A/N: Upon hearing the news of Bella's upcoming wedding, Tom realizes his true feelings for the young girl. Muggle!AU. Tom is Bella's secret older boyfriend. Let's see what happens. I do not own Harry Potter.
Submission for:
The Pirate Ship Battles: Becoming Bound (Married) - Second Mate. Prompts: arrow, bandit, chicken, network, screwdriver
He checks his black-faced watch for the time before looking back to the double doors of the high school. She's late but he tries not to let it bother him. She knows he's a very punctual man so she must have a good reason to have him waiting for ten minutes.
Every Friday, he waits outside the school in his black luxury car to pick her up after her music lessons. It's the only day of the week her parents don't get suspicious when she doesn't come home immediately after school.
He is about to pull out his mobile phone to give her her first warning when he sees the school doors open. She steps outside into the dying sunlight of 4:40pm looking around before she sees his car parked in the usual spot. She shoulders her violin case and makes like a bandit over to the car.
In two seconds, she opens the door and falls into the passenger seat. He makes to caress her cheek, leaning in to receive his greeting kiss but she shrinks away from him. He is surprised, though he does not show it. Normally, she would be all over him, unable to wait for him to take her away from her dreaded violin lessons with Mr Slughorn.
His surprise wants to turn into anger but he controls himself. Being angry at her without knowing the reason will help neither of them, and when she wants to close herself off from the world, she will. Instead, with all the concern he can muster, he asks softly, "What's wrong?"
She glances at him as her body faces the window and says, "It's tradition for a girl my age to be betrothed to family friend's son. My parents have finally decided my intended. I'm to marry Rodolphus Lestrange at the end of the summer after I graduate."
He thinks to himself a moment. Lestrange was a good name. His company had done business with the Lestranges before and they had good money, though not as good as her family's. Lestrange was a wise choice for someone of her standing.
But it means a lot of things for the two of them. They couldn't continue what they had once she was married. She only had a month until graduation and then two months before the wedding, meaning what they had would then cease to exist.
She seems to be watching him out of the corner of her eye, waiting for his reaction, wondering if he will blow his top or tell her to get out. "Tom, I-" she begins, turning her body towards him. He can see she wants to explain or say something but he doesn't need to hear it. It doesn't matter. He puts his hand on hers softly and says, "Let's just go."
After spending a few hours at his home, they load up back into his car and he takes her home. The drive is silent and he can feel a strange tension between them. He had thought all this 'feeling' had disappeared in the bedroom. She certainly wasn't complaining as he took her from behind or she rode him on his grey satin sheets. She had said nothing when he offered her a drink (a Screwdriver, her favourite) and they sat in his kitchen in companionable silence. But now, he felt he could cut the air with a knife.
He stops in front of her front door, her parents none the wiser what their oldest daughter has been doing every Friday behind their back for the last two years with a man who could be her own father. He leans towards her to give her a parting kiss, hoping to alleviate some of the pressure between them but she quickly jumps out of the car and walks to her door. She says nothing, too caught up in her own mind, opens the door and disappears.
He sits there in his car for a moment just staring at the door, the sound of his car engine humming in the background. There is a strange feeling that he really can't place. It feels like longing, concern and even anger, but why should he be feeling this? This was just sex, a casual thing they agreed upon years ago.
He could have any lovely woman he wanted with just the opening of his wallet or the flash of a smile. A high school girl he met one night after a concert he attended on a whim was nothing to desire, nothing to waste emotions on.
He slams his hand on the wheel in frustration before he drives off. Her getting married to some college boy should not bother him in this way. She should be able to be married and he should be able to continue his life and move on.
She checks her black-faced watch, the one that matches his, for the time before looking about the school parking lot. It's Friday, violin lessons have ended, but he isn't here to pick her up. She has tried to call him, all week actually, but he doesn't answer her calls. He doesn't reply to her texts.
She can't pretend and blame it on network problems any longer. He's been ignoring her ever since she told him her news last week. She thought he was stronger than that. She thought he would have the decency to at least end things to her face instead of stringing her along.
She makes up her mind and begins her walk to his home. She will confront him directly and get the answers she deserves.
She stands outside the large gate of his driveway and can spy his luxurious black car parked near the front door. She has never come her on her own before, the whole situation is foreign to her, and she hopes she is not sent away. She puts her hand on the small button on the intercom. "Hello, Frank, this is Bella, here to see Mr Riddle."
There is a pause before the small gate near the intercom opens and she walks towards the open front door where she can see Frank standing. He looks at her strangely but says nothing about her sudden appearance. His employer's business is none of his, so he will not ask questions. He also knows there'll be hell to pay if he sends her away when Mr Riddle was expecting her.
"You didn't show," he hears, causing him to look up from his documents. He cannot hide the surprise on his face as he sees her standing in the doorway of his study. She has never comes to his home by her own means.
"What are you doing here?" he asks, immediately flying into a rage. Oh the nerve of this girl. Does she not know he can do what he wants, especially in his own domain. He could kill her, hide the body and use enough money to make the whole thing never happen.
But she doesn't even flinch at his outburst. He always admired her ability to stay cool under pressure and now it was working against him. "Why have you been ignoring me?" she asks as she steps into the room, throwing her bag onto the chair by the door.
"You shouldn't be here, girl. You are to be married by the end of the summer, so what we have has no place anymore," he says as he walks around his desk towards her. He will let her out and get on with his life like he planned.
She moves out of reach as he nears her, "No, no, you don't get to decide that. You don't get to say that and not even end things with me properly. I waited outside the school for a whole hour before I came here."
"Now you know how I feel when I have to wait for you," he says with a wry smile. "But I'm not waiting any longer. There can be nothing more between us and it would be best if you left."
He tries to grab her again but she moves away. She prods his chest with her index finger and says, "No. I want answers and don't lie to me, because I know the truth. You've been ignoring me because you can't stand the thought of someone else with me. If I'm right, then say so. If I'm wrong, then tell me the real reason. Tell me, then I'll leave of my own accord."
It may have been because she hit the nail right on the head, or maybe because he had finally gotten the nail hit in his own head, but it didn't matter. He suddenly pulls her to him and attacks her mouth hungrily. She responds favourably, her hands finding purchase in the front of his jacket. He lifts her up under her thighs and carries her over to his desk, uncaring that his precious documents are now crushed beneath her. He will show her the real reason.
Her breathing is finally slowing as she rests her head on his chest. He is sure she can hear his own heart hammering in his chest. What just happened was unexpected, unplanned, but it felt so good and so right.
He had been ignoring her calls and her messages all week, thinking if he never had her around then it would make getting over her easier. And it was working for a while. He was caught up in work and had no time to think about her anyway. At night, however, when he lay in his bed alone, he would think of her and wonder what she was doing at moment and if he should just pick up the phone. Seeing her today, however, so angry and flustered, so opinionated and fiery, had been such a turn on, and it made him realize he really couldn't live without her in his life.
"Come away with me," he said in her ear.
"What?" she asked, pulling away from him slightly and looking up into his face. Her dark eyes searched his face for any signs of falsehood or doubt but he was sure she couldn't see any.
"Come away with me," he repeated, tracing patterns on her bare back. "After graduation. You don't have to marry someone if you aren't here."
She chuckles as he makes an outline of an arrow along her collarbone. "You're just saying that because of the endorphins. You don't mean that. You don't need me."
His tracings stop as he says clearly, "I never say anything I don't mean, including everything I said before." He feels her deflate a bit at the reminder, but he continues, "But the thing is, I realized that I need you. I thought if I got rid of you, I wouldn't. Now, I know that was a stupid idea. I need you and I am not just going to give you to some college student"
He resumes his tracing as he says, "So come away with me. I have business to attend to in the United States. We'll be far away and no one will follow us. I can make sure of that."
She stares at him and and he can tell she's thinking hard. It's a big decision really. She's giving up her family, the future she had planned for herself here in London and the boy she was going to marry. All of that would just disappear with this decision. He steels himself to hear a rejection.
"Yes, Tom Riddle, I'll go with you, to the ends of the earth," she says as she kisses him soundly.