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"Earth to Starling." Chet's voice filled her ears before she felt a pencil press into the center of her forehead.
Bella shook her head before looking up and seeing Chet sitting across from her at their lab table. He had his pencil in his hand, ready to poke her again. Her eyes had been trained on their homework, but she didn't have a clue as to what it was about.
Chet rolled his eyes at her. "I get you don't like me, but we are lab partners here. You can at least participate in our homework together." He looked down at their homework and sighed. "Although my offer would be a lot more fun than this."
"Stop thinking with the head in your pants, Krendler." Bella scoffed before she finally read the first question. He covered his chest with both hands, pretending to be heartbroken. She rolled her eyes, but it didn't stop the smirk the spread across her lips. "You are persistent. I will give you that."
"I won't give up. You may not think we'll ever get together, but our lives were destined to be together." Chet declared, pointing between them to emphasis his point. "One way or another, you and I will be together."
Bella chuckled. "Lives destined to be together? Here I thought you only wanted to get down my pants."
Chet grinned, a blush flooding his cheeks. "That too."
Bella wrote down an answer on her paper, pointing out the paragraph with the answer to Chet in his textbook. "Even if I didn't think you were a complete asshole, I don't think we could ever be together." She saw the question on Chet's face before he asked it. "Your father tried to destroy my mother's career. The only reason he evaded prison was because he was a victim of Lecter, which my mother had to witness. Then, let's not forget that you basically threatened to rape me in the mall the other day."
"It's not rape if you would enjoy it." Chet stated with a smirk.
Bella felt her skin tingle in goosebumps, and they weren't the pleasant kind. "If I say no and you continue, it's rape, Chet."
"If I make you cum, it's not rape." Chet whispered before the bell rang, signaling the end of class. He walked up beside her and rested his hand on her thigh, leaning down to her ear. ""You'll be a challenge until the very end." His wink made Bella feel physically ill. "See you later, Starling."
Bella's eyes widened. Her stomach dropped when his hand slipped from her leg. As he left, she quickly gathered her things and pulled out her cell phone. "Pick up. Pick up. Pick the fuck up." She whispered, willing herself not to react.
Clarice pulled onto the freeway when she heard her phone ringing in the cup holder between the passenger seat and hers. Without looking down, she grabbed the phone and pressed it against her ear. "Starling."
"Mom, it's me." Bella's voice sounded stressed, and there were tons of voices in the background.
"Bella," Clarice frowned, knowing that a call from her daughter when she was at school was rare, "honey, what's wrong?"
Bella glanced around the hallway, glad to not see Chet nearby. "You're still picking me up after practice, right?"
Clarice glanced at the clock on her car radio. "Yeah, I was going to come by practice early. I don't want you walking through the school alone when Chet is hanging around." She looked over her shoulder before merging into the next lane. "What happened? Did he do something?"
"Um," Bella contemplated telling her mother what had happened, but she knew that, at this point, she would scare Clarice more saying nothing happened than telling her. "I think he really plans on coming after me. We were partnered for homework today, and he told me that it isn't considered rape if I enjoy it. Told me I'd be a challenge for him." She reached her locker and started spinning the padlock dial. "I'm okay. I just want to make sure you're here when practice is over."
"I'll be there." Clarice reassured her. "Don't worry. Just watch your six at all times. Do you have more classes with him today?"
Bella opened her locker and shoved her things inside. "Only one right after lunch. All his buddies are with him in that class though. He usually doesn't come near me." She bit her lip as she grabbed her textbooks. "I guess I'll know his intentions if he decides to pay attention to me."
Clarice huffed out a breath through gritted teeth. "If he tries to do anything, you call me and go to the principal's office. I will come and get you." She saw the exit she needed to take up ahead and looked over her other shoulder before merging back over into the right lane. "And, I mean anything, baby. I don't care what the reason is."
"Okay," Bella breathed before closing her locker, "I gotta go to class. Talk to you later."
"Love you, Bella." Clarice smiled softly before hanging up. With a slight tremble to her hand, she placed the phone back down in the cup holder and slammed the same hand down on the dashboard as she pulled into the exit lane.
Hannibal stepped out of the shower with a towel around his waist. He took a quick glance in the mirror before stepping out of the bathroom and walking across the small hallway to his given room. The bed and breakfast was empty in the middle of the day other than the owner downstairs who never seemed to leave the front of house area. When his hand wrapped around the doorknob, he paused. The air was different, and he knew why the second he smelled the familiar shampoo and rarely used perfume.
With a simple push, he saw the sight that always excited him. Clarice Starling. She sat in the armchair he had occupied during their phone conversation that morning. Instead of her usual pant suit she wore to work, she was in a black pencil skirt with matching blazer jacket. A simple pink silk blouse beneath that. Her auburn hair was down, slightly tousled, and her eyes sparkled. With black heels to tie the outfit together, Hannibal felt his excitement build with a shred of anxiety of the unknown.
She was a dangerous woman when she was mad.
And boy, he gave her a reason to be mad that morning when he completely cut her off.
"Clarice." He greeted, his tone much the same as it was when they first met.
Clarice smirked, crossing one leg over the other. Hannibal's eyes raked over the slight bulge in leg muscle. She was a queen on her thrown, relaxed back with arms on either armrest. Then, she greeted him as only a true queen would. "Doctor Lecter."
He walked into the room far enough to close the door behind him, twisting the lock into place. He glanced around the room once. Nothing was out of place, but a thin file rested on his nightstand that hadn't been there when he left to take a shower. When his eyes landed back on Clarice, he motioned to his bag. "Before we get into it, may I put on pants?"
Clarice nodded once, and he grabbed the sweatpants draped over a hanger before slipping them on under the towel. He replaced the white cloth with the pants once he removed it from his waist. Her eyes didn't leave him the entire time, and it left him feeling slightly exposed. Never in their relationship had their been a time where she was more dressed than he was.
"I think you know why I'm here." Her voice was precise, and he knew she had been rehearsing this conversation the entire way over. A way to prevent her anger from boiling over perhaps. "What I told you this morning upset you."
"Of course, it upset me." Hannibal stated, crossing her arms over his chest. "Someone physically attacked you and tried to kill our daughter because of me. You were laying in a hospital bed worried about if our daughter would live to take her first breath while I was off sampling expensive wines and touring famous museums."
Clarice didn't show any emotion, and he couldn't read her. "Yes, but I'm here. Bella and I made it. Hannibal, it's in the past. You didn't need to snap at me on the phone this morning over it."
Hannibal sighed. "I didn't mean to snap at you. I was angry at myself, and I let my temper flare while I was talking to you." He glanced down at her stomach, knowing exactly where the scar lay hidden under her blouse. "I just didn't realize that I had almost lost you two before even really having you. Yes, it's the past, but I won't lose my family again. Never again."
The realization could be seen in Clarice's eyes first. Her powerful prowess faltered the slightest now understanding that his reaction was from the trauma he dealt with the majority of his life. It was the first time she was witnessing the brilliant Hannibal Lecter scared. "You haven't lost us."
"With a lot of luck and your strength." Hannibal added before sitting down on the edge of his bed. "I should have lost you long ago."
"What makes you believe that?" Clarice frowned. "It took you years to get me to fall in love with you, and I fought like hell against the feelings. Yes, there are a lot of reasons as to why you and I should not work. Reasons why we shouldn't have even considered thoughts of being together. Once you had me, you weren't ever going to lose me. You won't ever lose me, Hannibal. I've already lost so much time with you, and I don't want to waste anymore of it."
Hannibal smiled before meeting her eyes again. "How did you find me, Clarice?"
Clarice smirked and held up the note with his and Will Graham's numbers on it. "I tracked you first."
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