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thepaintedlady00 · 2 months

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Nightshade

Chapter 23 | Chapter 25

TW: As always: language, mentions of drugs and alcohol, smoking, sex, general mature themes. We've got some Tony in this chapter, some clear violations of the law and personal property/privacy, Simone's back (...yaaaaayyy), I'm gonna blue ball y'all just one more time with the big conversation our two idiots gotta have, another painting, some mentions of grooming, Lena's not in the mood for any of the shit this chapter, Jake's being the good "friend" he is. Some lies get told, and finally our dummies have THE conversation but also not really xD Enjoy!

Chapter 24: Burn the Ice

The morning chill stung his face as he exited the car - a reminder that the snow could start any day now. With calm, leisurely steps his fine leather shoes echoed amongst the chaos of the city. It was loud and crowded and smelt like cheap street vendor food. Disgusting, he thought to himself, glaring at the slouched-back people running the dirty stalls for a minute before starting up the steps.

Her building was old and smelt of mold, something he couldn't help but feel a twinge of satisfaction about. It was obvious she wasn't living as well as she had been with him. The landlord gave him a wide-eyed look, one he was well accustomed to - the style of the rich was always something poor people gawked at - but all he did was smile that charming smile and offer the old man a wave as he made his way past.

At the door he let the others do their work, patiently drumming his fingers along the hard cover of the sketchbook while they did. The door made a loud creaking noise as it opened. “Wait here. I won't be long.”

The faint smells of cleaning materials and dust filled his nose. She'd been staying here less and less the closer the cold months got. A lingering trauma that made her unconsciously cling to that pathetic family of hers. A trauma he felt a burning frustration and an undoubtable swell of pride whenever he recalled it. Running his fingers along her countertop, looking at the living room filled with paintings she'd done after slipping away, Tony allowed himself a rare moment of quiet.

In that quiet Tony breathed in the faint smell of her cherry perfume with a grimace. He'd always hated that smell, hated the tiny fruit in general. But, he admired the malice behind it… The choice to douse herself in it was one clearly made to slight him. She could do nothing without thinking of him, even if it was in anger, for now, Tony enjoyed the simple fact that Lena still thought of him every day. It was a testament to a larger, even more satisfying truth.

This sad, pathetic little life she'd scrounged together was nothing without him.

Jules’ heavy footsteps intruded on his quiet, but he did so with respect so Tony would allow it. “He's coming this way.”

“How long?”

“Four minutes.”

“Good.” Right on schedule.

Tony set the sketchbook back on the counter and pulled the lovely orange flower from his breast pocket giving it a sniff before setting it on top of the book. Jules handed him the envelope with her name neatly printed in his decadent handwriting. “We'll see each other soon, my Lena.”

Jules had timed it perfectly, as he always did, right as Tony stepped out the door onto the steps of Lena's apartment the old biker turned onto the street. His eyes grew wide in terror and rage as he spotted him. Perfect. With a wide grin, Tony lifted his hand and offered them a wave before he slid into his limousine. “Take us home, driver. We're done here for today.”

A sweet smell filled Jake’s nose as he rolled onto his stomach, arm draping over the warm body lying beside him. The sweet, fruity, decadent aroma was one he recognized in mere seconds. Cherries. He happily buried his nose in that smell. Lena.

He cracked an eye open, catching that heavenly glimpse of the sun hitting her hair just right making it glow like fire. Pretty as that was, it paled in comparison to the sight of her bare back peeking out from beneath his covers. Her skin was soft as silk beneath the tips of his fingers as he lazily traced the snake tattoo.

The warm fuzziness that filled his chest made every touch, every smell, and sound feel almost dreamlike. He would have thought this was just another dream like he had the first time he woke up to her in his bed, but the sensations were too defined to just be his imagination. That and he felt so damn tired from the long night he'd spent in the throes of such physical activities.

With a pleased sigh, Jake recalled all the ways they'd made up for wasted time. He could still taste the sweetness of Lena's lips, still feel her soft skin rubbing so deliciously against his own. If he closed his eyes again he was sure he'd see the heavenly image of her moving on top of him. It was seared into his mind now just like his name felt forever changed now that he'd heard it on her lips as she came apart beneath him. The hickeys on his neck and the faint marks left by her fingernails clawing at his back would be more obvious things to remind him that last night had been real. Those marks would fade in a week or two unless he let her give him more, which he gladly would.

Lena had taken her time with him, kissing him, teasing him, working him so expertly he'd actually struggled not to come prematurely. She was just as talented as she'd built herself up to be and he felt like a damn fool for ever even doubting her. As if she needed more added to the list of all her perfections now she could add being the best he'd ever had.

She was vocal, not just in expressing her pleasure but in encouraging his own. No matter how hard he thought Jake couldn't remember ever feeling as satisfied during or after sex in his life. In between the three rounds of their newfound intense passions, Jake found himself… Present. Usually after an orgasm or two, he'd just fall asleep not caring if his partner did the same or not, but with her, he felt awake… Alive.

They spent just as much time talking, laughing, and enjoying each other's company as they had tangled in his sheets. They ate, drank, and played with their cat whenever the little creature slinked from his hiding place. It all felt natural and oddly intimate and, for better or worse, Jake enjoyed it.

Physical intimacy was something he'd always excelled at. Flirting, foreplay, all of it came naturally to him. Jake had spent his fair share of time between the legs of beautiful women but Lena was something else entirely. Something new. Being with her made him feel like his pleasure - he - mattered just as much as hers. It was a concept he'd never truly understood, let alone experienced until now.

Ever since he could remember Simone - women in general - had told him exactly what they wanted from him. Touch me. Kiss me. Fuck me. Faster. Slower. Harder. They told him how to please them and he listened. It was a good time for all parties, but deep down Jake always felt that sting of emptiness. It’d been more about following their orders than it had been about just getting to enjoy the moment. He felt used… Like he'd only been good for a quick fuck and nothing else.

Normally Jake would have swallowed that feeling and forced himself to move… To physically shake off the very thought of it. He'd busy his mind with reading or mundane tasks like showering or cleaning. He'd build up the wall between him and whoever he'd fucked the night before - distance himself from feeling anything at all. Right about now, Jake should have been justifying his dickish, asshole behavior by repeating the words Simone had said to him since he could remember. This is who you are, love. You're just not built for ordinary people.

Ordinary people turned out to be everyone. Everyone but Simone. And now… Maybe… Lena.

He never truly understood how powerful feelings like this could be. He never knew that one person - even one as perfect as her - was capable of making him feel like an entirely different person. Jake felt more like himself, a self he barely even knew any more than he had in practically his entire life. He let the peaceful silence and that warm feeling in his chest stay as he curled further into the back of his sleeping redhead.

It wasn't until Hemingway climbed over both their legs, shimmying beneath the curtains and pushing them open to further blind him with sunlight that Jake truly woke up. Pleased with his work the cat proudly pranced across the pillows to stare down at him with an impatient and demanding meow. He couldn't help but chuckle as Hemingway slapped his forehead with a fleshy paw. Lena mumbled something in her sleep, burrowing her face in his blanket with a happy sigh that practically drowned out the cat's noise. God, he wanted to wake her up and kiss her, feel her, fuck her until they were both too exhausted to continue.

After laying in bed for a minute longer - until Hemingway was on the verge of exploding - he slowly slid out of the sheets and stretched his tense back out with a quiet groan. Briefly glancing over his shoulder to make sure that he hadn't woken her, Jake slid on a pair of pants picked his shirt up off the floor, and dished up Hemingway’s food with a quiet scold, “There, was that so hard to wait for?”

He cleaned up the remnants of the night, tossing the now nubs of melted wax in the trash and putting the leftover oyster shells in his sink. When he moved to put the champagne in his fridge he was bitterly reminded of how little food he had. Shit. He set the champagne back on the counter, closing the fridge to look back at the bed. Did he really want to have the conversation in some overcrowded, too-loud diner?

The thought sat in his mind for a second as a list of possible interruptions made him shake his head. Nope. He wasn't going to risk not talking about this any longer because of anything. Maybe that Chinese is still good? Nope. Jake may have been lazy but even he was above serving month-old Chinese food for breakfast.

Jake knew Lena wouldn't care about where they ate breakfast, but he didn't want to risk anything going wrong. Besides, Lena deserved a proper breakfast. He wanted her to know that he'd thought about this. That he was ready - willing - to put his best foot forward. Jake wanted to show Lena that this wasn't just a one-night stand and that he wasn't going to vanish now that he'd finally fucked her. More than anything he wanted her to see how much last night, she, meant to him.

He quietly put on his shoes and grabbed his keys and wallet. Writing her a quick note, he set it on his pillow and pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. I'll be back before she even wakes up, he reassured himself as he turned and headed out the front door. The diner by his house would be open. It may not have been the best food, but it'd have to do.

I'm definitely going grocery shopping tomorrow. When Lena spent the night again, he'd be ready.

I woke to an abrupt slap to the center of my forehead followed by a loud, demanding meow directly in my ear. The silhouette of Hemingway's pointed ears was all I could see as he stood in front of the sunlit window. “Good morning to you too.”

Another demanding meow was the creature's only reply as I stretched my arms over my head and yawned. Hemingway jumped off the bed the second I'd sleepily rolled over to throw my arms around the body that should have been beside mine but wasn't. A nervous, gut-wrenching pit filled my stomach as I patted the empty mattress. “Jake?”

No answer.

“Jake?” I called out just a bit louder as I held the blanket to my naked chest and sat up in his bed, looking around his now-empty apartment.

The bathroom door was open and the shower was off. His kitchen was empty, although cleaner than it had been when we'd finally fallen asleep. There weren't many places one could hide in an apartment as small and open as his. I shifted slightly, fingers brushing against a thin piece of paper on his pillow.

Relax Princess, I just ran to grab us some breakfast. Should only be ten or fifteen minutes. Make yourself comfortable and DO NOT feed the cat again no matter how much he meows at you!

Air filled my lungs and my body relaxed back into Jake's soft sheets. He was safe. I was safe. Everything was alright.

For how long though? When he returned we'd have to finally have that discussion. The discussion. I'd need to have answers - need to admit just how much I'd fallen for him. The very thought of looking into his stupid, beautiful eyes and pouring my heart out to him made me feel dizzy.

Would he feel the same now that he'd achieved his original goal? Would Jake still want me as much as I still wanted him? And how much did I want him? How far had I really fallen since the start?

Too far. Was the only answer I could admit to. I was naked in his apartment. I had slept with him in his bed. I was waking up with the cat we'd both unofficially adopted. There was no denying it. I was hopelessly, pathetically, irreparably in this - whatever this was. There was no going back to how things were before, not when all I could think about was just how perfect Jake's lips felt on mine and how amazing last night had been.

Sex was nothing new. It was something I'd had a lot of experience in, good and bad. I knew all the steps, all the moves, and still last night had taken me by surprise. Sex with Jake had been… different. It was unlike every other sexual experience I’d had.

I often had to find ways to keep myself in the moment, something that got easier the more I was with someone or the more time had passed. But, with Jake, I was just there. I didn't need to remind myself to breathe. I didn't need to force my body to relax and repeat his name to remind myself whose hands were touching me.

It was fun, exciting and intimate. Instead of feeling that shameful disgust, the one I needed to tell myself wasn't real, I felt at peace. There hadn't been a single moment when we were tangled together that I’d felt anything but completely and utterly cherished. I felt safe, unburdened by all the shit that'd been complicating even the simplest things in my life. Last night nothing else mattered, nothing but us.

Us. It was a word that made my lips quirk up in a smile. Us was simple. Us was what I wanted. And us was ultimately what I was most afraid of.

There were just so many ways it could all go wrong. I could fuck it up. He could fuck it up. We could both collectively fuck it all up. And then what? We'd just have to go about our lives working together, seeing each other every day, watching each other meet new people, and moving on? Even just the possibility of seeing Jake with anyone else made me feel sick.

No, I thought sadly. We're in too deep for that. I couldn't live without Jake. His asshole attitude and his smart mouth, his smile, his laugh, he was entwined in my life now in a way I couldn't undo even if I tried. So, the choice was already made. I'd - we’d -make it work. No matter what I had to do to keep this from falling apart - to keep him in my life - I'd do it.

After surviving another round of Hemingway's desperate attempts to convince me to feed him, I was out of Jake's bed staring at the sulking cat as I searched for Jake's dresser. “Hitting me doesn't change the fact that you already ate!”

He hissed.

“You better watch that attitude,” I replied. “Or I won't sneak you any of my breakfast when Jake gets back.”

Hemingway’s eyes narrowed and with a moment of consideration before he rubbed himself against my feet. “Yeah, that's what I thought.”

As respectfully as I could, I searched Jake's drawers until I found his clothes. While they were kind of baggy on me, it was better than walking around in his blanket all morning. Besides, I enjoyed the way they smelt like him and felt softer against my skin than my own clothes had.

My eyes trailed along his shelves, taking a more in-depth look at his books and pictures and odds and ends that he'd saved over the years. There was so much history in his space. So many things that had been saved for a reason I couldn't know just by looking at him. Curiosity swelled in me, my mind running wild with all the possible reasons he'd held onto things. For the first time in a long time I wanted to ask questions and get closer to someone. I wanted to listen to him tell me every story and every detail about his life before I entered. I wanted to know every piece of him.

My fingers traced one of the seashells as his front door opened and he stepped inside with a bag from some diner. His eyes instantly found me, that shimmer in them making me blush and my heart soar. “Hey.”

“Hi,” he replied, clearing his throat. “Sorry, I was gone so long.”

“It's no problem,” I answered, watching his eyes take in the clothes I now wore. “I… Uh… borrowed some of your clothes. I hope that's okay.”

As he set the bag down his eyes continued to roam down my body, that sinful smirk answering me long before his words did. “That's fine, though I was looking forward to coming back to a beautiful naked woman.”

“If you'd been quicker you woulda gotten that,” I teased. “I just barely got dressed.”

He clicked his tongue. “Damn. Maybe next time.”

Definitely next time, I thought as my mind played through all the new possibilities available to us now that we’d crossed the threshold. Clearing my throat, I moved to stand next to him as he unpacked the food, distractedly watching his hands for a second before asking, “What's for breakfast?”

“The works. Bacon, eggs, sausage, waffles,” he watched my nose scrunch up and chuckled before pulling a box out of the bag and setting it in front of me. “Don't worry, I got you pancakes.”

“You remembered,” I replied, eagerly opening it to the smell of the sweet stacks. “I'm impressed.”

With a shrug, Jake shooed the cat away and leaned back against the counter. “Don't be. It's not like it was a big secret.”

We both took a few tentative bites before neither of us could contain our nerves anymore. “So-”

“We-”

Chucking at one another's interruptions I nodded to him. “You go first.”

Jake watched me, the ocean in his eyes rolling with tense waves and anticipation. “Well, I guess now's as good a time as any for us to talk about last night… and the ones before.”

Don't freak out, I told myself. Just be honest. “Yeah, things have been… Interesting… between us lately.”

“Good interesting?” He asked with a cocky grin, taking a step closer to me.

I nodded, “Great interesting. Right?”

“Right.”

“So…” The words caught in my throat as Jake took one last step closer, putting us chest to chest.

His breath, slightly sweet smelling, rolled across my face. “So…”

“I… I want t-” The front door swung open and the head of blonde hair made my teeth snap shut in anger.

Simone stood in the open doorway, that red-lipped mouth hanging open in shock for a moment before it closed. Jake turned, brows furrowed and the tension between us quickly shifted into just tension. “...Simone?”

She smiled at him, quickly with no sincerity before she looked me up and down and nodded to herself. “Lena. What a surprise.”

I bit my tongue and simply nodded at her while my eyes scanned the floor for my shoes. Jake watched Hemingway dart to his hiding place before returning his attention to the new interruption. “How was your trip?”

The mood soured further as Simone just shook her head, her eyes wide with rage and the smile on her lips quickly shifting into a sneer. “Oh, it was just fantastic. I always love dealing with my mother alone.”

Time to go. I knew if I stayed for even another sentence Jake would be pulling me off Simone and everything between us would be stained with chunks of blonde hair and blood. I may have been able to see her for what she was, but Jake wasn’t and an attack on her - physical or otherwise - would effectively jeopardize everything I had or may have had with Jake. I pushed my hair behind my ears and hastily grabbed my things, quickly pulling on my shoes. “I should go.”

“You…” Jake started to protest, but quickly thought better of trying to keep Simone and I in a room together for longer than necessary. “We can finish this later.”

With a nod I pressed a soft kiss to his lips and forced myself to smile through the disappointment in an attempt to show him I was still ready to have the talk whenever we could find the time. “See you at work.”

“Yeah,” he answered softly, breathing out a slightly relieved sigh. “See you at work.”

As I turned I held Simone's glare, telling her without any words that she wasn't getting rid of me so easily. I grabbed the champagne bottle off the counter and slid out of Jake's apartment, closing the door behind me. The entire walk to Quinn’s I forced myself to swallow the lump in my throat and kept repeating positive thoughts to keep myself from crying out of sheer frustration.

I let myself in, setting the champagne on the table next to Quinn and Ari who just looked at me in confusion. “Good morning?”

“Yeah… Morning or whatever,” I replied flopping onto Quinn's couch and melting into the cushions.

“Long night?”

“Was it bad?” Ari asked, practically jumping up from the table. “I didn't think Jake could fumble the bag when sex was involved.”

“Simoneshowedup,” I grumbled into the cushions.

Quinn settled on the arm of the couch. “Say again?”

Lifting my head I turned and glared at her. “We fucked. A lot. It was great and then right when we were about to have the talk Simone just invited herself in.”

Both Ari and Quinn's mouths formed an O. “Yikes.”

“Anything we can do?” Quinn asked, gently rubbing my back.

Flopping back onto the couch I sighed. “Kill me.”

The second the door closed all hell broke loose. Simone threw her bags to the ground and angrily stomped around his kitchen to open the wine she'd brought. “Can we not do this?”

With a joyless laugh, she glared at him. “Not do what? Not keep our promises to each other? Cause you sure as hell have already started that.”

"Jesus," Jake breathed with a frustrated shake of his head. "It just barely happened. What did you want me to call you during and let you know?"

Simone glared at him, her lips thinning into that tight line. "Do not mock me, Jake.”

“I'm not mocking you. I just… I don't fucking understand what you want from me.” His whole body felt so tight he was sure he'd explode any second. “One minute you're telling me to do what I want and the next you're pissed at me for doing what I wanted to!”

“I want you to show me some goddamn respect!” She shouted, slamming her hand down on his counter. “I have been carrying you since you were eight years old and it has been the only thing I've asked of you! Yet you still find ways of failing at that too!”

Jake felt that ugly swell of tears burning behind his eyes. He felt his whole chest ache and his mind sluggishly repeat the word. Fail. Fail. Fail. That's all you ever fucking do. You fail Simone. You failed your mom. You'll fail Lena too. That's all you're good for. Gritting his teeth Jake forced himself to breathe. He forced himself to stay standing, to blink the tears away and speak, “I do respect you. I respect you more than anyone else! I just… It just barely happened, Simone. I was going to tell you the second I got the chance-”

“And when would that have been?” She asked the anger in her voice never wavering. “In a month? Two? Until I had to walk in on you?”

“It would have been when I saw you!” Jake shook his head. “I tell you everything, Simone. I always have, I always will. That's what we do. We tell each other things, we trust each other.” Slowly he could see Simone's shoulders relax and that glimmer of love return to her eyes. “Do you trust me?”

She finally abandoned the wine and gently took hold of his face. “Of course I do.”

The ache dulled as she stroked his cheeks and he finally felt like his lungs were filling with air instead of acid. “I was going to tell you.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I do. I just… It surprised me. And you know how much I hate surprises.”

“I'm sorry,” he whispered.

Simone smiled and pressed her lips to his, a kiss that once would have sent his heart soaring but now made his gut twist in his chest as he inevitably thought of Lena. She pulled back and nodded. “I know.”

“Are we good?”

“Yes. We are. Honestly, now I guess I’m…” Simone shook her head as she poured her wine and with a heavy sigh, Jake prepared himself for the word he knew far too well. Disappointed. “Relieved.”

“What?”

She picked at Lena's discarded dress, shrugging a shoulder as if she hadn't just been screaming at him over this. “It's done now. You've gotten it out of your system and things can finally get back to normal.”

In some sense she was right. It was done now. He tamed the tiger just like he'd wanted. Normally that did mean that Jake would move on and things would go back to normal. If Lena were anyone else he would probably fuck her a few more times before ultimately tossing her aside in favor of a new fling. But she wasn't anyone else, she was Lena…his Lena.

Jake didn't want things to go back to normal. He didn't want to feel that emptiness - the weight of being so alone and detached - again. So, Jake stared at Simone as she tidied up his apartment drank wine, and lectured him about how rude and selfish it'd been of him to abandon her over the holiday. For an hour - one that should have been filled with Lena's soft touches and breathy moans - Jake listened to his every flaw being brought to the surface.

Usually, he'd bite back and argue - defend himself against Simone’s angry accusations and slanders. But, that morning he didn't bother. Jake was tired, frustrated, and now anxious. Simone's interruption had put him and Lena right back where they started. Their pile of rain checks had barely been touched and now they'd have to restart the awkward, nervous, avoidant dance around each other. Only this time it'd be worse because they'd actually fucked.

This time the longer they went without talking about it the more likely they both were to write it off as some one-night stand and just go back to how things had been before that first kiss. The longer he sat with that thought, the more obvious it became that he couldn't survive not talking about this. Jake needed to know how Lena felt. He needed her to know how he felt.

“Are you even listening to me?” Simone snapped with a disappointed sigh. Before he could answer she'd rolled her eyes and turned away from him. “Of course you aren't.”

God it was going to be a long day.

The locker room was filled with gossip as I entered and shoved Sasha off as he jumped around me practically squealing, “Let me see, let me see!”

“See what?”

“Baby Jakey's work!” He replied. “From your sex!”

I glared at Ari, who sheepishly smiled. “Oh… Were you not telling people?”

“Fuck off. All of you,” I warned, opening my locker and getting changed as quickly as I could to try and avoid Sasha's peeking. The Russian only let up when a familiar broad-shouldered bartender set his bike down and entered the locker room.

“JAKEY!” Sasha purred. “Take your shirt off!”

Jake brushed past him, shaking his head. “Not in the mood Sasha.”

“Oohhhh,” he glanced between the two of us. “Was the sex that bad?”

I whirled around and slapped his forearm, cursing him in Russian until he retreated from the room giggling with Ari. “Fucking dickhead.”

Jake and I locked eyes. Desire and frustration vibrated between us, but neither of those made my heart drop… the uncertainty in Jake’s eyes, the new sliver of doubt shining back at me did. Had Simone talked him out of whatever this was? Had she dug those talons into his back hard enough for him to abandon the feelings I knew we both felt? Or had all of this… everything between us really just been part of some long game for him?

My racing thoughts must have been obvious, because Jake took a step toward me, mouth open to try and say something before Simone stepped into the locker room, happily humming as if she hadn't interrupted us at all. The apologetic look in his eyes was the only thing that kept me from punching that smug blonde bitch in the back of the head. I ground my teeth together and turned around to finish getting ready.

I left the two of them and their small talk in the locker room and headed to the table for family meal. Howard, who looked slightly tanner, offered me an apologetic look of his own that I didn't understand until I sat down and my eyes found the new painting hanging on the wall. Right. That's a fucking thing.

The vivid orange petals were splattered with red. I found my mind having to remind itself that it'd been wine instead of blood this time. The jagged cuts in the canvas and its slightly bent shape made it all too clear what'd happened to this particular empty showcase.

The glass shattered over the top of the painting at my feet, wine sloshing over the half-painted petals and the shards of glass slicing the canvas where it struck. If this had been any other circumstance I would have admired how artistic it made the piece look. But this was just another bender.

Tony lay on the ground next to the broken glass, laughing. It didn't matter how much or how loud he laughed, I could see the tired bags under his eyes and the hazed far off look that made me wonder if there was some human part of him deep inside. I almost pitied him, if just for one fragmented moment.

Jules checked his pulse and shoved my painting aside to keep him away from the broken glass. Turning to me he nodded to the mostly incoherent man at his side. “Stay with him while I get the doctor.”

“Of course,” I obediently answered, moving to kneel beside Tony. Jules gave my shoulder a soft squeeze as he stood and hurried toward the elevator.

My eyes fixated on the broken shards of glass just a few inches away. I could easily take one and shove it into his neck or cut his wrists. I could make it look like an accident… Like he'd done it to himself. Before the fear or the guilt could stop me I was reaching for the largest shard.

“Lena…” Tony mumbled, voice quivering as his glazed-over eyes searched for me. “Lena?”

“I'm here,” I answered quietly, my finger lingering on the glass as I looked down at him.

He relaxed instantly at the sound of my voice, lifting his hand to search for me in the dimly lit living room. “I… I can't see. Lena?”

Pity, understanding, and sympathy slowly replaced the darker thoughts in my head. With a gentle sigh, I slid closer to him, taking his hand in mine and pulling Tony into my lap. “I'm here.”

“W… Will you stay?” He mumbled kissing my hand. “Will you stay with me?”

The reply was practically instant… trained. “Of course.”

Tony set my hand against his chest, forcing me to feel the beating of his heart that cruelly reminded me he was a living, breathing human being. “Promise?”

Staring down at the floor of broken glass and then at the tender, beautiful face of the man I hated and feared and… Loved… I nodded. The words sounded sincere but filled my chest with a numbness that made it hard to breathe. “I promise.”

It was a low blow, reminding me of my supposed love for him. Reminding me that I'd made promises… Attempting to guilt me back into obedience. What was worse though, was that it worked.

In an entirely, uniquely twisted… Fucked up way my whole body went into some old, automatic tense posture. My chest burned with shame and my head filled with guilt-riddled thoughts. You broke his heart. You abandoned him. You said you'd never leave… Grinding my teeth together and balling my hands into fists I forced myself to remember the truth.

Being with Tony hadn't just been lavish gifts and eloquent love letters and expensive trips abroad. Those moments were far and few between. Being with him was filled with venom and rage. Being with him meant being held down, fighting… Aching. It was full of bloodied knuckles, bruises, and broken glass. Obey or be punished. Obey or starve. Obey or drown.

It wasn't love, I told myself, forcing that thought to be louder than all the others. What we had was never love.

Jake sat across the table from her, silently cursing himself for not offering her the reassurance she clearly needed in the locker room. The glassy, scared look in her eyes as she picked up on that tiny part of him that doubted if he deserved her, was stuck in his mind like a sliver. Beside him, Simone quietly ate her food while all he could do was watch Lena. Her eyes hadn’t met his again, unsteady they were fixed past him on the flower painting that now hung on the wall. He could see so much emotion raging in her distant eyes. Fear, fondness, guilt, shame. It wasn't like the other paintings. Those had just made her afraid, angry but this… This was one of those things he didn't understand and it made his chest tighten.

The only thing that drew his gaze away from her was the neatly pressed suit and the fucking pervert that wore it. Howard was back. To his credit, the manager barely looked at him, but Jake could still see the faint bruises that he'd done his vest to conceal. With steady steps Howard approached Lena, one hand holding a bottle while the other lifted, moving toward her shoulder.

Howard's eyes locked with his and Jake did his best to convey the ass-kicking he'd be dishing out if he so much as tried to touch her. Do it. I fucking dare you. At the last second his hand shifted to the back of the chair and a smug sense of pride made Jake's mouth twitch into a smile.

“A gift…” Howard told her carefully, setting the wine down in front of her. “An apology for my involvement.”

Lena’s gaze slowly drifted away from the painting to glare at the bottle. For a moment, her face remained expressionless before a thin, bitter smile spread on her lips. “Expensive.”

“And one of your favorites.”

She said nothing as she stood and began pouring the wine into her glass. Lena's eyes were fixed on Howard even as the glass began to overflow, wine staining the white tablecloth in seconds. The manager pursed his lips, disappointment and a mild look of frustration playing out on his still slightly discolored face. No one said a single word as the bottle finally ran empty and Lena set it back down.

Howard sighed. “Was that truly necessary?”

Still, without a single word, Lena knocked the glass over, sending wine down the table. She strode past him and toward the kitchen just as everyone at the table burst with laughter and gossip. Jake leaned back in his seat and grinned at Howard, enjoying every second of the manager's hateful gaze.

Simone looked at the mess with a disapproving shake of her head. “Such a waste.”

Howard's glare shifted to Sasha and Ari as they continued their laughter. With a snap of his fingers and a swift gesture to the mess he barked out the order, “You two, please get this tablecloth in a soak and clean this up?”

“No fair,” Ari pouted quietly as they started cleaning. “Tiger Bitch makes a mess and we have to clean it.”

“Nepotism,” Sasha answered almost flippantly. “Tiger Bitch is special baby.”

Jake took his plate and Simone's back to the kitchen, eyes finding Lena among the dish crew with ease. She had her head down, focused completely on washing the dishes in the sink. As he set his dirty plates down he watched the water, trying to gauge how hot it was in an attempt to tell how fucked up the painting and Howard had her. It was bad, but not as bad as the first time.

He didn't want to leave her, not when she was like this. A hand waved in his peripheral vision, drawing his gaze to the line where Isaac nodded him toward the door. A silent but reassuring message that he'd keep an eye on her through this shift. Jake spared one last look to the back of her head before he sighed and left the kitchen.

Service felt longer than it should have. Wave after wave of rich assholes poured through the door and gawked at that painting hanging on the wall with Lena's name on it. It made him feel angry and sick to his stomach even just imagining what horrible memory she'd tried to bury in that paint. And there these fuckers were, complimenting it… Calling it a masterpiece. Worse than that Jake knew that even if they knew the full story they'd still find it just as fascinating - maybe even more.

As he made the drinks and served the guests in front of him, Jake made it a point to glare at Howard. The disgusting man was practically trying to sell the damn thing. He stood beside the crowd, pointing out the details of the piece and praising the painter, who he'd already revealed worked in the restaurant. When he'd walked past the bar toward the kitchen it took all of Jake's willpower not to hit him again.

Only a minute had passed before his heart dropped into his stomach at the sound of shattering dishes. In an instant Jake was moving towards the kitchen doors, his heartbeat practically echoing her name. Just as he reached the end of the bar, Sasha fled the scene with a deviant smile, effectively blocking Jake's path. “The hell happened?”

“Tiger Bitch is not in a playful mood tonight,” The Russian answered. “Dear Howard was telling her that some of the guests wanted to speak with her about her painting and she just held up a plate,” he illustrated the throwing movement as well as the crash with his hands, “She threw a plate and told him she'd throw one every time he spoke to her.”

A part of him couldn't help but feel satisfied at how hostile she was acting towards Howard. She may not have known what he did, but Jake was glad she was giving him hell even if it wasn't for the worst of his crimes against her. But, beneath that satisfaction was the simmering worry that it would all be too much for Lena to handle and he'd have to watch her spiral into another night of panic and drowning her fears in alcohol.

Sasha watched his face, reading it carefully as he set his head in his hands and leaned on the bar in front of Jake. “Something about those paintings puts Tiger in a bad mood.”

“Yeah, no shit,” he replied curtly.

“Tell me what you know, pretty Jake,” he urged.

Jake leaned forward, looking around them for a moment as if he cared about who could hear them. “I know you should get the fuck off my bar and back to work.”

The Russian cursed and waved him off. “Ha ha, you so funny.” With a thoughtful look, he shifted his question, “So, what's next?”

“Next?” Jake asked with a pointed look.

Sasha smirked and gave him an innocent shrug. “Well, now that you've tamed the tiger you'll be taking on a new project, yes? A new hostess maybe?”

Turning his head to the hostess stand Jake caught the new girl bashfully averting her eyes from the bar. In the past, he would have felt a thrill at the idea of stringing along another sweet, innocent hostess… But now when he looked at her and saw those blushing cheeks that told him she was interested all he could think of was how boring it'd be. No one would ever be able to offer him even a fraction of what he had with Lena.

No one else would challenge him the way she did. It didn't matter how pretty the hostess was, she wouldn't tease him encourage him, or support him the way the redhead did. No one could be more beautiful than her, funnier than her, smarter than her, more badass, or fearless. No one would be Lena and if it wasn't her… Well, he just didn't want it.

“Nah,” Jake finally replied, returning to his work. “No new projects.”

Sasha made a shocked face and with a quiet, almost supportive hum he asked, “Who really tamed who?”

The second service ended, I grabbed my shit and left out the alley door. I'd wanted to wait for Jake to talk to him, but after seeing that painting and having Howard tell me about the requests some rich asshole made to meet me… It was too much. As I wandered the brisk city, desperately trying to force the pit in my stomach to dissolve with the movement, I had to continuously pull myself from wave after wave of old thoughts trying to plague me with guilt and make me doubt what I knew to be true.

It wasn't love. It was never love.

Everything I'd been through, all the years I'd spent moving on, and all it took was one painting to make me feel like that sad, lonely, dead little girl. One painting and in whatever fucking twisted way I was looking back on the times when Tony made me laugh or smile or feel anything good. Those memories were ones I had to combat with the truth and the truth meant remembering and remembering meant I couldn't just pretend like everything was fine.

Tony had not only been in the restaurant but had weaseled his way into Howard's ear, and quite possibly my aunt's. He'd hung the paintings to elicit a very specific response and I'd played right into it. The larger message was simple. It was a reminder that in this game we were playing, he was the king. He snapped his fingers and everyone would play whatever tune he wanted, me included.

Fear, anger, guilt. What was his next move? I wondered as I had many times before. And just like every time before, I hadn't the faintest idea. Even with all the time I'd spent with him to give me a clear picture of who he was and how he thought, I'd never been able to predict his moves. The one thing I knew to be a certainty was there wasn't a damn thing he wouldn't do and that meant everything I loved was at stake… that meant the people closest to me were in danger.

Ozzy, Peter, Patrick, Quinn, Prue, Nana, Abdul, Isaac, Dom, Scott, Ari, Sasah… Jake. They were all possible targets for Tony to choose from. It was terrifying to think about and so I forced myself to not think about it. The lights over Ozzy's bar eventually flashed ahead of me as I did my best to shed myself of the powerless feeling that was now firmly rooted in my stomach. I had to keep moving forward, even blindly. I had to focus on the good around me, even if it was just a tiny speck of it.

He wouldn't take this from me. He would never take anything from me again.

As I made my way to the door I heard the rumble of Dom's bike engine and felt a sense of relief wash over me. As he pulled into the bike spaces I reminded myself of my one advantage in this fucked up game. I had Dom. He wouldn't let anything bad happen. Not ever again.

He had a tired look in his eyes as he flung his leg over the side and stood, thanking the bikers around him as they followed suit.

“Busy day?” I called out, drawing his attention to me.

A thought made his brows pinch together as he sighed and walked toward me. “Yeah.”

As he walked with me through the bar door a faint, floral smell lingered on his jacket. I leaned in, smelling him a bit deeper. “You open a flower shop or something?”

“Huh?”

“You smell all flowery,” I replied tugging on his jacket.

Dom's face drained of any emotion as he shrugged. “Right. Yeah, I… Had some business with a florist.”

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips. “Are you back in the game of wooing Mav?”

“No.”

“Oh come on, you can tell me!” I playfully urged. “You know I'm in full support of your “marriage”.”

With a sigh he stopped, gently placing a hand on my arm. “Lena… There's something we should talk about.”

A sudden tightness seized my throat at his serious tone and blank expression. “What's going on?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sasha and the group waving their hands in the air, urging me to hurry and join them. “Tiger! Come on!”

Dom glanced at them and quickly shook his head. “I… just wanted to give you a heads up that Nana's got a big celebration planned for your birthday.”

“Oh.” A relieved breath left my lungs in the form of an anxious chuckle. “Oh, good. Fuck, you scared the shit out of me!”

“Sorry,” he quietly replied.

“It's okay. I promised Nana she could go all out this year and… I dunno…” Glancing back at my group, at my brothers and Quinn and Prue, the restaurant crew… Jake… I smiled. I had these people in my life. They may have been in danger by being here - being close to me - but they were here nonetheless. None of them cared about possible dangers, they still chose to be here with me. The weight that had made everything feel so heavy slowly eased as I looked at my friends… my family and smiled wider. “Maybe it won't be so bad this year.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he mumbled, giving me a pat on the head. “That's real good, kid. Now go on. Enjoy your night or whatever.”

I caught his arm before he could go too far, squeezing it and offering him a sad smile. “You been to visit her yet?”

Dom's whole body tensed. He likely thought I forgot, or maybe he just didn’t want to talk about it, but with a quick shake of his head, he answered “No… I don't know if I'm gonna this year.”

“Well if you do, tell her I said hi.” I knew that Dom didn't really believe in ghosts or angels. I knew to him Sarah wouldn't hear him or even know if he'd visited at all, but every year I still encouraged him to go to her grave as some kind of birthday gift to her. He had yet to do it, but I could tell that speaking of her fondly from time to time - acknowledging that his sister existed and had been important - helped ease the hurt in him a little.

But, tonight that didn't seem to be the case.

Dom averted his gaze, cleared his throat, and nodded to the group with a firm, “Go on.”

The chaos of the night continued as expected. My friends and their antics helped me push all the bad the day had to offer back into their boxes and as I met Jake's eyes over the bartop. I was scared that he’d still have that speck of doubt lingering in those beautiful eyes, but as he stared back at me all I could see was the desire. It reminded me of the good… of the possibility that I could have something normal.

Remembering how right it felt to kiss him, to feel him in every way physically possible made me flush with a shameless want to do it all again. Jake's never-faltering gaze didn't help either. It was like he knew exactly what I was thinking and that he wholeheartedly agreed. As the night progressed and the bar slowly started to slow I found myself avoiding leaving it. The pit in my stomach, though lessened still filled me with a lingering and old voice urging me to take the quickest, easiest path away from potential heartache. End it.

That conversation we didn't get to have was now right in front of me and I felt scared. Terrified that something had changed. If Jake told me he wanted to move on from last night it would gut me. But if he said he wanted us to be something official… That thought made me feel almost as sick, just in a different way. Get him as far away from you as possible.

How many men had come before him? All of whom I'd deeply felt for and all of whom Tony had destroyed in some way or another. So what would he do to Jake? What would Tony do to the man that I cared for most… The man who was different from every other in a way I didn't even fully understand. Protect him.

Ozzy set a hand on my shoulder and nudged me to the door. “Go on and get some rest, dear. You've helped enough.”

“Thanks,” I whispered, accepting the kiss on the head and making my way out the back door where I attempted to steel myself.

The gym was quiet, with only a few lights left on to illuminate the old pictures on the walls. As I looked at my dad's smiling face in every photo that scared voice in me quieted, instead replaced by his. “Why you gotta fight me every step of the way?”

“I don’t know what you want from me,” I’d replied coldly, angry and terrified. Dad had done nothing but offer me love and acceptance since I’d gotten back for the summer, two things I knew weren’t given away for free. He wanted something but instead of telling me what it was chose to play some cruel game instead.

My dad’s shoulders slumped slightly, a sigh falling from his lips as he stared down at me with a pitiful look. I prepared myself for his disappointment, but it never came. “I don’t want anything from you, Lena.”

Shaking my head I swallowed hard. “Everyone wants something from me.”

“Alright,” he finally relented. “I do want one thing. I want you to live.”

“I’m here, aren’t I?” I asked, timid but still angry.

“You’re alive, sure,” he replied, carefully reaching out to touch my shoulder. “But this ain’t living. This hostile… bitterness you’re carrying, it’s not what life’s supposed to be like. Especially not for a kid.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, guilt filling my lungs as another failure was added to the list.

Dad bent down, forcing our eyes to meet, and smiled. “Don’t be sorry. It ain’t your fault. Just… let us help you. Let me help you, sweet girl.”

With tears building in my eyes, I answered, “Okay. I… Sorry I’ve been making it so hard for you.”

He pulled me into his arms and kissed my head. “You make my life, all our lives, better just by bein here. All we want is for you to see that…” He pulled away, taking my face in his hands and smushing my cheeks the way he thought was funny. “Come on. Let’s go start livin, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

The sound of the alley door opening spurred me back into motion. As I headed up the stairs to the apartment I could hear Jake's steady footsteps following me. His movements didn’t sound rushed or hesitant, just steady. My heart hammered in my chest and my head filled with a hundred thoughts, a hundred voices all shouting different things at me. Jake appeared in the stairwell, hands in his pockets as he put one foot on the bottom step before stopping himself. “Now a good time to talk?”

The longer I looked down at him the quieter my mind got. Nodding I opened the door and shrugged. “As good a time as we’re probably gonna get.”

He trudged up the stairs with a faint smile on his face and all the noise, all the extra baggage weighing me down fell away. The smell of alcohol, faint cigarette smoke and Jake’s colognue reminded me that I was here. I was in this moment, not the ones in Tony’s paintings or in picture frames. I was here. I was alive and now I wanted to live.

Jake stepped inside and quietly watched me as I closed the door behind him. “You okay?”

“Yeah!” I replied, clearing my throat and taking a tensely casual position by the table. “Why wouldn't I be?”

He shrugged. “You seemed to be kind of somewhere else today… after seeing that painting.”

My jaw clenched as the ugly emotions in me wanted to return. “Yeah… That wasn't great but, I'm okay now.”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“No.” I laughed a little to myself, forcing my body to focus on that feeling of steadiness and safety that Jake’s presence brought me. “Besides, we have other stuff we need to talk about, don't we?”

Now he looked just as nervous as I felt. “Yeah.”

“We're kind of horrible at this, aren't we?”

Jake nodded in agreement, chuckling before he spoke, “Yeah… okay… Fuck it, I'm just gonna start. Neither of us do well with labels,” Jake offered before quickly stammering over his own words. “Not that I'm against labeling this as… Whatever. I just mean…”

“Why put a label on things when we're still figuring out exactly what things are?” I finished, ignoring the slight sting of disappointment that festered in my chest by focusing on the wave of relief.

“Exactly.” He scratched his head and cleared his throat. “So… We… keep it casual.”

“Casual,” I agreed. Casual was fun, predictable but most importantly safe. Casual was familiar to both of us and given everything that had happened - changed in our lives and in our friendship - maybe that was a safety net we both needed.

Casual.

Jake nodded, taking a careful step forward. “If someone were to ask what we were… What would we say to that?”

I watched his lips, resisting the urge to end all the tedious talking by kissing him. “We'd say we're casually seeing each other? Friends with benefits? Fuck buddies? Whatever feels right to you I'm fine with.”

“So, you're a girl I'm seeing… casually?”

Nodding I forced myself to meet his eyes, not that it helped either of us stay on track. “And you're a boy I'm seeing casually.”

Jake's hands slid around me, urging me to lean into him. With that simple touch, everything else faded into the back of my mind. I felt myself relax into him, my body finally able to focus on those tingling sensations of desire and excitement. “And since we're seeing each other, casually, it'd be perfectly normal for us to kiss, right?”

“I think it'd be expected, really.”

“Good,” he mumbled, running his thumb over my lower lip. “I liked being your friend and all, but I don't think I can go any longer without fucking you again.”

As if it had a mind of its own my tongue slipped out to lick his thumb and tug it between my teeth for a second. I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing, teasing… Testing the waters… Inviting him to fuck me as much as he wanted? “Well, what are you waiting for?”

Smirking, he brushed my hair behind my ears. “That.”

His lips further erased every ounce of tension, guilt, disappointment, and fear from my lungs. The way his hands cradled my face replaced everything with a warm fuzzy sense of safety. The painting, Howard, Simone… Nothing else mattered. As long as I had this, him, somehow I knew everything would be alright.

When he pulled back for air he smiled with a quiet sigh. “This is how our morning should have gone. Sorry about Simone.”

“It's alright. We’re here now.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, leaning back down towards me. “I haven't been able to think about anything else all day.”

Before our lips could connect again I threw one last taunt at him, “I knew you liked being my friend.”

Jake rolled his eyes, warm hands sliding down my cheek to take hold of my hips. “God you're insufferable.”

I ran my hands down his chest and whispered against his lips, “You like it.”

“Shut up.” Our lips finally touched, soft hands quickly turning into heated grabs at one another's clothes.

With a half step forward Jake pressed me into the back of a kitchen chair. His tongue invaded my mouth as his hands pulled my sleeves away from my shoulders, clearing a path for his lips and teeth to follow. The way his lips felt against my skin was something that made me shiver. Jake was… How had he put it? Adept in the art of pleasure? Smug bastard… And completely right.

“God,” Patrick groaned the second he opened the door. His hand slapped over his face, covering his eyes and sighing in defeat. “Guess I should get used to that now that you two are officially a thing.”

“Casually,” Jake and I both corrected.

My brother blindly made his way around the kitchen table. “Yeah yeah, “casually” whatever ya say. Just keep alla that “casual” touchy-feely shit in your room or something.”

“Sorry,” we both mumbled watching Patrick run into his bedroom door before quickly opening it and fleeing inside.

I nodded to my bedroom door and smiled as I tugged Jake toward it. He followed, pushing the door closed behind him. I practically pounced on him, pressing my chest into his as I pulled his head down to reconnect our lips. Jake stumbled slightly causing the door to rattle. Before we could say anything else Irish folk music blared through Pat’s speakers. A crystal clear message.

“Shhh,” I whispered against his collarbone with a giggle. “We have to be quiet!”

“I'm not the one that needs to worry about that.” To prove his point he took a handful of my ass and ground himself against my core, pulling a sharp - loud - moan from me.

“Nope! I'm leaving!” Patrick shouted as the music turned off. “You two have an hour before Pete gets back! For the love of god, be done before then!”

I smirked at Jake. “Now I finally have you all to myself.”

“Looks that way,” he replied. “You gonna entertain me?”

“Of course! What kind of host would I be if I didn't?”

His eyes sparkled with lust as he watched my mouth move. “Well, what's your plan?”

Leaning in I pressed my lips to his neck, occupying my hands with his belt and starting the slow drag of my body down his. When my knees hit the floor and I'd gotten Jake's pants down I looked up at him, fluttering my lashes and smiling at him. “I'm sure I'll think of something you'll enjoy.”

My dearest Lena,

In the unlikely event you're reading this letter I simply wished to send you a simple reminder of my devotion to you. A token of my love will be finding its way to your door soon and soon we will be reunited once more.

Yours, Anthony

Dom stared at the letter, examining each line as meticulously as he would an engine. He needed to know what the sick bastard had planned. Needed to know how to protect her from whatever was coming. Tony wouldn't make it easy or fair. He never did and this time was different. He was braver than before, bolder in his actions than Dom had ever seen him.

After the beating he'd given him upon hearing all he'd done to Lena, Tony should have been cowering in some far corner of the world. He should have been terrified to even set foot in the city again and yet there he was, in her apartment, waving at her landlord, waving at him.

The longer he held the evidence of Tony's visit the more guilty he felt for keeping it secret. Lena deserved to know. Her brothers had the right to know about the danger. They all deserved better than he could give them.

With a sigh, he lifted the lighter to the corner of the paper and watched the fire spread to the cursive words in ink. He dropped it into the empty bin and picked the orange flower up off the table before tossing it into the fire too.

He should have killed Tony a hundred times by now. A mistake he wasn't going to make again. Then and there Dom silently vowed that the next time he saw that fuckers face he'd put a bullet between his eyes.

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endlessbittersweetdreams · 10 months

Text

SUMMARY: Robyn tries to gather up the nerve to confront Ethan about his infidelity.

SONG CREDITS: "Edge of a Broken Heart," by Vixen.

Robyn woke up slowly, finding herself in the same position she'd been in the night before. Her head was resting on Jake's shoulder, her right hand settled on top of his chest. Her eyes were swollen, her head felt heavy, and her mind was foggy from sleep. She felt numb as she thought about the events that had led her to Jake's bed once again, and she was grateful for it. Though she did wonder how long it would last.

As she lay in bed, staring at the window and watching as the curtains billowed in the breeze, she realized just how drastically her life had changed within the span of a few moments. She'd spent three years building a life with Ethan, and now everything had crashed and burned. If he had simply told her that he didn't want to be with her anymore, she could have handled it. Yes, she would have been heartbroken. But at least she wouldn't have to live with the knowledge that he'd been cheating on her. His betrayal hurt more than she could possibly imagine, and she had no idea how she'd ever recover.

She let out a quiet sigh when her bladder began to nag at her, and she tried to carefully extricate herself from Jake's arms without waking him. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until her foot brushed against his, and she cringed a bit when he began to stir.

"Mmm ...."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," she softly said. "Go back to sleep."

Jake fell silent and, convinced that he was sleeping once more, Robyn slid out of bed and tip-toed her way to the bathroom. After doing her business and washing her hands, she took a look at herself in the mirror. Taking in her appearance, she muttered to herself "I look like the Corpse Bride," and then freshened up a bit. When she finally stepped out of the bathroom, she found Jake leaning against his headboard with a lit cigarette between his lips.

"Mornin'," he greeted, his voice rough from sleep.

Feeling a little uncertain, she gave him a little smile. "Hello. I'm sorry for waking you."

He gave her a shrug. "No big deal." He patted the empty space on the bed, gesturing for her to join him.

Robyn hesitated, feeling like she'd crossed a line. She was so used to maintaining her composure, and she'd completely failed at that last night. She hated exposing her vulnerability to anyone. She relented, though, careful not to get too close. When he offered her a cigarette, she declined.

"How are you feeling?" he asked carefully.

She fell silent for a few moments, contemplating her answer. "Oddly enough, I feel ... nothing. You'd think that I would be angry or sad. But I'm just ... numb." She shook her head in confusion. "I don't understand it."

Jake observed her closely. Though she'd slept soundly, she looked exhausted. Drained. And when he looked into her eyes, they were missing the spark that usually filled them. She seemed lost and broken, and it killed him to see her like this. Ethan's betrayal had managed to quench her fire, and he wondered when she'd get it back.

He put out the cigarette and left its remains in the ash tray, which he set aside on the table next to the bed. "It's normal," he reasoned, and Robyn looked to him for an explanation. "I guess it's a way to protect yourself from becoming too overwhelmed."

Robyn considered it for a moment, nodding in acceptance. "Is this what it was like for you, when Tess cheated?"

"Naw. I mean, don't get me wrong. It sucked, and I was hurt. But mostly, I was angry. Angry at her. Angry at Howard. Angry at myself for letting her get close to me."

"How did you cope?" Her voice sounded tiny and meek, and she seemed fragile.

"Oh, you know, the usual. I drank and got high. And when the drugs and the drink weren't enough, I went back to my old pattern with women."

She fell silent for a few moments, frowning. "I don't like getting drunk, I've never tried drugs, and sex is definitely off the table for a while. Guess I'll have to find a different coping mechanism."

She heaved out a sigh and suddenly got up, walking toward the set of mirrors that hung on the wall across from Jake's bed. She bent down and picked up her ballgown, holding it with both hands as she moved over to the sofa. She sat down slowly, letting out a bitter laugh. "Looking back, I suppose I looked ridiculous in this thing."

"No, you didn't," Jake corrected her. She didn't look at him, her gaze fixed on the bodice. "You looked beautiful."

"I gave away my other two dresses. I suppose I should do the same with this one." Quietly, she admitted "I just wanted to feel special. Different. I'm ashamed to admit this, but I wanted to stand out for once."

Jake wanted to tell her that she always stood out; that the way she carried herself caused everyone's eyes to be drawn to her. But he had a feeling that if he told her that, she'd feel like she was being patronized.

"I suppose I should bag this up and get out of your hair."

"You don't have to leave so soon. You can stay here all day, if you want."

"No. I've already burdened you enough."

"You're not a burden."

"Don't you have to leave for work in a few hours?"

"Oh, that's right. You didn't hear. The restaurant's closed." When her eyes widened with worry, he explained with a chuckle. "Not permanently. The health inspector stopped by, and there are a few upgrades that need to be implemented. The work should be completed by tomorrow, and we're still being paid for the time off."

"You've already done so much. I can't imagine how much money you lost because of me. I'm --"

Slowly and patiently, his tone even, Jake argued "Don't worry about the money. It's not that much." Okay. So that was a lie. But she didn't have to know the truth. Did she? "Like I said, you're not a burden." When Robyn closed her mouth, he switched to a different subject. "Are you hungry?"

"No. Not really. But ... I suppose I should eat."

"I still need to go food shopping. But Simone's pasta should still be good. You're not allergic to shrimp. Are you?"

"No."

Robyn set her dress down and reached for her clutch, pulling out her cell phone. The battery was down a bar or two, and she could see that she'd missed a few phone calls. Three were from Ethan, while the other two were from Chloe and Sam. Not at all interested in hearing Ethan ramble on and on about how worried he supposedly was, she deleted his messages almost immediately and then listened to the ones left by Chloe and Sam. Apparently, Ethan had reached out to them and asked if they knew where Robyn was. And, as predicted, both women were panicking and assuming the worst. She felt awful for leaving them to worry for so long, and she knew she had to figure out some way to make it up to the both of them.

I'm so sorry to make you worry. I'm fine, and I'm in a safe place, she typed. Her fingers hovering over the phone's touchscreen keyboard, she contemplated the rest of her message. Something happened last night. I promise that I will tell you all about it. I just need some time to figure things out. She was tempted to mention Ethan's secret relationship with Madeline, but she thought better of it. She wanted a chance to confront him, and she couldn't do that if Sam throttled him to within an inch of his life.

The microwave dinged, and Jake transferred Simone's Pesto Shrimp with Linguine to two plates. Robyn watched as he expertly balanced one of the plates on his arm while carrying the other plate, as well as a mug of coffee, with his hands. He set the coffee down in front of Robyn first, and then he presented her with her meal.

"I present to you ... Pesto Shrimp with Linguine. It's one of Simone's favorites."

"Thank you. It looks delicious."

Jake set his plate down on the coffee table and then ventured into the kitchen, retrieving his own mug of coffee and some liquid creamer. When he returned to the living room, he was pleased to see that Robyn was chewing. He didn't know how big her appetite was, but she had to eat something. Since the other end of the sofa was currently occupied by Robyn's dress, he settled down on the floor instead. Seeing the frown on her face, he eyed her with concern. "Is the pasta warm enough?"

"It's fine." She sighed, stabbing another piece of pesto-covered shrimp. "I can't hide out here forever. I have to go home. I just ..."

"You think he'll be there?"

She nodded. "He does have the spare key. He's probably waiting for me right now." Not that she believed, for one moment, that he actually cared about her. Thanks to his infidelity, Robyn now knew how little regard he had for her. If he were waiting for her at her apartment, it would be for the sake of keeping up appearances. Nothing more.

"You don't have to face him if you're not ready," Jake reasoned, taking a sip of coffee.

"I know. II want to get it over and done with. But I don't know if I have the strength."

He furrowed his brows as he chewed his food, swallowing it before he carefully inquired "You're not thinking of giving him another chance. Are you?" He cringed inwardly, realizing how judgmental that sounded.

"No! Absolutely not!" Robyn objected vehemently. "I know I have to end it. I do. He hurt me so much, Jake. It's just that I'm afraid that when I see him again, I'll ... I don't know what I'll do. I sound pathetic. Don't I?"

Poking at her food, she interpreted Jake's quietness as a silent agreement. When in actuality, he simply didn't know what to say. How could he convince her to stop judging herself so harshly?

"It's just ... I've been part of 'Ethan and Robyn' for so long, I've forgotten what it's like to be just Robyn. I don't know how it happened, or even when it happened, but I lost myself in this relationship." She let out a disgusted huff. "My parents would be ashamed of me. And my sister! I can only imagine what she'd think."

Jake watched as she absentmindedly moved her food around with her fork, staring down at it as though it could provide her with the answers she needed. He still couldn't believe that he'd found himself in a situation that he had hoped to avoid. And yet here he was, choosing to lower his defenses long enough to provide Robyn with the friendship and consolation she needed. What was he? Her knight in cotton armor? Granted, he was used to picking Simone up off of the floor. But she was family. Robyn, on the other hand, was someone he'd known for a brief amount of time. What was it about her that made him behave this way?

Robyn was the first to step off of the elevator, and the clacking of her silver heels echoed through the hallway as she began to lead Jake in the direction of her apartment. Her dress was stuffed inside a black garbage bag, which she'd draped over her left arm. She was currently wearing the t-shirt, shorts and hoodie she'd borrowed from Jake. These clothes, combined with her heels, made her feel utterly ridiculous. She could only imagine what her neighbors would think of her, and she silently prayed that Mrs. Jorgensen wouldn't notice her return.

But her appearance was the least of her concerns. If her suspicions were correct, Ethan would be waiting for her inside her apartment. She knew what she had to do. But she wasn't looking forward to the pain the breakup would create. In spite of his infidelity and the way he'd treated her, she still loved him. He'd been a part of her life for so long, and she found it strange to picture life without him.

When they came to a stop outside of a door marked 3A, Robyn let out a quiet sigh. "Here we are. Home sweet home."

Her hand began to shake as she inserted the key into the lock, and she let out a steadying breath before she turned it to the left. She slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside, Jake following closely behind her. She came to a sudden stop when she saw Ethan sitting in one of the arm chairs, and she was briefly distracted when Jake bumped into her.

Ethan glanced up at them, letting out a breath of relief as he rose from his seat. "Robbie, there you are! Thank God! I was so worried!" Looking her up and down, he took note of what she was wearing. "What happened to your dress? And where have you been? I was so worried!"

Robyn said nothing as she tossed her belongings onto the sofa. Ethan took a few steps toward her, holding his arms out as though he were trying to give her a hug. But when Robyn stepped to the side and avoided his embrace, he stopped in his tracks.

"Robbie, what's wrong?"

She held up a hand, her voice shaking. "Just stay away from me, Ethan!"

Jake quietly observed the couple as he stood behind Robyn. The rational part of his mind was screaming at him to get out of there; to leave it be. He'd done his part. Right? He'd looked after Robyn. Given her a shoulder to cry on. That should be enough. But he couldn't help it. In spite of everything, he still cared for her. He'd seen her this far. Why not go a little further?

Ethan tilted his head to the side, giving her a confused look. "Robbie, what's wrong? I don't understand. Where have you been? And why are you dressed like ..." He gestured at her. "... that? And what is he doing here?" He took a few steps toward Robyn, who stepped back.

Ethan took note of the way Jake hovered around her as though seeking to protect her. He narrowed his eyes at the both of them, working things out in his mind. "Wait a minute. Were you with him all night? Did you sleep with him?" He reached for a piece of paper that he'd left out on the kitchen island, holding it up for her to see. "Is that why you drew this?! Because you've been fucking him?"

Robyn looked at the item in question, her eyes widening in shock. "You searched through my things?!"

A flicker of surprise passed over Jake's face as he caught a brief glimpse of the sketch of his likeness. His brow furrowed with curiosity as he analyzed the drawing, the subject matter leaving him puzzled. The sketch captured his features with astounding detail and precision, and he knew that Robyn must have spent a great deal of time working on it. But why?

Robyn made a move to snatch the drawing from Ethan, but she was too late. She watched in horror as he tore it up and tossed it to the floor, casting a warning glare in Jake's direction.

"He's the one. Isn't he? He's the one you were sleeping with."

Sensing where this was heading, Jake stood up straight and balled his hand into a fist. Ethan didn't approach him, choosing to look Jake up and down as though assessing him.

"You are the one. Aren't you?"

Tension seemed to crackle in the air. While Jake said nothing, his smirk was all the confirmation Ethan needed. The atmosphere became suffocating, and Robyn eyed the two men carefully. She swallowed the lump in her throat, knowing she had to defuse the situation before things spiraled out of control. Ethan clenched his fists and took a few steps toward Jake, and Robyn scrambled to step in-between the two men.

"Save it, Ethan!" she bellowed. "I know what you did! I know about you and Madeline! So you can drop your jealous boyfriend act!"

Robyn's outburst distracted Ethan, whose eyes widened. A flicker of panic crossed his features before he composed himself. He would deal with Jake later. Robyn had backed away again, and Ethan took a step toward her. Feeling disheartened when she held up a hand to stop him, he said "Robyn, it's not what it seems. Please let me --"

"No, Ethan! I don't want to hear your excuses or your fucking apologies! What I need is for you to get the fuck out of here! Stay away from me! It's over!"

Not willing to give up, Ethan gave her his best remorseful look. "Robyn, please," he begged. "I made a terrible, horrible mistake. I, I don't know what I was thinking. Look. I'm going to end things with Madeline. I swear."

"Is that before or after you move with her to Los Angeles?" She crossed her arms in front of her chest, stepping toward him a bit. When Ethan had the gall to give her a surprised look, she nodded. "That's right, Ethan. I know all about your plans."

"How?" Ethan asked, his voice cracking with nervousness.

"When you disappeared last night, I went looking for you. I found you and Madeline in the gazebo. I heard everything." Ethan opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. Her voice breaking, she shook her head in disbelief as tears began to well in her eyes. "Why, Ethan? Why did you do this? To me? To us?"

"Robyn, I ... I can't explain it. It was a stupid thing. A stupid, selfish mistake."

She shook her head. "No, Ethan. I'm not buying it. Cheating on me isn't a mistake. It's a choice. A stupid, selfish choice. Just tell me why. And tell me the truth this time. You owe me that much."

Ethan was quiet for a few seconds, taking a few steps backwards to lean on the table behind the sofa. He tried to find an explanation that would spare Robyn's feelings, but he came up blank. Running a hand over his face and letting out a defeated sigh, he kept his tone even. "You're right. You deserve the truth. And the truth is ... you've changed, Robyn."

"What do you mean, I've changed?"

"Before the attack, you were so ... vivacious. Full of life. Nothing scared you. That's the thing that made me fall in love with you, Robyn: your fire. But after the attack, you became withdrawn. Fragile. Everything terrified you, and you lost that spark that made you so special."

Jake's mouth fell open in shock and his brows were knit together, the audacity of Ethan's confession leaving him feeling disgusted. Knowing it wasn't his place to intervene, he turned away from them and tried to keep his emotions in check.

"I was almost killed, Ethan. I nearly died. Those men stabbed me and carved into me. They almost ..." She stopped, unable to continue with that train of thought. "Of course everything terrified me. But I got better."

Ethan nodded in agreement. "Yeah. You're right. You did get better. But you're still not the same. I miss the fun Robyn. The one who wasn't afraid to take risks and live life to the fullest. You're not the same, Rob. It's like you're a shadow of your former self. And I know it's shitty of me to feel like this, but I can't help it."

"So you're trying to blame me for this, this ... whatever it is between you and Madeline? If you couldn't handle my trauma, Ethan, you should have walked away!"

"I didn't want to set your recovery back." Robyn scoffed at this. "And maybe I ... Maybe I was hoping things would go back to the way they were."

"Well, look at you! The great, big hero, come to save the damsel in distress! Let's throw you a parade!" Robyn stared at Ethan in disgust. "Did you think that I'd forget about what happened; that I'd get over my PTSD and move on, and act like everything's normal? You could have just talked to me! You should have just told me that you couldn't handle my trauma and that you wanted to end things. Yes, I would have been hurt. But at least then, I wouldn't feel so disrespected!"

"I'm sorry. Robbie. I, I don't know what to say. I messed up."

"Just how long has this little tryst of yours been going on?"

"Robbie, I --"

"How long?!"

Ethan sighed. "A few months. I haven't been keeping track." Gesturing to Jake, he attempted to change the subject. "Does he really need to be here?"

Jake turned his head to glare at the attorney, and Robyn began to gesture wildly. "Yes, he does! He's been here for me since last night because he, unlike you, actually cares for me! He's the one who found me crying on the stairs! He's the one who made sure I was somewhere safe and warm! And he's the one who let me cry on his shoulder. And where were you? You were busy shagging Madeline in that damn gazebo, during our masquerade ball!" She quieted down again, turning away from Ethan for a moment as she ran a hand through her hair. "Do you love her?"

"No."

"And yet, she's worth destroying everything we've built! Tell me something, Ethan. That open relationship idea that you came up with ... Was it for my sake, or was it just so you could give yourself permission to fuck around with Madeline?"

When he didn't answer, realization dawned on her. As she walked toward him, she became emboldened. "You didn't think I would really go through with it. Did you? You thought that I would sit here at home, pining for you, waiting for you to throw a few crumbs of attention my way. Same old, reliable, pathetic Robyn. Right? She's afraid of her own shadow! Of course she won't have the guts to sleep with someone else!" She let out a humorless laugh. "But I surprised you. Didn't I? I finally grew tired of waiting, and I took you up on your offer. And when you saw that I was having fun - that I was opening myself up to new experiences - you couldn't handle it. Could you?"

She was standing close to him now, glowering up at him. She knew that what she was about to say next would be petty and even childish, but she didn't care. Ethan had hurt her, terribly. She might as well hit him where it hurt. "And guess what, Ethan? That lover I found? He was good. Amazing, in fact." Jake lifted his eyebrows at her comment, and he couldn't help the little self-satisfied smirk that graced is features. "He satisfied me in ways that you have never been able to. He took his time with me. Didn't rush me. Held me afterwards. Made me feel safe and special. He did all of the things that you couldn't be bothered to do, and he's the best lover I've ever had!"

Ethan bristled at her words, and Robyn gave him a smug smile. "You know, I thought that we could discuss this like adults," he retorted, turning away from her and walking away.

Robyn followed him, unwilling to relent. "You want to talk, Ethan? Let's talk! How many have there been?"

He slipped into his jacket and then whirled around to face her. "What?"

"Women, Ethan. How many women have there been? Is it just Madeline, or have you started a collection?"

Ethan shook his head and straightened his sleeves. "You're being ridiculous."

"No, Ethan. I'm waking up. For the first time in a long while, I'm thinking with a clear head. I've wasted three years of my life on you, putting up with one empty promise after the next. Listening to you blather on and on about how you want to marry me and start a family with me. Well, thank God you never proposed ... because I, being the lovestruck idiot that I was, would have said yes. And then one day, one year from now or ten years from now, I would have realized that the life I built with you was based on a lie. Given your track record, I would have been one of those pathetic women who's so devoted to her husband that she's blind to the fact that he's been having affairs. Just admit it. Admit that you never loved me."

"That's not true, Robbie! I --"

Robyn's expression softened for a moment, a pang of sadness cutting through her rage. But the moment was brief, and her anger returned. Her voice tinged with disappointment, she moved on. "No, Ethan. You never loved me. Love isn't just about words. It's more than flowers and cards, and cheesy songs that mean nothing! It's about trust and respect. You obviously don't respect me, and you certainly don't have my trust. Get out."

Ethan walked toward Robyn, looking at her pleadingly. "Robbie, please. Don't do this. We can work it out."

"No, Ethan. We can't work it out. There is nothing that you can do or say that will erase this or, or make it better! I loved you, Ethan! I would have never cheated on you! But you? You've treated me like shit, and I'm tired of it!"

"So that's it? After three years, you're throwing it all away?"

"You threw it all away the moment you fucked her. And you know what? She can have you. You can go to Los Angeles with her and build your career. I don't want you, and I certainly don't need you." Holding out her hand, she lifted an expectant brow. "My key?"

Ethan hesitated, hoping to delay the inevitable. Robyn could say what she wanted. He knew how he felt about her. Yeah, he'd made some bad decisions. But at the end of the day, he loved her. He wasn't going to give up that easily. He knew that it was a matter of time before he'd win her back. But for now, he'd play her game.

He reached into the pocket of his pants, pulling out the Scales of Justice key chain that Robyn had given to him on his birthday. As he worked on freeing her apartment key from the loop, he shook his head. "It doesn't have to be this way, Robyn."

"Yes, it does."

Ethan reluctantly handed over the key, watching as Robyn stepped away. She turned her back to him, resting her hands on the counter by the sink, doing what she could to keep her emotions in check. She was exhausted and drained, and she feared that her will power would cave at any moment.

Ethan scowled as Jake stood next to Robyn, fixing him with an almost murderous glare. The lawyer wouldn't lie. Part of him - a large part - wanted nothing more than to beat the bartender to within an inch of his life. But he knew he had to play it smart. He could achieve nothing if he landed himself behind bars. His gaze lingered on Robyn for a few moments before he turned on his heel and walked of the apartment.

Robyn cringed when the door slammed shut, and she let out a shaky breath as she wiped away her tears. Trembling a bit, she slowly turned around and made the mistake of looking at the rose bouquet Ethan had given to her the night before. Her bottom lip quivering, she walked up to the kitchen island and then apprehensively reached out to touch the soft crimson petals of one of the roses.

"They're beautiful. Aren't they?" she asked softly, staring at them in a daze.

Jake watched her closely. "Robyn, are you all right?"

She gave him a little nod, sniffling a bit. "Of course I am. I'm just fine."

Jake wasn't buying it, though, and he took a few steps toward her. He stopped in his tracks and jumped a bit when Robyn suddenly lashed out with her right hand and knocked the vase off of the counter. Jake's eyes widened in shock as he watched the glass vase shatter into countless pieces, the vibrant flowers scattering across the tiles.

Her trembling hands balled up into fists, Robyn fought back tears as she realized the depth of her emotions. She had devoted so much time to Ethan, and for what? She felt stupid and pathetic. And while she'd love to put all of the blame on Ethan's shoulders, she now realized that she'd allowed it to happen. Her anger, previously directed at the vase, shifted inward. And as the shards sparkled on the floor, it was as though every piece represented her broken dreams and shattered heart.

"Robyn --"

"I'd better clean this up," she said wearily, brushing past Jake to retrieve the broom and dustpan from the closet.

"Let me."

"I can do it. I made the mess. Let me clean it up."

Jake watched as Robyn went through the process of cleaning up the broken glass, sensing the weight of her emotions. Her hands were still shaking slightly as she gathered the remains of the shattered vase. Her movements were methodical and precise, a physical representation of her need to regain control over her emotions.

She dumped the remnants of the vase into the garbage can, and then she bent down to pick up the roses. A flicker of remorse danced across her face. She stared at them intently, contemplating the memory they represented. Her expression hardening with determination, she tossed the roses into the garbage. She knew that she was being wasteful, but these roses were a painful reminder of their failed relationship. They would only serve to taunt her with memories of her time with Ethan.

Now that the glass and roses were cleared, she turned her focus to gathering up the pieces of the sketch. She'd poured her heart and soul into that drawing, attempting to capture the light in Jake's eyes and the sly smirk that drew a corner of his mouth upwards. Looking back, she realized how foolish she'd been to keep it in her desk drawer. But how was she supposed to know that Ethan, the man she'd trusted, would search through her belongings? She knew that she could put the pieces back together. But it, must like her heart, would never be the same.

Robyn set the pieces of the sketch down on the counter, deciding that she would deal with them when she felt up to it. After a moment's hesitation, Jake stepped forward and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Silence filled the room as Robyn reached up and rested her hand on top of his, a gesture of gratitude. Exhausted and at a loss for words, she stepped into the living room and settled down on the sofa. She heaved out a sigh, feeling as though the weight of the world were resting on her shoulders. Jake settled down in one of the arm chairs, watching her closely. She reached into her clutch and pulled out her cell phone, typing out a quick message to Sam and Chloe.

Ethan and I are over. I broke up with him. If you're not busy, I could use the company.

When she took note of the furrow in his brow, she gave him the smallest hint of a smile. "I'll be fine, Jake. There's no need to stay with me if you don't want to. I'm not going to do anything stupid."

A soft meow captured their attention, and they watched as Luna strolled into the room. With her off-white fur, warm gray shading, and brilliant blue eyes, she was the picture of feline elegance. She made an adorable trilling sound as she jumped up onto the sofa and greeted her human, blissfully unaware of what happened just a few minutes ago. With a gentle brush against her hand, Luna urged Robyn to acknowledge her presence. Robyn gave Luna a soft smile and pulled her close, feeling her heart warm a bit as the feline began to purr with contentment.

"That must be the famous Luna," Jake commented with a gesture.

Robyn nodded. "Yes. She's the one good thing that came from my relationship with Ethan."

Purring contentedly, Luna nuzzled Robyn's face as though saying "Cheer up, human. I'm here."

An hour later, Robyn was curled up on the sofa and wrapped up in an afghan. In spite of what she'd said, Jake had insisted staying with her until her friends arrived. He was sitting in the arm chair he'd occupied earlier, and it seemed as though Luna had taken to him. Currently, she was curled up on his lap, purring contentedly as Jake alternated between stroking her back and scratching beneath her chin.

As touched as she was by his concern, Robyn couldn't help but feel like she was a burden to him. He should be out and about, enjoying his day off. Instead, he was stuck babysitting her. She'd mentioned as much, but he had shrugged off her concerns and joked "Oh, yeah. I had big plans today. Grocery shopping and laundry. So exciting." When she opened her mouth to say something more, he'd held up a hand and said "Look. I'm staying. Deal with it," with that smug smile of his. She'd finally given up. In truth, she was grateful for the company.

A soft knock sounded on the door, and Robyn made a move to get up. But Jake beat her to it, carefully setting Luna down before he stood up. He looked through the peep hole to be certain that Ethan hadn't returned, and then pulled the door open for Chloe.

Chloe's eyes widened in surprise. "Jake! What are you doing here?" she asked before she brushed past him.

"Always good to see you, too, Chloe," he joked, closing the door.

Chloe gave him a remorseful look. "I'm sorry. I'm just surprised." Eyeing the afghan-covered lump that was curled up on the sofa, she assumed that Robyn was sleeping. And so, lowering her voice a bit, she inquired "How is she?"

Jake heaved out a sigh and shook his head. "She's been quiet, and she hasn't had much of an appetite."

Robyn's tone was flat as she announced "She's also awake." She sat up slowly, giving Chloe a tiny smile. "I'm so glad you're here, Clo. Where's Sam?"

Chloe gave Robyn a hug and sat down next to her, holding her close. Rubbing her shoulder through the afghan, she answered "She's on her way. She's just picking up a few things. Putting together a comfort package."

"Alcohol and ice cream, I take it?"

Chloe nodded. "And plenty of chocolate. All of your favorite snacks." She paused for a moment. "I know this is a stupid question. But how are you doing?"

Robyn let out a shaky breath. "Not so great." And then, as though remembering that Jake was still in the room, looked at him. Giving him a thankful smile, she added "But Jake's been looking after me, and I don't know what I would have done without him."

Chloe followed Robyn's gaze, and she couldn't help but pick up on the romantic atmosphere that seemed to fill the room. Taking note of the longing in the bartender's eyes, Chloe fought the urge to smile. It seemed that her suspicions about Jake's feelings for Robyn were valid after all.

Jake felt a little awkward under the women's gazes, a rare thing for him. A slight flush gracing his cheeks, he decided that now would be a good time to make his exit. "Yeah. Well, I'm glad I could be there for you. I'm gonna head out," he stated, pointing a thumb to the door behind him.

Robyn stood up from the sofa, leaving the afghan on the sofa. Taking a few steps forward, she favored Jake with a genuine smile. "Thank you, Jake. I'm sorry you were caught up in all of this, but ... thank you." She made a move to unzip the hoodie, but he stopped her.

"Hang on to it for a while. I have others." Jake had surprised even himself. Since when did he ever practically give away his favorite hoodie? What was wrong with him?

Robyn's hand stopped over the zipper. "I'll return the clothes to you as soon as possible."

Jake gave her a nod and a smile, watching as she returned to the sofa and her afghan. Bidding a silent goodbye to Chloe, he opened the door. He was about to step out when Chloe called out to him.

"Hey, Jake! Wait up!" She walked up to him and gave him a meaningful look as she continued. "Those elevator buttons can be kind of tricky. We keep telling the supervisor about it, but you know how the can be." She looked back at Robyn and gave her a wide smile. "Be right back, Rob." Robyn gave her a confused look and watched as her friend and the bartender exited the apartment.

Walking next to Chloe, Jake let out a soft chuckle. "Broken elevator buttons? Is that the best you could do?" he teased. "What's on your mind?"

They came to a stop outside the elevator, and Jake leaned against the wall. He gave her an expectant look, and she fidgeted a little. Trying to choose her words carefully, she settled for "You have feelings for Robyn. Don't you?" Sometimes, the blunt way was the correct way.

Jake maintained eye contact, refusing to allow any trace of vulnerability to show. "What makes you say that?"

"The way you look at her, for starters. And then, there's what you did for her."

"She's been through hell. Someone had to be there for her."

"And you were. Jake, most guys would have ditched her when they realized they weren't getting something in return. But you? You stayed with her and took care of her. You act like that's nothing. But to Robyn, that's everything. You were there for her. Don't act like it's because you didn't have anything better to do."

Feeling uncomfortable, Jake averted Chloe's gaze. Why did she have to be so damn perceptive? "Am I that obvious?" He looked back at her, and she gave him a "Boy, please!" look.

"If it's any consolation, she feels the same way." Jake's eyebrows turned up in surprise, and she said with a chuckle "Like you didn't know. Look. You didn't ask for my advice, but I'm giving it to you anyway. Robyn is going through hell right now, and she's going to need some time to heal."

"So what you're saying is --"

"What I'm saying is ... give her time. Be her friend. And then, when the time is right, let her know how you feel." She eyed him carefully. "Do you think you can wait for her?"

He contemplated Chloe's advice, weighing the pros and cons. Did he believe that he had the patience and understanding that would be required? Was he willing to be just friends with Robyn, even though he wanted so much more? Was he up to the challenge? What if he waited for her, only to have things blow up in his face like they had with Tess? Was Robyn worth the cost?

Jake took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I think I can."

"Good. Because Robyn's worth it, and she deserves someone who cares about her. Speaking of Robyn, I'd better get back in there. Take care."

The blonde turned on her heel and walked in the direction of Robyn's apartment, while Jake pressed the elevator's DOWN button. A ding sounded a few seconds later and the door slid open. With a sense of determination, Jake stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor. Leaning against the railing, he thought about the road that stretched out before him. He knew that it wouldn't be easy, but what Chloe said was true: Robyn was worth it.

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