Running as fast as they could, Julius and Septimus burst into their house worriedly. "Ophelia!" Septimus yelled.

Icarus appeared from the kitchen, his face displaying disgruntlement. "There's no need to yell; she's in the lounge."

The twin siblings rushed into the living room, where Ophelia was lying on one of the sofas, holding an ice pack to her eye. The two men sat down on either side of her, unsure of how to support her. "Emilia said you were attacked," Julius said uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ophelia replied emotionlessly. "I'll be absolutely fine."

"What...happened?"

"Forcus happened," Icarus said savagely, entering the room with a plate of honeycakes. "The bastard punched her for doing literally nothing except asking why he looked so mad."

"That bastard!" Julius snapped. "There's no excuse for that!"

He gently took the ice pack away from Ophelia's eye, and he and Septimus gasped at the harsh black eye underneath.

"I'm gonna kill him," snarled Septimus.

"It's my fault," Ophelia said softly. "I should have picked up on his mood."

Icarus grasped her shoulder. "No, Lia! Abuse is never the victim's fault!"

"The only possible way it could be your fault is for choosing such a shit boyfriend," Septimus said.

Both Icarus and Julius glared at him, but Ophelia snorted weakly. "Weird as this is, he's actually right. I should have known Forcus would be like this. After all, I talked to some of his exes and they said he had abused them. I guess I was stupid enough to believe he wouldn't do it to me."

"Lia, you weren't stupid," Icarus said softly, kissing his sister's forehead. "You were a little blind, but love will do that to you."

"I wasn't in love with him," Ophelia corrected him. "I know I wasn't. But I'm still looking. Ic, do you have any single friends that you can introduce me to?"

Icarus blinked in surprise. "So soon?"

"I want to get right back on the horse, as it were," Ophelia said. "I want to find my soulmate. I've been through too many boyfriends and girlfriends recently; I need a serious long-term relationship. And the best candidates, I'm sure, will be your friends, because none of you would be friends with an abusive bastard."

Julius and Septimus exchanged a glance, as Icarus put his arms around his sister. "If you're sure. I only have two friends: Phrixus and Amadeus. Phrixus is in a relationship…but Amadeus isn't. And he's only a year younger than you."

"Amadeus?" Ophelia repeated. "What's he like?"

"He's a centurion. Has been since I was. He loves saving lives and helping people but refuses to accept reward for it. He's been offered the rank of prefect more times than both of us can count on both hands and both feet, but he turns it down every time because he loves his century too much. He treats his Optio like he would treat his own brother. He is a bit of a worrywart, but that's only if you tell him something's wrong. If you tell him you feel sick, he'll make you take the rest of the day off and stay with you through the night. I remember that's what he did for me when we were kids. But overall, his virtues far outweigh his flaws, and he is DEFINITELY not the kind of man to abuse his partner."

Ophelia was smiling happily. "He sounds wonderful."

"He is. He, Phrixus, and I have been best friends since we were five, so I know him better than almost anyone."

"Do you think he will like me?" asked Ophelia nervously.

Icarus, not bothering to mention that his best friend had had a secret crush on Ophelia for ten years, nodded. "Something tells me he will."

…

"Ophelia wants to MEET me?!" Amadeus yelped, falling over backwards.

Icarus snorted and rolled his eyes. "I take it your crippling crush on her is still there, even though you haven't seen her for two years?"

"M-Maybe…" Amadeus gulped and sheepishly got to his feet. "D-Did she see that?"

"Nope. But if this is what you're like now, how are you going to react when she actually talks to you?"

"Um…"

Just then, Ophelia came up to them, smiling awkwardly. "H-Hi. Sorry to interrupt."

Amadeus froze, staring at her face. Icarus felt incredibly angry at his best friend; why was Amadeus staring at Ophelia's black eye? Was he really that shallow? Surely not…

Ophelia bit her lip awkwardly, her face creasing into a hurt look, which she tried her best to hide. "I…I'm Ophelia. You must be Amadeus, right?"

Icarus flushed and glared at his best friend. FUCKING SAY SOMETHING!

"You're just as beautiful as I remember," Amadeus breathed.

Ophelia blinked in surprise, a red blush creeping up her cheeks. "R-Remember? We've never met before, h-have we?"

Icarus nudged his best friend, who stammered, "N-Not officially. I-I've been aware o-of your presence f-for ten years."

Ophelia glared at Icarus. "Why didn't you introduce us before?"

"Why does it matter?" demanded Icarus.

"Because if had known that this attractive hunk existed, I would never have said yes to Forcus."

Now it was Amadeus's turn to blush. In fact, he blushed so furiously that Icarus was sure he was going to faint.

Ophelia snickered. "You have a crush on me, don't you?"

Amadeus stared at her. Icarus burst out laughing. "And here I thought love was oblivious."

Amadeus let out a groan and buried his face in his hands. "I'm so sorry…"

"Why are you apologising? Did I say that was a bad thing?"

Amadeus's expression changed. "Uh…n-no…?"

Ophelia sidled closer to him and linked arms with him. "Wanna go for a drink?"

"J-Just me and you?"

"I'm certainly not coming," snorted Icarus. "Enjoy your date, you two."

He began striding away.

"So…if you don't mind me asking…did your ex-boyfriend do that to your eye?" asked Amadeus hesitantly.

Ophelia slowly nodded. "Yeah. But it's okay now. I have you, right?"

Amadeus nodded frantically. "Yeah. And you'll always have me. But wasn't your boyfriend Forcus?"

Ophelia nodded again.

Amadeus narrowed his eyes in thought. Forcus was in HIS century…

And Ophelia knew that. She suspected she knew the thoughts travelling through Amadeus's mind, and she suspected she didn't care. In fact, quite the opposite. She was GLAD he was already planning to protect her, even though they weren't even an official couple.

She knew he'd be the most loyal partner ever.