Desired | Draco Malfoy & Theodore Nott, 18+

74

Isla shot up from the bed the second she heard the front door being slammed shut.

It had been hours since they returned from that shelter. The whole day had passed since they brought that little heart home, and now, her other heart had returned home as well.

Looking down to her right, she saw how Draco had his eyes closed. One of his hands was tucked underneath his head, and the other fiddled with the little dog's floppy ear.

''He's home—'' Isla nudged him to the side, and she sounded so excited, ''I just have to talk to him. Then I'll call for you, and you can bring him downstairs.''

Draco hummed quietly at what she'd said, and he felt the weight of her body lift from the mattress. He didn't want Isla to go. Draco wanted her to stay there, right there with him. He knew she couldn't. It upset him that she didn't. He just wanted to snatch her arm and pull her back down.

Catching her eager steps out of the room, he turned to his side, feeling their little puppy crawling closer to his chest. Perhaps Draco didn't loathe this as much as he thought he would.

The dog had been asleep the whole day, close to him. He'd licked his cheek from time to time, given him small, nearly inaudible yawns near his ear, and he'd looked after Isla as she so anxiously lapped around in Theo's room.

Perhaps Malfoy liked the idea of a new life being added into theirs.

He'd done something — something he didn't tell Isla.

When she walked in to get the puppy they'd picked out, the man and Draco stayed behind. He made sure they did, and when his girl was out of sight, Malfoy used magic to compel the man never to put another dog down, to get off his lazy behind, and work hard for each and every single dog to find a home.

Draco even donated a large amount of money to ensure that the facilities would be improved and the dogs were well taken care of, no matter how many they would become and how much time passed.

He acted like nothing when Isla came back with their new little family member, but he could tell that she sensed a change. She didn't say anything. He was glad that she didn't, and now — now he laid there, on that bed with a puppy against his chest, a puppy she wanted to name Golden.

Draco damned that messy girl for what she was turning him into.

For turning him into someone who got a dog, someone who had a dog named Golden, someone who accepted the fact that she just ran away from him, down to the other person they both needed.

It ached a bit in his chest as he thought about it. He just didn't know if it was a pained feeling or a beautiful one. She indeed turned him into someone he wasn't used to being, but maybe that wasn't a bad thing.

Isla sprinted down the stairs, and she headed straight for the kitchen.

Her heart stopped as she entered it. Her face fell into complete agony.

Theodore stood with his head sunken between his shoulders, his hands splayed out on the counter, and his spine was rising and falling at a slow pace, nearly as he was gathering himself.

''Theo?'' Isla stepped inside, her voice being low and filled with worry, ''Theo, are you okay?''

He shook his head without even looking at her, and he sighed heavily, ''I'm sorry, Isla.''

Her steps up to him were quick yet stumbling. Her hands nudged his clothed back, and she slithered her arms around his waist.

There was something in the way he spoke, something in his vocals that made her insides flip and her heart breaking, ''You have nothing to be sorry for.'' Isla tipped her forehead to his back, and she hugged him even tighter, ''You never have to apologize for anything.''