"Juliette, I'm sorry." Nick placed the paper grocery bags on their kitchen counter and turned back to his would-be fiance'. "I thought I got everything on the list. I didn't see milk. I didn't know. I would have-"

"Because it wasn't on the list!" Juliette fumed. Everything seemed to be making her mad lately. Whether it was a residual effect of the cat scratch or not, it was happening quite often. "I told you I was getting the groceries tonight. The list wasn't finished and if you had let me get them like I was going to, we would not be having the issue of missing items. Now, would we?"

"I thought I'd do something nice for you. I-"

"Don't turn this around and make me the bad guy. You did this for you, to make sure you had your stuff, while mine was just, whoops, forgotten."

"I just got what was on the list." Nick sighed.

**SLAP**

Both froze. Nick raised a hand to his face, flabbergasted.

Juliette looked equally shocked as she stared at her own hand. "Nick, I-" She trailed off as she look a step towards him and he stumbled backwards quickly. "Nick?"

"I-I-" Nick shook his head gently back and forth in confusion. "I have to go." He turned to leave, but Juliette blocked him.

"No. Wait. Please. I didn't mean to. Let's talk about this."

"Please move. I have to leave. I need to go." Nick whispered, not looking at her.

"No, but-"

Nick made his voice a fraction louder. "Juliette, move out of my way. I'm shaking. I need to leave. Move. Please."

This time, Juliette listened. Nick fled and Juliette let the quiet continue for some time, before slowly sinking to the ground. She put her head in her hands and broke the silence. "What have I done?"

***eornomkcin***eornomkcin***eornomkcin***eornomkcin***eornomkcin***eornomkcin***

Knock, knock. Knock, knock, knock.

Monroe groaned as he rolled out of bed. He walked with his eyes shut to the front door. "This had better be important Nick." He grumbled before unbolting his door.

Nick jumped at the suddenly open door. "Sorry, I- This was a b-bad idea. N-nevermind. The trailer is better. I should have gone there. I just- It's- and being alone-And I didn't mean to wake you. It's dark, so it's night? I-I didn't think and-"

Monroe interrupted the rambling with a concerned, "Are you alright Nick?"

"I-um-"

"Well, that's a no. Come on. I'll make tea." Monroe turned, expecting Nick to follow, which he did obediently.

"You don't have to go to so much trouble. I didn't mean to be a bother."

"You're not. You know that." Nick stood in the kitchen doorway as Monroe gathered the necessary items. "You can sit Nick. " Monroe pointedly looked at the kitchen stool. Nick stared at it as if it was unrecognizable, but eventually sat down. "What happened? You are so out of it. Did you get drugged? A concussion?"

"Juliette didn't hit me that hard." There was a pregnant pause as Monroe turned around, anger clouding his face. Nick's eyes widened when he realized what had slipped out. He stood up quickly. "No. It's not-She didn't mean to. I made her angry and-"

"Stop." Monroe stated in a controlled tone. The snap of the Grimm's mouth closing was audible. Monroe took a deep breath. "She hit you?" Nick nodded. "Has it happened before?" Nick hesitated, but shook his head. Monroe narrowed his eyes. "Why'd you hesitate? Has she hurt you before or not?" Nick shook his head firmly, causing the blutbad to sigh. "You can speak, you know."

"Tonight was the first time."

"What happened?"

"I picked up the groceries, b-but the list wasn't done and I didn't get it right." Monroe starred at him blankly. Nick lowered his eyes. "I-I know it was stupid. I should have waited. I wanted to surprise her." He sat down and put his head in his hands. "I didn't mean to make her angry. I always screw it all up. Why can't I ever get it right? Why is it so hard to make it work? Then I just ran and she blocked me, but I had to leave, so she let me go. Now, I don't know what to do, but it was my only rule. It's always my only rule. We can make it through anything, as long as you never lay a hand on me. I'll do the same and we will always be able to work through anything else." Nick stood up and paced, speaking louder now. "Don't you see Monroe. It was my one rule and she broke it. If I go back, my rule won't matter anymore. This always happens. I only ever have one rule. They always break it and I either have to leave or go back and know it's just going to happen again. Why can't I ever just get to be happy? Why does everyone always break my rule? I don't understand. She knows everything. She knows why I have these rules. Why would she do this?"

Monroe wrapped Nick in a hug, catching him as sobs overtook him. "I always ruin it. I'm never going to be good enough. I never get to be happy." Monroe shushed him and rocked him until all was calm. Then he spoke.

"It's your decision whether to go back or not, but I want you to stay here. You can talk to Juliette and figure things out, but I don't want her hurting you. You don't deserve that Nick. You don't deserve a quarter of the stuff you've stated tonight. If you meet with her, I want to be there. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Come on. Let's get you to bed." The blutbad helped the grimm to the guest room. "Are you cold? You're shaking."

"No." His voice was barely a whisper.

"I'm getting you a cover anyway."

After covering him up, Monroe made his way back to the doorway. "Don't go." Nick sat up in bed panicking. "Don't leave, please. I'll do anything." His hands shaking, he tried undoing his buttons, trying to undress quickly. "I-I'm good and it'll feel g-good and then you'll st-stay r-r-right?" Monroe covered the frantic hands with his own.

"Nick, no! I won't lie. You're gorgeous and I've thought about you and this and us far too much, but you don't have to do anything to get me to stay here tonight. I won't make you do anything Nick. I would never make you do anything."

Nick lowered his hands and his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'll be good. I won't be stupid anymore and I'll-"

"Shhhh." Monroe cuddled next to Nick. "You are far from stupid. Hush. Everything is alright. Let's sleep. Tomorrow will be better. I promise."

"I don't deserve a tomorrow. I don't deserve anything." Monroe's anger grew at Nick's broken words, but he pushed it down.

"Go to sleep Nick. We'll talk tomorrow. You're safe here. I won't let anyone hurt you. Go to bed."

Slowly, his breathing evened out, although Monroe remained awake waiting for the dawn.