Secret Place (Chassy) ***Some Mature Content***

Chase gasped and looked after him as a brick wall appeared between him and her. "Sterling no!"She yelled out. She made the wall disappear and she ran after him. "Sterling!"She said running down the corridor and grabbing his hand. It was completely deserted. "Sterling."She whispered looking up at him tears filling her eyes. "Don't go!"She said staring up at him. She looked frantic. "I want to see you again! I don't want you to leave."She said staring at him tears falling down her face.

Sterling looked back at her. He wanted to lean in and kiss her... but he also wanted to revert to his old ways... find a book to find solitude. Never look shamefully upon Chase again. She would never forget his moment of weakness... HE would never forget his moment of weakness... he had been having too many moments of weakness lately... it couldn't got on. "Chase," he said softly and slowly, wanted in to last as long as it could. He twisted a stray strand of hair back behind her ear. "I'm so sorry." He felt worthy of his own imaginary torture he had been mentally assigning to others.

"Chase... I can't do that again. What if...?" he trailed off. "I tried to warn you," he said slowly. "I pushed myself away from you... but you came back. I pushed you hand away," he let out a sob. "B-but you came back. After that I couldn't stand it anymore and I just... I just... well you know." he finished.

Sterling looked at her for a moment, unable to forgive himself. She would never look at him the same after that... he would never think of her the same. His eyes welled with unwelcome hot tears that streamed down his face. Her hands were in his, but he didn't do anything with them, merely let them hang dead.

Chase looked at him silently tears falling down her face. "Please don't go."She said looking at him her chocolate brown eyes staring up into his. "Please...I..I love you."She whispered catching his hand as it moved from her face. "I don't care! I don't care that you had a moment of weakness, everyone does, and I egged it on, I should be apologizing to you!"She said tears falling down her face even harder, small sobs racking her body.

Sterling held her again. Held perfection. He couldn't bear to let go. He couldn't bear to leave her. He grasped her and whispered in her ear, "I won't leave you if you don't want me to. But I won't keep you a moment longer if you don't want me to." he said. He couldn't bear to see her so upset, her bottom lip aquiver. He would have done anything to stop it, and therefore allowed her that. He couldn't believe she was begging him to stay... it seemed terribly ironic. The flawless, popular girl and the school loser... he felt her cold tears fall upon his chest as she cried and tightened the embrace. He realized suddenly that they were in the hall, exposed. He pushed her away as he heard something rustle in the distance. He drew his wand... there was definitely somebody there. He was ready to scream Obliviate! if he saw... anything.

Chase hugged him and then they were in the shadows. Something had rustled. "Maybe we should get back into the Room of Requirements."She said slowly. She whimpered against his chest. She didn't want him to leave and she felt so calm and safe by his side.

Sterling stowed his wand back into his robes and entered the room, pulling Chase behind him. He sat on the couch. It was awkward now, being alone with her. As she sat next to him he scooted away an inch. He smiled at her so she knew she wasn't being completely rejected... he was just taking precautions. The lights were shining brightly as ever now. The room was cold, no warm air to cloud Sterling's rational thinking.

"Well," he said awkwardly. "That was er... interesting to say the least." he attempted to joke.

Chase felt a smile tug on her lips. She folded her hands in her lap and stared at them. "I'm sorry" She said softly. "Now I feel awkward."She whispered looking up at him. "I'm so sorry it got out of hand."She said shaking her head and staring at her hands refusing to look at him. It was all because of her it had happened. He had tried to push her away and she hadn't listened. Now she was sitting awkwardly, unable to look at him. He had almost ran away! She felt small tears fall into her lap.

"Don't apologize. You stopped it. If you hadn't, I wouldn't have..." he said softly. He inched away slightly again. He offered her his hand. She probably wouldn't take it given the circumstances, but he couldn't stand her looking away from him... tears streaming down her face without him being able to stop their flow...

Chase looked at his hand and took it gratefully. She looked up at him again, her tears leaving trails down her cheeks. Her face flushed from the crying, her eyes bloodshot. She sniffed and wiped her eyes with her free hand. She felt a small sobbing giggle come out, her shoulders shaking as a soft sob raked her body.

Sterling chanced moving a centimeter closer to her. He grasped her hand with both... stroking it. He wasn't going to lose control again. He knew it. He took one hand off her and wiped the tears off her face. He was immensely relieve when she laughed again... he tried to steady her shoulders. She still smelled like peppermint... he held his breath as to not smell it again.

"I still love you." he said after several minutes of silence. He rested his chin on her shoulder, closing his eyes.