slide away {lorenzo berkshire}

56. my boy only breaks his favourite toys

"No, if they tried to take her from him, he'd rip the world apart with his bare hands. And for some reason, that didn't terrify him."
— Sarah J. Maas

~~~~~~

Lorenzo Berkshire

I hadn't stopped thinking about her. About last night.

Not in the way you'd expect - not the physical side, though that was burned into me too, every shaky breath and whispered word. It was the way she looked at me after, like I'd pulled her back from something she hadn't even realised she was drowning in. I'd spent weeks watching her disappear piece by piece, and last night... she'd been Cassie again. My Cassie. The one who made every dark thing feel a little less heavy just by existing.

And now, sitting here, it felt like things were almost normal.

We were all crammed together in the Slytherin common room - an extremely hungover Theo sprawled in an armchair, Blaise half draped over Onyx, who had commandeered his lap as if it were a throne, and Draco perched stiffly on the edge of the sofa like he always did when he didn't really want to be there but didn't want to leave either.

Cassie sat opposite me, cross-legged on the chair by the fire, a cushion hugged to her chest. She was laughing at something Theo had said, an actual laugh - not forced, not tired. It tugged at something deep inside my chest.

She caught me looking and for a second it was like before, when everything between us had been simple, comfortable, easy. She didn't look away straight away either, just gave me this small, knowing smile that made my throat tighten.

I leaned back in my chair, pretending to be invested in what they were saying but really, I couldn't stop watching her. How she was sitting straighter, how there was colour in her cheeks again. How she didn't seem as hollow anymore.

Blaise broke into my thoughts. "So..." he said, his eyes flicking between me and Cassie, a grin spreading on his face, "...where did you two disappear to last night?".

Cassie's head whipped toward him. I opened my mouth, scrambling for something to say, when the air in the room shifted.

"Yeah, princess. Where did you disappear off to?".

Mattheo was standing behind us.

And he'd heard everything.

No one said anything at first, just stared at him wide eyed as he sauntered over to the couch, slow, silent, like a predator that already knew it had the kill.

I froze. My mouth opened automatically but then Cassie's eyes flicked to mine. A sharp look. Stay out of this.

So I did. Reluctantly. I leaned back into the sofa, jaw tight, hands curling into fists.

Cassie stiffened. "Don't do this here," she said quietly.

My heart sank. Because she was doing it again. She was making herself small again.

Mattheo's laugh was cold. "Here's fine. Seems like everyone already knows what you've been up to".

"Don't," Cassie snapped, with a harshness that took us all by surprise including him.

Mattheo whistled lowly. "Someone's feeling brave again. That's my girl".

Her eyes flashed. "I'm not fucking yours".

"No," he said, leaning forward, elbows on his knees, voice dropping. "You're everyone's, apparently."

The words landed like a slap, and for a split second it looked like she was going to back down again, to retreat the way she had been doing for weeks now. Instead, she snapped.