A/N: Sorry it took me a while to update again, but there's been a lot of real life stuff that's got in the way right now and giving me less time for writing. I still absolutely intend to see this story through right to the end, but updates may end up only being once a month for a time. I don't want it to become that infrequent, but it might have to be, so sorry in advance.

Part Three, Chapter Two

Gwen stared at Barty as if not quite able to process what she'd just seen. "What the hell did you do?" she whispered, almost in disbelief.

"I told you, I spilt revealant potion on it," he answered, and Gwen couldn't help but think that if that was the case he seemed unnecessarily defensive.

"How much? A gallon?" she remarked, shocked by just how severe the burns were.

He scowled at her. "No, it was just highly concentrated. Has to be for revealing well disguised curses."

Gwen didn't look at all convinced. "Well, didn't you go to a healer or something? That looks really nasty." She was still holding his arm while examining the burn and he suddenly snatched it away from her.

"Of course I did," he snapped, "But the whole point of revealant potion is that it stops something being magically tampered with. There's nothing they can do. I'll just have to wait for it to heal." He knew he was being overly aggressive with her, but he couldn't help it. Panic was beginning to set in and every word that came out of his mouth only seemed to make the situation worse. Why had he been so arrogant as to think he could hide it from her? He should have known from the start to be more careful.

Gwen was still looking at him with an expression of mistrust, and despite knowing it was completely justified he hated seeing her like that. Her eyes darted from his face down to his arm, which he now held cradled against his chest as he tried to hide the burn from her. She swallowed nervously and looked back up at him before asking another question. "When did it happen?"

There was a pause before he answered, during which he glanced down at the floor and licked his lips as he tried to work out what to say. After about two seconds he realised being too hesitant would only make things worse, and he quickly blurted out, "Yesterday."

"How?" Gwen asked immediately, clearly desperate to get to the bottom of what had happened.

He hadn't been prepared for this and the lie felt clumsy as it partially formed in his head and left his lips. He wasn't even all that sure what he was saying, but he hoped it would be enough to throw her off the scent. "I went to collect some bottles of potion for an investigation and knocked one off the shelf."

Gwen's eyes narrowed slightly, and it was obvious she still didn't believe him. "Onto the floor?"

"Yes." He answered quickly, trying to sound sure of himself, but when Gwen's next question came he realised that had been a bad answer.

"Then how did you get it on your arm?"

Damn. He wished he'd been better prepared and had had time to think this through, but he hadn't been expecting anything like this to happen. Now what was he supposed to say to her? If she found out the truth it was more than just the evening that was going to be ruined.

There was a moment's silent as he seized up in panic, but then he quickly forced himself to speak again. "I didn't realise the stopper was out."

Gwen eyed him uncertainly, and he could almost see the cogs turning in her mind as she tried to decide whether or not to believe him. He knew that really it was an awful explanation. If she pried any deeper then there was almost no way he could come up with a convincing story, but he was hoping she didn't want to take this conversation any further. She was clearly just as uncomfortable as he was and it would be easier for both of them if she just let the matter drop.

Gwen didn't say anything, but she held Barty's gaze for several seconds without blinking. He did the same, hoping that at any moment she would just tell him everything was fine and that they could carry on as before. But when she finally spoke it wasn't what he'd been wanting to hear. "Really? You promise that's the truth?"

She still didn't believe him. From the expression on her face she looked like she wanted to. Her wide eyes seemed to be imploring him to tell her it was true, and he wished he could say that and mean it. But really it would just be another lie. He hated having to do this. She'd never been anything but completely honest with him, but yet almost everything he'd told her about himself was false. All the excuses he'd given her about what he was doing at work, where he was living…none of it was real.

But what was real were his feelings for her. If there was anything he could be honest with her about it was that. But if he really cared about her he was going to have to lie. She couldn't know the truth just yet. One day... one day he would be honest with her, but right now it was too dangerous for both of them. If it would make her happy to believe everything was alright then he was going to have to keep pretending. That was his justification for it when he opened his mouth to lie again.

"Yes." He spoke the word abruptly, the sharp syllable hanging in the air for several seconds as its meaning sank in. Several seconds passed in silence as they both just stared at each other, trying to work out what the other was thinking.

Barty was beginning to grow more nervous the longer it took for Gwen to react, but he knew he couldn't have responded any differently. She would either have to accept that he was telling the truth or that he'd just lied to her again, and he didn't think she really wanted to believe the second option. Sometimes people would choose not to believe something if it made them feel better, and he hoped that on this occasion Gwen would do just that. He didn't want her to be part of all the other stuff that was going wrong in his life right now. If she could just be happy with him then that was all he needed.

He watched her, barely breathing as he waited for a reaction. She bit her lip nervously and glanced down at the floor, and Barty felt his stomach squirm as he realised things were only getting worse. Gwen shook her head and then turned away from him, walking away from the bed to pick up her bag. "Barty, I'm sorry, but I think…I think I should go…"

She wanted to get out of here, and he felt a sudden rush of panic as he realised he would do anything to stop her. He couldn't let her go. Not like this. He was supposed to be making up with her, not driving her away. How the fuck had this gone so wrong?

Just as Gwen was going to collect her shoes he suddenly snapped out of his panicked daze and darted over to her. He gripped onto her shoulders and tried to pull her back towards him, not wanting to let her leave. "No, Gwen, don't. Please stay."

He sounded pathetic, even to himself, but the neediness in his voice seemed to have an effect on her and she looked indecisive for a moment. It almost seemed like she might change her mind, but then she shook her head again, resolved. "No, I can't. This is too much…"

He spoke over her, not wanting to hear any more. "Gwen…"

Suddenly she glared at him, anger flashing in her smoke grey eyes. "Barty how can I stay when I know you're lying to me?"

It hurt to have her look at him like that, and more than that it hurt because he knew she was right. But he still couldn't stop the next words that came out of his mouth. "Gwen, I swear I'm not."

"I don't believe you." She seemed to be trying to pulling away from him, but in his desperation he gripped onto her shoulders more tightly and refused to let her turn away.

"Gwen! Please…" He sounded desperate now, but he couldn't bear to think he'd fucked this up so badly. Really, he knew he'd already fucked everything up, but if he could just get her to stay than perhaps somehow he could make everything alright.

Gwen was staring at him wide eyed, and it occurred to him she seemed scared. Fuck no… having her mistrust him was bad enough, but to think she was scared of him was even worse. He felt a surge of anger directed at himself for losing control again, and took a deep breath to try and calm himself down. Realising how tightly he was holding on to her he loosened his grip slightly, and when he next spoke his tone was much more calm and measured. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" He sounded less panicked now, but he was still struggling to find the right words. "I want to put things right. Things weren't supposed to turn out like this. Just give me a chance to make it up to you." He hoped that would be good enough for her, but she looked away from him, not wanting to meet his gaze.

"Barty. You've not even… This isn't about you, it's…"

She seemed to be searching for an excuse to get out of here without upsetting him, but it wasn't going to work. Already every word she was saying hurt, and again he tried to shut her up. "No, Gwen. This is about me hiding things from you. I get it and I'm sorry. But don't go. Not now. Please." He was back to pleading, but he hoped it meant she would listen.

Gwen looked indecisive again, and although she still seemed uneasy something in her expression seemed to soften. "I'm not sure…"

Hopefully that meant she was at least considering it. He may have lied about many things to her, but he meant it when he said he was sorry. He also meant the next words to leave his mouth. "I need you to stay."

The moment after he'd said that he heard Gwen draw in a breath, and then she let out a long sigh and looked down at the floor. She bit her lip and he saw her forehead crease into a slight frown, but then she looked up at him again and met his gaze. He didn't know what he must have looked like to her, but clearly there must have been something in his expression that caused her to rethink.

Gently, she put her hands up to take hold of his own and remove them from her shoulders, being extra careful with the burn on his left wrist. He let her move them, realising it had been stupid to grab hold of her in the first place, and his gaze never left her face as she gently took hold of his left hand in her own. Although she still didn't look entirely comfortable, she seemed prepared to listen to whatever he had to say.

She gave a decisive nod before speaking again. "Alright."

A/N: Sorry that this was quite short. Like I said, I'm struggling to find time to write at the moment. Not entirely happy with it again, but after the reviews I got after last chapter I read it back to myself and thought "hey, this isn't as bad as it felt at the time" so maybe you'll like this as well. Or not. I dunno. Anyway, I'll try and make the next one better, you might just have to wait a bit longer for it.