On the Dinner Table(Dorian)

[Christine Montgomery]

Her anger was a front easily shattered by his rage. Oh she was angry that he had left her to wake up alone, but she knew she had left him for longer than that. So much had happened that week, and in the time since she had convinced herself that their adventure wasn't the earth shattering romance she had imagined it to be. She had somehow convinced herself that the affair would have undoubtedly meant more to her than it had to him, and that it was best to play down it's importance since nothing could come of it. She had buried all the emotions as well as the pain from leaving him that day and it was only as he spoke that she realized he had felt what she felt, she had injured them both deeply with a wound that had never healed.

She pulled away from him and stood. She couldn't face his righteous accusation and instead turned toward the window, taking a few steps to distance herself. She squeezed her eyes shut to cut off the tears that were forming as her heart broke all over again, then swallowed thickly trying to get control of herself.

"I didn't know..." she whispered, wrapping one arm around herself. Not that she could have done anything differently if she had known, but she didn't know how deeply she had hurt him.

"When you left I thought..." she shook her head trying to clear it, " I thought the worst too. I thought you had been... I didn't see your note at first and..." her eyes glossed over as she thought of that morning.

She had woken up with a smile on her face, her body humming she stretched expecting to feel the person responsible only to find emptiness. The cold that filled her was like a death grip, she sat up quickly bringing a sheet to her chest and unknowingly knocking the note he had left her to the ground. She called for him, and met silence. Her heart began to pound as images of him being tortured or hurt or killed floated through her mind. The fear and hurt was so strong it brought her to her knees. Perhaps it was that moment that some part of her recognized him as the other half of her soul. On her knees she saw the note he had left her and the relief melted her to the floor. But she realized several things in that moment, meeting him had changed her, being with him had shattered her, her feelings were already so strong, and she knew that it was doomed before it began. Realistically she couldn't continue what they were doing, sooner or later her Uncle would find her and his reaction didn't bear thinking about. The more she thought about it the more she knew she couldn't meet him for that dinner. She had to convince herself that she was doing the right thing, that she was only hurting herself, if she had known what she was doing to him she wouldn't have been able to leave.

"I'm sorry Dorian. I never meant to hurt you."

[Dorian Humbert]

His body was flooded with emotions he normally wouldn't allow himself to feel. Thinking on that night when she never returned, those months spent searching for, it only brought up the same dread and terror he felt when his parents had gone missing, when they had been tortured and murdered by the Death Eater who wanted revenge on Dorian. Relationships in his line of work were unwise, and the feelings they brought along were insurmountably more uncomfortable. Dorian preferred being alone and calm to this wild storm of emotions he now felt.

Christine moved to the window, and his eyes followed her as she walked slowly away from him. He was still sitting at the table, his body tense from the internal turmoil. I didn't know... How could she have not known? Only a day prior they had been taken captive by a lunatic. How could she be so daft as to think he would not assume the same fate had grasped her again?

Sensing the vulnerability in her voice, Dorian pushed his chair back from the table. Slowly he approached her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her slightly backwards into his chest. He was angry still, but her body language quailed the rage for now. His voice, still rougher than usual, was calmer as he spoke. "I know," he spoke softly in her ear. "But please, Christine. Tell me why." If there were to be any resolution in his heart to the months he spent soaked in dread, he needed to understand what she was thinking when she ran from him without so much as a good-bye.

[Christine Montgomery]

She couldn't tell him the truth, not yet, so she answered as honestly as she could.

"I was afraid."

She didn't deserve his comfort, but she reveled in the warmth and strength in his arms.

"I didn't find your note at first. At first I thought you had been taken. I thought something had gone wrong. I was so frightened, I wanted to go after you and had no idea how to find you. When I found the note I..." no she couldn't tell him the truth about her uncle, but she could be honest about how she felt though it left her more vulnerable than she wanted to feel, "I cried."

"I hated you for leaving me to go back into danger, that you didn't even wake me so I could try and go with you. It wasn't rational. I know that. I know it was your job. But I felt so helpless and so...afraid. All of the fear from the previous days and what I knew you were facing, alone. I worried about it the entire day. And I realized that even if something had happened to you I wouldn't know, no one would have known to tell me. So I waited until dinner to make sure you were alright and then...When I did see you..."

She turned to face him, he deserved that much from her.

"I knew that even if that wasn't the mission that caught up to you, that one of them one day might have."

It was ironic that she had also finally realized why her father hated that she went on adventures with her Uncle.

"I already cared so much about you. I couldn't live with that fear Dorian. I ran. I ran because I knew that if I went to dinner with you, if we talked, if I touched you again..." her words cut off. She was talking to him now, she was wrapped in his arms now, she had her arms around his neck and her eyes were tracing every detail of his face now. She knew if she was in this position again she'd never have the strength to leave him, and she knew in that moment it was going to be just as painful as she feared, no matter how it ended it was going to be painful.

[Dorian Humbert]

Dorian listened to her excuses, fury still burning deep within at her betrayal. But as she turned to face him he saw the pain in her eyes and his anger was extinguished. She had been irrational, illogical, and completely stupid in her actions. And he was doing the same thing now. He knew better than to get involved with her again. He knew better a year ago, and still it had happened. Logically, the pain he had felt over the ensuing year should have been more than enough to ward him off from reviving their relationship. Having already lost her before, if he were to loose her again that would be the end of him. But logic and rationality be damned.

He held the back of her head as he kissed her passionately. He couldn't control himself. Her words emphasized everything that he had felt when she disappeared. In her absence, Dorian wanted nothing more than to be able to touch her one last time. And here she was. He would not waste this moment bickering over the past. There was plenty of time for that later. Right now, he needed to connect with her again. Lifting her up and wrapping her legs around his waist, he moved to the nearby table. He pushed their forgotten plates out of the way and set her on the dinner table. His lips barely parting from hers as they moved.

[Christine Montgomery]

Nothing had changed. She was still who she was, he was still who he was. She wasn't going to magically age a few years, and he wasn't going to quit being an auror. All the reasons why they needed to end this were clear to Christine. She also knew that the further they went the more it was going to hurt when it ended, but none of that mattered when he kissed her. Nothing mattered when he kissed her.

They were so tense with emotion, everything was heightened.

They were terrible at communicating a year ago, she wasn't much better at it now either,but she could communicate physically and he would understand her. She apologized with her body, soft, sweet, pliant in his arms, and then she fought the fury with her body as well. Fury at their circumstances, fury and fear that she would lose him and they would be damned all over again. Every move was desperate, demanding, passionate, and it said everything Christine couldn't say.

[Dorian Humbert]

Christine lay on the sofa, her legs resting on Dorian's bare lap as he caressed them. He stole a glance around the room. Their passionate had struck like a tornado, nearly everything was displaced. Food and dishes were strewn across the table as well as the floor. Pictures rested crooked on the walls. A plant had been knocked over. They were certainly going to be needing the maid service, if this kept up. Dorian fought hard within himself to not think about the consequences of their actions. They were being stupid, and he would be stupid a thousand times over if it meant having Christine lay near him, telling of an adventure she'd had in a far off land. For all the worrying she had felt at his chosen profession, she certainly got into her own scrapes often enough.

[Christine Montgomery]

Christine was mildly surprised that the hotel was still standing, thank goodness they had the floor to themselves heaven knows what neighbors might have thought.

When their passion was spent, Christine found herself confessing a whole manner of things. She told him about her past, her family, dreams, ambitions, she even told him about her photography which was a secret she kept even from her own family. She traded him story for story, secret for secret for hours.

At some point her stomach growled, their food was scattered on the floor. With a smile Christine called for room service, and made no fuss about ordering a large pizza with everything on it.

During one of his stories Christine had shifted so that she was sitting in his lap with her ear pressed against his chest. She fell asleep listening to the deep timbre of his voice, and the steady thump of his heart.