Delirium

Chapter 57 - Someone Else

a/n hiii i'm back with your regular double update!!!

i hope you all enjoy these chapters <3

CW// Mentions of physical abuse

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Theo didn't allow himself to wince as the scalding spray of the shower stung his skin.

Endless powerful jets of water beat at his scalp, the runoff trickling down to his neck and over his shoulders, rivulets of it practically hissing as it ran down the expanse of his back.

The steam was suffocating, hardly allowing him to see just a few feet away.

It hurt; but Theo needed this.

He hadn't slept for even a moment last night.

The guilty, stricken, tearful expression that he'd last seen on Daphne's normally cheerful, sunny face had haunted every single one of his thoughts from the moment she'd shut the bedroom door behind her, leaving him alone to face his own self-loathing.

Every time he replayed the memory in his mind, his throat tightened, a lump forming there whilst nausea roiled in his gut.

He'd had no right to speak to her that way.

Not only had he shouted at her, raising his voice when he knew she would have heard him either way—but he had also stepped up to her, squaring his shoulders as he stood before her as if he'd meant to intimidate her.

It was an action he had immediately recognised within himself; Theo had been on the receiving end of such tactics too many times thanks to his own father.

His father—the man that had beaten him, spat at him, and degraded him for years. The man that had made his son wish he could disappear so often. The man that Theo hated.

That was who Theo had reminded himself of last night.

It made him fucking sick.

He'd known he'd screwed up the very minute the last word had fallen from his lips. He had turned away from Daphne in an instant, stepping back and trying to keep his eyes from discovering whatever emotion that could've graced her features.

But Daphne Greengrass had never been subtle with her feelings. She was open and unashamed. Displaying emotion was no issue with her. And it never had been.

So Theo shouldn't have been surprised when she'd spoken up, revealing a sad, quivering voice. He should've known she wouldn't suppress how he'd made her feel. He should have expected her to mumble her apologies for overstepping even when he was the one in the wrong.

But hearing that crack in her voice had still wrecked his soul. Seeing those tears well up in her clear blue eyes had still broken his heart.

He hated himself for it.

She had run off, and he had deserved it. He had deserved to face the night alone after knowing what it was like to sleep beside her.

He had woken her with one of his abominable recurring nightmares and Daphne had been there for him. She'd been so sweet with him, cuddling up to him and lulling him to sleep with her gentle embrace.

The universe had been too kind to him—allowing Theo to feel such comfort.

And it hadn't even been Daphne's fault. She hadn't overstepped because she never could have known how those questions would affect him. She knew nothing of his past—only the bare minimum. So her questions had been valid. They'd been borne only of innocent curiosity.