𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦 & 𝘉𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 17: ᴋöɴɪɢ..?

(Haiii, pls don't cuss me out. 1/2 Updates. I apologize for the time skips. Enjoy hehe :p)

SETTING: Belle's hosptial room (In-case y'all forgot)

    We talked for hours. So much so, we ended up talking ourselves into silence. The room was still pitch black, but it didn't bother either of us, and though he'd evaded my first question by saying that he'd - Tell me one day- I ended up learning a lot of things that I never even thought about asking him; like how I was apparently older than him by 3 years. ' I still can't believe that'. Now that I'd got a few questions off my chest, the main one that I was dying to ask, was now prodding at me. 'Can I see your face...?'  I wanted to ask him so bad, but I was afraid that I'd cross those invisible boundaries.

    I'd already asked him why he never took it off, it would be intrusive of me to prod even further. Out of nowhere, I felt one of his arms slowly snake its way around my waist, gently tugging at the small of my back to pull me even closer to him. I let out a shocked gasp and felt as his arm went limp. "Ahh... I'm sorry. I should have asked first. I thought...you had fallen asleep because you were so quiet." He sounded like a child who had broken something and was about to get in trouble, and I couldn't help but huff a laugh. "It's fine König. I was out of it. You just startled me a bit."

    I felt my head begin to throb and I instantly reached a hand up to cup my nose. I let out a painful groan. 'I guess I talked too much.' I threw my head backwards and squeezed the bridge of my nose. quick to catch on to my sudden discomfort. "Bärchen? Is your nose bothering you...?" He let his arm drape over my back, and he shifted forward a bit, his free hand coming up to gently cup my chin. How he found my face that quickly in the darkness was honestly beyond me. I didn't make any attempt to move away nor say anything.

   'He's getting a bit bolder huh...' I felt as one of his cold fingers began absentmindedly rubbing my bandaged cheek. "Are you in pain?" His voice was soft, but low. Again, I said nothing. "Hm? Are you? Mein schöner Bär." His voice was the same as before, but something was off about him. If I didn't know any better, I'd say he sounded almost feral, but I did know better so I brushed it off as his voice just getting tired. 'Like that makes any sense.'

    "No, not really. Just got a mini headache. What did you say in German?" He let go of my chin and I heard him move his entire arm, placing it somewhere behind him. "Hm... don't worry about it. It doesn't matter right now." He punctuated. I shrugged, "I guess." We fell into another pit of silence, but this time it seemed more tense. For whatever reason, he kept shifting around, moving my body with him. After a while, he went completely still. "Ms. Belle, can I tell you something ...?" Shivers immediately ran down my spine. This was only his second time using my real name, and to be honest , it felt strange.

    'I guess I got too comfortable with him calling me out of my title and my name.' A small sigh left my lips. "Sure, what is it, König?" I felt his entire body quake. After a long minute he spoke , "Ich mag dich." I stared at the black void that was probably his chest. I sighed. "König, I have no idea what you said." I heard him curse under his breath. "Ah, my bad. I meant that I- ah you mean a lot to me." He finally stuttered out. I didn't say anything for a good minute as everything felt like a blur. 'What...? He doesn't mean like, that does he ?'

    I sucked in air through my teeth, "What do you mean?" It was all I could think to ask. I had to make sure he wasn't talking about what I thought he was. He stayed silent for a second before answering. "Well...you make me feel so... comfortable and heard...in a way. When I first talked to you, you didn't stare at me in a judgmental way. You accepted me for me, and you even tolerated my stubbornness, heh. You took the time to teach me, and most people don't. I thank you for that, truly I do. You're my safe space, at least that's what the therapists say ha-ha." I felt my face heat up and I brought my hands up to cover my face. 'So that's what he meant. What the hell is wrong with me?'