Disclaimer: See first chapter.

AN: OMG! You guys are amazing! I have over 800 views, lots of follows and favorites, and everybody who is reviewing is...awesome! I can't believe that you all are liking it so much! I hope I can continue writing well enough to live up to the high praise! Thank you so much!

Now, here is chapter 4! It's significantly longer than the other chapters, because I couldn't find a good cut-off point before the end. Oh well. Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Bare Your Soul

Karen stands up and moves to the bed. "Come on. Come bare your soul Mr. Wills. You can't have always been The Dark Lord that everyone fears." Karen jokes. "And, in my vast experience, I've found that if you have to bare your soul, beds are the best place to do so."

Derek just looks at her for a minute. "You're not going to give this up, are you?" She grins and shakes her head no, and he rolls his eyes sighing. "All right, fine." He maneuvers himself to the bed, leaning back against the pillows and headboard. "Come on love." He holds out his arm, inviting her into his embrace.

Karen rolls her eyes but moves into his embrace anyway. She rests her head against his chest, her hand on his waist, and their legs intertwined.

As he thinks about the story he wants to tell her, his fingers run through her hair and up and down the arm at his waist.

"Mmm." Karen moans. "If you don't start talking, I'm going to be forced to move from this position or I'm going to fall asleep."

"Okay. Okay. Sorry." He laughs. He takes a deep breath before delving in. "You heard Tom and I fighting after Touch Me, right?" She nods. "Well, I've never told anyone this before, but my dad…" He trails off for a minute.

"My dad, he had affairs all throughout my childhood. My sisters and I knew, but I was going on 12 and they were 9 and 6. What were we supposed to do about it, you know? I caught him once. We were supposed to be out with mum for the day, but I wasn't feeling well. I wasn't diagnosed until years later, but it was a migraine. So, I went home to, hopefully, sleep it off."

The hand that was running through her hair now trailed up and down her back and finally stopped on the small of her back. The other hand that was trailing up and down her arm entwined their fingers and just held on. It was as if he was bracing himself.

"My dad was supposed to be practicing for an upcoming tour, but when I got home I didn't hear him playing. I was only going to see if he was okay because he was never not practicing, especially when there was a tour coming up." His grip on her tightened.

"I heard moaning and I thought he was sick or that something was wrong." Karen feels him shake his head, as if getting the images out of his head. She tightens her grip on him to let him know she's there. "I opened the bedroom door, and…there is my dad with another man. I don't even know or care who it was."

She feels his breathing get deeper and quicker, and she takes her hand from his and rubs his chest. His, now released, hand moves to join his other at the small of her back. "We knew he had affairs. We knew that. We just didn't know that they were with other men." He says in disgust. "I know I say that gay men bother me, and it's not because they're gay. It's because they remind of the worst of my father. He ruined our family with all of his affairs, and he didn't care."

Karen continues to run her hand along his chest, over his heart. "He…he made our mum believe she wasn't good enough. She's a dance teacher. She taught me and my sisters to dance and to love dance. She's the reason I became a choreographer. She's the reason one of my sisters teaches dance and the other is a principal in the Royal Ballet. Yet, she still, to this day, believes that she isn't good enough. All because of that…cheating, lying, bastard…I have to call father."

He pauses to collect his thoughts for a minute. "And then when I'm beginning a career, absent of him, he has to come and ruin it. Tom and I were friends, kind of, 11 or 12 years ago. Then my dad came back around, he told all the reporters that I said something to him and they could quote me through him. Of course, then when I try to deny anything no one believes me."

Karen doesn't know what to say or do other than to keep running her hand along his chest, over his heart, to let him know she's still with him. "I mean, I know I'm an ass. I know I'm unpleasant to be around."

That causes Karen to snort. "Sorry. Sorry. Please continue."

"Right. I know. That's my point. Anyway, you'd think that if Tom had been a real friend, as he claims, he would've believed me or at least allowed me to explain. But no, he chose to believe a bunch of reporters known to stretch the truth." He shakes his head again. "So, there you go. Now you know why I'm such an unpleasant person to be around."

Karen just continues to lay in his embraces for a minute, before unconsciously straddling him as she sits up to face him. She cups his cheeks in her hands and rests her forehead against his. "If you were really that unpleasant to be around all the time, I wouldn't be here right now. I wouldn't have come to you last night in my time of great distress."

She continues to look in his eyes, seemingly searching for something. "All of what you just told me, it doesn't change who you are." She moves one of her hands to his chest and taps his heart, before leaving her hand there.

"You don't have to let your dad affect you. You just need to be the best that you can be and prove that he didn't win. That you've…" She pauses, thinking. "That you've thrived, despite his attempts otherwise. Prove to your mom that she raised you and your sisters into the man and women that she wanted you to be. Prove to her that she is good enough, more than good enough. Especially if she taught all of you to dance and then all of you decided that you wanted to have dance involved in your careers in some way."

Derek just stares at her in awe for a minute, before shaking his head. "Thank you." He cups her cheeks and kisses her forehead then rests his head on top of hers, hugging her with his arms around her shoulders.

Karen laughs and they both pull back. "Who would've thought that the great Derek Wills could be in this position with a woman and not try to take advantage of the situation?" She jokes.

He laughs too. "Ha. Ha. I am able to control myself. But if you would rather I didn't…" He trails off jokingly waggling his eyebrows.

"No. No. Control is good. It's nice to see." Karen comments.

"Okay. Okay. Now that we've both bared our souls, you wanted me to tell you how I am going to fix the show?" He asks.

She nods. "Yea. I mean, I'm sure I wasn't the only who noticed that it wasn't…received well. It seemed to be lacking…I guess." Karen struggled to explain.

Derek laughs. "Oh no, that's putting it lightly. I texted Julia this morning after we got to the café that we needed a new ending, because while it's true that Marilyn died it's just a depressing note to end on. I told her that we needed a song or something after she dies that will leave everyone thinking or hoping or…anything but depressed."

Karen nods thoughtfully. "What about Rebecca?"

"What about her?" Derek inquires, trying to figure out what she's asking.

"From the first rehearsal to now, she's been…substandard vocally. She also embodied the traits of Marilyn that made men want her and women hate her; she didn't play the innocent Norma Jeane enough. And it seemed that the audience picked up on that too and responded negatively." Karen said, trying to be careful with her word choice.

"Who would've thought that the green, new girl from Iowa could bad mouth her new bff?" Derek joked.

"First, she's not my new bff. Second, I can't help where I'm from or that I'm green. I know I'm good, and other people will see that eventually as well." Karen told him defiantly, with fire in her eyes daring him to say otherwise.

He just nodded, impressed while his hands unconsciously moved to her thighs just above her knees. "Anyway, I'm not sure what we're going to do about Rebecca. I guess that's up to Eileen." He shrugs. "If I had it my way, from the beginning, you would've been Marilyn." He says breezily as his thumbs caress the inside of her thighs.

Karen's eyes light up at that new piece of information. "Really?" He nods. "I thought that you were Team Ivy all the way." Karen does a cheerleader move with her arms and laughs.

Derek looks amused. "Team Ivy?" He repeats. "Umm…no, why would you think that?" He wonders.

"Because you were sleeping with her?" Karen says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Love, I only slept with her twice." Derek's hands squeezed her thighs a couple times for emphasis. Karen's eyebrows shoot up at that information.

"Twice? I think she was embellishing with some of the ensemble members then. Also, that outburst when she lost her voice? That was over twice?" Karen thinks aloud.

"Well, obviously I don't know what she tells other people, but I promise it was only twice. It…she didn't seem like the best person to continue sleeping with because I…I'm not good at relationships and she seemed like she wanted a relationship. There's only one person that I would be willing to try for, and Ivy is definitely not it." Derek says laughingly.

"Who is that?" Karen asks softly and with no recourse other than wanting to know what makes this man tick.

"Oh no. I think I've bared enough of my soul tonight already." Derek jokes, a little more stiffly than before. "We'll save that for our next soul baring discussion."

"Okay, okay." Karen says lightly, knowing when not to push any further. "What do you want to do now?"

"I don't know. Movie? Or…TV? Or…I don't know." Derek tries to think of something else.

Karen was thinking about what they could do, when it hit her suddenly. Her grip on Derek tensed, as did the rest of her body.

"Hey. What's wrong love?" Derek asks, trying to figure out what he did to cause her to get so tense and rigid.

"Ugh!" Karen cried. "I just realized that I am now homeless when we get back to New York. Even if my name was on the lease of our apartment, I wouldn't be able to afford it by myself." She started ranting.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. It'll be okay." Derek tries to calm her down. "Come here love." He opens his arms so she can cuddle into his embrace once again.

Karen just shakes her head and stands up to start pacing and thinking.

Derek watches her for a minute, before standing up and moving into her path, causing her to crash into him. He just holds onto her waist as she tries to get away to continue her pacing.

"Love, please just stop with the pacing. You're making me dizzy." Derek tries to soothe jokingly. "Karen. It will be okay." He says unyieldingly.

"How do you know it'll be okay? How can it be okay? All of my friends already have roommates and no room to house anyone. All the places I can rent are…" Karen pauses to make a face of repulsion and shakes her head. "So, I'm either going to have to beg one of my friends to let sleep on their couch for a few weeks or…" She ends with a shrug.

"Okay. Ask." Derek says simply.

Karen looks him in the eye with one eyebrow raised.

"We're friends, right?" Derek asks slowly and waits for her nod. "Okay, and as your friend, I have a guest room or, if you really want, a couch that you are more than welcome to, for however long." Derek shrugs with a smirk.

"What? No. Derek, no." Karen resists. "I can't…" Karen tries, and then pauses to regain her composure. "I…it wouldn't be a good idea." Karen finishes lamely shaking her head with no conviction whatsoever.

"Why wouldn't it be a good idea?" Derek asks confused with a sort of sad puppy dog look on his face.

"Derek." Karen sighs. "You know why it wouldn't be a good idea." She implores gazing into his eyes.

"I'm sorry love, but I think you're going to have to spell it out for me." Derek says and she's not sure if he's being obtuse on purpose or he really doesn't get it.

"Because, of that, right there." Karen says, softly thumping his chest for emphasis. "Yes, we're friends, but it almost seems like it's more than that. You call me love and I love it, and I…" she rolls her eyes at what she is about to say, "I swoon."

"Because no matter how much I've tried to convince myself that you're just this…" Karen pauses to think about the best way to put it, before deciding just to be honest, "this cantankerous, temperamental, badass, womanizer I can't. I can't look at you and see you that way. I mean, aside from the first time I was at your apartment and you tried the casting couch, which you apologized for already. You could've tried to pursue sleeping with me multiple times since, but you haven't." Karen shrugs.

"Then, last night I came to see you at an ungodly hour crying my eyes out, asking you for help without offering any sort of explanation until way later, and just being clingy. And you've been so obliging and compassionate and comforting and a gentleman." Karen rambles.

"And…and I'm afraid to get closer to you." Karen concludes quietly.

Derek heaves a sigh. "Why are you afraid to get closer?"

"Because I don't want to fall for you, I don't want to get my heart broken when I inevitably fall for you." Karen says reticently.

"I guess the next soul baring session is now." Derek mumbles under his breath, but Karen hears it anyway and sucks in a breath.

"You are the only woman I would ever consider for a relationship, love. The last person I slept with was Ivy, and that was…almost a year ago." Derek says, pushing on despite the look Karen gave him when he talked about sleeping with Ivy.

"I…something changed for me when you turned me down on my couch that night. I tried to fight it, that's why I slept with Ivy. Which obviously didn't last long." Derek rolls his eyes.

"When you turned me down and left, I didn't just want to sleep with you anymore." Derek laughs. "I did…do…still want to sleep with you, but it isn't the only thing I want. I want to know everything about you. I want you to be my muse for…the rest of my career because I think this, Marilyn, has been my best work in a long time. And I have no one to thank but you." Derek says softly, cursing himself for getting so mushy.

"And I know that you just broke off a long term relationship and that you probably aren't ready to start a new one yet, but I'll be here when you are." Derek says and pauses. "You did break up with Dev, right?"

Karen makes a face. "No. I wish I had, because I really don't want to see him or speak to him ever again." Karen says with disgust. "Would it be bad if I broke up with him over a text?" She laughs at the thought.

Derek shrugs. "It wouldn't be the preferred way to break up with someone, especially after three years together, but you need to do what's right for you. And he certainly wasn't thinking of you when he cheated. So, it's up to you what you want to do. I'll support whatever decision you make." Derek says then laughs. "Also, if you want me to pay him back for the sucker punches he got me with a few months ago I'll be more than happy to do that."

Karen just smiles at him indulgently while Derek thinks for a minute. "How long do you think it'll take you to pack all your things?"

Karen shrugs, thinking. "A few hours, less than five, maybe. Why?"

"Where do you think Dev is now?" Derek asks mysteriously. "Never mind let me see your phone." He requests.

"What? Why?" Karen asks mystified.

"Please?" Derek asks with his eyes asking her just to trust him.

"Ookaay." Karen drags out while getting her phone from the bedside table.

"What's the passcode?" Derek asks unlocking her phone with ease. "You don't have a passcode?" He asks incredulously.

"No. I don't need one." Karen just shrugs.

"Whatever. Just…please add one? I don't need some random person getting my number if your phone is stolen." Derek supplicates.

Karen nods and moves to stand behind, on her tiptoes, with her chin on his shoulder and hands at his waist. "Okay, but you aren't in my phone as Derek Wills, so I don't think that'll be a problem." Karen tells him. "What are you doing?" She asks, looking at the phone.

"I'm finding an iPhone, Dev's to be specific." Derek answers. "Oh. Look. He's still in Boston." Derek says with a lilt in his voice.

"Of course he is." Karen says in a monotone voice, not amused.

"Alright. Let's go." Derek says, putting his shoes on and grabbing his coat, phone, and wallet.

"Go? Go where?" Karen asks while putting her shoes on, grabbing her coat, and purse knowing it's no use to fight him.

"First, to find your friends." Derek tells her determined.

"Who? Jessica and the rest?" Karen asks disbelievingly.

"Do you have any other friends in the ensemble?" Derek asks rhetorically. "Of course those four. Then, we're getting a car and going to pack your stuff up in New York and move it to my place…at least temporarily." He pauses to take in her reaction.

"Right now, Dev's still in Boston. If you don't want to see him, this will be the easiest way to get all your stuff. And if you don't want to speak to him ever again, leave him a note and tell him you're breaking up with him instead of texting or calling or face to face." Derek explains.

Karen just shakes her head. "Fine. I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, am I?"

Derek just shakes his head. "I'm going to go to the lobby and arrange a car. You go get your friends. Have them pack a change of clothes or something."

"Okay." Karen rolls her eyes, knowing that arguing would be moot. Derek's made up his mind; she wasn't going to be talking him out of it. Plus, she didn't really want to, if she was being honest.

As they get in the elevator, Karen realizes something. "Damn it Derek!" She lightly punches his arm. "I don't want to talk to them yet!"

"I'm sure if you tell them that, and that you'll tell them all about it later, they'll respect your wishes." Derek tells her.

Derek pulls her for a hug and kisses her forehead. "It'll be okay." He assures. "If you want, I can always turn into the Dark Lord and scare them into not asking any questions." He laughs.

"I'll be fine." Karen promises. "I like it when you smile." She tells him before blushing and quickly making her way off the elevator to find her friends while Derek continues down to the lobby.