The Belladonna

Chapter 10

"The light can become the dark." - Harry

Harry's POV:

I looked at Bella in wonder, absolutely shocked about what just happened. She smiled at me like nothing was wrong, her hair now up to her chin. It was almost like she was exposed to everyone, the way her hair couldn't hide her anymore. Even with the wounds she had, she still smiled brighter than the sun.

"Come on, we should leave before backup comes." Bella says and I shake out of my trance, nodding to her. The other four boys stood in shock still, looking at Bella with surprise in their eyes. "Come on, we'll talk later." I mutter to them, making them all slowly nod their heads before we took off running towards the inn.

Whenever we got to the inn and stepped inside, I took the chance to glance over at Bella, who was looking forward with an almost steely look in her blue eyes, although she had the faintest smile on her face. I guess I hadn't realized how strong she's gotten over the years, and it took this to make me realize it.

Once we got to our rooms, all of us piled into one, closing the door and locking it behind us. Bella walked over to the window and glanced out, a small frown on her face before she closed the curtains.

"So I guess France wasn't a good place to come to either." she says lightly and I chuckle despite the circumstances. "I would think not." Louis says before Niall gives her a frown.

"Bella why did you do that?" he asks and she looks at him confused. "Do what?" she asks and he sighs. "Why did you have to cut off your hair whenever you did that?" he asks in a small whine and we all start to laugh as she feels her hair for the first time since she cut it.

"Well, it was the only way I could think of to escape him. If I would've tried to cut him, he would've killed me, probably. So I did this." she says, her smile fading a little as she realizes how little hair there is left. Her hair was to her chin now, a drastic change from before. Her hair used to reach down to the base of her back, and now it was all gone.

"You were great out there, Bella." Liam says and she smiles again. "I can't just keep relying on you guys to save me all the time. I have to be able to save myself." she says and I walk over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I guess I shouldn't worry too much about you. That's what you were trying to prove to me as well, isn't it? You don't like me always having to worry about you, so you wanted to be strong." I say and she grins.

"That's right. I will defend and fight for myself. Who knows, maybe one day it'll be me saving your life." she teases and I laugh. "Maybe. We'll have to see." I say with a wink, turning to the boys. "Go see if you can round up the crew. We'll be leaving in the morning. I think it's safe to say that we aren't going to be safe here, so we need to move out as soon as we can." I order and they all nod to me, going out before Louis turns around to Bella, giving her a grin.

"If you were wanting to prove yourself to anyone Bella, you definitely did that today." he says before leaving, closing the door behind him. I look over to Bella to see her beaming, her smile bright as she looked at where Louis was.

"I guess I didn't give you enough credit." I say, rubbing her shoulder before letting out a sigh. "I just want to protect you, so I didn't realize how strong you were." I murmur and she puts her arms around me, holding me tightly.

I smile and put my chin on her head, wrapping my arms around her. "I understand that you want to protect me. I feel the same way. I just want to be able to protect both of us without you having to worry about it so much." she whispers and my eyes slip closed as I hold her to me, happy that she was safe.

Whenever I saw her in the guards' grasps my heart stopped. I thought I was going to lose her and that alone tore me apart inside. "I think I'll always worry about you Bella. I just love you too much not to worry. But I know how strong you are. I know you can handle things." I say and she fists the back of my shirt, a smile growing on my face as she did.

"I love you too Harry." she breathes out and I chuckle, pulling away from her. I swallow nervously, deciding to go ahead and get this over with before I chicken out again. "We've known one another for quite a long time now." I say and she raises an eyebrow confused.

"I've seen you grow so much on our little adventures. You are still the same stubborn, beautiful girl I captured all those years ago." I say with a laugh and she blushes a little but stays quiet, wanting to hear me speak.

"Ever since I got you on my ship, I never wanted you to leave. I know I may not have acted like it all the time, but I always want you to be with me, you know that right? That's why I get so protective over you and that's why I worry so much. I don't want there to ever be a day when you aren't right beside me." I say and she looks at me with a mixture of happiness and surprise.

"I've been trying to plan this for a long time, but it never seems to be the right time or place, but I think now I can't wait anymore. I've done plenty of waiting and I don't mind, but there's one thing I can't wait on anymore." I say, seeing her confusion as I reach into my pocket, my breath catching a little out of nervousness as I feel my heart pounding in my chest.

As I get down on one knee, I see Bella's eyes go wide and she puts her hands over her mouth with a gasp as I reveal the ring I picked out for her. She looks from me to the ring, tears gathering in her eyes.

"Isabella Marie Perkins, will you give me the privilege and the honor to protect you for the rest of our lives, and become my wife?" I ask, my voice a little shaky and Bella lets out a sob.

"Yes! Yes, yes, of course!!" she gasps and I let out a breath of relief and I smile, getting up and hugging her, picking her up and spinning her around, laughing as I did so. Whenever I put her down I saw her smiling at me and I returned it.

I grabbed the ring and put it on her finger, hearing her sniffle to try to stop her tears. "I love you." I say, looking up at her and she wipes her eyes before smiling back at me. "I love you too Harry." she says and I grab the sides of her face and bring her lips to mine, kissing her with such passionate intensity that I could hardly stand it.

Whenever we pulled away I gave her another smile, relieved that she is now mine. Forever mine. "That was my big surprise that I kept from you." I say and she laughs. "That's what it was? What you and my mother talked about?" she asks and I nod. "It just took me awhile to actually do it. In all honesty, I was a little afraid." I murmur, glancing away and Bella puts her hands on either side of my face, making me look at her.

"There's nothing to be afraid of Harry. I'm all yours."

And now they're officially engaged!! Haha sorry if it took so long! Also, sorry for not updating sooner, this break as been crazy!! But I hope you like this chapter! AND FOR THE QUOTES AT THE TOP: The initial at the end of the quote is who it applies to - H for Harry and B for Bella. So keep those in mind to try to figure them out!!

OH! Captain Styles - last time I checked - was at 190k, so only 10k more reads and it goes under editing to be published!! I'm super excited to do that guys! One more thing (sorry for the long note) if any of you are looking for Christmas stories to read for the holidays, I'm in the process of making my Christmas special, so if you wouldn't mind please go check it out! I'd really appreciate it!! Okay, I'll shut up now. Love you guys!!