UNKNOWN | D.M (UNRAVEL BOOK 4)

[ 04 ]

"Stop with that!" she exclaims, her heart racing again. Oh, calm down my crazy beating heart!

"With what?" smirks Draco as he leans towards her, causing Aine to widen her eyes at him. She jumps to her feet and scrambles away, flustered. Yet the sight was amusing to Draco and he liked teasing her, just to watch her expressions change adorably.

"You're mean," Aine replies, avoiding Draco as they ran around the balcony. After they circled rounds around the telescope, he finally catches her from behind. His arms wrapped around her as she froze. 

Act normal, act normal. Everything's fine! Yeah... Everything's great!

"What are you... Doing?" she asks him, ignoring the pounding feeling she felt on her back. His heart was racing just as much as hers and she prayed hard that he wouldn't hear how loud her heart was beating. 

However, Draco merely smiles, "Your heart is beating really fast, Aine."

"What a coincidence, yours is too!" Aine grins, swaying her body side to side to break free from his embrace. Instead, the boy's hold on her only tightened the more she struggles. 

"Let me go," Aine ordered, tilting her head backwards to meet his eyes.

"No," Draco answered, a playful smug look plastered on his face.

"Why not?" she asks.

"I figured you may need it?" replies Draco.

"Need what?"

"A hug."

The air around them went still and Aine heaved a soft sigh, a bitter smile spread across her face. "That obvious, huh?"

"A little," Draco chuckles, turning her around so that he sees her face. "You okay?" he asks, his usual teasing voice faded and replaced with one of seriousness. Aine's gaze adverted away from his, still shy to look at him. 

"It would be a lie to say I'm okay when I'm not... But I have to be, since feeling awful was probably what she would have wanted me to feel. It's just— hearing others speak of her so kindly after the things she's done to me and dad... It feels like I'm hearing the tales of a completely different person," Aine replies and Draco caresses her cheeks, spreading warmth across them with his touch.

"You don't have to be. It's okay to not be okay about this. You have every right to be and if someone ever blames you for it, I'll hex them," he promises, fire in his eyes. Draco had meant his words. Aine's eyes gaze back into his again and she chuckles at his statement. He shot her a wink, "And not to be on her side, but perhaps she has a reason for her departure. Perhaps, it may be for the best. And sometimes the best one can do is to leave."

Aine ponders on his words, taking in the advice. Well, perhaps what he said was right. Maybe there was a plausible reason for her mother to leave, and Aine prayed that he was right. "Well, I'm lucky to have you, M'lord," she added, genuinely thankful.

"Of course, M'lady," Draco replies and Aine giggles at him again, her heart fluttering. They moved closer to the railings, still in a tight embrace that neither seemed to mind. She casually leans back onto Draco as he snuggles his head on her shoulders from behind. Aine looks back up to the sky, letting the summer wind relax her heating face as she plays it cool, not daring to look at the blonde boy next to her for a moment in fear that she may lose a few more heartbeats for him.

The moment Aine adverted her attention to the skies, it was Draco's turn to stare. He watches as the girl's shiny raven locks flowed gracefully to the side when the wind blew past. Her hair was longer than before and it had grown past her chest now, and yet even though it was a little messy, she still looks pretty in his eyes. It seems after a couple of weeks of not seeing Aine, she had matured into a beautiful lady and Draco only wonder how much prettier was she going to become. He wasn't sure if he could handle seeing her getting any lovelier and the thought of other guys getting appealed to her beauty annoyed him. Draco gulped, tearing his sight away from the girl and up to the air above where Aine had raised her hand in an attempt to touch the skies.