Empire (D.M)

Part sixty

She sat by the window in the kitchen, glancing at the ocean as Draco made breakfast. Her hands rested on her small baby bump. The waves were rolling into the shore softly, and the sun shined on the clear blue sky. It was the nicest day that they had gotten in quite a while.

They ate together by the dining table and then they walked along the shore, letting the sun warm their cheeks and the salty ocean water splash over their bare feet. 

"The wedding is supposed to start now" Draco pointed out, looking at the watch on his wrist.

"I wonder what's going on back in Wiltshire right in this moment" she mumbled, gazing between the pale boy and the horizon in the distance. 

"Yeah" he laughed, looking down at his feet "imagine the look upon your mother's face when she finds your bed empty"

"Oh my god" she laughed, splashing the water "she might behead me the next time I see her, she's going to be so angry with me"

"Can you imagine Ezra's face right now?" Draco asked her, dragging his feet along the sand "he's probably gotten all dressed up and traveled to my house while knowing that we won't be there, imagine his face... it must be so hard for him to hold that laugh back"

"Oh yeah" she hummed, a smile spreading across her lips "Ezra loves these kind of things"

It felt nice being far away from the chaos that she imagined was taking place in Wiltshire. She appreciated the calmness of this cottage by the ocean, and the light breeze here made it a lot easier to breath. Here there's no musts and do obligations, here she didn't have to think about honoring her family name and acting like a nice and respectable young lady.

The two of them had a late lunch in front of the fireplace, letting the fire warm their feet. Then they sat in silence, reading books that they found in the book shelf in the living room. The books were old and dusty, and it was almost as if no one had touched them in years. She knew that Noelle probably brought her own books to the cottage for some summer reading while Ezra didn't even breathe near a book whenever he wasn't forced to for school.

In the evening, after they had ate dinner together by the dining table, Ezra showed up. She got up on her feet, rushing over to the boy with the brown curls. 

"Ezra!" she shouted happily, jumping into his arms. He caught her, spinning her around.

"Careful Darkwood" Draco muttered, watching the two of them "watch out for the baby"

"Look" she hummed, pulling her shirt up as he sat her down.

"Oh my god" Ezra exclaimed, looking at her stomach "that's a bump... I see a bump"

"I know" she laughed, beaming a smile towards the shocked boy "cool right?"

"Yeah that's amazing" Ezra smiled, reaching his hand down to touch her stomach. She could feel Draco glaring at them, clenching his jaw as he blinked his eyes.

"Malfoy how are you?" Ezra asked, taking his hand off of her stomach as he walked passed her.

"I'm just fine" Draco said, engulfing the brown haired boy into a hug "thank you for letting us hide out here"

"Don't worry about it... you're like a brother to me Draco, I've got you" Ezra said, wrapping his arms around the pale boy.

"You're like a brother to me too Ezra" Draco mumbled "you've always been"

She sat down on the couch as she watched the two boys let go of each other. Draco sat down in front of the fireplace, and Ezra plopped down next to her.

"How was the wedding?" Draco asked with a amused smirk upon his pale lips.

"Amazing... so fucking brilliant" Ezra smiled, looking at the two of them "I got there with my family and we went into the garden where hundreds of other guests were waiting, and then Narcissa rushed out and told everyone some lie that they were unable to hold the wedding today because of the bride and groom having gotten food poisoning, everyone was so confused... it was hilarious"

Draco laughed, gazing between the burning fire and Ezra.

"That serves them right" he scoffed, the amused smirk still evident upon his pale lips.

"I wish I could've been there to see it" she hummed.

"Oh yeah" Ezra laughed, leaning his back against the couch "your mother looked like she was about to explode at any given moment"

That night Ezra stayed, sleeping in his twin sister's room. And in the morning they had breakfast in the dining room. And as she stood in the kitchen washing the dishes Draco walked past her, excusing himself. 

"Where is he going?" Ezra asked as he walked into the kitchen, seeing Draco walk out the front door. 

"I don't know" she said, drying off a plate with a clean kitchen towel "he didn't say, he just told me that he needed a minute alone to go over the thoughts in his head"

"Hmm" Ezra mumbled, gazing between the front door and her. She finished up with the dishes, putting everything back into it's place before she followed Ezra into the living room. He sat down in front of the fireplace, adding some more drift wood to the fire as she sunk down in front of one of the windows, gazing towards the beach where she saw Draco walking slowly along the shore. He held his shoes in his hands, letting his bare feet drag along the salt water.

"Do you love him?" Ezra suddenly said, catching her by surprise.

"Huh?" she asked, tearing her gaze from the window to the boy sat on the floor in front of the fireplace.

"Do you love him?" Ezra asked again, putting another piece of driftwood into the fire "Draco I mean"

"No" she said lowly, gazing down at her hands "no not like that... why would you think that?"

"Cause I see the way you look at him" Ezra simply shrugged, a small smile pulling at the edges of his lips. She felt her heart beat hard inside of her chest, she didn't realize that she had a special way of looking at him.

"I..." she mumbled, unsure what to say as she fiddled with her hands "I don't love him"

"Are you sure?" Ezra asked, poking the burning fire with the fire iron absentmindedly.

"Yes" she breathed, looking at the green eyed boy "I mean I don't... think so, he's just confusing"

"Yeah well he's always been kinda confusing that one" Ezra hummed, putting the fire iron back into it's place "and I can see how infuriating it can be given your situation, carrying a in your womb that's half of him and all"

"Yeah well I just don't know how to feel... one minute he absolutely despises me and wants nothing to do with me and the other he's defending me in class" she sighed, gazing out of the window once more "and I know that I should hate him after all he's done to me, but there's this part of me that just can't let him go... he's constantly on my mind, it's rather weird"

"Is it really weird though?" Ezra asked, turning his attention away from the fire to look at her "you two are close, I mean you've always been... it's not that weird that close friends, who also decide to sleep together, end up catching feelings for each other"

"I don't think he will ever love me" she said quietly, gazing at the pale boy who walked along the shore "not the way I love him"

"Don't give up just yet Alice" Ezra said softly, laying down on the floor "Draco's complicated yes... but not incapable to love"

"I think he might just be" she hummed, pushing her lips together as she remember the words he had once told her when he begged her not to say that she loved him, for he might not be able to say it back. He might just me incapable of loving her.

"He'll come around Alice"

"You've told me that a million times Ezra" she mumbled, fiddling with her fingers "and I'm still waiting... what if he never comes around? I am having this kid, and I don't want to argue with him about things all the time"

"Let me ask you this Alice..." Ezra said slowly, laying his hands on his lap before he laced his fingers together "does he make you feel nervous?"

"A little" she mumbled.

"Does he make you feel happy?" 

"When he's in a good mood... I suppose so yes" she said, gazing out of the window.

"Does he make you feel all warm inside whenever he walks into the same room as you?" Ezra asked, eyeing her.

"Yeah" she said, a quiet laugh slipping out of her lips "he's always done that, it's quite odd"

"Well that's the exact same way I feel when Lizzy is around..." Ezra trailed, sitting up from off the floor "and trust me I love her"

She quickly snapped her head back towards Ezra, a smile upon her lips.

"You love Marlize?"

"Yeah" he laughed, looking down at his hands for a brief moment "it turns out all of you guys were right all along, she's just special to me"

"Have you told her?" she asked curiously, tucking her long black hair behind her ears.

"No" Ezra said, shaking his head before he lifted his head to look at her "maybe I will someday, when the time is right"

"You should" she smiled, scratching her temple "tell Lizzy I mean"

"And you should tell Draco" Ezra said, standing up and gazing out of the window "you should tell him how you really feel"

"I can't" she breathed.

"Yes you can" Ezra assured her, walking over to her and laying a comforting hand on her leg "I'm sure he feels the same, he stares at you every time you look away"

"No Ezra" she mumbled, gazing out at the pale boy standing by the ocean as she swallowed hard "this thing between us... it's not this incredible love story, it's just a sad nothing, I have tried to talk to him about my feelings but he quickly shut me down, he will do the same again I'm sure"

"Look" Ezra sighed, sitting down next to her by the window "he's upset, his life isn't going the way he thought... he's doubting himself, sooth him Alice, sooth him and save him, then you can love him and he will love you back, I know that"

"You can't possibly know that Ezra"

"I do know that Alice" Ezra hummed, gazing out of the window as he spoke softly "trust me"

"I always do" she mumbled, looking down at her hands "I always do..."

And as she sat by the window watching him, she felt something inside of her change. It was as if all the anger she had held onto melted away, and all she could see was him. There was only him. And she soon realized that she had loved him all along, the boy with the pale skin and the cloudy grey eyes.