This ain't no place for a hero. [Jane]

There were a lot of things Darren was okay with doing that most people weren't. There were a lot of things Darren had done that other people would smite him for. However bringing food to a girls doorstep, with out any intention of sleeping with her, was an act reserved only for the likes of Jane Lennon. He'd spent fifteen minutes travelling through London to a tiny hole in the wall take out restaurant just to wait another fifteen for his order to be up. Normally Darren was a pretty patient guy, but when he had better things to do he could get real antsy real quick. And tonight those better things were surprising probably his only real friend with one of her favorite meals. Once the bell at the front counter rang and his order was up he nearly jumped out of the metal seat he'd been sitting in. Paying the small man with one strangely long hair growing out of a mole in his chin he grabbed the bags and took off. After pushing out the door with his side he quickly checked the white paper bags to make sure everything was inside. Tso chicken, shrimp roles, fried rice, chopsticks, and yes the fortune cookies. He hoped he'd get the food back to Jane's apartment before any of the sauce started to leak out of the little boxes the food was in and to the bottom of the bag.

He crossed the street, walking as quickly as he could with the takeout in his arms, and then went down another block or so. Darren had helped Jane move in not long ago but as he stood outside of the apartment buildings he was having trouble remembering which one was hers. It wouldn't of been so difficult if they didn't all look nearly the same. Shuffling the paper bags around he was pretty sure he'd picked the right one. Moving to the front door of the apartment he took one more look... was this the right place? Suddenly he felt nervous and he wasn't sure why. If it wasn't her apartment he'd just say he was looking for someone else and walk away from whoever answered the door. If it was her apartment she'd be happy to see him and they'd eat their dinner and all would be fine. Or would she not be happy to see him? Darren was normally very sure of himself, confidence was one of his strengths but when it came to Jane Lennon most bets were off. He let her see a side of him that sometimes even he forgot he had. Kindness and empathy were his sister Kelly's traits, not his, but for some reason when he was around Jane he became a slightly better version of himself. Sometimes he hated that fact. He liked who he was and he wasn't planning on changing any time soon. What if Jane was busy and she didn't feel like hanging out. What if she had already eaten and then either Darren left awkwardly or awkwardly ate his half of the food he was carrying while she watched.

Or worse, what if she had some guy in there.

Darren did his best to stay out of her love life for a few very strong reasons. One, he wouldn't stand for it if some guy did something terrible to her and it would be a pity if Jane had to arrest him because he tried to protect her honor. Two, he usually made fun of whoever she happened to be dating and that usually upset her. And the third reason, the reason he couldn't admit out loud, is that he was usually jealous of the lucky bloke who got to share a bed with her. So it was just best to not think too much about the subject of her love life. Only maybe a minute or two had passed before Darren realized he didn't care if she was with a guy because either way he could win. On the one hand if she didn't have some jerk in there with her then he'd get to see her. And on the other if she was with someone then he'd get to ruin whatever moment they might be having and not be a bad guy for it, after all he had come over trying to be nice with Chinese food and all. Stepping back up to the door he had to shuffle the food once more before he could knock on the door three times. He waited for her to open it and played out all of the possibilities of what could happen next in his eye, and how to win each situation.

Jane Lennon was a horrible, awful, no good homewrecker of a person. It was bad enough that she had ruined her own relationships in the past, but now she felt as if she had truly ruined one of her friends'. Poppy had broken up with Eamon over the kiss that they had shared only weeks after graduation. Eamon had insisted that she needn't feel guilty, and that Poppy was simply overreacting and that the two of them hadn't even been seriously dating when the kiss had happened. Besides that, it wasn't even as if it was a serious kiss. He had just been messing with her whilst trying to protect her from some creep at the supermarket down the street from the apartment that she had previously lived in. Still, she saw how miserable Eamon was without the redhead. Why he loved her so much, Jane would never understand. But, he did. And she could respect that. She just wished that there was a way that she could get them back together.

Unfortunately, however, Poppy hated her guts. I mean, it wasn't like Jane was part of her fan club either. Honestly, she thought that her former housemate was a cheap slut, who tried waaay too hard to be like her. After all, the redhead had saw fit to seduce or try to seduce every guy who had ever been interested in the blonde girl. Eamon included. Maybe that was why she had taken the kiss so hard? Because Eamon had tried, unsuccessfully, to kiss Jane in the past? What was with her best friends trying to put a liplock on her, anyway? First Eamon, and then Darren. She didn't get it.

Still, she had been spending quite a bit of time with them, and with Padraig of course. Darren had taken part in helping her move on one of her days off, and she had rewarded him by making him lunch. She liked her new place. It was smaller than her old one, of course, but that was because she was living alone now. Sometimes she got lonely, not having a roommate like she had been used to. Still, it was nice having her own space. And she did get visitors. Padraig even spent the night every once in a while, when he wasn't too busy.

Tonight, though, was one of the times when she felt lonely. Sitting on her couch, she watched television and sipped a beer by herself. If she didn't feel guilty enough about the whole Eamon and Poppy relationship fiasco, she had also been losing sleep over her situation with Darren. She had "lost" a few bits of information that might lead her coworkers to him while looking through the auror case files. She was covering for him. She could go to Azkaban for it, but she couldn't help herself. She had to protect him. But, she couldn't even talk to anyone about it. Eamon would never understand. Jo would be so disappointed. Padraig would be furious...

Jane's brow furrowed when she heard a knock at her door. Quickly, she set her beer down on the coffee table in front of her before getting up. "I'm coming!" She hurried to the door, wondering who could be on the other side. When she opened it, she couldn't help but smile. "Hey, there."

She noticed the bag in his hands, and assumed that he had something for her. After all, he wasn't rude enough to tease her by eating take out in front of her. He knew how she was about take-out. Some of it had to be for her. Darren really could be so sweet, when he wanted to. Stepping aside to let him in, Jane held the door to make sure that he could get through easily. The delicious smells from the bag brought an even bigger smile to her face.

"What did you get me?"

Hearing her voice behind the thin front door Darren smirked, he was excited to see her. Even though it hadn't been all that long since the last time he saw her he couldn't help but look forward to it. He never thought he would like having a friend so close, but it definitely had its merits. He took a few extra seconds to check her out before he moved into the apartment, she looked good... but something was off. He turned and looked around the apartment for a moment and then saw the beer bottle on the table. He checked the kitchen straight ahead to see if there were more bottles in the sink or the rubbish can but didn't see any. Being pulled out of his mental thought train he looked back at Jane and shrugged his shoulders. "Oh this?" He asked with a toying grin on his face, "This is for me, I skipped out on breakfast this morning and I was so hungry I didn't feel like walking all the way back to my flat to eat it." He took a seat at the small dining table and started pulling little red lantern shaped boxes from the take out bags and placing them on the table. "You don't mind do you?" His small smile had turned into a large toothy one as he leaned back in the chair and started opening the package for the chopsticks. He knew she'd freak if he really hadn't brought her anything. Splitting the two chopsticks in half he chuckled and then sat forward again.

"We've got Spring Rolls, Tso Chicken, Fried Rice, and most importantly fortune cookies." He said the last item with a bit of sing-song tone to his voice. Darren loved fortune cookies not only because they were tasty but because they were such a crock. Divination class was bad enough back when they were in school but the idea of a tiny piece of paper inside of a treat knowing what your future held was just ridiculous. The previous Slytherin was far to cynical to take them seriously, so he did the opposite, and made a big joke about it. Now most people might of eaten their meal first and then had dessert but Darren wasn't most people. He preferred to have his dessert first, and he tended to get what he wanted. Unrolling the top of the wax paper bag he pulled out two fortune cookies and held one out for her. "I'm going to bet that at least one of these two cookies will predict that I'm going to come into some money soon." He laughed out rightly now and shook his head at the irony of what he had just said. "So Lennon do you want the over or the under?" Betting had become second nature for the eldest Hadditch, and he'd become pretty good at it. He'd always been good with statistics and calculating the odds of situations, but it was only recently that he learned just how much he could make doing it.

Maybe he was getting a little addicted to placing bets, but he wasn't worried about it. So far he had won at least twice as much sickles as he had put down and he didn't see an end to his winning streak any where soon. It was way easier than ripping off old ladies for jewelry or any of the other illicit activities he had taken part in since getting out of Hogwarts. Sure it wasn't any less illegal, but it was low key and he was good at it. After she had taken the fortune cookie he held out to her he stood up and turned toward the kitchen, "Cool if I grab a beer?" He asked but was already headed to the refrigerator for one. He didn't think she'd say no, at worst she wouldn't have any left. He had brought the food and he didn't think it was too much to ask for a drink from her. With his fortune cookie still in one hand he reached into the fridge and grabbed a beer for himself before nudging the door shut again. Taking the few steps back to the table he set the beer down on the table, unopened, and turned back to her. "And I'd be willing to bet that yours will say something about your love life, speaking of, you still with that one loser?" And there it was, Darren had lasted all of maybe 10 minutes in her apartment before he not-so-subtely brought up her love life. He was hopeless sometimes. And he couldn't of even lead with something else, instead had to the poke the sleeping bear and hope not to get bit.

Even though he tried Darren really couldn't remember the name of the last man she had said she was seeing. "What's his face?" He asked with a truly lost look on his face. He remembered her telling him about it, remembered how he felt when she had, but for the life of him couldn't remember the blokes name. He shrugged and slumped back into the chair he had been sitting in moments ago. Breaking open his fortune cookie he ate one of the small pieces that had broken entirely off before pulling the sliver of paper out of its insides. He read it silently instead of outloud because he wanted her to answer the question he had asked before he changed the topic.

Jane noticed Darren look at the beer bottle. It wasn't like her to drink, or at least it hadn't been like her to drink when they had been in school. Fortunately, he had the sense not to mention it. Things had been tough, lately. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk about it or not, but it seemed like he was the one person that she could talk to about it. He wouldn't judge her. Or at least he wouldn't judge her quite as harshly. He was no saint, himself, after all. 

She closed the door behind him once he walked in, and then tugged at her hair to tighten her ponytail. "Oh, really?" Jane grinned. She knew him well enough to know when he was teasing her. "Well, fine. I see how you are." Rolling her eyes, the blonde quickly made her way back into her living room to grab her beer before going back to the table to sit down and talk to him.

"Awh, you remembered my favorite." She took a drink from her bottle. "How sweet." Then setting the bottle down on the table, she patiently waited for Darren to pull everything out of the bag for them. She, too, couldn't take fortune cookies seriously. Hell, she didn't even take Divination seriously. It was, in her opinion, the most useless subject at Hogwarts. Her favorite, of course, was Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was good at it. She was an auror-in-training, after all, wasn't she? Still, she took the dessert, all the same, and placed it on the table next to her beer. Unlike her friend, she had patience when it came to waiting for things that she wanted.

Jane chuckled. "Well, if you do come into some money, be sure to share it with me, yeah?" It was a little more likely, these days. She knew he'd been doing all sorts of illegal things, and she had been covering for him. She was entirely too devoted. Sometimes, she wondered if he would do the same for her if the tables were turned? She liked to think that he would. Then again, she wasn't sure...

"I'm not the betting sort, really."

She nodded to his next question. "Help yourself." She didn't know why he had even bothered to ask. Since she had moved into the same neighborhood as him, he had been over for breakfast and dinner quite often. So far, he hadn't showed up while Padraig was there. Thank Merlin. I mean, not that she had anything to hide. She just knew that Darren wasn't exactly part of her boyfriend's fan club, and she didn't imagine that Padraig was all that fond of her best friend either. Hopefully they would learn to eat least tolerate each other. Eventually.

Taking another drink from her bottle, she couldn't help but glare at him as she did so. He really had to go there? Already? "First off, he isn't a loser. Secondly, yes, I am still dating him. Thirdly, I don't really think that my love life is any of your business. Especially considering the whores you run around with. I don't ask about them, do I?" Partly because she honestly didn't want to know. Whether she admitted it or not, it still bothered her. Didn't he have any self respect? Didn't they have any self respect? Not likely.

"His name is Padraig. Remember? Padraig Whalen? He was your dormmate for seven years."

Noticing the look on her face Darren knew what was about to come. She always defended her significant other, no matter how much of a jerk they may have been. Padraig wasn't a terrible guy, but he wasn't Darren and there fore Darren didn't like him. He nodded silently as she ranted on and waited for her to pause so he could rebuttal. He did love the little verbal fighting dance they almost always did. Sometimes... no actually most of the time... he instigated it just because he loved it that much. Word battles were one of his most treasured past times and Jane could hold her own. "First off, sure whatever you say." He said quickly with a smile. It didn't matter if Darren had the juiciest, nastiest scoop on Padraig because Jane was loyal. She was a great friend to have and her fierce loyalty was one of the things that drew him to her in the first place. She wouldn't stop dating him just because Darren said so, she was headstrong too. Not that he would ever demand something like that of her. He respected her to much to think he could have that kind of pull on her. "Second, good to know." No it wasn't good to know it was horrible to know. Darren didn't want to think about her with some other Slytherin. He'd already spent enough time trying to forget that idea actually.

He laughed out loud again thinking about the fact that she always brought up his relationships, if you wanted to call one night stands with random chicks that. No matter what they were fighting about she almost always found a way to drive in that stake. "And thirdly, I wouldn't call what I have with those girls a love life." He laughed again, knowing he was probably irritating her even more. "And you don't ask because your too scared. Its alright though, guys like me don't um.. kiss and tell." Brown eyes so dark they were nearly black stared at her now, hoping to see the tiniest hint of red flash to her cheeks. He cracked open the bottle of beer he'd grabbed and thought for a moment about the name she'd just given him. "Padraig...?" he said before taking a drink of the beer. It was refreshing and he took another before he spoke again, "Nope name doesn't ring a bell." Now Darren shrugged his shoulders again, this time completely faking it. Of course he remembered Whalen. It was hard to bunk in the same dorm as someone for seven years straight and never cross paths, even for someone who cared as little for other people as Darren did. He didn't want to know who the person she was dating was though. It made it all that much harder to have a conversation with her. All he could imagine was her with some slimy guy from his house doing slimy things.

And if Jane was going to do those things Darren wished, just for freaking once, that it'd be with him. At first he thought maybe it was because he was a Slytherin and a high and mighty Gryffindor couldn't possibly date him. But then he really thought about that, and knew it was wrong. Jane wasn't like kind of a girl and Darren had been with plenty of lionesses who thought they were better than him. And then she went and started dating a Slytherin, just not him. He knew it had nothing to do with him but he couldn't help but feel like she was trying to get to him and boy was it working. A few years back he wouldn't of given it a minutes thought let alone let himself actually feel something for her but things had changed. Maybe he wasn't the same kid that she knew growing up, not that he'd ever let her know about that. "If I don't remember him he must not be all that special. I mean us Slytherins are kind of known. We don't hide in the corners and blend in with the wall tapestries." He fake frowned at her. "Sorry but I'm just being honest Janie." No he wasn't, and he called her Janie on purpose, hoping to get a rise out of her. He kept his lips from betraying the fake condolences he was trying to give her by refusing to smile. Instead he turned to the food he'd brought for the two of them, opened up a container with chicken in it and held it out to her.

"Chicken?"

Jane didn't know why Darren always felt the need to do this. After everything that had been going on, the last thing she wanted to do was fight with him. She was exhausted. But, if she really thought about it, she knew exactly why he always felt the need to do this. He loved her. She didn't like to think about it. But, she remembered what he had said. That is, if he had meant it. He thought that she was perfect.

The blonde sighed. "Yeah. I know. You just shag them and run, right?" He wasn't funny. Frowning, she took another drink and emptied her bottle. On to the next one. Getting up from her seat, Jane dropped the bottle in the rubbish bin before going into the refrigerator for another. "I don't ask because I really don't want to know about your sex life. It's none of my business. Just like mine is none of yours, thank you." She twisted the cap off and tossed that into the rubbish bin as well. And she couldn't help but mention the fact that, yes, she did have a sex life. And a bloody good one, too. As she settled back into her chair, she listened to his obvious attempts at pissing her off.

"I know that you know who he is. I'm not stupid, Darren. You're just trying to get under my skin, and it's working. I know you live for these little arguments that we have, but I'm really not in the mood." Lifting her bottle as if to say, you're the reason why I drink, she put it to her lips and took another gulp. Why couldn't he just be one of those supportive friends? Just once? Hadn't he noticed her change in behavior? How stressed she was? Did he care?

Apparently not. She could feel her blood boil when he had actually said that Padraig wasn't special.

"Yeah? Well, he's special to me. So, lay off. You don't hear me talking about your little bimbos. Just leave him alone, alright? I really don't want to fight with you, tonight. Things at work have been..." She sighed again, and began massaging her temple with her free hand. "Not the best. Apparently, I accidentally caused that Poppy Edwards to dump my friend, you remember Eamon Doyle? And Eamon and I work together. Not to mention trying to keep you out of trouble. I just... can we please yell at each other some other time?" Looking up and into his eyes, she hoped that he would listen. She prayed that he would just let it be, even if only for tonight. She needed him to be there for her, damn it!

Chicken? Jane took her chopsticks and grabbed a piece. "Thanks..."

He watched her get another beer and thats when things started to piece themselves together. He had nearly forgotten that when she invited him inside she had seemed a bit off. The beer she was drinking before he got there, all by herself, and then another one right after she finished the first... yes something was off. Sure Jane wasn't exactly against alcohol but he didn't remember her ever drinking all by herself just for the hell of it. It must mean something was wrong. Darren wasn't one of those super sensitive guys who'd come over just to comfort their friend, cuddle up on the couch, and eat a tub of ice cream. Normally he couldn't care less what people were feeling or going through but when it came to Jane he actually did care. Unfortunately he was about as bad as being sympathetic as he was at Quidditch.. which happened to be yet another thing Padraig was good at. When she launched into the reasons why she was in such a mood Darren didn't interupt her with any comments and tried his best to look like he cared, which he did. However by the end of what she told him he was looking at her with a puzzled face. Was that really all it took to ruffle her feathers?

"Wait, hang on.." He said thinking out loud with a half frown on his face. "How exactly to you make some chick dump Doyle?" Normally he'd applaud someone being able to manipulate two other people into doing something like that. Darren loved playing mind games, it was a hobby of his actually. The more diabolical the plan the better, but he knew that probably wasn't what Jane was trying to do, so he didn't mention it. "They are their own people, they make their own decisions. I highly doubt you orchestrated anything... it happened because it was gonna' happen. That's life." He shrugged his shoulders and took a bite of chicken. Chewing he thought about what she had said to him and then another bit of her statement struck him. "You do what?" He asked, food still very much visible in his mouth. "Keep me out of trouble? Are you kidding me Jane?" He knew she worked for the Ministry and that they were friends and even vaguely remembered the conversation they'd had about her not being able to bend laws for him too much but he didn't know to what extent she was going to help him out. And if it was far enough to make her stress out this much then he'd rather not have the help thanks. "Look I appreciate it and everything, but if you get caught trying to help me out that will end your career..." He was being logical, right.

Having swallowed his food this time before he began talking Darren then took a drink of his beer. He always loved how good Chinese and Beer tasted together, well except for when it was coming up the next morning... which sometimes happened. "And besides I barely even get into trouble these days, how much could you really be covering for me?" He asked with a somewhat incredulous look on his face. Sure he'd had a few scrapes and near arrests but he'd always come out on top... was that because of her? Maybe she was an even better friend than he had thought. It almost made him want to become a better friend to her except for he didn't really know how. Darren hadn't realized that he had some what completely side stepped over the situation with some girl named after a seed and dopey Doyle and steered it straight toward the news involving himself until a few bites later and for that he felt a little bad. She was obviously upset so he should try to step up and make her feel better right? Thats what good friends did. He was willing to bet that's what Saint Padraig would do if he were here. "Can we fix whatever happened between your ministry friend and his girl? Or is it too far gone?" Popping another beautiful piece of Tso chicken into his mouth he hoped she wouldn't think he was just trying to be a jerk again. If he could help her he would, only for her.

"Okay, so it wasn't necessarily my fault. But, she hates my guts, so..." Jane sighed. Oh, he was going to give her hell for this. "Anyway, when I was still living in Hoxton, there was this creep who worked down the street at the grocery store that I went to. And he was always making passes at me and just being a creep in general. So, being that you weren't around and I was single, I asked Eamon if he would please accompany me to get groceries so that the previously mentioned creep would think that he was my boyfriend. That was all that he was supposed to do, mind you: just stand there with me. But, because he, like you, enjoys irritating the living f*ck out of me, he kissed me. He still says that he and Poppy weren't serious yet, but she says otherwise. Anyway, I... I kissed him back. You know. To play along. So, she's got her panties in a twist over something that happened like a year ago. Over a kiss that meant absolutely nothing."

Honestly, she probably wouldn't have felt quite so badly about it if she didn't have to see Eamon every day; if she didn't have to see how upset he was. "I know, I know. I just... I should have just went by myself. I don't know." Jane took another drink from her beer before getting another bite of chicken.

Oh, and here Darren was acting like he had no idea of what she was doing for him. He should have figured. She was loyal, if nothing else. Of course she'd protect him! "No. Unfortunately, I'm not kidding at all." He had to realize that she didn't care if she got into trouble. Well, she cared a little. But, she would never be able to live with herself if he went to Azkaban and she knew that she hadn't done absolutely everything in her power to keep him safe. "You don't get it. I can't help but want to protect you... If something happened, and I didn't do anything, I.. I just couldn't deal with it." And she took another gulp of beer. A big one.

"You barely get into trouble, because any time I see your name come up in a file, I 'lose' that file." But, whatever. Taking another bite of chicken, she listened to him as he began to speak again. He was actually concerned? Maybe she didn't give him enough credit. He really was a good friend. Sweet, sometimes, even.

Jane shrugged. "I don't know... the bitch is crazy."

Listening he was silently trying to think of some kind of plan to fix her problem. Not because he actually cared about Poppy and Eamon but because he wanted Jane to be happy. At the mention of some creep Darren's fist instinctively balled up. No one messed with Jane, not on his watch. He was a little upset that she hadn't told him about it sooner... even if he was no where to be found when it happened didn't mean he wouldn't still want to know. Darren made a mental note to find out exactly who the bloke was and to pay him a visit very soon. He relaxed a little when she noted that Eamon also liked to annoy her, maybe that guy wasn't so bad, but not enough to merit a smirk just yet. Instead he sat still and paid close attention to her, except for when he was taking another bite of chicken. "So let me get this straight," he began with another half frown, "You're upset because you asked this friend to pretend to be your boyfriend and help you get groceries kissed you even though he was seeing someone else?" Eyebrow raised now Darren took a drink from his bottle. "How is any of that your fault? He's the dog who decided to go above and beyond the call of duty and piss of his girlfriend in the mean time, not you."

"Are you sure this guy doesn't have a thing for you Jane?" This was an honest question but one Darren hated before he even finished asking it. He did not want to know about yet another man who was swooning over her. He pushed the box of chicken he had in front of him back toward the middle of the table and grabbed a different box, the ones with the spring rolls in it. He stood up from the table and went to her cabinets. Having had to bring more than one box filled with dishes in it into her apartment when she moved Darren knew just where the little plates were. He grabbed two, in case she wanted one, and returned to the table. After setting down the plates and taking back his seat he reached into the box and pulled out a few string rolls. He chose not to comment on the fact that maybe she had helped him out of more sticky situations that he knew of. He'd have to start being more cautious, he didn't want Jane getting into trouble because of him. And some part of him really didn't want Jane knowing about the things he was up to, in case she might disapprove or think less of him for it. Instead he picked up a spring roll and took a large bite, pieces of cabbage dripping out onto the plate as he chewed. When she shrugged he turned to her and then the smirk came out.

"Well luckily, Crazy Bitches happen to be my specialty."

Grinning now he sat back and took another proud sip of his beer. He could handle this friend thing, if it meant dealing with crazy witches and bringing back Chinese takeout. "How long were they together for?" This was very important because if it had been years and the kiss happened only last year then the damage might be too much to fix. If they'd only really been seeing eachother a few months then the Slytherin was confident he could weasel a makeup out of the two of them. That is if Jane was willing to let him interfere. Normally he used his intellect to ruin relationships, hurt people, and most importantly for personal gain, but today he was willing to make an exception and help out a friend. If it meant she'd take that damn look off her face he'd do just about anything. "More importantly, how attractive is this Poppy girl, on a scale from one to ten?" If Poppy was totally out of Eamon's league and she knew it then that might complicate things a bit. Truly Darren was trying to help, it was a pity he was so bad at selflessly helping others because asking Jane to rate the other girl might just get him into more trouble. He was a smart guy but some how he was oblivious to that fact as he finished off the spring roll he had been eating and reached for another.

Jane noticed Darren's body language as she spoke. He was more than a little bit protective of her. It was sweet. Well, sometimes. Sometimes, it was annoying as all get out. But, she knew that he meant well by it. He didn't seem to think that she was a terrible person at all for what had happened between Eamon and Poppy, though. Maybe she wasn't? Still, she couldn't help but feel some guilt. "Well... yes.." It sounded silly once he said it out loud. "But, I shouldn't have asked him along. I should have just handled it on my own..."

Eamon? Have a thing for her? "Well, not anymore. I mean, in school, yeah... I think so. But, not now. Padraig is his cousin, so.." No. There was no way that Eamon was still interested in her. I mean, sure, he was a little flirty from time to time. But, so was she. It was just how they had always been. Which was probably what had given him the wrong idea, in the first place, now that she thought about it.

Taking another bite of chicken, Jane watched as Darren stood and went to get them some plates. She was a terrible hostess. She should have thought to do that, in the first place. I mean, not that she minded sharing the box of chicken with him. Oh well. "Thanks, Darren." She had almost forgotten about the spring rolls. Taking one, she took a small bite before rolling her eyes at him, swallowing, and starting to speak again.

"Oh, I almost forgot." He could probably hear the sarcasm in her voice as she spoke, but it was intentional. He knew how she felt about most of the girls that he was 'involved' with. "I don't know? Less than a year? Maybe? A little while longer than Padraig and I, anyway. But, this was apparently at the very beginning of their relationship. She only just found out about it."

And was he f*cking serious, right now? A dark look crossed Jane's face at his next question. No doubt, Darren would find Poppy attractive. She wasn't exactly a troll, but her personality made her ugly to the blonde girl. "I don't know. Maybe a seven?" It made her wonder how he rated her, to be honest...

Biting into a second spring roll Darren shrugged his shoulders when she said she should of gone alone. He didn't think that was true but at the same time he never thought of Jane as some damsel in distress. Actually part of him was a little surprised that she would of asked Eamon for help in the first place. She always came off as headstrong and capable, she was an auror-in-training after all... she shouldn't need protection from some creep. Did Jane have feelings for this Eamon guy? Darren's mind then spun out on over drive and went through all of the possibilities. If Jane had a thing for Eamon that would explain a lot... at least to Darren's mind it would. And it made sense, they worked together all the time... it was logical to think that maybe some feelings had developed between them over time. And that meant that not only did she have feelings for Eamon and Padraig but for some reason she just couldn't like him that way. It was ridiculous and Darren was tired of thinking about it. "What does the fact that their cousins have to do with anything?" He asked with a look on his face that screamed irritability. "Just because you started dating his cuz' doesn't mean those feelings just go away, its more difficult than that." Darren didn't realize he was beginning to ramble but he was about to regret it.

"Trust me its harder to stop liking you than you might think, I know that for a fact." and then he realized what had just come out of his mouth and his eyes grew a bit wider than before. He bit his lip, looking nothing like the confident Darren Hadditch that most people knew. Shoving the rest of his food into his mouth he took as long as possible to finish chewing. He wanted to pretend he hadn't just let that honestly slip through his lips, he wanted to pretend so badly. The fact that Poppy was a seven had been stored on the back burner because Darren was a little preoccupied with the current freak out state of his mind. He swallowed hard and took another, sizeable, gulp of his beer before he stood up to grab another. Taking two more drinks before he reached the fridge Darren finished off that beer and didn't even wait till he was back at the kitchen table to start on another. Standing near the sink he took a few more sips and then turned to her. "I need a smoke." he said plainly, casually, as if nothing had even happened. And really nothing had. Sure he had admitted the way he felt about her but he could play his phrase off as past tense if he needed to. He could go into lengthly, made up, details about how he used to have a thing for her but that had gone away some time ago.

He could make her believe it too, if he had to. Which he was willing to bet that he would. She didn't want anything to do with him. Besides she was currently dating someone and Darren remembered all to well what happened the last time he made a pass at her while she was in a relationship with someone else. He wasn't about to make that mistake again. He reached into his pockets and found his pack of cigarettes and his zippo lighter. The smooth, cold metal of that lighter calmed him down a little. Whether it was because of some mental connection his mind had made to the lighter, knowing a cigarette wasn't far behind, or just the fact that it gave his hands purpose he wasn't sure. "Should I step outside?" he asked, once more pretending like it was a casual question and not an excuse to escape the situation for the duration of a cigarette. He remained standing in the middle of her kitchen waiting for her response and nearly praying it had nothing to do with his admission.

"Well, I would like to think that Eamon is a little more loyal than that? Besides, he made passes at all kinds of girls in school. I'm really surprised that you two didn't become best friends or something. You're really more alike than either of you probably realize..." It was true. Except, of course, that Eamon had stayed on the straight-and-narrow, and Darren was now a criminal. Jane certainly hoped that Darren wasn't starting to think like Poppy. She hoped he knew better than to think that she would have any sort of intimate relations with Eamon Doyle. The very thought that he might think that, like that stupid little redheaded tramp did, made her blood boil. Did people really think that she was that sort of a person? ...Was she that sort of a person?

I mean, she could admit that her friend and coworker was attractive. But, anyone with functional eyeballs could see that. Just because she thought that someone was attractive did NOT mean that she was willing to set aside her morals and any sort of decency to sleep with them. Proof of that was sitting straight across from her. Darren was just as attractive, if not more attractive, than Eamon. And she hadn't slept with him, either, had she? No. No, she had not. She did have some self-control, you know. Unlike the two of them, who had each been with far too many girls for her to keep track of. While she had only slept with TWO men in her entire life, and people walked around acting like she'd shagged half of London. It just wasn't fair.

And he just had to go there, didn't he? Didn't he think she felt guilty enough without adding this sprinkling of bullshit on top of it?

"Well, I wish I could make it easier. Although I thought my total lack of allure would have helped more with that." And she finished another bottle of beer, with that. She should really stop, now. She was already starting to feel the effect, a little bit. So, she ate some more. "This is really good. Thank you, again, for bringing it... I owe you one."

A smoke? Yeah. She could use one of those too. "I'll join you."

With that, Jane rose from her seat and walked into the living room to grab her pack of cigarettes. She pulled one white cigarette out, closed the pack, and slipped the cigarette between her lips before lighting it with her wand. She rarely used lighters anymore, though she still collected them.

"No. You can stay in here. Unless you're planning on trying to escape? I'm sorry for being in such a bad mood..."

Darren simply refused to believe he had similarities with anyone, especially someone as common as Eamon Doyle. Darren thought of himself and someone unlike anyone else. He was confident that he had things to offer that a lot of other men didn't. Whether or not it was true didn't matter because it was something that Darren just knew. So when Jane said she was surprised he hadn't become friends with Doyle back in school Darren scoffed at her. If there was one thing Darren learned during school it was how to pick up chicks and how to not pick up chicks. If you wanted a wing man, they couldn't be like you. Two guys trying to impress the same girl usually led to both guys looking like idiots and the girl picking neither of them. Darren was a lone wolf when it came to ladies, he didn't need help and he wasn't about to help anyone else. He wasn't at all surprised that he hadn't become friends with Eamon... not at all. Of course he couldn't voice any of that to Jane because she would just give him that look of disapproval he had seen too many times lately. He wished he had been as successful in not responding to the topic of his feelings as he had been on the idea of him and Eamon being besties... unfortunately he hadn't been.

Feeling like the filter on his mouth might betray him again Darren stuck to not saying much if he said anything at all. When she said he didn't have to go outside he nodded silently and pulled a filtered cigarette from his pack. He didn't look at her while he lit it, in case his eyes should betray him as well. He didn't understand how she felt like she had a total lack of allure, the fact that she would even say that actually upset him but he wasn't about to go into a debate on how pretty she was. She knew she was good looking, whether she admitted it or not, Darren knew that she knew. Girls with low self esteem were nothing like Jane. They said what they thought people wanted to hear while Jane Lennon told it like it was. He respected her too, and he didn't have respect for girls who didn't even like themselves. He was spent all of thirty seconds contemplating what on Earth could of made her think she had no allure before he chalked it up to her being nice. Instead of letting his mind go on turning about something he shouldn't have commented on in the first place Darren mentally buckled up and got ready to steer the conversation in some other direction.

"You're right we need to escape." He said as the smirk crawled back onto his face. He sat back down at the table and took a long drag from his cigarette. As long as he kept the topic of anything even remotely emotional they would survive this night. "Lets go do something?" He knew Jane liked a lot of the same things he did. Maybe smoking cigarettes at the park pretending to be bad asses was a little childish for them now, seeing as they were graduated and could be bad asses any where, but he wanted to go do something. Anything but sit awkwardly in her kitchen with the ghosts of a conversation he wasn't ready to have sitting next to him. Distraction, thats just what he needed. "Want to go to the muggle movie theatre? Maybe there is a zombie matinee playing... or we could go to that night club in London... whats it called?" He scratched his head trying to remember, he knew it started with an N. Taking a sip of beer and then a puff of smoke he remembered on his exhale "Nyx! thats the name. We could go there?"  He tried to think of anything else they could do, they were adults now there was plenty of things that they could do. Even though she was an Auror he knew she still liked to have fun, it'd just have to be legal fun.

Unfortunately that stipulation crossed off most of the things Darren would usually do on a night like this. He was full so going out to dinner wasn't really an option. "I don't care what but we should go do something..."

Of course, Jane didn't think that Darren was exactly like Eamon. I mean, there was a reason why she may or may not have been absolutely head over heels for Darren while they had been in school, and she slapped Eamon every time he even looked at her in an even remotely lusty manner. She'd have killed to have Darren look at her like that. Back then, that is. Certainly not now.

Anyway! He did bring up a good point. They should get out of her apartment. "I'm always right." Jane smirked, taking a drag off of her cigarette before slowly letting the smoke creep back out from behind her lips. "Just let me get some shoes on." Accioing her sneakers to her, Jane rested her cigarette in an ashtray on her table before starting to put them on. But, what would they do? They had already eaten, so hitting up a local diner like in the old days was out of the question. She didn't want to go anywhere that might make it look even remotely like they were on a date, anyway.

A nightclub?

"Well, if you're serious about going out to some place like Nyx, I'd like to have a moment to find something a little nicer to wear? Would you be alright with waiting for me? I'll take like... twenty minutes-- tops! I promise?" After all, she wasn't one of those girly-girls who spent forever on their hair and make up. And it wasn't like she really needed, or wanted, to look extra-special for Darren. He'd likely find some other girl to spend the evening with once they got there, anyway. Not that she really cared...

I mean, if that happened, she could just go and see if Padraig was home? Still, she had to admit that it bothered her a little when Darren did things like that. Well, she wouldn't admit it out loud, but she could admit it to herself. Darren would probably just be annoyed, if she did say it. Or he'd tease her. That, she did not need.

Kicking her sneakers back off, Jane stood to toss them back where she had accio'd them from. "How about it, then?"

Relieved that she had agreed to go somewhere else with him Darren relaxed a little. Sometimes when he thought about it he really hated the person he became around her. He was cautious, nervous, and worst of all he was caring. All of these traits were foreign to Darren. Sure he understood the idea of the feelings but he never felt them himself. Jane brought out all of the weaknesses that Darren didn't know he possessed, and most of the time that frustrated him. Worst of it all was he didn't even get rewarded for feeling that that. Instead he got to listen to her go on and on about her former roomate like he was the best thing since apple pie. Some times Darren wanted to flip that emotion switch off again and let her see who he really was, but he was afraid that he would lose her. Even if he couldn't have Jane the way he wanted he knew he didn't want to not even have her as a friend. He finished his cigarette and thought about lighting up another one. Instead he started to close up the food that they had eaten. Good Chinese could never go to waste, not on a budget like Darren's anyway.

When she said she'd have to change clothes if they were going to go out Darren just nodded, girls always said it'd only take them so much time, and it usually took them at least ten more minutes than estimated. It wouldn't be the first time he waited for a girl to get ready to go out  and it wouldn't be the last. "Yeah thats fine." He said and took the food from the table and put it into her fridge. Before closing the door he took out another beer and decided he had enough time to drink another one. She was gone before he closed the fridge and he found his mind wandering to her getting undressed, he physically shook his head and cracked open the beer in his hands. He really had to stop being like this. He was Darren Hadditch, not some love sick little boy. He took a large drink of the beer and enjoyed the rough feeling of it on his throat. Instead of going back to sit at the table and wait for her he instead walked out of the kitchen and into her living area. Watson was napping in the middle of the room and Darren was surprised he hadn't noticed the bull dog before. Unlike with most dogs Darren actually got along with Watson, and the other way around. He slowly approached the dog who's ears began to twitch as Darren got closer. By the time Darren was close enough to pet the canine he had woken and sat up slightly. The dog was lazy, he wouldn't even bother to meet Darren half way.

Being as tall as he was bending all the way to the ground to pet a dog wasn't exactly comfortable. So instead he knelt and then scratched behind Watsons ears with a small grin. Normally Darren didn't get on with pets, some people might say that dogs could sense his bad nature, but he didn't think they were that smart. After about five minutes he realized he was bored and stood back up. He didn't know what to do while he waited for her so he sat down on the couch. Jane had a television, something most witches wouldn't have, but he was glad that she did. He leaned forward to set down his beer and grabbed the remote. Clicking the remote Darren was glad he knew how to use the device. Although he told people he was a Pureblood the truth of it was that Darren had a muggle mother, and he had been around plenty of muggle contraptions in his life. After another ten minutes of flipping through channels had gone by and Darren was nearly finished with his beer he called up to her from the sofa. "How much longer Jane?" He tried to keep the tone of his voice neutral. He understood she was a female and she wanted to look nice, but he also could not wait to leave.

"I'm falling asleep down here woman." He hoped the fact that he had called her woman would get her to hurry up, or at least respond so he knew she hadn't inhaled too much hair spray and passed out.