Charmed into Darkness

three

NOT EDITED. Prepare yourself for grammar mistakes, and weird wordings.

Cathy was still in the outfit she wore while hanging out with the boys. She didn't have the energy to change, let alone take a shower. All she did for the past hour was lay in her bed, shuffling side to side as sighs escaped her lips. Catherine Bradford had never felt so aimless; she didn't know what to do.

Deep down she wanted to call Pelle, asking him to come over and be with her-but at the same time she wanted him far away from her. She knew if Pelle were here, he'd want her to take it all out, asking her not to bottle her emotions, which was a contrast to what Cathy had been doing, which was locking it up and trying to forget the bad memories. She knew if Pelle were here, she'd crumble and gave in-something she had rarely done growing up. And she found it scary.

Being welcomed into someone else's household, under someone else's wing-you are embraced to a certain extent. At least, that's what Catherine Bradford thought. Growing up, Dani's parents didn't bother hiding the fact that Cathy was not their daughter. They made sure Cathy knew the truth-not because they hated their niece, but because they didn't want her to discover it too late and feel like her life was a lie. Catherine was actually loved by her second parents, they always remembered her birthdays, made sure to cook her favourite foods-it was heavenly. However, in Cathy's mind, she had burdened them enough by them giving her a plate of food everyday, by giving her a place to stay, and by showering extra love to her-she didn't want to add the weight by telling them about her baggage too. So, forgetting or solving it by herself had been the solution her whole life-she didn't want to disturb the family's peace or inconvenience them too much, fearing she might lose them.

Catherine sighed, and turned around again to face the other side of the room. Cathy felt she was being too overdramatic, especially earlier when she avoided Pelle like the plague. She felt guilty, she shouldn't have pushed him away but she couldn't help it, she was so used to locking herself up until she felt better. Cathy's eyes trailed towards her phone on her night stand, remembering a message Dani sent moments before. It was just to remind Cathy to don't forget to care for herself-Dani was familiar with the way her cousin handle her problems, especially a loss. Cathy sighed once again and looked the other way, when suddenly a loud knocking sound was heard.

Cathy sat up straight, confused who the visitor was. Slowly, she took her time, hoping the other person would go away, but she had to give it to whoever it was, they were persistent. Checking through the peephole, a soft gasp evaded the quiet apartment, Cathy's face softened when she recognised the outline on the other side of the door. Part of her felt relieved, while another part was panicking. She really didn't know what to do.

"I know you're there, I can see you through the peephole." The Swedish man leaned in and smiled through the hole, earning a small smile from Catherine too.

"I'll do better next time." Cathy opened the door, peeking at him slightly from behind the door with a shy smile. "Hey. I didn't expect you here." Catherine felt like smacking herself for acting bashful, maybe it has something to do with the fact the she had not spoken to him for a week.

Pelle shrugged as he let himself in, "Thought maybe you could use some company." Cathy stood there by the door as she watched Pelle grinned and walked away to the kicthen. You have no idea, Cathy bit her lip from smiling and closed the door behind, following him to the kitchen.

"Guess you couldn't have enough of me at lunch, huh?" She teased playfully.

"Actually, I didn't get you at all." He spoke back, his voice calm as ever. Cathy halted in her steps when she heard him, nibbling her bottom lip once again in guilt. Thankfully, Pelle didn't ask for an explanation. "You hungry?"

"No." She lied. In all honesty, she had been taking poor care of her body. The only thing she ate through her days were protein bars, and that only happened when she felt dizzy. To Cathy's embarrassment, her stomach suddenly growled so loud, Pelle had a hard time hiding his laughter. He ended up snickering a little as he took out the groceries he bought, totally unfaltered by Cathy's glare.

"Well," He started, "I'm hungry. Do you mind if I cook?" He asked, feigning innocent as he pointed to her kitchen.

"Well, since you're hungry. I don't mind." She shrugged. "I'll leave you to it." She smiled a litte and suddenly walked away, but Pelle had caught her wrist, stopping her from running away from him again. Cathy's breath hitched, heart suddenly raced. "Pelle..." She mumbled, looking back at his blue eyes.

"Will you help me?" He smiled, which made Cathy sighed out loud, immediately feeling herself melted. Cathy let herself getting pulled back into the kitchen, where Pelle asked her help to cut a broccoli, chopping the florets from the stalk. Cathy actually finds it therapeutic, the whole time Pelle didn't asked her any questions, just some longing stares and occasional kisses to her cheeks.

At one point, Cathy was too distracted by the view of Pelle cooking, she actually abandoned her task and went to him, hugging him from behind. She felt Pelle unwrapped her hand around his stomach and brought her around so he could face her. Cathy placed her chin on his chest, both smiling at each other. Without much thinking, Cathy tiptoed and wrapped her arm around his neck, bringing him down to capture his lips. He kissed her back, one hand cupping her cheek, the others wrapped around her waist to bring her closer-but before it could go any further, Pelle ruined the lustful moment when he suddenly pulled away. Backing a little when Cathy kissed him once again. "We shouldn't do this." He murmured against her lips.

"Why not?" Cathy spoke nonchalantly and trailed her lips down to his neck. Really hoping he'd be distracted enough to drop whatever it was he planned to do.

"Because you're not in the right state of mind." He breathed heavily and pulled Cathy away from him just a little.

"Pelle, I'm fine." Cathy chuckled, frowning a little as she tried to convince him. When Pelle didn't say anything, Cathy sighed and went back to the kitchen counter, continue to cut the brocolli in quiet.

After a few short moments, Pelle changed the topic conversation to his excitement about them visiting his hometown, and that he couldn't wait to introduce her to his family, the Harga. Catherine smiled at him, for she was excited to visit Sweden too. But soon her smile slowly faded when she realized where the context was going. By then, Cathy knew the talk was coming-she just knew Pelle was gonna wanna talk to her about her situation again. However, Cathy snapped her head to him when he shared that he lost both of his parents in a fire when he was five years old. "the Harga helped me overcome my loss, their embraced never made me feel sad." He glanced at Cathy, who had stopped what she was doing and stared at the kitchen counter.

"That's horrible, Pelle. I'm so sorry, I didn't know that." She whispered, before clearing her throat, trying to blink the tears away. It was then she realized that maybe Pelle understood her more than she realized, since both of them lost their parents at such a young age. Cathy had slowly started to pull away from her facade.

Pelle immediately shook his head and approached Cathy, cupping her cheeks so she would look at him. "No, no. You don't have to be sorry, it's not your fault." He pecked her lips. "But what I'm trying to say is, you're not alone in this. I'm here, Dani's here, Mark, Josh, and Christian is by your side too. You don't have to grieve alone." Pelle's thumb slowly wiped the tears that started to fall from her eyes down her cheeks. Cathy tried to look away but Pelle gently made her look at him again, "I'm here, Cathy. I understand you." He smiles softly.

"What do you want me to say, Pelle?" She whispered, her voice was so small Pelle almost missed it. "I'm used to this, just let me be while I processed all of it alone." She murmured, staring into his eyes.

"I know that you have always felt alone, but this time, you are not alone. I'm here with you. I will never leave your side." He whispered back, placing his forehead against her as both of them closed their eyes. "Tell me what's bothering you, min kärlek."

With a gentle caress to her cheek, Catherine Bradford had finally cracked. She had never felt so scared to let go of the hold she had over her emotions. At the same time, she had never felt so free and relieved letting it all out. It helped that Pelle was there for her the entire time-and he will always stand by that promise, for he had fallen for her and doesn't intend on letting her go.