—the game
pairing: mattheo riddle x fem!reader
summary: after one night with you, mattheo can't help but want more. sadly, you aren't the type for relationships: “that you no longer are, what you used to be, ever since you bared your skin for me”
warnings: suggestive, mentions of sex, angst
notes: get ready for angsty and soft mattheo riddle who is an absolute simp for you lmao, very angsty but with a happy ending :)
inspired by ‘the game’ by annett louisan
that you no longer are what you used to be ever since you bared your skin for me
"are you alright?" you were laying on the side, observing mattheo's face. he wasn't looking at you, keeping his eyes on the ceiling.
"y-yes" he breathed lowly and for the first time in ever, he didn't seem as cocky and arrogant.
"cool" you shrugged. you were just trying to be nice, he wasn't your boyfriend or anything, so his mood wasn't really your problem. you threw back the cover and got out of the bed, tapping across the room to collect your clothes.
"where are you going?" he asked, sitting up. his eyes followed your every move.
"to my room?" you wondered, why he was asking.
"oh" he leaned against the bedframe, taking out a pack of cigarettes. "do you want one?"
"what?" you laughed in disbelief "do i look like a hooker to you?"
"no" he shook his head. you watched him for a few more seconds, before you stepped into your skirt and put your sweater on. "bye, mattheo" you smiled mischievously, before you left the room.
that you′ve lost your head in a single night and you're seeing things in another light
he didn't know yet, but that very night, you left a loneliness in him that he had never felt before. it seemed like ever since he got undressed for you, he wasn't how he used to be.
when you would see him around hogwarts he was often staring at you, thinking.
"you're staring again" theo elbowed mattheo. the classroom was quite big and you were sitting across from him, whispering with your friend.
"huh?" mattheo looked up at theo.
"she might notice" theo reminded "you're not invisible, matt"
"sure" mattheo shrugged his shoulder.
theo was the only one of his friends who had noticed the change in mattheo's character. he was acting unusal, especially because he hadn't hooked up with anyone in the last few weeks. he didn't have the courage to ask him about it yet, but he knew it had something to do with him always staring at you.
mattheo had been interested in sleeping with you for a long time. he had thought just getting it over with would stop his bubbling obsession, but it seemed to have made it worse. he wasn't used to desire someone like that, especially not after he had slept with them.
there was nothing new for him to see and still he wanted to do it again. for him it was like every single girl had suddenly disappeared. there was only you. sitting across from him. in a different light. and that scared him deeply.
during dinner theo had finally stopped making comments. mattheo was thankful for that, but he still tried to stray away from watching you, even if his eyes seemed to automatically find you.
"hey" blaise sat down on the bench in front of mattheo, successfully blocking his sight on you.
"hi" mattheo and theo chorused, before they continued eating. well, theo did, mattheo was just pushing food around on his plate.
"okay" blaise said "what's wrong with you both?"
mattheo send theo a look, who sighed "nothing"
"i should've stayed with pansy and draco" blaise muttered, nodding his head at the two sitting a few spots down. "even if they're hardcore flirting, at least that was some what interesting"
"wohoo!" enzo sat down next to blaise "the party can start!" he announced dramatically. mattheo rolled his eyes at the boy. blaise was annoying on his own, but the combination with enzo was nothing mattheo could take today.
it had been a month without sex and mattheo was feeling the effect.
"are we in a bad mood today?" enzo teased.
"fuck off" mattheo shoved his plate away and crossed his arms, bending his head down.
"hey" a soft voice made the boys look up. you were standing next to mattheo, who quickly scrumbled to his feet.
"hi" he said "how are you?"
"i'm fine" you smiled, sending an irritated look to enzo, whose eyes grew big as he recognized you. "is your friend alright?" you asked mattheo.
mattheo turned around and knew immediately who you were talking about. enzo was flailing his hands dramatically, hitting blaise on the shoulder over and over again, as if that would be enough to transfer his thoughts. "ignore him" mattheo tried his best to smile at you effortlessly, but was nervous about the reason you were talking to him in the first place.
"okay" you stretched, focusing on the boy in front of you again. "you forgot your notebook" you held it in his direction and he tried to hide his disappointment.
"oh" he nodded "thank you" you send him a last smile, before you turned around and walked back to your table
"that was horrible" theo muttered in mattheos direction, when he sat down again. before he could answer anything, enzo broke into a giggle.
"what's going on with you, you moron?" blaise looked at enzo in disgust and slid a bit to the side, rubbing his arm, that was probaly blue now after enzo had hit it multiple times.
"that's the girl!" enzo blabbled "from the party! the one you took back to the dorm!" he pointed his finger at mattheo. it seemed like enzo enjoyed knowing something secretive for the first time. normally he would be the last to hear about his friends flings.
"and?" mattheo shrugged, acting nonchalantly.
"yeah" blaise shrugged "she isn't the first and probably won't be the last, am i right?"
mattheo nodded relucantly and theo wiped his face with one hand, trying to hide his expression.
"hey mattheo" annie, a slytherin mattheo was sitting next to in potions, slid in on the bench next to him. he had been pursuing her for a few weeks, before he had slept with you.
"hi" mattheo replied absentmindedly.
blaise and enzo exchanged a confused look. theo shrugged. and mattheo? he seemed to be utterly uninterested in talking to annie any further. he turned his head away from the girl and she opened her mouth, but before anything could come out of it, blaise entered the non existent conversation.
"i'm good at sex too, sweetheart" he send her a smug smile, followed by a wink, while wiggling his eyebrows.
theo tried to hide his face, ashamed at what his friend was babbling and annie wrinkled her nose, looking at blaise disgusted.
"what?" she asked and then turned to mattheo "aren't you going to say anything?"
mattheo shrugged and took a sip from his water. annie shook her head outraged and got up. "arrogant asshole" she threw her head back and walked off.
that because of me you would leave a love and now I'm all you're dreaming of
"what was that?" enzo asked and even he seemed to be irritated now.
"what do you mean?" mattheo acted like he didn't have a clue what his friend was talking about.
"annie" blaise exclaimed, pointing in the direction the girl had just left. "you wanted to tap that ever since the school year started"
"you just ruined your progress" enzo added.
"i don't care" mattheo got up. his eyes caught yours across the hall. you smiled at him, before you continued your conversation with a boy, mattheo had never seen before, who was obviously flirting with you "i don't want her anymore"
blaise and enzo turned around. blaise clasped a hand over his mouth as soon as he realized what was going on.
"the girl from the party?" enzo asked confused, he was a bit slower.
"y/n" mattheo corrected, burying his hands in the pockets of his trousers
"what about her" blaise elbowed enzo. hard. "ow! blaise!"
"just look at him" theo muttered and mattheo didn't even hear his friends talking anymore. he was too focused on you and that boy, focused how you touched his arm and threw your head back from laughter. a month ago it had been mattheo talking with you like that. now you were the only thing that mattered to him and it seemed he couldn't be more irrelevant to you.
"shit" enzo mumbled as he realized. mattheo took that as his cue to leave and do something about his pathetic situation.
"can we talk?" he asked and you looked up at him confused.
"we're sort of in the middle of something" the unknown boy said. mattheo ignored him, sending you a pleading look.
"sure" you agreed, excusing yourself and following mattheo out of the hall and into an abondened classroom.
"so, what did you want to talk about?" you crossed your arms, leaning you back against one of the tables.
"you're driving me crazy, y/n" he quickly said and you raised your eyebrows. "i can't get you off my mind, ever since that night"
"oh" you simply said "i didn't want to mislead you, mattheo"
that dismal to be when every now and then someone else i′ll see again, it wasn't planned that you now feel like one of many
he sighed, his hand running through his curls. he stepped closer and the worried look on your face was making him go feral, the way you looked up to him through thick lashes, your hair, your smell, everything about you. his hand cupped your cheek softly, his thumb brushing along your lip.
"mattheo" you muttered. you didn't know that he was thinking more of that night "i thought we both agreed that this was just a simple hook up"
"it's not simple anymore" mattheo whispered and his breath fanned over your skin, making you perk up and inch closer. but you had to control yourself. it would be different for you than for him, you didn't want to take advantage of his feelings. "i want you to myself, all of you" he said and confirmed your worries.
"mattheo" you pleaded again. you touched his cheek. and his skin felt like it was burning under your touch. "i don't want to be someone's girlfriend" you muttered and you could see the hurt in his eyes.
"i can't bear to see you with him" he admitted "not with anyone"
"i didn't want you to feel like one of many" you said softly. he let go of your cheek and you took his face in both of your hands. "we can do it again" you looked into his eyes "but it's not like that for me"
"i don't care" mattheo crashed his lips to yours. he lifted you up on the table behind you, deepening the kiss and opening your ponytail with a quick gesture. he broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against yours. you stroke his cheek and he smiled, tears shimmering in his eyes. "be mine. just for now"
"okay" you said and you felt worse at the smile that appeared on his face.
he nodded. "okay"
that you fall in love, because we do it. that it affects you so much i did not know that
mattheo climbed on top of you, pushing you down on the table and both of you knew that this was a volatile arrangement. you would keep your promise, but he knew you weren't his. he ignored that as he opened your bra and littered your collarbone with kisses.
you looked up to the ceiling and felt the guilt bubble inside of you. this felt wrong. and you were scared that mattheo was confusing lust with love. after all you weren't the type for relationships and you had thought he wasn't either.
you both parted ways after that night in the classroom. you kept out of his way out of guilt. and he kept away from you in the hope that whatever he was feeling was finally going to disappear.
halloween came and went and mattheo felt himself indulge in meaningless hookups, just like before he had been with you, but it wasn't the same. it felt wrong, like a duty he couldn't fulfill.
you weren't able to forget the feeling of the touch of his skin. the way it burned under your hand. they way nobody elses skin had ever burned under your touch. not like that atleast.
it took less than a week for a note to find you and for you to return to the abandoned classroom during nightfall. it made your heart burn to see him like that. desperate for your warmth. that night he took you out of the castle and while you were laying on the grass and watching his features shine under the stars, you had almost wanted to cry.
the sight of him saddened you and made you wish to give him all he was longing for. but you couldn't and mattheo knew that, but that night you were his for a short time once again.
you decided that this was going to be the last time. you would break it off the next time he would send a note. seeing the hurt in his eyes broke you more and more. especially when he tried to advert his eyes from you around the castle. as if he was constantly telling himself off for liking you the way he did.
leave it be, i can't deal, i have too much respect for how you feel
he was waiting for you when you arrived the next night. the glint of hope, any time you came to your secret meetings made everything so much worse.
"we have to stop doing this" you got right to the point.
mattheo's face fell. "what?"
"this isn't doing you any good" you admitted "i can't bear to hurt you"
"okay" he said "then don't go"
"it will hurt so much more if i don't go now"
he shook his head "you don't know that"
"i do" you assured unwillingly "it's not the same for me, matty"
"you don't feel anything?" he muttered, gently touching your face "does this do nothing to you at all?"
"not in the way you would want" you looked to the ground, trying to avoid his eyes. "i don't do commitment"
mattheo stepped back from you and nodded bitterly. "yeah" he shrugged. "why would you?"
you saw the tears glistening in his eyes. "i have too much respect for you and the way you feel than to play with you like that"
"don't say that" he shook his head and adverted his eyes.
"i'm sorry, matty, i truly am" you tried to grab his hand, but he moved backwards "but what did you expect? i told you the truth from the beginning"
"i know" he pushed his hair back, looking from the ground to your eyes "i thought, maybe, if this was going on for longer, you would eventually like me like that"
this was it. this was the moment your heart broke. he was looking at you and a single tear slipped down his cheek. in that moment you truly regretted ever coming close to him.
"you don't want that" you promised "you don't want to know me in a way that's more than for a night"
"i do" he argued "of course i want that"
"i will just let you down, matty"
"don't be ridiculous" he grabbed your shoulders
"loving me is not easy" you said loudly, trying to escape his hold.
"i know" he admitted "it's fucking hell"
you looked up at him in surprise. "you don't know what you're saying" you turned your body away from him with a sudden movement. "you don't love me. you can't love me"
"you'd be surprised at how much" he said softly. you turned around and looked at his face. you had known that he wanted more from you than you were able to give him.. but love? you had initially thought that whatever it was that made him dream of you, would be forgotten in less than a week. at least that was what had happened with any guy that claimed to like you before.
"i love you" he said, more clearly. "so much"
you couldn't allow yourself to hope. you couldn't take his words seriously. you shook your head and his smile died once again. whatever part of him had hoped to convince you was crashed and burning by now. "it will go away"
he watched in dispair as you silently left the room, without looking at him. he sank down on the table behind him, burying his face in his hands. what he didn't know was that you were doing the exact same right outside the classroom.
the next morning during breakfast you felt burned out by how much you had cried that night. your eyes felt puffy and your voice was hoarse. you ignored the conversations your friends were having around you, even if you got talked to. instead your eyes were fixated on the empty spot next to theo nott.
theo, who had noticed your look, send you a sympathic smile and shrugged his shoulders, making it obvious that he knew as much as you about mattheo's absence.
you got up from your seat aprublty, leaving the hall quickly and ignoring your friends questions. you took the fastest way to the astronomy tower you knew. you couldn't sit at the table and act like everything was normal. you wanted to be alone.
you let you legs dangle, the pole inbetween them securing your seating.
"seems like we both had the same idea" a sudden voice pulled you from your thoughts. you looked up. mattheo was standing at the stairs. you got up from your place.
"i'll leave" you assured him. after yesterday, you felt like it was your duty to give him space. he wasn't the problem, you were. and you didn't want to cause him any more harm.
"you don't have to" mattheo shrugged and you noticed that he was lying. he would rather have you leave again then look at you while knowing you would never reciprocate the way he did it.
"it's fine" you smiled, but it wasn't genuine. you walked past him, but unintentionally stumbled and almost fell down the stairs. he reacted quickly and caught your arm.
he let go of you after he had stabilized your footing.
"thank you" you mumbled
he ignored it. "maybe you should go to madam pomfrey, your arm is burning hot"
you perked up at that. "what?" you whispered.
"your arm is burning hot" he repeated, assuming you just hadn't heard him.
you looked at him in disbelief, remembering how his skin used to feel under your touch, and how the reason behind it all had been simple and plain love.
but you had to know for sure. you pulled your blouse from your skirt, quickly unbuttoning the last buttons. you pulled it up, so that your skin was bare. "can you touch me there?" you asked and mattheo's eyes widened.
"what the fuck?" he wondered.
"can you just do it, please?" you asked again and he sighed, but softly touched you. "is it hot?"
"your skin or this situation?"
"the skin" your face reddened.
mattheo nodded and frowned. "alarmingly, actually"
"open your shirt" you directed and to your surprise, he did like you had asked without the slightest hesitation.
you pressed you hand against his chest quickly. his skin was burning underneath it. you smiled.
"touch my face" mattheo cupped your cheeks. he nodded silently, confirming that your face was as hot as the rest of your body.
your smile grew even bigger and mattheo smiled back hesitantely, still confused at what was going on. "can i hug you?" you asked.
mattheo nodded and opened his arms for you to step in. for the first time you were doing something that didn't involve sexual lust. you breathed in his smell of nicotine and perfume and you wondered how something so simple could be so special. you stepped back and you knew that you were now seeing things in a different light, everything, even him.
"i'm probably not good at it" you admitted "but i think i'm in love with you"
mattheo smiled at you and laughed. "you were teribble at it, yeah" he grinned "so there is much room for improvement"
you giggled, but quickly grew serious again "i'm not good at being committed"
"me either" he said and stepped closer, taking your face in his hands once again. "but we will manage, we can learn together" he promised and kissed you softly. both of your lips were burning up.
"that sounds like a plan" you smiled, touching his cheeks with your fingers "but it will be hard to love me" you looked down.
"i don't care" mattheo crashed his lips to yours. he drew you close to his body, deepening the kiss and squeezing your waist in a way that made you squeek in surprise. he broke the kiss, leaning his forehead against yours. you stroke his cheek and he smiled, happy tears shimmering in his eyes. "be mine. for longer than now"
"okay" you nodded and you felt butterflies errupting at the smile that appeared on his face.
he nodded and you mirrored his smile. "okay"
