Detached [h.s au]

Chapter 41: Acceptance

Harry's POV

Beth was quiet all the way to our house. She was staring ahead, her lips pressed tightly together and I couldn't help but feel like she is holding some resentment against me. I'm currently sitting in our living room while she's taking a shower. I don't know how to tell her things are about to change and only to worse. I have no idea how is she going to react since her reactions are so unexpected sometimes and they tend to confuse me. I don't want to ruin everything by telling her the truth, I actually like how things are now.

I was already confused about so many things, but the sense of relief I felt when I saw she was okay was something else. It's not something I want to think about right now, I should develop some kind of plan. I can't possibly allow everything to fall apart now that we're so close. I'm so close to reaching what I want.

I snap my eyes at Beth as she walks out of the bathroom, her expression stolid. She barely glances at me before she walks into the bedroom and I follow her with reluctance. Her back is turned to me as she digs through her clothes in the wardrobe. I notice she's wearing only a thin bathrobe and my eyes trail over her exposed long legs. I frown to myself and quickly decide to focus on what's important.

"Is there something wrong?" I ask, walking a bit closer to her, but leaving some space between us.

She ignores me, continuing to search through her clothes.

"I told you already I'm not a mind reader, so spare me some time and tell me what's wrong," I say a bit harshly.

She turns to face me and snaps, "My brother injected me with a truth serum to get the information from me, my apologies for my lack of enthusiasm."

"That dipshit did what?" I frown, cursing under my breath. "Was it very painful? For how long was he interrogating you? Do you feel--"

"Harry, calm down," she interrupts. "None of it matters anymore," she sighs. "I'm glad no one got severely hurt. Well, except Louis, but he's going to be fine."

"I know what that pain feels like," I say honestly, goosebumps rising on my skin at the thought of it. "I had to endure it for years."

I notice how her eyes soften immediately, and I can tell she wants to know more but doesn't ask anything. She's actually respecting my privacy.

"I'm sorry you had to go through that," Beth says quietly.

I almost smile, taking a step toward her. "No, I'm sorry you had to, especially because it was your brother who did that," my eyes dart down to her wrists where red marks from the straps reside. I frown immediately, reaching for her hands, taking them in mine.

She flinches slightly and I notice her cheeks gaining a deep red colour they always do when I dare to do something like this. Not gonna lie, I enjoy seeing the effect I have on her, it's almost satisfying. However, my frown returns when I realise the marked skin hurts her and I notice a bruise on the back of her hand. I brush my thumbs lightly over the reddened and bruised skin, feeling her eyes on me. I lift my gaze, meeting her doe eyes once again.

"I'm sorry this happened, I promised you it won't happen again and I failed to keep it."

"It's not your fault," she smiles, her eyes flitting back and forth between mine. "It's theirs."

I smile back. "Still not fair."

I grin when I realise she spaced out again, her eyes observing me, staring. I let her enjoy the sight for a few moments before snapping my fingers in front of her face.

"Uh, sorry," her cheeks blush deeply. "You have beautiful eyes," she says quietly. The words seem to slip from her mouth because her eyes widen and she quickly looks away.