The Morning After [Tess, Matteo, Jesse]

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It was late when Delia had finally decided to find and rescue Tess, scouting numerous spots before finding her and Jesse at a restaurant. Pulling her away, Delia made some half hearted excuse before taking them back to their place. The last thing she wanted was for Tess to do something too dumb in her sudden freedom -- not that she didn't trust Tess -- and ruin her reputation; Delia knew this was important to her friend.

To her utmost surprise, Tess had seemed as though she had enjoyed herself. Delia hadn't expected things to go as well as they had, truth be told. Tess had always appeared so uptight about those sort of things. Yet, from the looks of things, she had spent an entire afternoon alone with a guy without once thinking of consequences. Proud was not enough to describe how Delia felt. It was seeing that he was a wizard that had prompted her to realise the truth, not that she mentioned it.

The pieces fit together neatly, and Delia need only run through Matteo's letters mentally to confirm her suspicions, and she had hidden a laugh. Instead of saying anything, though, Delia decided to wait. It would be more fun in the morning, when emotions -- if there were any -- had settled, and Tess was properly thinking.

Delia had not once mentioning Tess' date. When they got back, Matteo had been waiting for them, and introductions and chatting had taken place before they all went to bed. Waking up bright and early, Delia tossed the covers away and stood, moving downstairs to the kitchen.

She was halfway cooking the eggs when Tess came downstairs, and at once Delia's eyes glinted. "Morning bitch," she greeted, sliding one of the eggs onto the plate and cracking another into the pan. "So, last night was fun and all, but what I really want to know is how your date went." She paused, flashing Tess a grin. "What did you two lovebirds get up to?"

Guest

Sleep had come easy to Tess. The moment they had arrived in the villa Cordelia had been kind enough to give her some space. As she had showered she found herself humming a tune she wasn't used too. It was a song that had seemingly sprung out of nowhere but fitting for the night. It was crawling into bed that she immediately knocked out. Her dream had involved the mermaids and her experience with the corals. It had admittedly been a long time since she had dreamt and this was one of the best.

Morning came and woke her up by sunbeams hitting her face. She emitted a small grumble before rolling over and getting some more sleep, but she knew it was useless as she could hear Cordelia downstairs banging on pans. Sighing softly, she found herself sitting up and stretching; she was reluctant to get up, but she was getting hungry.

It was a warm night and morning so the nightgown had been good enough for the night. A simple silk robe covered her teal nightgown and she found herself going to the kitchen. She knew she looked a bit of a mess with her hair down, no makeup and barefoot.

"Morning Cor" she said softly, as breakfast was slid towards her direction. She dug into the eggs, only to pause as the older witch began to question here. "I...it was not a date" but her cheeks were red. "but it was nice...I saw the corals" she looked down at her plate not willing to mention the mermaids.

Guest

Placing the last egg on a plate and putting that aside for Matteo, whenever he woke up. Hopefully that would be soon; she did enjoy his company, after all. Grabbing her own plate, she moved to sit opposite Tess, scooping up a mouthful of eggs into his mouth and chewing before smirking at Tess.

"Sure. I'm sure it wasn't," she said, lifting a shoulder as she swallowed. There had been something about the way she saw Tess look at him, and he look at Tess, that told her something far more than 'seeing corals' had happened. They'd spent a whole day together, after all, ending in dinner. It wasn't every day that happened. Besides, Tess -- Tess -- had kissed his cheek before leaving. And this, of everything, was what she decided to mention.

Casually, as she took another bite, she said, "Because I kiss all my non-dates on the cheek. Especailly after we've only seen f***ing corals." She paused to laugh. "Come on, Tess. It's me you're talking to, not some f***ing prude who doesn't know the signs, Tess babe." Leaning forward, she batted her eyelashes. "I've never had such a magical experience before. Thank you for everything, Jesse," she repeated, tone high in an obvious mockery of Tess' voice.

Leaning back again, she ate another bite. "Not a date my f***ing ass," she concluded, almost smugly.

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Tess knew that Cordelia was a good friend, but a nosy one a that. So as the girl teased her, she merely flushed and pretended that her scrambled eggs were very interesting. As she played with her food she couldn't help but think of Jesse and how wonderful the day had been. The mermaids, the sun, the corals, the whispers of conversations and just...she sighed.

"Because I kiss all my non-dates on the cheek. Especailly after we've only seen f***ing corals."

Tess blushed brighter at the older girl's teasing. Okay...yes it was special and yes she was foolish to actually go forward and kiss his cheek. Granted she had done worse from previous parties but those were times where she demanded to be left alone. With Jesse, there was a vulnerability and sincerity in what he told her that he had earned her trust so easily. Perhaps she was naive, perhaps he was special -- hell maybe it was both.

"I've never had such a magical experience before. Thank you for everything, Jesse,"

"Stop" she whined. "I-it wasn't a date...but it was so special" her tone took a wistful tone, so unlike her. "Cor, he took me to the corals I dreamed of seeing; he showed me this grotto of sorts with...with fishes and just so much life. And he was so respectful" she pulled her silk robe around her closer as if in a hug. "I-I wasn't scared being alone with him. And dinner...he spoke about lemons" she shook her head amused. "It was just...a memorable day." Her voice trailed off.

"But I don't date" she continued to protest. "I don't even know how."

Guest

Listening to Tess talk about her 'not-date' date, Delia's eyebrows inched upwards. Lemons? Merlin, Matt had said stuff about Jules before, but she'd never imagined he'd actually be that uptight. Still, it was amusing to her, especailly knowing one detail that Tess didn't. Instead of saying anything just yet, though she decided to play it out a bit more and drag as much information as she could from Tess before dropping the bomb shell. Part of her was looking forward to the expression it would get, while the other part wanted to draw it out and figure out how far Tess had gone.

"Well," Delia said, in answer to Tess' last statement. "A date's easy enough. You go out with a guy and do stuff alone, together. Swimming, walking along beaches, dinner... Things like that, you know. Nothing fancy. It sounds to me as if you did have a date." She grinned, placing the last bit of her food into her mouth.

A few moments passed before she next looked at Tess. There was no point dragging it any longer; she had all the info she needed, and patience had never been her strong point. Besides, it was better to do it now that Tess was already mentally thinking of everything the day before. She may have loved the witch, but that didn't mean teasing would end -- on the contrary, it probably increased because of the comfort Delia felt around the Holmes witch.

"By the way, if I didn't say it before," she said, pausing to take a sip of water before continuing, as causally as she could, although the grin on her face was giving it away. "Brave move, kissing the Valentino heir like that. I know I would have never dared."

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Tess felt silly saying all the things that happened aloud, but at the same time was relieved at the fact that she could. She couldn't tell her everything exactly; Jesse had asked her over dinner to keep secret of the mermaids she had seen and she had kept her promise. No matter how silly it seemed to her to not tell Delia this (because she trusted her), the idea of him finding out was too much for her to question.

Whether or not her day with Jesse was a date or not was not the problem. Though the word 'date' did twist something uncomfortable in her stomach. A girl like her did not date because she could not date. Dating would mean for her to seek out a partner which was genuinely the opposite of what she wanted. Secondly her father would have a fit.

"I...if this was a date then it was a good one" she finished, willing to succumb to the teasing. It was inevitable after all.

But all joking ended as soon as Delia told her exactly who Jesse was. A brief flash of confusion went through her; if her mind served her correctly, there were three heirs to the Valentino family. Isabella the eldest, and the twins. She had met Aria before during balls for she made sure she was the center of it all, but her brother...Jules? His face was not seen in social circle due to him being unavailable. She knew that in other words, similar to Winnie, he was uninterested.

Jules...Jesse...her face grew pale at the realization. She was never brazen before but she suddenly found herself being so bold to the heir? She covered her face in surprise. "Cor why didn't you tell me! If you knew since the beginning why would you let me make a fool out myself. Oh if he tells my father I'm dead"

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The admission that it was a date made Delia laugh, shaking her head. "You might want to take that back soon," she said, omniously, winking at Tess. There was, after all, the fact Jesse was a Valentino to consider, not that Tess knew that -- yet.

And then the moment Delia had been waiting for came and she broke the news. Tess paled, and her blurted statement made Delia laugh again, this time long and loud.

Delia took a few moments to compose herself before shaking her head. "I didn't..." she broke into giggles again; this was better than she'd expected. A few moments later, when she calmed, she took a deep breath. "I didn't, not until I heard you two talking about magic and realised he was a wizard. Then things just," she shrugged, "I don't know, like, fit together I guess. I've heard of him before." She grinned at Tess. "Merlin's f***ing beard, Tess, you spent more than half a day alone with the Valentino heir..." She paused, shrugged. "You ate dinner with him."

Shaking her head, she added, "Why would he tell your father? Seems like he's the one who asked you out, after all. The son of the Minister of Magic asked you out for dinner," she sounded impressed, although her expression was teasing. "I'm impressed. I guess I have to jump off cliffs more often, huh?"

As she finished speaking, there came a loud knock on the door, and Delia glanced down; she was in her bra and undies, her usual sleeping attire. "Could you get that?" she asked Tess. "I don't want to scare someone half to death with what I've got on."

Guest

Cordelia's laughter did not help soothe Tess' embarrassment. Had she known that he was of proper blood she would have stopped herself from being so free. 'And you would have also not had the most memorable day in your life' She felt herself blush bright red at the idea of her being so...so herself in front of someone else in her inner circle. Those that were apart of the elite rarely expressed how they felt; she too was similar like that. The only person that ever expressed some sort of true emotion was Ellie but she knew because Ellie was special.

"Stop repeating my embarrassment" she whined her breakfast long forgotten. She had already been shy about her night and it was made worse by knowing just who Jesse was. "He didn't ask me out Cordelia" her voice a bit high pitched in nervousness.

The knock on the door distracted both of them and she turned to face who it was. At Delia's instructions she rolled her eyes and hopped off the kitchen stool and headed to the door. Matteo was probably still sleeping and she dare not be rude. She brought her robe tighter around her body and she shyly opened the door.

"Oh.."

Guest

His rest hadn't been a decent one; the whole night his mind kept him in fitful sleep as he tried and failed to figure out what was wrong with him. Emotions clouded him -- unlike anything he was used to; he was often in control of them and not the other way around -- until, finally, the first rays of sunlight shone through his curtains and onto his bed. Immediately, Jesse sat up, having already been away for Merlin knew how long, and made his way to the bathroom.

Just because he was awake didn't mean Matteo was. Besides, he knew from Matt's previous letter that he'd invited a penpal of his -- Dee, he called her -- and 'her little friend' to stay at his villa. If they were already there or not, Jesse wasn't sure, but he definitely didn't want to wake anyone up. Knowing Matteo, 'Dee' was probably someone he slept with.

Finally, as the sun rose higher and higher and there was no trace of the darkness left, Jesse scoffed down his breakfast and strolled down the path that led to Matt's house. It wasn't a long walk, and he could have apparated, but he decided to use the five or so minutes to try and gather his thoughts even more, forming them into, he hoped, a coherent sequence that he could explain to Matteo and finally -- finally -- get some answers. As he walked up the front porch, his mind drifted, momentarily, to the witch from the previous night, and he hid a smile. This, it seemed, was becoming a major distraction.

He knocked and stepped back. The door creaked open, and his planned greeting -- I need your help, -- died on his lips. For a moment, he thought he was still dreaming, that somehow he had actually managed to fall asleep. But then he blinked, and she did, too, and he heard the soft 'Oh' that came from her, and his eyes widened. It seemed that she haunted him not just in dreams, but in waking, too.

"T-Tess?"

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Jesse Immediately as she realized it was him, her cheeks flushed with the realization that the subject of her embarrassment was in front of her. The whole night had been previously flashing before her and before Cordelia as she was teased, and now Jesse...no...Jules was in front of her and looking just as surprised as she was. She felt shame rise within her as she realized her attire.

For one thing her hair had a ribbon pulling away her bang; secondly her silk nightgown was surprisingly short from a traditional one (but the weather permitted it), but worst of all was that she had rolled out of bed and looked messy. 'He saw you looking like a west rat yesterday. What an awful impression you're giving him.' Her subconscious was cruel.

"G-good morning" she said nervously.

She closed the door a bit and whispered to Delia that she should go change immediately. She refused to allow him to see her this way. 'Cordelia please' she hissed. Popping her head out she flushed a bit nervously.

"Sorry, please come in...I'm sure Matteo should be coming down soon." Shuffling her hands nervously she moved out of the way to let him in and to really take in the shabbiness of them all.