THEO

Chapter 12: Theo-

The week went by terribly slow because all he could think about was if Florence was okay or not. He was nonstop worried about her, but tried not to bother her while she was gone.
He had heard from Draco that she would be back the night before the ball, and she would come hang out for a while until leaving them til the ball started. It felt like a year before she finally arrived, and he missed her desperately. He needed to know if she was okay, but didn't want to bother her on her break.
"Did y'all know she had a date, or was that just me who had no idea" Draco adds.
His head wasn't the only head to snap up, all of theirs did. They're all very protective of her, but he had other reasons to be.
"Since when?" Enzo looks outraged.
"And with who" Blaise says in a warning voice.
"I don't know. She only vaguely mentions it in the letter. She made it seem like we know him though" he says.
He started to think that maybe he should've sent a letter to check in on her since Draco has been.
"It had to have been sometime during the week cause when she left she didn't have a date yet" Adrian says.
"So she got a date over the break? But who would've gone to her house" Blaise asks.
"Actually, they always have guests over. Mine and Blaises' family, y'all's family, the Greengrasses, the Warringtons, the Bletchleys; you name it" Draco explains.
"So it could be pretty much anyone" Enzo laughs.
Theo couldn't speak and was just staring at them, one thought on his mind. She has a date. The regret was starting to settle in his stomach. He didn't know if he could watch her be with someone else, but he had no right to be like that. He couldn't help it.
"I bet it's Miles. I could see them together" Adrian shrugs.
"Could be, he was the only one she even considered going with" Blaise says.
Draco eyes landed on Theo's because he knew he would be pissed off, and he was. Theo had to clench his jaw to not say something he would regret.
The boys talked about the situation for a while until it was time to eat and Theo was in a sour mood by this time. He didn't feel like eating and skipped dinner.
—————————————————-
They were all waiting in their room when Florence was supposed to be walking in at any second. He didn't know why, but he was very nervous. All the possibilities he had formed in his head were about to be right in front of him.
When she finally walks in, Adrian and Enzo were quick to give her a hug. She looked alright, mostly tired, but he couldn't tell if it was because she had been traveling all day or from other things. He knew she could hide her emotions very well, so he had to keep a close eye on her like always.
They mainly all just talked and caught up with each other about their week. She was trying her hardest to avoid his gaze and he was scared to find out why.
"So, who's your date" Blaise asks quickly.
"You'll see, B. Don't worry about it, it's not a big deal" she shrugs him off.
"Are you kidding me" he says, raising his eyebrows.
"No, now quit talking about it" she says. "I want to know what y'all are wearing"
They all show her their suites, but when they ask her what she's wearing, she is quick to turn them down. She wants everything to be a surprise.
Throughout the conversations, Theo had time to examine her. She seemed timid and almost paranoid, her eyes darted everywhere, looking out for something that wasn't there.
He was starting to get a really bad feeling when they finally offered to get some sleep.
She hugged them goodbye and headed out the door fairly quickly, but not before Theo could follow her.
He knew she had realized he was chasing after her when her speed picked up.
"Ren" he said, loudly.
She ignored him and kept walking. She was upset with him, he could tell.
He finally caught up with her and he grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her around.
She flinched slightly at his touch.
This broke him more than he thought something would ever break him. He knew it had happened again.
His eyes got wide, as did hers, as he realized.
Then another thought occurred. She flinched because of him. The simple fact that she might've thought even for a second that he might hurt her made him weak. He would never ever hurt her and he needed to make sure that she knew that.
"Lift up your shirt" he demands.
"Theo-" her words get caught in her throat.
"Let me see your stomach" he tries again.
"No" her voice cracks. She was on the verge of tears as she looks directly at the ground.
"Florence" he says as he shifts to where she has to look him in the face.
"Why should I" she becomes serious, her eyebrows knitted together.
"You were there to tend to my wounds, and I want to be there to tend to yours" he says, only half telling the truth.
She scoffs and yells "and where have you been for the past 2 months"
He has no idea what to say and this hurt him a lot. He can see now how much he had hurt her and that made every inch of him want to puke and he wanted more than anything to fix things with her right now.
"I'm sorry-" he barely gets out.
"Of course you are Theo" she says and turns to walk away. She slows and turns her head in his direction only slightly before saying "you didn't even check in, not a letter or anything. Not even once when you knew you were the only person who knew what could be going on. How am I supposed to forgive you for that" and with that she walks away, leaving him dumbfounded.
He knew it was going to take more than an apology this time. What she just said made him feel more terrible than he has ever felt before. He couldn't hide his feelings anymore and he didn't intend to now. Not after everything that just happened.
When he got back to their dorm, someone had left a small stack of pictures on his night stand. He looked through them and found the pictures Blaise took during their Hogsmeade trip. The pictures of him and Florence together, happy, was all he needed to break him. He clutched onto the pictures, sobbing into body. He can't remember the last time he had ever cried, but he imagined he has never cried this hard before. Everything hurt and he felt like he needed to get this out after what just happened and it was a long awaited cry. Possibly loosing Ren was enough to make him break down like this.
He wanted so badly to tell her how much this hurts him, but letting her walk away is the right thing to do. He would talk to her another time, when she isn't so frantic about the visit with her family.
He had to get through the ball with Daphne, and then he would make things right.
——————————————————-
The morning was light and excited because of the ball, but Theo was still so full of dread.
The girls were already getting ready for the ball by the time it was noon. The boys just hung out in the common room until about 5, giving them plenty of time to get ready with no rush. No boy needed 2 hours to get ready, but girls wanting pictures meant they had to be ready at least 30 minutes early.
As it grew closer to 7, a group of boys had formed in the common room waiting for their dates to meet them.
Theo watched as each boy saw their date and immediately got flushed. Every girl was wearing their best tonight and every guy had noticed.
His nerves were peaked and he didn't realize why until he caught himself looking for Florence. He kept eyeing the stairs from her dorm so often that he almost missed Daphne.
"Hey, you" she smiles.
He quickly looked at her as if he had been the whole time.
"Oh, you look great" he tries to smile as she hugs him. He wraps his arms around her and can tell that she knows something is up.
They talk with friends for a few more minutes before everyone is ready to go.
Right when he had lost hope that Florence would be joining them, he sees the bottom of a dress for a split second at the top of the stairs.
He knew it was her and glued his eyes to the opening, not moving.
The sudden stop made everyone else notice her. All eyes were on Florence and as much as he hated it, he knew she was meant for something like this.
His breath caught in his throat when his eyes laid on her. He was convinced that he had never seen someone so remarkably stunning as she was. He didn't think she could get prettier, but she was proving him wrong everyday.
He could feel Daphnes stare, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her.
He stared as she made her way through people. He saw as she smiled widely and hugged her date. Cassius Warrington.
Daphne was pulling at his wrist saying "come on". It was like she could see the hurt on his face and knew he had to get out of there. He finally peeled his eyes off of her and entered the ball.
Draco, Astoria, Blaise, Millicent, Enzo, Ivy, Pansy, Adrian, Tracey, Cassius, and Florence shortly followed.
He watches as Florence gladly took Cassius's hand and danced with him. She looked like she was having so much fun with him and Theo couldn't stand it.
The rest of the boys find him and strikes up a conversation.
"She said her and Miles were too close of friends. Can you believe she's here with Cassius" Enzo exclaims.
"Yeah, I have to say I wasn't expecting that" Blaise laughs.
"She had said that Ivy came to hang out with her and Cassius had joined the ride. They got to talking and I guess she liked him and agreed to go with him. It wasn't planned" Adrian adds.
"Can we talk about something else, maybe?" Theo snaps. He didn't want to think about anything that could've happened between them in that time.
The boys give him a look before walking off to go dance some more.
"Don't think I've ever seen you so jealous before" Draco says.
"Yeah, that's cause you haven't" he says back as he turns to immediately walk away.
After a while of meaningless chatter and dancing, Theo took a seat for a minute. He didn't feel like getting up and watching Ren have a good time without him when he should've been her date.
The ball was coming to an end and Theo had been standing by for most of it.
Daphne approaches him after an hour of begging him to come dance and eventually giving up.
She watches as he stares at Florence with a shit eating grin on his face. She knew it was only a matter of time.
"Why are you with me, Theo" she looks up at him, not even sad or mad. She realizes now that he would be happier with Florence, so that's who he needs to be with.
Theo quickly looks down at her and says "what are you talking about"
"I know you, Theo. And I've known Florence for years" she starts.
He sighs and shakes his head.
"I see the way you are around her. The way you look at her. I'm not your person, and that's okay, but she is. So what are you doing here with me" she encourages.
The DJ announces that the last song of the night is about to play.
"Go to her, Theo. I can see how badly you want to" She says, motioning toward her.
Everything that had happened so far hits him all at once. He couldn't wait any longer, now was the time to make things right. Daphne was right and he should've done this a long time ago.
He gets up before realizing what just happened.
"Daph..." he feels bad.
"Don't worry about it. It's no big deal, just please go. Be happy" she smiles.
He gives her a thankful grin and walks straight to where Florence is sitting.
He stops, right in front of her. She barely looks up at him.
"Will you dance with me" he asks her finally, putting his hand out.
His stomach was doing loops.
She looks down, not sure what to do.
"Florence" he shifts to her "please" and he has never meant anything more.
She lets a grin appear on her face by accident. She couldn't help how he made her react.
She takes his hand and says through her smile "I thought you were never going to ask"
He walks her to the dance floor and replies with "how could I not"
They smile at each other as they get in position to slow dance. They are both hesitant at first. They have not been this close to each other since the night they kissed and they could feel the tension so deeply.
It only took a second for old habits to return and for them to be so natural and comfortable with one another.
He takes her hand and places his other hand right at her hips. She places her one free hand behind his neck. He pulls her closer and she loops her arm around his waist and grips onto his back. She rests her head on his shoulder as he dips his head into the crook of her neck.
They both missed each other's touch so terrible. Being so close, he could smell his favorite scent, her, parchment, candles and fresh air. Even she never wanted to move from this moment ever again.
"You look..." he didn't even know the words to describe how she looked tonight.
Her face got hot.
"Careful, Theo. You have a girlfriend" she smiles.
"Not anymore. Daphne isn't my person, Florence. She's not you" he says, making her look up.
"Don't go there, Theo" she warns.
"You want to know the real reason why I smelt you in the Amortentia" he eyes her. He can't tell if she wants him to say it or not, but he does anyway. "Because you are what I desire most in the world"
"You didn't stick around long enough to figure out what I smelt" she says. "It was you"
He looks at her. He didn't know what she would've smelt, but himself would've been the last guess.
"Was?" He says, so scared for what she might say next.
"If this is your way of bringing up Cassius, you must not know me very well" she laughs and then gets serious. "He was there to comfort me, even though he had no idea what was going on. He was still there when all I could think about was how you weren't"
The song comes to an end when he takes a step away from her, dreading the distance.
"I'm so sorry, Ren. Not just for that, for everything I've managed to cause" he says, truly meaning it.
She looks down and backs away.
"I know you're sorry, but it's going to take a little more than that this time. You're going to have to show me and act like it. It'll take time" is all she says before walking straight out of the ball.