Bloom ➳ h.s

Chapter 12

H̺͆A̺͆R̺͆R̺͆Y̺͆

I wake up to see Bethany asleep peacefully. I could wake up like this everyday. Her chest rises slowly and her hair is slightly covering her perfect face. I plant a soft kiss on her forehead and bring her closer to me.

"I love you." I whisper and kiss the top of her head.

***

B̺͆E̺͆T̺͆H̺͆A̺͆N̺͆Y̺͆

I wake up in Harry's arms. I trace my fingers over his ship tattoo. I look up to see his beautiful dimpled smile. I smile and rest my head on his arm.

"What does it mean?" I ask him.

"My ship tattoo?" He asks me.

I nod.

"It is an English ship which reminds me of home." He says.

I nod and he kisses my cheek.

"I'm planning on getting another one today." He says, playing with my hair.

"Really?" I ask him and he nods.

"Maybe we could go after breakfast?" I ask him and he nods.

***

We sit down at a fancy restaurant at the hotel. We eat our food and go to a nearby tattoo place.

"So what will you get?" I ask him.

"You'll see." He says.

I see the guy writing letters on Harry's bicep. Finally the tattoo becomes readable:

'My love for you couldn't grow more.'

Did he do that tattoo for me?

"Harry." I say as I look at the tattoo.

"It's for you." He says and kisses my cheek.

I hug him tightly. He wraps his arms around me. I know most of you think: oh it's just a tattoo. For me it's more than ink on his arm. Those things are permanent and he decided to do one for me.

"Try to not infect the tattoo much, be careful." Says the guy.

Harry nods and smiles down at me. I get on my toes and kiss him. We get in the car and he drives to a restaurant.

"My love for you couldn't grow more." I say smiling.

"Yea, I love you too much." Harry says smiling.

I smile and we enter the fancy restaurant. I look at a table and smile at the happy family eating when I realize the father is not just any person.

My dad.

***

H̺͆A̺͆R̺͆R̺͆Y̺͆

I look over at Bethany and start getting worried. Her face is pale and looks like she just saw a ghost, she's looking at a family at the table.

"Beth?" I ask her.

No answer.

"Baby are you okay?" I ask her again.

"D-dad." She stutters.

Their parents are divorced right? Her dad is here in Italy and.. Oh. My mouth forms an 'o' shape when I realize what she's talking about. That man is her dad.

The man looks up and his face pales too.

"Beth?" The man says.

I tighten my grip around Beth's waist as he excuses himself from the table.

"Beth is that you?" He asks coming over to us.

I look over at Beth who looks like she's about to cry. Who the hell does he think he is to make my girl cry?

"Yes it's her." I snap at him.

"Who is he?" The man asks.

"Her boyfriend." I say, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Beth, I'm sorry for leaving your mother, it wasn't working out." He says making Beth tense.

"All those times.." Beth says.

"What?" The man asks.

"Those fights with mom, you insulting her and punishing me for every little thing!" She says angrily.

"You don't know how much you hurt me and my mom! You always yelled at us and broke stuff everywhere! I had to be the perfect girl for you and you always made me think I'm ugly! That's why I'm so insecure!" She says, her lips trembling.

This man did all of that to her? How does he even sleep?

"Beth, wanna go somewhere else?" I ask her.

She nods and starts to cry.

"Beth I'm sorry." The man says.

"Bethany for you." I snap at him.

He puts his hands up in defense as I take her outside.

"Wait!" The man says.

I get Beth in the car and turn around to see the same man.

"What?" I snap.

"Is Lilian here too?"

"None of your business." I say.

"Please tell him Jonathan says sorry."

"Isn't that a bit too late?" I say getting in the car and driving off.

"Beth?" I ask and stop somewhere else, far away from that jerk.

She sniffs and soft sobs escape her beautiful lips.

"Hey." I say putting an arm on her shoulder.

She turns around, her makeup is smeared and she looks.. broken.

"It doesn't matter now, okay? You're a beautiful girl and I don't want you to be sad. Let's enjoy this trip. I love you and that's what matters, forget him." I say, rubbing circles on her shoulder.

She nods and I lean over and kiss her.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I ask her.

She nods and I continue driving.

"My mom and him were like glue. Until I came. I was unexpected and after I was born my parents fought for everything. Most of the time it was because my father insulted me a lot. A few months ago they got divorced and that's how I ended up in Atlanta." She says.

"He used to call me fat, ugly, useless mistake." She stutters.

"You're none of that." I say, grabbing her hand.

"He made me insecure." She says.

"Beth, you're perfect." I say.

I hate what her father did to her. She's perfect.

"I love you so much I can't bear seeing you like this." I say, rubbing circles on her hand.

"You'll always be perfect in my eyes Beth." I tell her.

"I love you." She says smiling.

"I love you too, so much." I say kissing her hand.