<div class="floatleft">(https://i.pinimg.com/736x/11/ec/30/11ec305ad14e9fc040705b1cf3b0285b.jpg)</div><div class="floatright">(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/harrypotter/images/f/f3/DurmstrangCrest.png/revision/latest?cb=20160112161151)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>NAME:</strong> Aaren Sandstrom (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=299655.msg14658128#msg14658128)<br/><strong>YEAR:</strong> Fifth<br/><strong>BLOOD STATUS:</strong> Half-blood<br/><strong>WAND:</strong> 12 inch | Redwood | Dragon Heartstring <br/><strong>WEARING:</strong> This outfit, without sunglasses (http://cdn01.cdn.justjaredjr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/gregg-fitness/gregg-sulkin-fitness-inspiration-faking-set-05.jpg)<br/><strong>DATE | TIME:</strong> Saturday, October 26th, 2019 | Night<br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong> Darley Penthouse | Lost<br/><strong>CONTENT:</strong> Open heart, open mind, never know who you'll find...<br/><strong>MOOD MUSIC:</strong> DNCE - Kissing Strangers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzZWXrlDj-A)<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong> Dyani</td></tr></tbody></table><br/><hr/><br/>Aaren shook his head subtly at Dyani’s apology over what he had gone through romantically so many years prior. “It’s fine. Don’t be.” His shoulders shrugged as his thoughts strayed on that avenue of his life a little longer. “It was a long time ago.” It was so long ago that he was a little embarrassed to discover that the apparent rumor going around was that Aaren actually still loved her. He knew he had been actively avoiding the necessity to move on with his romantic life, but he supposed he didn’t realize it had been quite as long as it had.<br/><br/>Somehow, time seemed to move quicker than he realized. It had gotten away from him.<br/><br/>By the time Dyani mentioned that some women were awfully deceptive, Aaren was only too ready to move on from that conversation. Maybe he was in denial, but he didn’t want to think of Nadia that way. Now that she was conversing with him so openly, he didn’t want to think of Dyani that way, either. The thought that she could have been doing all of this just to pull some enormous prank on him had existed in the very back of his mind, but he shooed it away quickly.<br/><br/>He hoped he wasn’t wrong about what his intuition was telling him.<br/><br/>Dyani answered with an honest, cold laugh. It was complicated with her and Konstantin. Admittedly, it wasn’t exactly what Aaren had hoped to hear. But, he nodded just the same. When her gaze found the horizon in the distance, Aaren’s followed. He leaned against the balcony and remained beside her, listening as she reflected on how she and the twat had grown up together. “I’m sure he was quite different way back then.” Aaren felt himself smiling slightly, despite the sad story Dyani was sharing.<br/><br/>Her mint gaze turned and found his chestnut stare. She confessed that while she had a love for him, she was not in love with him. Aaren nodded when she suggested there was a difference. “He’ll hold a piece of your heart but he doesn’t own the whole thing,” he surmised, able to relate to such a phrase because he felt similarly about Nadia. When she finished by expressing her enormous relief - enough to weigh an elephant’s ton - Aaren joined in with her laughter. “I’m glad to hear that. And, even though it might be hard to realize this now, you don’t owe him anything.”<br/><br/>Aaren turned to face Dyani, then. “He was different then, and so were you.” His hand reached out slowly to caress her cheek gently, his dark eyes passionately taking in every detail of her face. “But now, you get to choose who claims the rest of your heart.” His fingers lingered on her cheek, even after lining her jaw with the tips of those digits. “And I know it’s scary to do that. But maybe it doesn’t have to be. Maybe you can find someone who’s in the same boat, and looking for someone to give their heart to, as well.”<br/><br/>Then, he pulled his hand away, as if he had just realized how profoundly intimate he was being with her. It felt a bit too soon, didn't it? Not wanting to freak her out any more than he may have already, Aaren turned to regard the view from the balcony again, feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the red. After a lull passed by over them, he chuckled. "I knew I should have chosen a different shirt. I feel like I blend in to the theme of this party," he joked, glancing around. "What is the theme, anyway?" He questioned, attempting to lighten the tone.