Praying for a happy ending [future hubbie]

[Jyn McCloudy]

This couldn't be happening! Hardly anyone could call this even legal right? Jyn couldn’t believe what was in her mothers letter, which was laying besides her on the grassy ground.

“….decided that you are going to marry Ryan Robins. It’s for the best Jyn. The Robins family can give you everything that I can’t and we all believe you and Ryan will be good together..”

The letter had arrived yesterday morning and had come as a total surprise. Jyn loved her mother and had always thought they had been very close but she hadn’t seen this coming. Not ever. She’d read the letter over and over again but it remained a fact. Apparently she was going to be the future Mrs. Ryan Robins.

She cried for the entire day yesterday, utterly in shock and confused by this all. Ryan was her friend, how could she marry him? Not to mention how he must be horrified by this and probably hate the idea of being stuck with her for the rest of his life. Which was exactly the reason why she was avoiding him. Jyn wasn’t able to face him and see the horror and disgust in his eyes. She had no idea what to say to him or what to do now other than trying to understand what the hell was going on.

Yesterday she’d walked out of the Great Hall during breakfast and had spend the entire day in her dorm room, crying in bed and trying not to choke during several asthma attacks. But this morning she just had to come out of the castle and get at least a little fresh air. Jyn hadn’t had much sleep nor had she eaten as of yesterday morning. Not that it mattered, she really wasn’t hungry anyway. The idea of needing to face Ryan was too much to handle right now.

So here she was, sitting under an old tree besides the lake. Her legs pulled up and her arms wrapped tightly around them, her cheek resting on top of her knees as she stared at the water. Ryan was going to find her sooner or later, if he was looking for her. If he wasn’t she would bump into him sooner or later. When looking at it like that, the castle suddenly had become really small.

[Ryan Robins]

Ryan had received a similar letter, though it wasn't as kind as Jyns' had been. His was filled with terms like "for the best" and "at least we'll know you won't put us to shame anymore". He'd known that his parents - mostly his father - hadn't approved of his being with boys, which was partly why he'd gone around the castle with so many of them. But to read that they didn't expect him to settle down with a nice girl, to know that they were disappointed in him and wanted to fix his mistakes, it hurt.

It hurt worse knowing that he had no reason to argue with them. It was for the best, he could hardly manage a proper relationship without good reason to stay, and this was the best incentive for him to face up to his responsibilities. But why did it have to be Jyn McCloudy, for fucks sake? It wasn't that he didn't like her, she was a sweet girl, although she never said much to him. But she was just...he'd be too much for her. He'd break the poor girl in a matter of weeks, his parents had to know that. Did they honestly not care what would happen to the young girl they'd forced to marry him? Were they really just that happy to be rid of the responsibility?

The brunette had spent most of that day painting, ignoring the pills that he was supposed to take until he was out of his mind and covered in colors. It helped, a little, and when he went to bed that night, he did it with the resolution that he'd fix things tomorrow.

That day came a little faster than he'd wanted it to, and by morning he didn't have a clue as to how he would actually fix things. He just knew that he had to talk to Jyn, and that they'd figure something out together. If they really didn't want this, well, there was simply no way that their parents would be able to force them, right?

Wrong, and Ryan knew it. He knew that they were stuck if their parents really wanted to go through with this, and he was counting on Mrs McCloudy to see that this was really not the best thing for her daughter. If they wanted money, he was more than happy to give the both of them whatever they needed. Then Jyn could go and find someone to fall in love with, someone she really wanted to marry.

Thoughts racing through his head, the Slytherin had eventually headed outside to clear his head, hoping to stall the moment he'd have to face his future bride. So of course, this was the moment that he ran into her, sitting near the lake in one of his favorite spots. He ran fingers through his hair awkwardly, biting down on his full bottom lip. "Morning."

[Jyn McCloudy]

Everything had come as a huge surprise and Jyn still found herself to be in shock as of yesterday morning. This was insane! It felt like one big ass nightmare that just wouldn’t end. She knew that if her mother truly wanted this, that she would go through with it. Jyn knew she wasn’t anything special and that if she’d end up with a guy she’d be extremely lucky. Her mother had it rough and Jyn did not want to let her down, to disappoint her mom. If this would help than maybe it was for the best.

Jyn didn’t want to be selfish, but doing this? Ryan did not like her. Jyn knew that. She didn’t secretly believe he was crazy about her. In a way they were friends but that was merely due to the forced attending of birthday parties and saying hi to each other when they passed in the halls. Nothing more than that. Could you even call that friendship? Hell, did he even really like her? Everything was so unsure right now and it was sending Jyn constantly in crying fits.

Her entire body first froze and then winched as she heard Ryan’s voice. He had the kind of voice you would recognize instantly, which wasn’t a bad thing. Slowly and very carefully, Jyn went to sit up straight, knowing that this was the moment. He knew too. Why else would he bother to talk to her? “Morning…” the word left her lips in a whisper as tears instantly sprung in her eyes. Too afraid to look up at him, Jyn kept her eyes focused on the water as her arms were still wrapped around her knees.

[Ryan Robins]

Ryan barely caught her whisper, his heart going out to her as he realised how hard she must be taking this all. It made him feel strangely angry at her for a second, but he forced it back down, knowing that he had no right to ask her to be happy with this. Granted, he didn't want her to be crying over it either, but he knew that no girl would jump up and down at the chance of becoming Mrs Ryan Robins, let alone someone as sweet and caring as Jyn. She deserved the world, someone who would fall at her feet and worship her, and quite frankly, he wasn't that.

Still, he'd have no choice but to try, if both their parents were adamant about this situation, and for the moment he'd play along. At least to the point where they talked this through, so that they could work against this situation together. "Looks like they made quite a mess of things" His voice was quiet and a little strange to his own ears, the brunette patting down an area of grass before sitting down carefully, wrapping an arm around his knees.

"Jyn I'm sorry. I'll talk to them...there has to be something we can do" He didn't want to start off by offering her money, he wasn't that insensitive. She'd be upset and run away and that was the last thing they needed right now. No, they needed to behave as adults and get through this, get this whole mess sorted out without either of them getting hurt in the process.

[Jyn McCloudy]

She hadn’t seen this coming at all. Jyn knew they had practically no money at home and that having a home to go back to every summer was a blessing. But that her mother was this desperate to make sure her daughter would be taken care off went beyond her? It wasn’t that mr. husband was Ryan, it was this whole marriage thing in general. Jyn didn’t really know Ryan that well to judge whether or not it would be hell to marry him. She just didn’t really know him.

Which was the entire problem wasn’t it? Oh and of course that she was way too young, not in love with him and that she simply wasn’t ready to get married at the age of sixteen. “I don’t understand why…”, she softly whispered, her voice thick from emotion. A tear ran down her cheeks, which she didn’t even bother to wipe away anymore. “I’m sorry too, that you’re stuck with me Ryan…”, a sob cutting her off while more tears started to make their way down her cheeks.

Well, now she couldn’t look at him at all anymore. She didn’t want to see the distaste in his eyes when he looked at her. Especially cause it was no secret Ryan was into boys and not into girls. At least, Jyn hadn’t seen him with a girl before so she didn’t know any better than that he was gay. But even in this state of mind it wasn’t her own life she was worried about, Jyn knew not to expect much from life. Right now, she was feeling bad cause she knew this whole marriage thing meant she was going to ruin his life.

And how were you suppose to deal with something like that?

[Ryan Robins]

Her, stuck with him. That's what she was worried about. Not about marrying him, what that would do to her, but how it would make him feel? Jyn McCloudy was honestly one of the weirdest girls he'd met in a long time. Ryan almost smiled when he heard her say that, though he quickly shrugged it off in favor of wrapping an arm around her shoulders. If they really were to be married, he should be able to do that at least, shouldn't he?

"Hey, it's alright. We'll figure something out. You won't have to marry me, I promise." There he went again, making promises he wasn't sure he could keep. If both his parents and Jyns mum were determined to make this work, they had little choice. Sure, they could try to fight it off, or divorce as soon as they were of age, but it'd come at the cost of disappointing their loved ones, which was something he was loathe to do.

Part of Ryan wished that things could be simple. That they would just get married and that they'd learn to be happy together. It'd be much easier than fighting this, fighting his parents just to get to an unknown future. This was something real, something tangible at least, and if they worked hard enough...maybe it'd have a chance of succeeding. The little voice in his head kept telling him this, kept trying to persuade him, but he wasn't listening. This couldn't just be his choice; he had a bride to be now that needed to be heard in these things.

Sighing deeply, he rubbed her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. "I mean...We're not ready, obviously. Maybe we can convince them that it's too early... We could tell them that we're dating, ask them to give us some time before arranging the wedding."

[Jyn McCloudy]

Jyn always cared too much about other people. It was the kind of person she was and people teased her for it. She wasn’t good with sarcastic remarks nor couldn’t she always see when someone was messing with her. Most of the time she took what people said seriously and it was something she needed to change about herself. Just like she needed to get stronger and ignore people who were mean to her. And not to forget: learn how to stand up for herself more. Jyn knew she lacked in that department but it was hard to toughen up when you had not much people to help you with it.

She was surprised when he suddenly wrapped his arm around her shoulder. For a split second she froze, but then relaxed when she realized he meant it well. It was just, weird, as she hadn’t expected for him to actually care. Then again, she didn’t really know him did she? “I don’t know Ryan, it feels like it’s a done deal.” she softly said, forcing away the sobs while handing him the letter and pointing at the following sentences:

“It’s for the best Jyn. The Robins family can give you everything that I can’t and we all believe you and Ryan will be good together..”

Ryan might as well be this years early Christmas present. Well at least he was cute. She’d always secretly crushed on him a little although of course admitting that had never been an option. Being ‘stuck’ with Ryan wasn’t so bad if there wasn’t this whole pressure thing to it plus it would help if she knew that he at least liked her. But again, she was too shy to ask him that. What if he said no? She wouldn’t know what to say or it that were the case.

“You think we can?” her voice sounded hopeful. “I mean you think we would have to get married soon then? My letter didn’t say when we the actually day would be. Just that we had to get married.” When the words had left her lips Jyn shyly, and finally, looked up at him with her tear stricken face. Now that he had started to rub her shoulders it only seemed decent enough to look up at him.

One thing she did know for sure though: he was really sweet.

[Ryan Robins]

Ryan nodded solemnly, handing her his letter in return. It was a lot harsher than Jyns had been, and he'd wondered whether showing her was the right thing to do, but if she was going to marry into his family, she ought to know what they were really like.

Ryan,

your mother and I have talked to Mrs McCloudy and we've come to an agreement. You are going to marry her daughter Jyn. We believe that this is for the best, at least this way you won't put us to shame anymore. As we've stated in the past, it is time for you to become a responsible and mature person, and in marrying Jyn you'll have the chance to make us proud.

The marriage is to be arranged in the next two months, as we all feel it is for the best if you two are married sooner than later - I'm sure I don't have to explain why.

Your Father

Sooner rather than later. They were supposed to get married in two months, because at least that way Ryan couldn't fuck things up more than he usually did. That was the meaning of those words "I'm sure I don't have to explain why". They figured that once he was married he'd settle down, not screw around with guys, not have this stupid personality disorder anymore. His father had actually told him once that this whole disease was his fault, that he wouldn't have it if he had just been straight. It was how the world worked, how things were 'supposed to be' and because he messed with it, he'd been cursed with borderline. Such a bunch of crap, but Ryan couldn't help being afraid that it was true.

[Jyn McCloudy]

Jyn silently took the letter from him and let her eyes wander over the words. When she was about halfway through it her hands started to shake a little and a new batch of tears formed in her eyes. “Oh my god…” the words were whispered but filled with utter and through shock. Poor Ryan! This was so not fair. How could someone say those things about him? How could his parent say such things.

A lump got swallowed and Jyn bit her lip for a moment when she tore her eyes away from the letter. “Don’t believe those words Ryan…they’re not true.” Not that she knew him that well but she already found him to be a great guy. How could his parents not agree with that? Really, it went beyond her how they could say something like that. Jyn briefly looked up at him before she looked back at the letter again.

This time though, when she got to the other half her eyes widened and a tear feel from her cheek, splashing on top of the parchment. “Two months…?” her voice shaky, along with her hands which couldn’t seem to decently hold a piece of parchment anymore. They wanted them to get married in two months?! What the hell had happened that made this all possible? She’d tried to understand but she couldn’t make any sense of it.

[Ryan Robins]

”Unfortunately” Ryan began carefully, ”nothing they’ve stated in that letter isn’t true. I have put them to shame many times. Being sorted into Slytherin, liking boys, messing up all my relationships…Only thing that pleases my father is that I’ve never managed a proper relationship with a guy. That would be the ultimate disappointment, seeing his son happy with another male.” He let out a soft laugh, shaking his head a little in bitter amusement. ”They just love this, you know. A chance to get rid of me, make me someone elses problem. I’m just sorry you’re the one stuck with me”

He looked at her, seeing that she was close to tears again. Poor girl. How could her mother agree with this? "Listen, if it's money your mother needs, I have some. Not a lot but enough. There's no reason you should be stuck with me. You don't want this, it's obvious, and I don't want you to be miserable. Knowing I've failed my parents is quite enough." He hoped this wouldn't upset her even more, but he had to offer her a way out.

[Jyn McCloudy]

Jyn didn’t understand how those things could have put his parents to shame. Maybe she was just raised to be open minded, which she was, and not to put too much pressure on the family name. Though that open mindedness her mother possessed was now biting her in the ass for sure with this whole marriage thing. And it was so out of the blue too, how could she not have seen this coming?

Sitting here with Ryan and just talking made her nerves calm down. Honestly, Jyn already felt a bit better knowing that she wasn’t the only one who seemed to be slightly horrified with all of this. “Any house is great, they should be happy you got into Hogwarts.” Course Slytherins were mostly asses but even they had their good traits. For a moment Jyn bit her lip, took a deep breath and then shyly looked up at Ryan, “If we get married, you don’t…”, a blush crept up her cheecks, “..ehm I mean…you can be with boys.”

Once the words were out in the open Jyn was too shy to keep looking at him. Instead she focused on the grass in front of her. “I know we wouldn’t be actually together, so…you could be happy with a guy if you want. I wouldn’t tell anyone.” Which was really weird if you thought about it but what else could she so? They weren’t in love, weren’t going to be truly together and Jyn would never be able to live with herself knowing that she made someone else unhappy. “I’m sorry you are stuck with me too Ryan.”

Jyn’s eyes were all watery again and for a moment she had no idea how to feel or how to react when Ryan offered her money. “No…I, I mean...me and my mom can’t take your money. We won’t. I won’t.” She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if she did that. The only thing they could hope for was either this marriage not happening or a divorce later on. “At least you’re my friend. That helps.” She just hoped that he felt the same about her even if she knew not to expect that.

Bringing her hands up to her face she wiped the tears from her eyes. Crying wasn’t going to help. Besides it would only make her stress more which would probably result into her having an asthma attack. Not something to look forward too either.

[Ryan Robins]

Just like he had offered her a way out, she did the same to him, and he couldn't take it. So Ryan shook his head decidedly, taking her small hand in his. "You're an absolutely wonderful person Jyn, and I couldn't do that to you. It'd be so wrong...and you deserve so much more than that. I know I'm hardly what any girl would want but if this marriage thing is for real...then maybe we ought to give the relationship part of it a proper try." He could hardly believe he was saying this, but he couldn't see another way out of it. She'd refused his money, and both parents seemed quite stubborn about this marriage being a way out of hell - rather than straight into it.

So the only thing to do was making an honest effort. Who knows, they might end up liking each other? After all, as she'd said, they were friends of a sort. Being in a relationship, one where he knew he couldn't fuck up, maybe that was exactly what he needed. Maybe this way he would know not to screw around, since he had a reason to stay committed. He had a future to commit to, and he knew that it might be one of the only reasons for him to give it his best try.

[Jyn McCloudy]

Jyn’s eyes dropped to her hand and followed it as he took her hand in his. The first thing that came to mind was that Ryan had warm hands. She hadn’t noticed she was cold but now that she felt the warmth of his body she was reminded by the faint shivers that had been running up and down her spine. It wasn’t that cold out but when you sat still for a while you were bound to end up shivering at some point.

She was a wonderful person? Hearing him say that made her eyes water up again, causing her smile faintly at him instead of the bright smile she usually showed him. He was so sweet. “You want to try to be married for real?” Now that was something she had never expected for him to say. Especially not since they were pretty much forced into a relationship. “But…you don’t love me. You can’t force yourself to love me. I don’t want you to.” Now that would be brutal and something she didn’t want someone to do for her. That wasn’t right. Even if she knew there was a chance she would end up loving him. Jyn had always had a crush on Ryan but she had always been to shy to act upon it. There was something there which could turn into love but even that wasn’t sure.

“Don’t say that. Any girl should be lucky to have you Ryan.” She knew she was if he would end up loving her. Although Jyn knew she couldn’t think like that cause she knew it wouldn’t happen. Part of her wanted to crawl back into her shell when he said they could try to have a relationship for the hell of it. The other part didn’t want to but that part was not so brave to poor her heart out to him either. She couldn’t tell him that his idea didn’t sound horrible to her. What if he did feel it was awful and she would be sort of alright with it, aside from the whole marriage thing. That would be so embarrassing and again, so not right. “I don’t want you to try something you don’t want to do. I’d never ask you to do something like that for me. But if you really want to then I guess I want that too.” There, the words had been softly said, but she’d said them. Jyn bit her lip, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with this talk they were having. They never talked this much before, let alone talk about something as huge as this.

[Ryan Robins]

"I've never loved anyone before, so I wouldn't know what it's like and how to make it happen Jyn..." His voice was soft as he looked at her, his eyes gentle. "I'm not saying this will work or anything, but I'm willing to give it a shot, as it seems to be the only thing we can do at this moment. If it doesn't work out, we'll at least have some time to figure out what to do next. And if it does, well that would just get rid off all our problems, wouldn't it?" Granted, he didn't like the idea of being married after only two months of dating, but what else could they do right now? Besides, she was a sweet girl, and he really couldn't see a downside to dating her, other than that he might end up hurting her pretty badly.

"It's not going to be easy, but I think we could make this work, if we talk a lot and all. You're a sweet girl, I'd be happy to have someone like you for my girlfriend." He paused for a second, then gave her a quick small smile. "Or in this case, fiancée" It was going to be difficult, especially since she'd have to deal with his disorder, but if anyone could do it, he had faith that Jyn would.

[Jyn McCloudy]

Jyn had never had anyone love her back besides her mother. But that was parental love and not the kind of love she was craving right now. She knew what it was like to be in love but she didn’t know what it was like to have someone to love. To have that person within reach. To have that person want to be loved by you. It took some courage to lock eyes with Ryan again but when she did, she found herself lost in his dark eyes.

She nodded shyly and felt a little better hearing him say all of these things. At last he didn’t seem to be disgusted by her which was a good thing right? “I haven’t either. I’ve never been with someone before.” Sure, she’d been kissed once but the guy had been drunk and it had been a dare. So in a way that didn’t even count did it? “I just…I don’t want you to do something you don’t want. You’re my friend.” It was hard for her to belief that he actually wanted to try all of this. Even if their friendship wasn’t a true friendship it did mean a lot to her.

“It sounds weird doesn’t it? Fiancée...” The words made her blush and force her eyes back on their linked hands. Yesterday she’d been making her homework without a care in the world and now here she was holding hands with her future husband. “I ehm…”, she was trying to build up the courage to be honest with him as it seemed he was being honest with her too. But it went against her nature to speak her mind like this even if she did try to be as open and sweet as he was. “Please don’t laugh but….I’m glad it’s you.” Her cheeks turned a dark shade of red while a tear ran down her face.

Then a second one splashed on her cheek, followed by a third. Only when more seemed to suddenly hit her face Jyn looked up and found herself and Ryan to be sitting under a very dark rain filled cloud. So much for tears. Hello, rain. “Maybe we should go inside…it looks bad.”