dinner parties | scorbus

CH18: ring box

CH18: ring box (3,400 words)

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"Albus, you need to wake up, bud."

The boy merely groaned and batted away the hand by his face. He curled closer into the figure by his side and his free hand twitched against the warm surface he pressed into. His limbs tingled due to the weight that had pushed atop them in the night, but he couldn't care less. It smelt like cinnamon, and his unconscious mind registered such a scent as safety.

"Five more minutes," he slurred.

"First of all, don't you sass me; you're my guest. Second, you can have twenty, if you'd prefer."

Albus began to recognise the husky voice that whispered down his ear. His heart began to race at the mere sound of Scorpius' 'morning voice' and found himself enamoured by the gravelled sound. It tore apart every thought in Albus' mind, attacking his weakened brain with thoughts that he hadn't quite prepared himself for.

Albus played it off and gave a tired nod. The figure against him began to shift and readjust. Potter rolled onto his side as a hand snuck beneath his neck. He allowed the tentative fingers to wrap around his shoulders and pull him closer. Albus pressed his face into Scorpius' neck. He resisted the urge to wriggle as a hand crept beneath the fabric of his jumper as fingers pressed to his warm ribs. He knew his face had turned maroon, and he moved his arm; wrapping it around Scorpius' neck.

The smell of Christmas burnt Albus' nostrils and flooded him with warmth as he took steady breaths. His eyes began to regain their weight and Albus closed them. Albus pulled the covers over his nose with his free hand and laid peacefully, wary of Scorpius' chest rising and falling beneath his chest. Birds began to chirp out of the window; a revolving sound that grew from silence into a slow melody over the course of a few moments. Albus caught himself unintentionally nuzzling Scorpius' jaw and stopped himself, his face radiating heat as he envisioned confusion floating around Scorpius' brain.

It was exhilarating. Albus had snuck out of his home to share a bed with a boy. Despite being a male himself, the connotation of those words remained true. Like the girls in stories he'd read, he'd fallen into the pages of a fairytale. All of the stereotypes that young girls held for boys remained true; they were rebellious, persuasive charmers. Scorpius had these traits too, of course, yet Albus saw them as positives. Malfoy entertained him and caused his heart to race.

"You need to sneak out, Al. You have to get up and get changed," a voice whispered into his ear after a while. The brunet groaned, and Scorpius giggled. "It's still dark. You'll get away with it. Come on."

"But it's cosy," The brunet mumbled. "You're warm."

"I—uh, hmm... so... okay. I'd like for you to stay in this bed with me forever, but you need to wake up. It's not a personal thing!"

Albus finally accepted his fate and huffed as Scorpius pulled away. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging on the brunet locks to calm discomfort in his mind due to his groggy awakening. It had been perfect, of course. It was just early.

"Morning," Scorpius giggled, and Albus sat up. Scorpius fluffed his hair out to fix it as he kicked his legs onto the floor and stood up. "Merry Christmas."

Scorpius kissed his cheek again; so quickly that Albus might have imagined it. The brunet peered up through his fingers, noticing the dark world behind the window pane. He hid his blush with his palms and watched his Scorpius through his knuckles, thankful for the grey colours that allowed Albus' pink cheeks to go unnoticed.