slide away {lorenzo berkshire}

43. one to another

"I am terrified by this dark thing
That sleeps in me"
- Sylvia Plath

~~~~~~

Cassie Avery

I woke up with the scent of him everywhere - on the pillow, in the sheets, on my skin. His arm was heavy around my waist, a comfort that was both soothing and unnerving. For a few seconds, I let myself pretend this was what normal looked like. Sunlight breaking softly through the dorm window, Lorenzo's heartbeat steady against my back, the world outside still and far away.

His fingers twitched slightly, then curled against my stomach like he didn't want me to move.

Neither did I.

I stared at the wall across from us, blurry with sleep, trying not to think.

Not about the Mark. Not about Draco. Not about the look Lorenzo had given me last night, like he wanted to ask me to run.

"You're awake," he murmured, voice low and rough with sleep.

"Unfortunately," I whispered, though I didn't shift.

He exhaled a soft laugh, his nose brushing the curve of my shoulder. I closed my eyes again. For someone who had every reason to look at me differently now - after what he saw, what I told him - he hadn't. Not really. There'd been worry in his eyes, sure. Sadness. But no fear. No disgust.

That scared me more than anything.

His fingers traced idle circles against my skin, absentminded and slow.

Lorenzo shifted again, pulling me back against him fully. His lips found my shoulder again, then the curve of my neck, his voice softer now. "What are you thinking about?".

You.

The Death Eaters.

Draco falling apart.

The fact that I don't know if either of us will survive the next few months.

But I couldn't say that.

So instead, I said, "Breakfast."

Lorenzo hummed, clearly unconvinced, but he didn't push. He knew better. Instead, his fingers slid up my arm, coaxing me to turn over.

The moment I was facing him, his hand found my jaw, tilting my face up so our noses brushed. His dark eyes flickered over mine, searching, lingering, knowing.

"Right. You were lying awake, looking all broody, because you were thinking about toast."

I huffed. "Maybe I really like toast."

He laughed, low and warm. "You're impossible."

I smirked. "You love it."

And for a split second - just a second - his smile faltered.

Like I had said something too real.

Like I had gotten too close to the truth.

But then he rolled his eyes, smirking again, and whatever that moment had been, it was gone.

"Come on," he said, stretching before rolling out of bed. "If you're going to lie about thinking about breakfast, we might as well go get some."

We dressed slowly. He kissed me like he didn't want to go anywhere - fingers trailing over my spine, mouth lingering on my jaw, my throat, the corner of my lips. I let him pull me back into the bed for another minute, breathing each other in like it meant we could stay like this longer.

By the time we made it to the Great Hall, we were late enough that the usual crowd had thinned. But Theo, Onyx, and Blaise were still at our end of the table - Theo with his usual disinterested scowl, Blaise nursing a mug of tea like it was a religious experience, and Onyx flipping through a contraband Witch Weekly with an expression of pure disdain.