was glad that he didn't have anything in mind. It made her job a little bit easier.

She couldn't help but grin when he told her that he would do anything for her. Tessa knew that she loved Afonka with all of her heart. She was glad that he was still with her.

Looking around she then smiled. “ Not really all that hungry. But I guess some soda will be fine.”

"Yeah," he nodded, grinning. "Ooh, and maybe Anya would too. Though," he added in afterthought, a little frown marring his features, "she probably wouldn't want to work with Lena. And honestly, I don't know her all that well either." His gaze drifting around the cafe, he glanced back at Tessa, "You're friends with Lena, right? Do you know why she's fighting with Kait and Anya?"

Though it really wasn't his business, he couldn't help but feel oddly curious about the whole situation. And who knows? He might be able to get the friends to be friends again.

"Soda," he nodded, and with a lingering kiss to Tessa's lips, he headed towards the counter.

Tessa blink. “ I don't really know Anya. And I don't think Lena really likes her.” She then listened as Afonka said that Anya wouldn't want to work with Lena. Tessa then watched as his eyes wondered around the cafe. “ Yeah I am really good friends with Lena. She is my best friend. And now I don't know why Kai and Anya are fighting.”

She was now starting to get very curious about this whole thing now. Now she wanted to know what was going on.

Tessa then kissed him back as he walked up to get her something to drink.

Heading back with her soda and his coffee in his hands, he hummed softly, slipping back into his seat. Handing her drink to her, he set his own down on the table, waiting for it to cool down before he attempted to drink it.

"They used to, though," he tilted his head slightly, wondering what exactly it was that made such close friends hate each other. "Best friends are awesome," he grinned, "Roman's the best friend one could possibly ask for."

Afonka really didn't know what he'd do once he'd graduate and Roman was still at Durmstrang.

Tessa smiled as she waited for Afonka to come back. She then seen him come and place her soda in front of her. She was glad that she got to spend the day with him. Tessa always loved being around him.

“ Yeah I really don't know what. But it had to be something really bad.” She then smiled when he started to talk about his best friend. “ Lena is a great best friend and it was funny how we meet in my common room.”

Tessa was glad that Lena was back at Durmstrang this year.

"How did you two meet?" Afonka asked curiously. How was it that he'd never wondered that? It had never even crossed his mind until this moment. Did this say something about what kind of boyfriend he was?

Shaking those thoughts away, he tilted his head at Tessa. He'd come up with a list of questions that he really should know about her. She needed to know just how much she mattered to him.

"Wait," he began slowly, "how did she even get into your common room, anyway?"

Tessa smiled as Afonka asked how her and Lena meet. “ Well it was in the third year. I was sitting up in the common room since I really couldn't do much of anything. I didn't have Ariel yet. But she just came to talk to one of her friends. And well I was sitting there and that is where Lena learned that I was blind.”

She knew that Afonka didn't know a whole lot about her. But that really didn't bother her. The fact that he loved he was enough for her. She didn't care if he knew how she meet her friends.

“ Well she had a Hitrost robe on.”

He nodded along to her words, a grin beginning to spread across his face as he listened. "All good friendships begin in common rooms." he commented. After all, that's where he'd met Roman, all those years ago.

Okay, so it had hardly been one, but it felt longer. But in a good way.

"Oh Lena," Afonka laughed, shaking his head, "Only she would do that."

Tessa smiled as she seen Afonka grin. “ Yeah I guess that you could say that.” She knew that this was true because this was how she meet Lena.

She just smiled as she listen to Afonka.

“ Yeah she was acting crazy when I first meet her. But she then found out that I was blind.”

"But it's true, though," he nodded in emphasis. "It's great to be able to spend time with people who are like you. Because at least, with people who are like you, you know that you're going to be at least a bit similar."

But that wasn't true, was it? The only thing he had in common with Feliks was their house and year.

"She's still sort of crazy these days." Afonka said, a touch of wistfullness in his voice. "But then, I think everyone's just a little bit crazy." He sure had moments when he thought that maybe, he wasn't normal. What if all the people locked up in Furmage were the sane ones and he was the one insane?

"I wonder what it's like in Furmage," he murmured.

Tessa was smiling. “ Yeah it is great to spend time with people who are like you. And also you best and close friend. I was glad that I meet Lena.”

“ Yup that part is really true. And I remember she braided my hair because I told her that I thought I had a crush on Feliks. But then I ended up getting lost and finding you.”

Afonka then was saying something about Lena being crazy. “ It is just who she is. I mean she makes life interesting.” She was smiling because she was talking about Lena and she was with Afonka.

"And I'm glad I met you," Afonka said softly, his heart beating faster as he leaned back towards her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. Pulling away, he grinned at her. "I don't know what I'd without you?"

An expression all too close to anger crossed his face. "Feliks?" he choked out, his eyes wide. "Feliks Chmerkovskiy? The Hrabrost? The one in our year? The bully? You - You liked him"

His head was spinning, a buzzing beginning in his ears. Feliks. The boy who'd made his life living hell. She'd actually seen something in him? But he was a monster.

It didn't make any sense to him.

"That's true," he nodded, but his heart was hardly in the gesture.

Tessa grinned when Afonka was glad that he was with her to. She then kissed him back and he told her he didn't now what he would do without her. “ I feel the same way I don't know what I would do without you.”

She then could tell that he was angry with what she had just said. And now she wished that she would have never brought it up. She remembered that he bullied Afonka.

Tessa then sighed a little bit. “ I actually have Feliks to thank for being around. I decided that I wanted to go outside and well I got a little close to the edge. If it wasn't for him I would have died from the fall.” She then was still looking at me. “ Feliks was the first guy who.” Tessa didn't want to finish her sentence.

“ Yeah Lena makes life more fun.”

"Then I guess we need to stick together forever, don't we?" He grinned, a soft blush spreading across his cheeks all over again. The idea of being with Tessa forever was the only thing he was certain about his future. He didn't care what he had to.

"And he saved you?" Afonka finished, raising an eyebrow. But Feliks doing anything kind for someone else was a concept he couldn't wrap his head around. From the day he'd met the boy, he'd done nothing but make his life miserable. "He probably did it just to hang it over my head." The Hrabrost sulked, even though he was fully aware that the older boy had never brought it up.

Not once.

So maybe -? He shook the thoughts away. No. Feliks was a monster. And nothing was changing that.

Tessa smiled as Afonka said that they need to stick together forever. “ Oh yes I think we do.” She loved it when he would blush. And the thought of being with Afonka was something that she would love. That meant she would be complete again.

“ Yes what part of the I almost walked off the cliff didn't you get. He was also out there and pulled me back and talked to me for a while. He then picked up that I was blind and told me that I could count of him as a friend. And then went to the kitchen and had hot chocolate.” She could tell that this was bothering him. “ This was before I meet you.”

Tessa sighed a little bit only wishing to turn back time.

"And it'll be grand," he nodded decisively, grinning. Images of weddings and proposals flashed through the sixteen year old's mind, and his grin only widened. There wasn't a doubt in his mind. She was the only person he could see himself with for the rest of his life.

Friend? Feliks wasn't anyone's friend. The only person he cared about was himself. "But that doesn't make it better." He pointed out, his voice getting quieter the angrier he felt. "And yes, what he did was good and all, but he's still Feliks. He's disgusting. He's a bully. He - He's hardly human."

He was being completely irrational, but it was Feliks they were talking about. One action didn't make up for the years of torment he'd faced.