ethereal | tom riddle.

home is where the heart is

"Eliza?" Tom said, knocking on her door. He knew she would still be asleep, and although he could've just walked in, he still let her be.

"Go away." She mumbled, not opening her door. He could tell she'd just woken up from the sound of her voice.

"Eliza, you're going to miss breakfast."

"I'm not hungry."

"Does this mean someone ended up having dinner last night?" He asked, smirking slightly.

There was a pause before she replied, unconvincingly, "No."

"I'm sure." He said, in a knowing and almost mocking tone.

"Go away, Tom." She said again.

He almost laughed, but replied, "If you insist." He knew she didn't expect him to leave but he also knew that she would come around eventually. She always does.

So once more, Eliza refused to leave her room, sitting on her bed wrapped up in the sheets all day. She missed her classes, but she had other things on her mind. Being alone in a room with nothing to do really got her overthinking everything.

She began to think about how Tom had been disappearing a lot, and no one knew where he was going. She remembered how when she asked about it, he'd just said that it was nothing to bother her with. He usually told her most things, so when Eliza thought about how defensive he'd gotten the previous night, she couldn't help but think that perhaps he was sleeping with some other girl. Maybe more than one.

The thought of him with someone else icked her out, and she had the most horrifying images form in her head. She began to wonder if she had any right to be hurt if her theories were right. After all, they were not really exclusive or anything, she thought. She realised that most men do take mistresses even after getting married, so why should Tom have to be any different.

Hours of thought went along similar lines. She had absolutely no idea how to feel. Frustrated and hungry, she decided to give up her little protest and go down for dinner. After taking a bath in her own room, she got dressed and made her way down to the Great Hall.

Of course, she was still upset, and all her overthinking didn't help anything. She pointedly sat in between Theo and Orion on the other side of the table instead of her usual place. Abraxas gave Tom a questioning look as Eliza served herself. Tom didn't look at Abraxas, or anyone for that matter, and pretended like everything was normal.

Tom left soon after, long before dinner had ended. Eliza's gaze unconsciously trailed after him as he left, following him out the door wondering where he was going. His other girl, she thought to herself, shaking her head.

Once Eliza was done eating, she walked back down to the dorms with Abraxas, with the other following them lost in conversations of their own. Abraxas remained silent waiting for Eliza to say something about her bad mood. When they'd walked far enough to be out of the others' earshot, Eliza spoke.

"Do you know if Tom...does anything with other girls? He's disappearing an awful lot these days and I can't help but feel as though he's keeping something from me."

Abraxas was caught off guard by the question, turning his head to look over at her. He took a moment to form a response, not quite sure as to whether or not she could be right. "I do suppose I see why you could think like that. But I don't know, honestly. I really don't. If I had to guess, I'd say he wasn't doing anything of that sort with anyone other than you."

"Oh." She said, the underlying disappointment evident in her tone. She sighed, and then continued. "I suppose most men take mistresses in their marriages anyway. Why should anyone expect ours to be different?"