¬Thief of her Heart.

¬Chapter 12. |Regret.|

After Eric got home and had dinner with his parents, which didn't go in the exact best way this time, since he was distracted the whole time, thing which his parents easily noticed, he went upstairs, locking himself into his room. He sat on his bed, holding his phone with Angelica's name contact on the screen, as he stared at it for a few minutes. Soon enough, he let out a frustrated sigh and gave in into his jealousy, clenching his jaw as he called her, pressing the phone to his ear.

"Jonathan. They were hugging, giggling, and looking like a happy couple. It looked like they're pretty close, and he's obviously important to her." Eric instantly spoke, Angelica letting out a soft chuckle trough the line.

"Interesting. Good job, Palmer. I'll keep this one in mind. Now, keep up with the good work, and make it even better, or things are going to get really ugly.." Angelica ended the call afterwards, Eric throwing his phone on the bed, feeling even more frustrated now. This was a threat, and he knew it.

For the next two days, Eric normally went to his lesson with Belle, watching the exact same thing every day, which was Jonathan leaving with that stupid fucking smile on his face. And as usual, Belle was so strictly professional and cold, distant, even harsh, that it was driving him crazy. That day, the second day, Eric once again spoke with Angelica, who was frustrated and pissed off with him, since the job was taking him too long, and she did warn him, about giving him a lesson. Eric had no idea what that meant.. Until the next day.

Once Eric walked into the dance studio, and inside Belle's class, he saw something that broke his heart. Belle was crawled up, looking like a ball, as she hugged her knees to her chest, pressed into the corner of the room. Her forehead rested on top of her knees, tears rolling down her flushed cheeks, and sobs slipping past her lips. Eric couldn't help but stare, before throwing his bag away and quickly moving towards her, kneeling down next to her.

"What's going on? Please talk to me.." Eric whispered, Belle soon looking up at him with a broken look, shaking her head before slightly reaching out to push him away, sobbing once again.

"Leave.. Please just.. Leave me alone.. You don't care anyway, so just leave.. No lesson today, go home Eric." She whispered with a shaky voice, Eric furrowing his eyebrows, as he firmly placed his palm on her arm, looking at her straight into the eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere, and I.. I wouldn't insist if I didn't care.. Please, tell me what's wrong.." Belle bit on her lower lip, sniffling slightly, as she finally gave in.

"Jo.. Jonathan.. He, he had an accident. A car accident, and he got really hurt, and he's at the hospital, his mom told me he's having a surgery right now because something hit his chest, and it might have broken something.. He's not going to die, but it's serious.. And I got so scared when I first heard of it.. Jonathan is one of my closest family friends, best friends, he's always been there during it all, even when my parents.. Yeah.. I.. I can't keep losing more people I care about, I'm so tired of this.." Belle mumbled, letting out a sob as fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.

Eric bit on his lower lip, furrowing his eyebrows, a new feeling growing into his chest. Regret, guilt, and regret all over again. A family friend? A best friend? Sudden car accident? What had he done? What had that stupid bitch, Angelica had done? Knowing that he was the one who caused all this.. Well, fuck.

Eric looked at Belle as he was trying to come up with something to say." He survived, as serious as it was, he's still here. You didn't lose him." Eric whispered as his hand gave hers a slight squeeze as he soon added." What happened with your parents? I understand if you do not want to talk about it, but you brought it up, and yeah.." Eric mumbled, trying to act as clueless as he could about that, pretending he knew nothing.

" And sadly it's part of life, for people to leave, for them to get hurt.. We have no control over that.." Eric mumbled. What was he on about? He was the one to blame for that accident. Him and his god damn feelings. Eric looked at Belle once more, as he soon spoke." No lesson for today, but you can't keep crying without having anything to eat. Your system needs it, and the people around you, need you to be healthy. So do you want to go grab something to eat? And talk? Or not talk, whichever one you prefer." Eric said in a sweet tone, as a smile appeared on his lips as he looked towards her, in a gentle caring way.

Instead of saying anything, Belle looked at him for a few seconds, glancing down at their hands, before she finally gave in and nodded slowly, her fingertips wiping away her tears. Sniffling once, she looked up at him, and he did the same, standing up and offering his hand down at her to help her up as well. They walked together, stopping by the bathroom so that Belle could wash her face and freshen up a little. Once she was out, they quietly made their way to the coffee shop down the street, both ordering a glass of juice and a waffle, since Belle wasn't really in the mood for normal food, but she did need some energy after all that crying. They sat at a table beside the window, still quiet, as they ate slowly, Belle soon placing her fork down, not even done with half of her plate, but she just couldn't. She sipped some juice, glancing up at Eric who had been staring at her since the start.

"I'm sorry, for that outburst.. It wasn't supposed to happen, but it was just.. The moment.." She was even trying to apologize, having no idea that even Eric played a part in this without even meaning to. Eric's hand reached out, taking a hold of hers, giving it a slight squeeze, as he mumbled.

"Don't be.. I'm glad I happened to be there, and you weren't alone, like that.." Belle glanced down at their hands, returning the slight squeeze, as she bit on her lower lip, nodding slowly.

"Well, thank you.. and I know I avoided your question about my parents, but it's a really painful story for me and I can't take more of it right now.. Maybe, one day.." She nodded slowly, giving him a tiny little smile, Eric soon nodding and doing so as well. What he didn't know, was that right outside, on the street, there was one of Angelica's little 'doggies', snapping a picture of him and Isabelle holding hands like little love birds, and would definitely go running to her, letting her know. Damn them and their bad luck..