King Of My Heart | R. BLACK

39 | secret rendezvous

Angela stared at the boy next to her. She wasn't entirely sure this was actually happening. She had dreams like this all of the time. Waking up next to him.

She could still be at his manor, wasting away on the floor of the drawing room with Daisy. Or maybe she was at home. Or in the bed alone in her room that was far too big in the castle. She wasn't sure.

Regulus's eyes fluttered open and he watched her for a moment. "Angel?" he muttered, his voice coming out slightly raspy. He reached his hand up, brushing her hair out of her face. He frowned as he sat up, "Ang?"

He grabbed her hands, "Angel, what's going on?" He placed one of his hands under her chin and raised her head slightly, "Angel, come on."

She blinked a few times, confusion taking over her. "Reggie?" she asked as she looked around the room. She pulled her hands away, "What's going on? Where are we?"

He shook his head slightly, "We're in the Room of Requirement. I'm not sure what is going on, exactly, I had been hoping you could help me figure that out."

"I-" she began but she couldn't speak. She looked around the room, panic taking over her. Her breath quickened and suddenly she was back on the ground of the Black Manor drawing room.

"Angela, hey, it's okay," he tried, reaching toward her but she moved away. She stood up quickly, looking around the room in pure terror.

The room was spinning around her and she brought her hands to her head, "No, no, no, no..."

"Angela!" Regulus shouted as he stood up. "Angel, look at me." He cautiously crossed the room to her, "Angel, I need you to look at me, please." She shook her head and he raised his hands to cover hers, "Angela, you're okay...you're safe."

"I don't-I can't..."

"Hey, hey," he said as he carefully pulled her hands away and moved them against his chest, "You're okay. I'm right here. You're safe."

She stared at him as though he wasn't really there and she collapsed against him. He let out a breath of relief and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm right here, Angel. I'm right here."

By the time she was calm enough to be fully functional, their first class had already started. They just had to hope that nobody noticed that both of them were gone.

"Reggie?" Angela said after a while.

He moved so that his arm was wrapped more tightly around her, "Hmm?"

"Did you ever love me?" she asked and he hesitated. She closed her eyes for a moment, "Sorry, nevermind."

"No, no," he shook his head. "We should...we should talk about it."

"It's okay, we don't have to," she replied quickly. Angela sat up and started gathering her stuff. He placed his hand on her forearm and she stopped what she was doing.

His thumb brushed over the scar on her arm. It was almost as though he was entranced by the engravings. "I do love you," he said, his height still trained on her arm, "I'm not sure that will ever stop."

"Reggie-"

"Wait," he requested and she listened. "Everything that has happened recently...it's all been to keep you safe. I thought that I had ended things soon enough last year that it would be okay. I was wrong. I-I don't know what happened. I thought we had been careful enough."

"Reg-"

"I'm sorry, Angel," he said quickly, "This is all my fault. I should never have done anything with you. None of this would have ever happened if it wasn't for me."

"Regulus, this wasn't your fault," Angela countered. "America was the one that turned us over to them."

He shook his head in confusion, "What?"

"America," she repeated. "Daisy and I went to Diagon Alley to meet up with her. They had threatened to kill her family if she didn't help. They only wanted Daisy. She tried to get me to leave before they showed up but it was too late."

"Your friend turned you over to them?"

"She's not my friend."

"She was."

"Not anymore."

Regulus stared at his hands for a moment, "For her family?"

Angela hesitated. She had been down this path too. After the initial anger had washed over her, she could understand a little bit more why America did what she did. "Yes, for her family," Angela replied. "But it doesn't change what she did."

"You wouldn't do the same?" Regulus asked and when she looked at him, she saw that he was genuinely curious.

"I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "But I know that if they were to choose between themselves and other people, they would sacrifice themselves in a heartbeat. It's not my place to decide otherwise." She watched himself for a moment, "Is it safe to say that you would?"

"No," he practically snorted. "But I do know that there isn't a single thing that I wouldn't do to keep you safe."

That was the difference between a hero and a villain. A hero is willing to sacrifice the one to save the world. A villain would burn down the entire world before they let anyone touch the one.

The two sat in silence after that, taking in what they had both said. Angela knew that the safest bet was for her to have left forever ago. But she was long past the point of safety.