𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 - regulus black

chapter thirty-two

"Ivanna Flint was looking for you," muttered Daisy when Ariel came back to her side.

He was surprised to hear her voice speaking to him and not someone else.

"Really?" he just answered.

"Go," she told him, finally looking up at his face. Her expression was serious.

"Are you sure?"

"Do you like her?" she asked more out of curiosity as she didn't seem the slightest bit jealous. He wasn't sure of her feelings for him. For a while, she had been acting like any other girl but ever since the last time they met, she was offering distance.

"As a friend, yes."

She hummed and repeated, "Go."

He just nodded and left her side. Ivanna spotted him first. She quickly joined him and pulled him into a surprising hug. It felt good. Maybe he needed this source of comfort.

"I'm sorry," she told him with a sad smile. "It must be so hard."

"It's so hard," he answered weakly, his lips forming a similar smile he preferred showing rather than a pained expression.

"Where's Regulus?"

"Outside. Trying to calm down. I shouldn't have left him," sighed the boy.

"It's okay. I got him."

From the other side of the room, his mother was witnessing the exchange and telling his father, "I told you he liked Ivanna."

He didn't remember when Ivanna Flint became that kind. The girl had never been mean but her attitude changed ever since she got to know about their secret. She was still the same teasing and gossiping girl, even with them. But she was caring now. A side Ariel didn't know she had. Except for Regulus, she was the first person in his life he could count as a friend.

That evening he accepted all types of congratulations with a tight smile. Feigning gladness was harder than he thought. He would come back to Daisy's side from time to time as it was the formality. They were officially engaged to each other after all. They had been knowing each other for years but it was only after being engaged that Ariel realized she just appeared to be a mere stranger to him. She knew nothing about him. He knew nothing about her. They did not have any apparent similarity and they probably didn't have anything in common. He didn't know who he was about to marry and spend his whole life with. It inflected a feeling of fear in him.

It was horridly boring. While everyone was discussing, drinking, eating, or whatever they could do at a party, Ariel was watching the scene from a corner of the room. He had had enough drinks for him to start wondering what was real and what wasn't. He was observing, wishing he was invisible in this place, wishing no one knew him, wishing he wasn't the center of attention that night. He just felt a great void in him at this moment. He hadn't even noticed Regulus coming back from outside. But Daisy Parkinson surely noticed him. Now that she had understood, she didn't appreciate having his presence there.

She walked up to Ariel who wasn't too far and whispered quietly, "You should teach your boyfriend how to cover up the sadness in his eyes."

The boy's head quickly spun towards her, facing her with a confused look. "What? What did you say?" he blurted out.

"I said, you should teach your friend how to cover up the redness in his eyes," she muttered through greeted teeth.

And Ariel just gave her a confused expression as he thought he had heard something else. And she knew that. She could see he wasn't thinking clear anymore, he just looked so lost and out of place. And she felt angry at him for choosing to ruin this party where so much efforts had been put in. She glared at him and left him without another word. Sill somehow conscious, Ariel thought, 'So, she hates me now? '