Insomniacs - Tom Riddle x reader (with pictures)

3 / home, sweet home

Chaperone. You scoff. Is that what he thinks of you? That you're this damsel in distress that desperately needs his saving?

"Really, that's not necessary. You just arrived here. I don't want to ruin your plans for the night."

It's almost like, he didn't hear a word you just said, since he keeps walking besides you like nothing happened. Merlin, he's infuriating. You bite your lip as you come to the realization that there's most likely nothing you could say to make him stop following you.

You're silently walking for a few minutes. But your anger rises and as it does, your step picks up more and more. After a while you're quite literally rushing him back the path to the castle. He's always a few steps behind you now. Finally, he bursts out laughing.

"Merlin, are you trying to win a race?" You ignore him, by not slowing down in the slightest.

He's a bit out of breath now. "I get it, you don't like me very much. But can you please stop running away from me? I'm just trying to get you back to your dorm safely."

That's it. You stop in your tracks, almost causing him to run into you.

You whip around and glare up to him. "Listen. I already said I don't need your help. I'm perfectly capable of finding my way back on my own."

Your tone is even sharper than you've intended. But he really pushed your buttons.

He stares at you with wide eyes, saying nothing for a while. He slowly raises his hands again, similarly as before when he first approached you.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I didn't respect your wishes. But can you please believe me, when I tell you I'm genuinely worried? There are all kinds of creatures out here."

Your initial reaction is to roll your eyes at him. But after you take a moment to think, you actually realize... he's right. This forest is known to be to be dangerous at night and all of a sudden you feel unsafe standing here like this in the open. Like on cue, you hear a strange howling in the distance.

Tom raises his eyebrows at you, as to say: See?

You look at your feet. "Fine," you mumble. You turn around again and continue walking, this time in a normal pace though, so he has no trouble walking beside you anymore.

You don't even have to look at him, to know, that his damn arrogant smirk must be back.

"So..." He begins talking again, drawing out the word. What now?

"...since we still have quite the hike in front of us – would you be willing to talk to me or do you prefer to keep this awkward silence up?"

You press your lips together. The last thing you want to do, is engage in small talk with him right now. But even after the short time in which you got to know him tonight, you can judge his character enough, to be sure that he wouldn't take no for an answer anyway. You sigh. "Sure, we can talk."

"Okay! Umm...," he starts to think. Apparently, he's really putting thought into what he wants to ask you; you're surprised.

"Why do you dislike me so much?" Wow. What a provocative question, you should have known better than to get your hopes up. You turn your head to look at him, furrowing your eyebrows. "I don't. I don't even know you."

He clicks his tongue. "Oh, stop it. You can't stand me. It's okay – you can be honest. Many people feel that way about me." He says this in an unbothered tone but there's something in his voice that makes you wonder if he really cares as little, as he acts like.

"What? Everybody adores you. People are attracted to you like moths to a flame." Oops. You bite your tongue. The last thing you want to do is flatter him. He grins at you, obviously very happy with what you just said.