Reckless Passion

Chapter 51

— Chapter 51 —

Song Themes For This Chapter: She Is Love – Parachute; Tell The World – Jason Labelle  

— Rose —

“I’ll fucking kill him.  Filthy, vile, motherfucking, good-for-nothing asshole!”  Louis muttered every curse word in the book to describe his loathing for Peter but his hands were gentle as he dabbed a warm, wet cloth against the cut on the side of my face.

A small smile curved up on my lips as I watched him with admiration.  He’s bent down in front of me as he tends to my small wounds.  I rub his thigh as I say, “Louis, watch your blood pressure.  I don’t want you having a stroke.”  I breathily chuckle.

“Don’t joke.”  He says in a soft, defeated tone, shaking his head.  His eyes are still fixed on the cut, probably avoiding my gaze.

My smile fades into a frown.

Louis briefly glances at the cloth, grimacing at the blood soaking it before folding it a few times and dabbing my cut again.  “I shouldn’t have let you go off by yourself.  But fuck, you should be able to.  You shouldn’t have to be looking over your shoulder wondering if that asshole is lurking around waiting to get you alone.”

“It’s not your fault.”  I whisper softly.

“Part of me wants to go find him right now and give him such a beating until he can’t fucking walk.  Let’s see him try to lay a fucking hand on you then.”  He clenches his jaw, still gently pressing the cloth against my face.

I tense at his words but I don’t say anything.  Louis glances at me within a split second and frowns.  “But I won’t.”

I relax a little and close my eyes as Louis cleans my cut.  “How are you feeling?  Is the baby alright?”  Louis suddenly asks, breaking the silence.

My eyes shoot open as I contort my face.  “The baby?”

He makes a gesture with his hands, acting nonchalant, his eyes widening but he doesn’t look at me.  “Yeah, you know, that living thing growing inside of your stomach?”

I blink, taken aback.  “I… I don’t know.  I think it’s alright, I’m not in any intense pain or experiencing any severe cramping so I assume it must be alright.”  I pause.  “I-I’m surprised you care.”  I bite my lip, thinking I should have somehow worded that differently.

“I don’t.  It was just a natural instinct to ask if it was okay.”  He mutters.

I look down as I try to decipher if Louis was just attempting to cover up what he said or if maybe he genuinely did care about the baby all of a sudden.  I hated how difficult it was to read him a lot of the time.

He sets the cloth down on his bed beside me and carefully brings my arm up, turning it over as he just barely grazes his other hand over the red bruise that had started to form there.

“You should call the police.  Put that bastard behind bars.”  He mutters, eyes finally making contact with mine.

I shake my head quickly.  “N-No, I can’t.”

His eyebrows furrow.  “Why the fuck not?  You have enough proof that he’s harassing you, threatening your life, trying to fucking kill you.  He’s a fucking psycho, Rose!  The police will see that if you give them a head’s up about the issue with him.”

I shake my head again, feeling my chest constrict.  “I can’t.”

He gives me a hard look.

I swallow hard.  “I know he’s letting himself be consumed by his rage and his feelings of betrayal, but he’s still Peter.  And he could still be the father to this baby.”