𝓤𝓼𝓮 𝓜𝓮 - 𝓣.𝓜.𝓡

𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚃𝚘𝚖

"Please stop sending these dreams to me, mistress." Tom attempted to push Leilah of him.

"It's not a dream, Tom." She grabbed his arms and pinned them above him with her hands.

"Don't lie to me." He struggled against her, to no avail. "I don't want to be plaything, for you to amuse yourself with, not anymore. Please stop it." Unshed tears in his eyes and his voice breaking towards the end. He looked strangely vulnerable.

Leilah had seen Tom vulnerable before, but this time it was different. She released his arms and got off him. "I didn't know you felt like that." She looked down. "I'm sorry, Tom. I didn't mean for you to feel like that."

"Yeah right." Tom scoffed as he sat up.

"I- I should probably leave." She moved towards the door and Tom didn't stop her. As she stepped outside, she spoke. "I'll stop sending those dreams to you, I promise." Leilah shut the door behind her.

Tom frowned. 'Perhaps she was real this time.' After a moment he looked sad. 'I just want to mean something to you, something more than a plaything.'

...........................................................................................................................

Leilah laid on her bed. She hadn't meant to make him feel like that, she was just playing around, she thought that he enjoyed their little game, since when she teased him with the dreams, he teased her back when awake.

She was wrong.

She didn't want to make her feel like he was there for her to have fun and nothing else. But she did. 'I fucked up so much.'

'I'm sorry Tom, I'm sorry.' She fell asleep as tears streamed down her cheeks.

...........................................................................................................................

"Good morning, Tommy boy." Ginny grinned as she stepped out of the floo.

"Morning Ginny." Not fighting her like usual when she called him like that.

"Did something happen?" She frowned, concerned. It was weird for her to see Tom like this. So unbothered? Indifferent?

"No. And if you excuse me, I'll be in my bedroom. Mistress hasn't woken up yet." With nothing more he left with a coffee at hand.

'Yup, something defiantly happened.' She thought as she made her way upstairs and into her friend's room.

...........................................................................................................................

"Leilah?" Ginny questioned when she didn't see her friend on the bed.

"Over here." A tired voice called.

Upon approaching the source, she saw her friend, her first crush and now sister. Leilah was wearing one of Tom's shirts she had taken from him over the months, high socks as if she were cold and had red eyes as if she had cried all night.

"What happened?" Ginny asked as embraced the raven-haired witch.

"Tom and I............ well, I fucked up Gin." Leilah's voice showed her vulnerability, her sadness, her heartbreak. And yet Ginny for the life of her couldn't figure out what was wrong.

"You wanna talk?" The red-head girl asked as she sat beside Leilah on the floor.

The witch softly explained what had occurred the night before. "I thought that he had fun with the little game, like I did. He never said anything." Leilah hugged her knees.

"Darling, have you ever considered, that maybe, Tom loves you." Ginny gently explained.

"He doesn't love me, Ginny." Leilah denied, in disbelief.

"How can you be so sure?" She played with Leilah's fingers. "Has ever told you that? Has he ever treated you wrong? In a way that doesn't express love?"

"Well, no, never. But that doesn't mean- "

"Or has he treated you like the most precious thing in the world? Like a Queen on a throne?" Ginny interrupted her friend.

"I don't know." Leilah was confused with where this conversation was heading.

"Tell me Leilah, why do you care so much for Tom?"

"Because he's, my friend."

"He was you enemy first, and then your slave. He hurt you so much. So, tell me, why do you care for him? Why do you help him? Why do you allow yourself to be sad by hurting him?"

Thinking back on it, Leilah now realizes that the mere thought about Tom being hurt brought her pain. But why? At the end of the day, he was a slave, so why did she care?

'Because I love him.' Leilah thought. And didn't notice that she started to speak.

"I love the way his eyes shine when he's excited. The way he smiles when he's trying to contain a laugh. Or when he doesn't get a joke, he looks adorable............. I love how his hair feels in between my fingers, the way he relaxes when I comb his hair, or when......................"

"Or when?" Ginny questioned.

"Or when he looks at me like I'm his everything."

"What about the bad thigs? Do you care about that? Do you like that?"

"No. I don't like that part of him, but I accept it."
"Why?"

"Because it's a part of him. And I love him. I can't choose to love one part but hate the other. No. I love him entirely." Leilah's eyes went wide as she looked at Ginny.

"Yes. You just said that." Ginny gave her friend a kind smile. "It's been obvious that you love each other, at least to us. And it's ok, Leilah. We support you."
"You do?"

"Yes, we do. But that doesn't matter now. What matters is that you let Tom know."

"No. He doesn't want to see me."

"Did he say that?" Leilah shook her head. "Then how do you know that?" Her friend stayed silent. "Exactly, you don't. So, once I leave, I want you to get ready and look for your man."

Leilah opened her mouth, but Ginny didn't let her speak.

"I won't hear it."

"Fine." Leilah hesitantly agreed.