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Chapter 11
I wake up with a headache. The space in bed next to me is empty. As I rub my eyes, I deduce that Perry either worked all night or slept on the couch.
Serves him right.
I stumble out of bed and head to the bathroom, rinsing my face with cold water before taking a sip of potion to ease the pain behind my eyes.
I barely see where I'm going as I walk down the stairs, eyelids drooping, but when I reach the kitchen I force myself to wake up.
Perry is sitting at the table with the Sunday Times. Upon seeing me, he jumps up and pours me a bowl of cereal.
I don't even like Bran Flakes, I think to myself before I can temper my temper.
"Morning, babe," he says tentatively, passing me the cereal as I take a seat across from him. "Sleep well?" I raise my eyebrows at him in silence and he takes this as his cue to continue talking. "I'm really sorry about last night," he begins in a rush. "I didn't mean anything that I said. I was just feeling jealous. James and Al must've gotten in my head, making comments about you and Malfoy."
At the mention of Malfoy's name, I feel my heart speed up slightly but choose to ignore it. "Right," I say with little emotion. "Apology accepted."
We sit in uncomfortable silence, Perry reading his paper while I eat my subpar cereal. After a few minutes, I decide to apologize as well in the spirit of moving on, but I make a point to retract nothing that I said last night.
"I'm sorry as well," I say, somewhat reluctantly.
Sorry for arguing, but not sorry for what I said.
Perry immediately cracks a huge smile and I look back at my cereal rather than returning it. I twirl my spoon around in the dregs at the bottom of my bowl, unsure of how to say anything without sounding totally rude.
Eventually, I decide to go take a shower and when I arrive back downstairs a while later, Perry is pacing back and forth across the living room. He stops and faces me as I take a seat on the couch, curling my legs up beneath me. I raise my eyebrows at him.
"I know this comes at a horrible time…" he begins slowly. I wait expectantly, figuring he's been called into work and just cannot say no. Like always.
"I just got a call from my boss. They need me to fly to the states for a week." He looks at me nervously, meeting my blank stare.
"Okay," I say dryly. "When do you leave?" I feel my anger rising, but I know it's not worth it to start a fight.
He sends me an apologetic look. "In a few hours."
I sit silently for a minute, thinking to myself. Typical. Why would I expect anything else?
Perry eventually leaves the room and I hear him opening and closing drawers upstairs. I make the slow climb to the bedroom and stand in the doorway, watching him pack his things.
"When will you be back?" I ask stiffly.
He doesn't look up from his packing as he responds. "Next Sunday."
"Terrific," I say, voice full of contempt. He doesn't respond and suddenly my anger disappears. I'm left with a feeling of emptiness, finding that Perry leaving for the week leaves me rather emotionless. Indifferent.
"I'll take you to the airport," I say briskly before turning to walk back down the stairs.
An hour later, I apparate with Perry to the airfield. He keeps up a steady flow of conversation as I wait for him to make his way to the front of the security line, but I provide little response. When we finally make it to the roped off section of the line, I turn to him.
"You have your cell phone charged, right?" he asks and I nod my head. Yep. The stupid muggle phone.
"I'll call you when I land. See you in a week!" He plasters a smile on his face, but the slight grin I return is forced and fake. I stand on the tips of my toes and give him a peck before turning to leave.
As I walk back outside and apparate home, I get the feeling that Perry and I are on a downward spiral and he's definitely not willing to try to bounce back.
Maybe I'm not either.
By the time Wednesday rolls around, I'm in a worse mood than ever. I've heard from Perry exactly one time. When he landed.
Luckily, work has been fairly bearable. Malfoy seems to have sensed my misery this week. He's been uncharacteristically agreeable. At the end of the day on Wednesday, we are working through some reporting, chatting casually, when my cell phone rings. I jump slightly and pull it out of my bag.
"Hello?" I say into the receiver, getting up to walk across the room for some privacy.
"Hey, babe! Sorry I haven't called in a couple days! I've been so busy, and there's the time difference, ya know." Excuses of course. I hear the sound of many voices in the background as Perry continues. "New York is great, though! I can only chat for a minute or two, but I just wanted to check in with you. I've got a big lunch with some clients. This has been a great opportunity for me so far! I'll have to fill you in when I get back to the U.K."
He pauses for some air and I interject, "Good to hear from-"
"Oh, piss," he interrupts, "I'm getting another call. I've gotta go, but I'll call you soon! Love you!"
I hear the background noise come to an abrupt halt as he hangs up. "Yeah," I mumble to myself, "Love you, too."
I drop my hand from my ear to my side and walk back toward the table that Malfoy and I have slowly claimed as our own. As I throw myself roughly into my chair, he eyes me suspiciously.
"I'm guessing that was the fiancé?" I shoot him a glare and toss the phone back into my bag. I told him on Monday that Perry was going to be out of town for the week and until now, he's avoided mentioning him. We work in silence as I contemplate the level of rudeness with which Perry approaches every situation.
I've barely made any progress on the report in front of me when Malfoy stands up and stretches. I glance at the clock on the wall. Time to leave.
I slowly pack up my things, but Malfoy patiently waits.
"You don't have to wait up, you know," I say sharply, meeting his eye for a second or two. He puts up his hands in defense.
"No need to snap at me, Thorny," he says cheekily. "As you know, I hate talking to the goblins, and walking with you gets me out of stopping to chat. Haven't we discussed this before?"
I roll my eyes and stand up, picking up my bag in the process. "Using me for personal gain, I see. What else is new?" He bumps his shoulder into mine as I fall into stride next to him. I feel my heart race slightly, but put it to the back of my mind.
"So," he starts as we reach the stairs to the main level, "What's up with you this week?"
I shoot him a warning glare, but he doesn't take the hint.
"Oh, don't give me that. Normally, I can attribute your misery to your stunning personality, but you've been uncharacteristically gloomy the past few days." When I don't respond, he continues. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it's Perry that's pissing you off. Or maybe you're just peeved at me for some reason. After all, you do claim to hate-"
"Do you want to go get something to eat?" I blurt out in the middle of his sentence.
Yeah, no need to think before speaking, I think to myself sarcastically.
I stop walking and give him a hard look. He turns to face me. "What?" he says with a look of disbelief, grey eyes betraying confusion and something I can't quite decipher.
I roll my eyes and feel my stomach jump at the thought of rejection. "You heard me," I say, trying to relax.
He breaks into a dazzling grin. "You are voluntarily going to spend time with me?" he asks with an obnoxious level of charm, taking a few more steps into the entryway. As if I wasn't regretting this decision enough.
"What is the reason for this, pray tell? Or maybe I can guess." We stop in the middle of the entrance hall and he takes a step toward me. "Option one: You're so bored with your life because Perry is out of town that you're willing to go to dinner with your self-proclaimed worst enemy." His grin widens. "Or option two: You're pissed that he never spends time with you so you're trying to spend time with me for revenge." He waits expectantly and I sigh and can't help but chuckle slightly.
"Maybe it's a little of both," I say through a smirk. He immediately looks dramatically offended.
"Used by Rose Weasley! So callous! So cruel!" I laugh outright this time as he suddenly grabs my hand. I immediately feel goosebumps form up and down my arm, spreading from the point of contact.
Before I can react, I see him smile and almost immediately feel the familiar sensation of being sucked through a rather constricting tube. Seconds later, we land in an empty alleyway off of a busy street.
"A little warning would be nice, you know!" I say with annoyance, but Malfoy ignores it and pulls me into the street by the hand he still holds.
"Where are we?" I ask, as he weaves me through the throngs of people. We stop in front of a nondescript building and begin to climb the steps to the front door.
He turns to face me, finally letting go of my hand. I feel a slight sinking sensation as he pulls away, but decidedly ignore it.
"London," he starts with excitement, "but this is more of a muggle area than what you're probably used to. Come on." He opens the door of the building and we begin to climb a winding set of stairs. For some reason, I feel myself trusting him, blindly following him without a second thought. We walk across more than a few landings and climb several flights before reaching a door at the top of the steps.
"Jesus, Malfoy. I'm going to have to eat a mountain of food to gain back the calories I just burned. Where the hell are we going?"
He gestures widely with his arms. "Here," he says simply. I look at the door in front of us and see "Eric's" written in small letters. Malfoy opens the door and we are met with a large room that must stretch across the top of several adjacent buildings. The roof is made of glass, much like a greenhouse, and there are numerous tables peppered throughout, absorbing the remaining sunlight of the day.
I look at Malfoy in awe. "What is this place?" I ask incredulously, spotting a large open kitchen toward the left side of the restaurant.
"It's only the best breakfast place around," he says through a grin. "Come on, we'll seat ourselves." He leads me to a table in the center of the room and continues talking. "This is a muggle place, as you can probably tell looking at the kitchen. I'm not lying when I say it's the best, though. Sure, it's convenient for witches and wizards to heat up food with the flick of a wand, but nothing beats pancakes hot off a cast iron skillet."
We sit down at the table and I feel his eyes on me as I look around.
I love breakfast, I think to myself. He had to have planned this. There's no way he randomly decided to take me somewhere like this. He had to have known.
"So, what do you think?" he asks, looking at me with a knowing grin. He passes me a menu from the center of the table. As I take in the pictures on the front cover of heaping piles of waffles with whipped cream and fruit, I laugh.
"I'm impressed so far," I say with a grin. "I'm assuming you know that breakfast food is my favorite."
"Mmhmm," he agrees casually, looking over the menu. "And since you show up late to work nearly every day, I'm assuming you're rushing around and never have time for breakfast. So here ya go."
I smile at him and feel genuinely happy for the first time this week.
How is it possible that the guy I've hated for most of my life is able to make me feel this way, but they guy I love just makes me miserable?
Do I really love him, though?
I scan the menu and try to pick out what I want, distancing my mind from whatever path it was straying down and instead feel overwhelmed by all of the breakfast options.
"I have no idea what to get," I say, more to myself than to Malfoy. Muffins, waffles, pancakes, French toast. It all looks delicious.
Malfoy folds his menu and eyes me thoughtfully. "What are your top choices?"
I can't help but think of how annoyed Perry gets whenever I can't make a decision at a restaurant. I resist the urge to scowl.
"I think I'm between banana-stuffed French toast, blueberry pancakes, or loaded chocolate chip waffles. Any recommendations since you're the expert?"
Before he can answer, a wiry young man with acne and pale skin approaches our table.
"Drinks?" he asks with boredom.
I respond quickly. "I'll have a glass of water, please." He turns to Malfoy.
"I'll take water as well. And we're ready to order." My eyes widen and I scan the menu, trying to make a last minute decision. Typical Malfoy.
But instead of forcing me to choose what I want, he surprises me, flicking his eyes to mine before asking, "Can we get the banana French toast, blueberry pancakes, chocolate chip waffles, and a big bowl of breakfast potatoes on the side?" I look at him in awe. The wiry teen writes down the order and walks away, not saying another word.
Malfoy flashes an irresistible grin my way. I feel my heart jump to my throat. "You didn't have to order everything!" I say with disbelief.
"Never compromise if you don't have to," he says simply, still grinning at me. I feel my heart trying to catch my brain's attention, but instead of listening to it, I turn my eyes toward the dessert menu. We sit in comfortable silence for a while as I try to stop myself from unintentionally comparing Malfoy to Perry.
Once our food arrives, I shake my head and laugh again. "This is way too much food for two people!" I exclaim, piling my plate high with everything we ordered. "The bill is going to be massive. The amount of potatoes they gave us alone is probably enough to feed a family of five." Malfoy chuckles.
"Relax, Weasley. Live a little."
We both begin eating, but my newfound dinner companion soon breaks the silence with the start of a new conversation. "So, seriously, Thorny. What's been up with you this week?"
I sigh heavily and bring my eyes up to meet his. "You haven't figured out that I don't want to talk about it?"
He smirks. "I just think you shouldn't bottle up your anger. Anyways," he takes another bite of food, "did you really think you could invite me to dinner and get an entire meal with no questions?"
I swallow a large bite of food and say, point blank, "Yeah. That's exactly what I thought, actually."
He points his fork at me. "Just trying to be a friend, friend." I roll my eyes and he continues, unprompted. "If it is Perry that's got you in a tailspin, then I'll flat out tell you my unsolicited opinion. You deserve better."
I shoot him a glare, fully prepared to tell him off for being nosey, but the genuine look in his eyes makes me answer without thinking.
"Fine," I say sharply, "I had a fight with him Saturday night."
Why? Why tell Malfoy? Bloody stupid.
He watches me closely. "What about?"
Oh, just you and how it's clear that there's something between us that I'm not willing to acknowledge.
This time, I think before speaking and choose to leave out the part about Perry's jealousy.
"About how he is constantly working. What else? And then he flew off to America barely twelve hours later." I say this nonchalantly, but I see a seriousness behind Malfoy's eyes that makes my heart race. I take another bite of waffle to calm my nerves.
Calm down. It's just Malfoy. The guy you've hated since the day you met him.
And the guy I asked to dinner.
We sit in silence for a while. I focus on the dwindling food on my plate, but feel his eyes on me. He eventually breaks the silence, speaking quietly, but I hear him clear as day.
"If I was in Perry's position, I wouldn't spend a single second away from you that wasn't absolutely necessary."
His words hang between us as my heart pounds. I snap my eyes to his and his silver orbs coerce me into saying something extremely stupid.
"I wish…" I stop short.
Wish what? Wish he was Perry? Wish he was the guy I'm spending my life with?
I feel like his eyes can see right through me and I sense the heat rising in my neck. I look back to my breakfast.
"What's going on with us, Weasley?" he asks quietly after a minute or so.
The million dollar question.
I meet his eyes once more and feel my stomach jump as he tries to read what I'm thinking. His hair hangs messily over his forehead, the evening light streaming through the glass roof making him look more handsome than ever. The sincerity behind his eyes makes me more nervous than I've ever felt around anyone.
"What do you mean?" I ask with forced ignorance, attempting to sound casual, but hearing my voice shake.
He gives me a hard look. "You know what I mean."
"I-"
"How was everything today?" The bored waiter saves me from coming up with a response. I turn to look at him, avoiding Malfoy's eye. Neither of us responds and the waiter takes this as his cue to continue. "We'll take this up front whenever you're ready." He sets bill on the table and walks away, leaving tense silence in his wake.
I push my clean plate away and clear my throat.
Seriously, though. What is going on with us?
I sneak a glance at Malfoy, but immediately put my face in my hands in exhaustion when he catches my eye.
Ugh. Get it together, Rose.
When I look up again, I see him looking at the bill. I reach into my bag, rifling around for some money. Anything to occupy myself.
"What's the damage?" I ask, trying to return a sense of normalcy to the table. That is, if Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy eating dinner together can ever be considered normal.
He shoots me a trademark smirk, but there is a genuine grin hidden somewhere underneath it. I look back to my bag before he can catch my unintentional smile.
"Don't worry about it, Weasley. I got this one." I raise an eyebrow and watch him pull some muggle money from his pocket.
"There is no way I'm letting you pay for me, Scorpius," I shoot back argumentatively, the tension of a few minutes ago easing. "I'm the one who asked you to dinner, so if anyone should be paying, it should be me!"
He laughs and stands up, giving me a you'll-never-win-this-one look. "How about this? You can pay next time."
I stand up and follow him to the cash register at the front of the restaurant, leaving all tension behind at the table. "Hmm," I say suspiciously. "Seems like that's a ploy to get me to hang out with you again."
He hands his money to a peppy-looking girl behind the counter. I notice her watching him closely. Her cheeks heat up when he smiles at her before he turns to face me. I feel my eyes roll toward the ceiling, unable to break the habit.
"Ingenious, isn't it?" he asks cockily. "I figure the only way you'll go out with me again is if you feel like you owe me."
He takes his change and I elbow him in the side as we make our way to the door.
"Ingenious if I actually agree," I point out and he laughs.
I really like that laugh.
"Come on, Rose," he counters, voice dripping with charm, "You know you can't resist me."
"Please, Scorpius. I've been resisting you for years."
"Ahh, but that means that there is indeed something to resist," he counters without missing a beat.
He flashes a dazzling grin and my heart stops for a brief second. Curse that Malfoy smile.
"See ya tomorrow, Thorny," he says cheekily, locking his eyes to mine once more. And then, in a heartbeat, he's gone.
I apparate back to my flat and take a seat on my stoop, watching the sun set behind a row of townhomes.
Something to resist, indeed.
A/N: Here it is, a day early again! Hope you all enjoyed! Thanks to all of the readers/favoriters/followers, and especially reviewers! You guys help me improve my writing every day and give me so many things to think about! Another shout-out to someone with no PM capabilities: Thank you, DaughterOfTerpsichore, for your kind words and reviews!
So of course, I hope you all let me know what you thought of this chapter... I love reading your thoughts! We are slowly but surely approaching 100 reviews, so let's keep it up! :)
Also, just a note... Next chapter is one that you definitely will not want to miss! ;)
