Arranged

Another two weeks went by like a dream and both Rhone and Nessa couldn't tell if any or all of it was a dream. It was amazing how easy it was just to wake up and not snipe at each other. The smiles were no longer forced and they both enjoyed a lot of the same things, they were into the same kind of music and even Nessa had to admit that Rhone was quite the catch. If he had just been this agreeable in the beginning, then she might have fallen for him hard enough to get a concussion. The only problem was that he was still buying her random things. The extravagant spending and displays of affection were daunting as well as kind of creepy. When she told him so, she thought he would cry, so she had had to tell him to at least limit the gifts. A relationship was give and take, after all.
Rhone, on the other hand, was in the clouds. He felt like he was walking on air. He had never remembered being so happy in all his life. Just waking up that morning after the dinner to find out that it was all real was enough to have him crapping smiles, but now that he was free to touch and kiss Nessa all he wanted. . . He thought his heart would burst from excess. He couldn't say he minded, though. Just knowing that she was his--finally--was enough to quash any and all complaints he might have.
It had helped his music, too. Between all of the insane jealousy and hurt of the last six months and now the overflowing happiness, Rhone had enough new songs to completely redo the Valentine's Day concert. A lot of them were good, too--even his band-mates had been surprised. They had been working hard to incorporate one of his ballads and two of the faster-paced songs he'd written before the concert next week. Rhone could barely wait. Nessa was actually coming this time.
Rhone had also been shocked with how well Shade had taken their relationship. Though he was sure the twin still had feelings for Nessa, it was obvious he would stand back and support her. That was a relief, to be sure, but Rhone couldn't help the twinge of guilt he always felt. Surprisingly, he and Shade had gotten pretty close. Rhone would count him amongst his closest friends, though he wasn't sure the sentiment was returned. It didn't matter, really. He liked Shade a hell of a lot and had even apologized for all of the shit he'd done before. That had made him feel infinitely better, so he was thinking that he should try this apologizing thing more often.
However, right now, he was just going to enjoy his life and his wife.



"It's like they have their own little world," Sade sighed happily, glancing across the kitchen to watch Nessa and Rhone dreamily.
Joshua threw an arm around him lovingly. "We have our little world, too," he reminded. "And it's a whole lot better than theirs."
"Can you not flirt with my brother in front of me?" Shade asked, wrinkling his nose. "It's gross."
Joshua and Sade both gave him raised brows, but it was Sade that asked, "Why?"
Shade sat back against his stool, letting out a breath. "'Cause it's like watching you hit on me and it gives me the willies." He shivered. "Sickening."
Sade and Joshua shared a grin and Shade held back the smile that wanted to curl his lips. He was happy in his own right. Sade finally had Joshua and Nessa had Rhone. All of the people in his life that were important to him were happy and that made him happy. He certainly had nothing to complain about.
"It is nice to see everyone getting along so well," Joshua said with a smile, obviously lost in thought as he helped Terry make sandwiches for lunch. Christopher was out sick, so Joshua was filling in. "Especially after Christmas. I thought things would never go back to normal on both ends."
"Joshy!" Sade remanded quietly, glancing at Rhone and Nessa to make sure they hadn't heard. But that wasn't the bigger problem. Shade had heard, and Sade could see the wheels turning in his twin's brain.
His suspicions were confirmed when Shade narrowed his eyes on them, dropped his voice, and asked, "What exactly happened on Christmas?"
Shade had tried not to think about that night, but he had had the sinking feeling that everyone had kept quiet about something for his sake. That couldn't be good, but he really couldn't do anything about it. But since Joshua had brought it up first, he could press for answers a bit. They just had to answer.
Joshua's expression was put-out, obviously aware of his blunder, but he kept quiet, so Shade pegged his brother with a stare. It wasn't even a few seconds before he made a frustrated noise, ran his hands through his hair and leaned across the counter conspiratorially. "You can't tell Nessa we told you, okay?"
"You're telling," Joshua corrected, frowning. "Not me. I'll have no part in this."
Shade's heart started pounding nervously and he nodded. He wasn't so sure he wanted to know anymore, but he needed to and that was that.
Sade sighed, nodding as if to find his resolve. When he turned serious, apprehensive eyes on him, Shade knew he should have kept his mouth shut. "You heard about the dinner with Nessa's mom, right?"
Shade frowned, confused. "Well, yeah." Joshua had come over to their house that night to explain why Nessa wouldn't be up to too much of anything for the next few days. It was a good thing, too, because she had been miserable and if Joshua hadn't told them what had happened, they would have asked.
"And you know that Jay disappeared after Christmas, right?" Sade pressed.
"Sure," Shade agreed, confused. "But what does this have to do with what happened?"
Sade resisted the urge to slap his brother. "Think, ugly." When Shade just stared at him, Sade gave up. "God, you're an idiot. Okay. Here's the gist: Nessa was late because Jay found her mom and brought her here. After that drama, he had found out that Nessa and Rhone are married, so he left. She stood out in the show for a long time just trying to keep herself together enough to come see you."
Shade's heart had broken--again. What in hell was wrong with him? She had tried to tell him, too, but he had refused to listen. Instead, he'd done what everyone else had done that night--he'd left her. God, he was an ass. He had just been so angry and jealous and tired of all of that that he hadn't wanted to listen. If he had-- No. No. . . Even if he had listened, he would have been too angry to be understanding. It still wouldn't have made a difference. That was easy enough to see. Either way, he and Nessa would have ended that night. Knowing that made it easier to accept what he had done to her, but he would make damn sure that he made it up to her somehow.



It was the next day when things got a little bit worse than disastrous. Everything had been fine, Nessa thought. She hadn't gotten any warning signs at all. She had just been spending a well-needed day to herself while Rhone rehearsed for his upcoming concert and Joshua was on a date with Sade. Well, all of the staff was still in Manor House, but they were all doing their own thing. Nessa had been left to her own devices--unfortunately, that meant she had to answer the door.
She had not been expecting to see Louis on the other side, dressed in casual semi-formal wear and smiling pleasantly. Nessa greeting him, but it wasn't with a smile.
"Did you need something?" she asked, her hand still on the door.
He pulled off his sunglasses and upped the wattage on his already killer smile. Nessa wanted to run. Or throw up. . . Or both. "May I come in? I wanted to speak with you." He glanced behind her, eying the staff that was watching him cautiously. "Privately, please."
Hoping that she was making the right decision, Nessa pushed the door open and allowed him to come in. After she closed the door, she turned to find him already making his way down the hall and into the sun-room he said something Nessa couldn't make out to one of the staff--a young woman name Marissa--who gave her nervous glance before scurrying off to leave Louis holding the door open for her and waiting like the gentleman he wasn't. Nessa grew nervous as she entered and her anxiety only spiked when he closed the door behind them.
To be safe, Nessa walked to the window, securely putting the furniture between them. "What do you need to talk about?"
He hung his sunglasses on his shirt and ran a hand across the back of the couch as he walked towards her. Yeah, Nessa hadn't thought this out. She'd forgotten that he could just walk around everything. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior at dinner the other night. I realize I was rather rude."
Nessa gave him a disbelieving look, crossing her arms. "You don't seem very apologetic."
His smile grew and he stepped closer. Nessa stood her ground, but she wasn't sure it was the smart thing to do. "Oh, but I am," he assured her. "You see, I realized that your relationship with your mother must be strained at best. I was merely hoping to rectify that." He sighed with false sincerity. "Unfortunately, I seemed to make things worse."
"Okay," Nessa started. Where was he going with this? "So you made things worse. What's your point?"
Louis pulled her hand out from where she had it buried under her arm and bent over it. "My point is, my dear, I want to make it up to you."
He straightened and Nessa's unease grew extreme as she noticed the delightful twinkle in his eye. "How?" she couldn't help but ask.
His smile grew excited and Nessa sucked in a breath. Bad move. "Easily." Louis's grip on her hand turned strong, and he used it to jerk her forward, slamming her into his chest. He let go of her hand almost immediately to wrap his arm around her in an iron hold. His other hand came up to grab her chin, forcing it up.
It was obvious what was coming, but Nessa couldn't do anything about it. He was so much stronger than Shade or Jay or Rhone. Louis was a well-built man who had obvious practice in subduing women. Even with Nessa kicking and pushing at him, he was unmovable. It was like fighting a brick wall.
"Let me g-- Uumph!" Nessa's shout was cut off as he kissed her. She screamed in protest against his mouth, but they went muffled and unheeded. When his tongue touched her, roughly taking control of her mouth, she wanted to throw up.
Nessa beat at his chest, crushing his sunglasses and cutting her hands until he let go of her chin to grab her wrists. He pulled away long enough to slam them over her head, pressing her against the window and mercilessly forcing another disgusting kiss on her. Tears leaked from her eyes as he shoved her shirt up and stuck his hand under her bra, groping her. She gasped when he pinched her nipple between her fingers, pulling her head away and burying it in her arm.
"Stop," she sobbed. Her whole body was rejecting him violently, but pulling at her arms wasn't doing anything. When he sucked on her neck, she tried to kick him, but her legs were pinned.
"Come now, Nessa," he soothed in a sickening voice. He let go of her breast to reach between them and press his fingers against the fabric of her underwear under her skirt. She gasped and he smiled, taking a finger and shoving it against the thin material and pushing it inside. "You're not all that different from your mother at all. See?"
"You want to know what I see?" a voice asked and Nessa looked beyond Louis in relief to see Rhone, furious and looking ready to kill. "I see a dead man." He didn't even hesitate. As soon as Louis turned around, Rhone's fist smashed into his face, followed quickly by his other. Louis fell hard into a table with a crash, tumbling over it and sending a lamp shattering to the floor.
Angrily, Rhone grabbed Nessa's wrist and pulled her from the room as she struggled with her clothes. He shouted at Terry to throw his dad out, but otherwise didn't stop until he had shut Nessa into his room. He pushed her onto his bed, following her down. He grabbed her chin and kissed her.
It was Rhone, that fact was obvious by the way she didn't want to hurl, but as he started tugging at her clothes, she stopped him. After what had just happened, Nessa did not want to do anything but take a million showers.
"Stop," she told him, her plea teary but firm.
Rhone bit the same spot Louis had sucked on and Nessa cried out in surprise and pain. He let go and met her with angry eyes. "No. I won't stop."
Roughly, he pushed her shirt up and Nessa pulled it back down, her own anger rising. She held it back. "You're angry, Rhone."
"You're damn right I'm angry!" he shouted. "He had his hands on you! You think I'm going to let that go?" He tugged at her shirt again. "Let go, Nessa."
"No." Nessa gave him serious eyes, her anger nearly matching his, but for different reasons. "I'm not having sex when I don't like you--and, right now, I'm really not liking you."
She watching Rhone's jaw tighten. "You don't need to like someone to have sex."
Nessa's eyes narrowed. "If that were a rule in my book, I would have made love with you the first time."
"Love?" he scoffed. "Who said anything about love? I just want to fuck what's mine."
Nessa stiffened, offended, and she swallowed angrily, refusing to cry. "Thank you for clearing that up so bluntly." She sat up, forcing him to move out of the way as she scooted to the edge of the bed. "You just reminded me--again--why I shouldn't give the time of day."
"Nessa--"
"No," she cut him off, standing and fixing her skirt. She glared at him, hurt, angry and feeling like an idiot. It figured. People don't change. Underneath it all, Rhone was still Rhone. Still a Blossom and everything that meant.
She tugged her skirt down. "If you're wondering why, I'll give you a hint: One reason is because you're a completely insensitive asshole. All the other reasons you can figure out yourself. It might take a few years to list them all, but, once you're done, come find me. I'll help you shove them up your ass."
Ignoring his completely shocked expression, Nessa turned and stormed to the door. She had already made it out of the second floor--having grabbed her backpack--and into the front hall when she heard his door slam and the thumping of his boots on the stairs. Nessa grabbed his keys from the table and walked across the wide floor, ignoring his shouts.
"Wait!" he called, his voice desperate. She heard him stumble, but didn't turn around. "Wait, Nessa! I didn't mean it. You know I didn't. It was the anger talking! Nessa, please!"
Nessa grabbed the door handle, turned it and pulled the door open. She would not cry. She was tired of crying.
"Nessa, wait," he begged, his voice weaker, obviously hurt. "I'm sorry. Please. I'll do anything."
She paused, looking at the floor since she couldn't look at him. Her heart was breaking, but she'd be damned if she was going to let him know that. "Then grow a heart, Rhone. Because, until you do, I don't see the point in us being together."
Rhone watched Nessa slam the door behind her and he sank to his knees on the stairs. His leg was pretty banged up from that tumble he'd taken earlier, but his heart was what hurt the most. Nessa had shattered it so easily and left him wondering what to do. She had wanted to know the point to dating him, to staying together. Only one thing stood out in his mind and heart. As he whispered it to the staff that had gathered in the hall, the one person he wanted to hear it the most had already walked out that door, "But I love you."