Tom Riddle - Downfall

Chapter 19: Fights

The next day. I walk to the library as it's nearly 4 pm again. I can't stop thinking about the conversation between Tom and me. He's so different to me than to anyone else. I wonder what that really means. When I entered the library, I sat down at the same place as yesterday and waited for Tom. 15 minutes later, he's still not here. It is unusual for him to be late. I begin to work for the assignment while waiting.
Tom never showed up at the library that day, and this left me feeling disappointed and confused as I waited for him to show up. He's always been a person who is quite reliable, and I never expected him to not show up like this.

After waiting for an hour after I had originally agreed to meet, I decided to leave the library and make my way back to my room. I walk back to my dorm room, angry and tired, and I wonder why he never showed up at the library like he had promised me. Arrived in my dorms, I went over to Kim. "Kim, he didn't show up. Tom just didn't show up. We wanted to work on our assignment, and he made me wait there like an idiot, " I say to her, angry while walking around in my dorm. Kim looks up at me and seems a bit surprised when she sees how angry I am.
"No way! Tom actually didn't show up? But he seemed so dedicated to working on the assignment with you, though. He was literally the one who suggested staying behind to keep working on it." Kim responds to me, looking also upset now.
"I wanted to confront him, but he's not in his dorm either. I hate this. " I sit down beside her. Kim nods in agreement with me and seems upset about this whole situation as well. She sits down beside me on my bed and puts her arm over my shoulders in a comforting gesture.
She thinks for a moment before suggesting we both go outside and try to find him again.
"Let's go look for him. Maybe he's outside, or we can go check if he's in his dorm." She says reassuringly.
"No, I just want to sleep now." I sigh. "Thanks for listening to me,"
Kim nods at me and smiles softly as she pats my shoulder now.
"I'm sorry that happened today. It doesn't make any sense to me... you and him just seemed to be getting along quite well, so the fact he skipped out on you today doesn't make sense. Don't worry, there will be more chances to speak with him. Try and get some rest now, okay?"
I nod and go to sleep.

The next day, I walk to the great hall with Sebastian and Kim. While we eat breakfast, I look around for Tom, but I can't see him anywhere. Sebastian notices that I'm acting weird. I've been looking around the Great Hall quite often, trying to see if I can find Tom here.
"Hey, Lucia, are you okay?" Sebastian asks me as he notices my distracted behavior.
"You just seem like... like you're thinking about something? Everything alright with you?" He continues, noticing that I'm staring right at him now.
"Have you seen Tom lately?" I still look around while eating. Sebastian takes a moment to think about this question. He looks back at me and shrugs in a thoughtful manner. He clearly doesn't seem to have seen Tom lately, either.
"No... not recently, anyway. Why have you been wanting to find him or something?" He responds to me curiously and gives me a friendly smile.
"Yeah, kind of." I think about this the whole breakfast. I can't believe this. I mean, is he avoiding me or something? I thought we were getting alone well? Am I just imagining things?
Sebastian and Kim both notice how silent I've become as I keep eating my breakfast and contemplating this mystery now. They both watch me carefully as I keep thinking in silence.

After breakfast, I have a little time before the next class starts and goes through the corridor. When I pass the hospital wing, I see Tom coming out of it. I immediately go over to him. "Tom! I waited for you yesterday!" When he turns around, I can see that he has a cut under his eye, and his nose is clipped. "What... happened?" He seems surprised to see me running up to him, and he looks at me a bit awkwardly as he responds to me with a shy expression.
"Eh... hi, Lucia. Yeah... I... I had a small accident outside, that's all. Nothing serious, really." He says to me, his expression trying to convince me that it's nothing important.
"What..happend? Is that the reason you didn't show up yesterday?" I really look upset at him. He doesn't look into my eyes. Tom's expression changes slightly as he looks at me while thinking about the question. He doesn't want to lie to me, but he also wants to keep this personal for now.

"I... I don't want to talk about it, if that's okay. I just got into a small fight with someone." He says gently back to me while also keeping his eyes down.
I notice him becoming slightly uncomfortable with the topic, and he quickly changes his wording.
"It's not a big deal, though... really!" He says softly in a quick manner.
"You owe me an explanation. We were supposed to meet in the library, and you just ditched me to do what? To beat someone up?" Tom sighs softly when I mention the fight. He's trying to keep a level head with me and not raise his voice here. He's not the type of person to talk about his feelings to someone, not even after he had seemingly let his guard down a few days ago.
"Look... I... I... I'll tell you later. It wasn't some big thing, so don't make it into one. We'll discuss this later, alright?" He responds to me with a calm and relaxed tone, which is not how I were expecting him to respond with right now.
"You know what, Tom. You can discuss this with yourself." I turn around and walk away quickly and really mad at him. What is he thinking? Tom looks genuinely surprised as I walk away and get mad now. He doesn't try to stop me this time and just lets me walk away. I can still hear him call after me one last time, but it's hard to tell if he's speaking to me or he's speaking to himself.
"I'm really sorry, Lucia... I really am." He says softly and quietly while staring at the floor, his fists clenched tightly now. He seems disappointed in himself for making me feel upset by his behavior. He seems to truly mean these words.