Before the Fall

Out of all of the rooms in their house- and there were a heck of a lot to choose from, it was infuriating that they were making her share Nace’s room with him. But Faye had been thinking, and they were right. She didn’t have anywhere else to go right now. Until she could make the proper arrangements, Faye would just have to stay.

Nace had kept up his silence after getting out of the car and leading Faye up to the bedroom. The silence made her almost as mad as the rooming situation. Still, Faye knew that he was a victim, too. “What do you think about all of this?” she asked him.

He looked at her for a long time, and she felt butterflies rise up in her stomach. “I think that my parents are arrogant, self-centered morons. And I think that you’re fascinating,” he answered honestly before he could think about what he was saying.

Faye blushed fiercely. Nace smiled grimly. Now that he’d started, he thought, he might as well finish. “You’re so prim and orderly, but you sure know how to throw a fit. I, for one, was impressed.” Faye smiled.

And she was at a loss for how to act. So she spoke what was on her mind- something that she never would have done before, even earlier that day. But with the release of her temper came the release of a lot of parts of herself that she’d held back under her polished exterior in an attempt to appease those people who had pretended to be her parents- and done a lousy job of it. “Look, Nace, I can’t imagine you want this marriage any more than I do, and this room sharing situation is going to be awfully awkward if we’re perfect strangers. I think we should be friends.” Faye winced. Who said that?

But Nace was charmed and had been thinking along the same lines. “I’d like that,” he said.

“I’m sorry you had to see me so mad,” Faye apologized. “It was very unlike me.”

“No,” Nace disagreed, “I think it was exactly like you.” Faye was, again, at a loss for words.

They were soon called down to dinner by a live-in maid and both ate without speaking. By the time they had finished, it was one minute before midnight.

It had been a very long day.

Faye watched the second hand race toward the twelve, which right now symbolized the beginning of her birthday.

“What are you doing?” Nace asked, but she shushed him and kept watching.

“Happy birthday to me,” she muttered when it hit midnight, before racing up three flights of stairs to Nace’s- she refused to think of it has her own- room. Just as she’d expected, her phone was ringing.

When Nace reached his room, she was already sitting on the little window seat in the corner, talking. He sat on his bed awkwardly, unwanted in his own room.

He didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but what else was there to do? She was talking to someone, probably that Logan her father had mentioned, and telling them every dirty detail of her evening. She made his parents sound like barbarians. Sure, what they had done and were doing was awful and unprecedented, but she didn’t even try to understand things from their point of view.

Nace's father had assumed that his son would be too caught up in work to find himself a wife, as the Hillard men had been for generations. His mother just wanted grandbabies. Sure, the way they’d gone about trying to accomplish their own ends had been wrong, but it wasn’t too hard to understand why they’d done it. Was it?

Not wanting to hear any more, Nace went into his en suite bathroom and got ready for bed. He debated with himself for a long minute over whether or not he should wear a shirt. He didn’t normally wear one to bed, but then he also didn’t normally have company. Screw that, he decided. Nace wasn’t too thrilled with Faye just then, and he would do whatever he damn well pleased in his own room.

When he went back into the room, she glanced over at him and stopped talking. “Hello? Faye?” Logan asked, and she snapped herself out of it. She didn’t like that she’d stared at him so mindlessly. It wasn’t like she hadn’t seen shirtless guys before.

But this was somehow different. She was in his room, alone with him. That was a first. "Lo? I’ve gotta go. We’ll talk more tomorrow... Yes, of course... I’ll call you as soon as I’m free. Love you, bye.” She hung up before he could say anything else.

Nace strode to his bed and sat down. “Love, eh?” he couldn’t help but ask. Faye blushed and shifted uncomfortably.

“Yeah. He’s like a brother to me.” Nace smirked, which instantly made him feel like a prick. He should not be pleased that Faye wasn’t in love with the man and he never should have asked her about it. “Well, you should probably get ready for bed. Something tells me that today was just the beginning of the trouble with my parents,” Nace said to cover up his annoyance.

Faye wordlessly dug in one of the suitcases that had been brought up to the room for her toiletries and sleepwear and walked into the bathroom.

When she came back into the room, Nace was laying down on one side, all the way on the edge, and the lights were out. That was just as well, Faye thought, as she gingerly climbed into the side that he’d left for her. “Good night,” she felt obliged to say. Nace snorted and rolled over. She could see his eyes gleaming in the dim starlight streaming in through his many windows.

“You’re sure you aren't going to suffocate in my sleep?” he asked. She smiled, too.

“Well, it would sure solve a lot of problems,” she muttered, already drifting. And, smirking, Nace fell asleep soon after.