There's No Place Like Home (Layne/Jory)

[Layne Razz]

There was nothing quite like the feeling of returning home. As Layne stepped in through the grand doors to Hogwarts, an overwhelming urge to melt in happiness came upon her. It had been a long year away from here. It had happened too quickly too, Layne still couldn't have wrapped her mind around it. It had seemed as if one second she had been here, and the next shipped off on a plane to spend time with her family in Korea. Her mother had made it such a big deal that Layne was supposed to "know her roots" and "understand her lineage" instead, Layne had been passed around from cousin to cousin and friend to friend, like a hand-me-down piece robe, each person trying her on to see who she was and what she was like. Throughout the entire year away, Layne couldn't help but to think that her mom purposely pushed her out of the country in the hopes of finding a suitable Korean husband as well. Well, if that was the motive, both her, and her mom's time was wasted.

But, Layne was here now. She looked around the hall and a grin spread from ear to ear. (Which speaking of ears, her mom had let her pierce them! In each, set a glimmering diamond stud! Jory would be so proud!) Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out a piece of gum and in celebration, chomped on it and blew a bubble.

[Jory Addison]

Jory only ever went through the Entrance Hall on his way to get food or to head down to see Emilian, and he rarely paid any attention to who was there when he went through. Out of the corner of his eye, however, he absolutely couldn't miss the familiar face. "Ohmygah-" made it out before he was rushing toward Layne to wrap his arms tightly around her. He didn't think for now about the fact that he had been completely away from her for so long without any notice at all.

[Layne Razz]

"JORY!" Layne wrapped herself equally in the hug. She closed her eyes, stopping any sort of water from leaking out of them. She had missed Jory, more than words could describe. In anticipation for her return she had written and rewritten and letter to him telling him of her arrival but nothing sounded quite right. In the end, she had forgotten to send anything at all. Seeing him here and now, just meant all the world to her.

[Jory Addison]

Jory tucked his head against hers and squeezed her tightly, refusing to let her go. He had missed her so much, and she had missed so much. It was only when he started thinking of everything she had missed that he remembered how hurt he had been not to have her. "Where the hell have you been?" he asked, still refusing to let her go.

[Layne Razz]

Away, banished, on a pedestal in the middle of a spotlight for the entire family to stare "Korea," Layne said quietly, partially because she still disliked the topic and partially because Jory was somewhat crushing her. "I'm little Jory," She reluctantly said seconds after, "As much as I love you, you're crushing me a bit." She didn't want this embrace to end, but in order for her to hear and be updated on her best friend's life, she needed to be able to be functional.

[Jory Addison]

"Oh!" Jory gasped, then murmured a low I'm sorry and pulled away from her. He crossed his arms and chewed his lip. "Why were you in Korea?" he asked. "Why didn't you send me an owl? Why were you gone for so long?" The questions came out rapid-fire and and he felt like he was already fighting back tears. When was the last time he had cried?

[Layne Razz]

"I-Well, it's a long story. I'm so sorry I never wrote to you! I tried, all the time, but I left so suddenly that nothing felt right when I apologized on paper! But I think I wrote about one million letters but nothing was good enough to send," Layne could feel a build up of tears just waiting to be set free. "But long story short, my mom made me go. I didn't have a choice at all! It was so unfair! And I missed you, have I said that yet? I really missed you Jory!" The words kept pouring out. There was so much to say! And she still needed to know about his life and his going-ons! Oh, why had she not written?!

[Jory Addison]

"I missed you so much," Jory said, his voice soft. His voice choked and he looked away from her. He reached up to touch the inside corner of an eye. It came back moist. He walked over to the stairs and sat on the bottom one, pulling his knees to his chest and gesturing for Layne to sit next to him. They needed to catch up, and no one was going to be coming through the Entrance Hall right now, not that he really cared if someone saw them.

[Layne Razz]

Layne sat down next to Jory and leaned her head on his shoulder. She would not cry...Not yet at least. A single trickle of water rolling down to her chin apparently proved her wrong. She brushed it away, this was not a sad moment, this was the happiest she'd been in a year! With her best friend at her home, things couldn't get any better. She took a deep breath in, "What have I missed here?" In a way, she was terrified to ask. After a year, she knew that her Jory was probably a different Jory, it just depended on how different.

[Jory Addison]

What hadn't she missed? He tried to think of his last conversation with her. Was that really when she had met Lyric? His eyes widened momentarily as he realized he had been an in the closet, virginal, incredibly naive country boy infatuated with Lyric then. "I came out," he managed. That seemed to be the most important thing, the rest would come soon enough.

[Layne Razz]

Layne lifted her head from off of Jory's shoulder and looked at him. "Yeah? It was good? People were good?" It killed her a little inside when she realized that she hadn't been there when he came out, like a good friend should have. But the most important thing at least was, "And you're happy right?" She asked.

[Jory Addison]

Jory gave a short laugh and shook his head. "Come on, Layne," he said. "I got called names, pushed down the hall, my books got shoved to the ground." He reached for her arm and linked his with hers. "I shouldn't've done it, it was stupid. I mean, it's better now, but only because I'm a prefect." As for if he was happy...how could he answer that?

[Layne Razz]

Layne frowned, not liking the idea that Jory had been unhappy. "Guess I hoped for the best," she said, her mouth forming a half smile. If she had remembered correctly, there were other people who were out at this school...weren't there? She made a mental note to ask later, she was almost sure of it though. But her thoughts were interrupted when the image of a guy with crazy hair (and a strange name) popped into her mind. "What ever happened to that guy with the hair?" She asked, then followed quickly with, "And congrats about being a prefect!!"

[Jory Addison]

Jory gave a weak smile at her congratulations and found her hand to link his fingers tightly through hers. "A lot," he said. "I don't even know where to start. We...slept together..." Was that too much information? "He turned into a druggie...went to rehab, I started visiting this other guy..." He shook his head and looked away from her. "He's sober now, I have to like...watch him sometimes to make sure he doesn't go off and do something."

[Layne Razz]

Layne didn't say anything right away, but while her hands tightened intertwined with Jory's she processed the information. She didn't like the idea of Jory sleeping with anyone, but does anyone like the idea of their closest friend doing that? Besides, they were at that age when people start doing things like that. Of course, she was taken aback by how calm Jory said it. Isn't sleeping with someone supposed to be special? Layne's juvenile mind would reel later though. There was something was bothering her though aside from that. "So," She said, "You're taking care of him pretty much? Who is the other guy? Does he help too?" It just seemed like a lot of pressure placed on Jory -taking care of an ex, let alone taking care of a person who apparently has issues.