Babysitters

Chapter 25

THEODORE NOTT

I've really fallen for her hard.
The way her bare skin pressed against mine as she leans onto me while her cheek rested against my shoulder made me forget about everything else for a moment. I saw nothing else but her. Not even the excited screams made by the other boys bothered me. Everything was fine just the way they were.
The towel was wrapped around us loosely, letting a small breeze invade our shared space. I pulled Veronica gently a bit closer to me so she wouldn't get cold while she rested her eyes.
The calm atmosphere was broken as soon as the other guys stopped the game and began walking back to us. I listened on their voices growing louder by every step they took toward the fire. I wanted to tell them to keep their mouths shut so Veronica could rest without disturbance, but I didn't want to make whatever was between us too obvious, so I stayed quiet.
Mattheo was the first one to notice the way Veronica was settled beside me. Fortunately, he didn't say anything dumb like he usually did but the message behind the look he gave me was clear: "You're just going to hurt yourself more."
Enzo and Draco only smirked as they sat down, scattered around the bonfire. Our bags were laying a few meters away from us, covered in sand and some leaves from earlier when we had all mindlessly tossed them on the ground. Enzo had sat for only a few moments when he seemed to remember something. He got up and walked to his bag, clearly searching for something. After a minute or so, he straightened up and walked back to us, holding two packs of sausages and a large bag of marshmallows.
"You guys hungry?" He smirked at Mattheo who already had his hands out with a pleading look on his face. Enzo tossed one of the sausage packs to him, which Mattheo ripped open within mere seconds.
"Enz', you're a goddamn life saver," Mattheo sighed dramatically. "Are there any sticks to—you know?" He made a movement towards the fire with his hands.
Enzo nodded. "In my bag, they're the same ones we made last time. I forgot to take them."
Mattheo got up and marched towards where Enzo just came as I brought all my attention back to the pretty princess who was almost laying on my lap by now.
"Hey bella." I shook her gently to see if she was actually sleeping or just resting. "You hungry?"
She stirred for a bit before actually opening her eyes. The realization was visible in her eyes as she straightened up quicker than I've ever seen anyone do. "Shit, sorry. I guess I fell asleep," she explained, clearly embarrassed. "What were you trying to say?"
I smiled at her not-so-oriented look, carefully brushing my thumb against her cheek before repeating, "Are you hungry?"
"Oh." She thought for a moment. "A bit."
Mattheo threw a stick to us which I caught from the air, sending a glare towards him.
It could've hit her.
Enzo passed the other pack of sausages to me, it now opened too. "How many?" I whispered to her ear softly.
"One," she responded almost just as quietly, watching me as I pierced two through the sharp end of the stick. I held out the stick into the fire just like all the others, but keeping my own slightly higher so hers wouldn't burn. After roughly a minute or two, I pulled the stick out and showed it to Veronica, silently asking if it's grilled enough for her.
I could see she was still tired for some reason. She was hesitant to speak and didn't react to noises like she usually did, which made me slightly worried.
"V," I shook her gently again. "Is this good or do you want me to grill it for longer?"
She quickly woke up to reality again, looking at the stick.  "Oh, yeah. Uh—that's fine. Thank you Theo."
I grabbed a piece of paper from Enzo, who surprisingly seemed to have quite literally everything within hands reach. I wrapped the barely grilled sausage halfway into it, and handed it to her. "There, pretty girl."
She took it with slow, hesitant movements and began to take ever so small bites from it, completely in her own world.
"Are you okay?" I asked her, suspicion and concern painted on my face.
Why was she so tired?
She paused her eating—if you can even call the nibbling she did that—and turned her face towards me. "Yeah."
I frowned. "You look tired. Did you not sleep well last night?"
"I guess not." Her eyes looked straight at mine, neither one of us attempting to look away. The conversation between the other boys went on accompanied by the crackling of the fire, but me and Veronica were completely lost in our own bubble, full of unraveled feelings and thoughts. I wished I could know what was happening inside her head, I wanted to know if this sense of connection was one-sided or if she felt it too.
I studied her tired eyes for a moment longer, before going on with my interrogation. "Why not?"
"I couldn't sleep so I went for a walk outside," she explained, looking like she was about to continue her sentence but our peace was rudely interrupted before she could.
"Theo, your food will be burnt really soon," Mattheo chuckled from his spot, reaching for the bag of marshmallows that was now lying in front of Enzo.
I turned to look at the stick I was still holding in my other hand. "Shit." I pulled it out quickly, and examined what I was supposed to eat. Luckily it hadn't burnt yet so I wrapped it into a paper like I did for Veronica, and begun to eat.
My eyes wandered once again to the girl next to me who seemed to finally wake up a bit. She had sped up the pace of her eating, now almost finished with her sausage.
I nudged her gently. "Feel any better?"
She nodded, swallowing the last piece slowly. I took the empty paper from her hand and threw it into the fire that was now starting to grow smaller. I knew we should head back to the manor soon, but I wasn't ready yet. Not when I knew that this would be the last time I'd actually get to spend time with her predictably in a long time. 
I ate the remains of my food quickly, and stood up. I looked down at her, and offered a hand to help her stand up. "Come."
Her face had a questioning expression, but she took my hand nevertheless. The others were speaking about quidditch, so invested in their little conversation that they didn't even notice the way we slowly made our way away from the fire.
I grabbed the hoodie I had packed—in case she'd get cold—as we passed the pile of our bags, before pulling her with me towards the opposite direction from the others, following the waterline of the beach. She followed me quietly, her cold hand still in mine.
"Put this on." I handed the black piece of fabric to her which she took with a grateful look. She thanked me quietly, pulling the provider of warmth over her still wet bikinis. I can't say I hadn't been enjoying the view, but among my priorities her comfort would always go over that.
We continued walking through the beach, so far away until the others voices weren't audible anymore. She glanced over her shoulder before breaking the silence with her sweet voice. "Where are we going and why?"
"Nowhere in particular. I just wanted to be alone with you for a moment," I responded quietly, trying to avoid sounding too eager. I felt incredibly nervous, if things would play out right I'd be the happiest man on earth.
Suddenly she stopped, standing barefoot in the sand as the moon that had risen onto the sky painted a beautiful gleam onto her figure. I took a few steps closer to her, giving her a chance to back off, but she didn't. I took it as an invitation to go further and prayed that she felt the same way about me too, that she wouldn't reject me now that I finally had a perfect opportunity and enough courage to try this.
I raised my palm to carefully cup her cheek, lifting her face up to meet my eyes. She didn't resist. Instead, she moved her hand on top of mine and leaned into my touch, making my heart flutter. Our eyes met, and from the look in hers I got the confirmation I needed.
I lowered my head to her level, before pressing my lips softly onto hers.

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A/N:
Hello loves
Update is here :) They finally kissed!!! Theo is a character I love to write about, but I've been thinking if I should make a whole book just for oneshots of them all? Tell me if you'd be interested please..
I hope you've all had a nice weekend :)
Love u all x