Maybe that's what happens
When a tornado meets a volcano

-Eminem ft. Rihanna/Love the way you lie-

On the rare moments they talked, it was icy, but mostly they ignored each other. Each too proud to give in, too stubborn to break the silence.

When news broke of Scarlett's rumored infidelity, everything worsened. Scarlett had never deliberately want to hurt him – despite what she had muttered under her breath – and now Rhett felt the sting of jealousy.

He had let her get away with much too much for far too long. He allowed her to build that ridiculous house, ostracize them from society, run the mills and the store…

It didn't matter, because he would've done anything for her, but she took him for granted.

That night, he realized that he'd relinquished control. And he was going to take it back.

Scarlett did not know she had walked into a battlefield, but he was drunk and angry and it showed.

Rhett forced her to drink – yes, he knew her secrets – and he forced her to listen to him. She had never understood him, but she had never been afraid of him. Tonight, he made even less sense and an anxious sweat covered her palms, heart beating in her ears as his fingers tickled her neck and closed around her head. Her breathing increased rapidly, but not because she was scared, but because of the tiny electric current that flowed between their skin.

If Scarlett didn't see it – see him – he would force her to. His kisses were angry and urgent. Forceful. Destructive. Breaking through long-established barriers.

Polite strangers didn't act like this. This wasn't cordial. This wasn't lady and gentlemanly. This was a battle and he was engaged in combat. Scarlett responded immediately – if he wasn't to fight, she'd fight back. She was a fighter, a survivor and she'd show him.

Her otherwise flirtatious eyes didn't blink, or look away shyly, daintily. Scarlett met his gaze head on, brazen-faced, and her kisses were just as angry, just as urgent, just as forceful.

He threw her on the bed and his big hands covered her small shoulders, keeping her down, as her nails dragged across his back. Dark laughter rumbled deep in his chest and her lips curled up in a twisted smile, like his.

The desire and want and need was all but tangible in the room. He was the boss, but she wasn't backing down. His kisses turned into needy, lusty touches and she responded by boldly breaking free of his grip.

She matched him in temper, in touch, in longing. He should've been surprised, but he wasn't. It was a duel, a primal power struggle. They both howled and growled and showed their teeth. Rhett, nor Scarlett, was giving up. It ended when pain gave way to pleasure, breathing labored, lips red and swollen.

Possessively, she pulled his arm around her waist, as if he belonged to her, but she still couldn't tell him that she loved him. Rhett didn't pull away until after she'd fallen asleep.

Her actions couldn't match the words he needed to hear. It was another blow to his bruised ego.

All he ever wanted was for her – for them – to be happy. All he wanted was to love her and she made it impossibly difficult on him. Whether it was because of society, or because of Ashley, it didn't matter.

Without Bonnie and with the promise of a new baby so brutally taken (by him? by fate?) he realized wanting her wasn't enough. He had waited too long, it was too late. He'd never have her, not with all the words left unspoken and all of the things they'd done, but never really meant.

It couldn't be changed.

Scarlett would always be the type to hold her love over his head and he was tired of jumping for it. There was no more love to give and he needed out before whatever feeling remained turned into hate. Rhett was hers to have, from day they met, and she didn't take him. In fact, she made clear that she wanted him until the day he left.

He heard the sincerity in her voice as she told him she loved him, didn't want him to leave. The promises of a happy life. That she'd changed.

But the words bounced off him like a shield. His mind was made up, he was quitting her.

Cold turkey.

And that was her misfortune.

Oh Rhett and Scarlett. Always drama, drama, drama. Tragic.