when it feels like this | billie

Billie sighed a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding when he moved to get the puck, but she was just as tense a moment later when he was there again, whispering things by her ear. “Mhmm,” she agreed, moving a little too slowly as she tapped the puck. The movement was gentle, but it still flew off and bounced back towards her with some speed. She panicked and hit it again, and this time it went straight into the other side’s goal.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, straightening up, a pleased smile on her face this time. She squirmed as she turned around, not letting him move away. She wasn't at all unhappy to be pressed up between him and the table behind her. “Do I win a prize?” she asked playfully, looking up at him. Then, “Isn’t this supposed to be a two-player game?”

The seventeen-year-old couldn't help but smile at the closeness between them, at the way she seemed to respond any time his hand touched hers, or when he spoke close to her ear. Billie reminded him that he was allowed to have fun and be a teenager. And that she was not very good at muggle games. He smiled, chuckling silently when the puck bounced off the walls and then went straight into the goal. At least it was on the other end this time, though he expected she was as surprised by the score as he was. "A prize?" He asked, the smile reaching his eyes now, "Well, you have to win the game to get a prize," Phillip teased.

And when she reminded him this was a two-player game, Phillip felt like they were on the same wave-length. Then again, he always felt like that, like there was an undeniable connection between them. They could talk for hours or say nothing and at all, and he still felt like they understood each other. It was rare, especially because Phillip felt like no one understood him. And he didn't have the patience to understand anyone else.

"It is," He said softly before pulling away from her and heading to his side of the table. Phillip checked the clock, they still had some time before the movie and before they'd need to go and find seats, so he relaxed. Grabbing the other handle and the puck sitting in the goal on his end, Phillip smiled. "First to five wins," While Phillip wasn't an exceptionally competitive teenager, he was suddenly very interested in playing the game. He set the puck down and hit it with a moderate bit of force toward her.

“Mhmm?” Billie thought he might kiss her again – they were standing awfully close – but was disappointed instead as he pulled away. For the best, she thought. Probably better not to take up space making out on one of the games. She blinked the fantasy away, shaking her head. “Oh gosh,” she muttered, her smile more self-deprecating now that they were on opposite sides of the table.

“Oh!” she exclaimed as he hit the puck towards her, panicking a little as she leaned in to try hit it back at him. She missed it, but it bounced off of the plastic near her goal and shot off back at him anyway. He hit it back and it went straight into the goal with a noise that would have made her jump if she wasn’t right above it. Billie dropped the hitting-thing on the table and covered her smile with her hands, shaking her head at herself. She was more embarrassed with her reactions than the fact that she wasn’t any good.

“Okay,” she said, nodding. “Fair.” The blonde laughed, then reached for the puck, placing it on the table in front of her. It veered slowly to the side and she put it back in the middle before hitting it back towards him as hard as she could.

Billie's reaction to the puck zipping across the table and finally into the goal on her end made Phillip's smile brighten. For a moment, he forgot they were in the middle of the crowded theatre, in the muggle world, and just let himself enjoy the time spent with her. If the rest of the summer was anything like the start of it had been, Phillip felt like he might actually, for once, have a good summer. It was a strange feeling, like hope, and he couldn't help but start to become addicted to it. To her, really, because every smile, every good thought, they were all because of Billie.

She whacked the puck back his way, and Phillip tried to hit it before it hit the wall but managed only to catch the side of it, forcing the puck to bounce off the walls as it zig-zagged lazily back toward her. When she hit it again, Phillip was more prepared and managed to smack it away from his goal before sending it back to her. "Don't go easy on me," He teased her with another smile, watching the puck as it zipped toward her goal and half wondering if should be letting her win. That would have been the nice thing to do, right? The boyfriend-like thing to do?

The puck shot into her goal again and she shook her head. Easy on him? She gave him a look. Billie wasn’t terrible at chess – she understood the rules and had the logic for it, but Phillip was better. They’d played a few different card games and Phillip tended to win most of those, too. She wondered if there was something she could beat him at; maybe some kind of trivia, she thought. Trivia pertaining to something she knew a lot about, and even then it was only a maybe. Etiquette and decorum, she thought distantly, amused at the idea that the only thing she could beat him at was like, addressing a letter properly or setting a table.

The young witch wasn’t very competitive. She never had been. It was especially difficult to bring herself to try with Phillip, though, because there was something attractive about the quiet smugness he had about him when he won. It wasn’t overt, or even intentional for the most part – she assumed – but even when he wasn’t teasing, it remained. Regardless, it was extremely clear she wasn’t going to win this game of air hockey; the requirements for coordination and reaction speed were too high for her.

“It goes so quickly,” she complained, putting the puck back on the table and tapping it towards him lightly, glancing at him with a small smile instead of looking at the table.

Phillip admired his girlfriend from across the table, the way she tried to find the balance between hitting the puck too softly and too hard. He could see the wheels turning behind her eyes as she did the math and tried to figure it out. It was this look that was his favorite. This was the look that he had first found attractive, what felt like so long ago now. When she was trying to understand something but in her delicate sort of way. Phillip tore things apart to figure out how they worked; they broke and smashed them down to their essential elements without much regard for putting it back together. Billie was so different, she observed from afar, always so careful not to impose, quietly studying.

The wizard returned her smile as she tapped the little disc back in his direction, he moved his handle to meet it, and it bounced off and back across the table only to slid right into her goal. He chuckled, she wasn't very good at this, but he found that attractive too. They continued this way for another few minutes, exchanging smiles and goals, and Phillip felt light. With the last goal, the lit scoreboard above the table began to ding and flash. It was the end of the game, and Phillip didn't need to look up at the scoreboard to see who had won; it also didn't matter.

"That was fun," He commented, brushing his hands off on the sides of his shirt after setting down the handle. Phillip moved around the table to reach her, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her in for a kiss. Not quite celebratory or conciliatory; he just wanted to be close to her again. Having the table between them had felt strange after the way things had been the last few weeks. Phillip never wanted to be more than a foot or two from her, and even then, he was always gravitating back toward Billie. "We probably have time to grab some popcorn or something, and then we should go in," Phillip didn't want to be late, but more than that, he wanted her to know he was paying attention to the details so that she wouldn't have to.

Billie smiled into the kiss when he kissed her. It wasn’t too bad, she thought, to be pressed up between him and the air hockey table. She didn’t think she’d ever get over how good kissing felt. The blonde still felt self conscious about being in public though, and when he pulled back far enough she couldn’t help a small glance over her shoulder to make sure they were still alone.

“Yes,” she responded, a little breathless. Her cheeks felt hot; she was sure she was blushing. She wondered if he’d ever be able to kiss her without that happening, and decided that it was improbable. “Okay,” Billie said, agreeing some more. She slipped her hand into his, placing her fingers in between his in the same spots she always did when they intertwined. It felt natural by now, even though it was fairly new for the pair of them.

She gave his hand a squeeze, and let him lead.

— end —

Holding Billie close to him, it was so easy to forget that they were in the middle of an arcade. Kissing her was quickly becoming one of his very favorite things to do, and he found himself reaching for her hand anytime he had the chance. It was more effortless over the summer because they were often alone. Being in this public space was different, but Phillip didn't know anyone, and no one knew them. So in a way, he still felt like they were in their bubble. Even if someone did see them, he didn't think they would say anything. The teenager had come to the realization (about two seconds ago, when he decided it fit his narrative) that he was far from the first teenage boy to kiss his girlfriend at the movie theater. And if she let him, he'd do it again.

For a moment, he did just that, his hands wrapped around her, eyes closed, and it was the best. Eventually, though, the kiss broke, and he pulled away slightly, but their hands intertwined not seconds after. Phillip led them toward the concession stands as he regaled her with tales of muggle candies and how they did not make your ears steam or taste like gross things on purpose. He did warn her about the warheads, though, just in case.

And after they'd picked out a few things and filled up a fountain drink to share, Phillip led his girlfriend to the theater and let Billie pick their seats.

/end