Once Bitten, Twice Shy

13

For the past few days Anne had been very aware of how she presented herself in front of Cathy. In the time that she'd known her she had felt her guard slipping and wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. Cathy kept catching her at questionable moments, It seemed that the person Anne wanted to embarrass herself in front of the least, was always the one to see her mess up. It had started with the singing, She had also witnessed her walk into a wall in the middle of the night on her way to the bathroom, then there was the Malteser incident, in which she had tried to catch it in her mouth, only to end up being partially blinded in one eye (though that one was partly Anna's fault for egging her on.)

Cathy always enjoyed these moments. She got to see the side of Anne that was hidden away the majority of the time and it made her feel special, made her feel trusted; even if they were accidents. Anne, however wasn't so fond of them. She didn't like the fact that she was no longer in control. She didn't like the idea of someone having the ability to break down her walls with just one look. And she didn't like feeling vulnerable.

So she wasn't too thrilled when Cathy walked into the kitchen to catch her simultaneously break the oven and the fridge door in the space of two minutes.

After their little chinwag, Jane had gone to put the washing out, trusting Anne with the task of taking the tray out of the oven; A task she should never have been given, due to the fact that first of all, she had decided to forego the oven gloves, thinking her hands were stronger than any heat resistant cotton, secondly: the decision caused her to burn her entire right palm, which resulted in her stumbling back in pain, subsequently making her slip on some spilt mixture, kick the oven, and fall head first into the fridge door.

Cathy saw the entire thing.

"You know, I don't think anyone's ever managed to make one task go so badly" Cathy knelt beside Anne, cradling her hand and turning it over to reveal a deep red patch. She looked at it sympathetically, lightly running her thumb around the edge to which Anne winced slightly, glowering down at the floor like a child.

"Aren't you supposed to be busy?" She retaliated, her cheeks were almost as red as her hand at the realisation of Cathy standing there.

"Well I guess its a good job I got hungry, or god knows what kind of trouble you could have got yourself in." chuckling, she stood up and grabbed some kitchen paper, running it quickly under the tap. She shot a glance towards Anne, who was sulking and apparently not finding the joke very funny, then reached for her hand, Anne hesitating slightly."It's ok, only a small sting." She reassured and took her hand in her own, gently dabbing the burn. Anne watched her face as she focused on her palm. Her expression was so nurturing, so gentle and the way she tenderly supported her hand was caring in every way.

"Right, a bit of cream and a bandage and you'll be right as rain." Cathy patted her thigh and stood up again, rifling through the first aid cupboard as Jane came back in.

"What the hell happened in here?!" She looked around at the mess before her: batter on the floor, fridge door hanging off it's hinges, and a dishevelled looking Anne sitting on the floor sniffling.

"Well we've learned the valuable lesson that Anne and hot appliance don't mix." Cathy announced, appearing from the cupboard with a roll of bandages.

"Are my brownies ok?"

"Wow thanks jane." Anne scoffed. "They're fine, although I think I deserve extra for the trauma I went through to retrieve them."

Cathy had sat back down beside Anne and attempted to take her hand again when Anne instinctively drew back.

"I can do it."

"no come on, you'll probably do it wrong." Cathy chuckled and tried again.

"Cathy. I've got it." She said determinedly. putting her foot down. Cathy looked at her for a moment, before handing them over reluctantly and going to help Jane clear the mess on the floor.

Anne struggled but didn't want to ask for help. She didn't know how to accept help. She didn't know how to trust people enough to let them help. She could do it on her own. She could always do it on her own.