control || beth x benny

𝟑𝟏. Unsafe Harbor

「 '𝙲𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝, 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠

𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝚠𝚎'𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠 」

24th November – US Championship, Day 3 [PART3]

Benny squeezed her hand, and an avalanche of applauses flooded the salon. Everyone was surprised with the final result. Some of them betted a good amount of money in the redhead girl and the disappointment was clear in their expressions; not only because they putted their hopes on her but their wallet were in pain.

"Though game." Benny whispered, blending with the environmental sounds. His eyes were desperate, trying to find the hazel eyes from the girl in front of him.

Beth simply nodded with the head. Her body slowly went up, leaving the division calmly without raising her head. Her high heels echoed over the room just like the announcer's voice, calling her name to give her the second-place trophy but the option of ignoring it seemed more appealed to her.

Soon as she reached the second floor, she felt her head going up to the clouds. Silence. The sound of nothing were therapeutic to her ears. No paparazzies, no applauses, nothing. The desire of getting in her room craved entrench in her skin and the steps got faster but quickly were interrupted by a little girl, with a wavy blond hair and owner of a beautiful grey eyes.

"H-hello miss Harmon. I'm big fan of yours and I would be very happy if you could sign this for me. It doesn't matter if you didn't win today, you'll always be my favorite chess player." Her words stumbled over themselves and the accented British pronunciation made the speech messier. The rosy cheeks highlighted her light skin, and her hands carried an article about Beth Harmon after winning against Borgov along with a pink marker.

Beth was falling apart. The knot formed in her throat by holding the tears and the screams was getting increasingly heavier and she had no idea what her limit was. But seeing a girl, a simple human, a pure and innocent soul standing in front of her just asking for a signature in a way to make her day better, Beth smiled. She wasn't happy at all, she barely could control her tears and she was the guilty one.

"Sure. Here." Beth bent down, staying at the same level of that girl. Her trembling hand hold the marker, writing her name in the page.

"Thank you so much Miss Harmon! I hope to be like you when I grow up. Stay with my marker as a gift. It's the expansive marker I haver bought." The girl grinned and Beth released a little smile, nodding with the head. "I need to go, thank you again Miss Harmon."

As the girl faded in the hall, entering on elevator, Elizabeth reached the handle, opening abruptly the door. Her feet ran to the bed and for the first time, Beth was dealing with the suffer completely sober. Her world stopped making sense, nothing seemed right in her mind without the victory. She was always certain about her chess skills, she always knew that if everything crumbled, at least chess would be her safe harbor. But not anymore. She tried to scream but the tears drowned her. Winning was an addiction that she never wanted to control for thinking that the losing experience wouldn't be a problem for her.

"Beth."

The male voice invaded the room without being present. Benny was right outside the door, calling for her while his hand was trying to force the door handle. His breath was irregular just like his intonation, accusing a mix of exhausting and fear.

Beth remained quiet, hearing her frantic heart race. She was a wreck with her red face accompanied by small droplets of blood on her lips and the palms of her hands were stamped with nail's marks. Her heart was processing everything, the way that she lost everything in that game, how an ephemeral moment could unsettle what she had. The game slipped over her fingers and she wasn't good enough to nab it back.

"Beth, please open this fucking door or I'll swear-"

"Leave me alone, Watts." Elizabeth finally answered among the sobbing and the tears that slowly started to corrode her throat.

"I'm not leaving your door until you open it. It was just a ga-"

Beth steps were thunderous, and her arms moved clumsily in the rhythm of her body. Aggressively, the door was opened by her and even with the blurred vision, it was perceptible how scared Benny was by his facial expression.

"Just a fucking game? Are you kidding? This wasn't just a game." Her attempts to high the tone of voice were pointless. Not just the throat but her lips were dried, and the air barely circulated between the lungs to her mouth. The skinny legs were shaking just like her hands. "This is my life, my life."

"Beth, calm down." Benny passed the door, carefully. He tried to keep a safe distance between them by seeing Beth in that condition. His heart shudder for watching the girl falling apart. "Please, let's seat and talk."

Her eyes followed his movements, denying with the head.

"There's nothing to talk Ben. Get out please." She whispered, closing her eyes firmly.

"Beth..."

"Please Benny, leave me alone." Beth mouthed while her hands covered her face. The air was scarce, and the words almost were almost inaudible. She wasn't herself anymore. She'd lost all the control over her body and powerless, she approached the bed and the heart collapsed along with the tears.

Benny didn't know how to react, seeing her so vulnerable. She was almost unrecognizable in his eyes which made him feel useless. His lack of experience of comfort people or to handle with situations like this were explicit in his hesitation. Silently, Benny sat next to Beth frightened of her reaction, but she didn't react at him at all. He took his shot and unable to control himself, he pushed her to him and wrapped his arms around her.

Beth kept crying but her body stopped to shake. Both of them lost the track of the time, and after the strenuous storm, Beth felt her eyelids closing inviting her to fall asleep. Benny stayed in silence, holding her tightly while his heart felt lighter for hearing her deep breath.

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Should we start the countdown? :')