━━ There Will Be Time
❛ officer harold lowe
may be the first person
to ever tame the wild heart
that belongs to
miss katherine davenport. ❜
[ titanic ]
[ fifth officer harold lowe x oc...
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❛CHAPTER ELEVEN, alexithymia ❜
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April 14, 1912
DESPITE BEING HEAVY WITH exhaustion, Harold was unable to sleep. He laid awake in his quarters, staring up at the ceiling as his mind raced and his body begged for rest. The low, droning hum of the ship's engines, something that usually helped lull him to sleep, drilled into his head almost tortuously. He knew that time was passing by rather quickly; before he knew it, he would be expected on the bridge once again for the middle watch.
His eyes were finally beginning to droop shut when the Welshman heard a series of frantic knocks on his door. At first, he didn't react. He felt his body drifting off to sleep, and he simply couldn't stop himself from slipping into unconsciousness.
But then, there was another knock. This time, it was followed by a familiar voice whispering out: "Harold, please answer."
For a moment, he was convinced that he was hearing things. He recognized the warm, Southern drawl of Katherine's voice, but there was no way in hell that she was outside of his quarters. He clumsily trudged across the room, half-convinced that he wasn't even awake, and opened the door.
Sure enough, he found Katherine waiting in the hallway just outside. His lips were parted as he stared at her in silence, struggling to process the fact that the woman who had unknowingly kept him awake was somehow standing outside of his quarters. His mind still clouded with sleep, he pulled her inside and shut the door behind her.
"You're absolutely mad, you know that? How did you even get in here?"
"Officer Moody. I..." Katherine paused for a moment and let out a shaky breath. "I asked him to bring me to you."
Harold ran a hand through his disheveled hair and mumbled under his breath. Katherine sniffled, a sound that resembled a strained sob falling from her lips. He froze. Turning to look at her and blinking away the sleep from his eyes, he finally noticed the state that she was in. Tears welled up in her eyes, ready to fall at any moment. "Katherine, what's wrong?" he asked her softly.
Damn you, he mentally hissed. You should've gone to see her sooner, you dumbass!
"I–" she seemed unsure of what to say. He was worried that it was his fault that she was so hesitant to talk to him. "Someone... came up to me and told me that if an officer had the right to leave such a mark on my neck, then he did too. He held me against the railing and grabbed my hips and tried to kiss me and... oh, Harold, I just needed someone– you, I guess."
