Author's note: wondering if PG-13 movies get one F-bomb, does my T-rated story also get one F-bomb? Going to try to do without it but just trying to make sure I don't break any rules.

Richard was hyper-aware of everything about her: the redness of her hair, the fullness of her lips, the flush in her cheeks, and the sparkle in her green eyes he loved oh so much. She was lying next to him, her head on the same pillow and his covers pulled up to her bare shoulders, her affection for him clear in her gaze. He lifted his hand to caress her cheek. "You're so beautiful," he murmured.

Despite what they had just done, Kory blushed when she smiled at his compliment. Richard leaned towards her and pressed his lips to her neck, trailing kisses upwards. His hand dropped from her face to her waist, beginning what he hoped was a long study in memorizing each and every one of her curves. He was rewarded with a contented sigh.

"Richard?"

He continued to place kisses along her jawline, only pausing for a second to reply, "Mhm?"

"Is it always like this?"

At that, he stopped and laid his head back on the pillow so he was eye to eye with her, fixing her with the most earnest look he could muster. His fingertips traced up and down her spine. "No," he admitted. "Only with you."

Kory closed the distance between them, tangling her fingers in his hair. He kissed her until he needed air, and then broke apart just for a second to breathe.

I love you. The thought came out of nowhere, surprising him. He knew he cared for her, but this was new and a little scary. When was the last time he'd said that to anyone? Should he say it now?

She beat him to the punch, frowning suddenly and placing her hand on his chest to prevent him from returning to their kiss. "Richard, I did not think about...I am leaving tomorrow for Tamaran."

He matched her dismayed expression. He finally, finally, had Kory in his arms and she would be disappearing. "For all of break?"

"Yes."

"Hmm." He rested his forehead against hers. "Can I visit?"

She smiled. "I would like that very much."

At the very least, he could make this one day count until they saw each other again. Richard returned her smile before capturing her lips, loathe to let go even when he heard the doorbell ring. "Leave it," he mumbled as Kory reacted to the sound. "They'll leave eventually."

She giggled and started to protest, but then they both heard the door creak open. He'd forgotten to lock it after he let Kory in, and was now cursing himself for it.

"Dick?"

The cursing got a whole lot worse.

The voice was unmistakably Koma's. Kory's previously half-lidded eyes were suddenly wide with horror. Without a second thought, Richard rolled out of bed and hurriedly pulled on his boxers and pants. I can't let Koma see Kory here. The elder sister had gone mysteriously quiet. Deciding a shirt was unnecessary in this emergency, he signaled to Kory to stay quiet and exited his bedroom, closing the door behind him.

His heart sank as he saw the reason for Koma's silence. She was staring at the painting on his couch. Her gaze shifted to him, taking in his bare torso and disheveled hair, and then back to the painting. Her face contorted with rage.

"Koma," Richard started, holding up his hands as though trying to keep away a wild animal. She was literally snarling as she stormed to his bedroom, pushing him out of the way. Before he could stop her, she slammed open the door to see her terrified little sister lying in Richard's bed, covering herself with Richard's blanket.

Koma screamed.

Both Kory and Richard exclaimed in protest, but Koma was already halfway out of the apartment. This time, her shove knocked Richard to the ground. She was gone in a second.

Richard rushed back into the bedroom, immediately noting the tears forming in Kory's eyes. He grabbed her hands. "Are you okay?"

Kory nodded, suddenly voiceless.

"Kory, I'm going to go after her and calm her down. I don't want her to do anything stupid to herself or to you. And I know..." He paused. "I know this might hurt, but I don't think you should come with."

Again, the redhead nodded in understanding. "It will only anger her further if I am there," she agreed softly, sadly.

He placed a quick kiss on her forehead before picking up his shirt and buttoning it up. "I'll be back soon. Wait for me, okay?"

Then Richard was gone.

Richard flew out of his apartment just in time to see Koma's car speed away from him. Assuming she was going back to her apartment, which was more than a mile away, he jumped onto his motorcycle and followed. He watched her speed through an intersection while he got stuck behind the one traffic light in between his place and hers.

He knew she would do something horrible to her little sister. He'd seen it in the hate-filled glare Koma had given Kory before she left. That girl was capable of an actual crime, and Richard would not see Kory hurt. I'm not going to let it happen. Whatever she's planning.

When he finally parked outside of her place, the door had been left ajar. It was still swinging, as if it had been thrown open in Koma's rage. He entered cautiously. "Koma?"

Her back was to him, but he could see her shoulders shaking as she opened her fridge. "I need a drink. Do you want one?" Her voice was strangely calm.

"Um, sure. Can we talk?"

"Yes. Sit down."

Richard did as she asked, waiting with a growing sense of unease that dried his throat. When Koma came to sit on the couch, he eagerly gulped down the beer she handed him.

"So you finally got what you wanted. Happy?" Koma's shoulders had stopped shaking, but that deadly calm tone remained. "Are you finally going to ditch her now?"

Richard shook his head, trying to hold her gaze but finding it unnerving. "I know you're upset. But I really like her. This is going to be a long-term thing."

Her grip on her bottle tightened so much that her knuckles whitened. "What the hell makes her so much better than me?"

He tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but missed somehow. "It's not like that, Koma. You and I are friends, we always will be. I just...it's just the way she makes me feel. It's not like anything I've..." His thoughts weren't coming very easily, and he noticed the room was starting to swim. He plowed on anyway. "I know you have a rough history with her. But my relationship with her isn't about that. It has nothing to do with whath's going on bethween you 'n' her."

God, his tongue felt heavy. Koma stood up, seething. "You're wrong, Dick. It's always been about her taking everything I have."

"You donth have me," he argued. Suddenly, his eyes widened in realization, just before shadows crawled in from the corners of his vision. He looked down at his beer, and then up at her. "Whath did you...do..."

Richard fell back on the couch, out cold.

Kory had waited for nearly an hour, and was getting anxious. She'd tried to stall by dressing, fixing her hair, making the bed...but she eventually ran out of things to do besides wait.

Biting her lip, she checked her phone for the hundredth time. Nothing. What was happening there? What was Koma doing?

Eventually, her nerves got to her. She dialed Richard's phone number.

Koma answered. "Hello, sister dear."

Dread pooled in Kory's stomach. "Koma, where is Richard?"

"Oh, he's sleeping. I think I tired him out." Koma laughed maliciously. "He must have forgotten about you. We were very busy."

Kory twisted the blanket in her hands, trying not to let her emotions get the best of her. "Please put him on the phone."

"I can't, idiot," Koma replied with an exaggerated sigh. "He's asleep. I'm not going to wake him up for the likes of you. Besides, he was sooo happy after we finished up; why spoil his mood?"

She is only trying to hurt you. "I do not believe you."

Her sister laughed again. "Don't believe me? Wow, Kory. You know what you shouldn't believe? That you, some freakish-looking island whore, could be enough for someone like Dick. Why do you think he came running to me? You honestly think that you could-"

Kory hung up the phone, unable to tolerate any more of Koma's lies. But why was she answering his phone? Where was he?

She soon got her answer. Koma sent a picture from Richard's phone: the two of them, lying on the couch, half-naked. Koma was smiling into the camera phone, holding up a peace sign with the hand that wasn't being used to take the picture. Richard's face was buried in Koma's neck, his eyes were closed, and his arm was slung around her waist.

No. No, this cannot be. Kory could feel every organ inside her twist and curl. She thought she would vomit. Tears pooled in her eyes and then spilled in rivers down her face. She couldn't even breathe. But I thought...I thought...

You were mistaken.

She was sure she looked drunk trying to walk home, because her vision was tunneling and nothing seemed to move in a straight line. More than once, she stopped to hold her stomach before its contents ended up on the ground. More than once, sobs came out of nowhere and she could not swallow the sound of her despair. More than once, she crossed the road without noticing headlights coming in her direction and wondered if she cared.

"You're so beautiful," he'd told her.

Lies.

"Only you," he'd said.

Lies.

When she arrived at her room, Rachel was there getting ready for the late dinner they had planned in celebration of the end of their finals. Taking one look at Kory's face, even she looked alarmed.

"Kory, what happened?"

Kory collapsed into Rachel's arms, shaking. "Oh Rachel...I have been such a fool."

The second call came not a half-hour after she'd reached her dorm. It was her father.

"Is this true?!" he thundered.

"Is what true?" Kory asked, trying to hide her sniffles.

"Koma tells me...you have been...you have...you have DISGRACED me!"

Kory's mouth went dry. "Father...I..."

"Is it true? Did you have...relations...with a man in your school?"

She couldn't lie. "Yes."

Silence on the other end. Kory couldn't conceal the shuddering gasps that her lungs produced.

"You will take the first flight back tomorrow. You will pack all of your things tonight. You will not be returning to America."