Bea And The Boys ~Complete~

Chapter 22a. I would like to... I think.

Ok so I just wanted to say that whilst this chapter is short, it does have another half to it. I don't usually do this but Henry grabbed this chapter and ran away with it so blame him...

As always I apologise for any spelling or grammar mistakes and hope you enjoy. Votes and comments make my day so let me know what you think ^_^

ElfinRose x.

~Bea POV~

Jason and I were interrupted by a knock on the door and Henry's voice filtering through the wood.

"Jason? Bea? We should get going now." Jason frowned and tried to resume our, well I guess you could call it a make-out session, but I pushed at his shoulders gently and smiled. It would seem that he had gotten his wish for the day though. Jason pouted, something he was apparently terrible at and it set me off giggling. He stuck his tongue out at me wrinkling his nose up adorably. 

"Shush you." He sighed dramatically. " I suppose we should go see Mr Bossy Pants." He took my hand and lead me downstairs to where Henry stood waiting in the hallway. The tension that had disappeared from his face briefly, was back and I frowned at its reappearance. Henry smiled when he noticed us but it was strained. I wondered if we were leaving for his sake or Alistair's. 

"Bea sweetheart, Ali asked to see you before we go. We'll be waiting in the car for you when you're done OK?" Henry sounded tired. I nodded and reached out a hand to press lightly against his face. I tried to ignore the slight trembling from the boldness of my gesture and instead concentrated on the feel of Henry's skin beneath my palm. He leaned into the touch, his eyes fluttering closed as my thumb caressed the delicate shadows beneath them. 

I took the opportunity while his eyes were closed to rise up on tiptoes and kiss him. His eyes flew open for a moment in surprise but closed again as his arms wound their way around me and he deepened the kiss. We broke apart and Henry smiled at me again, a more genuine expression this time around. 

"I love you." He murmured simply, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I returned the gesture kissing them both on the cheek, calling out softly before they left,

"Love you."

Taking a deep breath I pushed open the front room door. Alistair watched me from his seat, still minus Bast. His expression matched Henry's stressed one and I wanted to comfort him too. It was in my nature to try and fix things, to placate people, make them happy.

"Beatrice, I apologise for my behaviour earlier." He paused for a moment running his hands through his hair. The movement became jerky and I realised he was pulling it in handfuls. Without thought I moved across the room, closing the space between us. My hands covered his, halting the stressed tugging. He stared at me, tears in his eyes threatening to spill down his cheeks. Gently I moved his hands away from his head. 

"It's OK Alistair, you're OK." I pulled him into a hug instinctively. I felt him shiver slightly and went to pull away but thin arms wrapped around me, holding me tight. I rubbed a hand on his back soothingly. His head fell forward onto my shoulder,

"I wanted so badly to meet you Beatrice, I wanted you to like me, wanted you to believe I was normal. I didn't want to be the reason you couldn't love Henry." He mumbled into my hair and I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding. 

"I tried so hard to be normal. I'm a grown man, I shouldn't get like this over a few noises. It's ridiculous. I'm ridiculous." 

"Alistair whatever-your-middle-name-is Fell. You stop that this instant. I'll not have you thinking such awful things about yourself." Alistair pulled away from me in surprise at my scolding tone. A tiny smile quirked the corners of his mouth though and I heaved a sigh of relief.