[CHAPTER 23]

───🦋･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.🦋───

───🦋･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.🦋───

TITLE : BECAUSE OF HIM

MATTHEO DIDN'T REMEMBER HOW he made it through the rest of the day.

Classes passed in a blur. Words from professors barely registered in his mind. His quill hovered uselessly over his parchment, never quite meeting the paper.

His stomach twisted every time he thought about Lorenzo 's words.

"She wouldn't be like this if it weren't for you."

It was all he could hear, over and over again.

He didn't even fight back when Lorenzo  had grabbed him earlier. He deserved it. Every single word. Every bit of anger.

Because Lorenzo  had been right.

Ellie hadn't done anything to deserve this.

He was the one who had ruined everything.

He had been the one to ignore her. The one who had pushed her away after their kiss. The one who had spent weeks pretending nothing had changed—pretending she didn't mean anything—when in reality, she meant too much.

And now?

Now she was sick.

Because of him.

He barely touched his food at dinner. He didn't talk to anyone. His teammates were cracking jokes, nudging him every now and then to join in, but he just gave half-hearted nods, not really listening.

All he could think about was Ellie, alone somewhere in the castle, feeling awful.

Because of him.

—

That night, Mattheo lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.

His dorm was dark, his roommates long asleep, but his mind wouldn't shut off.

He felt restless.

Guilt was eating him alive.

He turned onto his side, gripping the pillow tightly, trying to block it all out.

But it didn't work.

His thoughts were relentless.

She had been crying in the library.

He had seen it.

The way she had clung to Lorenzo, the way her body had trembled, the way she had buried her face against him.

Mattheo had seen her hurting.

And he had done nothing.

He clenched his jaw, frustration and regret building in his chest.

He had thought ignoring her would make things easier. That if he put enough distance between them, whatever feelings had started to creep in would disappear.

But it hadn't worked.

Instead, it had only made things worse.

For her.

And for him.

He squeezed his eyes shut, but that only made the memories louder.

"You don't even see what you've done to her, do you?"

Lorenzo's voice haunted him.

Mattheo exhaled sharply and pushed the covers off, sitting up in bed.

He ran a hand down his face, frustration making his chest ache.

Ignoring her had been a mistake.

A huge mistake.

But what could he do now?

Would she even want to see him?

Would she even want to talk to him?

His gut told him no.

And maybe she was right to hate him.

Maybe, for the first time in his life, he had truly lost.

And this time, it wasn't just a Quidditch match.

This time, it mattered.

───🦋･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.🦋───

Very short chapter