Part Two, Chapter Two: ONE FEAR

Beatrice felt even less sure inside of the limo. The jeweled fabric of the dress scratched the underside of her arms, and the heels she had on already felt constricting on her feet. She rubbed her palms together out of anxiety.

Charlie reached a hand over, and took one of hers in it, squeezing it gently. Beatrice looked up, and Charlie gave her a familiar goofy grin. Beatrice did her best to try and return it.

"You okay?" She asked.

"Just thinking about how many tabloids my face is going to be all over after this." Beatrice said it like a joke, but the thought of having so many eyes on her was terrifying.

"We can always turn around and go back home." Charlie said. "Or we could get ice cream! Or I could book us a flight to the Caribbean!"

"Uh, no thanks." Beatrice said, flustered. "I actually won't think any of that would help me feel better."

Charlie gave her a concerned look, and she rushed to say something that sounded less concerning.

"I mean, there's people in those places too. It's almost just as terrifying." She said with a nervous laugh.

Charlie didn't look anymore reassured by her words, and Beatrice tried to reign in her racing thoughts and do damage control.

"I mean, uh-"

Come on Beatrice. She scolded herself. Just try and be normal this one night. Do it for Charlie.

"B-" Charlie started, squeezing Beatrice's hand gently.

"I'm fine." Beatrice cut her off. "I promise, okay?"

"Okay." Charlie said.

Should you lie to your girlfriend? Beatrice didn't think so, but the only other option was to tell Charlie how she actually felt.

Being vulnerable and honest with Charlie? Disgusting. Beatrice thought. What if she decides she doesn't like me anymore because I'm a stupid crybaby and then she uses my insecurities against me? I could get hurt!

....

I would probably deserve it, though.

I mean look at me, I'm a nobody. What am I doing at a place like this? Charlie will get tired or me eventually. Everybody does.

She'll realize I'm a bad person. Everybody does.

I mean, I did kidnap her after all. I deserved to stay in jail.

Not to mention that time I saw that turtle stuck on its back in the middle of the road and I didn't help it because I was ready to get home and take a nap.

That poor turtle probably got hit by a car.

....

Or worse. It starved to death! It starved in the middle of the street because I was too selfish to spend one second or my time to help it! It starved and it's all my fault! I did that!

"B?"

Beatrice blinked up at Charlie.

"Wh-huh?" She said.

"I said we're here." Charlie said, tugging on her hand.

Beatrice swallowed. He'd heart felt like it was beating too fast. Was that okay? Was she okay? It didn't feel like it.

But she squeezed Charlie's hand anyway, and closed her eyes at the sound of the car door opening.

It was even worse than she imagined. There were people everywhere. So many people.

She almost couldn't see them over the flashing of the cameras.

Her hand started to tremble.

Charlie leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Remember what I said. Just keep holding my hand and walk with me inside. You don't have to answer any of the questions."

Beatrice squeezed her hand even harder and nodded, her eyes on the marble walkway outside of the building.

Charlie began to walk, and Beatrice followed meekly behind her. All of the reporters on the sidelines were shooting out their questions all at once, and it quickly turned into a slurry of voices in her ears.

She could pick out a few specific questions every now and then. Something about the kidnapping. Something about whether Beatrice would continue on as Shadow Witch. Something about their relationship.

Beatrice squeezed her eyes shut and kept walking.

Before long they reached the marbled arches of the gallery entrance.

"See? That wasn't so bad." Charlie said softly.

"I guess not." Beatrice said, although her heart was still beating pretty fast.

Charlie leaned down and kissed her softly.

The cameras flashed even more rapidly, and Beatrice blushed.

"Come on." Charlie said. "Let's go inside."

The inside of the gallery looked a lot like Charlie's apartment. It had that polished, minimalist look with a black and white color scheme that Beatrice didn't really care for. It sort of reminded her of the high security prison she been in.

There were people everywhere, and while they were probably famous for something or another, Beatrice didn't have a clue who any of them were. It was one of the side effects of her growing up so cut off from the outside world.

As soon as they walked in, people began to take notice, and Beatrice's anxiety returned. She turned to Charlie.

"Is there alcohol here? And if so, can I get some?" She thought that might calm her nerves.

"Alcohol?" Charlie said with a frown. "Aren't you underage?"

"No." Beatrice shook her head. "I'm twenty one."

"Since when?"

"Since about a month ago-" Beatrice cut herself off.

Shit.

Charlie gave her a hurt look.

"Your birthday was last month and you didn't tell me?!"

Shit.

"I mean, I actually forgot about it, and then when I remembered, I felt too embarrassed to tell you and then-" she let out a strained sigh. "You're not mad at me, right?"

Charlie's face softened.

"What? No, B. I just wish I would have known is all. Of course I'm not mad."

She's totally mad. She probably hates you.

Beatrice tried to push the thoughts away by grabbing Charlie's arm.

"Besides, we can always celebrate later!"

She means she can always break up with you later.

Beatrice bit her lip in an effort to get the bad thoughts to go away again.

Charlie found her a glass of champagne, and they started walking around the room and stopping at each exhibit. Beatrice could tell Charlie was trying her best to keep people from talking to them, and when they did come up, Charlie did all of the talking.

It was actually going pretty well until a group of very businessy looking business men came up, and asked Charlie to come with them to talk about some super secret business business thing.

"Uh, I don't know." Charlie said, glancing back at Beatrice. "I really just wanted to stay with-"

Beatrice took another swallow of champagne. She was feeling a bit more confident.

"It's fine." She said. "I wanted to head over to TJ's exhibit anyway. You can meet me there when you're done with your...whatever it is."

"If you're sure." Charlie said.

Beatrice leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"I am. Just text me when you're ready to meet back up."

Charlie looked worried, but finally let the men pull her away.

Beatrice sighed and downed the rest of her of her champagne in one go. Almost as soon as she removed the glass from her lips, a waiter was there with a tray.

"Can I take that for you, ma'am?" He said.

"Uh, yeah, if you want to." She said awkwardly.

Oh my God Beatrice. What's wrong with you? Why can't you even talk to the waiter correctly!?

Beatrice quickly handed him the glass and stalked away in embarrassment, hoping to just get TJ's exhibit without anyone else talking to her.

Just as she finally came up on it, she felt her phone buzz in her purse and excitedly fished it out.

She expected it to be a text from Charlie, since the only people who had her number were her and Linton, but she was surprised to see it was actually an email. She pulled it up and looked over it.

From: hfffaecorp85ginl3e@zipmail.com

Message: 33.752098, -84.390147

Urgent: yes.

Respond: yes.

She frowned as she looked it over. She got dozens of emails a day from agents wanting to represent her as Shadow Witch and cash in on her current popularity, and she also got a lot of spam. This seemed more like spam, but it was so weird that she almost wondered if it was some agent's last desperate attempt to get her attention.

"Hey, B!"

Beatrice looked up, and was filled with relief at the sight of Lin. Finally, someone she could talk to without hyperventilating.

"Lin!"

She put her phone away and ran over to hug him.

"It's nice to see you finally out of the house." He said as he pulled away.

Beatrice flushed and she nervously ran her hand through her hair. "Well, you know..."

"No really," he said. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks." She said.

But would TJ be proud of me? Despite everything?

Beatrivlce turned from him back to the paintings illuminated on the wall. One of them was of her, looking out of the window of the abandoned apartment.

"Kind of surreal, isn't it?" Linton said.

"Yes. I never thought so many people would be admiring TJ's work." She said.

"He probably wouldn't have been confident enough to even show them to anybody." Linton said.

Beatrice looked back over at him and noticed that he was smiling just a bit.

"Yeah. That's true." She said, feeling her own mouth want to curve into a smile.

"Excuse me."

The moment was broken by a group of men in nice suits suddenly coming up behind them and tapping Beatrice on the shoulder.

She instinctually flinched away from the unwelcomed touch.

Calm down! She scolded herself. You're supposed to be trying not to be a weirdo in public!

"Um, hi." She said. She tried to sound calm, but her voice wavered as she spoke.

Linton shot her a worried glance but she tried to play it off like she didn't notice his concern.

"My name is Reuben Flanders, owner of Flanders' Shipping Co." He grabbed her hand to shake it as he talked, which Beatrice didn't care for at all.

"Uh, hi." She said again, her throat feeling dry, and her palms feeling very sweaty.

Fuck. I've already ruined it. Everyone here must think I'm a weirdo.

"Anyway, my company is looking for a new spokesperson and-"

I don't belong here. Everyone can tell. I'll never fit in with these people.

The man was still talking, but Beatrice was barely registering it at this point. The only thing she could focus on was the pounding of her heart, and how it seemed so loud that she was aude everyone else in the room could hear it too.

I wish I wasn't here. I wish I was anywhere but here. I can't take this. It's too much.

I want to leave.

"B?" Linton took a step closer to her, and she immediately took a step away from him. "Are you okay?"

"I, uh-" she stuttered as a feeling of nausea washed over her.

She looked between the two men in panic.

I can't be here. I have to leave. I need to leave.

I need to leave now.

"Uh- sorry, its just- I have to-"

She turned and hastily walked away from them, her eyes on the ground.

"B, wait!"

She kept walking, stumbling every now and then in her heels. The only thing she wanted was to get away from everybody, to get away from everything.

Her chest was tight, and she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in an effort not to smash anything nearby on accident.

Keep it together, B. She told herself. Keep it under control.

Finally, she came up on a bathroom, and bolted inside. Thankfully, it was empty.

With a wave of her hand, she shut and locked the door.

She slid down the wall, her jeweled dress scratching the finely painted wall as she went. Her heartbeat became more and more rapid, and she stuffed her face into her hands in an effort to calm down.

Come on now, you're really blowing it! What's the worst that can happen if you just calm down?

...

I could embarrass Charlie so bad that she breaks up with me on the spot. Then I'd be homeless, and all alone again. I bet even Lin wouldn't take me in again. I was so awful to him in the past. He can't forgive me for that.

Look at me. So shitty I can't even keep the only two friends I have.

She started to cry quietly into her hand and pulled her knees up closer to her chest.

What am I doing. I don't even know what I'm doing. I feel sick.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"B?" It was Charlie. "Can I come in?"

"Uh-" Beatrice quickly wiped her face on the back of her hand and tried to steady her voice. "Yeah. Sure."

She waved her hand and the lock flipped open. Charlie quickly slipped inside, locking the door back behind her.

Charlie took a couple of steps forward, and crouched down in front of her.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"I-" Beatrice tried to finish her statement, but her throat was too tight, and her face stung too much. As soon as she made a single sound, she started to breath heavily again.

Charlie leaned forward and drew her into her arms, pressing her face against her chest.

"It's okay. Everything's okay. You're safe right now."

"I don't feel like it." Beatrice said, clutching charlie like her life depended on it. "I feel like something bad is going to happen."

"As long as I'm here, I promise you're okay. Just try and think of that." Charlie said, running her fingers through her hair.

Beatrice nodded, and cried harder into Charlie's shirt. She felt pretty bad about it, as she was sure she was getting makeup all over it, but Charlie didn't seem to care.

After a few minutes or so of Charlie running her fingers through her hair, she started to feel much more calm.

"I'm sorry, charlie." She said, pressing her face even further into Charlie's pressed white shirt. "I didn't mean to ruin this night for you."

"You didn't ruin it for me, B." Charlie said, stroking her back. "I wanted to do this for you. I care about you, B."

"I don't even see why you like me." Beatrice said.

"Look at me." Charlie said, taking her face in her hands. "Loving somebody isn't just about thinking they're hot, or taking them on cute dates or snuggling. It's about the hard stuff too."

"What do you mean?" Beatrice asked.

"I mean it's about other things too. Like, it's also about holding their hair back while they throw up, or making breakfast for them while they're sick, or taking a piece of shrapnel to the stomach just to keep them safe. Not because you have to, or you expect anything in return, but because you want to. It's about taking care of people when they can't take care of themselves."

"That's really gross and cheesy." Beatrice sniffled and hugged her tighter. "But it does make me feel better. Thanks Charlie. I'm so-"

"No, don't apologize." Charlie said. "Everything is fine. Do you want me to call a ride to take us home?"

"Yes." Beatrice said. "I want to to home."

Thank you guys for being patient we with me while I took a break! I hope y'all are ready for the EXTREME HARDCORE EXPLICIT cuddle sequence in the next chapter.