My entry for the Next Generation Romance Challenge!
Hope you enjoy it, and as always, any and all reviews are greatly appreciated :)
"Rose, please." A hand gently gripped my wrist. "I need to talk to you." The voice was urgent, desperate even. I sighed before descending the stairs again and turning to face him. Glancing into his silvery eyes for merely a second before looking away. I couldn't, wouldn't, meet his gaze. Not after what he'd done to me.
"What is it?" I asked, slightly irritated. "I have something that I, uh, have to ask you." He said, quickly dropping my wrist. His eyes were fixated on the floor the whole time. He was determined not to look at me. I waited but he made no move to continue speaking. "Well?" I asked, knowing I sounded rude yet not caring in the least.
"Will you take me back?" He shuffled nervously. "I'm extremely sorry." He added, glancing at me once before dropping his gaze once more. The snappy retort I was about to reply with caught in my throat. I blinked in confusion as what he was asking sunk in. Take him back? That was most definitely not what I had been expecting. I began to consider his question, not wishing to rush into anything just because I still felt for him.
'You have to say no.' A tiny voice inside my head whispered. 'If you say yes you're going to regret it later.' I agreed a little with the voice. What if he does it again? I don't think I could handle that. I only just got used to not having him around for me all the time. He screwed me over, cheated on me, and now he was asking for me back.
Who does he think he is anyway? He can't just take girls hearts and break them, leaving them with only scars and memories. Only someone with a soul of ice could do that. 'His soul is made of ice.' The voice whispered again. 'You were just to in love to notice.' The words sent an ache through my chest, and I wished I could deny it, though I knew the words were true.
On the other hand though, I remembered friends telling me that he asked if I talked about him and if I still loved him, numerous times. That he often asked people if I would ever take him back. He must care, I thought to myself. That caused my face to lighten with a slight smile, which was the happiest facial expression I'd shown in a while. I remembered all of the times since he left that I'd wanted him, needed him to be there.
'But you're stronger than that now.'
I supposed that was true, but being stronger didn't erase the pain that I still felt. If I went back to him, what then? The pain would be gone, I'd have my shoulder to cry on, my friend to lean on back, but I would lose all the strength I'd gained over the past few weeks. I would always be paranoid of him betraying me again. Did I really want to go through all of that, just for him?
After he left, I had spent nights eating ice cream and crying, refusing to leave my room, until my cousins finally convinced me to let it go and that it was time to move on. Even after that, it was still painful seeing him chase other girls, knowing he didn't care about me anymore, that maybe he never had. I had wished that I could forget our first dance, dinner, and kiss. That I could forget every single promise we had ever made with each other because he had broken them all. Every. Single. One.
The memories of the pain I had gone through were strong, but even stronger than that was the memories of the laughter and the love. The way he kissed me passionately at the Yule Ball, and told me he had never seen anyone as beautiful as I. The time we lay in silence under the stars, enjoying the serenity of the night. Even the day so many long years ago that we had our first fight and ran to my favourite tree where he later sought me out to apologize, telling me, for the first time, that he loved me and never wanted to let me go. If I said no to him, I'd never experience anything like that again. Sure, I'd meet other guys and fall in love again, but none would ever be as wonderful, as innocent as my first love.
I had come to my decision, and though later I would regret it, wish I could change my mind, I knew it was the only choice that could bring me true happiness.
I took a step towards him, closing the distance between us, and wrapped my arms tightly around him in a hug, resting my head on his chest. He sighed and breathed gently into my ear. "Rose, I've missed you so much." A slight smile played at my lips. I lifted my head and kissed him tenderly, letting all the emotion I felt into that one kiss. He kissed me back and we stood there for a minute, the image of the perfect couple, before I reluctantly broke the kiss. "I love you." He whispered, and as our eyes met for the first time in weeks, I knew that it was true, that it always had been true, and I also knew that I had made the right decision. "I love you too." he brushed his lips against mine again. "But I can't take you back." My arms slid from around him and I turned quickly, hurling myself up the stairs to my room, unable to look at the pain on his face.
I was in love with Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy, and a part of me always would be, but our being together would only end in heartbreak, and I wasn't sure if I could survive that again. I knew that he wouldn't ask me again. That, although he loved me, soon enough he would move on and I would be forced to watch him fall in love with other girls. The only thing that consoled me, was the fact that I'd gotten closure, that I was free fom heartache at last. A single tear fell from my eye and streaked down my face. I took a deep breath, and wiped away the last tear I would ever cry for Scorpius.