Potter? || Draco Malfoy x Reader

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He laughed dryly at my attempt. "We don't have to retort to small-talk to avoid the actual conversation." He cleared his throat once. "I know this-" I felt him lift his arm just the tiniest bit, the movement making me turn towards him. Though, his attention was entirely on his arm. "Is kind of a dealbreaker." A singularly humourless laugh accompanied his words, his eyes snapping back up to me to find me looking right at him.

There was a long, deafening silence between us. Neither of us saying a word, our chests rising and falling at the same time, at the same pace.

"Did you mean what you said in there?" I burst out, not being able to stand the silence and the intense eye contact that was getting us nowhere.

He swallowed thickly in return, finally diverting his eyes to look at nothing in particular to his left. "I mean, when you said you lov-"

"I know what you mean," He snapped harshly. "I don't need your pity, Y/n. I don't need you to feel bad for me, to feel like you have to be here just because of three stupid words I shouldn't have even said in the first place."

"You're a real jerk sometimes; you know that?" I huffed angrily, frustration and anger building up in the pit of my stomach as I spoke.

"Yeah, well-" He interrupted himself, his head snapping back in my direction, eyes on me just for a second before they flickered to his arm. "It's probably why I have this," He continued. "And why I don't have any friends, why people deliberately choose to stay away from me. The reason why you-" His voice cracked towards the end of his sentence, interrupting his rambling before a loud groan escaped his lips.

"It's stupid what you said then, is it?" I asked, biting the inside of my cheek to keep myself occupied, and, therefore, calmer as I referred to his previous statement.

"I'm not even sure I know what love is. And you're asking me whether I'm in love with you?"

"Well, you said it for a reason, didn't you?" The tears accumulating in my eyes out of sheer frustration were stinging, begging me to let go of them for a second time today.

He squeezed his eyes shut forcefully, his hand running through his hair, breath shallow. "I don't even know if I'm capable of love- if I deserve it!"

He took a deep breath, attempting to calm himself down with his eyes still closed.

"I know I am," I mumbled. "And I know you deserve mine, well, if you want it." The words accompanied by a single tear rolling down my cheek.

His brows furrowed before his eyes opened, one at a time and slower than I expected them to. I didn't see in them what I was hoping for. No relief, no little smirk forming in the corner of his mouth.

He looked at me blankly, instead, taken aback and not quite sure what to say.

"You-?" He began, though he wasn't even sure how to ask.

"Yeah." I huffed shakily, a dry laugh escaping my mouth in hopes it would help cover my embarrassment.

He gulped, eyes on his forearm once again, lingering there for a moment before looking back at me.

"Why?" He asked, his lips twitching into a small smile that was wiped away again right after. A gesture that displayed so much; Confusion, shock, and the relief I was hoping to see in the first place.

"To be honest," I began, finally feeling the unpleasant tension between us crumble as the both of us relaxed. "Still trying to figure that one out. You're insufferable most of the time," I shrugged playfully, watching him roll his eyes in the same manner.