:Chapter Sixteen:.

Katie swallowed hard.

Stared.

Screamed at herself to make herself move, to break into her old self, to laugh things off, to make a cruel remark to Bitters as she usually would; pull the wool over his eyes and laugh at him. Make things normally again.

But, most importantly, get him to stop looking at her like that!

His eyes had turned a soulless, beady black as he watched the realization fall over Katie. She wished he would say something, but he continued to stare at her. Watch her. Had control over everything, was making her say something first. She knew, in a instant, she had to be careful with what she said, knowing it would either make or break him.

Make or break her.

Katie took another deep breath. She clasped her hands together, then ran them down the sides of her jeans. Once, twice. Needed to feel something other than the tingling of her skin. Needed to know it was real and she wasn't dreaming. Oh, she wished she was dreaming.

"Really?" The tiny word burst from her in a tone of voice that surprised her with how steady it was, despite her blown out nerves. "I don't know." She shrugged. "I…I mean, I like Pat a lot, and he can be stupid sometimes." She chuckled to herself. He'd done some stupid things; she'd done some stupid things. That wasn't anything they couldn't agree on, it was her first relationship, they were going to do something stupid.

They'd broke up over a simple misunderstanding once before. They'd stopped talking for two weeks because they both thought each other was mad at the other over a simple misunderstanding. They'd even argued over colors before, just because they were young and dumb and didn't know what they were doing in relationships.

Still, if Bitters was going to do something, she needed to be sure she didn't make him too mad. At least made him think they were on the same page about Patrick. As she said he was dumb, she could see a sense of relief come over him, his shoulders stopped being so hunched.

But the tension remained.

The questioning tension of what was going to happen moving forward. What was she going to do? How was she going to react? React to what Katie thought. He hasn't said anything yet. You just think…you don't know…

"All boys are stupid," Bitters remarked, his eyes still on her. He took a step forward, a shuffling step. "That's the problem with girls now, they want boys when they really need men." Katie swallowed the wave of revulsion that fell over her. "Men with nice cars, with money, with careers. But they keep going after stupid, little boys." He shrugged, almost absentmindedly. "Mother always said…"

He kept going but Katie tuned him out. Everything went cold the moment he mentioned his mother. The woman who continuously pushed for him to get a girlfriend and get married. The woman whom she had personally met once because she went along with his ruse that she was his son, and her mom was his wife!

The thought horrified Katie, equally confused her. Did that mean Bitters was into boys, and he was only trying to seduce her for her boyfriend? Did he like young kids all together? Was he a pedophile? Was he…?

He was crazy, she decided.

Crazy.

Plain and simple.

And yet, there were questions she had. She wanted to ask. He could tell her more lies, he could tell her the truth. He'd probably have an answer for everything. Try to put her at easy.

"Katie…" Katie squeezed her eyes shut. Hated the way his voice sounded. Hated that it sounded so loving and caring, but so cold and distant and disgusting. Bitters moved forward, reached out and touched her hair, stroked the strands between his fingers. She flinched. "Katie…" His hand moved from her hair to the side of her face.

She stared to jerk her head away, but he held it firmly in his grasp, fingers pressing heard, painfully, into her jaw.

"Say something," Bitters pleaded.

Katie opened her eyes, shifted them away. He didn't have to say anything. All of that had proved it for her. It was true. He as Regular. Every denial she had floating in her head popped instantly, sending sudsy spray all over he mind that clouded her rational thoughts to take him down.

"I…I don't…"

"Things between us can be great, Katie," Bitters continued. "I know this is a shock—"

"—You lied to me," Katie interrupted.

Bitters stared at her for a second. "I never lied to you."

"You said you were my age."

"I never mentioned anything about my age." Katie strained hard, thinking back, wondering if he really had or hadn't. She couldn't remember, maybe she assumed. "If I told you, I know you would've reacted the same way every one else would. Say I was too old for you. That we couldn't be together." He eased his grasp lightly, just lightly. "I'm sorry I hurt you. I love you."

No.

It was one thing to hear it over text, to read the words when she had her own image attached to it. To hear it out loud…to heart it in his voice, to hear him so sincere about it…

Suddenly, Katie's mind shot in a few different directions, despite anger being tied to each thought. She was angry at Bitters for doing this to her, she was angry at herself for falling for it, angry at the guys for leaving her out of so many things over the years that made her only have Bitters to hang out with, angry at her friends for not trying to snap her out of things with Regular harder, angry at her Mom and Dad for…

"Do you love me?" Bitters voice dropped to an almost sinister tone. Katie's breath caught in her throat, she coughed lightly, tears came to her eyes. Not the kind of tears that Bitters thought she was giving. "It's okay, Katie. I'm not going to hurt you. I love you. Everything's going to be okay." He brushed the tears off her cheeks, made her tremble in disgust. "I knew I was the only one who understood you, I proved that. I saw it…I always knew…"

"Regular knew everything…" Katie mumbled, slowly piecing things together. "He knew when I was fighting with Patrick, when I was fighting with my dad, with my brother, knew when I was at the PalmWoods or not, knew everything…" she raised her eyes to his. "Because that's you…because you were watching me."

Her eyes shifted around the room once more. Eyes landed on a replica of a placard he kept on the registration desk; Reginald Bitters. Reginald. Regular. How could she have been so stupid?

"I was watching you to protect you," Bitters correct, some emotion finally coming to his voice. He was almost pleading. "You were left alone os much, your brother was constantly on tour, your mom letting you run around and do whatever you wanted…" he shook his head. "They didn't care about you, don't care about you. If they did, they would've worked to protect you. Worked to help you realize your own dreams instead of leaving you to fend for yourself. I know what that feels like, I wanted to protect you from that, to shield you from it.

"I haven't connected with anyone like I have with you, we're the same person. I can't help, couldn't help falling in love with you. Since I first met you, since I first saw you…" Katie's skin crawled, realizing how young she had been then. "I thought you would think I was too old for you, that other people would worry about it…so I watched you, followed you…had to be near you. In person…online…"

Katie stayed silent.

Bitters swallowed hard. "Katie, I love you. I always will. Please tell me you love me." She sucked in a sharp breath, her lips trembling. Bitters' face hardened. He moved his thumb along her cheek, down to her chin, traced her jawline. Held her firmly. He leaned in.

Panic swelled within her.

No.

No!

Bitters closed the distance between them; one hand behind her head, the other hand holding her chin. He pressed his lips to hers. The flabbiness of his cheeks pressed against hers; she wanted to vomit. In that moment she knew the truth, she didn't love him.

She was disgusted by him.

Bitters jerked back and the next thing Katie knew, she was on the floor with a blinding pain that exploded by the side of her face. He'd hit her. The blow had knocked her off her feet; he was stronger than she thought. The edges of her vision darkened. He grabbed her by the arm, lifted her up, dragged her further into the apartment and threw her onto the couch.

"Stop…" Katie mumbled, blood filling her mouth.

"You said you loved me!" Bitters snarled.

Katie tried to get up, but she was shoved back down again.

Bitters backed away from her, sitting in the chair opposite of her. He glowered at her. "You're not going anywhere until we talk about this," he murmured. Almost toward himself. "You're not going anywhere." He continued to repeat it. "You're not going anywhere. You're not going anywhere."

Katie's head swam, felt heavy, lolled on her shoulders. She tried to remember if she'd told anyone she was going to stop by Bitters before getting back from her therapy appointment. Couldn't remember. Didn't think she did. Her heart sank. Was anyone going to ask where she was? Even bother to look for her?

The PalmWoods wasn't off limits, she could go anywhere she wanted when she wanted. Her mom had only said she could only go to the PalmWoods, to her therapist's office, and any other place she wasn't allowed to leave her mom's sight. Grounded. Not that she'd even wanted to go anywhere, anyway, people kept whispering, she wanted to be alone…

You have your wish now, she thought. You're alone. All alone. It was then she realized what she had to do. She had to keep him talking. Had to do something to keep him distracted so that she could get away.

So…mustering up all her strength, she sat up on the couch, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "I love you, too."

A/N: Sorry for the wait, here you go!

-Riles