How Tom Riddle would react to finding things that reminded him of you after you guys broke up
You and Tom weren’t always on the same page. He was more aggressive, phlegmatic, and relentless, while you were more of a gregarious social butterfly who has genuine endearment for kindness. You guys were basically the epitome of “opposites attract”. The story of how you two got together wasn’t that all comprehensible, and a lot of people were bewildered at first when they saw you guys as a pair.
Unfortunately though, being polar opposites and dealing with things differently than the other person wasn’t exactly the best for the relationship. You both wanted different things: you, safety and comfort; him, someone to stand next to him through anything and everything when all his plan eventually exceeds.
You never particularly concede with Tom’s morals; and he, you. So when you felt detached from him, whether it’s because of the yelling and continuous arguments, or him turning a cold shoulder all of a sudden, you decided that it was enough.
You knew what you were gonna do was right, you‘ve always had the right intuition. Especially when tension of things started fuming, you decided that you would do it then and there. You thought in that few moments that it was best to end something that you believe you two would be better without. And the second you left him, a wave of relief washed over you from head to toe.
When you actually did the whole process of breaking up, Tom was unresponsive. He showed his usual apathetic behavior when he was unassertive about how he should react to a certain situation. And the fact that he is known to build walls and have a cold demeanor truly helped him mask his own emotions even further. All he managed to say through it all was an “Alright”, and even then it was barely above a grave whisper.
He. Was. Angry. Putrid hatred flowed in his blood for weeks, and nothing but the thought of causing you pain like perhaps, maybe, I don’t know... cursing you with the cruciatus curse would bring him the joy of vengeance.
But, when he goes about his day and comes across something that brings out the hidden and restrained memory of you that he tried so hard to enshroud he... changes. Every wrong minuscule thought he has ever thought about you after the break up suddenly vanishes. Poof!
Like that one time he found a piece of dainty white lace on the ground, he immediately stopped his tracks and simply observed it for a good few seconds before picking it up and pocketing it. One of the reasons he picked it up was because your favorite flowers embedded the whole fabric. Another reason was that he knew you liked collecting materials from antique clothing items just simply, ‘For the aesthetic of it, Tom!’ he recalled. Even hearing your voice lingering in his ears made him sullen. He realized that that was the first time he ever let himself feel the melancholy of losing someone he loves.
Yes, “loves.” Not “loved.” Present tense. He loves you present tense, and he absolutely despises himself for still loving you in that way, especially at the fact that you were the one to break up with him. He‘d always thought that if you two were to come to an end, he would definitely be the one to call it, and you would be the one laying on your bed at three in the morning, staring at your dim ceiling, head spinning with internal pain and agony. Not him. You.
