Until The Very End - Mattheo Riddle X Reader

10. Gone

     As we sit in the cave, I lay there, thinking. "Hey Theo," I start. He looks down at me. "Hm?" I hesitate in asking my question. "Would you...would you ever consider...doing what your father is...?" I ask, worrying that my question would upset him. He stares at me for a minute. "That's unspoken territory." He says, and he gets up and walks out. Oh no, exactly what I was afraid of! He's left me there, alone, in a cave. I get up and run out, hoping to chase after him, but he's nowhere in sight. Damn it! I'm so stupid! I ran through the forest, back to Hogsmeade, but right as I was near the exit, about to leave, Kara stopped me. "Y/N! I have news!" She exclaimed. I've never seen her so happy. I push my frantic thoughts to the back of my mind and I put on a happy face. "What? What happened?" I responded. She flashed her hand in my face and there was a dark, indigo, diamond on her finger, with a shiny silver band and intricate designs. "He gave me a promise ring! Enzo did!" She exclaimed excitedly. "That's wonderful!" I said, summoning up all of the happiness that was left in my body. "I'm kind of in a hurry, but I'll talk to you more when we get back to school, ok?" And I run. Run as fast as possible. I push through crowds and jump over rocks, anything to get to the building faster.

     When I got to the Slytherin common room, I barged in and saw Pansy making out with Hermione. "Where's Mattheo?" I ask, breathless and worried. She looks at me, and she shakes her head. "I don't know, he came in and was storming around, he left the room with his pack of cigarettes and he disapparated." She explained. "But you can't apparate, it's Hogwarts!" Hermione complains. "Testing." I say and stamp out of the room. I ran through the halls, screaming his name as I ran. "MATTHEO?? MATTHEO, WHERE ARE YOU??" I yelled, as loud as my voice would go. I hoped he was somewhere in the castle, but I knew it was a dumb idea. I searched up and down, in and out, left and right, but he was nowhere to be found, he was simply just...gone.

     That week was probably the hardest week I'd ever had. I laid in bed the whole time, and I only left to get water and use the restroom. I only ate tiny portions that Kara and Pansy would bring me. By now, my grades had plummeted beyond return. I didn't really care, nothing mattered unless he was with me, and he wasn't. He wasn't here, and he probably wouldn't be back, at least, for a long time. I hardly showered, but the only thing I'd ever worn was a jumper I'd stolen from him. Was this what heartbreak felt like? It hurt so bad, it felt like there was a hole in my chest, and the edges around the hole were chaffed. I tried numerous times to distract myself, but everything I thought of, I'd somehow manage to connect with Mattheo. It was the worst pain I'd ever felt. One day, Pansy knocked on my dorm door. "Come in!" I yelled in a cracked voice. Pansy came in with a tray and sat it down at the foot of my bed, on top of my trunk. "Hey," she said, timidly. "Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are worried about you." She said with sincerity. I half-heartedly smile at her. "Tell them that I'm fine and I'll be back to classes on Monday, I just need some loathing time." I say, as I turn my back on her. She rubs my back softly. "It'll be alright. Can I tell you something?" She asks, hesitantly. I turn back around slowly. I look at her and I nod softly, and my heart starts to float. "So...I know this is a rough topic, so I'll just breeze over it. You know that one time I came in...with Hermione...." She hesitated. "When you had just started dating him, and you asked me how I got out? Well, I wasn't the one who was sleeping in my bed. It was Hermione." She said, meeting my gaze. "I was in the bathroom...with Troy...and I snuck out through that secret exit that we use to get to the kitchen, and I came back in through the dungeon entrance." She sat there, tears falling slowly from her eyes. I just stare, in shock.

     "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" I heard echoing in the walls of the small dorm. Pansy and I both look towards the door, and Hermione is standing there with tear tracks leading down her face. "I knew it. I knew I couldn't trust you!" She exclaimed. "Stay away from me, do you hear me?" She stormed off and out of the dungeon. Pansy slowly turned toward me. "I fucked up, didn't I?" She asked timidly. I just nodded. She excused herself and left, leaving the tray of food for me. I hurried and ate, and I got dressed quickly, I had an idea.

     When I got to the entrance of the village, it took a while for me to remember exactly where the cave was located, but once I found it, everything was easy from there. Almost everything. It was nearly impossible for me to get into the cave, since Theo didn't bother to tell me the spell he murmured. Finally, after about 20 minutes and a lot of consideration of heading back, I guessed correctly. I walked into the beautiful, ethereal cave, and I sat down in the middle of the floor. I laid back in the flowers, and I closed my eyes, silently singing a song to myself. Tears began to fall, but it didn't hurt, it actually felt good. It felt freeing, like I never had to worry about anything ever again. I lay there peacefully for about 10 minutes, and then I heard the sound of the stone passageway open. I don't look up because I think it's just my imagination playing tricks on me, but boy was I wrong. I look up finally, and I see Mattheo, but something about him is different, his aura seems more...cold, like he's just watched the love of his life kiss another man. I sit up abruptly, and jump up to run to him, and as I do, I notice there's something on his arm. "Theo!" I sob into his chest. "Theo! Don't you ever do that to me again!" I yelled at him. He wraps his arms around me, slowly, almost emotionlessly. I look up at him, and then down at his arm, but he moves it before I can see what happened. "Theo...what's that?" I ask, and he looks down to me and meets my eyes. He doesn't answer for a long time, but when he does, his voice is cold and unwelcoming.

     "Nothing, darling..."