[CHAPTER 6]

───🦋･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.🦋───

───🦋･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.🦋───

TITLE: NOTHING'S CHANGED

ELLIE WAS FINE.

Totally, completely fine.

Sure, her heart had nearly leapt out of her chest when Mattheo had smirked at her yesterday. And maybe she'd spent far too long thinking about how warm his hand had been in hers.

And okay, perhaps she'd been irrationally annoyed at that Ravenclaw girl—who, by the way, had done nothing wrong.

But none of that mattered.

Because nothing had changed.

She still liked Lorenzo .

Mattheo was still her fake boyfriend.

This was all just part of the plan.

And if she kept repeating that, maybe—just maybe—she'd believe it.

Unfortunately, Mattheo wasn't helping.

Because if Ellie thought he was insufferable before, he was downright unbearable now.

"You like me," he had said.

As if it were a fact.

As if the very idea wasn't completely ridiculous.

And the worst part?

Ever since then, he'd been acting like she was one step away from throwing herself at him.

"Morning, love."

Ellie nearly dropped her toast. "What did you just call me?"

Mattheo smirked as he sat beside her at the Slytherin table. "What? 'Love'? Thought that's what couples do, isn't it?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "We're not—"

"Fake couples count," he interrupted. "And you did say we should make it convincing."

Ellie took a deep breath, resisting the urge to smack him. "Right. Because we're convincing Lorenzo, not annoying me."

Mattheo just grinned. "Are you sure it's annoying you?"

Ellie clenched her jaw. "Positive."

"Because it kinda seems like—"

"Mattheo."

He chuckled, grabbing a piece of toast. "Fine, fine. No more teasing."

Ellie exhaled, relieved—

Until he casually draped an arm around her shoulders.

"Better?" he asked, far too smug.

Ellie stiffened. He's just messing with you. This is just the game.

So she forced herself to relax, offering her most unbothered expression. "Perfect."

Mattheo's smirk faltered just a little—like he hadn't expected her to play along.

Good.

If he wanted to make this difficult, she could do the same.

Ellie tried to keep things normal.

To pretend nothing had changed.

But Mattheo was everywhere.

At breakfast. At lunch. At practice. In the common room.

And he was always touching her.

A hand on her waist when they walked together. Fingers brushing against hers when they passed each other. His arm slung over her chair like it was the most natural thing in the world.

It was infuriating.

Because her traitorous heart had started to like it.

"Ellie."

She blinked, snapping out of her thoughts. "Huh?"

Daphne Greengrass smirked. "You're staring."

Ellie froze. "What?"

Daphne tilted her head toward the Quidditch pitch, where Mattheo was leading the team through warm-ups. "You've been watching him for the past five minutes."

Ellie scoffed, forcing a laugh. "Oh, please. I was just—"

"Admiring?"

"No."

Daphne grinned. "Oh, come on, Ellie. You can tell me."

"There's nothing to tell."

"You sure?"

Ellie swallowed.

Daphne gave her a knowing look. "Well, if you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me."

Ellie huffed. "I don't."

Daphne just laughed.

Later that evening, Ellie was determined to act normal.

Which is why, when Mattheo walked into the common room, she did not react.

She did not notice the way his hair was still damp from the shower.

She did not notice how he looked good in just a simple hoodie.

And she definitely did not stare.

Nope.

Not at all.

He flopped onto the couch beside her with a sigh. "Long day."

Ellie hummed, flipping a page in her book. "Mmm."

Mattheo peered at her. "You're being weird."

She froze. "What?"

"You're acting all... stiff."

"I am not."

Mattheo raised an eyebrow. "You're holding that book upside down."

Ellie cursed under her breath, flipping it the right way. "Shut up."

Mattheo smirked. "Something on your mind?"

"Nope."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

He leaned in slightly. "Because it really seems like—"

Ellie slammed her book shut. "If you finish that sentence, I will murder you."

Mattheo laughed, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "Alright, alright. No murder tonight."

Ellie sighed. "Thank Merlin."

He grinned. "But tomorrow?"

She rolled her eyes. "We'll see."

Ellie should have stopped thinking about it after that.

But later that night, as she lay awake, her mind kept circling back to one thing.

Not the teasing.

Not the ridiculous flirting.

Not even Mattheo's infuriating smirk.

No.

Because when he had thrown his arm around her...

She hadn't wanted to move away.

And that was the real problem.

Because no matter how much she pretended...

Something had changed.

And she had no idea what to do about it.

───🦋･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.🦋───

Mattheo is seriously annoying!! 🤫, this story is angst