𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭, ᵐᵃᵗᵗʰᵉᵒ ʳⁱᵈᵈˡᵉ

part 14

the three broomsticks was packed. mattheo couldn't decided if he preferred this or his too quiet house. everywhere he went, he was bumping into someone, he was glad for the crowds, and he was also not. he lazed around the bar while Blaise went to find a new girl or two to get accompanied with. he was bored, but he was also not, and he wondered if he would ever stop feeling so indecisive about everything. as he sat at the bar, a cold hand landed on his shoulder gently, he looked back and there she was.

summer had done charlotte well. she was tan, beautifully so, and her nose was littered with freckles. it would have quite possibly been the most beautiful he'd ever seen her, if it wasn't for the pissed off look on her face.
"can we talk outside?" she asked, and burst out laughing. he had a strong suspicion she was drunk, but he wouldn't ask, he didn't want to embarrass her.
"sure char, what about?" he asked as she lead him to the door of the packed bar.
"guess," she said with a laugh, like he had said something absolutely ridiculous. he pushed the door open for her, and hot, humid air flooded the atmosphere around him. he longed for the crowdedness of the bar. he looked over at charlotte, who was wearing a light purple dress, and waited for her to say something.
"you never wrote me back," she accused, glaring at him lightly.
"i know," he said.
"why not?" she looked away from him, and he wondered distantly if she was going to cry. she certainly looked like it, upset and weepy, a look he wished he never saw on her.
"i'm not sure," he said, because he can't tell her he loves her, not here, not now. not when she's upset at him and drunk and crying.
"oh," she says, and mattheo still doesn't know what to say.
"are you okay, charlotte?" he ends up asking, because she doesn't look okay, and he'd be surprised if she felt okay.
"no," she said, tears starting to slip down her cheeks, "no, i wanna go home, i wanna see my parents."
"charlotte," he says slowly, "your dads in azkaban, you can't see him."
"my mums dead," she says quietly, looking at something over his shoulder.
"mine too," he says, but when he looks down at her watery eyes and sad face, he's sure it was the wrong thing to say.
"come with me char." he says, it's not a question, he doesn't quite far if she wants to or not, he needs to know that she's safe, just for tonight.
"no," she says, sounding confused and sad and a little bit..angry?

"come on charlotte," he said exasperatedly.
"no," she says again, shaking her head.
"please charlotte, just for tonight," he asks again, reaching out to grab her hand. this time, she lets him, and he grasps her cold fingers tightly. he sighs in relief. he had missed her, he realizes. all this time he had been ignoring her and thinking about her, he was really just missing her. looking back, he couldn't think of a time that he didn't miss her. he missed her when they fought, and when they didn't talk, he missed her when she was in her dorm and he was in his, he missed her all the time. he didn't know what to do with that, what to make of it, but it didn't bother him. he loved her. loves, not loved.

"fine," she said, filling the silence around them, "but you owe me a drink first."
"i don't think that's a very good idea," he said, and watched as annoyance filled her face.
"i'm not an alcoholic, matty." she stated coyly, watching him with her eyebrows raised.
"okay," he said quietly, "one drink."
she smiled brightly and pulled him back into the cramped bar. she ordered a firewhiskey, which mattheo thought was odd since she hated wizard alcohol, but he didn't say a word as he payed for the drink and sat beside her.

when she finished it, she was drunker than before. he held tight to her hand a led her outside, where she sank down to the ground, looking up at him and patting the spot beside her until he too sat.

"why are you doing this?" she asked, "what do you want?"
he had no idea what he wanted, not a single clue, but he was certain it had something to do with her, always.
"you," he says, and hears a dull laugh from where she's sitting next to him. she laughs loudly, spookily so.
"shut up," she says, and then stands back up, "i wanna go home."
"i know," mattheo says, looking up at her, "i'll take you home."