Forgotten

13 | Brothers

"I see you're quite popular tonight, aren't you Bella?" Barty asked, pulling her into him as the song picked up speed, her body was trapped tight against his chest, leaving no possibility of her escaping.

"Well considering my family hosted this stupid ball, it's really not that surprising is it?" Her voice was sharp and bitter, so unlike from the version of her that Barty knew. He had only just caught a glimpse of that dark side of her but it was enough for most people to run, to leave her alone when they saw the person she really was.

"Not enjoying yourself? Well I wouldn't be either if my date was an idiot like Rodolphus." There was a strange sense of possessiveness in the way he spoke. Like he wasn't insulting her date because he didn't like them. As if there was another reason for it.

"Don't be rude Barty, and he's not an idiot. He's far smarter than you." Truthfully Barty was a genius, he just didn't try. He liked to pretend that he was far dumber than he was because he didn't have the energy to put in the effort.

"You don't really believe that though, do you darling?" He enjoyed teasing her far too much and it was just so easy. The smallest comment could make her cheeks pink, seeing her flustered was too good an opportunity to miss.

"Don't call me that. Anybody could here you." She cautioned, her eyes darting around the room to see if anybody had been listening.

"I don't care if people hear us. I suppose I simply can't control how loud I am around you. You just have that effect on me." Although his words had a more... teasing undertone, his face was innocent besides from the look in his eyes that she could never quite understand.

People often say that the eyes are a gateway to the soul, that you can find out everything about a person just from looking into their eyes. As if you were looking into their mind in a sense. The first thing you notice when looking upon somebody's face, is often the eyes; because they portray the emotions that the person is truly feeling, what they think about you, their thoughts and their emotions. But Bella wasn't sure those rules applied to her because whenever she looked in a mirror, her eyes looked cold and lifeless. 

That was something she had been told her whole life. That her eyes showed how strong she was because you could never see her sadness or if she felt defeated. Nothing could be read from her eyes but around Barty it was as if her every emotion were as clear as day. An uneasy feeling settled deep in her stomach as she wondered what he had seen in her eyes. What he had read from her soul. 

"Have some self control then." Although Bella attempted to make her voice seem cruel and demanding, she sounded more uncertain than anything.

"You don't really want that, but it seems you do want to lie to yourself and I'm not going to stop you from doing that. I know the truth better than you." He remarked, looking down at her as if to challenge her to deny what he'd said.

"Stop acting like you know anything about me Barty. You're my brother's friend not mine." In truthfulness she knew that she was telling herself just as much as him that he was not hers. He wasn't her friend or partner and he definitely wasn't someone she should be having a conversation such as this with.

"A for effort Bella, but trying to put me in my place as just your -brother's best friend- isn't going to work. I can tell your not in the greatest of moods but you don't have to push me away." He didn't sound angry or annoyed that she was doing exactly as he had just said. 

"I'm not in the greatest of moods? You have no fucking idea why I'm in a so-called mood, so don't talk to me like you understand because you don't. Not now not ever." Her eyes stung with oncoming tears but she wouldn't let herself cry in front of him, not again.