Elio woke up next to two naked girls. Thank Merlin they weren't cuddling him. Elio didn't do cuddling. He didn't do cuddling or kissing or any of that unnecessary romantic shit. In his experience, it usually led to mixed signals even though he told them in advance that he wanted nothing more than a good lay. But, alas, women wanted him and who was he to say no? He never lied—his mother detested lying too much for him to do it—and he couldn't help it if they thought he would change his mind. He never did. He didn't do relationships. What did he do? Shit like this.

He sat up but immediately regretted it. Fuck. His head was pounding. It felt like someone had let a dragon loose inside of his skull. In times like these, Elio had but two options: brew some potion and tough it out for a few hours or drink more and delay the hangover a little longer. When he saw the half-drunk bottle of firewhisky on the floor, he knew what to do. He took a swig, swirling it around his mouth for a few moments and resolving to drink more when he was at home.

Elio rubbed at his eyes before standing up, seeing his discarded trousers and shirt on the floor. They would be noticeably wrinkled, which meant that he risked his mother murdering him when he walked through the door even more. Then again, she probably would murder him anyway.

What even happened last night? He remembered firewhisky, lots of it with Scorpius and Albus as Scorpius ranted about something his parents were doing this weekend. But after that, his memory was gone. The only reminders of what happened were the two women in the bed and the lingering taste of alcohol on his breath. He didn't even know where he was. Some girly, frilly room that was horribly decorated. He had never brought a girl home so he wasn't surprised, though usually he left when they fell asleep so his mother wouldn't quite know what sort of debauchery her son was committing.

Yup. She was definitely going to kill him. Shame, too. He was too pretty to die this young.

As Elio did the buttons on his shirt, he looked down at the girls. They weren't even that attractive. Decent faces, yes, and the blonde one on the right had a good pair of tits but that was about it. È la vita. It's life, as his father would say in the swift Italian tongue that he and Elio shared. Fucking was fucking. Who was he to complain?

"You're awake," the dark girl purred while the blonde one stirred. She was the one with the good ass, though he was usually more of a tits man himself. Perhaps that was why his eye kept darting to the blonde instead. "Ready for more?"

She was eyeing his dick hungrily. Elio was used to it. To put it simply: he knew he had a good body. Women always eyed his penis like it was the next messiah, which certainly helped his already massive ego. His body was tall and toned, his brown hair messy, and his eyes a dark, deep blue that offset against his tan skin. Elio knew he was attractive. Why deny facts? Why be humble when everyone constantly remarked how pretty and handsome he was? Was he going to call them liars? Or was he going to accept the compliment with a smile and, if they were good-looking, a good fuck? To him, that decision seemed easy.

"Sorry, ladies," Elio said because he couldn't remember their names. There was no point in learning them now when he was never planning on seeing them again. "I regrettably have to go."

The blonde one writhed on the bed, bringing Elio's attention down to her pink cunt. Fuck, he wanted another lay. His dick was already hard with want and he really didn't have to use his hand later when there were two salivating women here practically begging to let him bury himself inside. But he didn't have time. He was already risking his mother's wrath as it was, coming home in the morning instead of at night. "But sweetheart—"

"No names," he growled because names were romantic and he didn't do romance. Romance meant needing someone and Elio didn't need anyone. Sometimes, when he was alone and sober in his bedroom (usually after his mother scolded him for another night like one of these), he thought he might have felt pangs of loneliness. The feeling that this wasn't how his life was meant to be, that there was something (or someone) missing from it all. But then Elio just took a few drinks and found some girl to fuck. That usually took care of the feelings for a while.

He didn't like having feelings. He liked being a man women went to when they wanted to feel satisfied. He liked pounding into them or feeling their mouths on his cock or watching their eyes darken as they stared at him. He didn't like those little lies in his head that said, This isn't who you want to be. You want someone to see you for who you are, not just a body. Again, lies. He was nothing more than a good time and he liked it like that.

The blonde pouted. "I'm so horny." Merlin, she was a slut for it being eight in the morning. But so was he so who was he to judge? He was horny too. In his experience, being satisfied was far better than whatever emptiness came whenever the lust and the drunkness left him.

"Sorry, but I really do have to go." He flashed them a charming grin. "Your lips will be all that I think of today." No, they wouldn't be. He couldn't give a fuck about them. There were thousands of other girls, thousands of pairs of tits, thousands of pussies. None of them were special, not to him. He'd probably spend tonight lying with someone else who would be equally less memorable. And that's fine. That's how you want to be. Just a body. Just a cock.

The blonde whined before turning to the darker girl next to her and kissing her open-mouthed, their legs tangling in the sheets as they writhed against each other, the only sound in the room being that of cores slapping together. Fuck. Elio could feel himself growing hard at the sight. Two women hungrily consuming each other, pussies moving against each other in tandem to remind him of the way they could move against him? Like that wasn't going to make his dick strain in his pants. When the darker girl side-eyed him, he knew it must have been their plan. And fuck if it wasn't working seeing two women pleasure themselves with each other to the thought of him.

The blonde girl moaned loudly—probably faking most of it but its effect was all the same—as the other girl's hands thrust inside her and her mouth descended on her tit. He wished it was his hands, his mouth. Who cares if he didn't know them? He was a guy with needs, ones that they could clearly satisfy.

"I need more," the girl whined, looking at him with a mouth that begged to be fucked. "More."

"Fuck it," Elio cursed, running his hands through his messy hair. He was already undoing his belt and shirt while they licked their lips, looking at his large cock. "I guess one more round won't hurt, ladies."

⋆ ⭒ ˚ . ⋆ ⭒ ˚ . ⋆

Well, one more round did hurt. A lot. Plus... it was more than just one round. The taste of the dark girl's pussy still lingered on his tongue from when he licked it off his fingers while the feeling of the other one's on his cock was on his mind. Elio took a swig of the firewhisky bottle in his hand, hoping that his mother would forgive him for reeking of alcohol more than reeking of sex. She didn't seem to like him fucking around like this but when two ladies wanted to be fucked, who was he to refuse? If anything, it was a kindness, giving them what they wanted. Over and over and over.

But, oh, how Elio wished he refused when he walked through the door and saw Ariana Nott's furious expression.

His mother pulled his ear roughly and dragged him to the den where a fire was already going. Was it winter already? He hadn't noticed. This year felt like one sex-crazed, drunken blur. And what a beautiful year it was. "Elio Lorenzo Nott!" she hissed. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Ouch, Mummy," he said, rubbing at his ear, hoping that the nickname would help his case.

It didn't.

"Don't you 'Mummy' me, Elio! You were gone for THREE DAYS! Your friends had no idea where you were and now you come waltzing in the door at three in the afternoon smelling like sex and booze like it's nothing! Do you have any idea how worried I was? Your father? Your friends? No one could find you! What if you had died? What if you were in Azkaban? What would that have done to your poor 'Mummy?'"

Fuck, three days? I've been gone for that long? And yet the only thing he regretted was not being there longer. How often was it that two women were that willing to pleasure him, to focus solely on him? Elio didn't eat girls out—he was a receiver, not a giver in bed—and it was rare when he found someone he didn't need to explain that to.

His mother began to walk around the room, running her hands through her dark hair. Her eyes, blue just like his own, were laden with dark circles. Did she not sleep for three days? His mother had never been a fan of Elio's excessive partying but she had never lost sleep over it. Guilt began to seep into Elio. He loved his mother. He didn't want to worry her like this.

"Mummy, I'm sorry—"

"Sorry doesn't cut it, Elio! Not this time." Oh, Merlin. She was mad. No, she was furious. Elio had never seen her like this. Ariana Nott was always fairly easy-going and when she wasn't, his father would talk sense into her. But his father didn't seem to be there and his mother might possibly be beyond all reasoning.

"You are twenty-three years old," she continued, fuming under her breath as she paced around the room. Elio just sat on the ground in shame, his clothes rumpled as much as his hair, a few buttons askew, lipstick marks all over his collarbone, eyes red from the pain of a hangover. He was still clutching the bottle of liquor like it was a lifeline. Yeah, this was not going to be good. "I understood you being a little wild when you were at Hogwarts because your father was too. But what I do not understand is why you have not settled down. You don't have a job, you've never had a serious relationship, and you can hardly go one night without drinking. You've gotten out of hand, Elio. Things are going to start changing. Now."

What the hell could she mean by that? Changing? Surely she couldn't do much. He was an adult! So what if he didn't have a job? He'd be taking over his father's businesses when he was ready to retire anyway. So what if he'd never had a serious relationship? He didn't want one. So what if he liked to drink? So did loads of other people.

"Mummy, you're angry. Let's not overthink this before it goes too far," Elio said calmly, flashing a puppy dog face in her direction. He was a mummy's boy after all and she had always treated him like a little angel. Ocean-blue eyes almost always worked on her.

Keyword: Almost.

"No, Elio. You've gone too far." Three nights of drinking and fucking hardly seemed like going too far. "I didn't want to do this but you leave me no choice."

His heart sank. What could she be talking about? No choice for what?

Ariana looked at him with piercing eyes that told him there was no arguing with whatever she was about to say. Elio gulped with nervousness. "You're done. No more drinking, no more nights out with friends, no more random women. From now on, you will spend every night at home sober. You will go with us to the pureblood events and you will enter the marriage mart."

"Marriage?!" He exclaimed. Oh, fuck no. If he couldn't even touch a girl outside of sex, how the fuck did she expect him to get married?

"I'm not saying you have to take a wife this year but you can at least meet and court some nice young ladies starting tomorrow with the Malfoy Masquerade Ball." The ball. That's what Scorpius was complaining about. His parent's bloody ball. Scorpius's mother—Mrs. Malfoy—was notorious for planning extravagant parties, the largest being the three-day Masquerade Ball. It was meant to introduce potential matches without the pretenses of looks or titles. Elio just thought that it was all stupid. He didn't want a wife, he didn't want love, and he didn't want romance.

"Mummy, please."

Her eyes softened ever so slightly. "I'm sorry, baby, but you have gone too far. I just want to see you happy."

"I am happy!" he insisted.

She shook her head sadly before walking over and cupping his cheek. This was the gentle mother he knew. The woman who fed him soup when he was sick, who held him as she read stories at night, who comforted him when he cried. Not the ear-pulling furious woman from before. "Baby, you're not. You might think you are but you're not. I can see it in your eyes and a mother always knows. You're lonely."

He was not lonely. What kind of idea was that? He had loads of friends and even more women eagerly lining up for him. His parents were loving, his aunt and uncle were always present, his parents' friends were constantly visiting, and his grandfather was at least cordial. Elio used to wish he had siblings—back before he learned that his mother struggled to birth him and couldn't bear any more—but he hadn't wished that since he was a child. Who else could he need? The little lies when he was alone in his room were just that. Lies. He wasn't missing anything or anyone. That was ridiculous.

But his mother didn't waver. Fuck, this was beginning to both worry and piss him off. No more drinking? No more parties and women and fun? What the fuck was he supposed to do? Be bored for the rest of his life with a dull housewife who only wanted to do missionary?

Oh fuck no. Elio wasn't going to put up with this. Not one bit.

"And Dad is just going to let you auction me off like a prized bull? Just like that? Like I mean nothing?"

"Don't word it like that—" His mother began but a deeper voice cut her off.

"And don't talk to your mother like that."

Elio gulped. "Hi, Dad."

Theodore Nott walked into the room with a stern look on his face. Here's the thing about Elio and his Dad's relationship: they were both so similar and yet so different. Yes, they shared their looks and Elio got his height from his dad—though he could proudly say that he was an inch taller than the old man—and while they both were wild boys at times, they were also very different. Theo settled down with Elio's mum almost as soon as he met her. He quit smoking, drinking, really everything fun. Plus, Theo was always quiet and calm and Elio was... not. He liked being the charming center of attention. So what?

His dad was almost always on his side, defending Elio to his mum whenever it seemed like things were getting out of hand. Because even if they had their differences, the Nott boys understood each other. But if his dad wasn't on his side now?

Well, Elio was toast then.

"Please," Elio begged for one last time. "Please don't make me do this. I'll calm down a little. Just no balls, no wife, no."

His father shook his head. "Sorry, son, but your mother is right." Elio rolled his eyes. Of course he said that. His dad was whipped, just another reason why Elio didn't ever want to be married. Why would he give himself up to a woman like that? Sounded horrid.

"You should find someone special, Elio," his father continued, this time in a little calmer voice, like he was talking to a child who needed to see reason. But Elio wasn't a child and this didn't seem like reason. "I had no idea what I was missing out on until I met your mother and now I can't imagine living without her. You will find someone who will make you feel like you are on top of the world, a woman who has hung the stars for you, who brings out a better man inside of you."

"What's wrong with who I am now?"

"Nothing, baby," his mother said quickly. Too quickly. Elio looked at her with suspicion. Did she truly believe something was wrong with him? If so, why did her voice crack? Why was she staring at him, pleading with him to see reason when Elio thought he was being perfectly reasonable in the first place? "We just want you happy with someone you love. That's all."

Elio sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

"No," his parents replied in unison.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. He was really going to have to go to this bloody masquerade ball. He was really going to have to talk to dull women. He was really going to have to find a fucking wife. Yeah, fuck, sounded about like the right word to be going through his mind.

"Then I guess I'm going to a ball."

AHHHH, you requested it and now it's HERE! The story about Theo & Aria's son and Tom & Evelyn's daughter! For those of you that are new: you can read Smoke & Stars and Darkness & Devotion to read the love story of their parents. I can't guarantee this story will be full-length (it might be a novella or something, we'll see) but I think it'll be really good.

I just love Elio already. Yeah, he's a bit of a player but he's just a pretty boy who needs love. Very much giving Benedict Bridgerton, yk? But younger. Anywayyyy, let me know what you think luvs! Also, lmk if you find any mistakes as I wrote most of chapters 1-7 on a plane haha x