They were like fire and ash. So similar, yet so different.
She was beautiful; lively.
Destructive.
And he became lost, scarred and totally in love with her
When Aliana first met him, she didn't know that he was going to be this important to her.
In fact, she hated him.
Aliana didn't know that Draco would contradict everything that she had thought and misjudged about him. Draco proved to her that he was anything but selfish. Over time, she learned that he cared much too deeply about those he loved.
She didn't expect for him to be kind. He had an awkward tenderness of someone who was never loved by anyone and forced to improvise. But that was the part she loved about him the most.
She didn't know that he would reach past all the barriers that she put up. That Draco would still care despite the horrors he saw in her that she tried so desperately to hide from the rest of the world. He surprised her again and again when he stayed with her to mend her broken life.
She didn't expect for them to become so close. There were parts of Aliana that were glad they did and there were parts of her that wished they didn't. All too often she remembered all the altercations they had, all the days that passed by when they tried to avoid each other. Although, after that, they learned that neither of them could live without being near each other.
She couldn't understand why people didn't see the good in Draco. Underneath the facade he showed the world, she saw a man broken by years of tragedy and pain, forced to do the unspeakable. Not the monster everyone said he was or even the monster Draco believed he was. In her mind, he was her hero.
He was her love.
No—it was more than that.
He was her family.
These are the things she wished she no longer understood. Because if she did, maybe it wouldn't kill her to see him like this.
Draco knew that this was the only way.
He knew the moment he disobeyed his father that she could have possibly been the worst decision he could have ever made at the time. Although, he never regretted making that decision even once. He'd risk the wrath of his father a million times over if it meant he'd get to spend one more second with her.
He knew that she was different the moment he showed her the smallest amount of kindness that he never gave to anyone. The fact that she had somehow wormed her way into his heart, and made him say and do things terrified him at first. In the end, he realized that he wouldn't trade those awkward times for anything. It was in times like those that he understood what living was.
Draco knew that he cared for Aliana when he helped piece her broken mind back together. He always wished that he could have erased the injustices that happened to you because you never, ever deserved to go through them. He wished that he could drive those terrible memories from your mind and grant you peace. Yet, it was one of the reasons that brought you two closer together.
Draco knew he loved her whenever she wasn't there. After all, any time they spent apart was like slowly drowning underwater. There were times when functioning properly without her was impossible. Looking back, he always regretted whenever they wasted time arguing about trivial matters.
Draco also knew that she had claimed his heart when he couldn't bear the thought of her dying. A life without her seemed bleak and not worth living. That's why he knew that if he didn't push her away that he'd hurt her—destroy her even. So, he did it to protect her, even if it meant sacrificing his safety for hers. Yet, it broke him to see her face fall when he lied to save her from his cruel fate.
He knew that she was the source of his joy and contentment, the light in his dark world for so many years.
He knew that he screwed up any chances he had for a future with her. Any hope and dreams he had to love and cherish her as she deserved were gone in a blink of an eye.
Draco knew in that moment that he stopped wishing for prestige and wealth a long time ago.
He just wanted her.
His legs gave out and he crumpled to the ground; sobbing for the one good thing he had lost. He began to curse the day they met. He despised the way she wove her way into his life undeterred by all the baggage he shouldered. The way he found himself caring for her when he knew it would only end up like this.
He cursed the heavens for the responsibility forced onto his life from the very beginning. He cursed the path of fate that he was destined to follow. his father had before him and wished that things would have been different this time around.
It was unfair.
Every time he looks at her, he sees everything he's ever wanted. Yet, whenever he looks at himself, he sees nothing she deserves. Could she even bear to look at him if she knew what he had done?
Draco knew it was better this way, but that didn't mean it wouldn't destroy him to push her away.
He wished he no longer understood these things. Because if he did, maybe it wouldn't kill him to see her like this.
He had no idea that when they first met each other, that she would be so important to him.