fade into you || d.m

me and my husband

A song for the chapter: Norman fucking Rockwell - Lana Del Rey

Elwia stayed the night in Miles' room, wrapped around his arms and feeling comforted by his presence. She was glad that Miles had forgiven her. He was right; it had been foolish of her to hang out alone in another boy's dorm dressed the way she was.

Her jaw didn't hurt anymore. Miles had been so kind as to use the bruise removal charm on her, though it only ended the pain. The bruise was still visible as a reminder of her clumsiness. Elwia knew now that she had to be more careful in the future.

"Good morning, El." Miles kissed Elwia's red hair, hugging her small body tighter.

"Miles." Elwia whispered and opened her eyes to see his face looking at her kindly.

"I should put a different rug on the floor, maybe one that doesn't slide so easily. I don't want you to get hurt again." Miles chuckled and touched Elwia's jaw with his thumb.

"Thank you for caring." Elwia mumbled.

"It's 7:02. Go back to your dorm to get changed and cover up that bruise. We don't want people to make up lies, do we? I'll wait for you so we can eat breakfast together." Miles said and pushed the covers aside.

Elwia nodded and started going towards the door. She looked back at Miles one more time, showing him a smile before she walked out.

After sneaking back into her dorm, Elwia immediately grabbed her makeup bag and went into the bathroom. She stared at herself in the mirror, only seeing a pair of empty and hollow eyes looking back at her. The bruising was really bad, but luckily it didn't hurt anymore. Elwia was lucky to have someone like Miles' taking care of her after her clumsiness.

"You stayed over then?" Astoria noted with a sleepy voice, walking into the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"Oh, yeah. But we didn't do anything; nothing happened." Elwia smiled while adding concealer to her bruise.

Astoria noticed this and immediately frowned her brows, gently grabbing Elwia's head to inspect her closer. "What happened to you?"

Elwia let out a calm laugh and lowered Astoria's hand from her face. "I slipped on the floor. Miles and I were talking, and I made a sudden move, which caused the rug to slip under my feet, so I fell and hit my jaw." She explained.

Astoria examined Elwia's face and facial expression for a few seconds more but then brushed it off. "You're lucky you didn't break a nose. Those things are nasty to mend." She noted.

"Yes. I was very lucky." Elwia nodded, breathing out a long sigh before continuing to hide the bruise.

"Why're you hiding it though?" Astoria questioned.

"Miles wanted me to so other people won't question it or make up lies." Elwia answered and put the concealer back in her makeup bag. The bruising was barely visible; Elwia doubted anyone would even notice.

"Mhm, okay. I hope you're okay." Astoria said, her face still looking suspicious, as she left the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

"I am okay." Elwia repeated a few times, but her reflection wasn't looking too convinced.

After she was ready with her morning routine, Elwia opened the dorm door and got slightly startled when she saw Miles leaning against the wall, waiting for her.

"Hey, El." Miles greeted, looking the girl up and down.

Astoria and Pansy glanced at each other and mouthed 'El?' with confused faces.

"Hey, Miles." Elwia smiled and walked to Miles, who immediately wrapped one arm around her shoulder.

It didn't feel like fun anymore. It felt like Miles was trying to tell everyone she was his even though Elwia had made it clear she didn't want anything. But Miles probably knew better than her; after all, he was an adult, and Elwia was still a naive teenager.