Nott Your Boyfriend | A Slytherin/Hufflepuff Romance

Chapter 21: Confusing Feelings and the First Fall of Snow

Susan stared after Theodore in shock at first, her brain not being able to fully process what was happening. Then she got up and stormed after him.

"Theo! Please wait!" she yelled as she bolted down the stairs, but she was too late. He had already slammed the front door behind him. 

Her mother appeared, sticking her head out of the door leading to the living room. "Susan? Is everything okay?"

Susan ignored her and ran back upstairs to get her shoes. Shit, she should have taken them with her immediately. She quickly put them on and ran back downstairs where she pulled her coat from the rack. Her eyes fell on Theodore's coat, still hanging next to hers. The boy had left without it. And it was freezing outside. She put her coat on and then grabbed his as well and hung it over her arms. Then, she ran outside.

She scanned the street, desperately looking for him, and spotted a hint of brown hair as Theodore disappeared around the corner. Without thinking, she ran after him. He had a head start. Her street was long and he had only turned left at the far end of it.

Susan's heart was beating fast in her chest. She was so worried. And he was out here without a coat on. He was going to catch a cold. And it would be all her fault, because she had obviously done something wrong.

When she finally turned the corner she thought she had lost him, until she spotted him sitting on one of the swings of the local playground. 

Relief washed over her as she walked towards him.

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Theodore Nott stared at the ground below him. Maybe it had been foolish to run from Susan like this, but he had wanted to be alone to process what he was feeling and he had reacted impulsively.

He didn't understand what was happening. He was a complete mess. He had planned to go along with Susan the next time she would want to do stuff with him. It obviously meant a lot to her and he just wanted her to be happy. At first, it hadn't been so bad. Granted, he had felt discomfort at his own arousal as she sat on top of him, but at the same time he had been surprised that his body had actually reacted to her in that way. He usually never got aroused by other people. It just happened randomly, without rhyme or reason.

When she wanted to take his belt off, he thought he would be fine. Maybe if he just thought of something else while it was happening, maybe if he just didn't really engage, then maybe he could sit through it. He couldn't. Well, he had planned to. If she hadn't noticed he was crying. Which probably made him look really stupid. Who cried when their girlfriend gave them a handjob? Only a complete mess like him could do something like that.

"Theo?"

He looked up. Susan was standing in front of him. He hadn't even noticed her following him.

"Theo, please. Put your coat on. You're going to freeze out here."

She held out his black coat. He stared at it in surprise. He had slapped her and stormed off like a complete idiot and she brought him his coat? He didn't deserve this girl.

"Please?" she repeated when he didn't respond. He took the coat and put it on. He had indeed been cold, but he had been too stubborn to actually acknowledge it.

Susan sat down on the swing beside him.

"I'm so sorry, Theo," she said. "I didn't mean to hurt you or do something you didn't want to." When he said nothing but just kept on staring at the ground, she added: "Can we please talk about this?"

Theodore swallowed and closed his eyes for a second.

"Are you mad at me?" he heard Susan say.

He shook his head and still without looking at her, he said: "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at me."