Cold Love || Draco Malfoy

8- Crossing the Line

It was late—too late to be out wandering—but she needed space to think. Her emotions were a tangled mess. Between Dean's earnest affection and Draco's simmering intensity, Jessica felt like she was spiraling in a whirlwind of conflicting desires.

She found herself near the abandoned classroom where she and Draco had been meeting for their potions work. The door was slightly ajar, a faint light flickering inside. She hadn't expected him to be here tonight, but something pulled her closer. As she nudged the door open, her breath caught.

Draco was standing at the window, his silhouette sharp against the pale moonlight. He turned at the sound of her entrance, and their eyes met. The air between them crackled with tension, the unspoken pull growing stronger each day. Jessica felt it—the way her heartbeat quickened, the way her stomach tightened with anticipation and nerves. It was maddening.

"What are you doing here?" Draco's voice was low, his usual arrogance muted. His eyes flicked over her with a mixture of curiosity and something darker, something hungry.

"I needed to get out of my head for a bit," Jessica admitted. "I didn't expect to find you here."

Draco turned back toward the window, his fingers tightening on the stone ledge. "I don't blame you. This place is suffocating sometimes."

Jessica stepped further into the room, closing the door behind her. The dim lighting and enclosed space seemed to amplify the tension. She wanted to say something—anything—but her thoughts were jumbled, her feelings more confusing than ever.

Silence stretched between them, heavy. It was Draco who broke it first. "You're spending a lot of time with Thomas."

His voice was edged with something she hadn't heard before—jealousy. The words hung in the air, making Jessica's pulse quicken. "Dean's my friend," she replied carefully, though even she could hear the defensive note in her voice.

Draco let out a humorless laugh, turning to face her fully. "A friend. Right." He took a step closer, his gaze burning into hers. "Don't pretend like it's just that."

Jessica's throat tightened. She could feel her skin heating under his gaze. "Why does it matter to you?"

For a moment, Draco's expression was unreadable, but then his eyes darkened. "It shouldn't matter," he said, his voice thick with tension. "But it does. And I hate it."

He was close now, so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath. The intensity in his gaze made it hard to breathe, and suddenly, everything they'd been tiptoeing around burst to the surface.

Jessica's mind screamed at her to walk away, to leave before this went any further, but her body refused to listen. "Draco..."

His name was barely a whisper on her lips before he closed the gap between them. His hand cupped her cheek with surprising gentleness, his thumb brushing her skin as if testing her reaction. When she didn't pull away, his other hand slid to her waist, tugging her closer.

And then his lips were on hers.

It wasn't soft or hesitant—it was demanding, fueled by all the emotions they'd kept bottled up. Jessica's hands found their way to his chest, gripping the fabric of his shirt as she leaned into the kiss. It was messy, desperate, and completely consuming.

When they finally broke apart, gasping for air, their foreheads rested against each other, both of them shaken by the intensity of it. "This is insane," Jessica murmured, her voice trembling. "We shouldn't be doing this."

"I know," Draco said, his voice rough, but he didn't let go. Instead, he tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. "But I can't stop."

He kissed her again, slower this time, his lips moving tenderly against hers. The gentleness of it sent a shiver down her spine. It felt like surrender—a surrender to something that had been building for so long, something neither of them could control anymore.

Jessica didn't know how long they stood there, tangled in each other. The world outside felt distant and irrelevant, as if they were in a bubble where nothing else mattered. But as the heat of the moment began to cool, reality started creeping back in.

Draco's hands slid down her arms, his touch lingering as he pulled back slightly. "You're making everything so bloody complicated," he muttered, but there was no real anger in his voice. If anything, it was tinged with frustration and longing.

Jessica swallowed, her emotions swirling in a confusing mix of guilt, desire, and uncertainty. "This isn't going to end well," she whispered, more to herself than to him.

"Probably not," Draco agreed, his voice softer now. "But for once, I don't care."

For a moment, they just stood there, their breathing heavy in the silence. The intensity of what had just happened hung between them, and Jessica knew that nothing would be the same after this.

Finally, she forced herself to step back, her heart pounding in her chest. "We should go," she said, though the words felt hollow even as she said them.

Draco nodded, but there was a flicker of something in his eyes—something that told her this wasn't over.

As she turned to leave, Jessica couldn't shake the feeling that she had just crossed a line she could never uncross.

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A/N

Word Count: 858