AN : Hello guys and happy new year ! I wish you all the best for this new chapter of your lives !

Disclaimer : I own nothing and do not make profit out of this story

Chapter 9 :

On that thought, he went down to the kitchen silently… Catherine was watching him discreetly, in a way, she was relieved to see him leaving, but a part of her had hoped he would have stayed… but that was just another disappointment, just one more to add to the list….

Henry walked to the kitchen and made the water boil while he chose the tea he remembered his wife liked the most. His thoughts were filled with a thousand questions… he wondered what could have happened to her ? Why was she so shaken by whatever had happened ? She had told him that she was in pain… but it certainly wasn't the whole truth… her reaction had been similar to that she used to have in the first years of their relationship… surely the cause wasn't the same… but what was it ?

He sighed in frustration as he found no answer to all these questions…. He wanted to help her, but if she didn't let him, he could do nothing…

He prepared her tea, completely lost in his thoughts… he remembered that one night, the first time he had seen her so undone….

/-/-/-/-/

22 years ago

Catherine and Henry were both 18 years old at the time. They had been together for nearly a year and they had just started renting their first apartment together. They were happier than ever.

The night before the incident happened, they had fallen asleep in each other's arms, just like every night since they had started living together. Henry remembered he had watched her falling asleep… she had looked so beautiful and in peace. Her face was so relaxed and she had even smiled in her sleep when he had kissed her cheek.

But nothing could have prepared him for what had happened later that night…

By that time, Henry had fallen asleep and it was the middle of the night. The now 40 year old man remembered that he had been woken up by the absence of her softness in his arms… he had opened his eyes tiredly and when he saw that his girlfriend indeed wasn't in bed anymore, he sat up… Where could she have been ? He frowned and got up from the bed. He tried to look for her but couldn't see her anywhere…

"Caterina ?" He tried to call her but she didn't answer. He got a little worried now and tried to call her again "Sweetheart ?" But still he didn't hear anything from her ? Had she left? Where was she ? Had she left him ? His heart began to race… no, no, no, this couldn't happen… he tried to get his breathing under control, he shouldn't let his thoughts get out of hand. Maybe she was just in another room…

It may seem that all this had happened in a long time, but it lasted only in the blink of an eye.

Without losing another second he opened the door of their bedroom and walked hurriedly to the kitchen… seeing she wasn't there, he walked to the living room and found her rolled in a small ball on the couch.

"Caterina ?" he called her softly… what was she doing like that ?

Catherine trembled at the sound of his voice…no… her worst nightmare was happening… she had tried for so long to hide everything from him… she looked up and saw him watching her with worry carved on his face.

Henry had never seen his lovely girlfriend like that : "What's wrong sweetheart ?" he walked closer to her and sat beside her.

He had been so quick that she hadn't had the time to tell him to stop. Therefore, she got up and walked a little away from the sofa and him.

Henry was more than shocked… "I…" but before he could speak she interrupted him : "I can't… sorry…"

She fled and went back to bed… there she completely covered herself with the thick blankets.

"Catherine wait !" he couldn't understand her behaviour… he followed her to the bedroom and saw her body under the covers. "Caterina…" he sat beside her and slowly removed the blanket from her face.

She looked at him sadly and with fear shining in her eyes… Henry was even more shocked than before to see this emotion dancing in her eyes.

"Caterina… what's wrong darling ? What got you so afraid ?" he was so worried for her…

Tears filled her eyes "Henry…"

His eyes widened as he saw hers filled with tears… "Oh darling…" despite the fact that she had fled his side a few minutes before, he took her in his arms and felt his girlfriend completely crumble in his embrace… he now knew something was terribly wrong.

His Caterina was now sobbing in his arms so much that her body trembled… he caressed her back to try to soothe her…

He had held her for the rest of the night and had guarded her in her sleep when her demons had finally let her rest a little…

/-/-/-/-/

Henry recalled now that, this night, she had told him it was because of events that had happened in her past… she had told him that she wasn't ready yet to talk about it… and he had respected her wishes… It was only years later that she had told him that she had been raped… but it had been decades now and she wasn't having nightmares about this anymore… or that much he thought…

He sighed and her tea was finally ready… he was determined to get to the bottom of this, he wanted answers…

AN : I hope you like it :) Thank you for all your kind messages and lovely reviews…

Take care of you and your families

Laura D.