93- Blindness and bubbles

“Leaving you alone is worse.” he confirms.

“Well, then keep your eyes shut while I’m in the bath and you can stay.” I suggest. He tilts his head tothe side.

“You’re willing to let me stay?” He repeats in confirmation. I nod.

“If you close your eyes. I know you don’t love that part, but it’s the best compromise I can offer. Decidebefore the water gets cold please.” Bellamy’s eyes dart around the room. His eyes land on the window.Like most bathrooms, it’s a small window that isn’t easily accessed. I doubt it’s even visible fromoutside. Appearing to make a decision, he marches towards the door. Huh, he’s leaving? Or not. Hereaches the door, locks it then sits himself on the ground. with his back against the door and closes hiseyes.

“I won’t look. I promise.” he assures me. I quickly strip out of my clothes and chuck them on the floor bythe vanity. The water is hot, but comfortable when I climb in, clutching the edges of the tub to preventmyself from falling. I can’t help but glance over at Bellamy. I do trust him to keep his eyes shut, but I stillfeel weirdly paranoid about it. I settle down into the water, careful to keep my bandages dry and on theedge of the bath. The bubbles easily reach my chin. The warmth immediately begins to seep into meand I can’t help but let out a groan of relief. The adrenaline rush that I must have been experiencingearlier is finally starting to fade now that I feel safe. I’m a little awkward having Bellamy in here, but notenough to burst my bubble of bliss right now. I look over at him and he looks… uncomfortable. The tilefloor is probably cold and not so nice to sit on. He’s still sitting with his back to the door and his eyesclosed, but he has his legs pulled up and is hugging them into his chest. His head is tilted back againstthe door.

“You’re going to hurt your neck sitting like that.” I comment. He groans and sits up straighter, rolling andcracking his neck. He starts fiddling with his string bracelet, twirling it around his wrist over and over.

“You’re right.” He admits.

“You look really uncomfortable.” I add. He just shrugs at that.

93- Blindness and bubbles

“I don’t mind. Do you want to talk or would you rather have your bath in peace and pretend I’m nothere?” he asks. I can’t help but laugh.

“Bellamy, I don’t think I could ever successfully pretend you aren’t around, especially not in a situationlike this. It will still be peaceful if we’re talking as long as we don’t argue or bicker too much.” I assurehim. That pulls a smile from him.

“I’ll be on my best behaviour. Do you… do you want to talk about what happened tonight?” He askscautiously. Huh?

“I already told you what happened didn’t I?” I ask.

“No, well, yes. But that’s not what I mean. You told me what happened, but not how you feel about it all.You also probably have questions about how I reacted. I understand if you don’t want to talk about it allyet, but you definitely should at some point. If not with me then with Megan or Darrien. Aaron would beacceptable to talk with as well. I suppose you could talk to the Incubus if you felt you had to.” He addsreluctantly at the end. I can’t resist the urge to laugh.

your

“I really don’t know what problem is with him. His powers haven’t influenced me in years which meanshe’s just a guy friend. You don’t have a problem with Aaron or Darrien.” 1

point out. Bellamy sighs.

“I know them, it’s different. I know they respect me and our relationship and wouldn’t do anythingagainst it. They support us. The Incubus is your friend, but he isn’t mine. If you ask him for advice he’snot going to have the same context or knowledge about Shifters and he won’t care about my feelingswhen talking to you. It also worries me that he’s known you longer than I have. That’s something I cannever win. There are times that he got to be your friend and be there for you when I wasn’t and it’s hardto forget that.”

“He and I were close as children, but until we met up by accident that first time when I was

with you, I hadn’t seen or spoken to him in years. He’s more like a sibling or cousin than a friend.” Iwonder if there’s a way I can help Bellamy feel more comfortable about my relationship with Harry. Ifeel like a significant part of the problem is that all he really knows about Harry is that he’s an Incubus.Maybe it would help if he actually got to know him better as a person rather than as a vague figure. Isuspect his imagination is far worse than anything that could actually be happening.

+

93- Blindness and bubbles

“How would you feel about hanging out with Harry sometime? Like we could all go do somethingtogether as a group. You might feel better if you knew and trusted him a bit.” I suggest. I look over tosee Bellamy’s reaction. He doesn’t look thrilled, but I don’t think he’s instantly rejecting the idea either.

“Maybe.” he answers reluctantly. Well, that’s good enough for me. I’ll chat with Harry later and see whathe thinks. Actually, I have barely looked at my phone today. I should really check the group chat atsome point. I keep forgetting. I’m not used to actually having one friend to keep up with, much less awhole group of them. Actually, while I’m thinking about it, I don’t think I have ever seen Bellamyhanging with someone socially, other than myself

and Megan that is.

“Bellamy, do you actually have friends?” I ask bluntly. As I say it, I realise that it sounds.

vaguely insulting.

“I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. I just meant that I haven’t really seen you hanging

out with anyone and you haven’t mentioned any other friends. You’re not exactly a shy person so I justthought it was odd that you haven’t talked about anyone…” I trail off. Bellamy sighs.

“I’m honestly not sure anymore. I used to have friends, but when my parents passed and I becameAlpha basically overnight, everything changed. All my friends were Shifters and all my relationshipsbecame so… formal. I used to hang out with Shaun, Aaron and Alex occasionally. There’s a reason Ipicked them to be your guards after all, I trust them. But 1 don’t know how to act around them. Thedominant part of me demands their respect and obedience, those aren’t things that work too well in afriendship. Aside from being Alpha I also inherited the security company that they all work for so Ibecome their boss as well. The whole dynamic is just off. It created a distance between us and Ihaven’t managed to replace a

new balance for it.” he explains. Well that makes some sense I suppose.

“What about Darrien?” I ask. Bellamy shakes his head.

“He only moved here a few years back, I didn’t know him that well until recently. He became Megan’sguard because he requested the position and Shaun vouched for him.”

“Oh, right. I forgot about that. I do think you should try and spend some with those guys. though.They’re all really great and super loyal to you. I suspect more of the friendship is

93- Blindness and puppies

intact than you realise. As you said, you’re the one with the power in the group, they’re naturally goingto follow your lead. If you step back and treat them formally they’re going to do the same. So it standsto reason that if you relax with them a bit more then they will likely do the same.” I suggest. Bellamyslowly nods.

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