xp_logs | Julian & Esme: Fallout

Julian goes to confront Esme, the discussion does not go as planned.

Despite the advice that Nathan had given him, Julian crossed the plush carpet on the upper floor of the mansion. While he was calmer than when he'd found out, he knew- deep down- that he was still furious at Esme for what she'd done to him; for what she'd put both he and Angel through. Through some impressive mental gymnastics, the young scion was thoroughly convinced that he just needed to talk to the blonde girl- that maybe she hadn't meant to overwhelm his mind. That illusions was slowly starting to fade away as he stood in front of the bare door of the Cuckoo's suite. With a deep breath and slow exhalation, Julian rapped on the hard wood and waited.

The door opened, and the blonde on the other side eyed him for a long moment with a cool sort of hostility. "Oh look," she said. "It's the Boy Wonder. Celeste, Phoebe, why don't we go away and let Esme talk to him? One-on-one." Sophie made it sound unutterably lewd, with only the slightest emphasis.

Patient, Julian waited for the sisters to exit before entering the suite and taking a quick glance around. He spotted Esme on the couch, looking a little like a deer caught in the headlights. After a moment of awkward silence, "I suppose you know why I'm here."

"Do I?" she said flatly. But her eyes were red, as if she'd been crying, and she jumped as the door slammed behind her sisters.

Something didn't add up. Why would she be upset? Everything had worked out for her until she'd gotten caught. Despite himself, Julian found the words flowing from his mouth, "Are you okay?"

"Why do you care?" Esme sniffed and rubbed at her eyes. "We messed things up for you, and you know it, now. Why are you even here? To yell at us? People have been doing plenty of that, Julian."

He wanted to do just that. To scream at her for everything that her stupidity had caused. Despite everything that had happened, Julian winced slightly, knowing just what it was like to blame oneself. "Ez...come on," he started, turning his blue eyes back on hers. "Can't you just be self righteous or something...it'd make it easier to be mad at you."

"Don't let that stop you. I deserve it. Everyone's been telling me that. Even the others. Although they say I deserve it for ever going with you in the first place, and maybe they're right."

Confused, Julian tilted his head, "Wait. Who's been telling you that?"

"That I'm a bad, bad telepath? Grey. The Professor. Even Dayspring stuck his head in here and glared at me."

A scoff, "Bad telepath, no biscuit." He smirked, "Of course they know, Doctor Grey-Summers figured it out and told the other two. They said they'd keep it quiet though." Julian plopped into one of the far more comfortable chairs than his suite had. He couldn't be mad at someone who was so...pathetic. "So you've been doing what I was doing after it happened then?"

"Ignoring your existence?" Esme was blinking very rapidly. "I would have told you, you know. If you'd c-come back and talked to me."

Julian leaned forward, folding his hands in front of himself. "You're feeling sorry for yourself. Blaming yourself for hurting someone that you care about." He shifted slightly, looking down at the ground, "I'm sorry I didn't Ez. You deserved a better date than me."

Esme sniffed against and wiped her eyes. Her voice was brittle as she continued, but tellingly, she wouldn't meet Julian's gaze. "Let's not make this into something it's not. You took us to the prom to be a friend and we repaid you by doing something awful. We hurt you. Which makes us a bitch, as well as a freak. So why don't you go back to the little redhead and tell her you quite literally weren't in your right mind, and leave it at that?"

A little stunned, Julian stood up and slowly moved toward Esme. With a firmness in his tone he simply stated, "Look me in the eye and tell me that's what you really want."

Esme looked up. "Go back to the little redhead," she said, and if her blue eyes were suspiciously bright, there was also something approaching a steely look in them. "You deserve a real person. Not one of us. You can't be friends with a piece of a person, so stop trying."

Julian shook his head and looked out the window, his arms crossing over his chest. "Liar," was all he said at first. "Esme, I didn't have a great time at prom with a piece of a person. You..." he paused and looked back at her, putting a hand on her shoulder, "you made a mistake. We all do." He tried hard not to think about the Lords.

She sniffled again, looking away. "We're sorry, Julian, but we'd like you to go now," she said. "The others will be back soon."

"Yeah," he smiled, "I'll leave- but I'm going to finish what I came here to say." Gingerly, he reached out and, hand on her chin, guided her gaze back to his. "You've fucked my life up. You ever do it again and you'll be finding out just how dangerous telekinetics can be. But, even though you did a stupid, stupid thing..." he sighed and smiled. "You're not a bad person, Esme." Letting his hand drop, Julian started toward the door. Hand on the handle he paused and turned back toward her, "If you ever want to talk, you know, one-on-one...maybe try some of my hot chocolate," Julian shrugged, "let me know."