Seraphine

thirty nine

Seraphine

Damien leads the way out of the hallway and down the stairs, with Enzo and Luca following him. Nico stays behind as he realizes Seraphine still hasn't moved, and steps closer to her. 

"Seraphine?" He calls out to her, and she blinks before looking at him, and then down at her ruined clothes. "Ah. Here, let's..." Nico glances around before his eyes light up with mischief and he reaches forward, gently wrapping his fingers around her elbow and tugging her along. 

Seraphine doesn't protest, just hurries to keep up with his excited gait as he pulls her down the stairs, but instead of going into the kitchen like the rest of her professors, he makes a sharp right and brings her to the living room.

Seraphine's jaw slackens at the high ceiling, the large sectional, and sleek coffee table, but her lips part at the roaring fire crackling in the ginormous fireplace, the black brick going all the way up to the ceiling. 

"My dove, let your clothes and these flames signify the death of your relationship with...him." Nico makes a grand gesture, sweeping his arms and grinning widely, until he pauses and his face twists into a snarl at the mention of Derek. Seraphine cringes as he spits 'him', and for a split second, she feels a smidge of regret. 

Being here, again, with all of her professors, again, leaving Derek, again. 

But then she remembers everything he did, everything he allowed to happen, and she marches right up to the fireplace and throws her clothes into the flames. 

Nico whoops and Seraphine watches as the silk dress melts, the lace panties crumble into ashes, and the bra lights on fire. She imagines throwing other things into the flames--Derek's stupid vomit green tray that he insisted on keeping, his record collection, maybe all of his clothes...

Seraphine grins when the flames get higher, taller, hotter, and she turns to see Nico next to the gas line, turning it up. As if sensing her gaze on him, he whips his head up and she sees a crazed look in his brown eyes, brown eyes that look so similar to Derek's yet give her such an opposite feeling of what he provided her: peace. 

"Poetic, huh?" Nico nudges his head towards the fire, turns it up even more, so much so that Seraphine has to step back with a bark of laughter. 

"More like irresponsible," someone mutters from behind the pair. They turn to see Damien crossing his arms and playfully glaring at Nico, who snorts as he stands. Nico turns the gas back down and lets Seraphine watch the flames flicker and slowly diminish as he brushes his hands on his slacks and steps towards Damien. 

"Come now, brother. Don't tell me you didn't want to set your whole club on fire when you found her?" Nico says quietly, but Seraphine still overhears him. 

She imagines setting the club on fire. She's sure Damien does too, because he makes a sound of agreement. 

Seraphine is a little put off by all of her violent and destructive thoughts, but as she stares at the orange flames, she realizes that everything that has happened to her over the past year had molded her into something that wanted violence, something that deserved it. 

And Derek deserves to be at the brunt of it all, she decides as she turns on her heel, letting the fire burn bright behind her. 

"Seraphine, darling, I hope Nico's aggressive nature was at least a little therapeutic?" Damien's cerulean eyes dart to Seraphine as she approaches her professors, and he smiles down at her when he shoves Nico's shoulder. Seraphine smiles at Nico as he stumbles to the side, glaring the taller man down as he brushes off his shirt.

"Very much so, Damien. Thank you, Nico," she lifts a hand and places it on his arm, squeezing her fingers gently to show her gratitude physically as she thanks him aloud. Nico is silent for a moment, his eyes drawn to her hand on his arm, before he nods once and puts his free hand over hers. 

"Of course, dove. I'm glad someone appreciates me," he grumbles, shoving Damien back as soon as Seraphine pulls her hand out from underneath his, and she giggles at the two large men bickering behind her as she walks into the kitchen. 

The smell of well-made soup makes her stomach grumble and churn at the same time, and she raises a hand to press against her abdomen. 

Luca notices Seraphine before Enzo does and his cunning gaze drops to her stomach just as she removes her hand, trying to give the illusion that she's fine. He raises a single eyebrow, seeing right through her, and she gives him a tight-lipped smile before turning to the island and pulling a stool out to sit.

Enzo turns from the stove and puts a steaming bowl in front of her. Seraphine ignores the bowl for a moment, still not ready to face food, and instead smiles at Enzo until he glances up and smiles back. 

"Thank you, Enzo." She murmurs to him, and his smile grows. Damien and Nico come into the kitchen then, and Damien steps up to the island next to Enzo, looking down at Seraphine's bowl. 

"You don't have to eat all of it, Seraphine." Luca's voice so close to her makes Seraphine jump, and she turns her gaze to see him leaning against the island next to her, his calculating eyes trained on her expression. 

He must see her body relax, because he nods again, solidifying his statement, and Seraphine's shoulders drop. 

"Thank you," she says, her stomach feeling a little better without the weight of disappointing anyone by not eating all of the soup put in front of her. Her gaze flickers up to Damien as she grabs the spoon and she smiles up at him. "And thank you, Damien, for making the soup. One of these days, I promise I'll sit through a full meal you make," she vows, regret filling her voice, and Damien's gaze softens. 

"Darling, please only eat what you can stomach. I couldn't bear it if you forced yourself to eat my food just to please me," he says, and Seraphine stares at him before her gaze flickers to each of her professors, and then back to him. 

They're all so catered to her, worried about her, caring for her. 

Derek--

She stops herself and instead gives Damien a watery smile, nodding in gratitude. She ducks her head so they can't see her accumulating tears and scoops a small bite of soup into her mouth. 

Seraphine feels the tension in the room and in her body lessen altogether when she swallows, and she hums in appreciation as another bite of the warm soup meets her tongue.

It's silent for a few moments as she slowly eats the soup, and when she's eaten half of the bowl, she sets her spoon down and pushes it away. She sighs and speaks without looking up from the island. 

"You want to know what happened."