When I Look Up At The Stars

10 | draco

Why on Earth would he do that? Why would he shield her body with his?

"Stella? Hey, hey- Stella?!"

There's a hand, a warm but rough hand, placed underneath her chin- forcing her to look upwards into stormy eyes that bore into hers with startling intensity and concern.

"Are you alright?"

She can hear him past the ringing in her ears, and even as her lips part as she looks up at him, she can't bring herself to respond. There's a scratch on his cheek, and one on his neck, dripping of deep scarlet blood- ash and soot covering the back of his clothes, with thick clouds of fumes and smoke billowing from behind him, and not more than a few scrapes on her.

But here he was, asking her if she was alright?

"You're bleeding," she hears herself say.

He winces, as his eyes dart back to the woods that are now in flames, as the tremors from the explosions finally die down. The sound of splintering wood fills the air, as a tree collapses into the fires.

"I know."

And Stella can only stare at him, incredulously. She wasn't the one that needed protecting from the bomb- he was. She had never had someone to protect her, and she never needed it- because she was an angel- a protector herself.

No one protected them, they protected and fought for themselves- it went without saying, like a permanent unsaid rule, that she had grown to learn when she was created, eons ago.

But this human had done it for her, without hesitation- even though his life was the one in peril.

"We have to get out of here quickly," she hears him say, and she can only nod mutely as she pushes herself away from him, getting to her feet.

She doesn't even know why it seems like much, but it refuses to stop plaguing her mind.

Whether it's because no-one has ever protected her the way he did, or because she's simply surprised of the show of selflessness of a human- even when they return and find themselves staring out of a huge glass window, into the rain that had begun to descend, she doesn't stop thinking about it.

"Again," she can hear him murmur from her side, "I- Someone tried to-" he lets out a frustrated breath, running a hand through his hair.

"You shouldn't have done that," she says, without turning to him.

"Done what?"

She scoffs- but it's not rude or sarcastic. "Shielding my body with yours was stupidly selfless, not to mention your life was in danger- not mine. You shouldn't have done that."

"I do what I want," Axel's voice is just as firm as hers, "and you forget that I owe you my life, Stella."

She turns to face him with narrowed eyes, ready to retort but stops when she sees his expression.

He wasn't facing her either, staring out into the rain- but his jaw was tight, his expression was hard, and though he was trying hard to conceal it, there was a look in his eyes that Stella recognized that was all too familiar.

Pain.

Instantly, her expression softens.

She couldn't imagine the pain of having someone betray her. She couldn't ever understand what it'd feel like when someone she considered a friend went so far as to try and take her life, and that made her feel terrible for him.