Red Carneau

Chapter 6

They sat at the dining table, eating their breakfast in silence as William debated in his mind how to ask Grell about the bruises he'd seen on her body. He tried to pretend he hadn't seen them but the image couldn't leave his mind. How did she get those? She had so many bruises... Some looked old, almost faded but some looked fresh, not more than a few days old.

As they finished their food, William decided it was the perfect timing to ask, it was now or never.
"Grell, when I was undressing you, I saw you had a lot of bruises, how did you get them? Did someone do this to you?" He asked, his tone serious.
William swore he could have seen Grell tense at his words but maybe it was only his imagination because she started laughing.
"I'm an actress but do my own stunts, most of them at least, that's how I get the bruises. I'm not going to have them pay people for something I'm more than capable of doing." She said, smiling at him.

William let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, he felt so relieved but still worried.

"That's dangerous, they have people who do that for you for a reason... you should let them do their job and stick to yours." He said, crossing his arms on his chest.

Grell rolled her eyes playfully, a smile playing on her lips. "You're so cute~, haven't changed at all my darling~~" she purred before getting out of her chair and made her way to William's side, placing a hand on his cheek so quickly that he had barely time to react, he only froze in place as he felt her cold fingertips on his skin.

His heart was beating so loudly that he worried that she could hear it. It became worse as he saw her lean in, her face inches from his, he looked directly in her beautiful green eyes before looking at her lips, how they were so plump and pink... He leaned in, eager to close the gap, not caring at all in this moment that she belonged to someone else. Their lips were almost touching, he could feel her breath against his face. He needed to lean in just a little more and...

"Hello, I'm back~~" Ronald's voice echoed in the loft as he opened the front door.

William quickly moved away from Grell, cursing Ronald in his mind but also scolding himself and how he almost committed a big mistake. She was married.

"Oh? Did I interrupt something?" Ronald asked as he made his way into the dining area.

Both Grell and Will blushed.

"Of course not, don't be stupid, we were just talking." William said before getting up from his seat, clearing his throat before moving past Ronald and towards the front door.

"I need to feed my pigeons." He said before leaving the loft.

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Grell groaned as she sat down on William's chair. "I'm such an idiot..." she mumbled, putting her hands on the table to support her chin as she rested it on her palms.

Ronald raised an eyebrow and pulled the other chair close to her and sat down. "What do you mean? Did I actually interrupt something?"

"Kind of." Grell mumbled before groaning again in frustration. "I was going to kiss Will..." she said, looking at Ronald to see the reaction on his face. As expected, his face was priceless, it was the perfect mix of confusion and excitement.

"You... what? You like him!!" Ronald exclaimed

Grell blushed slightly, she had never admitted that out loud to anyone.
She shook her head slightly, "I love him. I've loved him for most of my life, I thought those feelings were gone but seeing him again made me realize that they never went away."
Ronald's eyes grew wide as a grin formed on his lips.

"You have to tell him!"

Grell sighed, shaking her head again. "No way, there is no way I'm telling him. He doesn't even love me back, plus, even if he did, it would be useless, we can't be together."

Ronald rolled his eyes at her before getting up. "Even with your glasses on you're still blind, it's obvious that he has feelings for you too." He had just the time to see the surprise on her face before he turned away and left the loft.
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William was feeding the baby pigeon, carefully holding it. He tried to concentrate on his work but he couldn't help thinking about Grell again.

"You're welcome by the way."
William almost jumped in fear, turning around to see Ronald, grinning at him.

"What?" He asked as he turned his attention back to his task in hand.

"I said "you're welcome", I was the one who covered you yesterday you know, had it not been for me, you would have caught a cold." The blonde said before sneezing, he took a tissue from his pocket and held it against his nose.

"Ah, that was you. Thank you." William said before putting down the feeding bottle on the desk, getting up and went to put the small pigeon back into it's cage.

"Why don't you just confess to her already? It's obvious that you love her."

William was thankful that he wasn't facing Ronald otherwise his face would have given away his emotions.
"Don't be ridiculous, I don't love her." He said before turning around and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

Ronald snorted "Don't lie, it's obvious you do. She feels the same for you in case you were wondering..."

Will frowned and shook his head, he couldn't get his hopes up. "It's impossible, she's married." He said before starting to clean up his feeding supplies.

Ronald sighed "She doesn't love that son of a bitch."

William raised his head to look at Ronald "If she doesn't, then why does she stay married to him?"
Ronald shrugged "out of fear, probably..." He had never managed to get an answer out of her but maybe William would be able to.

Will dropped the supplies on the floor, breaking them on impact but he couldn't care less. "Fear? Those it have anything to do with the bruises I saw on her?" He asked and judging by the look on Ronald's face, he was right.

The blond nodded, the smile on his face long gone. "Talk to her, she won't talk to me but maybe she'll talk to you."