After the encounter a few weeks back, Tony had heard nothing from the apartment above, no shouts, no bangs, no thuds, not even a floor creak.
If it wasn't for the fact that he saw them every now and then in the lobby, he'd think they'd moved.

He found himself thinking about Virginia daily. If she was okay. If she was hurting. He wanted so desperately to help her, to get her out, to make sure that she didn't meet the fate his mother did, that he felt a knot in his stomach almost all the time. But, he always reminded himself that he didn't know anything for certain. He wasn't sure that it was physical, not one hundred percent, mentally abusive? For sure, even the security noticed that, and it made Tony want to kill the guy, but physical? The only evidence he had of that was the suspicious sounds a few weeks ago, and the signs he knew from his mother, the jumpers, the guard she had up, the rehearsed answers. They'd been many moment since the incident that he'd wanted to ask her, to have her know he would believe her, and that he was there for her, but he never knew how to tell her. It was such a sensitive topic and it took so much trust for the other person to be able to open up, and he knew that if he asked and she wasn't ready, or if he was wrong, it could break everything they'd developed. A friendship he couldn't loose. He liked Virginia, she made him laugh, his heart skip when she truly smiled at him on the few rare occasions he'd seen it, and she was beautiful, inside and out, he could tell.

He dreamt of her that night.

Her smile.

Her laugh.

Her happiness.


Virginia watched from the sofa as Aldrich carried his bag from the bedroom, laughing when he dropped it onto the floor with a thud.

"I hate my job." He sighed as the looked at her, and she chuckled.

"No you don't." She told him, raising an eyebrow.

"At times like this I do." He said, "I hate leaving you." He pouted.

"I'll be here when you get back." She said, walking towards him, placing her hands in his.

"I know." He said to her, his tone possessive. "What will you be doing while I'm gone?"

"Work." She laughed, "I think Nat wants to come over on Saturday as well, but, who knows." She shrugged.

"Sounds lie fun." He smiled, and pressed a soft kiss on her lips.

"I love you." He told her.

"I love you, too."

"I'll call you when I get to the hotel."

"Okay." Virginia replied, and he kissed her again.

"I'll see you on Monday." She told him with a smile, and he picked up his bag and walked to the door, blowing her a kiss before shutting it behind him.

Virginia took herself back to the sofa and sighed, laying her head back, she was almost asleep when her phone rang from next to her.

"Hello?" She answered with a muffled yawn.

"Morning sunshine." Natasha laughed, "You busy tonight?" She asked.

"No... Why?" Virginia asked.

"The club Lizard is opening tonight. I managed to get us tickets. You're coming." Natasha said.

"Nat, I-" Virginia began.

"You promised." Her best friend pouted, and Virginia laughed, "No. I'm not accepting no as an answer. Ever since you got with Aldrich you never come out anymore!" Natasha complained. "What happened to my party girl that bribed her way into bars when she was eighteen?"

"She grew up." Virginia laughed.

"You're twenty two. And your coming. I'll be at yours for nine tonight. Be ready."

"Okay." Virginia replied, giving in, and she heard Nat cheer down the phone.

"See you soon."

The phone went dead, and Virginia sighed, rubbing her eyes before standing and heading to the bathroom.

Natasha rolled up at Virginia's apartment just after nine, letting herself in with a loud, "Hello!"

"I bring beverages." She says, making her way towards the kitchen, Virginia laughed, and dabbed the last little bit of concealer on her wrists like it was nothing. Like it was something everyone had to do, before heading to the kitchen herself. Natasha passed her a glass of wine as she walked in.

"I spoke to Maria and Carol. They're going to meet us there." Nat told her, and Virginia nodded, while taking a sip of her wine, pushing her straightened hair behind her shoulders. "Also I'm crashing her tonight." The black haired girl told her, moving her loose curls out of her face.

"Are you now?" Virginia joked.

"Yes. Because you love me."


Tony was heading out with Rhodey, sitting in the lobby waiting for the cab when he hears the laugh he would know anywhere.

The laugh he could happily hear for the rest of his life.

He turns in his chair and looks over, and his mouth goes dry once he see's her.

Her red hair is straight and following down her back, a few stands coming down her face slightly, and her dress is a burgundy red colour, that hugs her in all the right places, its V neck, and his eyes wonder to her chest before he blinks, its short, he notices, showing off her long tanned legs, she notices him then, and waves with a smile, and he waves back.

"Dude!" Rhodey shouts, "You there?"

"Huh?" Tony replied as he turned to face his friend.

"Who's the girl?" He asked, and Tony looked at him with a confused look.

"What?"

"The red head you were staring at."

"I wasn't staring at her." Tony tells him.

"Yes you were." His friend laughs, and Tony rolls his eyes. "Who is she?"

"Just someone who lives in the apartment above me."

"She's cute." Rhodey says, taking a sip of his whiskey, and Tony shrugs, trying to downplay it.

"I guess."

"She looks young.." Rhodey says as she gets closer to them.

"She is." Tony says, before then taking a sip of his drink.

"They're coming over." Rhodey says, and Tony swallows his drinks.

Be cool. He tells himself.


"You've got an admirer." Natasha says, and nods her head to the man sat on the other side of the lobby, who's eyes have been on her since they stepped out of the elevator.

"What?" Virginia says, looking in the direction her friend nodded to, "Oh." Virginia says, and just laughs, before waving in his direction, and smiled.

"Who is it?" Natasha asks.

"Just the guy who lives below me."

"Tony Stark. I know who he is." Natasha says, "runaway billionaire." She laughs, remembering what the headline said a few months back. "You know him?"

"Yeah. Bumped into him a few times, that's all."

"Uh huh." Natasha smirks, "Come on." She says, and grabs Virginia's hand, and pulling her along with her towards the two men.

"Hey boys." She smirks, a twinkle in her eyes, and the two men look up.

"Hey." Tony replies, looking at both the young women, and then at Virginia, "Heading out?"

"Just some club opening." She says, "I'm being forced there." Virginia jokes towards Natasha, who playfully hits her arm. Tony noticed the change in her eyes at that point, a trigger, he guessed. But she played it off well. He wouldn't have noticed it if he wasn't looking at her like he was, like she hung the starts.

"Lizard?" Rhodey asks, and Tony turns to face him and can already tell what he's doing. Natasha nods, "What a coincidence.. that's where were going as well."

"Really?" Natasha smirks, and Tony pierces his lips and shakes his dead, and Virginia chuckles slightly at him. "Well, maybe we could crash your ride there?"

"Natash-" Virginia starts.

"Sure. No problem." Rhodey says, and Natasha winks at him.

The car arrives shortly after the exchange, and the four of them hop in, Natasha and Rhodey climb in first, heated in conversation, and Virginia and Tony step in afterwards, Virginia laughing at Tony's joke about his friend. Natasha looks at her friend and winks, and Virginia rolls her eyes and looks out of the window, her mind racing with just one thought.

If Aldrich finds out, he'll kill her.


They arrive at the club and the four go their separate ways, the girls head off to find the others, and Tony uses his name to get him and Rhodey in, because, this is definitely not where they were going.

It's over an hour later when they run into each other again. Virginia had gone to the bar, and noticed him sat in a booth, starting at his phone, his brows crossed as he typed. She took her martini with a smile and headed over to him, smiling as he looked up, and she sat next to him.

"Hey." She said, and he smiled at her, causing her heart to flutter slightly. She pushes it down. She can't fall for him. She can't. She has Aldrich.

"Hey." He replies, placing his phone back in his pocket.

"Everything okay?" She asks.

"Yeah." He answers, "Just... work, you know." He says, a little lie, he tells himself, because it was work. It was Obadiah, the company was doing well, but they needed him back, his idea's, his skills. Obadiah had told him about a charity ball that he should attend in a few weeks. He'd think about it. He wanted out of the spot light, that's why he left after all.

"Yeah." She laughs, taking a sip of her drink.

"You having a good time?" He asks her, and she smiles, nodding her head.

"Yeah, actually." She says with a laugh, "Just needed a breather."

"Where's Aldrich tonight?" He asks.

"Away on business until Monday." She tells him, before downing the last of her drink, and he grins at her, and she smirks.

"You look nice tonight, by the way." He tells her, and her small grin makes his heart skip and his stomach flutter.

Her cheeks flush as she places some stands of hair behind her ear.

"Thank you." She says shyly, "You too."

He winks at her jokingly, "Doesn't take much." He jokes, and she chuckles.

"Where's your friend?"

"With a blonde girl when I saw him last." He laughed.

"I've never seen him around before, does he live back in Malibu?" Virginia asks, and he shakes his head.

"No, no." He says, and looks at her, "How did you know I was from-" He begins, but stops when she raises her eyebrow.

"You don't do a three year business degree without learning about Tony Stark." She tells him.

"I'm flattered." He says, a hand to his chest, "But no, he's in the military, he's on leave for a few weeks."

Virginia nods, and meets his eyes, she goes to speak when Nat creeps behind her.

"Hey you two." She laughs, "Come on! The night is young!" She shouts, and grabs both their hands and pulls them with her. As they head to the dance floor, the music gets louder, and so Virginia doesn't hear her phone ring in her bag.


Aldrich sighs as he hears the her answering machine, and curses. He coughs, and leaves a message for her.

"Hey baby, I told you I'd call when I got to the hotel, but you must be asleep." He says, and lays on the bed. "I miss you. Really hoped to talk to you. Hope you're not having too much fun without me." He says in a passive aggressive voice, "I love you, and I'll call again tomorrow. Lets hope you answer that one." He laughs, and ends the call, hitting the palm of his hand with the phone as he thought about what she could be doing.


It was passing half one in the morning when the four of them arrived back at the apartment complex.

All four of them more than buzzed.

They stumbled through the lobby, earning a laugh from Harold, the security, who smiled in Virginia's direction, which Tony found himself feeling a little jealous at, but, he blamed it on the drink and pushed the feeling aside.
Natasha had hold of Rhodey, both of them holding the other up as they laughed at something one of them had said, and Tony and Virginia weren't far behind them. Virginia had her hand wrapped around his arm, holding herself straight, but he was just as bad as her as they staggered towards the elevator.

"Come on slow coaches!" Natasha shouted as she held the elevator for them, and the two of them sped up, laughing as Tony tripped slightly, and they hopped in the elevator.

"Anyone up for a night cap?" Nat asked the three of them as they rode up the elevator.

"Sounds good." Tony said, "My apartments on the next floor?"

"Great!" Natasha said, and pocked Virginia in the rib cage, and she looked at her, eyebrow raised.

"What?" She whispered, and Natasha nodded towards Tony, who was in conversation with Rhodes.

"It's obvious he lies you, and I can tell you like him." Natasha started, but Virginia rolled her eyes.

"No." She said, turning away from her, "We're friends."

"You used to be more fun that this, you know that right?" Natasha said to her, and Virginia looked back at her as they walked out of the elevator, following the two men.

"What do you mean?"

"You just.. you used to be fun, all about having a good time." Natasha said, "You used to laugh a lot more, aswell."

"I-" Virginia began, but she had nowhere else to take the sentence, what could she say?

"Aldrich changed you, babe, and I don't know... I just want the old you back sometimes. The girl who played strip poker with the guys from the dorm across campus with me so that they'd do our laundry." Natasha said, and they both laughed at the memory.

"I grew up, Natasha. So did you. We aren't those girls anymore." Virginia said.

"I know. But were twenty two, we should be out having one night stands, and making mistakes, and sleeping with the hot billionaire." Natasha said, jokingly, "I'm kidding." She laughed and Virginia eyed her.

"We were doing all of that at seventeen, Natasha." Virginia said, "When we modelled to pay for college." Virginia said, and Natasha just shrugged as they stopped behind the men, and Tony opened the door.

"Wow." Natasha said as they entered, "It's mad how different the lay out of both your apartments are. Everything's... flipped." Natasha said, and Tony looked up, and tried to figure out the layout of their apartment. He assumed that is living room was above theirs, but he finds himself wondering now if it could be the bedroom.

"What's everyone drinking?" Tony asked as he walked to the kitchen, "I have," he started, opening the cupboard, "Whiskey, and... whiskey." He laughed.

"Whisky's fine." Both women said, and he pulls out four glasses. Natasha places herself next to Rhodey and asks him about the military, and if he knows any spies, and Virginia laughs at her slightly. Natasha thanks Tony as he hands her a glass of whiskey, along with Rhodey, and Virginia follows him back into the kitchen smiling a thank you as he hands her a glass, and she leans against the kitchen counter as he does the same, inches away from his, arms touching slightly, but its comfortable, and so neither one of them move.

They began talking about Virginia. Where she works. What her job entails.

"Wow." Tony says, and she laughs shyly, "So I was correct when I assumed you were clever." He told her, and she tilted her head to the side and smirked with a shrig.

"Genius, even." She joked, and he laughed, smiling at her and she swallowed slightly when his smile met his eyes, a little sparkle in the, along with a little mischief.

"Takes one to know one." He jokes back, and she smiles, laughing. His eyes meet hers then, moments before everything changes.

They don't know how it happened, or who made the first move, but their lips are connected. Her hand cups the left side of his face gently as he pulls her into him.

Her mind clicks into place when an imagine of Aldrich enters her mind, and she pulls away.

"I can't." She whispers to him, their faces inches apart, before she moves backwards, looking down and pushes her hair behind her ears.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have-" Tony began, but he stopped, because he didn't know how they ended up like that anyway.

"Its okay." She says, a small smile on her face, and she looks at him, "I should go." She says quietly, and she turns, heading into the living room.

"Nat." She says, interrupting the conversation between her friend and the solider. "I'm gonna' go." She says, "You staying here?" She asks, and Nat frowns slightly at her friends jitters and her mind races.

"What?" Nat says, "No. No. I'll be out in a sec." She tells her, and apologies to Rhodes and stands up, speeding after her best friend that fled like she was on fire.

"Bye Tony." Nat says as she passes him and he waves.


"Hey!" Natasha shouts as she shuts the front door and speeds to her friend. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. It's just late." Virginia lies.

"Bullshit. What happened?"

"I-" She starts, but stops, and Natasha stops in her tracks and grabs her hand.

"What happened?" Natasha asks, her blood boiling, "What did he do? Do I have to go and beat him up?" Natasha asked, and Virginia shook her head with a smile.

"No. It's nothing like that." She said, and the girls began walking again. "I kissed him. Or, he kissed me." She said in a confused tone, before shaking her head, "We kissed." She settled on.

"Oh my god." Natasha said, smirking, and Virginia groaned.

"No. Hey." She says softly as they wait for the elevator. "It could have been worse. Don't worry about it."

"I have a boyfriend, Nat."

"Yeah. Who you settled down with far too quickly. I told you that the moment you moved in with him last year. You're young. You should be out, living your life."

"You and Steve seem to be getting close." Virginia points out as they enter the elevator.

"Yeah, but.. I still have fun. It's not a whole thing." Nat says as she shakes her head. "Are you sure you're happy with Aldrich?" Natasha asks her, and Virginia looks at her.

"What?"

"I'm just saying.. you and Aldrich have been together for a long time, and I've seen you together, you look happy, but you laughed more tonight than you have in the last three times I've seen you and Aldrich together, and you and Tony seem very comfortable around each other."

"We're friends." Virginia says, stepping out of the elevator and walking to her apartment.

"You kissed him." Natasha says, and Virginia sighs and she unlocks her apartment. "Or he kissed you or whatever."

"It was a mistake." Virginia says, stepping inside.

"Okay." Nat nods, closing the door, "Okay." She sits next to Virginia on the couch, and puts her hand on hers.

"What do I do?" Virginia asks, and Natasha looks at her.

"You move on." Natasha tells her, "You tell Aldrich, or you don't. It's up to you. It was only a kiss."

"It's still cheating."

"Yeah, but... I'm on your side, and I'm trying to make you feel better." Natasha says with a smile.

"Why do I always do this?"

"Do what?"

"Be a disaster."

"Because sister," Nat says, and she holds up their hands, "Its just what we do." She jokes, and smiles when Virginia laughs slightly.

"I left my bag there." Virginia says.

"Get it tomorrow, I'm sure it will have blown over by then."

"Yeah." She says, and leans her head on the back of the sofa.

The two women fall asleep there, and wake up six hours later with a sore neck, a very sore head, and with some fuzzy memories, but Virginia remembers that kiss.


Virginia goes to his apartment later that day after walking Natasha out, she takes a deep breath as she nods, and her heart skips as he answers, dressed in a black tee and grey joggers, showing of his very muscled arms and his shaped chest and core.

"Hey." He says, and she swallows.

"Hey." She says, " I, er, left my bag here last night?"

He grabs something of the table next to the door and holds it up with a smile, and Virginia pushes down the feeling that smile gives her.

"About last night..." She began.

"Don't." He says. He doesn't want to hear how much she regrets it, because he cant find himself to do so, and hearing her say it will just hurt. "Don't worry about."

"It shouldn't have happened."

"I know. We were drunk. Lets leave it there, and be friends, yeah?" He says, and she nods.

"Being drunk doesn't make it okay though." She tells him, and he looks at her and she can't meet his gaze, her eyes falling to the floor.

"I'll see you." She says, turning around.

"Bye, Virginia." And just like that, she's gone.


Virginia enters her apartment and sits on the sofa, sighing before checking her phone for the first time since just before she went out last night. and when she see's she has a missed call, and a voice message from Aldrich her heart falls, and she is panicked, she listens to the voice mail, and closes her eyes before ringing him back, and she curses herself when he doesn't answer. and she throws her phone next to her.

Why did I kiss him? She thinks to herself, He's a friend. A great friend. How do I always manage to fuck good things up? Her mind races, and she rubs her face before standing and getting in the shower.

She's wrapped in a towel on her bed half an hour later, and she is still unable to get her mind of that kiss with Tony. She can't escape it. Every time she closes her eyes she see's the way he smiled at her, the way he looked at her,

The sound of her phone ringing shook her from her thoughts, and she took several deep breaths before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hey!" Aldrich said, "I called last night. Where were you?" He asked her, his tone dull and possessive.

"You called late. I fell asleep." She lied. And she hated that she did. Why couldn't she just tell him she went out with the girls? It's like her mind rejected it, and the lie came out of her mouth instead.

"It was only half eleven." He told her.

"I fell asleep." She snapped.

"Why don't I believe you?" He pondered, and she rolled her eyes.

"Because you never do?"

"Watch your attitude." He warned.

"Stop speaking to me like that, I'm not a piece of shit on your shoe, Aldrich."

"Sorry." He says, and that shocks her,. she doesn't know how to respond to that. "I just miss you. I hate that I'm not with you." He tells her.

"I miss you too."

"How has your day been?" He asks her, and she lays down.

"Busy. I have meeting with the PR department tomorrow."

"Tomorrow's Sunday." He points out, "You never work Sunday's."

"I got called in, I don't choose the days I have meetings." She laughs, and she can feel his rage over the phone, "How was your day?" She asks him.

"The same, meeting after meeting." He says, "Any plans tonight?"

"No. I'll probably just be going through the figures I need to finish for tomorrow."

"I thought you did that yesterday?"

"Nat was here yesterday."

"But you were asleep by eleven thirty?" He questions, and she sits up, her brain working overtime.

"She didn't stay." She told him, hating herself that little bit more as she lied, "She left about half ten."

"To go where?" He asks her.

"Home, Aldrich." She tells him, "Where she lives."

"Huh." He replies, and she releases a breath.

"I'll call you tomorrow okay?"

"You got plans?" He asks her.

"What? No." She answers in a confused tone.

"Then what's the rush?" He asks, "Talk to me a little longer, I'm lonely." He pouts, and she laughs.

"I have work to do, babe." She tells him.

"Fine," He sighs, "Call me later?"

"Sure." She replies.

"I love you." He tells her, and she smiles.

"I love you, too."

She ends the call and lays back down, hating herself, for kissing another man, and for lying to her boyfriend.


Aldrich arrived back on the Sunday, wanting to surprise his girl with an early arrival. He walked through the lobby and as he went to enter the elevator, he was shocked to see Natasha coming out of it.

"Hey stranger, haven't seen you in awhile!" He smiled, playing the loveable man people knew him as, "What are you doing here?"

"Hey!" She replied, "Jus giving Ginny back the jumper I borrowed when I left on Saturday." She tells him, and he felt himself tense up.

"Oh right. Did you ladies have fun?" He smiled, and Nat laughed.

"Dude. The club opening was unreal!" She told him, and Aldrich felt his blood boil. "You'll have to come sometime." Natasha tells him with a smile. Aldrich held his strong posture, not allowing Nat to know he was unaware of the girls little adventure.

"I'm glad!" He smiled, "Virginia told me all about it the other night." He lies, "I may take yo up on the offer." He said. and she looked at him.

"She told you all about it?" She questions, reading his face, and he scrunched his faced, and that's when she knew he didn't have the whole story. The Tony of the story. So she remained silent, and just smiled.

"What?" Aldrich asks.

"Nothing." She smiled, and he tilted his head.

"Come on. She's probably already told me." He said to her, and she shrugged her shoulders.

"No point me saying then." She smiled, and he went to reply when the elevator dinged, and once he saw the man who existed his eyes rolled.

"Hey." Tony said as he stepped out, "What's with the meeting around the elevator?" He joked, and Natasha looked at him.

"Nothing. I was just leaving." Nat replies, and Aldrich looks between the both of them, before talking once again.

"Just talking about Friday night, Virginia told me they went to a club opening, just getting Nat's side."

"Okay." Tony smiled, and looked at the black haired girl. "I'll walk out with you." He said, and Natasha nodded, and the two of them turned and walked out.

"I think I just dropped Ginny in the shit." Natasha tells him as they walk out of the apartment building.

"Why?" He asked her.

"He said she'd told him everything about that night I was going to ask if she'd told him about you, but I could tell by his face she hadn't, and he wouldn't stop asking.. then you showed up and you knew me and I think he just put two and two together." She explains. "I need to call her." Natasha says.

"Good idea." He nods, and waves her off as she gets into her car, and he heads back inside, not even remembering what he left the building for.


Tony's heart raced in his chest for the woman he cared for as he headed back towards his apartment. His mind wondered to what he may do to her, he didn't know how he would react, or even if he would be bothered, maybe she's allowed to go out with friends unlike his mother was, maybe the situation is completely different. He hoped that was the case. He hoped everyday that he was wrong, he wanted to be wrong. More than he has ever wanted anything.

"That was quick." Rhodey said to him as he swung open his front door, "Where's the pizza?" He asks, looking at his empty handed friend.

"What?" Tony said, his mind somewhere else, as he rubbed his knuckles together and paced the living room, unsure of what to do. Should he go up there? Would that make it worse?

"Dude!" His friend shouts, and Tony stopped and looked at him.

"What?"

"You okay?" He asks, and tony nods, "Then where is my pizza?" Rhodey questions with a smirk, and Tony pulls out a twenty and throws it at him.

"Go and get it." He says, and takes himself to the bedroom. Rhodey shakes his head before heading out, wondering what the hell is up with that man.

Tony began to pace the apartment, he didn't know what to do, but he had an extremely bad feeling in his stomach.

He couldn't hear anything up there, and he took that as a good sign, and when he heard his front door shut, he told himself to calm down and breath, before sitting on the sofa and accepting the pizza of his friend with a smile, and they clinked their beers, and put the game on.


Aldrich walked into his apartment and slammed the door shut, dropping his bag to the floor. Virginia came out of the bathroom and smiled, tightening the bobble at the bottom of her French braid.

"I thought you weren't back until Monday!" She smiles walking over to him.

"Thought I'd surprise you." He tells her, and she stops walking, she knows that tone. He walks to her, and wraps her in his arms, "Imagine my surprise when I run into Natasha in the lobby." He says, and Virginia tenses in his arms, her eyes wide.

"You did?" She asks, and he nods, and she steps out of his hold. He lets her.

"Yep." He utters, "Told me all about the fun night you had at the club opening." He says, before looking her dead in the eye.

"Aldrich-"

"Don't even think about lying to me!" He shouts, "You know I don't want you going out without me!" He spits at her.

"I know but-"

"No buts!" He shouts, "You are not allowed without me! I don't like it and you know why! We didn't meet at a nice get together, Virginia! I know what you're like when you're out, whore!" He screams at her, and she feels her self getting smaller and smaller, his words cutting deeper and deeper into her."

"I'm allowed to do whatever I want." She snaps back at him, "I'm not your pet."

He grabs her wrist then, pulling her into him gripping her harshly enough to make her skin burn.

"Was it worth it?" He says through his teeth as he uses a great amount of strength to hold her wrist, to keep hr body trapped close to his. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, actually." She looks him right in the eye, "I did." She tells him, and he lets go of her wrist and slaps her across the cheek, she looses her balance and hits the floor.

"How dare you talk to me like that!" He shouts, grabbing her top and pulling her up, pinning her against the wall, his arm across her chest, holding her there. "Nat said something interesting." He began, but her phone ringing cut him off, he pulled it from her jogging's left pocket and held it up.

"Looks like someone knows they dropped you in it." He laughs, before answering and giving her the phone, and walking into the kitchen. Virginia allows herself to take a few breaths, and answers.

"Hey." She says, looking at Aldrich watching her, "You okay?"

"Shit. I think I just dropped you in it." Nat says, and Virginia swallows as Aldrich walks towards her again.

"What about?"

"The whole thing with Tony." Nat says, and Virginia feels her heart fall, and her face goes pale, she turns quickly.

"What do you mean?" She asks.

"He said you'd told him everything and I don't know... I guess I thought that meant you'd told him Tony was there, but by the way he was looking at me I could tell you hadn't." Nat starts, "And then he kept pushing me to tell him, and I almost got away with it but then Tony walked off the elevator and gave off the impression that he knew me. Which he does. Because he came with us. And I think he put two and two together." Nat finishes. "He won't mind that Tony was there will he? I mean, they seemed okay down stairs."

"No. It's fine. Don't worry about it, okay?" Virginia lies, as she panicked internally. She felt Aldrich's presence behind her and closed her eyes.

"I have to go. I'll speak to you soon. Love you."

"Love you."

Aldrich grabbed the phone, ended the call, and through it on the couch.

"Tony was there was he?" Aldrich asked, and Virginia held her breath, panicking, but refusing to allow herself to show it, and she turned around.

"Yeah. It was a club opening, most people from around here was there." Virginia says with the fakest smile she think's she ever given, and she smiled through every relative she came across at her fathers funeral.

"But you were with him. At the club." Aldrich said, and Virginia made a step to walk away.

"For a little while." She said, "We're friends." She went to walk away when he grabbed the back of her neck, pushing her down.

"You bitch!" He spat, pushing down harder on her neck, and she felt herself panic, the pain on the lines of unbearable as he pressed down harder.

"Let go!" She pleaded, "Aldrich you're hurting me." She said, tears falling down her face.

"And you've hurt me. With the lying, and the secret nights out with the neighbour."

"I only lied because I knew how you'd react! She shouted, and he let her go, and stood up, grabbing the back of her neck, letting the tears due to the pain flow freely. "You proved me right." She spat at him, and he started at her.

"If you would have just told me in the first place, this wouldn't have happened." He told her.

"What would you have done?" She asks, and he walks closer to her.

"I would have been upset, because you went out, and I would have been hurt because you went out with Tony Stark. But, it wouldn't have escalated." He tells her, "But, once again, you cause a scene, and you lie, and you make me act out!" He shouts, "So, once again, its your fault. You really need to learn, baby." He said, placing a hand on her growing red cheek, and stroked it with his thumb. "It's always you who causes it, you deserve everything you get." He says, looking right into her eyes, and he walks away. Leaving her hurt, broken, and a little bit of her falls away on that day, a little bit of her self love, her self worth, vanishes. Her mind screams at her that it is her fault, that she did deserve it, she lied, after all, and she wipes her tears and takes herself to the bathroom, and allows the hot water to fall onto her skin.

He started to win today, and she didn't have the strength left to fight his actions. His words. She believed them, and allowed her mind to remind her of them as well.