Arranged

Two days passed and things were hectic in Manor House. Everyone was on edge. Nessa still couldn't believe Jay was actually with her again. The thought still hadn't sunk in, it seemed. Every time she saw him it was a shock. She could barely make conversation - a fact he seemed to notice. And it wasn't helping matter that they absolutely needed to talk things out. There were way too many unanswered questions.
Joshua, on the other hand, was just plain confused about. . Well, himself, really. No matter what he did - cleaning, driving, listening to really loud music - his mind always circled back to Sade.
And that kiss. And that kiss led to thoughts of Sade's teary, but heartfelt confession. A confession that was turning Joshua inside out.
Yeah, okay, Joshua loved him. But, seriously? This wasn't right. Not for any other reason than Sade was a child. It's not like Joshua had any particular objections about the fact that they're both guys, it was just the age.
That, and the fact that Sade was ignoring him the extreme. He just would not answer his damn phone. Joshua must have called at least two hundred times in the past two days. Every time he'd gotten voicemail, not that he left anymore messages after the first fifty calls.
And Shade was pissed at him, too, so it's not like he could get help there. He wondered how long this would last before Sade finally gave in.
But there was always the possibility of him not giving in. Sade was one stubborn guy, after all.
Joshua sighed and set aside the plates he'd just washed, drying off his hands and pulling out his cellphone.
No missed calls. No new messages.
Well, Joshua wasn't going to give up. If Sade wouldn't call, Joshua would just have to keep dialing his number until he picked up.
One way or another, they were going to figure this out together.



"You're really not going to answer that?" Shade asked his twin. Though Shade wasn't particularly keen on Joshua hurting his brother again, he could tell that Sade needed to talk this out. "He's called fourteen times in the past two hours."
Sade pulled his knees tighter against his chest and watched his phone vibrate on the bed by his feet.
What could he say? He didn't want to talk to Joshua. It hurt. Sade really didn't know what was worse: The shock on Joshua's face or that he didn't come after him.
No. There was no way he could face that rejection again. It was easier to run. Easier just to sit and cry his heart out until he was over it.
And never see Joshua again.
"Hey," Shade said softly, getting as close to his brother. He threw an arm around Sade's shoulders. "What is it you're always telling me?" He pitched his voice slightly higher. "'You can't call it a life if you don't get out and live it. Cause some trouble. Raise the stakes.'" He paused, then smiled softly at his twin. "'But never give up.'" He pulled Sade closer. "Things will work out somehow, but I think it's time you take some of your own advice. Moping isn't like you."
Sade sniffed, hating and loving his brother in the same instant.
But, he was right. Sade wanted to run, but maybe facing Joshua would have a different outcome than what he thought. And hiding was so not Sade. He always faced things head-on. Why stop now? Why was Joshua any different from any other boy that had rejected this side of him?
He picked up his phone as it stopped vibrating. Next time. The next time it rang, he would pick it up. There was definitely no way Sade was calling Joshua. So next time.
They would sort all of this out next time.
"What about you?" Sade asked for a change of topic. He ran his hand under his nose. "What are you going to do about this Jay guy?"
Shade sighed. What could he do? Nothing, really. He just had to wait and take things in stride.
He ran his hands through his hair and made a frustrated noise. Who was he kidding? "I'm jealous, Sade. I'm extremely scared and jealous. I'm so angry half the time that I can't see straight. I want to strangle Jay and Rhone, then lock Nessa up in a room and throw away the key." He looked up at Sade with pleading eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me."
Sade patted Shade's shoulder in comfort. "You're in love, Shade. It's only natural to get jealous."
Shade was already shaking his head before he finished speaking. "No. This isn't 'natural'. There's too much building up. What about this situation is 'natural'?" He stood up and started pacing. "I'm dating a married woman! And, to make matters worse, her husband is in love with her, too. And! And! Now her ex-boyfriend-slash-first love has shown up saying he wants to take her back with him. So, tell me, Sade, what part of this is natural?"
Sade stared at his twin and saw the built up frustration, anger and guilt there. But, mainly, he saw the jealousy. The jealousy that was burning a hole through his heart. Jealousy that was clearly tearing him apart. Jealousy that would keep building because it had nowhere to go.
And, for once, he couldn't think of anything to say to comfort his brother.
Shade sighed. "Sorry, Sade. I shouldn't have taken it out on you." He slumped where he was standing and ran a hand over his face. "It's just getting really hard to push things aside and focus on Nessa." Shade sank onto the bed. "It's getting harder to let things go, you know?"
Sade pressed himself against Shade's back and wrapped his arms around him. "I know."
And he did know. It was the same thing that had screwed Sade over with Joshua.
Sometimes, they really wished they could get rid of their emotions. But things were never that easy.
As the twins comforted each other in their woes of love, Sade glanced over at his phone.
Joshua hadn't called back yet.
Next time, he thought, squeezing his eyes shut and clinging to his brother. Definitely next time.



Rhone's fever had finally gone away yesterday, but his headache didn't seem to show any signs of leaving.
Fuck, he was irritated. And, to make matters worse, it was Monday again. Monday meant classes. Monday meant having to deal with Shade. Monday meant Kylie and her little gang of superficial sluts. Monday meant work and tediousness.
Monday meant Nessa and Rhone became acquaintances again.
Damn, he was frustrated as all hell. He sat in his first period and wondered what in the world could go wrong. Everything that could go wrong already had gone wrong, so what else was there to happen?
Luckily, Rhone was right for once. September turned into October and days passed with no more signs of disrupt. Things fell in to a sort of natural - maybe not easy, but natural - rhythm. Nessa was caught between Rhone, Jay and Shade. Every spare moment Jay was taking her away as if it was some routine that had been going on for years, and Shade took Nessa away from Manor House any chance he got. This left Rhone with no time with Nessa.
Not that she made it easy for him.
For some reason, ever since Jay had gotten here, Nessa had done everything she could to avoid him. She avoided eye contact and being alone with him and nearly ran from the room when he tried talking to her.
He had thought it had been bad before with her disinterest, but now. . . Now it seemed like she was too conscious of him. It pissed him off, sure, but at least he was on her radar again.
But Rhone really had no time to spend on her anyway. It was October and Fevered Dreams had a Halloween concert coming up. For the school and for the fans. He had to practice and keep everything on schedule.
Fuck, he hated schedules. But he loved being famous. It was nice to see his face plastered on billboards in major cities and on T-shirts and to hear his voice pouring from the radio.
He had told his manager to step it up and the crazy bastard had actually delivered. Rhone hadn't expected the spineless wimp to be of use. Especially since anyone hired by his father was obviously out to sabotage his career.
Grudgingly, Rhone had to admit he was grateful to the guy for actually doing his job.
But, man, it made him busy. He was barely at home nowadays. And with Nessa avoiding him, and Jay in the house, and Joshua on edge for some unknown reason, Manor House was no place to relax and kick back. It was stressful and hectic. Not to mention Rhone really had no idea what was going on when everyone avoided important topics when talking. It was as if no one wanted to upset the precious balance they'd all somehow found.
But, Rhone knew, sooner or later, the balance tips and everything comes out whether or not they want it to. And with the way Shade was boiling from the inside out, it was probably going to be soon.
Rhone wasn't sure if he wanted to be there for Nessa when it happened or if he wanted out of the line of fire. Either way, he couldn't see it playing out in his favor.



Nessa was tired. No. She was beyond tired. Nessa was exhausted. Emotionally, physically. . You name it, it was exhausted. Each day was becoming more and more of strain and there was nothing she could do about it.
Jay was a walk-in memory, dredging up old feelings from the past that she would rather forget. She had finally gotten to a place where she could look back and smile instead of cry. Where she didn't think of him every day. Where the pain didn't hurt so much anymore. Where she could smile again. .
But by showing up, he'd gone and ruined all of her hard work. And, once again, he held her heart in his hand and squeezed it without caring how much it hurt either of them. And it didn't help matters that they had yet to talk anything out. It seemed neither one of them wanted to bring up something so painful, but Nessa knew the time was coming to say something. She had a feeling Jay knew as well.
And then there was Shade. . .
Shade was agitated and on edge, not that Nessa could blame him. But the worst part was that he wouldn't talk about it, either. Any time she tried to broach the subject of Jay, he shut himself up like a clam and tried to hide his worry behind his smile.
But Nessa wasn't fooled. They were growing further and further apart. Something had changed between them. Something undefinable, but definite. And that definite was shoving them apart quicker than she liked. In fact, she didn't like it at all. Shade was sweet and nice and wonderful. She didn't want to lose him.
And that brought her to another problem: What in hell was she feeling? Like, at all? She wanted to tear her hair out in frustration.
First, there was Shade. She liked him, sure, but she wasn't exactly sure that that like would turn into love. Especially now that Jay was back in the picture.
Oh, hell, Jay. . . She didn't even know where to begin with that. She was happy to see him, but she wasn't at the same time. She'd been longing for him to come and find her, but had been scared of the outcome. And she was still scared of the outcome. She had no idea what was going to happen and no idea what to feel. A year was a long time to sort through things. But, now that he was back at her door, she wasn't sure if what she was feeling was love or just the aftertaste of it.
She sighed.
And then there was Rhone. Nessa didn't know what to do there. She didn't even know if that confession had been real or just some weird dream he'd been having. And it wasn't like she had the courage to ask, either.
What did she expect? To go up to her husband and ask, "Hey, are you in love with me?" was just asking for trouble. She'd probably get hit because it wasn't like she'd get a straight answer out of Rhone Blossom.
That was like asking the Pope to play strip poker. It just wasn't going to happen. Like ever.
But if it was true- if Rhone really did love her, Nessa was in deep shit. That added a whole new dimension to the dilemma. It meant that she had been a serious bitch to him. It didn't matter if he was a stuck-up dick or not. You just don't go stepping on people's hearts on purpose. And if that confession was real, then she'd been doing just that.
Nessa gave another sigh.
If it really was true, then Nessa was going to have to face the fact that she was never going to get out of this marriage. Not if Rhone had anything to say about it.
"Damn it," she cursed under her breath. "Everything is so messed up."
Pat Benatar really knew what she was talking about when she said love was a battlefield. And in Nessa's particular fight, the first signs of war were just appearing.