River-rose plopped down on the couch beside her boyfriend with a bowl of popcorn in her hands. She offered over the bowl and he snatched it away and placed it on the coffee table that was always literred with some type of caffeine, alcoholic beverage, plastic water bottle and pain killers for his hangovers.

She yelped as he grabbed her waist and tugged her up into his lap. His tongue licked a wet trail lightly up her neck and she grimaced. She absolutely despised when he did that. She felt like she was like getting licked by one of those big dogs from beethoven. A St. Benard it was called.

His cold hands slipped under her shirt as he kissed her and she pulled away from him. He growled and tightened his grip on her sides.

He gazed into her honey-green eyes with his hazel brown eyes, the ones she had fallen in love with.

"I need you. Why won't you let me have you?" He asked in a pleading voice that made her feel somewhat guilty for rejecting him. He reminded her of a kicked puppy.

"I'm not ready," she said quietly.

"When will you be ready?" He growled out.

She flinched back from his tone. One of the things she hated, was when he was angry with her; which was becoming more and more now days. When he was angry, he wasn't like the person she fell in love with.

The first time she met him, her being the clumsy person she is, tripped over a persons foot in school and as clichè as it was, he had caught her before she hit the ground. She'd quite literally fallen for him.

Later on, he brought her flowers and asked her to prom. Obviously, she had said yes. Why wouldn't she?

He had a certain type of smile that could charm literally anyone and for some reason he had decided to use that smile on her. It also didn't help that he was a handsome hunk of man with his hazel-brown and his dirty blond, cropped hair. He was tall at the height of 6'1 and a half. And at the time he was on the football (soccer) team, so he was obviously visibly fit.

It had only taken four months for her to fall head over sneakers in love with him and his sweet persona. He was seemingly perfect but he had a bad habit of drinking whenever he had a stressful day or he was upset. The alcohol would cause him to verbally abuse her, but she would just take the lashes because she knew he wasn't in his right mind.

There was a time when he was so frustrated with her for not sleeping with him, that he slapped her. That was where she had drawn the line. He had just a crossed boundary she wasn't even tampering with. She was going to break up with him right there and then but then he continually apologized until she noticed tears well up in his eyes. Her resolve immediately broke and she stayed with him; allowed him to mold her into his little defenseless kitten.

A little later on, Nico's mother had passed away and he turned into a walking volcano. She never knew when he'd erupt. Instead of coming to her for help, he turned to alcohol. Soon he began giving her what he called 'punishments' or 'lessons' if she did something that angered him.

No matter how many punishments he gave her and no matter how many lessons he taught her, she still stayed by his side. Somewhere in her knew that part of the reason she stayed with him was because she felt some sort of sadness for him. He was depressed after the death of his mother and he didn't know how to cope with his feelings. She wanted to help him get better. She wanted to love him and she wanted the old him back. The one that loved her and kissed her and told her how pretty she looked. She also stayed because when he wasn't angry, he was sweet and funny.

"How was school, babe?" Nico asked as he pushed her off his lap to grab the popcorn.

River smiled at the nickname and the fact that he asked her about school. It had been a while since he'd done that.

"It was good. I got an 89% on my science test."

He grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. "That's good. Any boys tried to talk to you lately?"

She sighed as she dropped her head. "No," she said quietly. "They stopped trying after you came to the school and threatened them two months ago."

"Good, good." He leaned over and kissed her lips.

She shrank back when she felt his hands slowly trail down to her school skirt.

"Can't we watch the movie?" River asked shakily.

He huffed and sat up. "Get out of here. Im tired of this."

"B-" He cut her off with a deadly glare.

"Go home. You shouldn't talk back to me, you know that. I could teach you another lesson." She quickly shook her head. "But i'm going to let this slide because i'm tired." She let out a breath of releif.

"Okay," she said as she got up slowly. "Ni-"

"Get out!"

°•○●○•°

River-rose tucked the bloodly tissue into the pocket of her school blazer before going to unlock the door of her large house.

Nico had shoved her backwards in an attempt to to make her leave faster and she had hit her shin on the coffee table in the process. It had caused her skin to break and she had to pat the blood away every few minutes.

To her surprise, the door was unlocked and she immediately began to overthink things. One of them being someone had broken in.

Slowly, River opened the door and peaked inside. The sounds of her parents quiet voices filled her ears. She had to hold onto the side of the door frame to keep herself from falling over in shock. It wasn't like her parents to be home so early.

She quietly strolled towards the kitchen where their hushed voices were coming from.

"Papa? Mama? Hi," she said as she stepped into the kitchen doorway hesitantly.

Her parents looked over to her in surprise from the kitchen island they sat at. It was obvious they hadn't heard her come in even though the house was so serenly quiet. River's steps were always light and careful.

"River, my dear," Lianne, her mother, said as she got up. "You look so beautiful today. My little girl is all grown up."

River just looked at her mother blankly, she didn't know how to feel or react. She didn't know if her parents being home should have worried her.

"Hello River. Why don't you have a seat here and your mother can fix you your favorite," Ross, her dad, said as he guestered to the chair across from him.

River cautiously made her way over to the chair, eyeing her father as she tried to get up on the bar stool. She struggled slightly when she realized how short she was compared to the chair.

Once she was finally seated, she looked up at her dad. She now noticed the slightly panicked look in his hazel eyes and the air in the kitchen seemed stuffy and solemn.

"What happened? Did someone die?" She asked with wide eyes.

Her mother placed down a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. "No, no one died sweetheart."

River sighed in relief.

"I had your mama make your favorite," Ross said with a small unsure smile.

River frowned down at her hands and her eyes stung with tears. She quickly blinked them away and then swept her fingers under her eyes; just to be safe.

She hated that when she was really frustrated or irritated, she'd just cry. It made her seem smaller and weaker than she really was.

Secretly, she was upset that her parents didn't even know her favorite food. Her favorite was actually seafood. Sure, she enjoyed her moms spaghetti because it had a sweet, tangy and perfectly salty flavor to the homemade sauce. It tasted like home. It felt like family but it wasn't her favorite. It never was.

Once she composed herself, she looked up. "Why are you here?" She asked, getting straight to the point.

"We must discuss something very important with you," Ross started. He paused to clear his throat and then he took a large gulp of water. "Now... if you do this, our family will be saved and we'd be stable once again. Your mama and me would be forever grateful and proud."

River nodded for him to continue. "If you do this, you'll be treated very well. I assure you."

She was getting anxious now. "Do what?"

"You are to get married."

"What? M-married?" she paused and looked down at her hands. "Did Nico ask you guys for my hand? Does he want to marry me?" She looked back up, her eyes lit with happiness. If Nico wanted to marry her, she couldn't figure out why her parents were so quiet. He was kind to them and her parents had never showed that they disliked him.

When her big, hopeful eyes met with theirs, they visibly tensed.

"No River. Not Nico."

Her face fell. "W-what?"

"A young man by the name of Hayze will be asking for your hand in marriage. And you will say yes... for the sake of our family."

Her eyes welled up with tears once again. She didn't like questioning people. She felt that she was only a child at eighteen years old and people older than her knew best, so she didn't question them. That's what Nico had taught her anyway.

Despite her hesitation, she decided she would still question them. "I don't know him. Why should I marry him?"

"River, I know this is a lot but if you do this, I promise when we get back on our feet, i'll get you anything you desire. I'm sure your husband will do the same. He is a very kind and calm man. Next week Tuesday, you will meet with him and his family, you need not worry."

A single tear fell down her face and she quickly wiped it away with the sleeve of her school blazer. She did think she had a need to worry. She was getting married to a literal stranger.

"Why do I have to marry him?" she asked as she pushed away her plate of spaghetti. She'd lost her appetite.

"Mr. Sykes, Hayze's father, he is upset with me. If you marry his son, we won't be in so much trouble. It could be dangerous for us if we don't comply to his wishes. Do you understand?"

River hesitantly nodded after a few minutes of silence. "Okay, I understand. I'll marry him if it keeps you safe," she whispered.

"Thank you, my dear River."

Both of her parents got up and placed kisses on her cheeks.

"Aren't you going to eat your spaghetti?" her mom asked softly, stroking her daughters dark hair.

"N-no, i don't think so."

"You should eat River. It's your favorite," her father tried to convince her.

Her bottom lip trembled and she took a deep breath to get rid of the burning lump in her throat. "I think i'm going to do my homework, get my s-shower and go to sleep. I-i'm kinda tired."

Before her parents could say anything, she rushed up the stairs, closed the door with a silent push and collapsed onto her bed, the tears already pouring out of her eyes.

She couldn't help but wonder how she would tell Nico or if she would even be able to tell him. She was sacrificing her love for her family and that made her chest tighten painfully.

River didn't get much sleep that night.