It was finally Tuesday and River's heart was beating unevenly in her chest. The whole time she was at school, she had been too anxious to do her work properly.

While Vince was driving her home, she sat in the back taking deep breaths to stop from panicking. Her hands were sweaty and she constantly run her hands over her pleated school skirt that came just about her knees. She would then fidget with her school tie and the buttons on her blazer.

All too soon, Vince pulled up to her house and River's eyes immediately zoned in on the foreign car parked in the second parking spot. She stopped breathing when she realized they were already there.

"Vince," she whimpered. "I'm nervous. They won't like me, i already know it."

Vince turned around in his seat and gave her a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure they will little River. How could they not?"

He got out of the car and opened the door for River and patiently waited for her to finally get out. After three and half minutes, she finally climbed out and swung her jansport over her shoulder.

She began to walk but then stopped halfway to the door, obviously stalling. River tediously re-tied the laces on her black vans that she chose to wear instead of school shoes.

If her mom noticed she wore vans instead of proper school shoes, she would have a literal heart attack. And then she'd be in a lot of trouble. River knew she could get away with wearing them because her mom was hardly around in the mornings so she couldn't see them and scold her for it.

River then evened out her white knee socks and made sure they were high enough. She made sure the buttons on her blazer were in the right places and then checked her tie to make sure it was straight.

Just as she was smoothing out her skirt and her dark hair, Vince placed a hand at the small of her back and led her to the door to keep her from stalling any further. He promised her parents he'd have her home at an appropriate time and he'd just given River six extra minutes.

At the door, River was about to knock but then she remembered that she was at her own house and so she hesitantly pushed open the large wooden door. Inside she could hear her father talking as soon as she got into the dining room.

She slowly made her way into the living room with light steps. Right before she stepped in, she peaked her head around the door frame and her eyes drifted carefully over the five people in the living room.

No one seemed to notice her, well all except a very tall, intimidating young man with icy blue eyes.

River immediately flinched back when they met each others gaze and she dissapeared back behind the wall.

Is that the man im marrying? I thought he would be older and uglier and greasier and... fatter. I shouldn't have judged something i did not know of.

River took two calming breaths and stepped into the living room with her head down. She could feel the young mans stare on her, watching carefully.

"Good afternoon," she said quietly, lifting her head.

The other four heads snapped towards her, obviously just noticing her presence.

"Oh, here she is now. My darling girl River-rose," her father said with a bright smile. He got up from his seat and cane over to her. "Come meet them River."

She nodded shyly and let her father lead her over to the older couple sitting on the velvety couch.

"River, this is Mika and Kacie Sykes. Your in laws."

The couple stood up from the couch and shook her hand before Kacie leaned in to give her a small hug.

After hugging Kacie, she sniled at them. "Nice to meet you."

"Oh, what a sweet, beautiful girl," Kacie gushed. "Hayze, come meet your fiancè."

River watched as the tall man made it over in three long strides from across the room. She couldn't help but notice how much bigger Hayze was than Nico. Nico was definetly not a small guy so to her, Hayze was a giant. But dare she even think it... handsome too.

Hazye reached out his hand and she stared dumbly at his movements. She watched his hand grab hers hanging limply by her side and he lifted it to press a kiss to the back of it.

She couldn't help but feel the gentle but firm way he held her hand. The roughness of his hands made goosebumps rise on her delicate skin and she could see a few prominent veins running out from under the sleeve of his dress shirt. Her eyes quickly scanned over the gold watch on his hand which did not look cheap at all and she suddenly realized that he wasn't just any man.

When she finally noticed that his lips lingered for long enough for a peice of his dark brown hair to escape the slightly gelled style he had going on, her knees suddenly grew weak.

Hazye used his other hand to comb it back and River had to bite her lip from smiling. Why was she smiling?

"I-it's nice to meet you," River said in her soft, silky voice. Her voice always had this calm, soft aura to it but now it was at another level.

He nodded in acknoledgement and stepped back. She couldn't help but wonder what his voice sounded like.

While the four parents in the room conversed, River let her gaze wonder over to Hayze only to find him looking directly at her. Immediately, she turned away to hide the blush that spread across her cheeks.

All of a sudden, a wave of guilt swept over her like a tsunami. She shouldn't be blushing for another man. Nico would surely be mad at her. She loved Nico and she couldn't bring herself to betray him. She still had the roses he bought her a few weeks ago up in her loft.

"Lets go discuss things in the dining room over dinner," Lianne said with a quick encouraging smile sent over to her daughter.

°•○●○•°

River kept quiet the whole time during dinner as they discussed things. She had spaced out for about six minutes until the sound of a deep, smooth, warm and alluring voice brought her back. When she looked up, she realized it was Hayze speaking and she had to rest her hand under her jaw to keep from gaping at how handsome it was.

"I'd like to know River's favorite colors so we may incorporate them into the wedding. It is for her, just as much as it is for me," he said softly, yet firm.

She froze at the sound of his name coming from his mouth. She felt like she'd have a heart attack because he was taking her opinion for something as big as their wedding. Nico didn't even ask for her opinion on the toppings for their pizza.

"What colors do you like dear?" Kacie asked, readying her pen over her floral notebook.

"My favorite colors are burgundy, white and gold," she said as she played around with her salad.

She saw Hayze nod in approval out of the corner of her eye and his mom hummed in satisfaction.

One of Hayze's favorite colors was gold as well and he was happy that River counted gold in her list of favorite colors. It was rare for anyone to do that.

"My color choices would be blue, black and gold," Hayze added.

A smile crept up on River's face at the fact that both of them liked gold but it quickly fell when the quiet ringtone she picked out just for Nico rang in her blazer pocket.

She quickly snatched her phone from her pocket and shut it off. "My apologies. I didn't know my phone was on."

"Who was that?" Lianne asked with a bright smile. She was excited because she had never seen her daughter with friends or even interact with friends over technology.

River whimpered out of guilt. "I'd rather not say."

The Sykes watched with curious gazes as she shifted uncomforably.

"Who was it River? It might have been urgent," Ross pressed.

"It was... Nico." Her words came out a nervous whisper.

"Who is that? If you don't mind me asking," Mika asked as he took a bite of his buttered bread roll.

"He's m-my... boy-boyfriend," she said, her voice cracking. She ducked her head and used her hair as protection from their burning gazes.

Hayze's icy gaze was the most prominent however. His gaze burned like dry ice on her skin.

He sat stiff in his seat and his hand clenched around the fork he was holding. River wanted the floor to just open up and suck her down into the earth.

"Boyfriend?" His voice was rough and cold, completely different from just eight minutes ago. "Fidanzato. Merda," he cursed and she could feel herself melt even through the guilt.

River was just now realizing the small accent he had to his handsome voice. She hadn't even known he could speak Italian. He spoke english so fluently and she was pretty sure one of his parents had come from Brazil.

"Have you not told him yet," Ross asked, his voice full of dissapointment.

"I-i don-" Tears rushed to the front of her honey green eyes and she quickly tried to wipe them away. "I'm sorry. I don't know how to tell him. H-he loves me, he'll be so upset."

"You didn't tell us she had a boyfriend," Kacie said sadly.

"I didn't mean to dissapoint you guys. I really didn't. It's just... we've been together for a while," River said quietly.

She looked up at Hayze to see him staring at her with his icy, cold gaze, examining her. He looked dissapointed and then guilty for a second and as quickly as it came, it was gone. River barely noticed it.

"You will still go through with the wedding. It will be good publicity for both businesses and will teach the both of you good skills along the way," Mika said gruffly.

His wife glanced at him warily. "Mika, maybe we can think of a better option. The poor dear is in love and so young."

Hayze's jaw clenched. Secretly, he wanted to be selfish and still take her as his wife. He wanted the love and kindness she gave. He had plenty of people to talk with and to keep him company but none of them were genuine like she was. He knew River-rose wouldn't even think to take advantage of his money. He wanted real love.

He knew that basically forcing her into a marriage wouldn't get him love, but she was so sweet. He would make her love him. He'd treat her right. He'd treat her as his own little Rose.

As he went over it in his head, he decided he was going to be selfish and he'd marry her. But he'd make sure she wasn't miserable. He'd spoil her; whether she wanted him to or not.

River was Hayze's complete opposite. She decided she'd marry Hayze but it was for a selfless reason rather than Hayze's selfish reason; which she had no idea of. She was going to marry Hayze out of love for her family. She could tell her father was struggling and she wanted to fix that. He had put a lot of time and energy into his business and she didn't want him to lose that.

"I-i'll do it," she said, raising her head up.

Everyones gaze snapped to her, completely surprised.

"You'll marry me?" Hayze asked coldly as he looked straight into her eyes.

She faltered for a second and glanced at her parents. Her father was practically pleading with his eyes and she knew then what she had to do.

"I will. I'll marry you, if that's what you want."

🌻 🌻

River-rose

Hayze Sykes