Love, Deryah | Blaise Zabini

25

a/n: i'm backkk!! and i'm finished with school and everything!! please don't kill me, but this chapter would've probably been published monday if i didn't procrastinate so hard lol! but i'm happy to be back and hope you guys enjoy <3

i present to you...

"burn for you"

narrator's pov

"BECAUSE I LOVE YOU-" the words jumped from his mouth like hot lava overflowing in a volcano. his breathing was heavy from all of the yelling, and his shoulders weighed a little less since he had just expressed himself.

"i-" was all deryah choked out as she stood there dumbfounded. she was stunned; he loved her? how could he love her when she was with draco, his best friend. did he not care about draco's feelings? about their friendship?

"i burn for you, okay? everywhere i turn, you're there. i try to fight it, but i can't. you intoxicate me and i don't want it to stop." he kept going, making sure she knew just how much she meant to him; this was no joke to him. he wasn't only spilling for her, but for himself. he put himself on a tightrope, because he knew if she might've felt the same even in the slightest bit, he would take that chance just to be with her. hell, he would even wait for her years, if it just meant that they'd be together in the end.

"y-you burn for me?" tears stung at the corners of her eyes as she tried to process everything. she fought to hide them as she continued to listen to him spill everything like a bursting pipe.

"i do, and i'm so so sorry for what i put you through; i wasn't thinking. i was trying to tell myself i didn't love you, and while doing that, i wasn't just pushing you away, i was hurting you." the longer they stood there, the more he confessed; he needed to get everything off his chest.

"no- no, take it back. i can't- you can't do this." she paced back and forth, not knowing how to process the information she had just received. she stuttered and stumbled in her mind, trying to absorb everything. her mind immediately went straight to draco; she couldn't hurt him like that. yes, they hadn't been on the best of terms these previous days, but she still loved him. she couldn't just hurt him. she didn't want to feel like this, she couldn't mess everything up.

"what?" he stood from his place on the bed, standing back into his previous position. his emotions were mixed with confusion, his eyebrows furrowing as he watched her pace. "please tell me you're joking? that's not how that works."

"how does it work huh? i'm with draco, we're happy." she denied her feelings, she wouldn't do this to herself, she wouldn't hurt draco like this. she tried to convince herself that she was happy, even though she knew the flame grew weaker each day. she tried so hard to feel something for him, but the more she stayed, the further she would pull away.

"oh cut the bullshit. you don't love him like that." there it was again. she was hiding from the truth. she was hiding from her truth. her body language showed it all; the way she fiddled with her fingers and paced softly, not wanting to look at him. "and you think he cares with that shit he pulled today?" he reminded her, pointing to the ticking clock on the wall.

"how do you know that, huh? what if i do love him?" she knew that she hadn't harbored the same feelings for him anymore. their once strong flame, grew smaller each day, the strong winds of their obstacles also blowing away their enthusiasm and drive.

"if you have to ask yourself that, then you don't love him. use your head ravenclaw." if she was so in love with him, why didn't she leave the room? why had she stayed and listened to him confess to her? she said she loved him, but yet she hadn't left the room to erase this moment from her memory; to pretend that it hadn't happened. most importantly, if she loved him, why did her refusals sound like questions? was she trying to convince blaise or herself? all of these questions and observations ran through blaise's mind as he watched the doe-eyed girl in front of him.