❝I'm not mad at you❞

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Natasha

Aurora had ghosted me all day since she woke up next to me. I couldn't tell whether she felt embarrassed and scared or she genuinely didn't appreciate my help. I didn't like to assume the latter so I tried my best to talk to her and I went out of my way to be nice.

"You hungry?" I asked from the kitchen area as she sat at the table, staring ahead of her thoughtlessly.

Aurora shook her head.

"You sure? I don't mind putting another slice of toast in if-"

Aurora got up and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. I sighed and shook my head slowly. I heard a badly stifled hiss of pain as I walked past to go into the bedroom. I hesitated, wanting to ask her if she was alright, but didn't, knowing the response I'd get.

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When Aurora finally emerged from the bathroom, I saw immediately that she had tried to wrap her wrist - but it wasn't right, as she had only one hand to wrap it with.

"Hey," I grabbed Aurora's forearm as she walked past me. "Let me re-wrap that, you haven't done it right."

I expected a snarky reply, however I got nothing, as she kept her blue gaze on the ground. I led her to the kitchen counter, saying, "Sit down, I'll re-wrap it for you."

She obeyed, sitting down and holding her injured wrist out, slowly removing the dressings she'd attempted to put on as I found the first aid kit. I took the back of her wrist gently in my hand and inspected it. The cuts from last night had re-opened, trickling bloods slightly.

"This might sting," I warned her, before applying a gauze onto her wrist.

Aurora kept her face as stoic as she could - only the slight flicker of her eyes gave away her pain. I didn't comment on it. It wouldn't help anyone.

"I'm not mad at you, you know that right?" I asked, however when I got no response I continued. "I used to use handcuffs all the time when I got out of the Red Room. It was a habit I found it hard to break. It must've taken me months, but I haven't used them in years."

Aurora blinked slowly as I took out another thing from the first aid kit.

"I sometimes get the urge to use them, but they're much better than they used to be. Sometimes, if I can't shake the need to use them, I'll wrap a hair tie around my wrist. It doesn't cause any permanent damage, but it gets rid of the urge."

I applied some antibacterial cream onto the cuts, causing her to grit her teeth and draw back from me, however, I gently pulled her arm back.

"It's supposed to sting, it'll help them heal," I told her, searching her eyes for something.

The Swede lowered her gaze after she momentarily made eye contact.

"I don't know if you're mad at me for helping, or just scared of what I think," I told her with a small shrug. "But I couldn't let you carry on like that. You were in pain. I hate seeing people in pain when they don't deserve it. And I'm not mad at you. I understand the feeling, the urge, the need to use them."

After a few seconds of silence, Aurora asked quietly, "What if the urges never go away?"

I suppressed a smile at the fact I had got a response and replied, "They will. I promise. It'll take time and you may think at time it's pointless trying, but it'll be worth it eventually."

When I finished wrapping her wrist, she pulled her arm back and thanked me quietly, before getting up and walking away, leaving me to look after her with a sigh of worry.

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The loud slam echoed through the hotel room - I could hear it and I was in the shower. I assumed that Aurora had come back from her walk in a worse mood than she had left in, and was just going to sit at the table on her phone or laptop or scribbling something down on paper in Swedish (which she had been doing for at least 2 hours that morning).

Instead, the door of the bathroom swung open and she walked in, pulling back the shower curtain.

"What the hell?" I cried. "I'm naked for god's sake!"

Aurora seemed to have no care about that, completely ignoring my complaint, saying, "We need to set off as soon as we can."

"Why?" I asked, turning off the water.

"There's a party tonight, a good amount of the staff will be there instead of patrolling the facility."

I nodded as I grabbed a towel and wrapped it around me.

"Less of a headache for us."

"The party starts at seven o'clock," Aurora finished, before turning and walking out. "Ends at eleven, we need to be in and out by then, so hurry up."

She slammed the door shut as she left, making me sigh sadly. She had no intention of being more than civil. Even then, I could tell she was struggling to keep eye contact with me. She was still ghosting me.

"Oh and," I heard the Swede's voice drift through the door suddenly. "Party attire, if you brought any. We'll be going in through the party and sneaking into the main facility."