Kermit's day had been miserable. He'd dropped his things off in the flat and settled the pets back in. Lulu, bless him, had never actually seen the place and he could hardly blame the puppy for whining when Kermit left for practice.
For the first time, Kermit's mind hadn't been in the game and it had showed with how he played. He'd been hit by a bludger because he'd not swung his bat in time and had a darkened bruise developing along his jawline for his mistake.
Told to go home and sort himself out, it took real effort on Kermit's part not to go to Blaise's house. He had to remind himself that he'd moved out, though he'd never actually moved in to begin with, so he wasn't sure how that worked, but there it was. He sat on the sofa in his flat with his still packed bags on the floor in front of him, doing his best not to cry and failing miserably.
He'd not expected the phone to ring. It was in one of the bags, buried at the bottom where Kermit wouldn't have to take it with him, where he'd not be checking it. Digging through the bag, he took it out and answered without looking to see who it was simply because he'd taken so long answering that if he paused any longer, whoever it was would ring off.
He'd not expected Blaise's voice.
"What's wrong?" he asked, thinking something else terrible must have happened as he wiped at his eyes with the heel of his hand.