Give It Back
"Rachel…Rachel!" The newly engaged couple had been in the back yard. Rachel turned her back to her soon to be husband and stormed into the house, slamming the door behind her. She was so mad at him.
Richard watched her slam the door. It took him a whole ten seconds to realize that he needed to go after her. He didn't know why she was upset with him. She had been giving him the cold shoulder since he had gotten home the other night. He made his way through the first floor of their house, finding her in the kitchen.
Rachel saw his reflection in the kitchen window. He was just standing there. Watching her. He took a step towards her. Rachel instantly reacted and grabbed three eggs out of their carton on the counter left over from her breakfast. Glaring at her fiancé she threw one of the eggs at him.
Richard only managed to avoid the egg because of his amazing reflexes. He ducked when the second one came flying at his head and sidestepped the third one. All three having cracked against the wall, leaving a messy trail behind. He glanced over his shoulder at the egg mess briefly before locking his eyes with hers asking "Was that really necessary?" She walked out of the room giving him the finger as she went by.
As soon as Rachel rounded the corner she broke into a run and went upstairs to their bedroom. She knew she wasn't truly mad. She was more hurt than anything. But acting like she was pissed was easier. She slammed the door behind her and locked it before collapsing on the bed fighting back frustrated tears.
The door knob jiggled but didn't budge. "Rachel…" She sat up on the bed but had no intentions of letting him in. He would only hurt her. "Rachel…c'mon Rachel, open the door." He didn't sound mad. His tone was soft and he spoke slowly. She laid back down and put a pillow on her head faintly hoping he'd just leave her alone.
Richard stood outside the door for another few minutes, waiting to see if she would open the door for him. He tried the knob one last time to see if she had unlocked it. Nope. Sighing Richard pulled a pocket knife out of of his pocket. Getting down on his knees he began picking the lock. Soon the lock gave a satisfying 'click' and he opened the door to see the love of his life laying on their bed with a pillow over her head.
"Rachel, what's wrong?" She heard his steps as he walked closer to the bed. She felt the pillow lifting. Rachel just closed her eyes as the pillow came away from her face. His fingers traced from along her temple down her cheek. It was light and tender, something she hadn't seen from him lately. Opening her eyes, she glared at him. One touch wasn't going to change everything. It didn't mean a thing.
"What did I do?" His words were soft but her expression didn't change. She raised her hand and swatted his away from where it had been resting against her cheek. Rolling onto her side so her back was facing him, Rachel glared at the wall in front of her.
"Rachel...please, talk to me." Richard had no idea why she was so cold towards him lately. He'd gone through the past few days repeatedly in his head and couldn't figure out what he did to piss her off like this. Getting off the bed he walked around to the other side and kneeled down right in front of the bed so they were eye level with each other. She tried to roll over again but he grabbed her shoulder, stopping her. "I'm not letting you go till you talk to me."
"Fine." It came out as a growl. "I'll talk," she pushed against the mattress and sat up. "You wanna know why I can't stand to be around you?" Rachel stood up and Richard quickly followed. She looked up at him considering she only came up to his shoulders. "You took it, you abused it, then you broke it. And you won't even give it back!" And with that she slapped him across the face.
Richard brought a hand to his stinging cheek. It would be red for a while. "I didn't take anything." He was desperately trying to keep his voice calm. He knew that raising his voice and getting mad would get him nowhere with Rachel. She would just push back and close herself off. "And I haven't broken or abused anything either. You're not making any sense." Her glare intensified as she raised her hand to slap him again. But Richard grabbed her wrist just inches away from his face. "If you don't get it than you're an idiot." She kept her voice carefully controlled. They stared at each other. Both too stubborn to be the first to look away.
A thin sheet of moisture covered Rachel's eyes and she finally looked away, closing them. Wrenching her wrist from his hold, she turned and walked out of the room.
Hours later Rachel had since claimed the bedroom for herself sentencing Richard to the couch for the night. He was laying on the couch with his eyes closed when he heard something break in the kitchen. Wondering what it was, he quietly got up and crept into the kitchen. There was a silhouette in front of the sink, a silhouette he knew too well belonged to Rachel. There was a puddle of water by her feet along with some shattered glass.
"Rachel?" He knew she was still mad at him but there was no way he wasn't going to try and fix things. Getting closer he realized that she was shaking. "Rachel..."
She was leaning over the sink, with the tap still running. She felt his hand on her shoulder and tensed, nearly giving in. "What did you drop?" It was a simple question, that had a simple answer. "A glass." Rachel finally choked out. She heard crunching glass right behind her, his hand in front of her shutting the tap off, a second before she felt his arms wrap under her knees and around her waist. The next thing she knew she was instinctively curling into his chest.
Setting her down on the counter top a few feet away from all the glass he examined her feet. Only a few pieces actually hit her, she got lucky. "It's not like you to drop things," She wouldn't meet his gaze. "So? It's not like you to break things either." There was no malice behind the words, no emotion at all. She was just speaking the truth.
Richard sighed slowly, figuring the best way to go about this was to just play along. "I know, and I try not too. But I'm human, just like you, and humans make mistakes." As he spoke, Richard moved around the kitchen to grab a towel before kneeling in front of Rachel again.
She tried to swing her feet, but he grabbed them so he could pull the few pieces of glass out. Rachel winced as they came out which was surprising because she hadn't even known they were there to begin with. "You could just try and fix your mistake," She suggested quietly, wincing as another piece of glass was pulled from her foot.
He looked up at her momentarily but she was still staring determinedly at the wall across from her. "I don't know how to fix it though." Richard pressed the towel to the small cuts, stopping the blood. He stood up and she instantly looked at the floor.
"You could start with saying sorry and telling my why you did it?" Her eyes moved around the room, but wouldn't go anywhere near him. Picking her up off the counter he carried her to the living room and sat on the couch with her still in his arms. She didn't try to pull away, but she didn't lean into him.
"What did I do Rae?" There was no force, no anger, in his tone.
She closed her eyes and hung her head, he hadn't called her 'Rae' in a while. "You went out to that bar, came home late AND drunk, with another woman." She was hurt by what he had done. But being mad was easier than being hurt. It was so much easier.
He looked down at her, surprised that she knew about that. "Rachel, that's whats been bugging you?" She wouldn't look up. He put a finger under her chin and lifted it so she would look at him. "Rae, I only went out to that bar to have a night with the guys and catch up with Roy. I didn't go out to get drunk, I had maybe one full beer."
The hand that had been under her chin had moved to cup her cheek. She angrily pushed the hand away, he had already knocked down more walls than she was comfortable with. Trying to keep up the mad act she threw another question at him. "If you weren't drunk then whats your reasoning for bringing another woman home with you?"
"That 'other woman' was Barbra. She got in a fight with her boyfriend and didn't have anywhere to go. I was on my way home when she called me, that's why I was late." He knew why she was mad now. If he looked at it from her perspective he would have been mad too. Although, the more he though about it he would have been-
"You never came to bed…" Richard tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I know," She looked up at him and finally met his gaze. "I woke up during the night and heard things, I thought you were-" He shushed her with a feathery kiss on her forehead. "No. I'd never even consider doing that with Barb, were just friends. Thats special, just for you."
Rachel took one of his hands in hers and quietly traced the lines on the inside of his palm. She could feel his eyes on her, examining her. He was looking for something, something that he knew she was holding back. And she knew that he was looking for that one thing. "I checked on you when I got home, you were fast asleep. Barb was a wreck so I stayed in the living room with her. She took the couch and I slept in the recliner."
He ran his free hand through her hair. "Now can I ask you something?" His voice was quiet and gentle. "Why didn't you tell me this was bothering you?"
That was what caused her to pull away, out of his lap. "I'm going back to bed." The sentence had barely left her mouth before he had his arms around her and was pulling her back onto his lap. "Hay, I think you owe me an answer." He made sure she knew he was teasing, but he wasn't planning on letting her spend another day mad at him.
"I was mad." She was back to looking at the floor again. She knew that if she looked at hime he'd see the truth. And that was the last thing she wanted which is why she physically cringed when his thumb slipped under the hem of her pajama shirt, rubbing small circles on the bare skin and whispered in her ear, "Liar."
She shook her head slowly, knowing that she was caught. "You broke it…and being mad is easier than being hurt." He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him.
"She was gone before you got up, I'm surprised you even knew she came home with me." He ran his fingers through her hair again, knowing that it calmed her down when she was at her worst. "You told me that I hold your heart in my hands. I'd never do anything to break it. I'd never do anything to hurt you!"
She leaned against him, feeling his heart beat. "Next time, just tell me. Please." She hated that he hadn't told her, but she also loved him enough to move past it.
"I'm sorry." They both apologized.