Sugar Coated Bullets

8. Hesitated

“D-don’t…! Desmond…don’t come here!…”

A sharp tremor ripped through Aurelia’s voice, the raw panic in her plea stopping Desmond dead in his tracks just a step inside the doorway.

He didn't advance. He couldn't. The shattered, terrified look in her eyes—the way her small frame was pressed back against the cold marble sink as if she were bracing for a physical blow—hit him with the force of a physical impact. The ice in his dark eyes instantly fractured, replaced by a sudden, protective anguish that burned hotter than any anger.

Slowly, deliberately, Desmond shifted his merciless gaze away from Bianca, letting the reigning queen of Lavalton High wither under a stare so thoroughly sub-zero that she instinctively took a trembling step backward, her mouth snapping shut. He didn't say a single word to Bianca; he didn't need to. His silence was a guillotine hanging by a thread.

Instead, Desmond softened his posture, lowering his shoulders and taking a slow, unthreatening half-step toward Aurelia. He kept his voice low, steady, and entirely stripped of its authority, shaping it into a safe harbor just for her.

"I'm right here," Desmond murmured, his voice a soft, anchoring weight against the sterile walls of the room. He raised his hands slightly, palms open and empty, showing her he meant no harm, that no one was going to hurt her while he drew breath. "Look at me, Aurelia. Not her. Look at me."

He took another agonizingly slow step closer, closing the distance between them while ignoring Bianca entirely, treating the vicious senior as if she had dissolved into thin air.

"You don't ever have to listen to a single word she says," Desmond continued, his dark eyes locked onto hers with a fierce, unwavering devotion that defied every poison Bianca had just tried to inject. "She doesn't know anything about you. She doesn't know anything about us."

He reached out, his long fingers gently closing around her trembling, paper-white hands where they gripped the edge of the sink, slowly peeling her fingers loose and wrapping his warm palms securely around them.

"I'm not going anywhere, Aurelia," he said, his voice dropping into a quiet, solemn vow meant for her ears alone. "Never. Come on. Let's get out of here."

A harsh, high-pitched laugh cut through the tense air, dripping with theatrical amusement as Bianca forced a smirk back onto her face to mask the cold sweat of terror running down her spine.

"Hahahaha damn it, what a romantic scene!" Bianca sneered, her voice trembling slightly with suppressed rage and lingering shock as she backed toward the exit. "I’ll go then."

She threw Aurelia one last venomous, pitying glance, then spun on her heel and casually walked out as fast as her designer heels could carry her, desperate to escape the suffocating aura of the boy blocking the doorway. Just as she crossed the threshold, she tossed her final parting shot over her shoulder:

"Well, Aurelia, have fun with him for a 'while'!"

The heavy door swung shut behind her, the sharp click of the latch echoing loudly in the quiet restroom.

Desmond didn't even dignify Bianca’s parting words with a glance. The second she was gone, all of his hardened, defensive edges melted away, leaving only an aching tenderness. He gently pulled Aurelia forward, wrapping his arms securely around her trembling frame and drawing her against his chest, tucking her head safely beneath his chin.

"Let her talk," Desmond murmured softly into her hair, his hand coming up to rest soothingly against the back of her head, his own heart hammering a frantic rhythm against his ribs. "She's empty, Aurelia. She doesn't know a damn thing about what we share, and she never will."

He held her close, letting the steady warmth of his embrace melt away the last lingering ghosts of doubt and fear, willing her to feel the absolute truth in his arms: he wasn't going anywhere.

“D-Desmond…you will not…right?…”

The quiet desperation in her voice tore straight through him, stripping away every vestige of the calm, untouchable composure he usually wore like armor.

Desmond tightened his embrace instantly, his arms wrapping securely around her trembling shoulders as if he could physically shield her from every doubt and cruelty this place tried to inflict. He lowered his head, resting his forehead gently against hers so she had no choice but to look into his eyes, where the cold, distant heir of the Scott family was completely gone—replaced only by a fierce, unwavering devotion.

"Never," Desmond whispered, his voice thick with absolute conviction, leaving no room for hesitation or fear. "Listen to me, Aurelia. Look at me."

He raised one hand, his thumb softly brushing away the damp trace of a tear from her cheek with infinite care.

"When you handed me that single piece of peppermint candy eight years ago, my entire world changed," he continued, his dark eyes burning with an intense, steady warmth.

"The people who took me in gave me wealth, power, and a name, but you gave me something they could never buy—you gave me a reason to believe in genuine human kindness when I had nothing left. I didn't spend the last decade working to build my life just to walk away from the only person who ever mattered to me."

He pressed a gentle, lingering kiss to her temple, his chest rising and falling against hers as he anchored her in the quiet stillness of the room.

"I'm not going anywhere, Aurelia," he repeated softly, his breath warm against her skin. "Not for a while. Not ever. You are stuck with me."