Scarlett Pov

After hours or trying to persuade Lena for us to finally go home, my assignment had been successful. Sve drove us home so we could finally rest for the day. We walked into the house and it was empty. Lena went to grab a water bottle and I stayed in the living room.

"Richard left to visit Miriam, he'll be back soon." She says sitting down next to me.

"How was your first day in my company? Was it too boring?" She asks

"No, I actually found it fascinating. It made me admire you just a tiny bit more." I say.

"Oh you don't say." She says smiling at me.

"I'm serious. I don't know how you manage to stay sane after years of doing that." I say

"Who said I was sane?" She says wiggling her eyebrows.

We hear the doorbell all of a sudden.

"Did we lock the door?" I ask her.

"We did. I'll go get it." She says and walks away gracefully. After a few minutes I hear voices in the hallway. I stop to listen for them to stop. The door closes and there is a silence. I walk to the hallway to find Tom and Lena standing there.

"Come in Tom." She says looking at him with caution.

They walk into the living room.

"Sit down, let's chat." She says chill now.

"Let's chat? Thats what you have to say for sacking your uncle out of the blue?" He yells.

"You knew it was coming Tom."

"What kind of niece calls their uncle by their name!" He yells glancing at me.

"One that doesn't like their uncle." She yells back at him.

He comes closer to her and grabs her collar. Pulling her to her feet.

"Hey hey, thats enough." I yell getting closer to them.

"Stay out of this blondie! What are you doing here anyway?!" He yells my way.

"Don't shout at her." She says calmly.

"Scarlett honey can you leave the two of us alone? Go get comfy I'll join you soon." She says looking at him with an expression I've never seen in entire life. I've seen it on set, but not like this.

"Lena."

"Please go. I'll be there in a second." She says getting away from him.

"Fine." I breathe out and start walking to the staircase. Thankfully I can see into the living room from the staircase. I can hear them pretty well too.

"What in the world possessed you to do that!" He yells.

"I trusted you Lena. I thought you were nothing like William. He was cruel and he was power driven. I thought. I thought that there is finally a fair director in that place. Turns out they got a mock up version of Will!" He yells in her face. She stays calm. Like scarily calm.

"Look, a problem occurred and-

Before she could even continue her sentence he slapped her. The sound echoed the room and my heart broke in two. I wanted to go downstairs but I know she can handle him. She handled much worse.

"Don't you even dare find an excuse. I'm broke Lena! I have nothing left on my account. All because you wanted to have it all!" He yells grabbing her shoulders. She goes numb. I can see how slumped her shoulders are. She is not in her right mind.

"You.. you're going to pay for this. You will fail I trust that. You will crumble and fall apart and I can't wait to be the witness of that. I bet dear old deceased Will is proud of who you become! A monster! Even grater than he was. And now you bring your little girlfriend here, you're a disgrace to this name. I am ashamed to share the same blood as you!" He says and hurries off.

I hear the front door slam and I turn to see Lena still standing in the same place she was. She falls to her knees and stares into space. Now it's my time to go down. Why did she let him do that? I know she doesn't like him. I think she even hates him.Why would she let someone like him abuse her. I crouch down next to her. I touch her shoulder and she flinched.

"Hey, It's me, don't be afraid." I say softly. She moves back from me and leans on the back of the sofa.

"Okay so no touching." I say and she nods.

"Can you leave me alone please?" she says with her head down. She's avoiding my gaze.

"Can I see you first?" I ask

"I'll come up in five minutes. I just need some alone time." She says and I can't say no to that. She needs space and I'll give her that. I go to the front door and lock it before I go upstairs into the room. I change into some comfortable clothes and take off my makeup. When I was done I walked into the bedroom to find Lena changing.

"Do you want for me to make you some pasta? We still didn't eat." She says with her back turned to me.

"I mean yeah.. sure?" And like the wind she leaves the room. What is going on with her?

Did Tom unlock some sort of past trauma from her father? I found pictures and they looked really alike. Maybe she let him abuse her because she was afraid of him. Maybe she really does like him..

I walk into the kitchen and sit on the bar stool.

"Can I see your face?" I ask her.

"You saw that?" She asks stopping everything.

Scarlett you sure are an idiot.

"I did. I was just making sure you'd be okay." I say and she nods.

"I'm fine. It's just a little red. It will fade by tomorrow." She says stirring the vegetables for the sauce.

We hear the door open and close.

"Oh what a nice surprise. How was work?" Richard asks as he walks in.

"Fine." She says

"What happened?" he asks looking at me.

"A problem occurred with one of the facilities. Lena found a way to solve it. Some might say it was too big of a price to pay, but I disagree. I find it brave." I say to him.

"What did she do?" he asks pouring himself a glass of water

"I sacked Tom and took over his shares." She says taking the sauce off the stove.

He almost chokes on his water.

"You did what?"

"I turned into my father."

"Lena, look at me. You are nothing like that man you hear me!" He says standing up and walking towards her.

"He.. he was- who did this to you?" He asks when he sees her cheek. She just stares off into the distance as he asks her that. He turns his head to me, raising his eyebrows.

"Tom." I say.

"I'll kill him." He say grabbing his coat.

"No, please just don't." She says.

"He raised his hand on you. He abused you! I will not and I repeat I will not sit and watch. I already did that before." He says and I am left in shock. Lena was abused?

"Hey calm down. I'm okay. He didn't do anything too serious."

"He could have." He says sternly

"But he didn't." She reassures.

"Fine. I'll finish the pasta, you go and take a shower." He says to her and she nods. She leaves the room and it's not just Richard and I.

"Whatever you just heard, drop it. I won't be telling you something she's not comfortable or ready to tell you yourself." Richard says

"Okay, okay. Don't worry." I say

"I need for you to make me a promise."

"Anything." I'm left confused now.

"Promise me you won't lay a finger on her. Promise you won't physically hurt her." He says all serious now.

"I do."

"I need you to tell me what you just promised me. 'I do' won't cut it."

I've never seen him this serious before. He must really care for Lena.

"I promise I'll never physically hurt Lena."

"Good. You better not. I may be a man but I have no hesitation when it comes to my Lena." He says turning around to the stove like nothing happened.

"She asked me to be her girlfriend." I say trying to lighten the mood.

"And you're official now?" He asks

"Yes." I say with a smile on my face.

"Congratulations. I'm happy for you two." He says happily.

"Thank you Richard." I say and continue to chat about random things. He told me a new recipe he made and can't wait to show me tomorrow.

Lena joined us when she got changed and dried. The three of us ate in comfortable silence. We didn't push on subjects because we didn't want to ruin the lovely atmosphere. God their food is delicious. I missed the taste of everything Lena made. She and Richard make the best food there is. I swear they could make scrambled eggs and make it taste like it was a full course meal.

We cleaned up and went upstairs. Lena was different now. She was quiet and distant with me. I bet it had to do with Tom. I change into my pj's and sit down on the sofa. She just sits on her bed. Not moving a muscle. After few minutes she starts changing and I turn away. I bet she doesn't want me looking at her while she is this vulnerable.

I did some work on my laptop and when my eyes started getting tired I closed it and put it in my bag. She was already laying down on the bed. I'll give her space tonight. She's too much in her head to want anything to do with me right now. I don't take it to heart. I get it. He unlocked some sort of trauma she previously had. Now she's in fight or flight mode.

"Where are you going?" She asks as I walk to the door.

"I'll sleep in the guest bedroom tonight." I say

"Why?" She asks sitting up in the bed.

"Because I want to give you space to process everything from today. A lot happened in one day." I say.

"You don't have to go." She says looking at me with tears in her eyes.

"I don't?" I ask and she shakes her head.

"Then I'll stay." I could have sworn she smiled at that.

I turn off the lights and lay down next to her. After a few moments she speaks up.

"I feel safe whenever you sleep with me here." She whispers.

"I'm glad to hear that."

Thank god it's dark. She would have seen my blistering red cheeks. I almost fainted when she said those words.

I open my arms and pull her to me. She turns to me and puts her head in the crook of my neck. I breathe in and tangle my hands in her hair.

"You looked very pretty today." I whisper into her ear.

"I had to step up my game. Have you seen yourself." she says into my ear. I shiver from her hot breath and breathe in her scent. She always smells like vanilla. Always.

"I stole one of your sweatshirts." I say

"You already stole my heart. What else is there to take?" She says quietly.

"I'll keep it safe." I say

"You better, it's expensive." She jokes and kisses my neck.

"Good night Lena."

"Good night Scar." She says and hugs me tighter.

God I feel like I'm on cloud nine. I know I wanted to get intimate with Lena today. I was looking forward to spending the night with her. But the intimacy the two of us shared right now is irreplaceable. The love I felt and saw in her eyes is a reasurement that she truly does love me and that she is in this because she wants to be. Not because she feels obliged to.

I love her. I truly love her. I just need to find an appropriate time to tell her...