the kiss list, adrian pucey
𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓, 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟐

chapter twenty, KINGS AND QUEENS

✧ ━━━ · ✦ · ━━━ ✧

     ADRIAN HAD NEVER PLAYED CHESS BEFORE and before yesterday, he had never planned on it either.

     Bianca had played chess before, and a lot of it at that. Winning a game of chess, brought as much as a thrill to her, as riding a rollercoaster, did for Muggles. To Bianca, it was a tad more than just a game.

     She had been playing since she was a young girl, her father teaching her to be at the standard she was today. Her Grandfather, who had passed when she was only four, was what was known as a 'Grandmaster', a title given to the best of the best, and, bar The World Champion, it was the highest title a chess player can receive. Her father, therefore, grew up around the game, eating and breathing the rules, his childhood home brandished with awards, books, and multiple boards, and going to competitions for his age group. Never being allowed to forget his father's success, Bianca was naturally brought into the family affiliation. She just wished she was old enough to have remembered her grandfather before he died.

     Before today, Bianca didn't exactly have someone to play with, nor was she counting on Adrian Pucey to be that person. Leo Raywood, her closest companion, never agreed to play with her, due to her competitive drive that was too strong to beat.

     As two o'clock approached, Bianca compiled everything she would need into a tote back that she swung over her shoulder: books, notes her grandfather had left her, and of course, her own board and pieces.

     The library was quiet as per usual, and students were off in their own groups, studying doing homework and it appeared, just like Adrian, everyone had a lot to do and had pushed all of their work till the last day of the week.

     Bianca did not expect Adrian to be on time, nor did she expect to walk in, wander around in order to find a secluded, unoccupied area, and stumble upon the same Slytherin boy, asleep at a desk; using a charms textbook as a pillow. He was so asleep, Bianca could have mistaken him to have been passed out.

     She cautiously approached him, poking at his arm, "Adrian? Psst." she continued to jab at his side, a little harder since she hadn't gotten a response. "Adrian!"

     With her volume like she was practically shouting, a few students now more annoyed, the boy woke up, with a startled jump.

     "Well good morning?" she said, as she sat down opposite him, the boy readjusting to his surroundings. "It's two o'clock. In the afternoon. On a Sunday." she said, starting and stopping.

     "Yeah, yeah, I know that," he grunted, in his low morning voice, even though it was long past the morn.

     "Really? Cause you got a bit of drool right there," she taunted, pointing to under his chin.

     His mouth dropped open a little, but only for a second when he scrambled to wipe what remained of it off.

     "Dreaming were we?" she smirked.

     "Nothing interesting," he groaned, rubbing his eyes.

     "You were in a pretty deep sleep there Pucey. Someone must be tired."

     "Yeah, well, I've been here since six this morning trying to get my work done." he exhaled.

     "Six?" she asked incredulously, "Honey, we only have two pieces due tomorrow." she said, unconsciously calling him a 'pet name'.

     "And two on Tuesday, then one for Wednesday and Thursday. Not to mention the test also happening on Thursday," he moaned.

     "You know there are other days of the week, right?"

     "I didn't know how long this would take," he defended.

     "I'm teaching you how to play chess, not training you for the Olympics big guy." she inclined her head. "How much sleep did you get last night?"

     "Not a lot. The boys were playing gambling almost until the time I woke up." he rubbed his head, obviously regretting it all ─ he told himself not to play anymore.

     She smirked, noticing how bothered he looked, "How much did you lose?"

     "Whose to say I lost anything?"

     "That sigh. And your tone when you said it. So if you didn't get a lot of sleep and," she peered over to his work, sprawled out in front of him, "haven't made any progress with your huge load of work, you still don't look like someone that made of a load of winnings from his mates in a few poker games."

     He gritted his teeth, "10 galleons," he said defeated.

     "You gambled and lost fifty quid!" she said, amused, yet surprised.

     "Quid?" he repeated.

     "Muggle currency. Ten galleons is about £50."

     "Is that a lot?" he asked.

     "Would you say ten galleons is a lot?"

     "It's too much, I'll say that," he grunted.

     "Why bet that much if you're not any good?" she chuckled.

     "I'm alright!" he defended, "Terrence is just better. I'd like to see you play a game of poker against Higgs. He's never lost a game in his life."

     "I could change that," she smirked, leaning into the back of her chair more comfortably.

     "Bullshit."

     "No, seriously. I could. When and where?" she said, crossing her arms.

     Adrian scoffed, "If you're as good as you say you are, I'll make sure to invite you for the next game." he smiled sarcastically.

     "Great," she grinned, "Now, chess." Adrian yawned, as Bianca pulled an old, wooden chess board that she had inherited from her grandfather out of her bag from beside her feet. Placing out in front of them, she watched him yawn again, and his body drowsily sink. "You still wanna learn right?" she titled her head.

      "Oh yeah yeah," he nodded his head, shaking it a little, to shake himself awake, "I'm up."

     "Okay, so," she started unboxing the pieces and distributing them on their designated black or white square, to make the board ready for a game of chess. "We're going to play Muggle chess because I can just tell you're not ready for Wizard's chess. But before we start, do you know the objective of chess?"

     His eyebrows knitted together and he shrugged, "To win?" he said like it were obvious and that she had asked a stupid question.

     "Okay . . ." she drew out her vowel sound, "But how would I do that?"

     "Beat your opponent?"

     She sighed, resting her elbows on the table, "Okay. You're not getting it," she muttered, "Think of Quidditch," he nodded slowly, narrowing his eyes, "How do you win a game of Quidditch? And don't say by beating the other team," she added, just as he had opened his mouth.

     Adrian exhaled deeply, "By scoring the most goals."

     "Yes, and ultimately?" she gestured for him to finish her sentence.

     "Catching the snitch?"

     "Exactly," she grinned. "Now in chess, the object of the game is to checkmate the opponent. This is basically when you manage to put your opponent's king is in check, with a series of moves and there is no legal way for me to remove him from attack," she explained.

     "I'm lost. Why bring up Quidditch?" he said ─ it had definitely confused him.

     She paused for a moment, before saying, "Let's make a hypothetical situation. You and I are playing Quidditch."

     "Right."

     "And I am leading, say 150, to 20-"

     "I'm pretty sure that wouldn't happen. There's no way you could get that much on me-"

     "It's hypothetical Adrian," she said, on the verge of losing it. He surrendered his hands, "I'm leading 150, to 20. Then you catch the snitch. What does that mean?"

     "I don't know if you know, but I'm a chaser, not a seeker. It's the seeker that catches-"

     "It's hypothetical Adrian! You know what that means?" she said, starting to realize that she had overestimated him and this would be harder than she thought.

     He nodded, "Right, yeah, sorry. Continue your little scenario."

     "Okay, thank you. So, you catch the snitch, what does that mean?"

     "I win," he said.

     "Yes, you do, exactly. It doesn't matter how many more goals I scored, you caught the golden snitch, you win. Now in chess, it doesn't matter how many of your pieces I manage to take ─ you could have managed to take less ─ if you checkmate my king, you win. You get me?"

     Adrian inclined his head, "Yeah, yeah. I think that makes sense." he said, nodding his head.

     Her shoulders relaxed and all tension was released ─ she got this far. "Great, now the pieces."

     "Okay and what does this piece do?" she pointed to the Knight ─ the one that looks like a horse.

     "Two forward, one back," he said with confidence.

     "Think about that." she tilted her head.

     "I have," he said like she was thick or deaf.

     "Does that make sense to you?"

     "It sounds right." he shrugged.

     "Okay, but why would I move forward two spaces, only to retrace my movements and go back one? Surely that would mean I could just move forward once?" she tested him.

     "I dunno." he shrugged, staring into space behind her head, and thinking, before his expression formed into one of realization, "Oh wait, one forward, one diagonal."

     "Yes! See, you're getting it." she smiled. She pointed to the Queen, "What about this one?"

     He scrunched up his face, "All directions?"

     "That is correct. So you're actually paying attention I see." she smirked, "But what is that piece called?"

     "The King," he said with certainty until he saw her give him a look that told him to rethink, "Oh wait, yeah that's the Queen."

     "We got there," Bianca said, before scanning the board, and choosing her next piece. She pointed to a pawn, "What about him?"

     "That's a pawn, and he can go one or two places, forward-only," he said, with more determination.

     "But?"

     Adrian stared at the ceiling, looking for the answer like it was written on the ceiling or he could see the inside of his mind and get it from there. "It can only move forward two spaces on the first go," he finished.

     "I'm proud." she nodded her head, even though this was the utter basics and chess got a lot more complicated than just learning each piece's name and how and where they move.

     "So when do we get to the cool names stuff?" he said referring to different tactics and clusters of moves that Grandmasters used, leaning into his chair, folding his arms and legs.

     "Slow your horses bud." she said with a dry chuckle, "This is chess, it takes time. And we're just getting started."

➼

     MONDAYS WERE NOT BIANCA'S  FAVOURITE day of the week either. To everyone else, they were slow and tedious. Bianca didn't find lessons boring, but after not doing anything for two days, they weren't exactly the most exciting of hours.

     It didn't take her long to finish all three books ─ "Modern Chess openings", Jane Austen's "Persuasion" and her third reread of Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse" ─ and start a new one. What that would be, she didn't know. Another visit to the library would do her good.

     But before she could even leave the room, Katie Bell and Angelina Johnson, her two dorm mates, burst through the door, in a fit of a hurry.

     Bianca was taken back, literally, as they rambled to their wardrobes.

     "Er, girls?" she tentatively asked, and they turned to face her, "You good?"

     "Not really," Angelina replied.

     "Anything I can help with?"

     "Unless you wanna help us get ready in thirty minutes for a party that has already started, then sure, please do," Katie replied.

     Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell couldn't be more different to Bianca. Some things about them made zero sense to the Gryffindor. Like how much they enjoyed parties and would jump at any mention of the word itself. Something she could never do.

     "Another one?" Bianca questioned, "At," she checked her watched, "nine o'clock on a Monday night?"

     "It's 'welcome back' party in the Hufflepuff common room for some kid that just got back from the States. Apparently, he's been away for like a year," Angelina explained.

     "And you know this boy?" Bianca asked, returning to her bed and climbing up onto it.

     Katie scoffed, like that was something weird to know and would have been out of the ordinary had she known, "No. But it's a party." she shrugged, filing through rows of clothes she had hung up.

     "It's also a Monday," Bianca narrowed her eyes.

"And? Still a party," Angelina smirked. "You wanna come?"

     Bianca was still very much not a 'party person'. They still grossed her out ─ the stench of alcohol made her sick to her stomach ─ and she was still haunted by the memories of her previous experiences with drinking too much. Let's just say she had learned her lesson.

     She sighed. What else was she supposed to do?

     "Why not."

     Bianca had never been to the Hufflepuff common room, for obvious reasons: Gryffindors weren't allowed. And besides, who would want to try? Get the password wrong and get doused in vinegar ─ your choice.

     She had however been to the Kitchens many times, which was not far from the Hufflepuff entrance.

     The three girls managed to get ready in approximately thirty-three minutes, which they all classed as a win, and were on their way to the unexpected party that everyone had been talking about, heels clonking and hair done.

     Not one of them however had any idea as to how they were meant to get into the party, without ending up soaked to the bone in vinegar.

     "Do we knock or something?" Katie said.

     "Maybe we knock and run?" Bianca suggested.

"What, like 'ding dong ditch'?" Angelina furrowed her eyebrows.

     "Ding dong ditch" or "Knockdown Ginger" or "Knock knock Ginger" (it had many names) was a game kids used when they knocked on a stranger's door, and then running so they were out of sight when the owner answered. Bianca thought you couldn't get more immature.

     "No, like, we knock, then we run so we're not in any 'drop zones'," she said, referring to any area where the vinegar could reach.

     "We'll look pretty fucking stupid," Katie said.

     Angelina gave a look that read that she agreed, "Well, it's a plan."

     Bianca cautiously reached out her arm, slowly enough so the girls knew she was doing it, and she knocked three times, before signaling that they should get out of the way. The three of them ran in three different directions.

     After standing stock still, in silence for three seconds, nothing happened.

     The silence was broken by an echoey laugh coming from behind them; someone found their plan utterly hilarious.

     "That was gold," the voice said, his claps booming off of the walls surrounding the barrels and what they had heard was the entrance to the Hufflepuff common room.

     The three Gryffindors regrouped to see who had walked in on them running away from a pile of large and innocent barrels.

     He was a tall, toned boy, with a chiseled bone structure and dark brown eyes. His hair flopped in different directions and his eyebrows were bushy.

     "Can we help you?" Angelina said.

     "I was actually going to ask the same thing." he nodded.

     "You know how to get in?" Bianca said.

     "Yeah," he chuckled, tracing his sharp jawline with his free hand, the other grasped onto two bottles of Firewhiskey. "Anthony Rickett," he introduced himself. "I'm a friend of Malcolm's."

     "Malcolm?" Katie inclined her head.

     "You're going to a party for a boy you don't even know?"

     Angelina and Katie's faces molded into a face of realization, Bianca's eyebrows still slightly furrowed, "Malcolm Preece?"

     "At least one of you knows him," the Hufflepuff smirked. "So, can I help you or not?"

     "Uh, y-yes please," Angelina muttered sheepishly.

     "Follow me," he grinned, and they followed him back to the pile of barrels, nervous as if they could drench them at any time. "Cover your ears and close your eyes please ladies. Can't have you knowing the password can I?" he smiled.

     The trio did as he said, and after hearing the faint taps of a wand on wood finish, they turned back around and the entrance was open ─ the music and chatter a lot clearer now.

     "Come on in ladies," Anthony stepped in first. "And might I add, you three look very nice this evening." and without another word, the boy disappeared into the crowd, leaving all three girls on the verge of blushing.

     "Well he was nice," Bianca added, and they ventured into the thumping music and swarm of students, where she was quickly pulled by her arm, rather harshly.

     When she had the chance to straighten out, she saw Maxine O'Flaherty swaying beside her, encouraging her to dance.

     "You came!" the Hufflepuff squealed.

     "That I did," she shouted back.

     The music was deafening to the point Bianca thought her ears could bleed. She felt like she was being swallowed by the masses of people pushing up against her.

     The deafening music was escaping from every open window and door of the Hufflepuff common room. Bianca could only assume that when it was day, the community area would have been brightly lit, and full of soul and life. Like it was now, just with the volume turned down.

     Glancing around, everyone danced as if, when hearing the music it was like liquid adrenaline being injected right into their bloodstreams. Bianca turned her attention to the Hufflepuff before her. When Maxine flowed in dance it was as if it were the only way her body truly knew how to speak. When Bianca flowed in dance, she felt stupid and out of place, but if she had learned anything from Maxine, it was to let her hair down, and dance for herself, like nobody, was there.

     She started small and slow, swaying left then right, in time with the beat, letting her hair swish in and out of her face. The two of them danced across the floor, just like everyone else. Bianca would have thought she was in her own world, a pen in her hand, in complete control of what could happen. Until it wasn't, because she did not script to lock eyes with a tall, slender boy, his eyes she knew too well. She hadn't seen them in such a long time, that she almost disbelieved that he was who he was.

     Even for just a moment, from across the room, the boy too stared at her, like she was a ghost, someone he believed he had forgotten. As she turned her eyes, she caught him standing there, like they were both stood in the shadows. The boy dropped his eyes momentarily before looking, his head tilted to one side and a hopeful smile playing on his lips.

     Bianca pulled her eyes away as quickly as she could; Maxine seeing how tense she had become.

     She leaned over to the girl's ear, slightly apprehensive, "I'm gonna go and get us some drinks!" she yelled to Maxine.

     "Uh okay!" Maxine yelled back, nodding and holding her thumbs up, in case Bianca didn't hear.

     With the first chance, she got, Bianca began sliding through students dancing, head down, trying desperately to force her way to the drinks, hoping that the boy couldn't follow, which to her luck, he already was.

     On watching her walk away from Maxine O'Flaherty, Malcolm Preece excused himself from the party planners and his two closest friends, Cedric Diggory and Anthony Rickett, hoping to catch even just a moment with Bianca.

     A few meters away, the Gryffindor had made it to the drinks area, and to her luck, Adrian Pucey was serving himself a drink, collecting a few bottles of beers in his grip for his own friends.

     She quickened her pace and stood beside him, all skittish, "Adrian, I need you to flirt with me."

     Startled by her sudden appearance, his eyebrows knitted together, "W-hat?"

     "Make me laugh or some shit."

     Adrian was muddled as to why she was so spooked, "Uh, why?" he said slowly, and a lot more calmly than the girl next to him was.

     "Is he looking?" she asked, not answering his previous question.

     "Is who looking?"

     "Six o'clock," she said, almost distressed, pretending to fiddle around with the cups in front of her.

     Adrian turned to look, "Lanky, stupid hair, dimples?"

     She ignored the insults and said, "That's the one."

     "Yeah, he's looking." he faced back to the table. "Is that? . . ."

     "Malcolm Preece? The guy who's party this is? Number seventeen?" she sounded more anxious with each word.

     "You memorized the list?" he chuckled dryly.

     "You didn't?"

     "Not really." he shrugged.

     "Well, you seem to think he is one of 'Hogwarts' finest', so." she busied herself with removing the lid off of her bottle, laughing and nodding, feeling stupid, as she tried to make it look like she was in an amusing conversation with Adrian until Malcolm moved on.

     "You know you're meant to kiss him right? Not run away from him?" Adrian laughed.

     "Har har." she smiled sarcastically, not turning around. "Yes, I know. But can you just do it? Please?" she pleaded.

     "Uh okay, you look," he stumbled on his words, "very nice tonight, Bianca." he finished, straightening up.

     Bianca forced a laugh, but a hint of her smile was genuine, "Thank you, Adrian. You look great too." she placed a hand on his arm, making him tense a little, before he caught on, and went along with the whole 'fake laughing scenario'.

     Adrian wasn't sure whether she meant that, because she did just ask him to flirt with her ─ she still didn't like him very much and was just learning to bear him ─ but he told himself that she did.

     Bianca returned to the drinks, uncapping one for Maxine too, and they stood there for only a few seconds more, fidgety, hoping Malcolm was no longer looking.

     "Has he gone?" she asked.

     Adrian once again turned around, looking for a moment longer this time, before rotating back, "Yep."

     "Okay, good. Thanks." she picked up her bottle, and Adrian watched a little puzzled, thinking she was going to stay. Before leaving him, she turned back, "Oh, and, if that's how you flirt, I suggest you pick up a few tips if you wanna get a girlfriend any time soon." she grinned, and turned to the dancing drunken kids, bottle in hand, avoiding anyone that wasn't Maxine O'Flaherty.

     It appeared that many people had heard of this party. It also appeared that Bianca needed to socialize more than just the people she was closer with.

     Leo himself knew of it, and although it was a very last-minute organized event, he never decided to mention it to Bianca, thinking she would never go anyway.

     He was wrong, and after escaping a slightly tipsy Maxine, Bianca joined her best friend on a bright, soft sofa off the side of the room, Alicia sat on the other side of him, and Angelina beside her. Katie no doubt off with a different lucky boy, but Bianca had hoped it was Oliver.

     Bianca was staring into the crowds of dancing people, scanning for one person in particular. The person whom she had been avoiding this entire time.

     Leo leaned over so she could hear him over the blaring beat of the music, "Looking for someone?"

     She looked at him, jumping out of her thoughts and gaze, "No one." she said solemnly.

     "Is it Pucey? Cause I saw him over by the drinks a little while-"

     "No, I'm not looking Adrian," she interjected before he could say anything else. She hadn't spoken to the boy since Potions earlier that day, and even then it was broken conversation and instructions or work help. The last real interaction she had had with him was the day before, in the Library.

     She returned to the dancing students, not expecting to see him in due to the number of moving figures, all practically merged into one. Her eyes were browsing each friend group, each clump of people, even people on their own, which she thought he would most definitely not be dancing at a party on his own. It was his party after all.

     That's when she saw him ─ Malcolm Preece: her first friend and her first love.

     Malcolm and Bianca had been the closest friends since she could remember. He was the life of the party and was the kind of person that could make you smile and laugh in any and every situation. He was the embodiment of a Hufflepuff, even more so than Cedric Diggory, who was dancing alongside him.

     She watched as he danced in time with the music like he was flooded with euphoria. His hair clumsily floundering around on his head, a dusty, sandy brunette. His dimples were as evident as ever, and his smile was encouraging her to do the same. She just hoped he wouldn't catch her staring.

     "You know him?" Leo had followed her gaze and landed on the same boy.

     "Malcolm Preece," she nodded, "This is his party."

     "Oh, so he's the exchange student."

     "He's not an exchange student," Bianca said, almost emotionless.

     "He's not?" Leo said, in a confused tone, and it made her think: did anyone actually know who's party they were currently attending?

     "No, his dad got a job out in Washington," she said, wondering why he thought it wasn't weird that an exchange student would get a whole welcoming party, seen as that's who he thought Malcolm was. "I would know, my dad got the same offer."

     "He didn't take it?"

     "No, said it was too much hassle."

     "How do you know him?"

     "We were best friends." she shrugged, a hint of somber in her eyes, before turning to look at him, his mouth agape a little, "Before I met you dummy." she nudged his side, earning an inaudible grimace. "His dad and mine met in Primary School and went on to work together. His mum's a witch, but our families were seriously close."

     "What happened?"

     She shrugged, "Grew apart.  I remember us both being so excited when we both got our acceptance letters. But he got Hufflepuff, I got Gryffindor. Didn't really talk much after that. He made his own friends, and I got you." she smiled weakly, but he could still see the wistfulness in her expression. "I didn't even know he went away until now."

     There was a second pause, until Leo broke it, and spoke, "You miss him," he said, but it wasn't a question: he knew.

     Bianca didn't know what to say. She chuckled dryly, "He was my first kiss." she took a swig of her beer, that was once resting on her lap, remaining to the front, "New years eve. Midnight. 1983. I was very much in love," she chuckled again, to make her words sound as much like a joke as she could, looking back up to the boy still in pure bliss, smiling, dancing, singing, like he couldn't be happier to be home. Bianca smiled; she remembered how much he loved to sing, and badly at that. She treasured him as a friend, and it was like a kick in the stomach that she had let that treasure go.

     Leo reverted his eyes from her to the boy she had been staring at the whole time, "You'd look good together," he said nonchalantly.

     "Nah, he probably doesn't even remember my name," she said, shaking her head.

     "I'm sure that's not true," he shoved at her side, her body swaying left, then back to sitting straight. "Go talk to him."

     "Talk to who?" a voice sounded.

     Bianca looked up to meet Adrian Pucey, standing over her, a red cup in his hand.

     "No one," she said, taking another sip of her own.

     Adrian tilted his head, "Since when did you drink beer?"

     "Since when did you care?" she replied.

     "Since I was the one that had to carry you to my dorm at three in the morning," he faked a smile.

     "You didn't 'have' to do that," she stood up. "I'm getting a refill," she said to the two of them.

     "Is that a good idea?" Leo said.

     "I don't need your input, just more alcohol." she smiled sarcastically, finding her balance that she had momentarily lost.

     "I like this girl. Where has she been?" Adrian grinned.

     "Hidden. Wanna meet second drink Bianca?" she said. She didn't need a yes or no, but just pulled his arm, leading him back to the drink stand.

     Standing on the sidelines, was not how Adrian wanted this to plan out. They had gotten two more beers and had even done a round of shots but with barely any dialogue. Everyone seemed to be having so much fun, dancing in time with the music, hair loose, sweat dripping.

     He needed a reason to get her to do the same.

     Almost like the universe wanted the same, George Michael faded to nothingness and Michael Jackson took his place with an effortless drum riff followed by a bass, guitar, and Adrian's smirk and Bianca's now hot cheeks.

     He looked over to her, "Come on, we're dancing."

     Bianca scoffed, hoping he wouldn't have noticed or remembered, which to her it was now obvious he wouldn't have done, he couldn't have done.

     "Er we are very much not." she avoided his eyes.

     "What? It's our song," he said like he expected her to jump into his arms, enthusiastically follow him to the floor, and dance till their feet hurt, the sun was up and the night was gone.

     "Our song?" she repeated with another scoff, "Adrian, I'm not dancing with you just because this played when we were stuck in a closet together."

     Bianca didn't want to dance, because Malcolm was dancing. If Malcolm and Bianca were both dancing, and he saw her, it could be awkward and she wasn't prepared for that. She hadn't spoken to the boy in five years, and she wasn't ready to start now. Nor was she willing for it to be when she was dancing with Adrian bloody Pucey.

     Adrian himself was beginning to wonder where excited, cool Bianca had gone. Did the drinks make her more stuck up than one-drink Bianca was?

     "But there are some many fond and sweet sweet memories made in that very closest to this very song." he put his hand to his heart, his eyes forming to those of a puppy. He dropped the act when she gave him a look that told him he should give up and that she wasn't going to give in, "We're are obligated to dance Bianca." he grabbed her arm again, forcing her towards him and the dance floor, "And I'm not going alone."