When Eloise awoke the following morning, she was in a room she didn't recognize wearing clothes that weren't hers.

As her eyes fluttered open, a skull crushing headache took over all her senses. As much as she should have been worried about where she was, the immense pain was taking over every thought as she pressed her head back down into the pillow.

She tried to recount the previous night, but all of her memories started to blur shortly after she had started talking with Ginny and Angelina.

She remembered bits and pieces of the party, like dancing with George and playing a silly muggle game Lee taught them. But she couldn't tell you the name of the song or what the actual game was. The details were all fuzzy and blending together. The last thing she could somewhat recount was chatting on the couch in the living room as Lee and Angelina argued about something to do with Quidditch. But this lead her no where and made her present situation all the more confusing.

Finally Eloise forced her eyes open. The thin stream of sunlight peaking through the curtains felt like a blinding spotlight as she took in her surroundings. Overall the room was quite tidy, but there were a few subtle clues that gave away where she was immediately.

The dark maroon blazer with an orange 'W' emblem pinned to the lapel that George typically wore for work in the cooler months was laid overtop a desk chair.

An orange hand-knit blanket was draped over the foot of the bed. At first glance it didn't seem out of the ordinary, but Eloise recognized it as one Molly had knit as she remembered seeing a blanket nearly identical to it in the living room of the Burrow.

And finally, a familiar empty firewhisky bottle with a rolled up piece of parchment inside was sitting on top of the dresser next to various other tchotchkes that had been collected over the years.

It was obvious at this point that she had woken up in George's room, but he was nowhere to be found.

Did we sleep together? I'd remember if we did, right?

She tried once more to mentally retrace her steps, but kept coming up short as her memories either blended together or didn't exist at all. Remorse flowed through her as she realized she really did have way too much to drink the night before.

Eloise decided she should probably go find George. She was hoping he would in the kitchen or the living room, but part of her worried there might have been the chance that he'd gone back to the Burrow already.

Would he really leave without telling me? Wouldn't he at least leave a note?

She threw the quilt off her body and glanced around the room, hoping to find a mirror somewhere. All she wanted to do was to see just how rough she truly looked before searching for George. If she looked half as bad as she felt, she knew it wouldn't be a pretty sight. But it seemed he didn't have a single reflective thing in his room that worked well enough for Eloise to get a good look at herself.

With a groan, she trudged across his room, brushing her tangled curls away from her eyes before opening the door. As soon as she stepped into the hall she was met with the sight of Verity exiting the bathroom. The petite blonde had just taken a shower and her toothbrush still hanging out of her mouth when their eyes met.

As the girls gazed at each other, it seemed as though both were wondering what the hell Eloise was doing leaving George's room wearing his clothes.

"Morning." Verity greeted hesitantly after pulling the toothbrush from her mouth.

"Morning, have you seen George?"

Verity's eyebrows knit into a frown, "No, I haven't."

Eloise glanced down the hallway towards the main living area that sat completely silent with no sign of life anywhere.

"Okay." Eloise nodded before she began to turn around to retreat back into George's room before Verity spoke up again.

"Did you two...?"

Eloise stopped in her tracks, knowing immediately what Verity was implying. At first she considered lying and saying they hadn't, even though she really had no clue what happened after midnight. When she turned back toward Verity she blurted out the truth before her lips could even form the lie.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" she repeated.

"I can't remember much about last night."

"Oh, Merlin..." Verity sighed with a look of sympathy on her face, or maybe it was pity.

"I think I'm just going to shower and leave." Eloise muttered awkwardly.

Verity nodded, "Are you sure you don't want to go get some coffee once you're ready? The caffeine might help with the hangover."

"No, it's okay. I think I'll just go home and sleep it off."

"Well, feel free to use any of my shampoo and stuff. It smells much nicer than what the boys use."

"Thanks, Ver."

As Verity stepped aside, Eloise went straight to the bathroom not even thinking to grab her dress from the night before to change back into afterwards. All she wanted to do was wash away her hangover, hoping that maybe her foggy memory would clear up as she cleansed herself of whatever she had done at the party.

Usually, Eloise would take quite long showers, singing random songs as she took the extra time to condition her curls. But this morning she wanted nothing more than to get cleaned up and get back to her own bed to catch up on her sleep.

After about ten minutes, she shut off the water and reached for the closest towel, quickly rubbing it against her hair before wrapping it around her body.

She peeked out into the hallway to make sure the coast was clear before making her way back to George's room to get dressed, hoping to make a quick escape without being seen by anyone else. But when she opened his door, she was surprised to see George sitting on the edge of his bed waiting for her.

"Morning." George said as he glanced over, but quickly diverted his eyes away when he realized she was only covered by a bright orange towel.

"Where were you?" she asked immediately, not giving a second thought to her appearance.

"I just stepped out to get you a hangover cure." he said as he held up a small vial of clear liquid for her to see while still keeping his eyes on the ground out of respect.

He set the potion down on his side table and stood up from the bed, "I'll let you get dressed."

But Eloise used her body to block the door, she wasn't finished with him yet. If she couldn't remember the night before, George was going to tell her exactly what had happened. Whether he liked it or not.

"What did we do?" she demanded.

"I'm sorry?" he asked, slightly taken aback by her tone.

"Did we sleep together?"

"What? No Elle, I was out on the couch all night."

Eloise immediately let out a sigh of relief.

It's not that she didn't want to be with George in that way, she'd honestly thought about it plenty of times. It's just that she wanted to be able to remember it if it happened. The last thing she wanted was for it to be a one night stand that didn't mean anything.

"I wouldn't do that, you know that right?" he asked with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"I just can't remember most of what happened last night, when I woke up here I got confused."

"You were exhausted and I just didn't want you going home on your own, so I let you stay here."

"That was nice of you, thank you for taking care of me." she smiled slightly, before looking down and realizing she was still wrapped in just a towel.

George's eyes followed hers as she glanced down at her body and he let out an awkward chuckle, "I'll go make us some tea, okay?"

Eloise nodded shyly as she stepped aside and let him leave the room. But before he left, he paused in the doorway, leaning against the frame.

"Make sure you take that, okay? You'll feel better." he suggested as he pointed towards the nightstand where the hangover cure was sitting.

"I will." she nodded as her eyes fell on the vial.

"Good girl." he gave her a gentle smile before stepping away from the door to allow her to change in privacy.

As soon as he stepped out of the hallway he came face-to-face with an angry looking Verity standing in the kitchen who threw an oven mitt at him immediately.

"George Weasley, you absolute arse." she spat.

He flinched but caught the oven mitt against his chest and set it down on the counter next to him as he approached her cautiously, "Care to fill me in on why you're upset?"

"Because you slept with Eloise!" she shouted as she reached for something else to toss at him, resorting to a tea towel as she flung it at his head before continuing to berate him, "She was drunk out of her mind, George!"

George dodged the projectile and grabbed her arm to prevent her from reaching for anything else. God forbid she found her way to the kitchen knives eventually.

"I didn't sleep with her. Why are you jumping to conclusions?" he retorted quietly, doing his best to maintain his composure while also trying not to alert a still sleeping Charlie or Eloise, who was just on the other side of the wall, to their argument.

"You can't blame me for assuming when you slept with that random witch from the bar. What was her name again? Rachel? No wait, Michelle." Verity rolled her eyes.

"That's different." he insisted.

"Oh, really? And how is that?" she asked sarcastically.

"Because I didn't care about that girl from the bar. I care about Eloise, I wouldn't do that to her."

Verity laughed darkly, "You care about me don't you? We nearly hooked up, you git. Or did you forget about that?"

George jaw clenched and Verity seemed satisfied that her comment had finally gotten through to him.

He was having a difficult time staying calm at this point. What had happened between him and Verity was one small mistake that happened over a year ago. They had both moved on and, as far as he knew, had agreed to pretend it never happened. He really didn't appreciate her using it against him now, especially since he knew that she was fully aware of the difference between their friendship and how he felt for Eloise.

"Why are you even bringing that up?" he seethed.

"Because how am I supposed to believe you? You have a track record, you know. Eloise deserves better than that."

"I know she does!" he shouted before quickly lowering his voice again as he glanced down the hallway before bringing his eyes back down to Verity, "Look, I don't care what your opinion is of me, Ver. But I swear on my life that nothing happened with Eloise, okay?"

Verity narrowed her eyes at him slightly before finally accepting that he was telling her the truth.

"Fine. But if I find out you're lying, I'm hexing your other ear off." she hissed.

The soft sound of someone clearing their throat tore their attention away from each other as Eloise made her presence known in the room.

Although she was in the same outfit she wore last night, she looked completely different as her damp hair was pulled back into a loose braid and her face was clear of any makeup. It was a stark contrast to the smeared mascara and tangled hair she'd had by the end of the party.

But George could only focus on how much of their argument she had overheard.

The two of them hadn't exactly been quiet as they bickered, so he had to assume she heard something. The fact that she was nervously chewing on her bottom lip as she looked between the two of them gave that much away.

"Hey, Elle." George said cautiously.

"You two?" she asked, getting straight to the point as she gestured between them with an accusatory finger.

Verity and George quickly glanced at each other in confusion before immediately bringing their attention back to Eloise.

"What? No, we're not-"

"That was nothing-"

They were both frantically speaking over each other, trying to explain that what happened last summer was a silly mistake that meant nothing to either of them. But the expression on Eloise's face showed she wasn't receptive to anything they had to say.

Seeing as she had only heard bits and pieces of the conversation, she knew she shouldn't assume the worst. Despite this, her beautiful face was twisted into a pained frown as she allowed her mind to race, quickly becoming confused by what George and Verity's relationship truly was.

All Eloise had heard clearly from the other side of the door in George's room was Verity asking George if he cared about her and him promising her that nothing had happened between the two of them. It was obvious from the outside that Charlie and Verity were very happy together, so maybe Eloise shouldn't be panicking in this way. But her mind was twisting her reality as she wondered if Charlie even knew that something happened between George and Verity.

It honestly wasn't even the idea of them having feelings for each that truly hurt her. It was the fact that she had become so close to both of them over the last year and neither of them had ever decided to tell her about this incident.

After Eloise had poured her soul out to Verity and asked for advice on George, it hurt to know that Verity had kept that information to herself. Eloise felt that day at the coffee shop would have been the perfect opportunity for Verity to have been honest with her, and yet she didn't. And even after George told her about the girl at the bar, he never thought to tell her about anything that had happened between him and their mutual friend. It didn't just feel like they were withholding information, it felt like deception.

It felt like they had both been lying straight to her face for a year.

The dots were clearly connecting in Eloise's mind, but not in the correct order. Quickly being consumed by her assumptions, she became overwhelmed to the point of needing to leave the flat immediately.

Without another word, Eloise left the kitchen and frantically began searching the living room, trying to find where she'd set her bag the night before. There were plastic cups and Honeydukes wrappers littering the flat. She was all but tearing the room apart trying to find it as she tossed couch cushions and blankets aside on her search. The longer she couldn't spot her bag, the more panic-stricken she was behaving.

Maybe Alicia wasn't the real threat after all, she thought to herself as she tossed yet another cushion across the room.

"Eloise, will you stop for a minute and listen to us?" Verity sighed impatiently.

"Where is my bloody purse?" she shouted, taking George and Verity by surprise.

"Elle, don't go, you have the wrong idea. Verity and I-" George stammered.

Eloise froze where she was standing and glared at George, "I don't care! I don't care what either of you have to say. I don't care about whatever you two have going on. I just want to leave."

Verity spotted Eloise's bag sitting behind the armchair in the living room and made her way over to retrieve it for her. As she held it out Eloise snatched it away quickly without a word of thanks and rummaged through it frantically looking for her wand.

George started to approach her, but Eloise took a step back as she pulled her wand from the purse clutching it so tightly her knuckles were turning ghostly white, "George, don't."

"Just hear me out, Elle." he pleaded.

"No, you both have had plenty of opportunities to tell me whatever this is." she gestured between the two of them with her wand, "But you thought it'd be better to keep it a secret... to lie to me."

"We didn't lie, it doesn't even matter." Verity insisted.

"To you." Eloise spat before disapparating, not giving either of them any chance of explaining themselves further.

-

Eloise landed just outside the front door of Shell Cottage, she didn't want to apparate straight inside as she worried the sound might have awoken Victoire and cause her to cry. But before she had even fully gotten her bearings, she heard the familiar sound of someone else appearing behind her.

"You can't just run away like that."

Eloise spun around and saw George who somehow knew exactly where she had gone. Though to be fair it was rather predictable, she didn't have many escape options.

If she was being honest, part of her was hoping he'd come see her after a while, but she knew better than to get her hopes up. George never chased after her, and she certainly didn't expect he'd be right behind her. Especially after every other time they had disagreed on something, he was the one who tended to shut down and hide. The hypocrisy of his comment definitely didn't escape Eloise.

"What are you talking about?" she asked sharply.

"When you get upset you can't just disappear like that."

He was standing close to the gate that separated Bill and Fleur's home from the beach. The look on his face was a confusing combination of fear and heartbreak. Why was he so upset when she was the one who had felt wronged?

"I can do as I please, George. You're not my owner. I wanted to leave, so I left."

"I know I'm not your owner, Elle. That's not what I mean, I just-" he rambled before letting out a groan of frustration.

The closed gate still stood between them, as if it was some sort of emotional barrier that both of them were much too afraid to cross.

"What do you mean then?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest impatiently.

"You didn't even give me a chance to explain anything. You just left, I was worried that was it."

"That was it?" she repeated in confusion.

"That you were done."

"Done with what?" she asked, growing more and more impatient with him.

"Merlin, Elle. Done with us."

"There is no us to be done with, George. You've made that very clear."

George sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, growing frustrated with his own inability to express his feelings for her, "I know that."

As he brought his eyes back up to her, the distance between them felt much larger than just the front garden of his brother's home, it felt like she was slipping through his grasp and as if she'd suddenly fade away into thin air before his eyes.

It was on the tip of his tongue, everything he wanted to say to her.

How he'd completely fallen for her.

He wanted to tell her that she was his first thought when he woke up each day, his last thought before going to sleep, and that she occupied every dream he had in between.

He wanted to tell her that first moment they shared alone in the shed at his parents house was the first time he'd felt his heart skip a beat in a way that wasn't caused by anxiety since his brother died.

He wanted to tell her that he felt like she had been healing him just by being in his life.

She was so different than everyone else and yet so perfect for him in every way. Every time he looked at her he craved the taste of her lips and the touch of her hands. Her voice was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard, even when she was upset with him.

He wanted to confess how he feared being with her almost as much as he feared losing her.

But the words wouldn't leave his mouth.

Deep down he knew he'd never be able confess when he couldn't be with her, he needed more time. If he told her how he felt right now, he knew he'd just to turn around and reject her again. If that happened, he knew it would be the end for them.

"I care about you a lot, Elle. I don't want you to just cut me off." he finished.

"Cut you off? You think because I'm upset I'm just going to never speak to you again?"

"I don't know, maybe?"

"I wouldn't do that. I just needed space. Why is this any worse than when you hide away for weeks?" she asked in a pointed tone.

"It's not, I- It's just different." he faltered, not at her tone, but at having to face his own behavior.

"How?" she demanded.

"When I push people away it's because I want to. When you left it felt like I had no control. I know I'm not being fair, I just can't handle you leaving. Everyone leaves me, Elle."

In her haste to leave his apartment, she never even considered that how she had behaved would remind him of what Alicia had done and how much the loss of his brother had effected his fear of abandonment. But it was all piecing together in her mind now and a feeling of guilt filled her entire body.

She took slow steps toward the gate that stood between them, maintaining eye contact with him the entire time. The ghost of his past heartbreak dulled his honey colored eyes, the sparkle of joy and mischief was completely gone.

As Eloise reached the gate, she unlatched it without looking and took one final step toward him, grabbing his hands that had been clenched into anxious fists.

"I'm sorry for leaving abruptly. I know I overreacted and I should have listened to you, I was just overwhelmed." she explained softly.

George's body visibly relaxed as the words left her lips, as if all the weight of the idea of her leaving him had been lifted away immediately.

"What did you overhear?" George asked as he instinctively tightened his grip on her hands slightly.

He knew they needed to talk about what happened at the flat that morning, but he didn't want her to get away again. If every disagreement resulted in her running away, he didn't know how anything would ever work out between them. On top of every other barrier keeping them from being together, he didn't want a lack of communication to be another to add to the list.

Eloise shrugged her shoulders and looked down at their hands, causing George to rub his thumbs against the back of hers, silently encouraging her to be honest with him.

"I just heard something about you hooking up with her and promising her nothing happened with me."

George stopped rubbing her hand and let out a sigh causing her to look up at him. The expression on his face showed that he was trying to think of the best way to mend this situation.

"Does Charlie know?" Eloise asked suddenly, interrupting his thoughts.

"Hmm? Yeah, I told him ages ago." he replied nonchalantly.

The confusion on Eloise's face was apparent, she had no idea when this incident with Verity had occurred or if it was still ongoing. The fact that Charlie knew and was still in a relationship with Verity didn't clear anything up in her mind.

"So what are you and Verity?"

"We're friends. It was a one time thing that meant nothing. She was just bringing it up to get a rise out of me."

"I don't understand." Eloise shook her head at him.

"It was shortly after moving back to the flat and I was going through a lot. Lee visited the shop and he, Charlie, Ver, and I got drunk that night. Basically Ver and I got close to hooking up, but all we did was kiss."

Eloise tried to pull her hand away from him, but he tightened his grip before continuing his explanation. He needed to get everything out without her trying to escape again.

"I was just looking for a way to fill the void in my heart, but that wasn't the right way to do it so I stopped it before we went any further. Plus, I knew it would destroy our friendship. Nothing has happened between Verity and I since and we agreed to act like it never happened." he finished.

While his words should have been reassuring, all it did was fill her head with more doubts. There were too many parallels with that situation and what had happened between them on George's birthday.

"Is that why you kissed me?"

George seemed almost shocked by her question, "What? No, that was different."

She frowned at him and finally pulled her hands away and took a step back, "It sounds almost exactly the same, George."

"I know I was drunk and emotional that night so you might not believe me, but I wasn't trying to distract myself from the pain. I know it was awful timing, but I wanted to kiss you because it's you, Elle. It's as simple as that."

"I want to believe that." she replied, gazing at him warily.

"It's the truth." George assured her as he took a step forward and rested a hand on the side of her face.

Eloise was trying to process everything he had told her. While his words sounded like the truth, and the warmth of his hand brought her comfort. It still didn't clear up why Verity had sounded so upset with him.

In her mind, Eloise thought Verity was jealous of the idea of George hooking up with her.

"Why was Ver so upset?"

George pulled his hand away from her face and placed them in the pockets of his jeans as the topic returned to the incident that morning.

"Because she cares about you. She thought you and I slept together while you were drunk and she was mad at me. She didn't believe me at first because she thinks I have a track record, which is fair."

"A track record?"

"Almost hooking up with her and then that girl I told you about a few months ago." he muttered as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Oh, right." Eloise nodded and looked down at her feet.

"She was just upset because she didn't want me to hurt you, that's all."

Of course it was more logical to think that Verity was just being a protective friend, rather than a possessive lover. After everything Verity had done for her, and all of her encouragement to be there for George, Eloise had no reason to doubt her friend's loyalty to either of them. An immense feeling of guilt took over as she felt ashamed by how quick she was to turn on her friend.

While her feelings for George were strong, she didn't want to become someone who would allow him to come between her friendships.

"I feel like an idiot." Eloise confessed as she looked back up at him.

A slight smirk formed on his lips, "You're not an idiot."

"Well, I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. I don't even know why I got so upset."

"Don't worry about it, I understand. I probably would have freaked out too if I was in your shoes."

The two of them looked at each other with warm smiles, as if they had just subtly just admitted everything they both wanted to say to one another without actually having to do so.

That mutual understanding was enough for them for now. All George truly wanted was for him and Eloise to be on the same page, everything else could come in time. As long as she was there for him, he was happy.

While Eloise was glad she was able to set everything right with George, she knew she needed to do the same with Verity. Everything had happened so fast when she left the flat that morning, she knew she owed it to Verity to hear her out as well. Their friendship meant a lot to her and she didn't want a silly spat to ruin that.

"I suppose I should go back with you and apologize to Verity." Eloise suggested after a moment.

"I think she'd appreciate that." George agreed as he offered his hand to her.

Even after everything they'd gone through that morning Eloise didn't hesitate to lay her hand in his, allowing the familiar warm roughness of his skin envelope hers. He looked down at her with a warm smile and she nodded at him, as if reading his mind before he pulled his wand out and apparated them back to his flat.