ITS YOU ; DRACO MALFOY

chapter 223.

I push my food with my plate and allow the fork to scrape the pottery. He's not calling back, he's not answering, he's not messaged, he's nowhere. "Bella." I look up and my Mother gives me an encouraging smile. "He's fine, he's just cooling off. Eat your dinner and please stop scraping the plate."

"Sorry." I mumble, dropping my fork and crossing my arms as I chew on my bottom lip. My mind is too focused on Draco and his whereabouts than eating food, which is why I stand up from the table and rush to the hallway. For the 600th time, I dial Malfoy's number and impatiently wait.

It rings.
It rings.
It rings.

It beeps.

"Okay...I don't know why I'm so disheartened, you've not answered any of my calls so I guess that I shouldn't be expecting anything else, should I? But please, just, tell me that you're alright. I don't know where you are, how you are...I just want to know if you're safe or... call me. Please. I'm begging."

I wait for 15 minutes in the hallway, staring at the phone, but after another 5 minutes I give up and decide to go to get a moment of peace by going to sleep.

The minute that my alarm goes off, I jump out of bed and rush downstairs. No new messages nor missed calls. I pull my bottom lip in between my teeth and repeatedly tell myself that it's Monday, it's Monday and, if he's safe, he'll be at the Ministry.

I repeat those words to myself as I get ready and tend to Lorelai. I leave a note for my Mother and give Lorelai a kiss before apparating to the building with my heart hammering against my ribs.

Instead of going to my office, like I'm supposed to do, I walk in the direction of Malfoy's and knock on the door. No reply. I put my ear against the metal and wait...no noise. Sighing, I cross my arms and turn around, waiting for him to show up.

An hour later, he walks towards me, with his head pointed towards his shoes, but he must notice my movement as he lifts his head and looks at me. An instant relief floods through me and I cross my arms. "Hi." I voice as he pulls out his wand to unlock the office door.

"I don't have time for this, Bella."

That's it? I call him for two days straight and try to fix our issue and he regards me like I'm his assistant. That pisses me off. "Because you're so busy?" I question as he pushes his door open, after unlocking it, and I follow him inside. "You sit in here doing nothing. So yes you do have time for me."

"I really don't. I have a meeting to get to and it might not matter to someone who's leaving in a few weeks but I plan on staying here and for that to happen I need to go." He rummages around his desk for something but I don't take it as an answer. I slam his door shut and stand in front of it.

"I've been calling you all Weekend. I've been worried sick, Draco! You weren't answering my calls, you weren't answering Blaise's calls, I don't know who else but you disappear and then come back to talk to me like shit! I was scared! Where were you? Who were you with? What were you doing? What were you doing where you were and who with?"

Rolling his eyes, Draco pulls a file out of his desk and looks at me again, "I can't do this with you right now, Bella, I have to go." I pull my bottom lip in between my teeth and desperately look at him. "Bella I c- I'm being serious, I can't do this right now."

"I don't know what to do to fix this, Draco. I don't even know why you're mad. You said it's not about the 'moving thing' so what is it? I want to sort this out. I don't want to be arguing with you." I plead and he claps his hands together.

"I can't be doing this right now." He slowly repeats so that I listen. "If I have time then I'll come and talk to you. Okay? I promise."

Huffing, I look down at the ground and tuck my hair behind my ears. "Fine." He thanks me and opens the door for me to leave and as soon as I step out, he's in front of me and speedily walking to wherever his stupid meeting is behind held.

Dejectedly, I take small steps to my office and try my hardest to focus on what I'm supposed to be doing — my work.

By the end of my shift, Draco still hasn't come by to talk to me so I give up on it. I'm not staying here longer than I need to just to fix things with a man who needs to get his act together.

I stand up from my chair and grab my cloak. "Bella? Are you still here?" Malfoy questions, knocking on the door, and I cock my head to the side.

"...yes."

The blonde walks in and gently closes the door behind him. "Alright. Sorry it took me so long, today has been fucking hectic but I'm here now." He leans against my desk and crosses his arms, staring at me. "What did you want?"

"To talk to you." I answer and he cocks his head to the side. "Where've you been?"

"Well after I left on Saturday, I went to a bar to calm down. It was immature of me and I did way too many shots of...I can't even remember. I know that when I got home I did hear the phone ringing and I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you and I didn't know that you were so worried. I was tired as fuck and didn't want to talk so I let it ring. I fell asleep and then I woke up on Sunday feeling the same thing, just less buzzed. Again, I admittedly heard the phone ringing but I figured it's a wrong number or something and I just didn't want to talk to people. The whole day I was home and I should have answered but I didn't and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I look down at my hands and chew on my bottom lip. "That excuses where you were and stuff but I just don't understand why it was such a big deal to you. I want to take care of my Father when he's let out of the hospital and that means postponing our living together for a little bit. Why does it matter to you?"

"Because, Bella, I'm doing everything that you're asking of me but it's still not enough. I'm trying to make you happy by persuading you to do that job that you really want to do, buying a manor for us, arranging a proposal and shit for you and you don't realise how much I'm doing. You ask me 'what are we doing on Saturday' and I have no fucking clue because I'm dealing with all of the other, long-term, shit. And I know that it was my idea but we were doing better and I didn't want to fuck that up. All I was telling you is that the manor was ready. I wasn't saying that we had to move into it right now. We don't. But you also don't need to stay at home and look after your Father. I guarantee that when the hospital let him out, he'll be fine, he'll be doing sit ups in your back garden."

I push my bottom lip out of my teeth and step closer towards him. "I don't care how good he is when he's released, I care about the long-run. What does it matter if he's healthy for the time being? It doesn't. I want to do everything that I can and helping him is all I can do. I felt powerless in that moment, Malfoy. Not one spell could have healed him, have helped him. The nurses did. And I want to do this for him. I don't want to see my Father go, Draco. I know I've been a horrible bitch to him in the past but he's still my Father. And I can't see what happened to him, happen to you. I would not cope."

"Is that what this is about?" The blonde asks, grabbing my hand by my fingertips. "Answer me."

"I don't know." I admit, tears filling my eyes. "My Mother was talking about how he's her everything, he's her other half, she wouldn't be able to deal without him and that's exactly how I feel about you. I don't want to go through the emotional crisis that she went through in that moment."

"Your Parents are fine." He reassures, giving my hand a comforting squeeze.

"But they almost weren't!" I complain and Draco pulls me into his arms. "My Father...my Mother...and I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything. "

"We're okay, everyone's okay." He gathers me into a warm embrace and smooches my head. I wrap my arms around his neck and hid my face in his shoulder. It's only been 2 days but it feels like the worst 2 days of my life and I missed him. "Let me take you home."

"I'm more than 100% sure that we both apparated here." I reply, sniffling, and the blonde cups my face in his hands. He wipes my tears away with the pad of his thumbs and he kisses my nose.

"We most definitely did and we'll apparate back together." He plans and I roll my eyes at his idiocy. "Give me a smile before we go." I furrow my brows instead and he gently shakes my head. "Turn that frown upside down, love, have you ever heard of that?"

"Yes I have." I reply and he smirks. "What?"

"Nothin' baby, let's go." He let's go of my face and I scrunch my nose up as an attempt to stop myself from smiling but I can't. "Oh so now you're smiling?"

"Shut up and let's go."