Hierarchy of Need [t.r]

Chapter Twenty

"What even happened?"

Delilah picked at a thread on her robes and shrugged, "we weren't going anywhere. And I shouldn't have even gotten into a relationship in the first place, that was just cruel to him. And I love him, I do, but-" she trailed and went a bit stiff when Olive rested her head on her shoulder.

The girls eyes were downcast and she worried at her lips, there was a sort of distant melancholy air about her. Delilah's never seen her like this before, it was slightly off putting. Olive sniffed but she wasn't crying, she wouldn't allow herself to, not anymore. "No two people mean the same thing when they say I love you."

That was true, and the reality of it settled itself uncomfortably on Delilah's shoulders. Three simple words shouldn't hold such power. Those words had the ability to either raise cities or burn them to the ground.

Their comfortable silence ended abruptly when Olive spotted Tom making his way down to the lake. "That's my cue to leave," She grumbled, making her way up to her feet and brushing the dirt off her robes. Before she left, Olive looked down at Delilah with her lips pursed slightly. "You really do need to speak to Elio soon." And then she turned and left, pointedly going the long way around to avoid Tom.

Throwing her head back and releasing a groan, Delilah stood up and fixed her skirt. She wasn't in the mood to talk to Tom, he'd probably bombard her with questions concerning why she knew so much. Part of her wondered if she just came out with the truth, would it sound so ridiculous that he wouldn't believe her? Possibly, but it'd be incredibly idiotic.

Tom stopped a few feet away from her, higher up seeing as he was further from the edge. "Sightseeing?" He mused, gesturing to the still water lake. It appeared vacant above surface, but there was an entirely different environment below, he hoped to observe first hand some day.

"You could say that," Delilah made a point to not look at him and instead turned her focus to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. A beat of silence passed, Tom's patience wearing thin, but Delilah suddenly lifted up an arm and pointed at something. "Do you see it?" Her tone held something of excitement, and when she turned to look at him, her royal blue eyes were alight.

He followed where she was pointing but didn't see anything, was she pulling his leg? "No, I don't see it," He said flatly. But she was unwavered and a smile breached her lips. "It's right there, between those two trees adjacent to that boulder," What she was seeing was a thestral, that beautiful creature half the wizarding world didn't believe existed. But there it was, stretching its winds and shaking its head.

Tom narrowed his eyes at the spot she indicated, he was just about to give up looking when he noticed a branch shift and a new divot created in the dirt. There was definitely something there, he just couldn't see it, so how could- "a thestral?"

Delilah nodded, slightly surprised he remembered when she ranted about them while they were on holiday. Part of her assumed Tom tuned her out most of the time. "They're quite stunning-" her sentence got cut off due to her letting out a surprised scream. As she turned to look at him, her foot slipped on slick surface of the rock, and into the lake she went.

He couldn't help the dry laugh that left his lips once she went under, only to reappear a few seconds later, gasping and wiping the wet hair away from her eyes. Tom settled his features and raised a brow at her, "you're probably one of the most clumsiest people I've ever met."

A slight pout met her lips and he sighed slightly through his nose.

Making his way down to the large boulder like rocks that lined the lake, he held out a hand to haul her out. But as he started to tug her upward, his shoe's grip gave out.