Would you Swallow all your Pride?

Chapter Fifty-Four: Merlot.

A/N: Surprise, bitch. I bet you thought you'd seen the last of  me.

Thank God. Chuckling, Wilhemina nodded. Both of her hands now caressed Billie Dean's back. Brown eyes stared at the woman on top of her, with lips red, breath labored, pupils dilated... angel. Venable desperately wished she could just go and be a normal person, a normal adult in love with another. I have never been normal. She blinked. "Let me go get it." Wilhemina lovingly pecked Billie one more time before she began to get up, lip caught between her teeth, face scrunching up with tears out of nowhere. Quickly, she walked to the kitchen.

Billie Dean was left on the couch with her heart aching and her breath still labored. She gulped and reached for her hair, making sure everything there was in place. The room had grown uncomfortably quiet, even though music hummed on the background. She sighed. I don't know what to do. No sound came from the kitchen, almost as if Billie were alone in the house. Is she alright? Waiting there and doing nothing was hard for Billie Dean, but also what if Venable needed a moment alone? I shouldn't. But she would anyways. With steps that barely produced any sounds, Billie tiptoed to the kitchen as quietly as she could—thankfully, the door was open ajar. Quietly poking her head inside as to not be seen, honey eyes landed on Wilhemina quietly dealing with the tears that cascaded down her cheeks, one palm covering her mouth while the other squeezed the cane as harshly as she could manage, hips resting against the counter. Billie Dean's own eyes grew misty. She felt guilty, even though she rationally knew she was not at fault. Gulping, Billie Dean kept on watching Venable; the way she took quiet deep breaths, the way she scrunched her eyes so tightly as to stop her tears, the way she looked down at the floor and shook her head in disbelief. "I'm so tired," Wilhemina whispered, and Billie blinked twice as she hid herself a little more. "I just want to be normal," Venable whispered again. Billie Dean's heart ached even more, and as she kept on discreetly watching, Purpura jumped on the counter and meowed at Wilhemina, catching her attention. A teary smile spread across Venable's features, and Billie Dean's own face mirrored it. "You shouldn't be on the counter," Wilhemina whispered, hand reaching to caress the cat between her ears. Honey eyes paid attention to every single detail of the scene that was not for them to be watching. "I love you, darling," Venable bent down the best she could and kissed Purpura's little head. "Thank you," she sniffled, soon sighing again. Billie kept on watching as Wilhemina gulped, tears eventually stopping but cheeks still wet. "She deserves so much more, Purpura... I wish I could give her everything I want to." Catching her lower lip between her teeth, Billie Dean figured it was time to walk away. Making no sound yet again, she made her way back to the living room. A sigh escaped her lips.

"What can I even do?" Billie questioned herself out loud. She took a deep breath, sitting back down at the couch and closing her eyes, head resting against the backrest. How painful was it, to love someone who felt so poorly about themselves? It's not that the boundaries were the hard thing, but the reason for them. How could Venable—the Wilhemina Venable, perfect in every single way for Billie Dean—see herself that way? Feel that way, cry that way? I need to learn more about her. Billie desperately wanted to help, but she couldn't do it without fully understanding where everything came from. Does she even understand? Was it even her place to try and help Wilhemina that way? In the middle of such internal turmoil, Billie Dean only realized how severely the temperature of the room had dropped when her arms wrapped themselves around her own body. Instantly, honey eyes snapped open. She looked around. This isn't normal. Venable had, after all, shown to be quite susceptible to the interests of the other realm. With the hair on her neck standing up, Billie sat a little better and kept her senses sharp. A thin gush of air flew by, moving her locks just slightly. Honey eyes kept on looking around, lips mouthing a silent prayer. 'I need you to help me,' the thought came flying through her mind, a thought that clearly wasn't hers. "I know you're here," Billie Dean said out loud. "Who are you?" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Nothing. "What do you want?" She tried again. Another gush of air flew by, this time accompanied by the smell of raw eggs and a hint of lavender. Billie frowned. A certain weight suddenly appeared on one of her shoulders. She gulped again. "Who are you?" She insisted. 'Help me.' Another thought, this time with a faint voice. Billie Dean kept herself stiff, trying to understand whatever was behind or beside her. The smell kept on getting stronger. 'She does not know.' "Who does not know?" Billie asked out loud. The weight got heavier. 'Her... my...' Behind her eyelids, Billie began to see shapes and forms and odd colors; nothing made sense. 'She needs to know.' Rain mixed in with the shapes, loud thunder clouding her ears and her ears only. "Show yourself," Billie Dean commanded. An even stronger gush of air flew by. Honey eyes opened themselves. Nothing. "I've surrounded myself and this house with the power of the white light, you can't hurt me nor anything inside this property." 'I won't stop.' The voice was back again. The lights flickered. The smell intensified itself more and more. 'She... is... mine...' Billie's body filled up with goosebumps. "You're not from this realm, therefore you no longer have any power or belong in here in any way." The temperature dropped one more time, making it quite impossible not to shiver. Billie Dean gulped. "Leave this property alone." 'Not until I get what I want.' "Show yourself, then. Tell me what you need." Honey eyes looked around, searching for any signs of something there. The lights flickered harshly, now. "Show me." 'Supposed... to be... mine...' "Nothing here is supposed to be yours, you don't belong to this realm!" 'Will be known.' Understanding that entity was hard. Billie could feel her head starting to throb. "Show yourself or be gone!" As the words left her mouth, everything suddenly went back to normal. Billie Dean blinked twice. Her hands trembled as she took a deep breath.