"Thank you." River-rose said to the driver Hayze had hired for her. She wanted to get a car for herself with her own money but she needed a job in order to do that and neither one of her parents would let her find one until she finished her schooling. By the looks of it, it seemed she never would.

"When should I pick you up? Hayze says he doesn't want you out later than nine," the driver said.

"Umm, maybe around quarter past eight so I can get to the house by at least nine."

"Yes, of course. I'll be here at eight then."

She nodded and got out of the car. "Thanks again. Bye!"

Almost as soon as River knocked on Nico's door, it swung open causing her to stumble back in surprise.

"Heyyy, lookie here," Rick, one of Nico's friends grinned. "Nico! Looks like your cute little girlfriend's back on the grid."

River didn't really like Rick that much. He was loud and slightly obnoxious. He also flirted with her despite the fact that she was his friends girlfriend.

Nico came up behind Rick with a smirk on his face that made River the tiniest bit nervous. "Well hello there. Look who finally decided to show up." He reached past Rick and grabbed her arm roughly to pull her through the door. "Where have you been?"

She laughed nervously and tiptoed to press a kiss to his cheek. All he did was raise a thick eyebrow in response. "I've b-been... caught up with important stuff." Like getting married

"More important than me?" he asked tauntingly, his height seeming to tower over her even more than just five seconds ago.

In a way, yes. "No. Not more important. I made time to come and see you, didn't I?" She asked softly.

He stared at her for a few seconds before slowly nodding. "Alright, yeah. Lets go play some games in my bedroom."

River smiled excitedly because she really enjoyed playing games with Nico. Whenever he offered to play a game, he was usually in a good mood and a lot of fun. And whether she'd like to admit it or not, he would give her the attention she so desperately craved.

°•○●○•°

Glass shattered beside River's head and she stood frozen and wide-eyed against the wall. Nico had never thrown anything at her. Well not until he saw a message pop up on her screen from a person called with a lighting bolt emoji beside it.

The text read:

It was also the first text she had ever received from him and it just seemed to be at the worst time.

"Who is texting you? You know I don't like when you're talking with other boys, so why don't you listen? Should I teach a lesson so you'll be good?"

Tears sprung to the front of her eyes and she shook her head rapidly. "I've been good Nico. Please no, I promise I've been good."

"Well by the looks of this..." He picked up her phone and waved it around. "you haven't been good!" He threw the phone at her with precise speed and so she quickly ducked out of the way with a scream.

Her body trembled as he neared her. She had never been so scared of him before, ever. "Please, Nico! I promise I'll be good," she cried. "Just no hits. You've had two beers. You'll regret this later when you've sobered up."

"I'm sober enough to know you haven't been good," he seethed.

His big hand wound around her hair to anchor her head up. The tears poured out of her eyes faster as he stooped down and wrapped a hand around her neck. It wasn't enough to cut off her breathing, it was more of a warning. A really scary one. "You're gonna have to do a lot more than this to make it up to me. You're lucky I love you."

She would have sighed in relief and smiled if it wasn't for the rough hand wrapped around her slim neck. It suddenly tightened and she gasped. However, she knew better than to fight him. She knew for a fact that she had been bad and Nico had reminded her several times that he was helping her to be a good girlfriend.

When she began to feel weak, he let go and she eagerly sucked in air and began apologizing. "I am so sorry, Nico. I am, truly. I am so, so sorry."

"You'll be good?"

She nodded. "I'll be good."

"That's the River I know," he said with a proud smile. "Who's girl are you?"

"Yours Nico. I'm your girl."

"Good. And just so everyone else knows..." he picked her up and leaned into her neck to trail kisses along it. She giggled and then froze when she felt him harshly suck on the delicate skin of her neck.

When he got started on a third spot, she pulled away. "Stop please. Mama and papa will know." So would Hayze.

"That's the point. I need people knowing you're mine."

River didn't want anyone seeing her love bites, especially Hayze. It felt wrong despite the fact that he didn't even seem to care about her.

Nico was coming in for another kiss, but a beep interrupted him.

She all too quickly pulled away; her head spinning slightly. "I think that's my ride. Papa wanted me home earlier than usual. I'll see you later Nico." She pecked his lips before jumping up, grabbing the pieces of her phone, shoving them into her bag and running to the door. "Bye, love you!"

Everything was turning into lies

°•○●○•°

Hayze walked through the door with a little stuffed bear in his large hands which made him look a lot less intimidating. He also held a folder for his next architectural project under his arm.

He realized that he just had to get over his fear of being rejected and just give her the attention she deserved. He noticed that she liked soft things and so he went out and got her a little fluffy panda bear. It was also a silent way of saying sorry.

Avoiding her would most likely make her resent him more than trying to get her to care for him. Really, he craved for River to care for him because whether he wanted to believe it or not, no one truly did. Well, except for his parents, his sister and his good friend Rudi. However, they were always busy and so was he. River lived in his now, he could spend time with her.

Hayze always had people around him, but for some reason he still felt lonely. It was probably because they weren't emotionally involved. They didn't want to get to know him and his personality, they wanted to get to know his money and his business. That's why he married River. She didn't really care for material things.

He married her because she was so purely innocent. She didn't seem capable of hating anything or anyone (though he didn't want to be the first). He knew she'd make him happy. He knew he shouldn't count on a person for his own personal happiness because people could so easily let you down; but it was nice to feel like he had someone truly there for him.

River wasn't materialistic like some of the other girls he'd met before. She was bright and energetic but also shy. She was the clumsiest little thing he had ever seen, but she was adventurous and wasn't scared of a little climbing and dirt.

She was also so full of love. She loved the outdoors and the plants and animals. He wanted that love and attention that she had to give. He promised himself he would get it.

Hayze entered the large, simple living room and he noticed a little heap on the L-shaped navy blue couch. As he neared it, he was surprised to see his dog curled up in what seemed a pile of blankets.

Blue's ears perked up then twitched as he peeked one eye open. When he spotted Hayze, he hopped off the couch and trotted over to him. Blue waited patiently beside Hayze's legs to be petted but Hayze's attention was on the slightly moving blankets. Hayze watched carefully as the blankets stretched a bit and then a little white painted toe peaked out. It was River-rose.

A little nudge at the back of his leg brought him out of his stare. He looked down at Blue and ruffled his fur.

He stooped down and pat his furry belly a few times. "Hey Blue. You're going to get a treat today for watching over my beautiful Rose," he whispered as he scratched behind Blue's ears with two hands.

Blue gave Hayze a kind of doggo grin before trotting around excitedly in a circle. Hayze clicked his tongue and pointed to the large dog bed in the corner before telling Blue to 'go and sit'. He obediently went over and made himself comfortable.

Hayze stood up and dusted off his suit before making his way over to a sleeping River. He stood there for a few seconds, observing her peaceful sleeping face before slowly peeling the blanket back to just below her shoulders.

He felt his heart rate speed up when he took in her very long, gorgeous dark hair sprawled around her, a little of it laying over her forehead. Her long, thick lashes lay delicately over her rosy cheeks and her lips were a bit swollen. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so... warm inside.

The light coming in the widows from the setting sun lit up her face and she unconsciously lifted her arm over her face to shield her eyes. He hated to have to disrupt her sleep, but he didn't want her to wake up with a very sore neck.

"Hey beautiful," he said softly as he gently brushed the hair out of her face. She stirred a little before letting out a small cute yawn and slowly stretching out.

When she didn't fully wake up, he stroked her hair gently, raking his fingers through the top. She let out a little sigh and rolled towards him. Right as she rolled off the couch, he dipped down and caught her before she could hit the cherry wood floor.

River let out a yelp and her eyes flew open, immediately meeting with his own. A blush lit up on her cheeks as he tucked her into his chest to support her weight.

"Careful," he said before quickly tugging down the hem of her shirt down so he wouldn't be tempted caress her waist.

"Sorry," she squeaked out.

Hayze expected her to squirm away but she didn't. Suddenly he was very aware of one of her hands trapped between them, pressed against his chest. He already craved to feel more of her soft touch.

A little glimmer caught his eye, so he placed her down and slowly reached over. When she flinched, he quickly recoiled. Was she really that scared of him?

"There's something in your pretty hair. Can I get it?"

After he received her hesitant nod of approval, he reached forward and picked it out of her hair.

He quietly examined it. "Is this... glass?"

Her eyes grew wide. "Yeah, I- um..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say and he just raised his eyebrows in question.

River put her hand to stifle a little yawn and that's when Hayze noticed how exhausted she looked. Her eyes were glossy and puffy; like she had been crying.

When she started shifting around nervously because of his intense, icy gaze, he suddenly remembered the stuffed bear that he dropped to catch her. He kneeled down and grabbed the bear before slowly passing it over to her.

She stared at it wide-eyed, like she hadn't seen one before. "I got it for you."

She looked between him and the bear before a huge smile broke out on her face.

This is what I wanted. I want to make her smile like this all the time

She gently took it from his hands. "Woah, it's so soft," she marveled. "Thank you," she said shyly, a blush coating her cheeks.

Hayze almost smiled. Almost.

It was the most genuine thank you and he began to feel very happy. It made him feel good to be the cause of her smile and to be on the receiving end of it. This was what he wanted, he wanted someone to care about. Someone sweet.

Little did he know, she was smiling for a lot more than the fact that he got her an adorable stuffed panda bear. She was smiling because Nico never did things like this for her; which wasn't really a terrible thing because she knew Nico wasn't good at showing affection and being cheesy. Public affection wasn't really in his character. This was just a nice change.

"I heard you liked soft things," Hayze said softly as he admired her.

"I do." How he knew that, she'd never know. Her parents probably didn't even know that.

She smiled softly, not taking her eyes off her new gift. It was small and simple and that's what she loved about it. Usually her parents got her huge, expensive gifts basically stating 'I hope this fills the void that we're not filling.' It was basically to bribe her into not being angry at them for caring more about their jobs and money rather than their daughter. She knew they meant well and she didn't want to be selfish but she'd rather gifts that they spent weeks thinking about for her. She wanted them to be from the heart and not from their bank accounts.

Another small yawn broke the comfortable silence. "Has Vito given you your dinner?"

She nodded and then yawned into her small hand again, her eye lashes fluttering slightly.

"I think you should go to bed."

"Bu-" Suddenly her eyes went wide and she gingerly touched the side of her neck that was behind her long hair. "I-I'm sorry. I'll be good. I'll go to bed."

Before Hayze could say anything, she grabbed her new stuffed panda and sprinted out of the living room and up the stairs to her room.

What had they done to her?