Before Potter could stop him, Draco had bolted out of the bathroom after the girl he loved, who had basically just told him she was done with him. He couldn’t just let her wander off on her own like that. Not when she was injured and so distraught, and especially not when he was to blame for most, if not all of the situation. The girl was moving rather slowly with her injuries, so it was easy enough for the long-legged Slytherin to catch up with her and pick her up before she could fight him on it. He knew she’d be angry with his treatment of her, but he didn’t care. Really, he’d give anything to see that anger, cause that would mean that she wasn’t completely broken.

Draco muttered softly into her hair as he carried her quickly yet smoothly through the halls. ”I’ll still follow you, fail snake. I’ll always follow you if only to keep you in one piece. You crazy girl,” his voice cracked a bit as he rested his lips against her head, kissing her hair and making his way to the secret spot he’d learned about last year during the Toad’s reign.

The blonde paced before the door, still holding his… well, was she even his anything now?... in his arms. The door appeared and he swept her inside, closing it behind them and easily laying her on a large, fluffy bed that the room had provided. There was also a bath in the room, and Draco planned to clean her up as soon as she would let him. For now, though, she needed to rest. She needed to heal. He didn’t know proper healing spells, but he knew enough to stop the bleeding if it started again, and that should keep her stable. His eyes took on a pained glow as he knelt by the bed and moved her shirt up her body, staring at her stomach.

”I don’t know how to make them go away,” he muttered, wishing he could do something more. ”I’m sorry I hurt you. I really did mess everything up, and I know I can’t fix them now, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, little snake. Not really. I just didn’t know what to do. I should have just been honest with you. I…”

Draco shut him mouth then, knowing he was just digging himself a deeper grave. She’d said she would have followed him. Past tense. She didn’t want him anymore. He couldn’t fix all that he’d done, so he shouldn’t keep trying. ”You should know there probably isn’t a way to save me at this point though. I mean, my life? It’s not worth the trouble you’ve gone to for it. And if I can do something to help… something to save you… I’m going to do it. I don’t care what it will mean for me. That doesn’t matter.”

With eyes of steel he looked at the wounds on her stomach and reached a hand out to hover over them, wondering if there was anything he could do for her. ”Do you know any spells I could use to fix this at all? Anything to soothe the pain? I… I’m good at learning magic quickly. I don’t know them myself, but I could learn if you tell me. I… I have to do something for your pain.”

Skyler knew as soon as she left it hadn't been her best idea, if it wasn't her worst one. While the pain in her heart was the worst she felt, the attack on her body was taking it's toll. Which meant she was more like stumbling down the corridor than anything else. It was pathetic really, but she couldn't stay in that stupid bathroom that held too many bad memories for her. It was suffocating.

The brunette had honestly hoped neither boy would come after her. Had hoped that by leaving, the message of her wanting to be alone would have gotten across. She really should have known better. No sooner had she gotten to round the corner, not even sure of her destination, when she was being picked up with ease like some kind of doll. Frustrated and annoyed, Skyler immediately pinned a glare to the blonde she knew it was before even looking at him. Harry would not have taken such liberties. It bothered the teen to feel her body relax in his arms as if it were second nature. Traitorous thing.

"Put. Me. Down." She demanded as heatedly as possible, but she knew it was a lost cause even as she said it. Draco was just as stubborn as she was, if not more so. It was probably one reason they were in this predicament. The brunette childishly pounded on his chest with her small fists, but didn't possess the strength to do any real damage and knew she probably looked like some petulant child, and she couldn't bring herself to deliver a blow to his handsome face.

That only served to infuriate her further.

"Where are you taking me?" She demanded again, legs kicking feebly, and her tone was more tired and resigned than it had been previously. Her eyes closed of their own accord when she felt his lips press to her head, and a small shudder wracked her body. Sky refused to open them again, lest the tears started again. Her heart ached to give in to the temptation of just surrendering to him completely. Was that going to be the last kiss she ever received from the man who had claimed her as his?

Sky didn't bother with a response, too emotional for words, but his seemed to echo in her head until she was safely deposited onto a comfortable and fluffy bed. The brunette sank into it immediately, her body seeming to rejoice at not having to use any kind of strength and her muscles relaxed. It was a sweet relief and she hissed softly. She felt him tug up her shirt softly, and as he started to speak her eyes fluttered open and Skyler turned her head to look at him, noticing how he kneeled beside the bed when before he would be in it with her. It was another blow to her heart, but she continued to stare at him with an unreadable expression and look in her eyes, not even bothering or having the strength to look around to find out where she was.

She could tell he meant when he said he was sorry. The rest of his words only served to anger her. The only problem was that the teen lacked the strength to be properly good and furious, even as she wanted to be. Which meant that instead of looking as furious as she normally did, the girl looked more like an angry kitten as she glared at him. "Yes. You should have been honest with me. There are a lot of things you should have done and not done apparently." Sky knew the words would probably sting him, but she had never lied to him before and she wasn't going to start now. She didn't consider keeping the meeting with her uncle from a lie, because technically she didn't lie. He had never asked, so she had never had to.

It was his words about his own life that hit the spot for her. Something she read once came floating to mind when he said it. "If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger." She whispered softly, gaze drifting dazedly for a moment as she came to terms with her epiphany before she focused them again on the blonde. This time she met him with a look of pleading. "Please don't be so careless with something I treasure? It will always matter to me." It was all Sky could say, and the only thing she could request of him.

His hand hovered over her stomach, as he pleaded with her to tell him how to help her. The thing was, Sky herself had no clue how to heal this one. Being carved by a dagger hadn't exactly been one she had thought of. The worst pain she had wasn't even that one. It was the one in her chest. The brunette was not some flighty girl. When she said she loved Draco, she meant it. When she loved, it wasn't something that just came and went. Even if she had wanted to stop loving the blonde, she couldn't. He could break her heart over and over again and the teen would still love him just as much as ever. That was what was killing her. Sky had to weigh loving him against feeling this pain again and again. She wasn't so sure she would survive another break like it.

"It's not that one that hurts me so much Drake." The brunette replied softly, eyes never straying from his face as she took his hand gently and placed it over her heart, holding it there. "It's this one that's killing me. And I don't know any spell to fix it."




OOC: Quote is from Wuthering Heights

Her words were so honest it hurt. Merlin. How had he messed up so completely? Draco listened to her telling him that he should have been honest, should have trusted her like she did him, should have been more for her. He could have added so many more things he should have been, should have done. He felt like his whole life was full of ‘should have’s and he would never be able to make up for that.

The quote she whispered was unfamiliar to the blonde, but it spoke to him all the same. She still cared for him. She didn’t want him to die. In truth, he didn’t really want to die either, but he didn’t see a way he could escape that fate. At the same time, the very thought of hurting this beautiful creature any more than he already had made Draco want to stab himself right then and there, so he thought he would try his best to find some other way to do what he could.

”Okay, fail snake. I’ll try to survive. For you,” he said softly, looking into her beautiful eyes and remembering all the things she’d revealed about herself earlier. ”I have no idea how anyone could ever have made fun of you for that gaze, Sky. It’s utterly intoxicating. I really think the silly muggles didn’t know how to accept your beauty.”

Finally, his hand was on her heart and she was confessing to him that it hurt worse than any wound, and he felt his own heart breaking even more. He’d already done a number on his heart with the way he’d been acting and the way he’d hurt Skyler, but it seemed to just keep getting worse. He was scared he’d never have a whole heart again if this beautiful, strong, amazing creature gave up on him. And he would deserve it.

He closed his eyes in a pained expression, putting a bit of pressure over Sky’s chest. His other hand stroked her hair as Draco tried to think of some way to make everything better, even though he knew there was none. ”If I could take all the pain away, I would. If I could somehow remove all the hurt you are feeling, I would gladly put it in myself just to take it from you. You don’t deserve it. You don’t deserve me. But, babe, I fuckin’ love you. And I don’t give up because I’m a Malfoy. I’m a bloody idiot. I’m inconsiderate. I’m cruel. I never want to hurt you again, but I’m sure I’ll do something to do it. I can say that I will never mess up this big again in my life, though, because you finally woke me up. I just don’t know that it was soon enough.”

Draco leaned over the bed, then, looking her straight in the eyes with his face mere inches from hers. ”I will not hold it against you if you need to move on, fail snake. I will never hold anything against you. I will, however, force you to rest. I will keep you here until you are cleaned up and stronger. I will take care of you. Because even if you can’t love me anymore, I will always love you. And I will always consider you in some way mine.”

With that, the blonde turned to a nightstand by the bed where some murtlap oil and a soft cloth now sat. He grabbed the cloth, dipping it in the oil and ringing it out before draping the soothing essence over the words on Sky’s stomach. This should at least make the pain fade, if not the potential scarring. At least he was doing something to get her moving in the right direction.

Skyler's eyes never left his face, not once. Not while he spoke, not when he closed his eyes when he was in pain. Every word he spoke she could tell was the truth. The brunette didn't doubt he would take her pain if he could. She didn't doubt that he was sorry, or even thought he had learned from all of this. The truth was, Sky had never doubted Draco at all.

From the moment she had met him, he had been this perfect creature that she held high above the rest. Sky wasn't an idiot. She knew he had never been perfect. No one was. She had known he had had his flaws. Everyone did. But to the brunette, he had always been perfect for her. He had challenged her. Taken care of her. Loved her. The teen knew he still did. There was no mistaking the look in his eyes. Or the honesty in his voice when he told her he loved her. Just like there was no mistaking the fact that she would always love him in return.

Despite the pain of her broken heart, the brunette knew that the blonde before her would always have a piece of it. There would always be a special place with his name written on it. She would always care for him. And about him. The connection they shared couldn't be reversed, and no matter what happened now, it would always be there. Skyler didn't want it any other way.

If she could go back in time and walk away from him on that first night, and every night after, she would never do it. No matter how bad she felt, or how much pain she was in, Sky would never take back one moment she spent with Draco. Or one ounce of love she had poured into him. The teen would cherish every second she had spent with him, whether they had been fighting or laughing and playing around. The time she had spent with him would always be some of the most treasured moments of her life.

She would forgive anything he ever did to cause her pain. It showed in her eyes as she looked at him. There was total forgiveness and love shinning in those purple eyes. And she didn't care whether he or anyone else thought he deserved it. Because just like her love, and her heart, and anything else that was completely her, it was hers to give. It was her way of showing that she would never give up on him. It had never been more clear than in that moment as she looked at him that she believed in him.

But it made it twice as hard to admit that it was over.

While she still loved him, believed in him, and had forgiven him, Skyler knew that what they had had was broken. She wanted to believe that maybe someday it could be fixed. Everything could be fixed with time, right? It pained her to think it. To admit it even to herself. How she wished she could simply ignore it. But she knew that things would never be the same between them now. She just wanted to make sure he understood. That she didn't and wouldn't blame him. That she still loved him, still cared about him, and still wanted him alive and happy.

Because that's what true love was. And she'd be damned if he couldn't believe he deserved the same things he said she deserved.

"You should know by now that I will always love you Draco. That you will always hold a piece of my heart. And that I will always consider you, in someway, mine." It was so hard, and Sky could barely breathe, and she had to take deep breaths to control the sobs that wanted to escape. If she started the crying now she would never get it all out, and she had to tell him. She just had to. She couldn't let him go without making him understand.

"It's not I can't love you. I will always love you. Or that I don't forgive you. Because I do. I promise I will never give up on you. I will always be there for you. But it's not just me that's broken anymore. Or you. It's what we had that is Drake." The brunette refused to look away from him, her tone honest and open, but thick with so much emotion, and the tears started trailing down her face again. Sky had no doubt that their love for one another could withstand anything. Love was unbreakable. It was their relationship that wasn't, and she willed the blonde to see that. To understand that.

Skyler hesitantly took his hand, pulling on it gently, giving the unspoken demand for him to join her. She knew this would hurt him just as much as it did her, and that they would both need someone else to cling to. She wouldn't force him though. If he hated her for this, she would understand. If he got up and left, she would understand. But she wouldn't go after him. She could only hope that things between them didn't end that badly, because she was already paying the price for his love. She wasn't sure she could afford his hate.

He saw it in her eyes and he knew what was coming. It was over. Whatever they’d had, it was gone now. Draco found he could hardly breathe, even though he sort of knew it was coming. For some reason, he always thought she’d come back to him. He thought he could get away with everything and still have what he wanted. It must have been the spoiled pureblood within him that felt that way. He’d always been taught that he could simply take what he wanted. He could have all that he wanted and he’d never really lose. The most he would lose was a quidditch match to Potter, right? But the important things… those would always be attainable for the Malfoy heir.

Well, that sure was a foolish thing to think. He watched her cry and he heard her words, yet he didn’t all the same. Most of what he heard was his promise to her, and the nagging voice at the back of his head that told him he couldn’t break it. Sweet Salazar did he ever want to though. She just told him she loved him, would never stop loving him, yet she couldn’t be with him anymore. It hurt so bad, all he wanted to do was run headlong into a fight he couldn’t even possibly win.

Draco took her hand and crawled onto the bed, pulling the bowl of oil with him so he could keep applying it to her wounds. He meant what he’d said. He was going to stay with her until she was feeling at least a bit better. He wouldn’t leave her like this. He wouldn’t leave her ever. He couldn’t stop the tears from falling, though, at the finality of her statement. He’d destroyed what they’d had, and he had no one else to blame. The blonde thought he might finally know what real loss felt like.

The blond curled up beside the girl he loved, freshening the cloth and holding it gently on her stomach once more. He was thinking over all that she’d said, trying desperately to find a loophole. Some way he wouldn’t have to let her go. As much as he knew he should, as much as he knew she was right, Draco just couldn’t give up so easily. He loved her, dammit. He would walk to hell and back for her. He wasn’t just going to roll over and let her walk right out of his arms.

”I know what we had is broken. But the thing is…” he looked into those eyes as he silently asked the room for another cloth and used it to soothe the wound on her arm as well. ”It’s what we had. Past tense. What we have is undefined. And what could be? Well, there’s so much there. Fail snake, think of us like your stomach. First it was perfect. Unmarred. Flat and milky and soft and gorgeous. That was what we had. Then it got broken. It got cut up and bled, got marked up in a painful way. That’s me fucking it all up, hurting you, hurting us. But you know what is going to happen? You know what this oil is doing? It’s soothing it. It’s turning something painful and ugly into something that makes you stronger. Something that connects you to me forever. That pug didn’t think it through, fail snake. She gave you a permanent link to me, what she wants so badly. That could be our future. Healing. Making up for all the things I’ve done wrong and learning from my mistakes. Learning to be the beautiful compliment to your stunning form.”

He looked at her with hope in his gaze again. It was so hard to think about how easily she could shoot him down. If she did, he’d let it rest. This was his only argument. ”No matter what happens, I do promise to be a better man. I will be honest, and I will be true. I won’t hurt anybody the way I’ve hurt you. I’m going to be the man you see when you look into my eyes, into my heart. I will not be the boy my father raised.”

Skyler could only watch silently as he addressed her wounds, thanking whatever ruled the universe that he hadn't left in anger and instead had stayed there with her. To take care of her. He was gentle, and yet so strong. And it made everything that much harder.

How was she ever supposed to truly let him go when he did things like this? A voice in the back of her head said because he also did things like sleeping with his cousin. She winced at that. That hurt. She looked over at the blonde who was curled up next to her, and tried hard not grin. Sky could practically see the wheels in his head turning as he put the cloth back on her stomach, holding it there with his hand. It warmed her from the inside out to know that even with things between them over, she could still read him like a book.

She had thought they were done anyways. But one could always trust Draco Malfoy to find some sort of loophole or some way to turn things around. The brunette groaned when he started talking, allowing him to put a second cloth on her arm. She wanted to close her eyes and sleep for days. She didn't have the strength to keep denying him, and the more he talked the more she groaned. Of all the stubborn idiots in the world, she had to have picked the one who knew how to play to his strengths.

He would be the death of her.

Sky choked on a laugh at his analogies, and couldn't be bothered to even look apologetic. But she didn't want him to think she was laughing intentionally, because she knew from the hopeful look in his grey eyes that he was completely serious, so she offered an explanation. "Your usual articulate self strikes again." She gave a hesitant and small, but still cheeky, grin. Maybe she wasn't as broken as she thought. The teen could only hope.

Skyler ran a shaky hand through her knotted hair just for something to do. To buy time. She bit down on her lip only to hiss in pain from biting on the cut she had already put there with her teeth earlier. She rubbed it lightly with her free hand, her violet gaze staring up at the ceiling while her brain worked even though it was completely tired. He made it sound so simple. But it couldn't be that easy right?

"The way you make it sound so easy makes me want to give in to you. You're playing dirty." Sky called him out on his tactics, shooting him that glare that made her look like an angry kitten. Sighing softly, her face turned serious. "The truth is, that it's not that easy Drake. Everything that came between us still exists. My uncle, your cousin..." The teen trailed off, looking anywhere but him. "I wouldn't survive this again." She admitted softly, and defeatedly.

This time, it was her weakness. Because he unknowingly instilled a fear inside her she had never had before. The fear of falling for him again. She could. All it would take was one kiss, and she would be helpless against her emotions. One kiss, and the walls would come crashing down again. And she would be lost in her love for him just as she had been before. It scared the shit out of her. Because she really didn't think she could handle being hurt again, and she wasn't entirely sure that he was through with other people or if he would do it again. After all, he hadn't even come clean about it. Not even when she had asked him point blank. Harry had to tell her.

Maybe now was the time to ask some of those questions. "Why didn't you tell me? When I asked you about..what Harry had meant about you and your cousin. Why didn't you tell me? If it was really just to push me away, to make me hate you, why wouldn't you have told me? You're leaving something out. I'm not that big of an idiot. I know when I'm being told half a truth." Sky didn't want to fight. She just wanted answers. She needed to know, and she knew it would probably hurt more, but at this point it was best to get all the breaking done at once.

It was obvious that she wasn’t going to believe that he wouldn’t screw up this badly again, and really, who would? Draco had only proven that he would keep destroying everything he worked to attain his whole life, so of course no one should believe that it would change. When she finally asked about the tryst with Leyton, the blonde felt his breath catch in his throat. This wasn’t going to be easy, but he’d made a promise, dammit. He was going to be honest and tell her everything. If she never wanted to see his face again, well, he deserved it.

”I didn’t want to tell you because I was scared of what you would think of me. I’m still scared of what you’ll think of me. Because it was supposed to be me taking out my anger at the situation, my frustration, and pushing you away by brutalizing the drunken idiot. But he tore me apart instead, Sky, and I liked it. Not him. But I liked the feeling of losing control.” He let out a large sigh and looked down, feeling his cheeks turn pink with shame.

Draco couldn’t believe he was admitting these things, and he couldn’t believe he was actually blushing in front of someone so easily, but then again, this was his fail snake. She was the only one he truly trusted with anything, especially his fragile heart. ”I’m so bloody weak. You should think so little of me now. And to make it worse, there’s a night this summer that I can’t fucking remember and I think Leyton might have been involved.”

Checking the wounds, Draco noticed that they were barely open anymore. At least his old go-to was still good for something. His tortured childhood helped him fix the one thing he wished he could protect better. That much was a small plus in a world of negatives. Draco removed the clothes from her wounds and looked at her sadly. ”You need to soak a bit. C’mon. It’s not like I haven’t seen your body before. I promise I’ll behave myself. I mean, you’ve already made it clear that we don’t have a future together, right? I still intend to help you to the best of my abilities, little snake.” It hurt to admit that he’d lost her. His plea hadn’t worked and he’d had to confess everything and now she’d surely think he was a complete waste of everything.

”I’m just… I’m sorry, okay? I’ll always love you. I’ll always have a past full of fuck ups. And I’m sorry. Now let’s get you cleaned up, okay?” Draco pulled himself up off of the bed and strode over to the tub, turning on the hot water and turning a tap for a healing bubble bath mixture. He wished this bath could do something to heal his pain, but it was all in his heart, and nothing could reach that deep through the ice that was his soul. Draco was a broken man, and all he could do was try his best to put his lost love back together.

Skyler could only stare at Draco as words spilled from his lips, honest words about how he felt, and why he hadn't told her. It was odd in a way, that she felt she could trust every word he spoke now to be honest, but wasn't sure she could trust him to be loyal to her. Perhaps it wasn't even just his fault that he had strayed. Maybe it was partly her fault as well.

The brunette was constantly having battles within herself. That was nothing new to her. She was a difficult person to handle because of it. It made it impossible to determine her reactions, and made increasingly unpredictable. While on the surface the teen was mostly grins and jokes, there was so much under it all sometimes it surprised even her. It had been quite a while since she had had to deal with the frightened, broken part of her, having locked that away some time ago. Now that it had broken free however, her normal self was at war with it.

Hence the reason why she kept flipping between wanting to simply be defeated and weak and wanting to press past all that had happened that day. Typical Skyler, the one she had been just that morning, was much too stubborn to allow something like fear to grip her so totally to the point where she would rather run or hide from them. Typical Skyler would have thrown all caution to the wind and not cared a damn bit if she got hurt again. But she wasn't that Skyler currently.

While Draco seemed to have lost his fear, Sky seemed to have found it. Now it was seeping into every part of her, and suddenly all the fear she had been pushing aside seemed to be hitting her ten fold, trying to control every decision she made. She was afraid to love him, and to let him love her. She was afraid to not love him. She was afraid to lose him completely. She was afraid to die. Afraid to face the girls who had had such a big hand in helping her fall so far. She was afraid to sleep. And she was to give him another chance, and yet, she was afraid to not give him another chance.

It was all so confusing, and Sky wanted to explain to him, but had no idea how to. She sounded insane to herself, she could only imagine how she would sound to anyone else. One could practically see her thinking as she forced herself out of the inviting bed. In the back of her mind the teen knew that if she didn't make herself move and follow the blonde he would only do it for her. Sidling up next to him, Skyler's eyes were glazed over in thought as she stared unseeing at the filling tub.

She wanted to shake this feeling. She didn't like feeling afraid of anything. But it was the only thing currently keeping her together. If she let it go, Sky didn't know who or what she would be, and that scared her more than anything. "I don't think you're weak. And I don't think any less of you Drake. You did what you felt you needed to, and that, atleast, I can understand." The brunette sighed softly, playing with the hem of her shirt absently. "I'm not even mad anymore. Not really. I'm just...disappointed, and afraid." She admitted softly.

Her vividly colored eyes searched out his grey ones for a moment. "And the worst part is I have no right to be. I have no right to be anything. And you shouldn't even feel bad, and you should hate me and you should yell at me because...because I...I..." Sky gulped, eyes falling back to the ground as she hung her head in shame. "Because I kissed Harry." She admitted so softly it was almost a whisper, not able to meet his face. Atleast he had a reason for doing what he did, no matter how stupid it was or foolish. She had no reason for kissing Harry, for pressing her lips back against the Gryffindor's like she had. And that made it that much worse, and it made her a terrible person. It made it worse than anything he could have done to her. And that was why she admitted it now, because she couldn't allow him to shoulder all the blame when she had broken what they had nearly as much as he had.

”You have every right to be disappointed in me,” he muttered. The news of her kiss had his heart in a vice and his male pride ready to clock Potter, but he couldn’t actually be mad at her. She felt guilty for a kiss, while he had had sex behind her back. ”So you made a mistake, too. We both made mistakes, fail snake. That’s the point. The mistakes are out of our systems now, especially mine. I love you. I forgive anything you’ve ever done. Anything you ever will do. Because you mean too much to me to ever hold anything against you.”

Draco stood and grabbed her shirt, pulling it over her head and tossing it to a corner, knowing the room would send it to the laundry and fresh clothes would show up for her. It was good like that. Once the shirt was gone, the blonde used his finger and a thumb to tilt her head up and force her to stop looking so shameful. ”You did nothing so wrong that you should look like this, little snake. Now, I’m getting you in this tub and you aren’t going to fight me on it.”

Ignoring any protests, Draco grabbed her hips and spun the skirt so he could pull down the zip, letting it fall to the floor around her feet and leaving her in only her panties and bra. He slipped his hands behind her back then, pulling her close to him and crushing her body softly yet securely against his as he unclasped the bra, pulling it over her shoulders and letting it drop to the floor as well. ”You listen to me now. Do not feel an ounce of shame right now. Those words? They don’t make you any less stunning than you’ve always been. You are a goddess. Our scars tell stories of what we’ve survived. They show our strength, and right now, you are bloody unstoppable.” His eyes were sparkling with intensity as he willed her to believe his words. They were the truth. She just had to trust him.

The Slytherin gently pulled her panties off and lifted her again, gently kneeling before the tub and sliding her into the water. His sleeves were soaked, but Draco didn’t care. He raised a hand to push her hair away from her eyes and looked deeply into them. ”Now you need to tell me so I know where I stand. It’s all out there. All we’ve done to not deserve love. Does that really matter? Or is it the potential, the future, that you want to focus on? Because I know what I want, and I know who I want to be now. But I am not going to force anything on you. If it’s a lost cause to you, just tell me. I won’t leave you alone, but I will stop pursuing you. I’m always going to protect you, though. You’re going to be my fail snake forever. You can’t change that.”

He summoned one of the clothes to the tub and soaked it in the water, letting it slide over her body with a gentle touch that few would think possible from a Malfoy. He focused on the word on her arm while he waited for her answer, hoping he had a chance even though most of him knew he shouldn’t and probably didn’t. Maybe if he willed it to be gone, he could get rid of the stupid word. The only ‘Freak’ in the castle was Parkinson, because she was so obsessed with someone who would never actually care for her, and she knew it, and still wanted him. Talk about crazy.

Skyler looked up at his face with fearful eyes when he tilted her head, afraid to see the anger she should have been faced with. Instead she found reassurance, and it made her feel worse and better at the same time. Worse because she felt she didn't deserve him being so nice, especially when she kept denying him what he wanted. Which was her. And better because even if his anger was preferable, it would break her completely. It was one thing for her to hurt, it was entirely different for him to hurt. Sky would go to any lengths to keep the blonde from any kind of pain.

Before she could manage to so much as open her mouth he had her skirt falling to her feet, and she found herself pressed safely against his body while he removed the remainder of her clothes, and though she knew it was wrong the teen became lost in the feeling of being taken care of. Until she realized that she would be completely naked with only those disgusting marks covering her. The girl desperately tried to cover herself from his sight, a panicked look in her violet eyes that normally wouldn't have ever been seen there before.

It was a testimony of just how much she wasn't herself, and she couldn't shake the feeling even when his words and gaze willed her to accept them as a show of strength. To Sky, they were a sign of weakness. The only story they told was the one of how she hadn't been strong enough. She hated them. She hated them because they mocked her. The were only reminders of everything she tried and failed to do, and she would be stuck with them forever. She hated her body because of them, and hated herself for not being strong enough to do anything to stop them.

It was clear the blonde saw them differently, however, and Sky didn't want to argue with him, so she simply nodded and dropped her gaze, allowing him to strip her completely naked. It might have seemed weird, given the circumstances, but at the same time, it was completely right. Draco was the only person she had ever been naked in front of, and though she wished she could somehow remove the words from her flesh or cover them up, in front of him she was as comfortable as she could be at this point.

He lifted her and set her into the tub with a gentleness she was sure only she had ever experienced with the boy, and that familiar warmth crept into her body even as she hissed when the hot water stung the cut skin. His hand pushed her hair out of her face, and her gaze found his. Those silver eyes were just as intense as ever, and she could feel the blush working over her face but was powerless to stop it. She barely had the strength to keep herself awake and functional, much less fight off a stupid blush. She didn't care much anyways. Sky was so past the point of humiliation it wasn't even funny.

The brunette managed to tilt her head at him, her teeth biting down on her bruised lip as she did while emotions flitted across her face and through her eyes. Meanwhile, he was running the cloth over the word on her arm, and it almost made her laugh. She could practically see how much he wanted it gone, and she was sure that if it were possible to get rid of it by looks alone the blonde would have won that fight. Even then, amidst so much seriousness and emotional turmoil, the teen couldn't help but be somewhat amused by his actions.

Merlin. She was only fifteen. Why did things have to be so complicated? So difficult? They were only teenagers. They were supposed to make mistakes, supposed to fall if only to prove they could get back up again. Maybe for normal teenagers that's what it was like, but her and Draco weren't normal. Their names had decided the routes they could take in life, and all they got to do was set the course and hope the weather cooperated. Only lately, it seemed like storm after storm was hitting.

Skyler wasn't a quiter. She was stubborn to a fault, and generally thrived under pressure. If things got hard, one could usually always count on her to fight just that much harder. But she had lost her will to fight back in that bathroom, and she had no idea how to pull it forward again. She felt so unlike herself it was frightening, and the only reason she keeping herself somewhat together was because of Draco. But the damn was breaking and the flood gates were coming undone and the brunette didn't know how to stop it as she finally broke down.

She covered her face with her hands, dragging her knees up to her chest while the anguished sobbing started again. "I can't. Please don't make me. I can't." She cried out, unable to even try and pull herself together anymore. All the things she had wanted, had been destroyed in one day. Every dream she had wiped out and replaced with nightmares she knew would haunt her. Her heart had been ripped out from her chest and left shattered on the bathroom floor along with the glass and had been replaced with fear of it happening again.

"I keep thinking about it, over and over again. I can't keep picturing you with him. It hurts so bad." The brunette cried into her knees, shoulders shaking hard from her sobs. "I'm so afraid to give you up. So afraid to never kiss you again. To never sleep in your arms again. But I'm afraid to get my heart broken Drake. It hasn't even been put back together yet." Sky admitted out loud finally. "I don't even know if it can be. I don't even know if I want it to be anymore. I don't want to feel anymore, but at the same time, I do. I don't want to be afraid, but I am. Part of me wants to kill your cousin, just out of spite. Just the thought of anyone else touching you in such a way makes my blood boil. You were supposed to be mine!! Not his!! Not anyone else's!! And now..I don't know who I am anymore. Look at me!! I don't know if what I want is what I need or what I should want. I want to say none of this matters but I know it does. I want to push you away and hold you close all at the same time and I want to hate you but I can't because I fuckin love you and it's not fair!!"

The teen wrapped her arms around her legs, hiding her face in her knees, rocking back and forth while she cried out her pain. Never had she been so distraught before. So utterly defenseless and helpless even in her own mind. All of her emotions were at war with one another and Sky felt like she would explode at any second. She was disgusted with herself for sitting there like some lunatic crying instead of fighting for what she wanted and drowning out the fear with her love and forgiveness. But she was tired of being strong, of fighting, only to have it back hand her in the face and kick her in the ass. She was at a crosswords, and she didn't know which way to go. And she didn't particularly care anymore.

With a frustrated, angry, agonized scream against her knees, Skyler felt herself break into a million pieces. She didn't care. Didn't care if she got put back together. Didn't care if anyone else cared. All she cared about was that he had promised her he would survive. As long as Draco lived, the rest could go to fuckin hell and she could burn with it and she didn't care. Everything else had been stripped from her. Her pride. Her strength. Her love. They had taken it all and had left only this broken girl in their wake.

As soon as she pulled her knees up and hunched over, Draco reached out and pulled her toward him, holding her close to his chest as best he could with the tub in his way. His whole shirt was getting wet now, but it didn’t matter. She was in so much emotional pain, and he desperately wanted to make her feel at least a little bit better. If only he knew how. He listened to every word she said and he understood. ”Fearing heartbreak after all I’ve done to you? That’s nothing to be ashamed of. If you weren’t afraid I’d be worried,” he said softly, finally feeling hopeful.

Draco swallowed loudly and cleared his throat, willing himself to keep it all together. He had to. For her. He sighed and ran his fingers through her tangled hair, being careful not to pull as he worked out the knots. ”It isn’t fair, fail snake. It isn’t fair at all. None of this is. But the only way I can make you feel better is to stay with you, and that’s what I intend to do. If you can’t give me up, then don’t. Don’t give up on me and I promise I’ll never give you another reason to. Hell, I’ll take lessons from Saint Potter if I have to. I will do absolutely anything to prove my love for you.”

With that, Draco threw all caution to hell and gently pushed her forward, slipping his still unlaced shoes off and easing himself into the tub behind her, fully clothed. He pulled her back against his chest, wrapping his arms protectively around her body and just breathing her in. It felt so good, having her against his body, even with his clothes in the way. He felt as though he could actually take some of her worries away just by touching her, holding her, loving her.

”My cousin is… he’s a broken soul. You don’t have to worry about him, though. He’ll never touch me again, and if he tries, he’ll have a broken nose and a very bruised ego. Trust me, fail snake. I know it’s a hard thing to do right now, but trust me. I’m not making any more stupid mistakes. You mean to much to me to ever let it get like this again. I will protect you from the whole world, including myself.” Draco let go of her middle so he could rub her shoulders soothingly. ”If I ever feel like I’m going to hurt you, I’ll come back to this day. To this moment. I’ll come back to the pain your beautiful violet eyes, and it will stop me in an instant. I’m never going to let you leave my mind again.”

The blonde kept rubbing her shoulders, hoping the healing oils in the water were starting to work their way into the wounds. They should clean them out well and stop any desire to bleed. Then he could dress the wounds and keep them covered until he figured out some way to make them a symbol of strength to the girl in his arms, rather than some sign of her perceived weakness. ”Now relax and let the healing oils do their job, little snake. I’ll hold you for as long as you’ll stay in my arms. I promise.”

Skyler didn't fight him when he pulled her to him. She half listened through her crying as he spoke, and softly shook her head from side to side at his words. If she wasn't so busy crying she would have snapped back at him, but she couldn't because she was choking in her sobs and gasping in air at the same time. Then he was in the tub with her and the brunette didn't have it left in her to fight against him when he pulled her to him.

She wanted to, but her body craved the soothing contact, the comforting arms. She kept her legs pulled up, but she easily relaxed against him, trying to pull some kind of strength from him and get a hold on her tears. Every word he spoke, instead of making her feel better, only made things worse for the brunette. Skyler was breaking all over again in his arms and he didn't seem to notice.

She couldn't take it anymore, and turned around, the fact that she was nude completely escaping her thought as her purple eyes streamed with tears but flashed in rage. "You've promised that before!! And you broke it!! You broke them all days after making them!!" Sky wanted to rage, she wanted all of this anger and pain gone and out of her. It was making her feel and she didn't want to. She started pounding at his chest with her fists, yelling at him.

"You gave up on me!! You promised to never give me up and you did!! You said the same things after that stupid party!! I didn't give you up, you stupid idiot!! You gave me up!!" Skyler collapsed, crying harder than ever, against his chest, hands still pounding feebly against him. She didn't want to go through this anymore. "Why do you do this to me? Why do you throw me away one second and then reach out with both hands for me the next? I can't do it Draco. I can't."

Draco clasped his arms around her as she leaned against him, beating against his chest even as her strength seemed to wear out on her. She was so beautiful even as she fell apart in his arms. He wanted desperately to put the pieces all back together, but somehow he knew he couldn’t. The blonde wasn’t sure anyone could put her back together, and that scared him. He had to keep believing she could she was capable of being that strong, whole female that she used to be.

”I had hoped that you could see me as a new man. A man who learned to stop making promises he didn’t intend to keep. I knew it was a long shot, and it seems it is too long of a shot for me to ask you to take. I can’t ask you to risk something you don’t feel able to.” He sighed, running his hands soothingly lover her arms and ignoring the bruises that were developing over his chest. The girl could sure pack a punch when she was angry. She was strong even when she felt weak, and it was amazing.

The blonde let out a huge sigh and melted against the tub, feeling empty and broken as he realized he really was losing his girlfriend. She was going to leave him because she couldn’t trust him, and he couldn’t even hold that against her. ”I’d just hoped you’d feel safe enough with me to give me one last chance with your heart, if I swore I wouldn’t break it. But I guess it’s too little too late. And I don’t blame you. I really don’t. I’ve had too many chances already.”

He kept running his hands along her arms as he closed his eyes and sunk down into the water. ”It’s nothing new, really. Malfoys never win. I should have known what I had was too good to be true. And the only one I have to blame for losing it all is myself.” He laughed, then, coldly. It was a harsh, bitter thing that seeped from his chest, out his lips. He was mocking himself and it felt good to do it. It felt satisfying to kick someone while they were down, especially when that someone was himself. Merlin, was he losing it.

The boy tried to keep focused on the here and now, calming Sky down enough for her to get healed up and not be in physical pain anymore. He could focus on his own demise later. He still wouldn’t risk his life, since he’d promised her that much, but his sanity? As soon as he left this room, left her arms, that was toast. No one else could hold the blonde sod together, especially once he was able to admit that he’d lost everything because of his own stupidity. For now, he just wanted to soak up her touch. He wished he’d known that the kiss to her head would be the last one his lips would taste. He would have savored it so much more.

Salazar, what had he done?

Skyler heard every word he said, and they echoed in her head. She gave up trying to beat him senseless, her hands stilling against his still clothed chest as his arms clasped around her. He was holding her close, against his strong body with his equally strong arms, being just as strong emotionally. All for her.

If nothing else could get through to the brunette, it was the fact that he remained there with her even after she rejected him so many times. That, combined with his cold hearted laugh. It was a foreign sound to her ears, and it woke the part of her that was temporarily out of commission. What the hell was she doing?

Was she letting the fear win? Because that was what it seemed like. There he was, pouring his heart into her time and again, trying to fix all the damage done, and she was running away with her tail between her legs because she was afraid to get hurt again. When the hell had she ever been so afraid of getting hurt that she have up on the things she loved? Never.

She couldn't let herself start now.

Beyond all reason, Skyler loved Draco. Loved him so much that there could hardly be a line he could cross that would stop her from loving him. It was stupid. Idiotic. Foolish. Anyone with half a brain would cut their losses then and there and say good riddance. Anyone who had ever loved someone, truly loved someone, would know why she couldn't do that.

She lifted her head, violet eyes shinning with that passion they had lacked since leaving the bathroom, and her face hover only inches from his. "I can live with a lot of things Draco Malfoy. I can live with these fucking scars, and I can live with having had my heart broken. But I refuse to live in any kind of regret. And even if it is against my better judgement, and even if I am an idiot for it, I know somewhere inside me I would always regret letting you go."

For the first time since the attack, a true, albeit small, grin appeared on her bruised lips as she looked down at the blonde. "Besides, I don't go back on my promises. And I clearly remember telling you that you were stuck with me." Her tone was slightly teasing. She was teasing him. And it felt good. It felt right. Now that she had made a choice, had decided what to do, which route she was taking, things were clearer. Her mind was more calm, the emotional tornado that had been wreaking havoc inside her had died down, though she knew there was still a lot to figure out. But one thing she for sure. If sticking by him was wrong, then Sky didn't want to be right.

Her face was so close to his that he had to open his eyes and look into hers. In them, he saw the brightness that hadn’t been there since their heated argument after that terrible party. It made him instantly happy. She was going to be okay. Draco felt like he could at least go on living without feeling too overly guilty if she was okay. But then she started talking and he realized that passion in her gaze was for him, and Merlin, his heart seemed to have just started beating again, when he hadn’t even realized it had stopped in the first place.

It wasn’t hard for him to close the space between them and kiss her beautiful lips, and he couldn’t help but slide his tongue over them before pulling himself away, not wanting to get her too worked up after all she’d been through so far that day. ”You are incredibly confusing, love, and I absolutely adore it. And I definitely want to be stuck with you for a long time.” He said easily, arms ever around her in an attempt to keep her calm and still. The silly girl would always fight him on everything, he knew, and so he’d have to keep anticipating her natural tendencies toward hurting herself and stop them from happening.

”Sweet, Salazar, I do love you,” he murmured, moving his hands to rub his fingers deep into the muscles of her back. He hoped he could ease the aches in her body while the water healed the wounds. ”You know we need to get out of this tub at some point, right? You need to put more oil on those wounds and let me dress them for you so they won’t stick to your clothes. That would hurt like hell. And I might need to actually convince the room to give me some new clothes too,” he added with a cheeky grin. He felt so much lighter now. So much less… worthless. Just having her look at him like he meant enough to her to be worth the risk gave him a whole new outlook on life in general.

Draco found that he really didn’t want to move, though, since he had his girlfriend in his arms and she was acting like herself again. He just wanted to enjoy the moment while it lasted. ”Hey fail snake? Promise me something. If we ever start… not working. Promise me we’ll talk about it. We’ll still be just as close? I don’t think I could live in a world where you weren’t my closest ally.” He knew they should really move. He should finish taking care of her so she could face the world and throw her triumph in Parkinson’s face. But instead he held her even tighter to his chest and buried his face in her hair, just enjoying being close to her.

His lips against hers was the sweetest feeling she had felt all day. And she whimpered at the loss of the feeling when Draco pulled back, but understood why he did. It would do no good to get excited after all the crap that just happened. Sky wasn't an idiot. She knew there were still several pieces of her broken, but just being in his arms and deciding that she wouldn't let her fear rule her was enough to fix some of what was wrong.

For the time being, the brunette was happy enough to bask in his caring attentions, letting her entire body relax completely against him, and burying her face in the crook of his neck, taking in a deep breath of his scent. Merlin, it was intoxicating. How could Sky had thought giving this up was even an option? Draco was the best thing that had ever happened to her. The teen pressed a light kiss to his neck softly, murmuring, "I love you too Drake." in his ear.

Skyler rolled her eyes at him, though she was sure he couldn't see it, as she rested her head against his shoulder. She didn't want to move. The bath water was doing wonders for her aching body, and his closeness was doing wonders for everything else. The brunette wasn't ready to give it all up just yet. "Just a little while longer Drake. Please?" She begged him in a soft pleading tone. Sky didn't want to admit she also wanted to avoid seeing the words on her body for as long as possible.

His cheeky grin and comment had her grinning back, a new content feeling seeping into her from the blonde. He was definitely happier, and that made Sky happy as well. The teen frowned at his question, but considered it thoughtfully, her brows drawing together. Even if something else happened, she too, couldn't see herself living a life with the blonde excluded completely. She vowed that no matter what, she would always have him in her life, and she easily nodded to agree with him.

"I promise. I couldn't live without you Drake." Skyler promised. She would keep it too. No matter what happened, the blonde was a permanent part of her life and she enjoyed it much better that way. The brunette was sure she would shy away from any options that didn't include Draco. Her eyelids were so heavy, and all she wanted to do was drift off to sleep. Which meant she should probably get up before he had to drag her out of the bathtub.

Sighing softly, the brunette pulled away from the blonde, standing up carefully and grabbing a robe that appeared seemingly out of no where. Sky frowned. She would need to ask him about this room. For the moment she was more anxious to slip on the fluffy white robe and cover up the hideous body and scars. She knew it would annoy Draco, but Skyler didn't much care. It was her body. She could hate it if she wanted to.

He let her stay in the tub as long as she wanted to, since he had no desire to force her to do anything right now. All he wanted was to love her and be loved by her. Her answer to his plea made that seem very possible, and he was too happy to keep holding her in his arms in the cooling water. They were each other’s, and they would always have a bond, no matter what life threw at them. At least Draco now knew he didn’t have to fear losing her completely. Even if he didn’t have her as his girlfriend, he’d always have her as his friend, and he cherished that even more.

The blonde followed his girlfriend out of the tub, stripping his waterlogged clothes as he went and grabbing a similar robe that appeared for him. He figured it would probably be bad form to be nude around her in her current fragile state, plus the robe really was a comfy thing, so he wrapped the black fluffy thing around his body and snuggled into it, following the girl back to the bed and noticing that the room had already provided them with a large supply of bandages and a cream form of the oil he’d used on her before the bath. Apparently it knew just what he wanted to do for her and even went so far as to make it more effective.

”Alright, little snake. Lose the robe so I can dress these wounds, then you can put it back on again and you won’t even know anything happened,” he said softly, waiting til she complied and then rubbing the cream over her stomach, noticing that the marks were already less garish. He wrapped her middle with clean, soft bandages, securing them with a tap of his wand so that she didn’t have to worry about them coming loose. Next, he did the same for her arm, hating that Parkinson had branded her with something so belittling as ‘freak’. She was so much more than that. So much better.

Draco took it upon himself to ease her back into her fluffy white robe, then pulled the covers over her on the bed, tucking her in effectively. The rest of the day could go to hell. They weren’t going to get anything done anyway. Might as well stay in this comfortable room that took such good care of them, right?

Crawling into the other side of the comfortable bed, Draco immediately spooned the girl he loved. The room dimmed for them almost instantly, and he exhaled easily on her shoulder. ”It’s all over now, fail snake. You’re mine and I’m yours and that’s all that matters. You’re safe here, in my arms. I’ll never let anything bad happen to you ever again.” He snuggled against her body, the warmth of their robes and their bodies lulling him into a half sleep already. He didn’t even know if Sky was still awake, but it didn’t matter. He was happy. So happy.

”Now it’s time for rest. We’ll figure everything else out later. I’ve got you, babe. I won’t let anyone hurt you. Not so long as I live.”

Skyler was running on pure will at the moment, because that was the only thing keeping eyes open and her sluggish mind understanding anything. The teen desperately wanted to simply sink into the bed beneath her and sleep for hours, if not days. Unfortunately, her boyfriend called to her, and she knew if she didn't get her wounds taken care of then she would only hate them all the more.

Thankfully, Draco seemed happy enough to do all the work for her, which meant the brunette had to do little else other than stay still and allow him to apply the cream and bandages to her stomach and arms. Somewhere in her muddled brain she wanted to know how he had managed to have such things on hand, but it seemed to have gotten lost on it's way from her brain to her mouth. Instead, a small, kitten like yawn escaped her as she settled into the bed, the blonde tucking her in gently.

Her eyes widened for a moment in fear and panic when he moved away from her, but it faded as soon as it had come when she felt him crawl up onto the bed on her other side, spooning her and snuggling her in a way he had never done before. Sky's eyes closed, too heavy to keep open any longer, especially now when he was holding her and whispering comforting words to her. A part of her wanted to tell him that it was obviously impossible to protect her from everything, but she didn't want to argue, now did she want to ruin the comforting peace that seemed to have fallen over them.

Instead, she snuggled back against him, melting into his arms and body, the warmth making her drift off to sleep as a happy little grin settled onto her lips. Before she could fully fall unconscious though, she couldn't help but comment on the pet name. "Dun like babe. Baby's better." She advised in a sleepy and soft voice, finally letting her mind shut off and falling asleep. He was right about one thing. When she was in Draco's arms, she never worried or feared. When she was in his arms, she was safe, and always felt like nothing could touch her.