Twin Fall ↠ A Fred Weasley story

6. Twin Dream (Fred)

Fred lay watching Jess sleep. For the first time that he could ever recall, he felt absolute serenity. He had no thoughts of pranking, making jokes or running around causing trouble. He had always looked for the next thing to do - the next thing to work out, or plan, or the next thing to invent. He'd never been content at sitting still and appreciating the there and now. But tonight, he didn't want this time to end. This was the happiest he'd ever been and time was stood completely still.

Fred was taken by Jess from the day he met her, and after seven years of friendship and laughter, to finally be in a position where he could hold her in this way, it was blissful. They'd been through a lot - not necessarily together, but he'd always been there to comfort her and support her. He'd been by her side through all the dangers and achievements, and on a few occasions had even fought alongside her. But, he'd never been quite this close, no matter how much he'd wanted to. This moment had been a long time coming.

As happy as he was though, it was also bittersweet. Over the years, he'd been increasingly frustrated at himself for not telling her how he felt about her, and even though she was there right now, she was still none the wiser. He'd had plenty of opportunities in the past to just bite the bullet and tell her. Unfortunately his courage always disappeared when it came to any remotely romantic moment. He'd had to watch her walk away far too many times, and though he'd promised himself repeatedly the last few years that he wasn't going to let it happen again, it always did.

But, tonight he was promising himself again, and when he said it, he meant it. He wasn't going to mess it up this time. He just had to find a way to tell her without feeling like he was going to pass out.

As outgoing and flirty as he was, Jess completely disarmed him every - damn - time. Fred genuinely couldn't remember a time where he didn't want to be close to her. Don't get him wrong, he was quite independent and happy when he wasn't around her, but he missed her when she wasn't there. When he was thirteen/fourteen, he'd played it off as a crush, but as he got older, his feelings had only gotten stronger. As had his idiotic ability for saying the wrong thing and screwing up the few chances he'd been given.

He knew that he'd had plenty of chances too, which is what frustrated him even more. But, apparently it was obvious to everyone except him when these chances had come begging. It was especially obvious to George, who seemed to despair daily at Fred's lack of forthcoming. He was both lucky and unlucky to have George rolling his eyes at him, or making sarcastic comments whenever Fred lost his bottle; unlucky because he had to roll his eyes a lot, but lucky because he knew George supported him.

The truth was, Fred was convinced that he would never be the right person for Jess. And with Fred being the cocky, confident person that he was, he didn't want to admit how insignificant he felt compared to the famous Jessica Potter.

These feelings weren't Jess's doing. Not to mention, she was not shallow in the slightest - in fact she was the furthest anyone could be from shallow. Jess was unthinkably kind and smart, she was loyal, and between her and Harry, she was the strongest person he'd ever known. Not only was she beautiful, exceptionally so to Fred, she also had a beautiful heart. These traits of hers were only some of the reasons why he adored her. However, they were also reasons that cemented further in his head that he was not really worthy of her.

Jess was a Potter, he was a Weasley. He had come from a poor family, with plenty of commotion and love yes, but nothing like the fame and expectation that hung over her. She would never discriminate him or any of his family members, but she would be able to have anyone she ever wanted, and sadly he never believed that it would be him. Being as close to his family as she was, Fred was certain that he was simply one of Jess's best friends, someone who was like a brother to her.