• • •

Arthur and I have been sitting in silence for twenty minutes. I sat on the couch. My knees pulled up to my chest. He had given me a blanket ten minutes ago and turned the fire on, but went back to his spot across the room near the front door. Every so often my eyes would slink over to his side, and our eyes would catch the others, quickly looking away. I wished Mera was here, and she would fill the silence.

I wanted to be angry with him. Be mad that I had gotten pregnant the only time we had sex, but that wasn't fair to do. Two people have sex. It isn't a one-person affair.

Arthur cleared his throat, "Are you hungry?"

He had stood up and walked to grab his coat. I hadn't even responded before he spoke again.

"I'll go to the store." His voice was strained, and he cleared his throat again before swinging the door open and leaving me alone. The silence was loud as I sat there before trudging up the winding staircase, the blanket trailing behind me.

I found myself in the bathroom stripped of all clothing I stared at my battered body in the mirror.  I was sorer today than I was yesterday and my body was stiff with every movement as my muscles protested and tightened. I relaxed and sighed, my hands ghosting over my stomach, the bruises along my ribs stung as my fingertips trailed up to my sternum.

I had new bruises along my throat, and they were a dark purple that shifted into a puke yellow/grey along the edges. My arms had large handprints encircling my forearm, and my hands still shook. They were blue and purple, my knuckles puffy and I cast my gaze to my feet. I even had dark splotches there too.

My right eye had swollen half shut, and Arthur had to stitch the gash along my jaw. I think he did it while I was asleep. Tears stung my eyes while they roamed along my naked body. I was beaten and broken. My legs began to shake, and they threatened to give out as my mind shattered under my gaze. 

Below me, the door slammed shut, and my heart leaped into my throat. I quickly dressed and made my way back down the winding stairs. I could hear Arthur's heavy footfalls echo from the kitchen. His jacket hung off the back of the couch; rainwater dripped from it onto the wooden floor his long-sleeved shirt flung overtop just as wet. He was putting pancake batter into a cupboard and placing eggs into the fridge his back glistening when I spoke.

"Do you even know anything about me?"

He turned around slowly the eggs still in his hands.

"What?"

"You heard me. Do you know anything about me?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Ingrid, what are you talking about?" He set the eggs down and sighed, "Ingrid, are you alright?"

"You can't answer my question can you, Arthur?" He stared blankly at me, his jaw set and I could see his eyes squint, he was angry, "Can you?!"

My raised voice caught him off guard because his eyes grew wide and his shoulders went rigid. Arthur glared at me, his lips tight and his brow scrunched in thought before his eyes locked with mine and his lips parted, "Yes-."

"Liar." I spat turning on my heel.

He moved fast behind me, and I darted for the stairs. He groaned, and his feet came to a halt behind me.

"I'm not going to chase you, Ingrid. Just talk to me." Arthur's voice cracked, and my eyes threatened to drift to him, but I kept my gaze on the metal railing, my grip tight so he wouldn't see my shaking, "Ingrid."

"You're deflecting my question."

"What's your fucking problem?" Arthur's voice was thick with agitation.

I glanced at him and held tightly to the metal railing before shuffling up the stairs. In quick movements, he followed me. I picked up the pace and briskly walked to his room slamming the door shut, but he caught it before it closed.

"Go away!" I hollered at him.

"This is my house, Ingrid."

I turned to look at him, "Then I'll leave." I made to move past him, but his large body blocked my path, and I told him to move. My hands almost touched his bare chest, and the tightness in my chest slammed into me.

"Why are you trying to get away from me?"

"Why?" I gasped up at him, shocked he'd ask that question, "Why?!"

"Ingrid." His hand inched closer to my shoulder, and I stepped back, pain flashed in his eyes, but he lowered his hand.

"My touch? You don't like it?" He asked.

I tried to keep my eyes glued to the old worn wood of the floor, but my eyes flashed to his. I shook my head, holding my body.

"I'm scared."

"Of-of me?" His voice broke, and I glanced up at his face quickly averting my eyes.

"Yes, no. Just-scared." I shifted back until the back of my heels hit the bed, and I sat down, pulling a blanket around me, "I didn't know that this is what my life was going to be after I met you. I'm not trying to blame you, but now I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't met you."

"I just had a miscarriage yesterday, and I feel like I'm expected to get over it already, that it's in the past. That's something you don't get over and you asking if I'm alright every ten minutes and looking at me with those eyes, with that look that screams 'she is broken' doesn't help."

"And there's Mera. She hates me, Arthur. I've never done anything to her, and she hates me...she's scary. I don't know if she wants to drown me or steal you away for herself...or both."

I snuck a look at Arthur. He was sitting on the floor against the now closed door, listening, his eyes glued to the old tattered leather of his boots.

"And Bre or Yvette or whatever her name is, is using my blood-the blood of our dead baby to steal your families Trident and no one even batted an eyelash at that? No one thought that was beyond Psycho? No one, but for me, the lone human in all this. The more this intensifies, the louder an alarm goes off in my head reminding me I'm only human, that I can die.

My entire body is riddled with bruises, and I'm hurting, Arthur. I'm just tired and scared and alone, and I don't know what to do anymore." I sobbed. My voice was choking in my throat as I wrapped the blanket tighter, his scent filling my nose as I did.

"I don't hate you. I'm just scared I'm going to die like in my dream...it had felt so real-."

"What dream?" His questioned.

"I had it a few weeks before Simon died. DeadWater had killed me, tore into my body so easily..."

I looked at Arthur our eyes locking, "I don't want to die like that, Arthur, I need to know that I'm not just here to be here. I need something other than we had sex once and have a weird relationship...something that doesn't make me the woman who lost your baby."

Arthur stared at me for a long time, and my heart battered against my chest as we kept our gaze locked.

"You don't use any more than four ice cubes in your water; you hate odd numbers. You sleep with your socks on, you can't sleep with a light on, and it has to be pitch black with absolute silence, you can't stand the way chocolate melts into your hand, and your favorite color is yellow." My eyes were wide as he spoke and he got up and sat next to me on the bed, our bodies almost a foot apart.

"You're not the only one who lost something when you miscarried, I lost a kid too, and you don't seem to care that I'm hurting too. I can't stand to see you like this, but you won't let me help you...Mera doesn't hate you. She doesn't understand us. She doesn't need to. I shouldn't let her speak to you like that either. She was the only one getting anything other than a glare out of you, so I let her talk because you were talking back. I'll speak to her when I see her."

"I know everything is going to be a lot harder for you to deal with especially now, hell, I don't even know what's going on." A nervous chuckle escaped him, "I go with the flow. I'm here though, and I'm not going anywhere."

He reached across and placed his hand on top of mine, lightly, "I don't know why you flinch away from me, and maybe that's something we can figure out together. I need you to talk to me Ingrid, I need you to tell me what you're feeling, surprise, but I'm not a mind reader."

I wanted to tear my hand away, my mind was screaming at me. Arthur will hurt you again! You can't have a family with him, why stay? Just leave now before it gets worse! Instead, my heart beat erratically, and I clenched my fingers around his hand, he intertwined our fingers and I let a smile pull along my lips.

"This, this is a good start." His voice cracked again and I noticed the tears, my mind screamed for me not to, but my heart was breaking seeing him break, I pulled him into me, wrapping the blanket around us.  His large warm arms wrapped around my waist and his head rested against my chest as he let himself go. My fingers were cool along withhis shoulder as I traced his tattoo.

In our fragile state we had laid back, our bodies lacing together. Arthur had shifted in his sleep to rest his head across my chest, arms wrapped fully around me and his thigh pressed between my legs, he was straddling my hip like a large baby. My body was sore, but he had said in between his tears that he hadn't slept since I told him of the baby and if this helps him sleep then I wouldn't move.

I was in and out of sleep. My eyes were beginning to drift shut when he spoke. Wide eyed I blinked at him. Am I hearing things?

Arthur murmured pulling me closer he nestled his forehead into my shoulder and I stiffened when I heard it again.

"I love you."