Lost Sketches (Invite Only)

[Matthew McKinnon]

Matthew was sat on his bed, sketchbook out in front of him. Matt preferred to paint, but right now he was sketching with a simple pencil. He hadn't meant for his sketch to become a certain someone, but before he realized what he was doing, he recognized a familiar face in the grey lines. He was really ought to stop, but he didn't. He continued sketching, adding details to the face he had memorized so well. Even if he hadn't seen her in weeks.

He put the final touch to the lips of his sketch and then bit his lip. It had really taken too long already, he couldn't do with not talking any longer. Every day he was nervous about the fact that Liz knew, he didn't know when the redhead would tell anyone. He didn't know what he would do when she did. He didn't know what he should do. He didn't know what was still there between him and Ari. Had it just been one time? Did the woman feel something? Did she want to do it again? Did Matthew want to do it again? He didn't know.

And Matthew hated not knowing.

He flipped the page in his sketchbook and started to write on the paper, forgetting it had his sketch on the back.

Dear Ariadne,

I was wondering if it was convenient for you to come over? I don't think all my family members are home and you can just use to floo. But if you're too busy that's okay too. You know where to find my room. Or if you wish me to pick you up then you should owl me back. I hope I'm not being a bother.

Sincerly,
Matthew

He got up from his bed, rolled up the parchment and set off to find one of the owls. He attached the short letter to it without much thought and watched as it flew off. He stood there until he couldn't see it anymore and then headed back to his room.

[Ariadne Ellingham]

Ari looked up as she heard a tapping at her window. Moving over and drawing back the curtain, she let in the owl, reaching to detach the letter written on it. She had to bite back a smile at the words on the page. They were so obviously written by Matthew, they just had that essence.

But they had to talk. Oh, talking. She hated talking. If life could be done without those 'talks', Ari would opt for that.

She apparated to the McKinnon household, knocking on the door first. If most of them were out, Matthew probably wouldn't appreciate her walking in unannounced. Humming slightly to herself, she looked around.

[Matthew McKinnon]

When Matthew heard the knocking on the door, he rushed downstairs before one of his siblings that were home would open the door. He wasn't exactly sure if anyone was in, but he didn't want risk it. Of course, when Ari was at the door she could always just say she was looking for Mel, but then they still weren't able to talk about it. And Matthew wasn't very good at talking and he was quite afraid that if they didn't do it now, he would chicken out. He was actually quite sure he'd chicken out.

For some reason, his cheeks turned red when he saw Ari standing there after he opened the door. He waited for her to get inside before closing the front door again, rocking back and forth on the heel of his feet nervously. Why were they doing this again?

"H-hullo," he muttered quietly.

[Ariadne Ellingham]

The door opened and Ari breathed in hesitantly, waiting to see who it was who answered, trying to decide which kind of face to greet them with. She found herself looking up into the face of Matthew, and smiled tightly. "Hi, Matt," she greeted quietly, before peering over his shoulder. "Can I come in?"

She entered the house and looked around, before glancing back up at Matthew, unable to think of an explanatory word to sum up the scenario. "How've you been?" she asked, before biting her lip and looking straight into his eyes, straightening her jacket awkwardly. "Should we... should we talk?"

[Matthew McKinnon]

Matthew nodded, still at loss for what to say. When Ari locked her eyes with his, he felt the redness on his cheeks intensify. He really should grow a pair, because how he was acting was just pathetic. He bit on the inside of his lip as he tried to find his voice.

"I've b-been okay. And y-you?" he asked, eyeing the door warily. They should get going to his room, he knew. But it felt so strange to ask Ari to come up to his room. He felt very young all of the sudden, and he didn't like it at all. It made him even more nervous than usual, and he usually already was quite nervous.

He nodded. "Uhm, we s-should p-pr-probably go to m-my room," he stammered, the blush on his cheeks now spreading to his neck. Merlin, he was really pathetic.

[Ariadne Ellingham]

Ari nodded, and smiled. "I've been good thanks," she replied, tapping her foot uncomfortably, before Matthew told her to come up to his room. She nodded and smiled again, following him up the stairs as she tried to formulate something to say to him. So far nothing was coming.

They reached his room and Ari entered, looking around for somewhere to take a seat. She looked at Matthew, trying to think of something to say. Gosh, he was cute. How had she never noticed this be- No, Ariadne, stop it now. "So," she began, before hesitating. She had nothing really to say. What could she say? Hey, thanks, I enjoyed the other night, let's do it again. Hardly likely to go down well. Besides, wasn't she supposed to be convincing herself it was a mistake?

"So," she said again, playing with her hands. "Um, well. I'm not going to lie. You're good at kissing." She grinned sheepishly. That wasn't really what she was supposed to say, was it?

[Matthew McKinnon]

He led her too his room, his eyes widened in horror as he saw his big wooden box wasn't shoved beneath his bed. He slipped into his room before she did and quickly kicked away, hoping she hadn't seen anything. She began talking, but then fell silent again. Matt bit down on his lower lip and took a seat on his bed, leaving the chair free for Ari to sit on if she wanted.

He could feel his whole head go red when she informed him he was good at kissing. He hadn't kissed anyone before, how could he be good at kissing. "Uhm, t-thanks," he stammered, staring a hole into the floor. This wasn't really what he had in mind when he thought about talking.

"You're a, uhm, y-you're v-very good at k-kissing too," he choked out, feeling his ears heat up.

[Ariadne Ellingham]

What did you say that for, you twonk? Ari laughed a little and put her face in her hands, sweeping her hair back from it. "Sorry, I don't know why I said that." She lifted her head again and smiled at him, a small smile. "But, um, thank you." She blushed a little, and turned her face away.

"But... I... I'm not sure what happened there," she continued, not able to look at him anymore, instead threading her fingers together and staring at the wall beyond him. "I... Well. You're seventeen and I'm twenty-one and... well." She smiled again and looked at him. "You're my best friend's brother and... well, not that that's a problem or anything, but you know... it might be kind of... awkward." She looked at him, and then had to look away again. Why was this so difficult? She was being pretty polite, it couldn't be that she was worried about hurting his feelings, could it? Or, it was something more than that.

Chancing a glance back up at him, she pursed her lips. "But..." Whatever she was about to say trailed away.

[Matthew McKinnon]

When Ari blushed a little, Matthew felt a little better about his own flaming face. She started talking again and he decided that he couldn't look at her face while she spoke. He had no idea how to look so he decided to stare at the ground instead. Never had he found the floor of his bedroom more interesting. Therefor, he didn't notice she wasn't looking at him either while she spoke.

All the things she said were right. She was Mel's best friend. And she was twenty-one, which meant she was four years older than him. And he probably didn't even stood a chance with her, because be serious, she was much more attractive than he was. And more outgoing. And just perfect where he was shy and boring. Matthew leaned back on the bed so he could feel the wall against his back.

She said but, but he stopped her there, opening his own mouth to speak. Surprised at the fact his voice came out at all, he'd expected it to be more of a squeak.

"No, I g-get it. J-just a mistake, r-right? Y-you don't h-have to talk a-ab-about it again. We c-can j-just pre-pret-t-tend it never ha-happened if you w-want," he forced himself to say. "I w-won't m-mind," he lied.

[Ariadne Ellingham]

Ari looked at him as he cut her off, mouth still open a little. Forget about the whole thing? Was he kidding? He shouldn't be. That would be the ideal thing to do. To return to it as though nothing had happened. "I... I don't really want to," she found herself saying instead.

"I mean, I haven't... I haven't had that much fun in ages, that evening. You're sweet. And I like you. I... really like you and that sounds stupid because you're so much younger than me and I'm a cradle snatcher and oh God you're my best friend's brother. That's weird. That's so weird. Right?" She shook her head.

[Matthew McKinnon]

She didn't really want to. Matt couldn't put into words how important those words were to him. Because he hadn't been very sure if he'd manage to forget about the whole thing. He would try, if Ari wanted to, of course he would. But he would never be able to forget completely. And he would probably spend the rest of the time avoiding the woman because he had no idea how to act around her.

"You're not a cradle snatcher," he said immediately, and he was so certain about this that he didn't even stutter. He couldn't listen to Ari call herself that. "I mean, it's only four y-years. Don't c-call yourself a cradle snatcher over f-four stupid years," he muttered, staring down at his lap nervously.

"I really l-like you, too. B-but you're m-my sister's b-best friend. A-and you c-can g-get so much better t-than me and I j-just. I d-don't want y-you to f-feel guilty or anything," he muttered, still staring intently at his lap. His stutter came back, he noted.

[Ariadne Ellingham]

Ari smiled a little. "You think so?" she said, tilting her head. "Okay, then. I won't call myself that then." She grinned at the boy in front of her and crossed one leg over the other. He really was very attractive

And then he said something that made her laugh. "Me? Do better? Don't you think you can do better than me? I'm like a needy bag of neediness," she said with a wink. "Don't put yourself down, Matthew McKinnon." She leaned forwards. "And I probably should feel guilty that you're Mel's brother, but do you know what? I just can't. So I hope you can forgive me because I'm failing quite drastically at this whole... guilt thing." She smiled. "And so what? If what your saying is true, which, by the way, it isn't, I would kind of just still be inclined to settle for you."

[Matthew McKinnon]

Matthew couldn't stop himself from snorting, which was weird because he never snorted, but he couldn't stop himself this time. "H-how could I d-do better than you!" he told her before he could stop himself. He probably wasn't supposed to say those kind of things. But she was kidding right? Did she not know that she was beautiful and funny and perfect. Matthew wasn't sure how someone was supposed to do better than Ariadne Ellingham. That was impossible.

"I s-should probably f-feel guilty a-about crushing on m-my sister's b-best friend," he muttered, unable to stop himself from talking. Even though he should stop talking, he should really stop talking. "And I d-do g-guilt very well. B-but I c-ca-can't get myself to d-do it," he continued, fiddling his fingers in his lap. He shouldn't even be telling her this.

[Ariadne Ellingham]

"Oh, shut up," Ari said, grinning, and she leaned forward to kiss him before she could stop herself. And not a single thought about an age gap or his siblings or her brother or anything at all ran through her head because she was here now and he was here and they were kissing again and she was smiling and that was all that mattered.

She pulled away and pretended to ponder something. "Yeah, you're right, I totally can do so much better. I take it all back," she said, before grinning and kissing him again.

[Matthew McKinnon]

His cheeks were on fire when she planted her lips on his, but Matthew felt himself kissing back immediately. He didn't even know how he knew how he was supposed to do this, but he knew. And they were kissing. And Ari was kissing him. And it felt absolutely amazing. He didn't care about the fact it was his sister's friend, or that she was older, or that Mel would probably never speak to him again if she found out. The most important thing was that they were kissing.

Then Ari pulled back and Matthew quickly gulped in some air, eyes still wide from shock. They widened again at her words, nearly asking her what she meant. Why did she kiss his and then said that? He hadn't thought she'd be so mean. That was mean, wasn't it?

But then she was kissing him again and even Matt realized she had been joking, even though he was quite an idiot when it came to sarcasm. They kissed until they both ran out of breath, and Matt awkwardly rubbed the palm of his hand over the back of his neck when he pulled away. "A-are we g-go-going t-t-to tell my sister?" he asked her, biting his now slightly kiss-swollen lip.

[Ariadne Ellingham]

Ari groaned as he asked her a question. "Do we have to? Can't we just, like, not?" she asked, smiling. Of course they needed to tell Mel but she didn't really want to have the conversation, wondering how Mel would react. She was quite protective over her siblings. Not as protective as her brother, but still pretty.

She smiled at Matthew and turned her head to look at the door. "I mean, we should probably tell her," she said slowly. "But... I don't really fancy it much, do you?"

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel made her way up the stairs slowly, one hand on her not-really-big-at-all-stomach, there wasn't anything to feel really but it felt kind of.. nice? To know that there was something in there and she felt her self having the need to touch her stomach more often with each day that passed.

She had been out, shopping for some new CD's, at least pregnant women could listen to some really good music even though they werent allowed to enjoy it with a drink and a smoke. She was on her way to her room, when she heard talking and it caught her attention 'we probably should tell her', the sentence was barely loud enough for Mel to hear, but the voice was so familiar... it kind of sounded like... Ari? What was Ari doing in Matthew's room?

The blond woman pushed open the door, eyebrows raised at the people inside. "What are you two doing? And tell who what?" she tilted her slightly staring at the pair, and then suddenly her eyes widened and a grin spread over her face. "Oh! Please tell me you're planning a secret baby shower for me? I'll try to look surprised, I promise."

[Matthew McKinnon]

Matthew couldn't help the nervous chuckle he let out when Ari said she didn't want to tell Mel. He didn't really want to tell Mel either. He didn't really want to tell any of his siblings. It would just bring complications and Matthew hated complications. He hated lying too, and keeping secrets, but he hated complications even more. And the fact people would maybe be angry with him.

Just as he was about to tell Ari that no, he didn't really fancy telling Mel either, the door to his room opened. And just because karma loved them, it was Mel who was on the other side of the threshold.

Matt's face went bright red almost immediately, he didn't even try to stop it. He snatched his hands back to his body and quickly scrambled further onto the bed so he wasn't so close to Ari anymore. He should probably not be so obvious, he was being quite obvious. This was terrible. Why was Mel in his room. Oh and she had heard what they were talking about. She had, hadn't she?

Mel said something, but Matthew was way too worried and too wide-eyed to actually hear it.

[Ariadne Ellingham]

Ari heard a voice and turned around to see her best friend standing there. Biting on her lip, she smiled. "No, it wasn't exactly that, but you know, we can throw you one of those if you so desire." She smiled again, weaving together her fingers tightly.

She looked to Matthew, unsure whether to tell or not. This was Mel. She loved Mel, but she doubted that her best friend would appreciate the fact that she had been snogging her younger brother. It wasn't very likely she'd be very breezy about the issue, and Ari couldn't think of any way to phrase it at all.

"Basically," she said, "I'm gonna just come out with it. I kind of like your brother." She nodded and smirked awkwardly. Oh, nicely phrased. Come on Mel. Just say 'Oh cool'. Come on Mel.

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel's mouth fell open, did her best friend just say-Merlin, she must've heard her wrong. She was positive she heard wrong. Or maybe Ari didn't mean it like that. There was no way Ari meant it like it sounded. She likes my brother? SHE LIKES MY BROTHER? SHE WANTS TO-?!

Mel's eyes narrowed. "I like Matthew too, he's my younger brother after all. I love him in a brother-sister-like-way, like you should too, Ariadne, as my best friend and all. You've been there to watch him grow up, watch him still grow up, seeing as he's just a kid. It's not weird that you care about him, in a family way. In a way, he's kind of like your brother too, isn't he?" she tried to keep her voice sweet but her eyes stayed narrowed and her voice shook slightly. "We're family, really."

But Ari wasn't confessing her sisterly-love on Mel's brother was she? No, when she said 'like', she meant like, as in actual I-wanna-snog-and-shag-your-baby-brother-like and that just wasn't acceptable.

[Ariadne Ellingham]

Ari nodded surreptitiously. "Okay. Understood." She stood up. "Goodbye. Have fun fucking my brother. Have you two decided on a name yet?" She smiled slightly. "Don't be unfair, okay?"

She stood up and moved past Mel, reaching the door and smiling back at them both. "I probably should go, shouldn't I? Thank you."

[Matthew McKinnon]

Matthew didn't say anything while Ari and Mel were talking, his ears were buzzing and his cheeks were so red he imagined they were burning. However, when Ari got up and walked towards the door, ready to go, Matthew felt something inside of him snap. If Mel was allowed to get pregnant, the baby being Ari's brother's no less, then why wasn't he allowed to date Ari? Mel and James were three years apart, he and Ari only one year more.

"No, don't go," he said, his voice much surer than before. The certainty that he felt, was almost never there. But it was now. The heat in his cheeks stayed though, intensifying even as he turned to his older sister.

"You're not allowed to g-get mad at us. We're b-both adults and allowed to d-do this if we want. You're pregnant, and y-you d-don't see us j-judging you," he continued, getting more nervous by the second. Why was he standing up to Mel again? He should have just kept his mouth shut. Yes, that would have been a much better idea. Much better.

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel's eyebrows narrowed. "That is not the bloody same." she replied. "First off, James and I did not plan on sleeping together, second off he's my best friend, third off he's not your younger brother who is still in school!"

She wasn't quite sure wht she was getting so worked up, it just... it just, it was Matthew. Matthew!

She snorted at her brother. "What makes you think you're grown up enough to be in a relationship, Matthew? Seriously, wasn't it just yesterday when you didn't even llike going outside? Or talking to people? You're not ready for it."

[Ariadne Ellingham]

"Alright, Mel, act like a fucking adult, okay? At least Matthew's trying." Ari narrowed her eyes at Mel, and turned to listen to Matthew talk, eyes still fixed on her sister. He was sticking up for himself. She glanced back at him, and smiled. He was actually defending himself. This was a change for the good, wasn't it?

She looked back at Mel. "Please, Mel. I can't help that he's your brother, just like you can't help that James is mine. Please don't be like this."

[Matthew McKinnon]

"I c-chose not to go outside, and I c-chose not to talk to p-people! That d-doesn't mean I can't d-d-do it!" he argued, biting his lip as he nervously fought to keep his own around Mel. He was so tempted to just give up, but he didn't want to. He wanted this. "A-and you c-can't s-say you're ready t-to h-have that b-baby, and y-you're s-still having it!" he added, swallowing thickly.

"Y-you're b-being unfair to us b-both," he added quietly, glancing back and forth between Mel and Ari. "Y-you can't t-tell us to s-stop. You c-can't m-make our c-choises. P-please d-don't ask us t-to m-make the wrong one," he continued, staring at the ground now.

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