the sweetest con [d.m]

two

Mavi steps into her cramped flat, pocketing her wand.

She'd forgotten her keys and although she'd told Easton to place the Anti-Alohamora charm on the lock, he hadn't — and so she'd been able to slip into the flat with ease.

"Easton?" she calls, dropping her bag onto the counter. She'd managed to rent out a small studio apartment right after she'd graduated. Her father stays in the one bedroom and Easton sleeps on the sofa in the living room.

"Where've you been?" Her boyfriend of two years steps out from her father's bedroom, shutting the door behind him. "You were supposed to be back two days ago."

"Why didn't you put the charm on the door? Anyone could've walked in," Mavi scolds. "You know it's not safe here."

"Considering that I'm already taking care of your father full-time, leave that to me, yeah?" Easton folds his arms across his chest. He's pissed. She knows he's pissed. Can see it in his hazel irises, in the way his jaw clenches.

"That's not fair," Mavi says, faintly. "I've already thanked you so many times—"

"No one's gonna enter the flat, Mavi." Easton's not much taller than her but he's still intimidating as he takes a step towards her. He's tied his shoulder length brown hair back today, the square angle of his jaw tight, a muscle twitching. "Where have you been?"

"Mr. Malfoy needed me to stay on for a bit longer." She tips her chin up, meeting his gaze. "He had another job offer for me."

This isn't how she wanted to tell him.

Easton raises an eyebrow. "You told me you were leaving that place. Didn't your patient die?"

Mavi winces, looking away. She focuses on a stain on the carpet and says, "She did—but her last wish was for me to stay on apparently. So we made some arrangements—"

"Absolutely not." He barks out a laugh with a shake of his head. "You were supposed to move back in here. You promised."

"I know." Her chest aches. Ever since she'd taken up the job at the Malfoy estate, Easton had taken upon the task of caring for her father while she was gone. She'd rather Nezryn do it — but Nezryn herself is juggling her own problems — and besides, Easton had gotten kicked out by his landlord and had had no place to stay.

It had seemed like a win-win at the time — but over the past nine months, Mavi has watched Easton grow bitter. He'd obviously tired of caring for Mavi's father — not like he had much of a life outside it — and each Sunday that she returned, he seemed in a worse temper than the last.

"So what, this just goes on?" He gestures towards her father's room. "I'm supposed to stay here and take care of your father while you're out there, having the time of your life?"

Mavi recoils, shocked. "That's—What? That's not what's happening, Easton. I'm—I'm working. And I'm only just managing to begin paying back the debt for my school so please just hang on a little longer—"

"How much longer?" His voice drops and he shakes his head, pressing both palms together and bringing them in front of his lips. "How much longer is this going to take?"

"Do you have anywhere else to go?"

She shouldn't have said it. She knows she shouldn't have said it. But she's exhausted and it's been the most harrowing week and all she wants to do is see her father and then pass out and yet, here she is, arguing with her boyfriend like they always do when she comes home.

"Is that a threat?" Easton growls, advancing on her a step. She doesn't back away although her heart is racing in her chest. "Are you fucking threatening to kick me out? After everything I've done for you?"