Guilty Consciences -- [[The Edwards Brothers?]]

[Headmistress Adeline Darcy]

{Yeah, I was very unsure about this. I wrote it assuming that it hadn't just been one fling, that it had been more of an ongoing cheating after the first time. *nods* Because otherwise, Adeline would have just gone to Alec 'it was just a one time thing, forget about it. It never happened' rather than them both telling him. Because she's a bit of a lying coward, I've suddenly decided, even though her personality in her application implies otherwise. xP

But I can't remember. xD Lulz, it's been too long again. If I've got something really, really wrong, tell me and this post shall be screwed up and thrown in the Bin Of Fail. xDDD I also assumed (I know it's bad to do all this assuming, but you told me you wanted the post done! D:) that Alec was going to be there to help her tell. Hence the brothers part in the title. But that's all your choice, of course. xD God, I am of fail today.}

Good God, the Headmistress had never been so wracked with guilt in her entire life. When she'd first started the... thing, whatever it was, with Alec, when he'd come to her and he'd been somewhat... drunk, she hadn't been thinking straight. Not at all. It had been a ridiculously stupid fling, had only been meant to take her mind off what was going on. Had only been meant to let her get away from everything that had happened- the attacks, the stabbing, Darien.

And she thought she was going crazy. Absolutely off her head because, suddenly, she had started looking forward to seeing Alec. Her visits to Darien, not just when he was in hospital but in general - had become less frequent, to the point where she was barely going at all, and she wondered if he'd noticed. She hoped he hadn't. She hoped he didn't care, that he didn't care about her. Because that would make what was coming next a whole lot easier.

Adeline was soon going to be spilling everything that had gone on in the past... how long had it even been? Weeks? A month? More months? She was getting to the point where she was losing the plot of everything in her life. Everything was going wrong. The Aurors had refused to come out and help her by then, because they were short staffed as it was and, as far as they were concerned, the attacks on Beauxbatons had stopped. They said, pretty much, that they had better things to deal with.

Even Braeden, the professor that she was handing most of her work off to, had mentioned leaving. He'd coldly told her that he was sick of the school and everyone in it, and if she didn't pull her act together he was dumping all her work back on her and resigning to go somewhere else. That hadn't been a very good conversation, as she'd finally opened her eyes wide enough to see what a complete and utter failure she was becoming.

Braeden was right. She had to get things together, or else the school was simply going to fall.

And the truth was, the beginning of getting everything together was actually getting the truth out. Putting right the things that she'd done wrong and undoing the lies she'd told. And the whole Darien fiasco was full of lies that she'd randomly thrown out whenever people asked awkward questions. And it was time to sort it out, even though she didn't want to. It was the thing she wanted to do least in the whole world.

So she'd told Darien to meet her in the staff room, which was where she was sitting right then. Her pale hands were shaking like leaves, she was white as a sheet and she looked like she was about to start crying before he'd even gotten there. Damn- it was going to be difficult.

[Darien Edwards]

((Okay, so I'mma have Alec get there first. I'm assuming that this will be taking place AFTER Elizabeth has the babies, maybe a few weeks later? That puts it toward the end of April, beginning of May. That work for you? If not, I'll edit out that part...))


Alec had been told by Adeline to meet her in the staff room, and he had willingly gone, not really sure what to expect. You see, he knew they were going to tell Darien, but he wasn't sure if they were telling him tonight or if they were discussing how to put it or what. She hadn't quite elaborated, but by the way she had sounded on the phone, he was assuming they were going to tell Darien tonight. And boy, was that going to be Hell. This had all started with him being drunk, and it had ended with he and Adeline having an affair for the last few months now. How had that happened? He wasn't sure. Did he love her? He wasn't sure. Was it worth it? He wasn't sure... But it was too late to back out now, wasn't it?

So here he was, going to meet his brother's girlfriend, who he was seeing behind his back, to tell his twin brother that they had been having an affair. For months. He paused outside the staff room, hands covering his face and rubbing it, running through his hair before finally placing his hand on the knob. Dressed in worn jeans with holes in various places and an old t-shirt, he wasn't dressed to impress, but it worked well enough for him. His fingers slowly turned the knob before he stepped inside, unsure of what to find. Sure enough, there was Adeline, pale and shaking with held-back tears in her eyes. His throat clenched as he stepped inside and softly shut the door, walking over to sit in a chair at a 90 degree angle to the left of her own.

He wasn't sure what to say, so he didn't speak. He didn't say a word, but instead his eyes lifted to meet her own as he hoped he could somehow manage to comfort her without speech. How the hell was that going to work? He didn't have a clue. He couldn't even comfort himself. He was going to inflict pain upon his twin brother; if that didn't make him uncomfortable, what would? So his eyes lowered soon enough, looking at various things to keep himself occupied. At last they settled on the door, waiting to see when his brother would enter the room. For then, it would be the beginning of the end. It would be the beginning of the end of everything he knew, everything he loved. Would he be able to take it? He hoped so. Afterall, it wasn't his life falling to pieces. At least, not so much.

Darien had been told by Adeline to meet her in the staff room. To be honest, he wasn't quite sure why, but that didn't matter. He was really tired. He'd been helping Elizabeth take care of the twins, as they weren't very old yet. Braeden was very busy taking care of most of Adeline's stuff, and Adeline was busy with... what? For the last few months, he had no idea what was keeping her so busy, but he had adapted to it. By now, although he still had feelings for her, he wasn't sure how much longer they were going to last. He was feeling rather neglected, to tell the truth. She had time to do whatever she was doing, slack off on her duties as headmistress, and still managed to blow him off all the time. What was going on?

He was hoping all of that would be solved tonight. He just wanted to know what was going on with her. She'd been so distant lately... Had something happened? He didn't know, and it was causing him to worry a little. So, dressed in a pair of dark jeans and an old, faded white t-shirt, he headed down to the staff room. Once outside, he stopped to finger-comb his hair, making sure it wasn't a complete mess, before turning the knob and stepping inside. What he found wasn't exactly what he had been expecting. What was Alec doing here? He hesitated before closing the door, then he stepped fully into the room, walking over to take a chair opposite Alec. His head turned to Adeline, noticing how pale and shaky she was. What was going on? Swallowing, he struggled to gather himself.

"What's going on?"