It all started with a game

Chapter 20.1

"A toad?" I questioned, crossing my arms in an attempt to look more buff, the attempt failing miserably as all the fabric engulfed any and all muscle I possessed.

She continued laughing, so hard that she couldn't get a word out. She snorted, instantly covering her face as it quickly reddened.

Now it was my turn to laugh at her. "Piggy," I teased.

She tossed a random item off the floor at me. "Toad."

It was strange, to act so normal, like nothing had even happened. Like we hadn't been apart for a month. It was like everything was back to how it used to be, before the hospital visit, before I hurt her, before everything.

She sat up from the bed, stretching out her body in the process. "Did I tell you about that mean scrub nurse?" She asked, knowing full well she hadn't told me, she hadn't told me anything in a long while.

I didn't mind. If she wanted to pretend that nothing happened, then I was okay with that. I just wanted to talk to her again, see her again, touch her again. "What happened?"

"She tried to make me eat jello."

Beatrice hates jello, with a passion. I tried to get her to eat it once and it was like trying to feed a small child brussel sprouts. It took me a half hour to get her to put the spoon in her mouth and the second she did she spat it back into a napkin and nearly threw up. Needless to say I have not tried to get her to eat jello since.

Beatrice continued, grabbing a second pillow for me. "I kept telling her I didn't want it and she started yelling at me for starving myself. I mean I tried to explain that I'd eat something as long as it wasn't jello. The person in the room next to me got pudding. I mean come on, how is that fair? I would have gotten it myself if she'd told me where to go."

"What did you do?"

Her lips curved into a devilish smile. "I ate the jello, and then I threw up on her shoes. She gave me pudding from then on."

That's my girl.

I expected nothing less of her. There are very few things in the world that will make Beatrice vengeful: hurting her brothers, damaging her book, or feeding her jello.

She finished setting up the bed, falling onto it face first.

I climbed in beside her, pulling her into my arms. "Hi," I mumbled against her skin.

She took a deep breath, leaning her head against me. "Hi."

The sound was a melody in my head and I was quickly becoming aware that I was beginning to get addicted to the sound of her voice.

"Hi."

She tugged on my arms, wrapping them tighter around her waist, and nestled the back of her head against me. "I missed you." She whispered.

I stilled, keeping my eyes locked on her. The heavy weight that had found its home on my chest finally left. She doesn't hate me. Mateo was right. "I missed you too."

She opened her eyes, staring up into me. It was like staring into the ocean, absolutely beautiful. "Tell me something about you that no one else knows."

I paused, pretending to think. "I'm not 6'. I'm 5'11"-½."

She laughed. "Aww, you're a tiny shrimp. Sorry, pretty boy, but I only date guys who are 6' or over. I don't think this is going to work." She feigned a frown before laughing, slapping my chest lightly. "I'm serious, tell me something no one else knows about you."

I sighed, settling back into the pillows. There were a million things I could tell her, but only half of that did no one else know, not even Mateo. "My dad's last words to me were 'I love you more'."

Whatever she expected me to say, it clearly wasn't that. She softened her doe eyes, listening to me intently.

I continued, avoiding eye contact. "I haven't told Alexia that I love her in almost ten years because I know that if I tell her she'll tell me she loves me more and I don't know if I can handle it."

I tried to change the subject quickly, this one far too stressful to continue. "Your turn."

Beatrice took a long breath, taking a moment to think. "I picked Klaus over Sonny, during the house fire, all three of us were stuck inside and I told the lady to get Klaus out. I picked Klaus over Sonny."

House fire. That's why they called her a burn survivor.

She kept her voice leveled and controlled, "I still haven't told either of them and now Klaus blames himself because he got out and we didn't."

She closed her eyes, her lips pulling into a tight line. I knew that look. "That's not your fault, gorgeous."

"Sometimes I feel like it is."  She tried to give me a small smile. "What was your dad like?" She asked, whether it was because she wanted to know or because she needed to change the subject, I had no idea.

"What?"

"What was your dad like?" She stared up at me like she genuinely wanted to hear about it.

No one ever asked me that. The only person I'd ever talked to ever so slightly about my father was Mateo, and he already knew exactly what my dad was like. "He was the best."

Beatrice let me talk as long as I wanted to, listening intently as I told her all the random, little stories I could remember about my dad.

A/N
Hi lovies!
What did we think?

I don't like it too much, but then again, when do I ever?

But did you guys like the chapter? Or did it seem off?

And thank you all so much for all of the comments. I love reading them. It's been a rough day so they were exactly what I needed to cheer up <3

Random question of the day: what is your favorite memory you have?

Lots of love,
Rachelle <3