the Fragment Chronicles: Katherine [Rewriting] ⊸

Chapter Ten : Nathaniel Chu

Walter was in the middle of grading an essay when there was a knock on his door. He checked the time, completely blanking on the fact that Katherine was coming over and he was still in boxer shorts. "Uh," he stammered, rushing over to his dresser to put on a pair of sweats. "Just a sec."

"Take your time," she shouted.

Jumping while lifting the waist to his sweats, he bounced onto the floor and opened the door for her. Her hair was wavy and in a ponytail. She had been dressing down lately, definitely took him some getting used to. She smiled as she saw him, clutching her purse that slung over her shoulder. "Belle's putting JT down for a nap at Sean's. You good?"

"A kid actually used 'tuff' in his essay," his shoulders fell. She followed him inside, shutting the door behind her and taking a seat on the opposite couch. "As in T-U-F-F."

"Did he pass third grade?" She chuckled, taking her shoes off.

He shrugged, "He's smart, just not book smart."

"Ah," she drew out, picking at a hangnail.

"Wait, you're early," he noticed once he checked the time on his laptop.

"Yeah," she exhaled, struggling to say what she really wanted to say.

Walter grew wary, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine — I mean, regarding our current circumstance — "

"Of course," he half-smiled.

"Well, I actually wanted to talk to you before, uh, before Uri gets back. Y'know, we've been spending a lot of time together lately and ... "

The beat of Walter's heart started to deepen. He could feel it in his ears, in his fingertips, in his chest. Hundreds of different scenarios began popping into his head of she'd say next. Did she have conflicting feelings about him as he did her? Was she still in love with his brother? Was she about to reveal her real name? Did she prefer bows or ties? He was dying to know.

"I feel like if our relationship — platonic of course — is going to move forward, I feel the need to be honest with you," she looked up at his mouth. It was ajar. She tried not to laugh, he never even realised. "So Belle told you that I have a personality disorder.

Shit here it is, he thought.

He swallowed the saliva that manifested in his mouth. "Um, yeah. I didn't wanna say anything."

"It's fine, whatever," she paused, licking and biting her bottom lip. "My father was uh, he wasn't abusive — at least it never felt that way — but he liked precision. I can't really go into why, at least now right now, but we weren't safe no matter where we were: Bulgaria, Iceland, here."

Walter sat back and gave her undivided attention, closing his laptop shut, even though she wasn't looking at him.

"Katherine manifested when I was about twelve." She scratched her head, taking her time so that her voice wouldn't break. "He was really keen on us knowing how to defend ourselves. Safety was always a priority with him. He was a very powerful person in his line of work; always thought we were being watched. He never hurt Belle — and my mother never saw anything. And it wasn't abuse — like in any shape or form. I really wanna make that clear, Walt. It's just ... protecting myself was always the goal. And he'd push me to do my best no matter who I hurt in the process. Katherine ... y'know, she helped me by making forget what I was forced to do."

Seeing any woman cry always made Walter emotional. This was different. She wasn't sad. Katherine or not, she was ashamed of herself.

"When my parents died, she didn't really have a purpose anymore," she leaned her head in the palm of her hand. "And she changed. Not only did she want me to forget what I'd done, but she wanted to live on her own."