[Shout out to sondra, who sent me a message requesting this story! So, you get two parts because I was kind of writing it anyway. *Looks around shiftily*. Look, I said I was waiting for confirmation that it was wanted and I got it. Still focusing on The Beast Within as well, but this might be a bi-weekly story update now! Enjoy, COMMENT and...Happy Reading! ^_^]
Beep-beep-beep. Beep-beep-beep. Beep-bee-
Belinda rolled over, her hand reaching for her alarm clock. She jumped a little when her hand met solid, warm flesh and a squeak escaped her lips.
"Keith?"
"Mmf," Keith mumbled, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. Belinda let his warmth course through her for a minute before she extracted herself from his grip. He mumbled again before rolling over. Belinda could feel the giggles bubbling up so she left the room before she woke him up. She knew he couldn't have had much sleep the night before, not if she was squishing him. She blushed before making her way to the kitchen.
Pottering around in the kitchen, Belinda felt a wave of grief and nausea overtake her. It was as though something snapped and now, everything she had managed to hold back last night came crashing down on her, wave after unrelenting wave. She needed to grip the table as she doubled over, gasping as the tears cascaded down her face.
She collapsed to the floor sobbing with a hand covering her mouth. She waited, shaking and crying, for it to pass. It did, eventually, the sobs making way for laboured breathing and that, in turn, making way for shaky, desperate tears that slowed to a halt. She sat like that for a while, staring at the kitchen around her. She didn't look up as the door swung open but she felt as Maggie started shaking her. Her eyes were frantic and wide and she was talking but Belinda couldn't make out the words, couldn't hear anything above the white noise.
She sat there, watching as Maggie left the room, her focus coming and going. She didn't like it, but she couldn't do anything to change it. She could only watch as it was all changing around her, Maggie coming back in, Keith coming, bleary-eyed, after her. His gaze quickly sharpened, when he saw Belinda's red eyes and the tear tracks. He ushered Maggie from the room before turning back to her, touching her face, upturning it, anxiety clouding his eyes.
"...nda! Belinda!!! Come on, snap out of it," Keith said, his voice slowly coming into focus. She looked up at him, face creasing. The tears kept going, her body starting to shake again. "Oh God, Belinda, come here. Belinda..."
He held her close, rocking back and forth. She cried again, burying her face in his neck. She was shaking and there was nothing he could do to stop it, nothing he could do to keep her from breaking down. His arms wrapped around her, he tried to soothe her, to calm her breathing. His body was warm, sending heat through her veins and melted the ice that she was desperately constructing. His lips pressing against her forehead were like twin fires, searing her, making her weak.
"Keith."
He wasn't even sure he had heard it. She was so muffled against his skin that he couldn't tell if he was being wishful. But the brush of hot air against his skin was proof. The way her lips moved against his neck was all he needed to back away a little, give her some room. Her eyes were still red, still sore from the tears that waited. But they were alive - with pain, it was true - seeking his and praying silently for him to help her. Slowly, as though he was unsure, he bent his lips to hers.
They sat there for a while, kissing, but eventually he pulled away. He watched as her eyes flickered open. She was so vulnerable, so breakable. He jumped when Maggie came back in and started making breakfast. She looked pointedly at the clock before turning deliberately away from them. Keith shook himself, starting to stand.
"Hey, Belinda, we've got to get ready, okay? Come on, we can talk properly later." His voice was low, his hands were helping her to stand. She was shaky but compliant. The silence was killing him.
It wasn't until Maggie was having her shower that Belinda spoke again.
"I'm sorry." Keith looked down at her bewildered. "I- It was- I'm just sorry. I should've just stayed in bed, with..." she trailed off, blushing the deepest red imaginable. She coughed, clearing her throat before looking up at him and grinning weakly.
"Hey," he said, pulling her into his arms again. "Hey, hey, hey. None of this is your fault. None of it. I'm here for you, so is Maggie, so is Jack. So just...when you need to cry, cry. I'll hold you, I'll...I'll do anything Belinda."
"I'm going to go get dressed then. I just...can you...can we do something, just us, once this is done. I...I need you. Please?"
He wanted to protect her from everything, right then. More than ever before, he wanted to save her any more agony she might suffer. He gripped her tightly, arms tightening around her tiny body. Nothing he did would ever make her okay again. She needed more than he could give but he needed her. She was like air to him; fresh, brisk and mischievous. He sought her lips, briefly, before nodding. He would agree to anything - anything - she wanted.
A while after that, Jack arrived and everything got hectic, so Keith didn't really get any more alone time with Belinda. But, knowing that Andrew would be dealt with gave him the burst of energy he sorely needed to see it through. Like Belinda had said, they needed to go on a real date when this was finally finished. And Keith really wanted that date...
It wasn't until they were at school that Keith really noticed anything going crazy. It was just little things, like the way nobody was talking. Really, everyone was just staring at Belinda like she had a disease. Keith put his arm around her protectively, walking her all the way to registration. He didn't want her to know what was going on, not yet. So far, for the whole day she had been back, nobody had been horrible to her, or tried to bully her.
"Hey guys." Emma's voice came bouncing through the silence, cold and hard. "Belinda, I heard you were ill. Or at least, that's what Keith was telling everyone."
"Oh, no, I wasn't ill. Family stuff, you know?" Belinda replied, cool as a cucumber. Keith was the only one who knew she was shaking. "Not something I really want to talk about so could you maybe let me past?"
"Oh, no, don't tell me your mum bailed on you too! I mean, everyone knows she's not in hospital anymore." When Belinda looked up, confused, Emma sneered and gave a high tinkling laugh. "Oh, come on, it's not like it's impossible to know. Stacy's mum is a nurse. So, why're you still coming in with Keith?"
Belinda stared at her feet, feeling the tears and heat rush to her face. Jack immediately jumped to her defence.
"I thought you knew Belinda and Keith were dating, Emma. Or is it just because you're that jealous of her that you have to try make a scene?"
"Jack, it's okay," Belinda said quietly, forcing herself to look Emma in the eye. She knew Emma could see the tears and she saw the almost triumphant gleam in her eyes. "Yeah, my mum's not in hospital. But no, she's not at home. She's out because she's dead, Emma." Shocked gasps and whispers started spreading as the information sank into the crowds. Emma's face turned white with shock and she started spluttering until Belinda's voice cut through it. "And I don't appreciate you trying to be a bitch about it, just because you don't think I'm good enough for Keith."
Belinda broke away, tears streaming down her face. Keith felt his gut wrenching as people cleared a pathway for her and he hastily ran after her, disappearing into the building as well. Jack was the only one left to see as Emma, humiliated and surprised, turned back to her own circle of friends who looked around uneasily before hastily making their own exits.
