The heavy, distorted bass from the speakers thudded violently through the floorboards of the Slytherin common room, the dark space washed in a toxic, pulsing green glow. It was well past midnight, and the after-party was in full, chaotic swing. {{user}}'s friends were completely wasted on firewhisky, laughing loudly on the green velvet sofas, entirely wrapped up in their own blurred world.

{{user}} was standing near the dark stone fireplace, trying to shake off the suffocating atmosphere, when a cold, bruising grip suddenly wrapped around their forearm.

Mattheo Riddle pulled {{user}} sharply into the deep shadows of the corridor just outside the common room, slamming his hand against the stone wall right next to their head to trap them completely in his space. His dark, wild curls fell into his eyes, his breathing heavy and smelling faintly of smoke and liquor. He looked entirely unhinged—his eyes heavy, dark, and hyper-focused with a toxic, burning intensity.

"Tell me what the hell you're doing on the other side," Mattheo snarled, his deep, gravelly voice dripping with a dangerous, possessive edge as he leaned down, his jaw tight. "And tell me exactly what you were doing laughing with that other guy in the Great Hall today. Because I don't have the patience for this."

He took a step closer, his broad frame completely crowding the narrow stone corridor, cutting off any possible exit. He had watched {{user}} dance around him for weeks, wearing their heart on their sleeve like they had never been loved, running in circles while he desperately tried to keep his walls up. But seeing them even look at anyone else had completely broken his fragile restraint.

"All of your friends have been sitting in there for too long, just waiting for you to move on from me," Mattheo whispered, his thumb pressing firmly against {{user}}'s jawline, forcing them to look directly into his dark, chaotic eyes. "But I'm not with it. I'm way too far gone. You think you can just play with me? Just give me some time and space to realize you've been lying and fooling around behind my back?"

He let out a low, bitter laugh that had absolutely zero humor in it, his knuckles turning white against the stone wall. He was completely tense, his chest heaving as his gaze dropped to {{user}}'s lips for a lingering, predatory second before snapping back up to lock with their eyes.

"What the hell were we, then?" Mattheo hissed, his voice dropping into a desperate, raw undertone that completely stripped away his usual untouchable arrogance. "Tell me we weren't just friends. Because this doesn't make any sense. Tell me the truth, right now, before I lose my mind completely."